26th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2017): Part 3 - Meeting Abstracts - Antwerp, Belgium. 15–20 July 2017

This work was produced as part of the activities of FAPESP Research,\ud Disseminations and Innovation Center for Neuromathematics (grant\ud 2013/07699-0, S. Paulo Research Foundation). NLK is supported by a\ud FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (grant 2016/03855-5). ACR is partially\ud supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

Long-wavelength, reaction-based, fluorescent sensors for HNO and mobile zinc

Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemistry, 2014.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Vita.Includes bibliographical references (pages 84-89).Chapter 1. Introduction A variety of inorganic molecules and ions participate in complex biological signaling networks. Three of these species are nitric oxide (NO), nitroxyl (HNO), and mobile zinc. Maintaining the homeostasis of these signaling molecules is vital and a deeper comprehension of their roles could help in understanding the pathology of specific diseases associated with their dysregulation. One method used to monitor levels of these analytes in biological samples is fluorescence microscopy. Shifting the fluorescence emission to longer wavelengths would improve these already existing probes. Having access to red and near-infrared (NIR) sensors is particularly useful for investigating the interplay of multiple analytes using fluorescence microscopy in conjunction with other probes that emit at shorter wavelengths. Chapter 2. Synthesis and Characterization of a Fluorescent Sensor with a Dihydrothioxanthene Fluorophore and a Quinoline Based Cu(II) Binding Site A NIR probe designed to detect NO was synthesized and its photophysical properties were fully characterized. Analysis of the photophysics of this sensor revealed that the quinoline-binding site might be quenching the fluorescence of the fluorophore and preventing a turn-on response upon addition of NO. Chapter 3. Synthesis, Characterization, and Implementation of a Near-Infrared Fluorescent Sensor for Detection of Nitroxyl (HNO) A NIR sensor for the detection of HNO was synthesized, fully characterized, and used in live HeLa cells to detect exogenously applied HNO. This probe is selective for HNO over thiols and many other biologically relevant analytes. This sensor was used in combination with the green, zinc-specific probe ZP1 to investigate the relationship between exogenously applied HNO and the release of mobile zinc in HeLa cells. Chapter 4. Characterization and Targeting of a Red Zinc Sensor To investigate the levels of mobile zinc in specific cellular organelles, attempts were made to target a red zinc-specific probe to acidic vesicles, the mitochondria, and the nucleus. A combination of peptide-based and small molecule-based targeting approaches was explored, including the vesicle-targeting R9 peptide, the mitochondria-targeting triphenylphosphonium ion, and the DNA-binding Hoechst dye.by Alexandra T. Wrobel.S.B

A Flexible Glutamine Regulates the Catalytic Activity of Toluene o-Xylene Monooxygenase

Toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase (ToMO) is a bacterial multicomponent monooxygenase capable of oxidizing aromatic substrates. The carboxylate-rich diiron active site is located in the hydroxylase component of ToMO (ToMOH), buried 12 Å from the surface of the protein. A small, hydrophilic pore is the shortest pathway between the diiron active site and the protein exterior. In this study of ToMOH from Pseudomonas sp. OX1, the functions of two residues lining this pore, N202 and Q228, were investigated using site-directed mutagenesis. Steady-state characterization of WT and the three mutant enzymes demonstrates that residues N202 and Q228 are critical for turnover. Kinetic isotope effects and pH profiles reveal that these residues govern the kinetics of water egress and prevent quenching of activated oxygen intermediates formed at the diiron active site. We propose that this activity arises from movement of these residues, opening and closing the pore during catalysis, as seen in previous X-ray crystallographic studies. In addition, N202 and Q228 are important for the interactions of the reductase and regulatory components to ToMOH, suggesting that they bind competitively to the hydroxylase. The role of the pore in the hydroxylase components of other bacterial multicomponent monooxygenases within the superfamily is discussed in light of these conclusions.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (Grant 2R01-GM032113)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Interdepartmental Biotechnology Training Grant T32 GM008334

A Flexible Glutamine Regulates the Catalytic Activity of Toluene <i>o</i>‑Xylene Monooxygenase

Toluene/<i>o</i>-xylene monooxygenase (ToMO) is a bacterial multicomponent monooxygenase capable of oxidizing aromatic substrates. The carboxylate-rich diiron active site is located in the hydroxylase component of ToMO (ToMOH), buried 12 Å from the surface of the protein. A small, hydrophilic pore is the shortest pathway between the diiron active site and the protein exterior. In this study of ToMOH from Pseudomonas sp. OX1, the functions of two residues lining this pore, N202 and Q228, were investigated using site-directed mutagenesis. Steady-state characterization of WT and the three mutant enzymes demonstrates that residues N202 and Q228 are critical for turnover. Kinetic isotope effects and pH profiles reveal that these residues govern the kinetics of water egress and prevent quenching of activated oxygen intermediates formed at the diiron active site. We propose that this activity arises from movement of these residues, opening and closing the pore during catalysis, as seen in previous X-ray crystallographic studies. In addition, N202 and Q228 are important for the interactions of the reductase and regulatory components to ToMOH, suggesting that they bind competitively to the hydroxylase. The role of the pore in the hydroxylase components of other bacterial multicomponent monooxygenases within the superfamily is discussed in light of these conclusions

A Fast and Selective Near-Infrared Fluorescent Sensor for Multicolor Imaging of Biological Nitroxyl (HNO)

