Probing the Influence of Single-Site Mutations in the Central Cross-β Region of Amyloid β (1–40) Peptides

Amyloid β (Aβ) is a peptide known to form amyloid fibrils in the brain of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. A complete mechanistic understanding how Aβ peptides form neurotoxic assemblies and how they kill neurons has not yet been achieved. Previous analysis of various Aβ40 mutants could reveal the significant importance of the hydrophobic contact between the residues Phe19 and Leu34 for cell toxicity. For some mutations at Phe19, toxicity was completely abolished. In the current study, we assessed if perturbations introduced by mutations in the direct proximity of the Phe19/Leu34 contact would have similar relevance for the fibrillation kinetics, structure, dynamics and toxicity of the Aβ assemblies. To this end, we rationally modified positions Phe20 or Gly33. A small library of Aβ40 peptides with Phe20 mutated to Lys, Tyr or the non-proteinogenic cyclohexylalanine (Cha) or Gly33 mutated to Ala was synthesized. We used electron microscopy, circular dichroism, X-ray diffraction, solid-state NMR spectroscopy, ThT fluorescence and MTT cell toxicity assays to comprehensively investigate the physicochemical properties of the Aβ fibrils formed by the modified peptides as well as toxicity to a neuronal cell line. Single mutations of either Phe20 or Gly33 led to relatively drastic alterations in the Aβ fibrillation kinetics but left the global, as well as the local structure, of the fibrils largely unchanged. Furthermore, the introduced perturbations caused a severe decrease or loss of cell toxicity compared to wildtype Aβ40. We suggest that perturbations at position Phe20 and Gly33 affect the fibrillation pathway of Aβ40 and, thereby, influence the especially toxic oligomeric species manifesting so that the region around the Phe19/Leu34 hydrophobic contact provides a promising site for the design of small molecules interfering with the Aβ fibrillation pathway

Activation of Aromatic C‐F Bonds by a N‐Heterocyclic Olefin (NHO)

A N-heterocyclic olefin (NHO), a terminal alkeneselectively activates aromatic C-F bonds without the need of anyadditional catalyst. As a result, a straightforward methodology wasdeveloped for the formation of different fluoroaryl substituted alkenesin which the central carbon-carbon double bond is in a twistedgeometry.Fil: Mandal, Debdeep. International Centre Of Theoretical Science. Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; EspañaFil: Chandra, Shubhadeep. Freie Universität Berlin.; AlemaniaFil: Neuman, Nicolás Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Mahata, Alok. International Centre Of Theoretical Science. Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; EspañaFil: Sarkar, Arighna. International Centre Of Theoretical Science. Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; EspañaFil: Kundu, Abhinanda. International Centre Of Theoretical Science. Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; EspañaFil: Anga, Srinivas. International Centre Of Theoretical Science. Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; EspañaFil: Rawat, Hemant. International Centre Of Theoretical Science. Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; EspañaFil: Schulzke, Carola. ERNST MORITZ ARNDT UNIVERSITÄT GREIFSWALD (UG);Fil: Sarkar, Biprajit. Freie Universität Berlin.; AlemaniaFil: Mote, Kaustubh R.. International Centre Of Theoretical Science. Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; EspañaFil: Chandrasekhar, Vadapalli. International Centre Of Theoretical Science. Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; EspañaFil: Jana, Anukul. International Centre Of Theoretical Science. Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research; Españ

Crystal engineering of molecular to nonmolecular metal malonates in presence of piperazine: Role of metal ions in tuning architectures

1081-1090Growth of transition metal malonate (mal) based solids from aqueous solution is investigated in the presence of piperazine (pip). Reaction under ambient conditions favored the growth of [{M(mal)2(H2O)2}{H2pip}] (M: Ni, 1; M: Co, 2), [{Cu(mal)2(H2O)2}{H2pip}].2H2O (3), and, [Zn(mal)(pip)(H2O)] (4). While 1-3 are molecular solids, 4 is a 2-D coordination polymer. In the case of cobalt, higher acidic condition favored the formation of a molecular organic-inorganic salt, [(H2pip){CoCl4}] (5). The same reaction under a different crystallization condition, i.e., lesser polar solvent and slightly higher temperature (solvothermal) led to a 2-D coordination polymer [{Co(mal)(H2O)(Hpip)}]Cl (6). A retrosynthesis approach has been employed to interpret the crystallization reaction and compare the supramolecular reactivity of aggregating metal tectons in engineering the molecules to form either a molecular solid or coordination polymer

NMR Crystallography at Fast Magic-Angle Spinning Frequencies: Application of Novel Recoupling Methods

Chemical characterisation of active pharmaceutical compounds can be challenging, especially when these molecules exhibit tautomeric or desmotropic behaviour. The complexity can increase manyfold if these molecules are not susceptible to crystallisation. Solid-state NMR has been employed effectively for characterising such molecules. However, characterisation of a molecule is just a first step in identifying the differences in the crystalline structure. 1 H solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (ssNMR) studies on these molecules at fast magic-angle-spinning frequencies can provide a wealth of information and may be used along with ab initio calculations to predict the crystal structure in the absence of X-ray crystallographic studies. In this work, we attempted to use solid-state NMR to measure 1 H - 1 H distances that can be used as restraints for crystal structure calculations. We performed studies on the desmotropic forms of albendazole

Floquet theory in magnetic resonance: Formalism and applications

Floquet theory is an elegant mathematical formalism originally developed to solve time-dependent differential equations. Besides other fields, it has found applications in optical spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). This review attempts to give a perspective of the Floquet formalism as applied in NMR and shows how it allows one to solve various problems with a focus on solid-state NMR. We include both matrix- and operator-based approaches. We discuss different problems where the Hamiltonian changes with time in a periodic way. Such situations occur, for example, in solid-state NMR experiments where the time dependence of the Hamiltonian originates either from magic-angle spinning or from the application of amplitude- or phase-modulated radiofrequency fields, or from both. Specific cases include multiple-quantum and multiple-frequency excitation schemes. In all these cases, Floquet analysis allows one to define an effective Hamiltonian and, moreover, to treat cases that cannot be described by the more popularly used and simpler-looking average Hamiltonian theory based on the Magnus expansion. An important example is given by spin dynamics originating from multiple-quantum phenomena (level crossings). We show that the Floquet formalism is a very general approach for solving diverse problems in spectroscopy.ISSN:0079-6565ISSN:1873-330

Photoactive Anthraquinone-Based Host-Guest Assembly for Long-Lived Charge Separation

Porous 2D-covalent organic frameworks (COF) that are assembled axially through weak π-stacking interactions can provide reticular charge transport channels while playing host to kinetically stabilized reactive molecular redox-states. Here we demonstrate the above paradigm by constructing a host-guest supramolecular charge transfer (CT) assembly using photoactive anthraquinone-based crystalline COF as an acceptor while incarcerating electron donor N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) inside it. Employing femtosecond broadband transient absorption spectroscopy in combination with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies, we show that the CT occurs rapidly within <110 femtoseconds after photoexcitation, subsequently leading to long-lived charge separation with 13% quantum efficiency at room temperature. Photoinduced EPR signature of the long-lived confined DMA cation radical confirms the disparate regions of charge localization while 1H-13C correlation experiments using solid-state NMR spectroscopy enumerate the packing of the amines inside the host-guest COF assembly. Our work demonstrates the potency of rationally designed charge transport pathways in supramolecular assemblies for efficient charge separation which if optimally tuned should pave the way for COF-based photocatalytic reaction centres. </p

Measuring strong one-bond dipolar couplings using REDOR in magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR

ISSN:0021-9606ISSN:1089-769