| 1. |
- Rubio-Magnieto, Jenifer, et al.
(författare)
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Binding Modes and Selectivity of Ruthenium Complexes to Human Telomeric DNA G-Quadruplexes
- 2018
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Ingår i: Chemistry - A European Journal. - : WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH. - 0947-6539 .- 1521-3765. ; 24:58, s. 15577-15588
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Metal complexes constitute an important class of DNA binders. In particular, a few ruthenium polyazaaromatic complexes are attractive as light switches because of their strong luminescence enhancement upon DNA binding. In this paper, a comprehensive study on the binding modes of several mononuclear and binuclear ruthenium complexes to human telomeric sequences, made of repeats of the d(TTAGGG) fragment is reported. These DNA sequences form G-quadruplexes (G4s) at the ends of chromosomes and constitute a relevant biomolecular target in cancer research. By combining spectroscopy experiments and molecular modelling simulations, several key properties are deciphered: the binding modes, the stabilization of G4 upon binding, and the selectivity of these complexes towards G4 versus double-stranded DNA. These results are rationalized by assessing the possible deformation of G4 and the binding free energies of several binding modes via modelling approaches. Altogether, this comparative study provides fundamental insights into the molecular recognition properties and selectivity of Ru complexes towards this important class of DNA G4s.
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| 2. |
- Holmgaard List, Nanna, et al.
(författare)
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Origin of DNA-Induced Circular Dichroism in a Minor-Groove Binder
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 139:42, s. 14947-14953
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Induced circular dichroism (ICD) of DNA-binding ligands is well known to be strongly influenced by the specific mode of binding, but the relative importance of the possible mechanisms has remained undetermined. With a combination of molecular dynamics simulations, CD response calculations, and experiments on an AT-sequence, we show that the ICD of minor-groove-bound 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) originates from an intricate interplay between the chiral imprint of DNA, off-resonant excitonic coupling to nucleobases, charge-transfer, and resonant excitonic coupling between DAPIs. The significant contributions from charge-transfer and the chiral imprint to the ICD demonstrate the inadequacy of a standard Frenkel exciton theory of the DAPI-DNA interactions.
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| 3. |
- Støchkel, K., et al.
(författare)
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On the influence of water on the electronic structure of firefly oxyluciferin anions from absorption spectroscopy of bare and monohydrated ions in vacuo
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 135:17, s. 6485-6493
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A complete understanding of the physics underlying the varied colors of firefly bioluminescence remains elusive because it is difficult to disentangle different enzyme-lumophore interactions. Experiments on isolated ions are useful to establish a proper reference when there are no microenvironmental perturbations. Here, we use action spectroscopy to compare the absorption by the firefly oxyluciferin lumophore isolated in vacuo and complexed with a single water molecule. While the process relevant to bioluminescence within the luciferase cavity is light emission, the absorption data presented here provide a unique insight into how the electronic states of oxyluciferin are altered by microenvironmental perturbations. For the bare ion we observe broad absorption with a maximum at 548 ± 10 nm, and addition of a water molecule is found to blue-shift the absorption by approximately 50 nm (0.23 eV). Test calculations at various levels of theory uniformly predict a blue-shift in absorption caused by a single water molecule, but are only qualitatively in agreement with experiment highlighting limitations in what can be expected from methods commonly used in studies on oxyluciferin. Combined molecular dynamics simulations and time-dependent density functional theory calculations closely reproduce the broad experimental peaks and also indicate that the preferred binding site for the water molecule is the phenolate oxygen of the anion. Predicting the effects of microenvironmental interactions on the electronic structure of the oxyluciferin anion with high accuracy is a nontrivial task for theory, and our experimental results therefore serve as important benchmarks for future calculations.
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| 4. |
- Zhang, Li, et al.
