Two new fluorescent macrocyclic structures bearing two naphthalene (Np) units at both ends of a cyclic polyaminic chain were investigated with potentiometric, fluorescence (steady-state and time-resolved) and laser flash photolysis techniques. The fluorescence emission studies show the presence of an excimer species whose formation depends on the protonation state of the polyamine chains implying the existence of a bending movement (occurring in both the ground and in the first singlet excited state), which allows the two naphthalene units to approach and interact. For comparison purposes, one bis-chromophoric compound containing a rigid chain (piperazine unit) was also investigated. Its emission spectra shows a unique band decaying single exponentially thus showing that no excimer is formed. With the two new ligands, excimer formation occurs in all situations even at very acidic pH values when the protonation of the polyamine bridges is extensive. Coexistence of ground-state dimers with dynamic excimers was established based on steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence data. The energetics of excimer formation and dissociation were determined in ethanol and water. Different methods of decay analysis (independent decay deconvolution, global analysis and excimer deconvolution with monomer) were used to extract the kinetic (rate constants for excimer formation, dissociation, and decay) and thermodynamic parameters. In ethanol and acidified ethanol:water mixtures, an additional short decay time was found to exist and assigned to a dimer, whose presence is assumed to be responsible by the decrease in activation energy for excimer formation in this solvent. The results are globally discussed in terms of the small architectural differences that can induce significant changes in the photophysical behavior of the three studied compounds.

comprehensive investigation on the energetics and dynamics of a new fluorescent sensor constituted by a tripodal polyamine receptor containing three naphthalene fluorophores, compound L, is reported. The influence of external factors such as the solvent, hydrogen ion concentration, and temperature in the photophysics of the sensor is discussed. The temperature dependence of monomer/excimer interconversion of L revealed an average percentage relative sensitivity of 4.5%/degreesC thus portending its use as a temperature sensor. The activation energy for excimer formation (E-1 = 12 kJ mol(-1)) and dissociation (E-1 = 57 kJ mol(-1)), entropy change (DeltaS = -128 J K-1 mol(-1)), and the binding energy of the excimer (DeltaH = 45 kJ mol(-1)) were obtained in water at acidic pH values and ethanol (E-1 = 15 kJ mol(-1), E-1 = 40 kJ mol(-1), DeltaS = -61 J K-1 mol(-1), and DeltaH = 25 kJ mol(-1)). The dependence of the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters on the dielectric constant of the medium and on the degree of protonation of the polyamine chain was interpreted in terms of the excimer destabilization provoked by the electrostatic repulsion between the positively charged chains.

The synthesis of a new oxaaza macrocyclic ligand, L, derived from O-1,O-7-bis(2-formylphenyl)-1,4,7-trioxaheptane and tren containing an amine terminal pendant arm, and its metal complexation with alkaline earth (M = Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+), transition (M = Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+), post-transition (M = Pb2+), and Y3+ and lanthanide (M = La3+, Er3+) metal ions are reported. Crystal structures of [H2L](ClO4)(2).3H(2)O, [PbL](ClO4)(2), and [ZnLCl](ClO4).H2O are also reported. In the [PbL] complex, the metal ion is located inside the macrocyclic cavity coordinated by all N4O3 donor atoms while, in the [ZnLCI] complex, the metal ion is encapsulated only by the nitrogen atoms present in the ligand. pi-pi interactions in the [H2L](ClO4)(2).3H(2)O and [PbL](ClO4)(2) structures are observed. Protonation and Zn2+, Cd2+, and Cu2+ complexation were studied by means of potentiometric, UV-vis, and fluorescent emission measurements. The 10-fold fluorescence emission increase observed in the pH range 7-9 in the presence of Zn2+ leads to L as a good sensor for this biological metal in water solution.

