Paola Rossi

Aluminium fluorescence detection with a FRET amplified chemosensorElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: experimental details and spectra. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/b3/b303195k/

A selective Al3+ fluorescence chemosensor able to detect concentrations of metal ion in the nanomolar range has been realized. The remarkable sensitivity is the result of the FRET amplification of the fluorescence emission of the ligand subunit.

The First Water-Soluble 310-Helical Peptides

Two water-soluble 3(10)-helical peptides are synthesized and fully characterized for the first time. The sequence of these terminally blocked heptamers comprises two residues of the Calpha-trisubstituted alpha-amino acid 2-amino-3-[1-(1,4,7-triazacyclononyl)]propanoic acid and five residues of a Calpha-tetrasubstituted alpha-amino acid (either alpha-aminoisobutyric acid or isovaline). Using CD and NMR techniques we were able to show that both heptapeptides are well structured in water, and that the type of conformation adopted is indeed the ternary 3(10)-helix.

An azacrown‐functionalized peptide as a metal ion based catalyst for the cleavage of a RNA‐model substrate

The previously synthesized, terminally blocked heptapeptide Ac-Aib-ATANP-Aib-Aib-ATANP-Aib-Aib-OMe (1a), where ATANP is (S)-2-amino-3-[1-(1,4,7-triazacyclononane)]propanoic acid and Aib is alpha-aminoisobutyric acid, which is soluble in neutral water where it largely adopts a 3(10)-helical conformation, has been studied, as bimetallic complex [metal ions: Cu(II), Ni(II), Zn(II)], for the transphosphorylation catalysis of the RNA-model substrate 2-(hydroxypropyl)-p-nitrophenyl phosphate (HPNP). A detailed analysis was carried out with the Zn(II) dinuclear complex. Comparison with the mononuclear Zn(II) complex with 1,4,7-triazacyclononane (3) points to cooperativity between the two Zn(II) ions in the process catalyzed by 1a-2Zn(II). On the contrary, the dinuclear Zn(II) complex of dipeptide Ac-(ATANP)(2)-OMe (2), lacking any ordered conformation, is less active than 3-Zn(II). The kinetic analysis suggests the following: (a) the peptide is conformationally very robust and does not loose activity up to 50 degrees C; (b) the substrate binds to the peptide-Zn(II) complex, although not all modes of complexation allow us to take advantage of the cooperativity between the two metal centers. The maximum rate acceleration estimated at pH 7 for the fully bound substrate is ca. 200-fold compared with the uncatalyzed process.

A new ligand α-amino acid: (S)-2-amino-3-[1-(1,4,7-triazacyclononane)]propanoic acid

The title amino acid was obtained by regiospecific ring-opening reaction of Bocdiprotected 1,4,7-triazacyclononane with (S)-2-benzyloxycarbonylamino-β-lactone (80% isolated yield) followed by deprotection. It strongly binds transition metal ions like ZnII and CuII and can be incorporated in peptide sequences without affecting the metal ion affinity of the triazamacrocycle.

Poly(ethylene glycol)-supported copper(II) triazacyclononane: an efficient, recoverable, and recyclable catalyst for the cleavage of a phosphodiester

Abstract The triazacyclononane macrocycle has been linked to the soluble polymer monomethoxy poly(ethylene) glycol and its copper(II) complex efficiently catalyzes the hydrolysis of a model phosphodiester. The catalyst, easily recovered from the water solution, shows no appreciable loss of activity when recycled three times.

Helical peptide-polyamine and -polyether conjugates as synthetic ionophores.

Two new synthetic ionophores in which the hydrophobic portion is represented by a short helical Aib-peptide (Aib=α-amino-isobutyric acid) and the hydrophilic one is a poly-amino (1a) or a polyether (1b) chain have been prepared. The two conjugates show a high ionophoric activity in phospholipid membranes being able to efficiently dissipate a pH gradient and, in the case of 1b, to transport Na(+) across the membrane. Bioactivity evaluation of the two conjugates shows that 1a has a moderate antimicrobial activity against a broad spectrum of microorganisms and it is able to permeabilize the inner and the outer membrane of Escherichia coli cells.