(författare)
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pi-Extended perylene diimide double-heterohelicenes as ambipolar organic semiconductors for broadband circularly polarized light detection
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Nature Research. - 2041-1723. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite great challenges, the development of new molecular structures with multiple and even conflicting characteristics are eagerly pursued for exploring advanced applications. To develop high-performance chiral organic semiconducting molecules, a distorted -system is required for strong coupling with circularly polarized light (CPL), whereas planar pi -stacking systems are necessary for high charge-carrier mobility. To address this dilemma, in this work, we introduce a skeleton merging approach through distortion of a perylene diimide (PDI) core with four fused heteroaromatics to form an ortho-pi -extended PDI double-[7]heterohelicene. PDI double helicene inherits a high dissymmetry factor from the helicene skeleton, and the extended pi -planar system concurrently maintains a high level of charge transport properties. In addition, ortho-pi -extension of the PDI skeleton brings about near-infrared (NIR) light absorption and ambipolar charge transport abilities, endowing the corresponding organic phototransistors with high photoresponsivity of 450 and 120mAW(-1) in p- and n-type modes respectively, along with a high external quantum efficiency (89%) under NIR light irradiations. Remarkably, these multiple characteristics enable high-performance broadband CPL detections up to NIR spectral region with chiral organic semiconductors. In organic semiconducting molecules materials, distorted pi -systems enable strong coupling with circular polarized light while planar pi -stacking systems are necessary for high charge-carrier mobility. Here, the authors address this dilemma by introducing a skeleton merging approach through distortion of a perylene diimide core with four fused heteroaromatics to form a pi -extended double helicene.
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| 5. |
- Ahrén, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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A simple polyol-free synthesis route to Gd 2O 3 nanoparticles for MRI applications : An experimental and theoretical study
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of nanoparticle research. - : Springer. - 1388-0764 .- 1572-896X. ; 14:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chelated gadolinium ions, e.g., Gd-DTPA, are today used clinically as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An attractive alternative contrast agent is composed of gadolinium oxide nanoparticles as they have shown to provide enhanced contrast and, in principle, more straightforward molecular capping possibilities. In this study, we report a new, simple, and polyol-free way of synthesizing 4-5-nm-sized Gd 2O 3 nanoparticles at room temperature, with high stability and water solubility. The nanoparticles induce high-proton relaxivity compared to Gd-DTPA showing r 1 and r 2 values almost as high as those for free Gd 3+ ions in water. The Gd 2O 3 nanoparticles are capped with acetate and carbonate groups, as shown with infrared spectroscopy, near-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and combined thermogravimetric and mass spectroscopy analysis. Interpretation of infrared spectroscopy data is corroborated by extensive quantum chemical calculations. This nanomaterial is easily prepared and has promising properties to function as a core in a future contrast agent for MRI.
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| 6. |
- Ahrén, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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One-step synthesis of sub 5 nm sized manganese oxide based nanoparticles
- 2013
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sub 5 nm sized manganese oxide nanoparticles; MnOx (1 ≤ x ≤ 2), were synthesized via a short time room temperature synthesis route. The nanoparticles are crystalline, spherically shaped and in the size range of 2-4 nm as shown by transmission electron microscopy studies. Selected area electron diffraction patterns were collected and their appearance indicated that the nanoparticle cores are composed of MnO. Also, co-existence of the (II) and (III) oxidation states at the nanoparticle surface was verified by results achieved from infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. These measurements also supported presence of a minor amount of acetate groups as well as a negligible fraction of carbonate groups at the nanoparticle surfaces. The interpretation of the IR spectra was confirmed by quantum chemical calculations using the high spin manganese nanoparticle Mn12O12(OAc)16(H2O)4, as a model system for the MnOx nanoparticle surface. Bulk MnO and Mn2O3 are known to be antiferromagnetic. The magnetic properties are however somewhat dependent of the crystallite size and changes when scaling down to the nanoregion. The MnOx (1 ≤ x ≤ 2) nanoparticles investigated in this work show a superparamagnetic behavior with a blocking temperature of approximately 12 K proven by means of SQUID measurements. The relaxivities of the nanoparticles and the Mn(OAc)2 precursors were studied with a bench top NMR analyzer verifying nanoparticle r1 and r2 of 0.5 and 6 mMs-1 respectively. The r1 relaxivity is lower than what is earlier reported for Gd based contrast agent, but improvements are expected by further surface modification, due to increased rotational time and higher water dispersability.
