Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Carlo Andrea Mattia.
The aim of this work is to compare the physicochemical properties of three oligonucleotidic sequences, d(TGGGT), d(TGGGGT) and d(TGGGGGT), which assemble to form quadruplex structures with the same molecularity, but containing three, four, and five G-quartets, respectively. The addition of one or two G-tetrads greatly increases both the enthalpy and Tm values of the quadruplex dissociation.
The effects of cytosine protonation on the thermodynamic properties of parallel pyrimidine motif DNA triplex were investigated and characterized by different techniques, such as circular dichroism (CD), ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A thermodynamic model was developed which, by linking the cytosine ionization equilibrium to the dissociation process of the triplex, is able to rationalize the experimental data and to reproduce the pH dependence of the free energy, enthalpy and entropy changes associated with the triplex formation. The results are useful to systematically introduce the effect of pH in a more general model able to predict the stability of DNA triplexes on the basis of the sequence alone.
The title tetracyclic diterpenoid, 10,13,16,17-tetrahydroxy-9-methyl-15-oxo-20-norkaurane-18,10-carbolactone hemihydrate, C(20)H(28)O(6).0.5H(2)O, is a plant metabolite from Parinari sprucei, part of the Venezuelan Amazon flora. The asymmetric unit consists of two nearly identical molecules of the diterpenoid and one molecule of water. Some of the geometric parameters reflect steric strain in the molecule. The extended structure is characterized by hydrogen bonds and weaker hydrogen-mediated interactions, which involve all of the hydroxy groups and propagate in sheets that coincide with the (002) family of planes. The water molecule acts as a double hydrogen-bond donor and single acceptor and thus plays a critical role in the pattern of intermolecular interactions.
Androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (1) and 17alpha-methyltestosterone (2) are dimerized in the solid-state by UV radiation. These substances were selected by a search in the CSD among the steroid enones presenting in the crystalline state an intermolecular short contact between a hydrogen alpha to a carbonyl group and the oxygen of an enone system. Dimerization occurs by transfer of the hydrogen to the oxygen and connection between the two involved carbons. Androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (1) affords dimer 3 and trimer 4, both formed by connection of the C-16 of a molecule with the C-3 of a near one. Irradiation of 17alpha-methyltestosterone (2) gives the isomeric trienones 5 and 6. These compounds are reasonably formed by dehydration of unisolated intermediate products 7 and/or 8 obtained by coupling of two molecules through a linkage between the C-2 and the C-3' carbons. The formation mechanisms of the photoproducts are satisfactory explained on the basis of the molecular arrangement of the monomers in the crystal state. Modeling of the dimeric molecules was done using molecular mechanics calculations. A single-crystal X-ray of the dimer of androst-4-ene-3,17-dione confirms the structural interpretation of spectral data. The conformer found in the solid-state agrees well with the results of molecular mechanics calculations.
In the title compound, C(27)H(39)IN(3)(+).I(-), the acridinium system shows the usual approximate mirror symmetry about the central C.N line, and the corresponding bond lengths and angles in the two halves agree within experimental error. The alkyl chain at the ring N atom is initially perpendicular to the ring plane and then bends sharply at the fourth C atom. Pairs of centrosymmetrically related cations overlap two of their rings and the dimethylamino groups are also partly involved in the overlap. Each I(-) ion is involved in short-range interactions with two cations. These interactions give rise to a 14-membered cyclic structure, which involves pairs of cations and anions across an inversion centre.