The first near-infrared fluorescent turn-on sensor for the detection of nitroxyl (HNO), the one-electron reduced form of nitric oxide (NO), is reported. The new copper-based probe, CuDHX1, contains a dihydroxanthene (DHX) fluorophore and a cyclam derivative as a Cu(II) binding site. Upon reaction with HNO, CuDHX1 displays a five-fold fluorescence turn-on in cuvettes and is selective for HNO over thiols and reactive nitrogen and oxygen species. CuDHX1 can detect exogenously applied HNO in live mammalian cells and in conjunction with the zinc-specific, green-fluorescent sensor ZP1 can perform multicolor/multianalyte microscopic imaging. These studies reveal that HNO treatment elicits an increase in the concentration of intracellular mobile zinc.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CHE-1265770)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Paul E. Gray (1954) Endowed Fund)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Interdepartmental Biotechnology Training Grant T32 GM008334)Swiss National Science Foundation (Postdoctoral Fellowship

A Fast and Selective Near-Infrared Fluorescent Sensor for Multicolor Imaging of Biological Nitroxyl (HNO)

The first near-IR fluorescent turn-on sensor for the detection of nitroxyl (HNO), the one-electron reduced form of nitric oxide (NO), is reported. The new copper-based probe, CuDHX1, contains a dihydroxanthene (DHX) fluorophore and a cyclam deriv. as a Cu(II) binding site. Upon reaction with HNO, CuDHX1 displays a five-fold fluorescence turn-on in cuvettes and is selective for HNO over thiols and reactive nitrogen and oxygen species. CuDHX1 can detect exogenously applied HNO in live mammalian cells and in conjunction with the zinc-specific, green-fluorescent sensor ZP1 can perform multicolor/multianalyte microscopic imaging. These studies reveal that HNO treatment elicits an increase in the concn. of intracellular mobile zinc

Corticosterone and testosterone treatment influence expression of gene pathways linked to meiotic segregation in preovulatory follicles of the domestic hen.

Decades of work indicate that female birds can control their offspring sex ratios in response to environmental and social cues. In laying hens, hormones administered immediately prior to sex chromosome segregation can exert sex ratio skews, indicating that these hormones may act directly on the germinal disc to influence which sex chromosome is retained in the oocyte and which is discarded into an unfertilizable polar body. We aimed to uncover the gene pathways involved in this process by testing whether treatments with testosterone or corticosterone that were previously shown to influence sex ratios elicit changes in the expression of genes and/or gene pathways involved in the process of meiotic segregation. We injected laying hens with testosterone, corticosterone, or control oil 5h prior to ovulation and collected germinal discs from the F1 preovulatory follicle in each hen 1.5h after injection. We used RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) followed by DESeq2 and gene set enrichment analyses to identify genes and gene pathways that were differentially expressed between germinal discs of control and hormone-treated hens. Corticosterone treatment triggered downregulation of 13 individual genes, as well as enrichment of gene sets related to meiotic spindle organization and chromosome segregation, and additional gene sets that function in ion transport. Testosterone treatment triggered upregulation of one gene, and enrichment of one gene set that functions in nuclear chromosome segregation. This work indicates that corticosterone can be a potent regulator of meiotic processes and provides potential gene targets on which corticosterone and/or testosterone may act to influence offspring sex ratios in birds

A Pyridinic Fe-N4 Macrocycle Effectively Models the Active Sites in Fe/N-Doped Carbon Electrocatalysts

Iron- and nitrogen-doped carbon (Fe-N-C) materials are leading candidates to replace platinum in fuel cells, but their active site structures are poorly understood. A leading postulate is that iron active sites in this class of materials exist in an Fe-N4 pyridinic ligation environment. Yet, molecular Fe-based catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) generally feature pyrrolic coordination and pyridinic Fe-N4 catalysts are, to the best of our knowledge, non-existent. We report the synthesis and characterization of a molecular pyridinic hexaazacyclophane macrocycle, (phen2N2)Fe, and compare its spectroscopic, electrochemical, and catalytic properties for oxygen reduction to a prototypical Fe-N-C material, as well as iron phthalocyanine, (Pc)Fe, and iron octaethylporphyrin, (OEP)Fe, prototypical pyrrolic iron macrocycles. N 1s XPS signatures for coordinated N atoms in (phen2N2)Fe are positively shifted relative to (Pc)Fe and (OEP)Fe, and overlay with those of Fe-N-C. Likewise, spectroscopic XAS signatures of (phen2N2)Fe are distinct from those of both (Pc)Fe and (OEP)Fe, and are remarkably similar to those of Fe-N-C with compressed Fe–N bond lengths of 1.97 Å in (phen2N2)Fe that are close to the average 1.94 Å length in Fe-N-C. Electrochemical studies establish that both (Pc)Fe and (phen2N2)Fe have relatively high Fe(III/II) potentials at ~0.6 V, ~300 mV positive of (OEP)Fe. The ORR onset potential is found to directly correlate with the Fe(III/II) potential leading to a ~300 mV positive shift in the onset of ORR for (Pc)Fe and (phen2N2)Fe relative to (OEP)Fe. Consequently, the ORR onset for (phen2N2)Fe and (Pc)Fe is within 150 mV of Fe-N-C. Unlike (OEP)Fe and (Pc)Fe, (phen2N2)Fe displays excellent selectivity for 4-electron ORR with 2O2 production, comparable to Fe-N-C materials. The aggregate spectroscopic and electrochemical data establish (phen2N2)Fe as a pyridinic iron macrocycle that effectively models Fe-N-C active sites, thereby providing a rich molecular platform for understanding this important class of catalytic materials.</p