Small molecule-macromolecular interactions as studied by optical rotatory dispersion--circular dichroism

Determination of 3- and 4-chloromethcathinone interactions with plasma proteins: study involving analytical and theoretical methods

PURPOSE

The purpose of this paper was to determine 3- and 4-chloromethcathinone (3- and 4-CMC) binding degree and possible binding interaction modes with human serum albumin (HSA) using analytical and theoretical methods.

METHODS

Experimental determination of 3- and 4-CMC binding degree with HSA was performed using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry preceded by the equilibrium dialysis (ED) and ultrafiltration (UF). Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to determine 3- and 4-CMC epitope-binding maps and possible binding sites in HSA. The molecular docking and molecular dynamics were employed to obtain detailed information about binding modes of 3- and 4-CMC enantiomers in HSA.

RESULTS

As follows from the presented data, the degree of binding of 3- and 4-CMC is at a similar level of approx. 80%. This indicates a relatively strong binding of CMC to plasma proteins. The model studies employing the NMR spectroscopy and molecular simulations indicate that both CMCs bind to HSA. The whole 3- and 4-CMC molecules are embedded in the binding sites, with aromatic moieties being in the closest contact with the HSA residues. Moreover, conducted experiments show that  Sudlow site II is the main binding center for 3- and 4-CMC and  Sudlow site I acts as the secondary binding site.

CONCLUSIONS

Although many studies describe pharmacological and toxicological properties of synthetic cathinones (SC), the data taking SCs binding in plasma into consideration are scarce. To our knowledge, this is the first report presenting comprehensive experimental and theoretical characterization of 3- and 4-CMC binding with plasma proteins.

Effects of anesthetics and dichlorodifluoromethane on the activities of glyceraldehyde-phosphate dehydrogenase and pectin methylesterase

Solutions of glucose-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) and pectin methylesterase (PME) were exposed to various anesthetics and dichlorodifluoromethane (F-12) to determine the abilities of these chemicals to inhibit enzyme activity. An aqueous solution of PME was exposed to saturation levels of the test chemicals for 30 min at 21 degrees. All test chemicals were inhibitory (measured after release of the test chemical) with propane being most inhibitory followed in order by F-12, cyclopropane, Ethrane (F2HCOF2CCHClF) and halothane (CF3CHClBr). GPD was exposed to various concentrations of F-12 and halothane for various times at 0 degrees and 33 degrees. Halothane at 33 degrees and a saturation concentration reduced the initial reaction velocity of GPD to zero after a 10-min exposure period. F-12 was somewhat less inhibitory than halothane, but inhibition in all instances was irreversible. Halothane was found to affect the circular dichroism and optical rotary dispersion spectra of GPD, with the magnitude of the changes generally increasing with treatment time. The observed changes were believed to arise from side-chain transitions of GPD.

The interaction of yeast hexokinase with Procion Green H-4G

1. A number of reactive triazine dyes specifically and irreversibly inactive yeast hexokinase at pH 8.5 and 33 degrees C. Under these conditions, the enzyme is readily inactivated by 100 microM-Procion Green H-4G, Blue H-B, Turquoise H-7G and Turquoise H-A, is less readily inactivated by Procion Brown H-2G. Green HE-4BD, Red HE-3B and Yellow H-5G and is not inactivated at all by Procion Yellow H-A. 2. The inactivation of hexokinase by Procion Green H-4G is competitively inhibited by the adenine nucleotides ATP and ADP and the sugar substrates D-glucose, D-mannose and D-fructose but not by nonsubstrates such as D-arabinose and D-galactose. 3. Quantitatively inhibited hexokinase contains approx. 1 mol of dye per mol of monomer of mol.wt. 51000. The inhibition is irreversible and activity cannot be recovered on incubation with high concentration (20 mM) of ATP or D-glucose. 4. Mg2+ protects the enzyme against inactivation by Procion Green H-4G but enhances the rate of inactivation by all the other Procion dyes tested. In the presence of 10 mM-Mg2+ the apparent dissociation constant between enzyme and dye is reduced from 199.0 microM to 41.6 microM. Binding of the dye to hexokinase is accompanied by characteristic spectral changes in the range 560-700 nm. 5. Mg2+ promotes binding of yeast hexokinase to agarose-immobilized Procion Green H-4G but not to the other dyes tested. Elution could be effected by omission of Mg2+ from the column irrigants or by inclusion of MgATP or D-glucose, but not by D-galactose. These effects can be exploited to purify hexokinase from crude yeast extracts. 6. The specific active-site-directed binding of triazine dyes to yeast hexokinase is interpreted in terms of the crystallographic structure of the hexokinase monomer.

Optical studies on interaction of biliary contrast agents with native and modified human serum albumin

The interaction of two homologous series of biliary contrast agents with native human and bovine serum albumin and with modified human serum albumin was investigated using circular dichroism and equilibrium dialysis. For most derivatives, extrinsic Cotton effects were observed for the interaction with both albumins. In some cases, these effects were strongly affected by only small changes in the chemical structure of the drugs. These large differences in extrinsic Cotton effects can be explained by definite effects of the chemical structures on the binding site selectivity of some drugs. For example, iopodate preferentially binds to the warfarin binding site of human serum albumin, while an ethyl group into the propionic acid side chain reduces the affinity for the warfarin site but strongly increases the affinity for the diazepam binding site of human albumin.

Optical properties of an outer membrane lipoprotein from Escherichia coli

The infrared spectrum of a structural lipoprotein from the Escherichia coli outer membrane indicated the lipoprotein had an alpha-helical conformation but no sign for the existence of beta-structures. From circular dichroism spectra of the lipoprotein, the alpha-helical content of the protein was found to be as high as 88% in 0.01-0.03% sodium dodecyl sulfate in the presence of 10(-5) M Mg2+ at pH 7.1 and 23 degrees C. When sodium dodecyl sulfate concentration increased higher than 0.1%, the alpha-helical content of the lipoprotein decreased to about 57%. Divalent cations, such as Mg2+ and Mn2+, were found to increase the helical content of the lipoprotein. The high alpha-helical content of the lipoprotein was observed in a wide range of temperatures (23 to 55 degrees C). The significance of the high alpha-helical content of the lipoprotein is discussed in light of the three-dimensional molecular models of the lipoprotein proposed previously.