• Title/Summary/Keyword: Functional molecules

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Regulation by Reversible S-Glutathionylation: Molecular Targets Implicated in Inflammatory Diseases

  • Shelton, Melissa D.;Mieyal, John J.
    • Molecules and Cells
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    • v.25 no.3
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    • pp.332-346
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    • 2008
  • S-glutathionylation is a reversible post-translational modification that continues to gain eminence as a redox regulatory mechanism of protein activity and associated cellular functions. Many diverse cellular proteins such as transcription factors, adhesion molecules, enzymes, and cytokines are reported to undergo glutathionylation, although the functional impact has been less well characterized. De-glutathionylation is catalyzed specifically and efficiently by glutaredoxin (GRx, aka thioltransferase), and facile reversibility is critical in determining the physiological relevance of glutathionylation as a means of protein regulation. Thus, studies with cohesive themes addressing both the glutathionylation of proteins and the corresponding impact of GRx are especially useful in advancing understanding. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and redox regulation are well accepted as playing a role in inflammatory processes, such as leukostasis and the destruction of foreign particles by macrophages. We discuss in this review the current implications of GRx and/or glutathionylation in the inflammatory response and in diseases associated with chronic inflammation, namely diabetes, atherosclerosis, inflammatory lung disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease, and in viral infections.

Modulatory Effect of BAY11-7082 on CD29-mediated Cell-cell Adhesion in Monocytic U937 Cells (BAY11-7082에 의한 U937 세포의 CD29-매개성 세포간 유착과정 조절 효과)

  • Kim, Byung-Hun;Cho, Jae-Youl
    • YAKHAK HOEJI
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    • v.52 no.5
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    • pp.412-417
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    • 2008
  • BAY11-7082 was initially found to be an anti-inflammatory drug with NF-${\kappa}B$ inhibitory property. In this study, we evaluated modulatory function of BAY11-7082 on U937 cell-cell adhesion induced by CD29 (${\beta}1$-integrins). BAY11-7082 strongly blocked functional activation of CD29 (${\beta}1$-integrins), as assessed by cell-cell adhesion assay. However, this compound did not block a simple activation of CD29, as assessed by cell-fibronectin adhesion assay. In particular, to understand molecular mechanism of BAY11-7082-mediated inhibition, the regulatory roles of CD29-induced actin cytoskeleton rearrangement under cell-cell adhesion and surface level of CD29 were examined using confocal and flow cytometic analysis. Interestingly, this compound strongly suppressed the molecular association of actin cytoskeleton with CD29 at cell-cell adhesion site. Moreover, BAY11-7082 also diminished surface levels of CD29 as well as its-associated adhesion molecule CD147, but not other adhesion molecules such as CD18 and CD43. Therefore, our data suggest that BAY11-7082 may be involved in regulating immune responses managed by CD29-mediated cell-cell adhesion.

First-principles study of the initial-stage oxidation of Si(1110)-(7x7)

  • Lee, Sung-Hoon;Kang, Myung-Ho
    • Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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    • 2000.02a
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    • pp.147-147
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    • 2000
  • Chemisorption of oxygen molecules on the Si(111)-(7x7) surface has been studied extensively as a model for the initial-stage oxidation of the surface. The basic step to the surface oxidation is the dissociation of the adsorbed O2 molecules, but the dissociation procedure and the atomic structure of the reaction products still remains as a subject of debates. We present here density-functional theory calculations on the initial-stage oxidation states of the Si adatom site for all possible dissociation configurations that can be generated by multiple O2 reactions. We determine the equilibrium structures and analyze their electronic and vibrational properties in comparison with measured UPS, XPS, and EELS spectra. The O(ad) atom bonded on top of the Si adatom is always less stable than the O(ins) atom inserted into one of the adatom backbonds. Our electronic and vibrational analysis demonstrates further that the O(ad) and O(ins) atoms account well for the metastable and stable features in previous experiments, respectively. Moreover, the calculated decay pathways of the metastable structures and the comparison of the calculated O ls core-level shifts with XPS data provides a convincing argument in unambiguously identifying the experimental metastable and stable structures, thereby making it possible to build a correct atomic-scale picture of the initial-stage oxidation process on this surface.

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Enhancing Performance of 1-aminopyrene Light-Emitting Diodes via Hybridization with ZnO Quantum Dots

  • Choi, Jong Hyun;Kim, Hong Hee;Choi, Won Kook
    • Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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    • v.31 no.4
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    • pp.238-243
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    • 2022
  • In this study, a pyrene-core single molecule with amino (-NH2) functional group material was hybridized using ZnO quantum dots (QDs). The suppressed performance of the 1-aminopyrene (1-PyNH2) single molecule as an emissive layer (EML) in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) was exploited by adopting the ZnO@1-PyNH2 core-shell structure. Unlike pristine 1-PyNH2 molecules, the ZnO@1-PyNH2 hybrid QDs formed energy proximity levels that enabled charge transfer. This result can be interpreted as an improvement in surface roughness. The uniform and homogeneous EML alleviates dark-spot degradation. Moreover, LEDs with the ITO/PEDOT:PSS/TFB/EML/TPBi/LiF/Al configuration were fabricated to evaluate the performance of two emissive materials, where pristine-1-PyNH2 molecules and ZnO@1-PyNH2 QDs were used as the EML materials to verify the improvement in electrical characteristics. The ZnO@1-PyNH2 LEDs exhibited blue luminescence at 443 nm (FWHM = 49 nm), with a turn-on voltage of 4 V, maximum luminance of 1500 cd/m2, maximum luminous efficiency of 0.66 cd/A, and power efficiency of 0.41 lm/W.

