Flexibility of DNA and RNA upon binding to different metal cations. An investigation of the B to A to Z conformational transition by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

The interaction of DNA and RNA with Cu(II), Mg(II), [Co(NH3)6]3+ [Co(NH3)5Cl]2+ chlorides and, cis- and trans-Pt(NH3)2Cl2 (CIS-DDP, trans-DDP) has been studied by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and a correlation between metal-base binding and conformational transitions in the sugar pucker has been established. It has been found that RNA did not change from A-form on complexation with metals, whereas DNA exhibited a B to Z transition. The marker bands for the A-form (C3'-endo-anti conformation) were found to be near 810-816 cm-1, while the bands at 825 and 690 cm-1 are marker bands for the B-conformation (C2'-endo, anti). The B to Z (C3'-endo. syn conformation) transition is characterized by the shift of the band at 825 cm-1 to 810-816 cm-1 and the shift of the guanine band at 690 cm-1 to about 600-624 cm-1.     

An FT-IR Study of DNA and RNA Conformational Transitions at Low Temperatures

Abstract

Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra of solid samples of DNA and RNA obtained from freeze-drying at solid CO₂ and liquid nitrogen temperatures, have been recorded and correlation between the conformational transitions and spectral changes is proposed. It is concluded that an equilibrium exists between A, B and Z conformations at low temperatures for the DNA molecule, which is temperature dependent, whereas the RNA molecule exhibits only the A conformation. The results have been compared with the metal-adducts of DNA and RNA, where one of the conformations is predominant.

Marker infrared bands for the B conformer have been found to be the strong band at 825 cm^?1 (sugar conformer mode) and a band with medium intensity at 690 cm^?1 (guanine breathing mode). The A conformation showed characteristic bands at 810 and 675 cm^?1. The B to Z conformational transition was characterized by the strong absorption bands near 820-810 cm^?1 and at 665-600 cm^?1.     

FT-IR spectroscopic evidence of sugar ring conformational changes in GpC and CpG on platination and intercalation

An FT-IR spectroscopic study concerning changes in the conformation of sugar in the dinucleotides; GpC and CpG, on platination and intercalation is presented. The results are compared with the FT-IR spectral data of 5′-CMP, 5′-GMP, 3′-GMP and their metal adducts. The spectra of free GpC, free CpG, proflavine-GpC, proflavine-CpG, and cis-[Pt(NH₃)₂(GpC)₂]²⁺ exhibit the diagnostic band at 800 cm⁻¹ which was assigned to a sugar phosphate vibrational mode and diagnostic of C3′-endo sugar pucker. In the case of 9-aminoacridine-GpC and cis-[Pt(NH₃)₂(CpG]⁺ the diagnostic bands of the C2′-endo and C3′-endo conformations are observed at 810–820 cm⁻¹ and near 800 cm⁻¹ respectively. The results are in good agreement with X-ray data. The infrared diagnostic bands are important for distinguishing the sugar pucker conformational changes.     

FT-IR and 1H NMR spectroscopic evidence of sugar ring conformational change in NH4GpG on complexation to form cis-[Pt(NH3)2(GpG)]+

The conformational change of the ribose ring in NH₄GpG and cis-[Pt(NH₃)₂(GpG)]⁺ was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopic evidence as being C2′-endo, C3′-endo, anti, gg sugar ring pucker in the solid state. These results were compared with ¹H NMR spectral data in aqueous solution. The FT-IR spectrum of NH₄GpG shows marker bands at 802 cm^?1 and 797 cm^?1 which are assigned to the C3′-endo, anti, gg sugar-phosphate vibrations of ribose (?pG) and ribose (Gp?), respectively. The FT-IR spectrum of cis-[Pt(NH₃)₂(GpG)]⁺ (with N7N7 chelation in the GpG sequence) shows a marker band at 800 cm^?1 which is assigned to the C3′-endo, and a new shoulder band at 820 cm^?1 related to a C2′-endo ring pucker. The ribose conformation of (?pG) moiety in NH₄-GpG, C3′-endo, anti, gg changes into C2′-endo, anti, gg when a platinum atom is chelated to N7N7 in the GpG sequence.     

