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Biomedical subjects

N T Yu

Publications and source records attributed to N T Yu.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Resonance Raman spectra of manganese myoglobin and its azide complex. Assignment of a new charge-transfer band to azide (pi) to porphyrin (pi) transition.

The enhancement of bound azide vibrations at 650 [depolarized (dp), bending] and 2039 cm-1 (dp, antisymmetric stretch) upon excitation at approximately 400-460 nm indicates the existence of a new charge-transfer transition in manganese(III) myoglobin-azide complex. The assignments of these two vibrational modes are based on the agreement of their 15N3 isotope shifts (22 and 70 cm-1) with the calculated values (22 and 69 cm-1), the depolarized nature, and their close proximity to the corresponding vibrations in ionized azide. The Mn-(III)-N3 stretch has not been observed in the present study although the Fe(III)-N3 stretch at 413 cm-1 (polarized) was reported [Asher, S. A., Vickery, L. E., Schuster, T. M., & Sauer, K. (1977) Biochemistry 16, 5849]. The RR spectra of MnIIIMb-azide between 150 and 300 cm-1 differ dramatically from those of FeIIIMb-azide exicted in the 640-nm charge-transfer band or near the Soret band. There are lines at 170 and 282 cm-1 (both polarized) in the MnIIIMb-azide spectra which exhibit extremely large resonance enhancements and are unshifted by 15N3 isotope substitution. These two lines, having no analogue in other heme protein spectra, may be tentatively assigned to the out-of-plane porphyrin ring vibrations, with the latter involving significant Mn(III)-N(pyrrole) stretch. The enhancement of non totally symmetric azide modes suggests that the charge-transfer state may be mixed with other excited electronic states (possibly band Va or band VI) via Herzberg-Teller vibronic couplings. The lack of enhancement of the Mn(III)-N3 stretch leads to our present assignment of azide (pi) to porphyrin (pi) charge-transfer transition rather than azide (pi) to metal (dz2) or azide (n) to metal (dz2).

Azides

A Raman spectroscopic study of the interaction of divalent metal ions with adenine moiety of adenosine 5'-triphosphate.

Raman spectra of ATP at various pH values are affected by addition of equimolar solution of divalent metal ions such as Ca2+, Mg2+, Co2+, Cu2+, and Hg2+. The changes in frequency and intensity have been used to construct models describing the nature of metal-adenine and metal-triphosphate interactions under different conditions. The metal ions are found to co-ordinate the triphosphate group in the entire pH range studies (pH to 12). Calcium (II) and magnesium (II) interact strongly with the phosphate moiety at neutral pH, although a weak interaction with the ring occur at low pH values. Around neutrality, several Raman spectral changes are observed to implicate the interaction of cobalt (II) ion with the five-membered ring of the adenine. The changes in Raman frequency are too small to suggest a direct Co(II)-N7 binding. At least six different Cu(II)-ATP species are identified between pH 3 and 12. At pH approximately 7.0 Raman data are explained better by Cu(II) interacting with N7 simultaneously with the amino group of the adenine ring. However, a Cu(II) binding to N3 at pH 10 to 11 is indicated by the enhancement of the 760 and 1360 cm-1 vibrations. At neutral pH, mercury (II) ion shows a direct coordination at N1 while at low pH with N1 blocked by protonation, mercury (II) does not interact with the adenine moiety.

Adenine

Conformational transitions and vibronic couplings in acid ferricytochrome c: a resonance Raman study.

Resonance Raman spectral changes in ferricytochrome c as a function of pH between 6.7 and 1.0 are reported and the structural implication is discussed in terms of the "core-expansion" model advanced by L. D. Spaulding et al. [(1975) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 97, 2517]. The data are interpreted as indicating the iron in high-spin ferricytochrome c (at pH 2.0) with two water molecules as axial ligands lies in the plane of the porphyrin ring. At pH 1.0 there is a different high-spin form of cytochrome c which has an estimated iron out-of-plane distance of approximately 0.46 A. The effect of a monovalent anion at pH 2.0 is to produce a thermal spin mixture with predominant low-spin species. Excitation at approximately 620 nm in acid cytochrome c (pH 2.0) enhances only three depolarized ring vibrations at 1623, 1555, and 764 cm-1. Marked enhancement of depolarized modes relative to polarized and anomalously polarized modes is attributed to the vibronic coupling between porphyrin pi leads to pi and porphyrin pi leads to iron (dpi) charge-transfer states.

Animals

Red fluorescence in older and brunescent human lenses.

Brunescent lenses and normal human lenses more than 70 years old exhibit red fluorescence due to a fluorophor with emission maximum at 672 nm under excitation by the 647.1 nm line of krypton ion laser. The properties and mode of occurrence of this fluorophor suggest that its formation is highly pertinent to senile nuclear pathology.

Adolescent

Laser Raman spectra of oxidized hydroperoxidases.

