Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to David Parker.
Selectivity in the binding of phosphorylated tyrosine residues to aqua-lanthanide complexes is signalled by changes in spectral form by luminescence emission and 1H NMR spectroscopy.
The structures of 10 isomorphous lanthanide (Ln) complexes of a chiral DOTA tetra-amide ligand (L(1)), [LnL(1)(H(2)O)](CF(3)SO(3))(3).3H(2)O, crystallizing in space group P2(1), have been studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The Ln coordination is a O(4)N(4) square antiprism, the O(4) base of which is capped by an aqua ligand. The sterically demanding position of the latter results in the lengthening of the Ln-OH(2) distance along the Pr to Lu series by 0.06 A (after allowing for the lanthanide contraction). In parallel, the distance between the bound water oxygen and the second-sphere water oxygen is reduced from 3.17 A (Pr) to 3.04 A (Lu), consistent with the enhanced hydrogen bond acceptor ability of the coordinated water oxygen across the series. A Cambridge Structural Database survey of [Ln(H(2)O)(9)](CF(3)SO(3))(3) salts (space group P6(3)/m) and of six reported isostructural complexes of DOTA [L(2)] revealed a similar trend. The implications of the resultant destabilization of the ground state structure for the water interchange process are discussed.
The analysis of synaptic properties in neural networks has focused on the properties of individual synapses. As a result, little is known of how neural assemblies arise from the connectivity and functional properties of different classes of network neurons. I examined synaptic properties in the lamprey locomotor network. Here I show that, in addition to their monosynaptic inputs to motor neurons, a proportion of the excitatory network interneurons (EINs) evoke an activity-dependent disynaptic feedforward inhibitory input. Connections from the excitatory interneurons to small ipsilateral inhibitory interneurons were found that could account for the feedforward inhibition. Both synapses in the disynaptic pathway exhibited activity-dependent facilitation during physiologically relevant spike trains, which could contribute to the delayed, activity-dependent development of the feedforward IPSP. Although it was not as common as the feedforward inhibition, the excitatory interneurons could also evoke feedforward excitatory inputs in motor neurons. EIN inputs to motor neurons usually depress during spike trains. In connections in which a delayed IPSP occurred, blocking the feedforward inhibition in motor neurons or preventing the activation of the disynaptic pathway abolished the depression of the direct EPSP during the spike train and could reveal an underlying facilitation. The feedforward inhibition thus heterosynaptically depressed the direct excitatory input to motor neurons. Activity-dependent heterosynaptic effects acting within network cellular assemblies can thus influence the integration of synaptic inputs in motor neurons. This could help to terminate ipsilateral motor neuron spiking during network activity.
The nature of the counter-anion determines the water exchange rate for a series of cationic gadolinium complexes in aqueous solution, as a consequence of the ordering effect that the anion imposes on the structure of the second hydration sphere.
In cationic nine-coordinate chiral terbium and europium complexes incorporating exciton-coupled naphthyl groups and a tetraazatriphenylene sensitising chromophore, efficient intramolecular energy transfer occurs leading to population of the naphthyl triplet state. With the terbium complex, the absolute quantum yield of singlet oxygen formation is 51% (lambda(exc) 355 nm), and for the Eu complex the intensity of metal-based emission increases by up to 350% on binding to poly(dGdC) or calf-thymus DNA, and was greater for the delta-isomer.