Interaction of Purine Nucleotides with Cobalt-Hexammine,Cobalt-Pentammine and Cobalt- Tetrammine Cations. Evidence for the Rigidity of Adenosine and Flexibility of Guanosine and Deoxyguanosine Sugar Conformations

Abstract

The interaction of adenosine-5′-monophosphate (5′-AMP), guanosine-5′-monophosphate (5′-GMP) and 2′-deoxyguanosine-5′-monophosphate (5′-dGMP) with the [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺, [CO(NH₃)₅C1]²⁺ and [CO(NH₃)₄C1₂]⁺ cations has been investigated in aqueous solution with metal/nucleotide ratios (r) of 1/2, 1 and 2 at neutral pH. The solid complexes have been isolated and characterized by FT-IR and ¹H-NMR spectroscopy.

The complexes are polymeric in nature both in the crystalline solid and aqueous solution. The binding of the cobalt-hexammine cation is indirectly (via NH₃) through the N-7 and the PO₃ ^2- groups of the AMP and via O-6, N-7 and the PO₃ ^2- of the GMP and dGMP anions (outer-sphere). The cobalt-pentammine and cobalt-tetrammine bindings are through the phosphate groups (inner-sphere) and the N-7 site (outer-sphere) of these nucleotide anions. The ribose moiety shows C2′-endo/anti conformation, in the free AMP and GMP anions as well as in the cobalt-ammine - AMP complexes, whereas a mixture of the C2′-endo/anti and C3′-endo/anti sugar puckers were observed for the Co(NH₃)₆-GMP, Co(NH₃)₅-GMP and a C3′-endo/anti conformer for the Co(NH₃)₄-GMP complexes. The deoxyribose showed an O4′-endo/anti conformation for the free dGMP anion and a C3′-endo/anti for the Co(NH₃)₆-dGMP, Co(NH₃)₅-dGMP and Co(NH₃)₄-dGMP complexes.     

Conformational geometry and vibrational frequencies of nucleic acid chains.

Normal coordinate analysis of diethyl phosphate has been made, which predicts all observed Raman frequencies in the range 170–1300 cm^?1. The force constants from this calculation have been transferred to a vibrational calculation for a simplified model of the backbone of nucleic acids, which also involves the ? O? PO₂^?? O phosphate group and the ? C₅′? C₄′? C₃′? linkage of the ribose. The coordinates of these atoms are those recently given by Arnott and Hukins, which place the ribose ring of B-DNA in a C₃′-exo conformation. This simple polymer model appears to be able to describe adequately the frequency-dependent changes observed in the Raman spectra arising from the backbone vibrations of nucleic acid in going from the B- to A-form. The symmetric ? O? P? O? diester stretch increases in frequency from about 787 cm^?1 in the B-form to 807 cm^?1 in the A-form. The increased frequency characteristic of the A-form is due to the combining of the diester stretch with vibrations involving the C₅′, C₄′, and C₃′ nuclei. The frequency of the symmetric ? O? P? O? diester stretch is shown to be very dependent on the conformation of the ribose ring, indicating that in polynucleotides the ribose ring takes on one of two rigid conformations: C₃′-endo for A-form or C₃′-exo for B-form and “disordered” polynucleotides. The calculation lends confirmation to the atomic coordinates of Arnott and Hukins since the use of other geometries with the same force constants failed to give results in agreement with experimental evidence. The calculations also demonstrate the lowering effect of hydration on the anionic PO stretching frequencies. Experimental results show that the 814-cm^?1 band observed in the spectra of 5′GMP gel arises from a different vibrational mode than that of the 814-cm^?1 band of A-DNA.     

