No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Marquette University, 2009. / James R. Kincaid, Daniel Sem, Michael D. Ryan, Advisors. Access available to Marquette University only.

Hemoglobin plays an important role in transporting oxygen in human beings and other mammals. Hemoglobin is a tetrameric protein composed of two alpha and two beta subunits. The £\ and £] subunits are both necessary and the stoichiometric ratio of the two dislike subunits is critical for hemoglobin to perform its oxygen-carrying function properly. To better understand the coupling between the £\ and £] subunits and the subunit disassembly pathway, p-hydroxymercuri-benzoate (PMB) has been used to react with the cysteine residues in hemoglobin. The hemoglobin tetramer becomes unstable and disassembles into £\ and £] subunits when the cysteine sites are perturbed upon reacting with PMB. There are three kinds of cysteine residues, £]93, £\104 and £]112, in human hemoglobin. The reactivity of different cysteine residues with PMB and their reaction sequence have been studied via the Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The resonance Raman spectroscopy has been used to investigate the structural changes of hemoglobin accompanying the PMB-modification under the oxygenated and deoxygenated conditions. At last, a hemoglobin subunit disassembly mechanism is proposed and the site-specific roles of cysteine residues in human hemoglobin are discussed in detail.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-87).

The Gram-positive pathogens Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Streptococcus pyogenes both require iron for survival. These bacteria have developed sophisticated heme uptake and transport protein machinery responsible for the import of iron into the cell, in the form of heme from the human host. The heme utilization pathway (hmu) of C. diphtheriae utilizes multiple proteins to bind and transport heme into the cell. One of these proteins, HmuT, delivers heme to the ABC transporter HmuUV. The axial ligation of the heme in HmuT was probed by examination of wild-type HmuT and a series of conserved heme pocket residue mutants, H136A, Y235A, R237A, Y272A, M292A, Y349A, and Y349F. Characterization by UV-visible absorption, resonance Raman, and magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopies indicated that H136 and Y235 are the axial ligands in HmuT. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was also utilized to assess the roles of conserved residues in contribution to heme binding. The S. pyogenes streptococcal iron acquisition (sia)/heme transport system (hts) utilizes multiple proteins to bring host heme to the intracellular space. Both the substrate binding protein SiaA and the hemoprotein surface receptor Shr were investigated. The kinetic effects on SiaA heme release were probed through chemical unfolding of axial ligand mutants M79A and H229A, as well mutants thought to contribute to heme binding, K61A and C58A, and a control mutant, C47A. The unfolding pathways showed two processes for protein denaturation. This is consistent with heme loss from protein forms differing by the orientation of the heme in the binding pocket. The ease of protein unfolding is related to the strength of interaction of the residues with the heme. Shr contains two NEAT (near-iron transporter) domains (Shr-N1 and Shr-N2) which can both bind heme. Biophysical studies of both Shr-N1 and Shr-N2 indicated a new class of NEAT domains which utilize methionine as an axial ligand, rather than a tyrosine. Thermal and chemical unfolding showed ferrous Shr-N1 and Shr-N2 to be most resistant to denaturation. Shr-N2 was prone to autoreduction. Together, sequence alignment, homology modeling, and spectral signatures are all consistent with two methionines as the heme ligands of this novel type of NEAT heme-binding domain.

Based upon experimental evidence from the 1970’s we proposed that a reduced form of hydroxocobalamin should be capable of producing carbon dioxide (CO2) from carbon monoxide (CO) in blood, and that this conversion should be detectable. Using resonance raman spectroscopy we demonstrated that a mixture of hydroxocobalamin and ascorbic acid could create the reduced form of hydroxocobalamin. We used a closed-loop circulation system with a hollow-fiber membrane oxygenator to produce carboxyhemoglobin. Using sensitive gas monitoring equipment to the gas-out port of the oxygenator we analyzed the CO and CO2 concentrations coming from the oxygenator. The mixture of hydroxocobalamin and ascorbic acid caused a 5-fold increase in the CO2 concentration of the gas-out flow, in comparison to baseline and negative controls. These findings offer initial support for the potential use of a mixture of hydroxocobalamin and ascorbic acid as an injectable antidote for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Neste trabalho foi realizado o estudo espectroscópico (UV-VIS-NIR, FTIR, Raman e RMN) dos produtos de polimerização da anilina com persulfato de amônio em condições de síntese diferentes da utilizada na síntese padrão da polianilina (pH inicial = 1). A reação foi realizada em meio de HCl (pH inicial = 3) e em meio tamponado (pH = 3). No primeiro caso foi observada a formação majoritária de oligômeros de anilina tipo cabeça-cauda, enquanto que em meio tamponado são formadas macromoléculas com segmentos do tipo 1,4 de Michael de anilina e benzoquinona monoimina com diferentes graus de hidrólise/oxidação, além de unidades tipo fenazina. Esta caracterização está de acordo com as propostas distintas de dois grupos (Surwade et al. e Stejskal et al.), que a princípio pareciam contraditórias. Ainda com relação aos produtos obtidos em meio tamponado (pH = 3), é observada a formação de microesferas com diâmetro entre 3-7 µm. A microscopia Raman juntamente com a espectroscopia Raman ressonante revelou uma correlação entre estrutura tipo fenazina e a formação das microesferas. / In this work it was performed the spectroscopic study (UV-VIS-NIR, FTIR, Raman e NMR) of the polymerization products of aniline and ammonium persulfate using different reaction conditions in relation to the standard polyaniline synthesis (initial pH = 1). The reaction was performed in HCl medium (initial pH =3) and in buffered medium (pH = 3) In the first case it was observed the major formation of aniline oligomers with head-to-tail coupling, while in buffered medium macromolecules with 1,4 Michael-type segments between aniline and benzoquinone monoimine with different hydrolysis/oxidation ratio of iminic groups are formed, in addition to phenazine-like units. This characterization is in accordance to the distinct proposals of two groups (Surwade et al. e Stejskal et al.), which at first seemed contradictory. Again, relative to the products obtained in buffered solution (pH = 3), it is observed the formation of microspheres whose diameter range is 3-7 µm. The use of Raman microscopy and resonance Raman spectroscopy revealed a correlation between phenazine-like structure and the microspheres formation.