Conformational isomerism

About: Conformational isomerism is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11563 publications have been published within this topic receiving 199312 citations.

Pathogenic Mutations Shift the Equilibria of α-Synuclein Single Molecules towards Structured Conformers

Abstract: Alpha-synuclein (alpha-Syn) is an abundant brain protein whose mutations have been linked to early-onset Parkinson's disease (PD). We recently demonstrated, by means of a single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) methodology, that the conformational equilibrium of monomeric wild-type (WT) alpha-Syn shifts toward beta-containing structures in several unrelated conditions linked to PD pathogenicity. Herein, we follow the same methodology previously employed for WT alpha-Syn to characterize the conformational heterogeneity of pathological alpha-Syn mutants A30P, A53T, and E46K. Contrary to the bulk ensemble-averaged spectroscopies so far employed to this end by different authors, our single-molecule methodology monitored marked differences in the conformational behaviors of the mutants with respect to the WT sequence. We found that all the mutants have a much higher propensity than the WT to adopt a monomeric compact conformation that is compatible with the acquiring of beta structure. Mutants A30P and A53T show a similar conformational equilibrium that is significantly different from that of E46K. Another class of conformations, stabilized by mechanically weak interactions (MWI), shows a higher variety in the mutants than in the WT protein. In the A30P mutant these interactions are relatively stronger, and therefore the corresponding conformations are possibly more structured. The more structured and globular conformations of the mutants can explain their higher propensity to aggregate with respect to the WT.

Cyclophanes of Perylene Tetracarboxylic Diimide with Different Substituents at Bay Positions

Abstract: Cyclophanes of perylene tetracarboxylic diimides (PDIs) with different substituents at the bay positions, namely four phenoxy groups at the 1,7-positions (1), four piperidinyl groups at the 1,7-positions (2), and eight phenoxy groups at the 1,6,7,12-positions (3) of the two PDI rings, have been synthesized by the condensation of perylene dianhydride with amine in a dilute solution. These novel cyclophanes were characterized by (1)H NMR spectroscopy, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, electronic absorption spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The conformational isomers of cyclophanes substituted with four piperidinyl groups at the 1,7-positions (2 a and 2 b) were successfully separated by preparative TLC. The main absorption band of the cyclophanes shifts significantly to the higher energy side in comparison with their monomeric counterparts, which indicates significant pi-pi interaction between the PDI units in the cyclophanes. Nevertheless, both the electronic absorption and fluorescence spectra of the cyclophanes were found to change along with the number and nature of the side groups at the bay positions of the PDI ring. Time-dependent DFT calculations on the conformational isomers 2 a and 2 b reproduce well their experimental electronic absorption spectra. Electrochemical studies reveal that the first oxidation and reduction potentials of the PDI ring in the cyclophanes increase significantly compared with those of the corresponding monomeric counterparts, in line with the change in the energy of the HOMO and LUMO according to the theoretical calculations.

Conformers of Saturated Chains: Matrix Isolation, Structure, IR and UV Spectra of n‐Si4Me10

Abstract: Infrared and ultraviolet spectra of the gauche and anti conformers of matrix-isolated permethyl-n-tetrasilane have been obtained separately by taking advantage of thermally induced gauche-to-anti conversion and of wavelength-selective photochemical destruction of either conformer. The resolved UV spectrum of the gauche conformer provides the first piece of experimental evidence in favor of the recently proposed reinterpretation of conformational effects on tetrasilane electronic states. According to this, it is not the energy but the intensity of the lowest singlet excitation that changes dramatically as the SiSiSiSi dihedral angle is varied, as a result of an avoided crossing between sigma sigma* and sigma pi* states. Implications for the general understanding of sigma conjugation in simple terms are discussed. Unconstrained MP2/6-31G* optimization predicts the existence of a third backbone conformer (ortho), with a dihedral angle of about 90 degrees. Its predicted (HF/3-21G*) mid-IR spectrum is indistinguishable from that of the gauche conformer, and the matrix-isolation spectra thus provide no evidence for or against its presence.

Method for separation of isomers and different conformations of ions in gaseous phase

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of separating ions having the same mass to charge ratio but different ion mobility characteristics, based on the ion focussing principles of high field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry. Isomers including gas-phase molecular anions of the amino acids leucine and isoleucine are separable by the method of the present invention. Identification of different conformers of ions at the same charge state, including conformers present at certain charge states of the protein bovine ubiquitin, is also possible using the method of the present invention.