Corrosion Protection Effectiveness and Adsorption Performance of Schiff Base-Quinazoline on Mild Steel in HCl Environment

  • Sayyid, Firas F.;Mustafa, Ali M.;Hanoon, Mahdi M.;Shaker, Lina M.;Alamiery, Ahmed A.
    • Corrosion Science and Technology
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    • v.21 no.2
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    • pp.77-88
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    • 2022
  • Schiff base quinazoline derivative viz., 3-((2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)amino)-2-methylquinazolin-4(3H)-one (SB-Q), was synthesized in this study. Its corrosion protection impact on mild steel (MS) in 1 M hydrochloric acid solution was examined by performing weight loss measurements. The protective efficacy of SB-Q on MS in 1 M HCl was investigated based on its concentrations, immersion period, and immersion temperature. SB-Q was found to be an efficient inhibitor for the corrosion of MS. Its inhibition efficiency was improved by increasing the concentration of SB-Q to an optimal concentration of 500 ppm. Its inhibition efficacy was 96.3% at 303K. Experimental findings revealed that its inhibition efficiency was increased with increasing immersion time, but decreased with an increase in temperature. The adsorption of SB-Q molecules was followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. The adsorption of the examined inhibitor molecules on the surface of mild steel was studied by density functional theory (DFT). DFT investigation confirmed weight loss findings.

The Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Senescence

  • Oh, Chaehwan;Koh, Dahyeon;Jeon, Hyeong Bin;Kim, Kyoung Mi
    • Molecules and Cells
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    • v.45 no.9
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    • pp.603-609
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    • 2022
  • Cells can communicate in a variety of ways, such as by contacting each other or by secreting certain factors. Recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been proposed to be mediators of cell communication. EVs are small vesicles with a lipid bilayer membrane that are secreted by cells and contain DNA, RNAs, lipids, and proteins. These EVs are secreted from various cell types and can migrate and be internalized by recipient cells that are the same or different than those that secrete them. EVs harboring various components are involved in regulating gene expression in recipient cells. These EVs may also play important roles in the senescence of cells and the accumulation of senescent cells in the body. Studies on the function of EVs in senescent cells and the mechanisms through which nonsenescent and senescent cells communicate through EVs are being actively conducted. Here, we summarize studies suggesting that EVs secreted from senescent cells can promote the senescence of other cells and that EVs secreted from nonsenescent cells can rejuvenate senescent cells. In addition, we discuss the functional components (proteins, RNAs, and other molecules) enclosed in EVs that enter recipient cells.

Impact of Cyano and Fluorine Group Functionalization on the Optoelectronic and Photovoltaic Properties of Donor-Acceptor-π-Acceptor Benzothiadiazole Derived Small Molecules: A DFT and TD-DFT Study

  • Prabhat Gautam;Anurag Gautam;Neeraj Kumar
    • Korean Journal of Materials Research
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    • v.33 no.6
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    • pp.236-241
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    • 2023
  • Solar cells based on p-conjugated donor-acceptor (D-A) organic molecular systems are a promising alternative to conventional electrical energy generation. D-A molecular systems, which have a triphenylamine (TPA) moiety linked with a benzothiadiazole (BTD) moiety, open the potential development of new small molecule donors for bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. Here, a series of donor-acceptor-π-acceptor (D-A-π-A) small molecule donors (SMD) derived from triphenylamine (TPA) donor and benzothiadiazole (BTD) acceptor building blocks, were designed for BHJ organic solar cells. The small molecule donors SMD1-4 were studied using density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent-DFT (TDDFT) methods, to understand the effect of cyano and fluorine group functionalization on their properties. The effect of structure alteration by cyano and fluorine group functionalization on the optoelectronic properties, the calculated highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMOs) and the HOMO-LUMO gaps were theoretically explored. The Voc (open-circuit photovoltage) and fill factor (FF) for SMD1-4 were obtained with a PC71BM acceptor, which showed that these organic small molecules are potential small molecule donors for organic bulk heterojunction solar cells.