Action of hexaamminecobalt on the activity of Serratia marcescens nuclease

Using CD spectroscopic and kinetic analysis, a refined mechanism of Co(NH₃) ₆ ³⁺ action on activity of Serratia marcescens nuclease was elucidated. The mechanism was identical with previously found mechanisms of Mg²⁺ and C₇H₅O₂Hg⁺. Similarly to Mg²⁺ and C₇H₅O₂Hg⁺, Co(NH₃) ₆ ³⁺ binding to the DNA substrate induced changes in the secondary structure which resulted in changes of the enzymatic activity of the S. marcescens nuclease. Upon binding of 0.03 Co(NH₃) ₆ ³⁺ per DNA phosphate, highly polymerized DNA displayed A-form characteristics. The DNA transition from B-form to A-form intermediate was followed by a decrease of the nuclease activity. The diminishing nuclease activity was consistent with diminishing values of Km and Kcat. Co(NH₃)₆ ³⁺ binding to the highly polymerized DNA caused a 1.7–2.8-fold decrease in Km, and 13.3–19.9 decrease in Vmax compared with Mg-DNA complex. A vast excess of Co(NH₃)₆ ³⁺ did not affect the activity of S. marcescens nuclease if the DNA in the assay mixture remained in its B-form conformation. Preincubation of S. marcescens nuclease with Co(NH₃)₆ ³⁺ did not influence the tertiary structure of the enzyme.     

Polarized Raman scattering from oriented single microcrystals of d(A5T5)2 and d(pTpT)

Polarized Raman spectra have been obtained from single microcrystals of the duplex of the decamer d(A₅T₅)₂ using a Raman microscope. This is the first report of Raman spectra from a crystal of a deoxyoligomer that contains only long, nonalternating sequences of adenine and thymine. Sequences containing d(A)_n and d(T)_n are of interest in view of recent suggestions that they induce bends in DNA and that they might exist in a nonstandard B-conformation. Polarized Raman spectra of a crystal of d(pTpT) have also been obtained. Both crystals display Raman bands whose intensities are very sensitive to the orientation of the crystal with respect to the direction of polarization of the incident laser beam. These spectra indicate that the helical axes of the oligonucleotides are parallel to the long axes of the crystals and that the d(A₅T₅)₂ is not appreciably bent in the crystal. The Raman spectrum from the d(pTpT) crystal indicates that all of the furanose ring puckers are in a C2′-endo configuration since only the C2′-endo marker band at 835 ± 5 cm^?1 is present. Crystals of d(A₅T₅)₂ show measurable Raman intensities in both the 838- and 816-cm^?1 bands. This indicates the presence of both the C2′-endo and C3′-endo, or possibly other non-C2′-endo, furanose conformations. The 816-cm^?1 band is weak so that only a small fraction of the residues are estimated to be in the non-C2′-endo conformation. In both the d(pTpT) and d(A₅T₅)₂ crystals the intensity of the bands due to vibrations of the backbone show only a small dependence on orientation of the crystals. This result is explained by the low symmetry of the puckered sugar rings. It is concluded that Raman spectra obtained from oligonucleotide crystals in which the orientation of the crystal axes to the laser polarization is not carefully controlled may contain intensity artifacts that are due to polarization effects.     

Raman spectroscopic elucidation of DNA backbone conformations for poly(dG-dT).poly(dA-dC) and poly(dA-dT).poly(dA-dT) in CsF solution

Raman spectra have been recorded for poly(dG-dT) · poly(dA-dC) and poly(dA-dT) · poly(dA-dT) in low salt and at high concentrations of CsF. Poly(dG-dT) · poly(dA-dC) shows no change in the 682-cm^?1 guanine mode, demonstrating the absence of the Z-structure at high salt. The 790-cm^?1 phosphodiester symmetric stretch, however, shifts up 5 cm^?1 in 4.3M CsF, suggesting a slight conformational change, associated with ion binding or hydration changes. Poly(dA-dT) · poly(dA-dT) shows an additional broad band at 816 cm^?1, attributed to the phosphodiester modes associated with the C3′-endo deoxyribose units in the alternating B-structure. In this case, both the 841- and the 816-cm^?1 asymmetric phosphodiester stretches, associated with the C2′- and C3′-endo units, shift down on addition of CsF in a sequential manner. Correlation of this sequence with that previously observed for the two ³¹P-nmr resonances, establishes that the phosphodiester stretching frequencies depend on the conformation of the 5′-sugar, and not on the 3′-sugar.     