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The fluorescence emission properties of a series of chemosensors containing a polyamine receptor bearing an anthracene signaling unit were studied. The fluorescence emission intensity is dependent on the protonation degree of the receptor, the fully protonated form exhibiting the highest emission intensity. By removing protons from the nitrogens a quenching effect can be observed, due to an electron-transfer from the amine to the excited fluorophore. The rate constant of the quenching process is exponentially dependent on the distance of the nitrogen from which the electron is transferred (beta = 0.6Angstrom(-1)). The ability of the chemosensors for signaling anions was tested through the model anion hexacyanocobaltate(III). The temperature dependence of the association constants shows that at least for this compound, the change in solvation entropy is probably the controlling parameter to account for the binding. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The Bacillus subtilis proteins involved in the utilization of L-arabinose are encoded by the araABDLMNPQ–abfA metabolic operon and by the araE/araR divergent unit. Transcription from the ara operon, araE transport gene and araR regulatory gene is induced by L-arabinose and negatively controlled by AraR. Additionally, expression of both the ara operon and the araE gene is regulated at the transcriptional level by glucose repression. Here, by transcriptional fusion analysis in different mutant backgrounds, it is shown that CcpA most probably complexed with HPr-Ser46-P plays the major role in carbon catabolite repression of the ara regulon by glucose and glycerol. Site-directed mutagenesis and deletion analysis indicate that two catabolite responsive elements (cres) present in the ara operon (cre araA and cre araB) and one cre in the araE gene (cre araE) are implicated in this mechanism. Furthermore, cre araA located between the promoter region of the ara operon and the araA gene, and cre araB placed 2 kb downstream within the araB gene are independently functional and both contribute to glucose repression. In Northern blot analysis, in the presence of glucose, a CcpA-dependent transcript consistent with a message stopping at cre araB was detected, suggesting that transcription ‘roadblocking’ of RNA polymerase elongation is the most likely mechanism operating in this system. Glucose exerts an additional repression of the ara regulon, which requires a functional araR.

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New BCH-derived PN-EB (pseudo-noise even balanced) sequences suitable to be used in CDMA systems are presented in this paper. It is assumed a new definition for processing gain, which better accounts for the system performance regarding the narrow band noise rejection, and it is shown how to obtain high processing gain values, namely, by using zero mean spreading signals in channels with selective noise. The new sequences have low autocorrelation levels, exist in large numbers and can provide higher processing gain with selective noise.

Flavocytochrome c3 is a periplasmic fumarate reductase with Mr 63.8 kDa, isolated from Shewanella frigidimarina NCIMB400. NMR spectroscopy was tested for its potential to elucidate the oxidation profile of each of the four haem groups in the enzyme, using the strategy developed previously to perform the thermodynamic characterization of small tetrahaem cytochromes (FEBS Lett. 314 (1992) 155). This work shows that, despite the large size of the protein, 2D-NMR NOESY experiments can be used to obtain the network of chemical exchange connectivities, between the signals of specific haem groups in sequential oxidation stages.

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The membranes of the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus metallicus exhibit an oxygen consumption activity of 0.5 nmol O2 min−1 mg−1, which is insensitive to rotenone, suggesting the presence of a type-II NADH dehydrogenase. Following this observation, the enzyme was purified from solubilised membranes and characterised. The pure protein is a monomer with an apparent molecular mass of 49 kDa, having a high N-terminal amino acid sequence similarity towards other prokaryotic enzymes of the same type. It contains a covalently attached flavin, which was identified as being FMN by 31P-NMR spectroscopy, a novelty among type-II NADH dehydrogenases. Metal analysis showed the absence of iron, indicating that no FeS clusters are present in the protein. The average reduction potential of the FMN group was determined to be +160 mV, at 25 °C and pH 6.5, by redox titrations monitored by visible spectroscopy. Catalytically, the enzyme is a NADH:quinone oxidoreductase, as it is capable of transferring electrons from NADH to several quinones, including ubiquinone-1, ubiquinone-2 and caldariella quinone. Maximal turnover rates of 195 μmol NADH oxidized min−1 mg−1 at 60 °C were obtained using ubiquinone-2 as electron acceptor, after enzyme dilution and incubation with phospholipids.

The facultative aerobic bacterium Shewanella frigidimarina produces a small c-type tetrahaem cytochrome (86 residues) under anaerobic growth conditions. This protein is involved in the respiration of iron and shares 42% sequence identity with the N-terminal domain of a soluble flavocytochrome, isolated from the periplasm of the same bacterium, which also contains four c-type haem groups. The thermodynamic properties of the redox centres and of an ionizable centre in the tetrahaem cytochrome were determined using NMR and visible spectroscopy techniques. This is the first detailed thermodynamic study performed on a tetrahaem cytochrome isolated from a facultative aerobic bacterium and reveals that this protein presents unique features. The redox centres have negative and different redox potentials, which are modulated by redox interactions between the four haems (covering a range of 8–56mV) and by redox–Bohr interactions between the haems and an ionizable centre (-4 to -36mV) located in close proximity to haem III. All of the interactions between the five centres are clearly dominated by electrostatic effects and the microscopic reduction potential of haem III is the one most affected by the oxidation of the other haems and by the protonation state of the molecule. Altogether, this study indicates that the tetrahaem cytochrome isolated from S. frigidimarina (Sfc) has the thermodynamic properties to work as an electron wire between its redox partners. Considering the high degree of sequence identity between Sfc and the cytochrome domain of flavocytochrome c3, the structural similarities of the haem core, and that the macroscopic potentials are also identical, the results obtained in this work are rationalized in order to put forward a putative redox model for flavocytochrome c3.