Regular Distribution of -OH Fragments on a Si (001)-c(4×2) Surface by Dissociation of Water Molecules (물 분자의 해리에 의한 Si (001)-c(4×2) 표면에서의 수산화기의 균일한 분포)

  • Lee, Soo-Kyung;Oh, Hyun-Chul;Kim, Dae-Hee;Jeong, Yong-Chan;Baek, Seung-Bin;Kim, Yeong-Cheol
    • Korean Journal of Materials Research
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    • v.20 no.9
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    • pp.457-462
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    • 2010
  • Adsorption of a water molecule on a Si (001) surface and its dissociation were studied using density functional theory to study the distribution of -OH fragments on the Si surface. The Si (001) surface was composed of Si dimers, which buckle in a zigzag pattern below the order-disorder transition temperature to reduce the surface energy. When a water molecule approached the Si surface, the O atom of the water molecule favored the down-buckled Si atom, and the H atom of the water molecule favored the up-buckled Si atom. This is explained by the attractions between the negatively charged O of the water and the positively charged down-buckled Si atom and between the positively charged H of the water and the negatively charged up-buckled Si atom. Following the adsorption of the first water molecule on the surface, a second water molecule adsorbed on either the inter-dimer or intra-dimer site of the Si dimer. The dipole-dipole interaction of the two adsorbed water molecules led to the formation of the water dimer, and the dissociation of the water molecules occurred easily below the order-disorder transition temperature. Therefore, the 1/2 monolayer of -OH on the water-terminated Si (001) surface shows a regular distribution. The results shed light on the atomic layer deposition process of alternate gate dielectric materials, such as $HfO_2$.

Identification of High Affinity Non-Peptidic Small Molecule Inhibitors of MDM2-p53 Interactions through Structure-Based Virtual Screening Strategies

  • Bandaru, Srinivas;Ponnala, Deepika;Lakkaraju, Chandana;Bhukya, Chaitanya Kumar;Shaheen, Uzma;Nayarisseri, Anuraj
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.16 no.9
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    • pp.3759-3765
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    • 2015
  • Background: Approaches in disruption of MDM2-p53 interactions have now emerged as an important therapeutic strategy in resurrecting wild type p53 functional status. The present study highlights virtual screening strategies in identification of high affinity small molecule non-peptidic inhibitors. Nutlin3A and RG7112 belonging to compound class of Cis-imidazoline, MI219 of Spiro-oxindole class and Benzodiazepine derived TDP 665759 served as query small molecules for similarity search with a threshold of 95%. The query molecules and the similar molecules corresponding to each query were docked at the transactivation binding cleft of MDM2 protein. Aided by MolDock algorithm, high affinity compound against MDM2 was retrieved. Patch Dock supervised Protein-Protein interactions were established between MDM2 and ligand (query and similar) bound and free states of p53. Compounds with PubCid 68870345, 77819398, 71132874, and 11952782 respectively structurally similar to Nutlin3A, RG7112, Mi219 and TDP 665759 demonstrated higher affinity to MDM2 in comparison to their parent compounds. Evident from the protein-protein interaction studies, all the similar compounds except for 77819398 (similar to RG 7112) showed appreciable inhibitory potential. Of particular relevance, compound 68870345 akin to Nutlin 3A had highest inhibitory potential that respectively showed 1.3, 1.2, 1.16 and 1.26 folds higher inhibitory potential than Nutilin 3A, MI 219, RG 7112 and TDP 1665759. Compound 68870345 was further mapped for structure based pharamacophoric features. In the study, we report Cis-imidazoline derivative compound; Pubcid: 68870345 to have highest inhibitory potential in blocking MDM2-p53 interactions hitherto discovered.

A DFT Study on the Polarizability of Di-substituted Arene (o-, m-, p-) Molecules used as Supercharging Reagents during Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

  • Abaye, Daniel A.;Aniagyei, Albert;Adedia, David;Nielsen, Birthe V.;Opoku, Francis
    • Mass Spectrometry Letters
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    • v.13 no.3
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    • pp.49-57
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    • 2022
  • During electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) analysis of proteins, the addition of supercharging agents allows for adjusting the maximal charge state, affecting the charge state distribution, and increases the number of ions reaching the detector thus, improving signal detection. We postulate that in di-substituted arene isomers, molecules with higher polarizability values should generate greater interactions and hence elicit higher signal intensities. Polarizability is an electronic parameter which has been demonstrated to predict many chemical interactions. Many properties can be predicted based on charge polarization. Molecular polarizability is a vital descriptor for explaining intermolecular interactions. We employed DFT (density functional/Hartree-Fock hybrid model, B3LYP)-derived descriptors and computed molecular polarizability for ten disubstituted arene reagents, each set made up of three (ortho, meta, para) isomers, with reported use as supercharging reagents during ESI experiments. The atomic electronic inputs were ionization potential (IP), electron affinity (EA), electronegativity (𝛘), hardness (η), chemical potential (µ), and dipole moment (D). We determined that the para isomers showed the highest polarizability values in nine of the ten sets. There was no difference between the ortho and meta isomers. Polarizability also increased with increasing complexity of the substituents on the benzene ring. Polarizability correlated positively with IP, EA, 𝛘, η, and D but correlated negatively with chemical potential. This DFT study predicts that the para isomers of di-substituted arene isomers should elicit the strongest ESI responses. An experimental comparison of the three isomers, especially of larger supercharging molecules, could be carried out to establish this premise.