Competitive interactions of anti-carcinogens with serum albumin: a spectroscopic study of bendamustine and dexamethasone with the aid of chemometrics

The Role of Cellular Metabolism in Maintaining the Function of the Dentine-Pulp Complex: A Narrative Review

The cellular metabolic processes ensure the physiological integrity of the dentine-pulp complex. Odontoblasts and odontoblast-like cells are responsible for the defence mechanisms in the form of tertiary dentine formation. In turn, the main defence reaction of the pulp is the development of inflammation, during which the metabolic and signalling pathways of the cells are significantly altered. The selected dental procedures, such as orthodontic treatment, resin infiltration, resin restorations or dental bleaching, can impact the cellular metabolism in the dental pulp. Among systemic metabolic diseases, diabetes mellitus causes the most consequences for the cellular metabolism of the dentine-pulp complex. Similarly, ageing processes present a proven effect on the metabolic functioning of the odontoblasts and the pulp cells. In the literature, several potential metabolic mediators demonstrating anti-inflammatory properties on inflamed dental pulp are mentioned. Moreover, the pulp stem cells exhibit the regenerative potential essential for maintaining the function of the dentine-pulp complex.

Interactions in Ternary Aqueous Solutions of NMA and Osmolytes-PARAFAC Decomposition of FTIR Spectra Series

Intermolecular interactions in aqueous solutions are crucial for virtually all processes in living cells. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy is a technique that allows changes caused by many types of such interactions to be registered; however, binary solutions are sometimes difficult to solve in these terms, while ternary solutions are even more difficult. Here, we present a method of data pretreatment that facilitates the use of the Parallel Factor Analysis (PARAFAC) decomposition of ternary solution spectra into parts that are easier to analyze. Systems of the NMA–water–osmolyte-type were used to test the method and to elucidate information on the interactions between N-Methylacetamide (NMA, a simple peptide model) with stabilizing (trimethylamine N-oxide, glycine, glycine betaine) and destabilizing osmolytes (n-butylurea and tetramethylurea). Systems that contain stabilizers change their vibrational structure to a lesser extent than those with denaturants. Changes in the latter are strong and can be related to the formation of direct NMA–destabilizer interactions.

Immobilized angiotensin II type I receptor: A powerful method of high throughput screening for antihypertensive compound identification through binding interaction analysis

The enormous growth in drug discovery paradigm has necessitated continuous exploration of new methods for drug-protein interaction analysis. To enhance the role of these methodologies in designing rational drugs, this work extended an immobilized angiotensin II type I receptor (AT1R) based affinity chromatography in antihypertensive compound identification. We fused haloalkane dehalogenase at C-terminus of AT1R and expressed the fusion receptor in E. coli. The expressed receptor was covalently immobilized onto 8.0 μm microspheres by mixing the cell lysate with 6-chlorocaproic acid-modified amino polystyrene microspheres. The immobilized AT1R was utilized for thermodynamic and kinetic interaction analysis between the receptor and four specific ligands. Following confirmation of these interactions by molecular docking, we identified puerarin and rosmarinic acid by determining their binding to the receptor. Azilsartan, candesartan, valsartan and olmesartan displayed two kinds of binding sites to AT1R by injection amount-dependent method. By molecular docking, we recognize the driving forces of the interaction as electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonds and van der Waals force. The dissociation rate constants (kd) of azilsartan, candesartan, valsartan and olmesartan to AT1R were 0.01138 ± 0.003, 0.05142 ± 0.003, 0.07547 ± 0.004 and 0.01310 ± 0.005 min-1 by peak profiling assay. Comparing with these parameters, puerarin and rosmarinic acid presented lower affinity (KA: 0.12 × 104 and 1.5 × 104/M) and slower kinetics (kd: 0.6864 ± 0.03 and 0.3005 ± 0.01 min-1) to the receptor. These results, taking together, indicated that the immobilized AT1R has the capacity to probe antihypertensive compounds.

Interaction between quinoline yellow and human serum albumin: spectroscopic, chemometric and molecular docking studies

BACKGROUND

Quinoline yellow (QY), a synthetic colourant widely used in the food industry, has caused extensive concerns because of its potentially harmful effects on human health. In the present work, the interactions between QY and human serum albumin (HSA) were characterized by multiple spectroscopic methods, a chemometric algorithm, and molecular modelling studies.