Conformational dependence of the Raman scattering intensities from polynucleotides. 3. Order-disorder changes in helical structures

Raman spectra are presented on ordered and presumably helical structures of DNA and RNA as well as the poly A·poly U helical complex, polydAT, and the helical aggregates of 5′-GMP and 3′-GMP. The changes in the frequency and the intensity of the Raman bands as these structures undergo order-disorder transitions have been measured. In general the changes we have found can be placed into three categories: (1) A reduction in the intensities of certain ring vibrations of the polynucleotide bases is observed when stacking or ordering occurs (Raman hypochromism). Since the ring vibrational frequencies are different for each type of base, we have been able to obtain some estimate of average amount of order of each type of base in partially ordered helical systems. (2) A very large increase in the intensity of a sharp, strongly polarized band at about 815 cm^?1 is observed when polyriboA and polyriboU are formed into a helical complex. Although this band is not present in the separated chains at high temperature, a broad diffuse band at about 800 cm^?1 is present. The 815 cm^?1 band undoubtedly arises from the vibrations of the phosphate-sugar portions of the molecule and provides a sensitive handle to the back-bone conformation of the polymer. This band also appears upon ordering of RNA, formation of the helical aggregate of 5′-riboGMP, and to some extent in the selfstacking of the polyribonucleotides polyA, polyU in the presence of Mg⁺⁺, PolyC, and polyG. No such intense, polarized band is found, however, in ordered DNA, polydAT, or the 3′-riboGMP aggregate, although there is a conformationally independent band at about 795 cm^?1 in DNA and polydAT. (3) Numerous frequency changes occur during Conformational changes. In particular the 1600–1700 cm^?1 region in D₂O shows significant conformationally dependent changes in the C?O stretching region analogous to the changes in this region which have been observed in these substances in the infrared. Thus, Raman scattering appears to provide a technique for simultaneously observing the effects of base stacking, backbone conformation and carbonyl hydrogen bonding in nucleic acids in moderately dilute (10–25 mg/ml) aqueous solutions.     

A vibrational spectroscopic study of the self-association of 5′-GMP in aqueous solution

The Raman spectra of highly concentrated solutions of 5′-GMP at neutral and acid pH were recorded in order to better characterize the structure of the self-aggregates formed in these solutions and their melting behavior. Vibrational coupling of the C?O stretching vibrations in tetrameric units at neutral pH is shown to yield a characteristic pattern of two Raman bands at ca. 1730 and 1680 cm^?1 (1708 and 1664 cm^?1 in D₂O), and an iractive mode at 1678 cm^?1 in D₂O. From the intensity of the 1730-cm^?1 band, proportional to tetramer concentration, and that at 1485 cm^?1, which reflects the stacking of the bases, the thermal stability of the self-associates formed at neutral pH is shown to be higher for stacked tetramers. At acid pH, the melting of the helical aggregates responsible for the formation of a gel is preceded by the freeing of the hydrogen-bonded phosphate groups, accompanied by a change of conformation from C3′-endo to C2′-endo in some of the associated ribose units. Previous spectroscopic results suggesting the formation of tetramers as an intermediate step in the melting of the gel were not reproduced in this study.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF NITROGEN UPTAKE BY NATURAL POPULATIONS OF AUREOCOCCUS ANOPHAGEFFERENS (CHRYSOPHYCEAE) AS A FUNCTION OF INCUBATION DURATION,SUBSTRATE CONCENTRATION,LIGHT, AND TEMPERATURE1

