Relative contributions of scattering equation terms to the resonance spectra of synthetic metalloporphyrins

Issued as Yearly technical letter report, and Final project report, Project no. G-41-66

Tetracycloalkenyl-meso-tetraphenylporphyrins as Models for the Effect of Non-planarity on the Light Absorption Properties of Photosynthetic Chromophores

As the size of the cycloalkenyl ring in synthetic C5-C7 tetracycloalkenyl-meso-tetraphenylporphyrins (TCnTPP) is increased the porphyrin core changes from planar to non-planar, showing that porphyrins with well-defined degrees of ruffling can be synthesized for use in systematic studies to determine the effects of non-planarity

Mechanochromism, Shear Force Anisotropy, and Molecular Mechanics in Polydiacetylene Monolayers

The authors use scanning probe microscopy to actuate and characterize the nanoscale mechanochromism of polydiacetylene monolayer on atomically-flat silicon oxide substrates. They find explicit evidence that the irreversible blue-to-red transformation is caused by shear forces exerted normal to the polydiacetylene polymer backbone. The anisotropic probe-induced transformation is characterized by a significant change in the tilt orientation of the side chains with respect to the surface normal. They also describe a new technique, based on shear force microscopy, that allows them to image friction anisotropy of polydiacetylene monolayer independent of scan direction. Finally, they discuss preliminary molecular mechanics modeling and electronic structure calculations that allow them to understand the correlation of mechanochromism with bond-angle changes in the conjugated polymer backbone

Calcium-Dependent Conformation of a Heme and Fingerprint Peptide of the Di-Heme Cytochrome c Peroxidase from Paracoccus Pantotrophus

The structural changes in the heme macrocycle and substituents caused by binding of Ca{sup 2+} to the diheme cytochrome c peroxidase from Paracoccuspantotrophus were clarified by resonance Raman spectroscopy of the inactive filly oxidized form of the enzyme. The changes in the macrocycle vibrational modes are consistent with a Ca{sup 2+}-dependent increase in the out-of-plane distortion of the low-potential heme, the proposed peroxidatic heme. Most of the increase in out-of-plane distortion occurs when the high affinity site I is occupied, but a small further increase in distortion occurs when site II is also occupied by Ca{sup 2+}or Mg{sup 2+}. This increase in the heme distortion also explains the red shift in the Soret absorption band that occurs upon Ca{sup 2+} binding. Changes also occur in the low frequency substituent modes of the heme, indicating that a structural change in the covalently attached fingerprint pentapeptide of the LP heme occurs upon CM{sup 2+} binding to site I. These structural changes, possibly enhanced in the semi-reduced form of the enzyme, may lead to loss of the sixth ligand at the peroxidatic heme and activation of the enzyme

A Genetic Signature of Spina Bifida Risk from Pathway-Informed Comprehensive Gene-Variant Analysis

Despite compelling epidemiological evidence that folic acid supplements reduce the frequency of neural tube defects (NTDs) in newborns, common variant association studies with folate metabolism genes have failed to explain the majority of NTD risk. The contribution of rare alleles as well as genetic interactions within the folate pathway have not been extensively studied in the context of NTDs. Thus, we sequenced the exons in 31 folate-related genes in a 480-member NTD case-control population to identify the full spectrum of allelic variation and determine whether rare alleles or obvious genetic interactions within this pathway affect NTD risk. We constructed a pathway model, predetermined independent of the data, which grouped genes into coherent sets reflecting the distinct metabolic compartments in the folate/one-carbon pathway (purine synthesis, pyrimidine synthesis, and homocysteine recycling to methionine). By integrating multiple variants based on these groupings, we uncovered two provocative, complex genetic risk signatures. Interestingly, these signatures differed by race/ethnicity: a Hispanic risk profile pointed to alterations in purine biosynthesis, whereas that in non-Hispanic whites implicated homocysteine metabolism. In contrast, parallel analyses that focused on individual alleles, or individual genes, as the units by which to assign risk revealed no compelling associations. These results suggest that the ability to layer pathway relationships onto clinical variant data can be uniquely informative for identifying genetic risk as well as for generating mechanistic hypotheses. Furthermore, the identification of ethnic-specific risk signatures for spina bifida resonated with epidemiological data suggesting that the underlying pathogenesis may differ between Hispanic and non-Hispanic groups

Normal-Coordinate Structural Decomposition and the Vibronic Spectra of Porphyrins

The connection is made between the normal-coordinate structural decomposition (NSD) and the vibronic molecular states and spectra of porphyrins. NSD is a procedure that provides a description of the distortion of a porphyrin from a D{sub 4h} symmetric reference structure in terms of equivalent displacements along the normal coordinates. Expressions for the optical absorption spectra with vibrational structure are developed with these NSD-determined deformations as parameters, and the expressions are applied to the UV-visible absorption spectra porphyrins

Molecular Simulations of Porphyrins and Heme Proteins

An overview of the use of classical mechanical molecular simulations of porphyrins, hydroporphyrins, and heme proteins is given. The topics cover molecular mechanics calculations of structures and conformer energies of porphyrins, energies of barriers for interconversion between stable conformers, molecular dynamics of porphyrins and heme proteins, and normal-coordinate structural analysis of experimental and calculated porphyrin structures. Molecular mechanics and dynamics are currently a fertile area of research on porphyrins. In the future, other computational methods such as Monte Carlo simulations, which have yet to be applied to porphyrins, will come into use and open new avenues of research into molecular simulations of porphyrins