Resonance Raman spectra of oxidized hydroperoxidases are examined for shifts in the structure-sensitive, anomalously polarized bands; these are found, respectively, at 1576, 1567 and 1570 cm-1 in the high-spin resting enzymes: horse radish peroxidase, horse blood catalase, and cytochrome c peroxidase. In compound II of horse radish peroxidase and horse blood catalase, and in the enzyme-substrate complex of cytochrome c peroxidase, this band appears at 1587-1590 cm-1 and indicates the iron atom is now in-plane with the porphyrin ring. Weak Raman scattering found with horse radish peroxidase I is consistant with a porphyrin eta-cation radical formulation.

Animals

Laser Raman spectroscopy of snake venom neurotoxins: conformation.

Laser Raman spectra of neurotoxins of Pelamis platurus (yellow-bellied sea snake) and Laticauda semifasciata (broad-banded blue sea snake) were investigated. The amide I band appeared at 1672 cm-1 for both toxins, which presents an indication of anti-parallel beta structure. Since this agrees well with the result from the CD-ORD studies of snake neurotoxin, it was concluded that snake neurotoxins mainly consist of beta structure. The amide III band appeared at 1245 cm-1 for P. platurus toxin and 1248 cm-1 for L. semifasciata toxin. The four disulfide bonds present in the toxin have a very similar geometry. After vigorous heat treatment, the backbone configuration of the toxin molecule basically remained the same although it was partially denatured. The major peak at 512 cm-1 was not altered by the heat treatment but a new shoulder appeared at 546 cm-1. This suggests that a new type of S-S stretching vibration (trans-gauche-trans) was produced as a result of heat treatment. However, the majority of the S-S vibrations remained in the gauche-gauche-gauche orientation. A substantial change in the interactions between a tyrosine aromatic ring and neighboring residues was apparently the alteration caused by the heat treatment.

Amino Acids

Laser Raman spectroscopic studies of ocular lens and its isolated protein fractions.

The water-soluble proteins of the bovine lens were separated on a column of Sephadex G-200 into five fractions designated as alpha-, beta1-, beta2-, and gamma-crystallin. Laser Raman scattering studies on these isolated proteins (both in the lyophilized state and in solution) and insoluble albuminoid reveal that they contain predominantly antiparallel pleated sheet structure in the main chains and that sulfhydryl groups are highly localized in gamma-crystallin. This light-scattering technique was also applied to probe the homogeneity of protein structure in the intact lens. The analysis of the scattered light selectively collected from various parts of the lens indicated that these proteins also exist in an antiparallel beta structure throughout the entire lens. However, the central (nucleus) and outer (cortex) portions have somewhat different amino acid composition. Based on the relative intensities of the lines at 624 (phenylalanine) and 644 cm-1 (tyrosine), it is concluded that the nuclear part has the highest concentration of gamma-crystallin and that the content of alpha-crystallin increases significantly from the nucleus to the cortex. By examining the Raman spectra in the 2582 cm-1 and the amide I and III regions, we have demonstrated that the sulfhydryl groups and the beta conformation of the lens proteins are unaffected in the conversion of transparent to totally opaque lens by heat denaturation at 100 degrees. This means that the opacification of a lens does not necessarily involve the oxidation of sulfhydrul groups or conformation changes.

Amides

Laser Raman scattering of neurotoxins isolated from the venoms of sea snakes Lapemis hardwickii and Enhydrina schistosa.

The venoms of sea snakes (family: Hydrophiidae) contain potent neurotoxins which bind to the acetylcholine receptor in the neuromuscular junction. A major toxin was isolated from the venoms of the sea snakes Lapemis hardwickii and Enhydrina schistosa according to previously published methods. These pure toxins were studied by laser Raman spectroscopy to elucidate further the structure-function relationship to the neurotoxin. Spectra were obtained from the powder, aqueous solution, and deuterated derivatives of each toxin. The peptide backbone conformation of these neurotoxins was found to be of "anti-parallel beta configuration," as distinct amide I and III bands appeared at 1672 and 1240 cm-1, respectively. No indication of alpha helical structure in the neurotoxins was observed from amide I and III bands. This was further confirmed by the spectra of the neurotoxins after deuterium exchange. The peaks due to a single tyrosine residue appeared at 644, 834, and 846 cm-1. The intensity ratios of the toxin from L. hardwickii venom were 0.92, 1.0, and 0.84 at 644, 834, and 846 cm-1. It is concluded that the tyrosine residue is involved in some unusual intramolecular interactions and not readily accessible to water molecules. Similar results were obtained for the toxin of Enhydrina schistosa (common sea snake). The fact that only 50% of the tyrosine molecule is modified by nitration is in complete agreement with laser Raman result. The lack of a sharp Raman line at 1361 cm-1 suggested that the single tryptophan residue may be "exposed." The previous demonstration that the tryptophan residue can be modified readily with different reagents confirms these results. A relatively symmetrical disulfide peak at 512 cm-1 indicates that the geometry of the C-C-S-S-C-C linkage is nearly identical for all four disulfide bonds in the molecule. The absence of phenylalanine was established by the lack of a phenylalanine peak in the laser Raman spectra and by amino acid analysis.

Amino Acids