Nitrogen uptake studies were conducted during an aestival “brown tide” bloom in Shinnecock Bay, Long Island, New York. The same station was sampled in late July and mid-August 1995 when Aureococcus anophagefferens composed >90% and 30–40% of the total cell density, respectively. Experiments were designed to examine the effect of incubation duration on the uptake kinetics, and the effect of light and temperature dependencies of NH₄⁺, urea, and NO₃^? uptake. Maximum specific uptake rates (V'_max) decreased in the order NH₄⁺, urea, NO₃^? and were nonlinear with time for NH₄⁺ and urea, both of which exhibited an exponential decline between 1 and 10 min and then did nut significantly change for 60 min. Nitrogen uptake kinetic experiments exhibited a typical hyperbolic response for urea and NO₃^?. Half-saturation constants. (K_s) were calculated to he 0.03 and 0.12 μmol · L^?1 for urea and NO₃^?; respectively, but could not be calculated for NH₄⁺ under these experimental conditions. Nutrient uptake rate versus, irradiance (NI) experiments showed that maximum uptake rates occurred at ≤% of incident irradiance on both sampling dates and that values of V′_max-cell (NH₄⁺) were on average 30% greater than V′_max-cell (urea). A7°–9°C temperature decrease in incubation temperature between the two NI experiments in August resulted in a 30% decrease in V′_max-cell(NH₄⁺), no change in V′_max-cell(urea), and a 3–4-fold decrease in calculated K_lt values for both NH₄⁺ and urea. The results from these experiments demonstrate that A. anophagefferens has a higher affinity for NH₄⁺ and urea than for NO₃^? and that this particular species is adapted to use these substrates at low irradiances and concentrations. The data presented in this study are also consistent with the hypothesis that A. anophagefferens may be an oceanic clone that was displaced by an anomalous oceanographic event.     

The conformation of polycytidylic acid, polyguanylic acid, polyinosinic acid, and their helical complexes in aqueous solution from laser Raman scattering

The Raman spectra of the double helical complexes of poly C–poly G and poly I–poly C at neutral p^H are presented and compared with the spectra of the constituent homopolymers. When a completely double-helical structure is formed in solution a strong sharp band at 810–814 cm^?1 appears which has previously been shown to be due to the A-type conformation of the sugar–phosphate backbone chain. By taking the ratio of the intensity of the 810–814 cm^?1 band to the intensity of the 1090–1100 cm^?1 phosphate vibration, one can obtain an estimate of the fraction of the backbone chain in the A-type conformation for both double-stranded helices and self-stacked single chains. This type of information can apparently only be obtained by Raman spectroscopy. In addition, other significant changes in Raman intensities and frequencies have been observed and tabulated: (1) the Raman intensity of certain of the ring vibrations of guanine and hypoxanthine bases decrease as these bases become increasingly stacked (Raman hypochromism), (2) the Raman band at 1464 cm^?1 in poly I is asigned to the amide II band of the cis-amide group of the hypoxanthine base. It shifts in frequency upon base pairing to 1484 cm^?1, thus permitting the determination of the fraction of I–C pairs formed.     

Molecular conformations and 8-CH exchange rates of purine ribo- and deoxyribonucleotides: investigation by Raman spectroscopy

The rate of deuterium exchange of the 8-CH group in a purine deoxyribonucleotide, is the same as the 8-CH exchange rate in the corresponding purine ribonucleotide, with the exception of 5′-nucleotides of guanine. The observed 20% slower rate of 8-CH exchange in 5′-dGMP versus 5′-rGMP, over the temperature range 50–80°C, are attributable to differences in molecular conformation, including differences in ring puckering of the furanose substituents. Minor differences in 8-CH exhange rates are observed between 5′-and cyclic (3′:5′)-deoxyribonucleotides of a given purine, which are similar to those observed previously between corresponding 5′- and cyclic ribonucleotides that have been attributed to the charge difference of their respective phosphate groups [Ferreira, S. A. & Thomas, G. J., Jr. (1981) J. Raman Spectrosc. 11 , 508–514]. The coupling of guanine and furanose ring structures in the 5′-nucleotides is also evident from the vibrational frequencies of the guanine ring, which are strongly dependent on the pucker of the attached furanose moiety. Raman difference spectroscopy clearly reveals the dependence of purine nucleotide spectra on sugar-ring pucker. In the case of GMP, the guanine characteristic ring breathing mode near 600–700 cm^?1 depends for its exact position and intensity on the proportion of C3′-endo (668 cm^?1) and C2′-endo (682 cm^?1) conformers in equilibrium with one another. The Raman intensity ratio I(668)/I(682) is proposed as a measure of the conformer ratio C3′-endo/C2′-endo in 5′-dGMP with possible application also to nucleic acids. Among cyclic nucleotides, differences in spectra of deoxyribo- and ribo- forms also appear to be related to differences of molecular conformation.     