The (1)H and (17)O NMR relaxometric properties of two cationic complexes formed by Gd(III) with a macrocyclic heptadentate triamide ligand, L(1), and its Nmethylated analogue, L(2), have been investigated in aqueous media as a function of pH, temperature and magnetic field strength. The complexes possess two water molecules in their inner coordination sphere for which the rate of exchange has been found to be sensibly faster for the Nmethylated derivative and explained in terms of electronic effects (decrease of the charge density at the metal center) and perturbation of the network of hydrogen-bonded water molecules in the outer hydration sphere. The proton relaxivity shows a marked dependence from pH and decreases of about six units in the pH range 6.5 to 9.0. This has been accounted for by the displacement of the two water molecules by dissolved carbonate which acts as a chelating anion. The formation of ternary complexes with lactate, malonate, citrate, acetate, fluoride and hydrogenphosphate has been monitored by (1)H NMR relaxometric titrations at 20 MHz and pH 6.3 and the value of the affinity constant, K, and of the relaxivity of the adducts could be obtained. Lactate, malonate and citrate interact strongly with the complexes (log K > or =3.7) and coordinate in a bidendate mode by displacing both water molecules. Larger affinity constants have been measured for GdL(2). Acetate, fluoride and hydrogenphosphate form monoaqua ternary complexes which were investigated in detail with regard to their relaxometric properties. The NMR dispersion (NMRD) profiles indicate a large contribution to the relaxivity of the adducts from water molecules belonging to the second hydration shell of the complexes and hydrogen-bonded to the anion. A VT (17)O NMR study has shown a marked increase of the rate of water exchange upon binding which is explained by coordination of the anion in an equatorial site, thus leaving the water molecule in an apical position, more accessible for interactions with the solvent molecules of the second hydration shell which facilitate the exchange process.
Although synaptic properties are specific to the type of synapse examined, there is evidence to suggest that properties can vary in individual synaptic populations. Here, a large sample of monosynaptic connections made by excitatory interneurons (EINs) onto motor neurons in the lamprey spinal cord locomotor network has been used to examine the properties of a single class of spinal synapse in detail. The properties and activity-dependent plasticity of EIN-evoked EPSPs varied considerably. This variability occurred at convergent inputs made by several EINs onto single motor neurons. This suggests that it was an intrinsic network property and not simply related to differences between animals or experiments. The activity-dependent plasticity of EIN-evoked EPSPs could be negatively or positively related to the initial EPSP amplitude (P1 and P2 connections, respectively). This reflected the development of facilitation and depression from either small or large initial EPSPs. To identify differences in presynaptic properties that could contribute to the synaptic variability, the quantal amplitude, release probability, number of release sites, and size of the available vesicle pool were examined. This analysis suggested that the variable amplitude and plasticity of EPSPs at P1 and P2 connections reflected an interaction between the release probability and the size of the available transmitter store. There is thus significant functional variability in EIN synaptic properties. Synapses ranged from strong (evoked postsynaptic spikes) to weak (small depressing EPSPs). The selection of interneurons with different synaptic properties could provide an intrinsic mechanism for modifying excitatory network interactions and the locomotor network output.
Nonacoordinate delta- and lambda-Eu and Tb complexes have been tested as imaging and reactive probes in mouse fibroblast (NIH 3T3) cells. The uptake of these complexes by the cells was assessed by fluorescence microscopy. Complex-induced DNA damage was studied by gel electrophoresis and shown to be a function of complex chirality.
Results of an inter-laboratory round-robin study of the application of time-resolved emission spectroscopy (TRES) to the speciation of uranium(VI) in aqueous media are presented. The round-robin study involved 13 independent laboratories, using various instrumentation and data analysis methods. Samples were prepared based on appropriate speciation diagrams and, in general, were found to be chemically stable for at least six months. Four different types of aqueous uranyl solutions were studied: (1) acidic medium where UO2(2+)aq is the single emitting species, (2) uranyl in the presence of fluoride ions, (3) uranyl in the presence of sulfate ions, and (4) uranyl in aqueous solutions at different pH, promoting the formation of hydrolyzed species. Results between the laboratories are compared in terms of the number of decay components, luminescence lifetimes, and spectral band positions. The successes and limitations of TRES in uranyl analysis and speciation in aqueous solutions are discussed.
