Search results for "MOLECULE"

tRNA stabilization by modified nucleotides.

2010

Post-transcriptional ribonucleotide modification is a phenomenon best studied in tRNA, where it occurs most frequently and in great chemical diversity. This paper reviews the intrinsic network of modifications in the structural core of the tRNA, which governs structural flexibility and rigidity to fine-tune the molecule to peak performance and to regulate its steady-state level. Structural effects of RNA modifications range from nanometer-scale rearrangements to subtle restrictions of conformational space on the angstrom scale. Structural stabilization resulting from nucleotide modification results in increased thermal stability and translates into protection against unspecific degradation …

Modulation Theory of Adhesion: Role of the Ectoenzymes Glycosidase and Glycosyltransferase

1986

It is amazing, but still plausible, that in all animal systems hitherto studied there is only one basic principle by which cell-cell recognition occurs. From sponges to higher eukaryotes there is only a small number of cell adhesion molecules which are involved in cell-cell adhesion. Specificities and histogenetic patterning are achieved by modulating processes acting on cell adhesion molecules. In sponges (secondary aggregation system) and in other eukaryotes, the activity and function of cell adhesion molecules are assumed to be modulated by enzymatic processes (glycosylation and deglycosylation). Strong evidence from experiments with sponges is available which indicates that modulation c…

Hyperbranched aliphatic polyether polyols

2012

Hyperbranched polymers, dendritic macromolecules with branch-on-branch structures, have become an important polymer class since the early 1990s. They combine several advantages of the perfectly branched dendrimers with easy accessibility, typically in a one-step synthesis. Hyperbranched polyethers are a particularly interesting class of chemically stable and often biocompatible materials. Multifunctional hyperbranched polyethers with controllable molar mass and comparably low polydispersities can been prepared using hydroxyl-functional epoxides or oxetanes for polymerization via anionic and cationic polymerization mechanisms. Here, we review the progress in the preparation, characterization…

1995

Supramolecular structures based on 4-(3,5-dioxo-1,2,4-triazolidin-4-yl) benzoic acid (U4A) units act as effective junction zones in functionalized polybutadienes, resulting in the formation of thermoplastic elastomers. The dynamics on a molecular scale of the phenyl rings have been probed by 2H-NMR. In the polymeric system, there are three spatially separated environments, which are reflected in the mobility of the polar units. Phenyl rings which are incorporated in the structures are either rigid or undergo 180° phenyl flips. The small fraction of free functional groups move isotropically and their mobility is coupled to the dynamics of the polybutadiene matrix. In two model compounds, whe…

Load-collapse-release cascades of amphiphilic guest molecules in charged dendronized polymers through spatial separation of noncovalent forces.

2012

The ability to pack guest molecules into charged dendronized polymers (denpols) and the possibility to release these guest molecules from subsequently densely aggregated denpols in a load-collapse-release cascade is described. Charged denpols, which constitute molecular objects with a persistent, well-defined envelope and interior, are capable of incorporating large amounts of amphiphilic guest molecules. Simultaneously, multivalent ions can coordinate to the surfaces of charged denpols, leading to counterion-induced aggregation of the already guest-loaded host structures. Thus, although the local guest concentration in denpol-based molecular transport might already be initially high due to…

Soluble Single-Molecule Nanogels of Controlled Structure as a Matrix for Efficient Artificial Enzymes

2006

Two penta­de­hydro­peptides with different configurations of the ΔPhe residues

2009

Comparison of the crystal structures of two pentadehydropeptides containing DeltaPhe residues, namely (Z,Z)-N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)glycyl-alpha,beta-phenylalanylglycyl-alpha,beta-phenylalanylglycine (or Boc(0)-Gly(1)-Delta(Z)Phe(2)-Gly(3)-Delta(Z)Phe(4)-Gly(5)-OH) methanol solvate, C(29)H(33)N(5)O(8) x CH(4)O, (I), and (E,E)-N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)glycyl-alpha,beta-phenylalanylglycyl-alpha,beta-phenylalanylglycine (or Boc(0)-Gly(1)-Delta(E)Phe(2)-Gly(3)-Delta(E)Phe(4)-Gly(5)-OH), C(29)H(33)N(5)O(8), (II), indicates that the Delta(Z)Phe residue is a more effective inducer of folded structures than the Delta(E)Phe residue. The values of the torsion angles phi and psi show the presence of two …

Building molecular models using screw-on bottle caps

2013

Chemical models can be built using screw-on bottle caps. Two identical caps can be joined together by thermal welding to form atoms, and the resulting atoms can be joined together by welding or by hot polymer glue to form molecules. The method is easy, can be applied at every level of chemical education, and gives access to an unlimited number of models at almost no cost. It inspires hands-on activity of pupils and can be used to show the dependence between the three-dimensional structure of molecules and their chemical, physical, and biological features.

Estimation of pKa shifts in weak polyacids using a simple molecular model: effects of strong polybases, hydrogen bonding and divalent counterion bind…

2004

Abstract The pKa values of ionizable groups in macromolecules can be significantly different than those of the isolated groups in solution. We have estimated theoretically the changes in the dissociation constant of a weak acid (a) in the vicinity of another ionizable group (b) on the basis of the theoretical approach by Hill (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 78 (1956) 3330) for matching pairs of interacting sites on two large molecules. Three cases are considered for group b: the strong base, the same weak acid as group a with hydrogen bonding between them, and the same weak acid as group a with divalent counterion binding. The pKa shifts are evaluated in each case as a function of the interaction energy…

Small hydrocarbon cyclophanes: Synthesis, X-ray analysis and molecular modelling

2002

Small hydrocarbon cyclophanes, such as [2.2.0]m,m,m-cyclophane (20) and [2.2.0]p,m,m-cyclophane (21), are strained analogues of the well-known π-prismand [2.2.2]p,p,p-cyclophane (1). The synthetic route to these molecules is based on well-established cyclophane methodology which offers a general access to a whole family of hydrocarbon cyclophanes. Single crystal X-ray analysis and molecular modelling showed that the reduction of the ring size from 18-membered (1) to 14-membered (21) or 13-membered (20) has a substantial effect on the size and the shape of the cyclophane’s cavity, thus blocking its ability to complex Ag+ ions. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2002)