Infrared Spectral Studies of the Non Regularly Alternating Purine-Pyrimidine Hexamers d(m5CGGCM5CG), d(CBr8GGCCBr8G) and d(CGCGGC)

Abstract

The oligonucleotides d(m⁵CGGCm⁵CG), d(CBr⁸GGCCBr⁸G) and d(CGCGGC) have been prepared and studied by infrared spectroscopy. The three sequences contain two GC pairs which are out of purine-pyrimidine alternation with the rest of the sequence. From the IR data of the dlm⁵CGGCm^CG) hexamer, it is shown that all of the dG residues adopt a syn conformation. The marker IR bands for the C3′ endo syn conformation are at 1410, 1354, 1320 and 925 cm^?1 whereas those for the C2′ endo and conformation at 1420, 1374 and 890 cm^?1 are clearly absent. This result implies that the two adjacent guanines of the d(m⁵CGGCm⁵CG) sequence are in syn conformation. It is suggested that duplex formation occurs in d(CGCGGC) films and that all of the guanines are in syn conformation. In contrast, the central non-brominated guanine of the dlCBr⁸GGCCBr⁸G) hexamer is found in ami conformation, as expected in a Z type structure of the non-alternating region.     

Activation volumes for the two steps of the conjugate-base mechanism in liquid ammonia

The pressure dependence (10–4000 bar) of the kinetics of the ammoniation of[Co(NH₃)₅X](ClO₄)₂ (X = N₃, Cl) and the isomerization of [Co(NH₃)₅(ONO)](ClO₄)₂ in liquid ammonia is reported. The conjugate-base mechanism is operative for these complexes over the entire pressure range used. Activation and thermodynamic parameters were obtained for each of the two steps of the mechanism for [Co(NH₃)₅(N₃)](ClO₄)₂ at 20 bar. Values for the overall activation volume extrapolated to zero pressure are ΔV³(0) = ?12 (11.35 °C, ONO); ?20 (24.45 °C, N₃) and ?30 (0.50 °C, Cl) cm³ mol^?1. Application of El'yanov and Hamann's empirical relation for the pressure dependence of the ionization of weak acids separates the contributions of the pre-equilibrium (ΔV_CB⁰) and the elimination or isomerization reaction (ΔV₂³) (at zero pressure). The values obtained for [Co(NH₃)₅X](ClO₄)₂ are (givens as X; ΔV_CB⁰ and ΔV₂³ in cm³ mol^?1; T in °C): (ONO; ?16 and ?15; 11.35), (N₃; ?22 and 1;24.45), (Cl; ?22 and 3;0.50). These values fit in the accepted picture of volume effects in cobalt(III) ammine kinetics.     

An FT-IR study of DNA and RNA conformational transitions at low temperatures

Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra of solid samples of DNA and RNA obtained from freeze-drying at solid CO2 and liquid nitrogen temperatures, have been recorded and correlation between the conformational transitions and spectral changes is proposed. It is concluded that an equilibrium exists between A, B and Z conformations at low temperatures for the DNA molecule, which is temperature dependent, whereas the RNA molecule exhibits only the A conformation. The results have been compared with the metal-adducts of DNA and RNA, where one of the conformations is predominant. Marker infrared bands for the B conformer have been found to be the strong band at 825 cm-1 (sugar conformer mode) and a band with medium intensity at 690 cm-1 (guanine breathing mode). The A conformation showed characteristic bands at 810 and 675 cm-1. The B to Z conformational transition was characterized by the strong absorption bands near 820-810 cm-1 and at 665-600 cm-1.     