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The nature of the ternary complexes formed in aqueous media at ambient pH on reversible binding of acetate, lactate, citrate, and selected amino acids and peptides to chiral diaqua europium, gadolinium, or ytterbium cationic complexes has been examined. Crystal structures of the chelated ytterbium acetate and lactate complexes have been defined in which the carboxylate oxygen occupies an "equatorial" site in the nine-coordinate adduct. The zwitterionic adduct of the citrate anion with [EuL1] was similar to the chelated lactate structure, with a 5-ring chelate involving the apical 3-hydroxy group and the alpha-carboxylate. Analysis of Eu and Yb emission CD spectra and lifetimes (H2O and D2O) for each ternary complex, in conjunction with 1H NMR analyses of Eu/Yb systems and 17O NMR and relaxometric studies of the Gd analogues, suggests that carbonate, oxalate, and malonate each form a chelated (q = 0) square-antiprismatic complex in which the dipolar NMR paramagnetic shift (Yb, Eu) and the emission circular polarization (gem for Eu) are primarily determined by the polarizability of the axial ligand. The ternary complexes with hydrogen phosphate, with fluoride, and with Phe, His, and Ser at pH 6 are suggested to be monoaqua systems with Eu/Gd with an apical bound water molecule. However, for the ternary complexes of simple amino acids with [YbL1]3+, the enhanced charge demand favors a chelate structure with the amine N in an apical position. Crystal structures of the Gly and Ser adducts confirm this. In peptides and proteins (e.g. albumin) containing Glu or Asp residues, the more basic side chain carboxylate may chelate to the Ln ion, displacing both waters.
A series of six, cationic, zwitterionic and anionic Eu complexes has been examined for the analysis of hydrogencarbonate concentration in the intracellular and extracellular ranges; an anionic complex incorporating three glutarate residues and a sensitising acridone chromophore (lambda exc = 410 nm) exhibits a 69% change in the intensity ratio of the 618/588 nm Eu emission bands between 5 and 15 mM HCO3- in a cell lysate medium.
The rate of axial water exchange in well-defined series of lanthanide complexes depends on the extent of second sphere hydration which is determined by complex hydrophobicity and the nature of the lanthanide ion and its counter-ion.
The interaction of q = 0 delta- and lambda-Tb and Eu complexes with poly(dAdT), poly(dGdC) and calf-thymus DNA has been examined by absorption, emission and chiroptical spectroscopy and is sensitive to complex helicity, base-pair type and the nature of the lanthanide excited state.
T-type calcium channels play critical roles in cellular excitability and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of neurological disorders including epilepsy. Although there have been reports that certain neuroleptics that primarily target D2 dopamine receptors and are used to treat psychoses may also interact with T-type Ca channels, there has been no systematic examination of this phenomenon. In the present paper we provide a detailed analysis of the effects of several widely used neuroleptic agents on a family of exogenously expressed neuronal T-type Ca channels (alpha1G, alpha1H, and alpha1I subtypes). Among the neuroleptics tested, the diphenylbutylpiperidines pimozide and penfluridol were the most potent T-type channel blockers with Kd values (approximately 30-50 nm and approximately 70-100 nm, respectively), in the range of their antagonism of the D2 dopamine receptor. In contrast, the butyrophenone haloperidol was approximately 12- to 20-fold less potent at blocking the various T-type Ca channels. The diphenyldiperazine flunarizine was also less potent compared with the diphenylbutylpiperadines and preferentially blocked alpha1G and alpha1I T-type channels compared with alpha1H. The various neuroleptics did not significantly affect T-type channel activation or kinetic properties, although they shifted steady-state inactivation profiles to more negative values, indicating that these agents preferentially bind to channel inactivated states. Overall, our findings indicate that T-type Ca channels are potently blocked by a subset of neuroleptic agents and suggest that the action of these drugs on T-type Ca channels may significantly contribute to their therapeutic efficacy.
The development of emissive lanthanide complexes as structural or reactive probes to signal changes in their local chiral or ionic environment has been inhibited by the lack of understanding of correlating structural and electronic spectral information. The definition of relatively rigid enantiopure macrocyclic lanthanide complexes, whose inter- and intramolecular exchange dynamics have been defined, offers scope for remedying this situation. Chiral axially symmetric lanthanide complexes in solution give rise to large emission dissymmetry values (g(em)) in CPL spectra. The sign and magnitude of g(em) are determined by the degree of twist about the principal axis, which is predicted to be a maximum at +/-22.5 degrees, and by the site symmetry and local ligand field. In particular, the polarisability of the ligand donor atoms, especially for any axial donor, is very important. Examples of each case are discussed for structurally related cationic Eu(III) complexes.
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