RESULTS

The concentration profiles and pure spectra obtained for the components (QY, HSA and QY-HSA complex) from analyses of the expanded UV-visible absorption data matrices by multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares confirmed the QY-HSA interaction process. QY quenched the fluorescence of HSA through formation of a QY-HSA complex that was stabilized by moderate affinity. Hydrophobic forces and hydrogen bonding play major roles in the binding of QY to HSA. Site-specific marker-induced displacement results suggest that QY binds to subdomain IIA of HSA. This was corroborated by the molecular docking results. Decreases in HSA surface hydrophobicity and free sulfhydryl group content indicate that QY causes a contraction of the peptide strand in HSA, hiding the hydrophobic patches of the protein. Analyses by UV-visible absorption, circular dichroism, and three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy found that QY causes microenvironmental perturbations around the fluorophores and secondary structure changes in HSA.

CONCLUSION

This work shows that QY binds to HSA, affecting its structural and functional properties, and provides new insights into the binding mechanism and a comprehensive understanding of the toxicity of QY to biological processes. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Interaction between 8-methoxypsoralen and trypsin: Monitoring by spectroscopic, chemometrics and molecular docking approaches

8-Methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) is a naturally occurring furanocoumarin with various biological activities. However, there is little information on the binding mechanism of 8-MOP with trypsin. Here, the interaction between 8-MOP and trypsin in vitro was determined by multi-spectroscopic methods combined with the multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) chemometrics approach. An expanded UV-vis spectral data matrix was analysed by MCR-ALS, the concentration profiles and pure spectra for the three reaction species (trypsin, 8-MOP and 8-MOP-trypsin) were obtained to monitor the interaction between 8-MOP and trypsin. The fluorescence data suggested that a static type of quenching mechanism occurred in the binding of 8-MOP to trypsin. Hydrophobic interaction dominated the formation of the 8-MOP-trypsin complex on account of the positive enthalpy and entropy changes, and trypsin had one high affinity binding site for 8-MOP with a binding constant of 3.81×10⁴Lmol^-1 at 298K. Analysis of three dimensional fluorescence, UV-vis absorption and circular dichroism spectra indicated that the addition of 8-MOP induced the rearrangement of the polypeptides carbonyl hydrogen-bonding network and the conformational changes in trypsin. The molecular docking predicted that 8-MOP interacted with the catalytic residues His57, Asp102 and Ser195 in trypsin. The binding patterns and trypsin conformational changes may result in the inhibition of trypsin activity. This study has provided insights into the binding mechanism of 8-MOP with trypsin.

Membrane and genomic DNA dual-targeting of citrus flavonoid naringenin against Staphylococcus aureus

Naringenin exerts its antibacterial action by disruption of the cytoplasmic membrane and DNA targeting effects inStaphylococcus aureus.

Vitamin E induces regular structure and stability of human insulin, more intense than vitamin D3

Changes in human environment and lifestyle over the last century have caused a dramatic increase in the occurrence of diabetes. Research of past decades illustrated that vitamin D and E have a key role in the improvement of diabetes by reducing oxidative stress, protein glycosylation, insulin resistance and also improving beta cell function. Binding properties and conformational changes of human insulin upon interaction with vitamins D₃ and E (α-tocopherol) were investigated by spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and molecular dynamic simulation. Tyrosine fluorescence quenching studies indicates changes in the human insulin conformation in the presence of vitamins. Binding constants of vitamins D₃ and E for human insulin were determined to be 2.7 and 1.5 (×10^-5M^-1) and the corresponding average numbers of binding sites were determined to be 1.3 and 1.2, respectively. Far- and near-UV circular dichroism studies showed that vitamin E can significantly change the secondary and tertiary structures of human insulin via an increase in the content of α-helix structure. Results of DSC showed that both vitamins D₃ and E stabilize the structure of human insulin. Molecular dynamic simulation results indicated that vitamin D₃ decreases the helical and strand structural contents of human insulin, but vitamin E stabilizes more regular secondary structures such as helical and strand structural contents as shown by experimental results.

Characterization of the interaction between resmethrin and calf thymus DNA in vitro

Resmethrin preferentially binds to the G–C rich region of the ctDNA groove, and the UV-vis spectral matrix is decomposed by MCR-ALS.