Ferulic acid dehydrodimers from wheat bran: isolation,purification and antioxidant properties of 8-0-4-diferulic acid

Summary

Wheat bran contains several ester-linked dehydrodimers of ferulic acid, which were detected and quantified after sequential alkaline hydrolysis. The major dimers released were: trans-5-[(E)-2-carboxyvinyl]-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenyl)-7-methoxy-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-3-carboxylic acid (5–8-BendiFA), (Z)-β-(4-[(E)-2-carboxyvinyl]-2-methoxy-phenoxy)-4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid (8-O-4-diFA) and (E,E)-4,4′-dihydroxy-5,5′-dimethoxy-3,3′-bicinnamic acid (5–5-diFA). trans-7-hydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3methoxyphenyl)-6-methoxy-1,2-dihydro-naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (8–8-diFA cyclic form) and 4,4′-dihydroxy-3,3′-dimethoxy-β,β'-bicinnamic acid (8–8-diFA non cyclic form) were not detected. One of the most abundant dimers, 8-O-4-diFA, was purified from de-starched wheat bran after alkaline hydrolysis and preparative HPLC. The resultant product was identical to the chemically synthesised 8-O-4-dimer by TLC and HPLC as confirmed by ¹H-NMR and mass spectrometry. The absorption maxima and absorption coefficients for the synthetic compound in ethanol were: λ_max: 323 nm, λ_min: 258 nm, ε_λmax (M^?1cm^?1): 24800 ± 2100 and ε₂₈₀ (M^?1cm^?1): 19700 ± 1100. The antioxidant properties of 8-O-4-diFA were assessed using: (a) inhibition of ascorbate/iron-induced peroxidation of phosphatidylcholine liposomes and; (b) scavenging of the radical cation of 2,2′-azinobis (3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) (ABTS) relative to the water-soluble vitamin E analogue, Trolox C. The 8-O-4-diFA was a better antioxidant than ferulic acid in both lipid and aqueous phases. This is the first report of the antioxidant activity of a natural diferulate obtained from a plant.     

Characterization of the A in equilibrium B transition of DNA in fibers and gels by laser Raman spectroscopy.

Both Raman spectra and X-ray diffraction patterns have been obtained from oriented fibers of sodium deoxyribonucleic acid (Na-DNA) as a function of salt content and relative humidity. We have confirmed the previously reported X-ray results that, for oriented fibers, the A-form always exists between 75 and 92% relative humidity and that the conformation will change to the B-form at 92% relative humidity only if an excess (3–5%) of added salt is present. Oriented fibers containing low amounts of added salt remain in the A-type conformation at 92% relative humidity and higher. An exact correlation has been found between the familiar A- and B-type X-ray diffraction patterns of DNA fibers and the Raman spectra previously reported without X-ray verification from this laboratory for the A- and B-forms. In particular, a band at 807 cm^?1 was always present when a fiber showed the A-type diffraction pattern, and this band shifts to 790 cm^?1 in the B-form. Using the Raman spectrum to determine the specific conformation of DNA in samples less amenable to X-ray analysis, we have studied the A ? Btransformation in unoriented fibrous masses of DNA and in concentrated, oriented gels. We find that in unoriented fibrous masses, the A ? B transition always occurs at 92% relative humidity even at very low salt concentration (0–4%). However, in oriented DNA gels at low salt, the A-form can persist as a metastable state to concentration as low as 20% DNA. The origin of the bands at 807 and 790 cm^?1 and the possible biological implications of these findings are discussed.     

Low-frequency infrared bands and chain conformations of polypeptides

Infrared spectra of polypeptides were measured in the region of 1800–400 cm^?1. For the α-helical form, disordered form, and antiparallel-chain β-form, amide V band- arising from N-H out-of-plane bending models were observed at 610–620, around 650, and 700–705 cm^?1, respectively, and amide V′ bands arising from N-D out-of-plane bending modes were observed at 455–465, around 510, and a 515–530 cm^?1, respectively. These correlations are useful for conformation diagnoses, particularly for copolyamino-acids or proteins which are not oriented. The nature of low-frequency amide bands are discussed with reference to potential energy distributions calculated for the α-helical form and β form.