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| 7. |
- Andersson, Åke, et al.
(författare)
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Indication of 310-Helix Structure in Gas-Phase Neutral Pentaalanine
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry A. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1089-5639 .- 1520-5215. ; 127:4, s. 938-45
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate the gas-phase structure of the neutral pentaalanine peptide. The IR spectrum in the 340-1820 cm-1 frequency range is obtained by employing supersonic jet cooling, infrared multiphoton dissociation, and vacuum-ultraviolet action spectroscopy. Comparison with quantum chemical spectral calculations suggests that the molecule assumes multiple stable conformations, mainly of two structure types. In the most stable conformation theoretically found, the N-terminus forms a C5 ring and the backbone resembles that of an 310-helix with two β-turns. Additionally, the conformational preferences of pentaalanine have been evaluated using Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics, showing that a nonzero simulation time step causes a systematic frequency shift.
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| 8. |
- Apostolopoulou-Kalkavoura, Varvara, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Humidity-Dependent Thermal Boundary Conductance Controls Heat Transport of Super-Insulating Nanofibrillar Foams
- 2021
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Ingår i: Matter. - : Elsevier BV. - 2590-2393 .- 2590-2385. ; 4:1, s. 276-289
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cellulose nanomaterial (CNM)-based foams and aerogels with thermal conductivities substantially below the value for air attract significant interest as super-insulating materials in energy-efficient green buildings. However, the moisture dependence of the thermal conductivity of hygroscopic CNM-based materials is poorly understood, and the importance of phonon scattering in nanofibrillar foams remains unexplored. Here, we show that the thermal conductivity perpendicular to the aligned nanofibrils in super-insulating ice-templated nanocellulose foams is lower for thinner fibrils and depends strongly on relative humidity (RH), with the lowest thermal conductivity (14 mW m−1 K−1) attained at 35% RH. Molecular simulations show that the thermal boundary conductance is reduced by the moisture-uptake-controlled increase of the fibril-fibril separation distance and increased by the replacement of air with water in the foam walls. Controlling the heat transport of hygroscopic super-insulating nanofibrillar foams by moisture uptake and release is of potential interest in packaging and building applications.
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| 9. |
- Arja, Katriann, et al.
(författare)
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Self-Assembly of Chiro-Optical Materials from Nonchiral Oligothiophene-Porphyrin Derivatives and Random Coil Synthetic Peptides
- 2023
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Ingår i: ChemPlusChem. - : Wiley. - 2192-6506. ; 88:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biomimetic chiral optoelectronic materials can be utilized in electronic devices, biosensors and artificial enzymes. Herein, this work reports the chiro-optical properties and architectural arrangement of optoelectronic materials generated from self-assembly of initially nonchiral oligothiophene−porphyrin derivatives and random coil synthetic peptides. The photo-physical- and structural properties of the materials were assessed by absorption-, fluorescence- and circular dichroism spectroscopy, as well as dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy and theoretical calculations. The materials display a three-dimensional ordered helical structure and optical activity that are observed due to an induced chirality of the optoelectronic element upon interaction with the peptide. Both these properties are influenced by the chemical composition of the oligothiophene−porphyrin derivative, as well as the peptide sequence. We foresee that our findings will aid in developing self-assembled optoelectronic materials with dynamic architectonical accuracies, as well as offer the possibility to generate the next generation of materials for a variety of bioelectronic applications.
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| 10. |
- Augusto Berrocal, Jose, et al.
(författare)
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Consequences of conformational flexibility in hydrogen-bond-driven self-assembly processes
- 2016
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Ingår i: Chemical Communications. - : ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY. - 1359-7345 .- 1364-548X. ; 52:72, s. 10870-10873
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the synthesis and self-assembly of chiral, conformationally flexible C-3-symmetrical trisamides. A strong Cotton effect is observed for the supramolecular polymers in linear alkanes but not in cyclic alkanes. MD simulations suggest 2:1 conformations of the amides within the aggregates in both types of solvents, but a chiral bias in only linear alkanes.
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