Magnetic susceptibility tensor anisotropies for a lanthanide ion series in a fixed protein matrix.

The full series of lanthanide ions (except the radioactive promethium and the S-state gadolinium) has been incorporated into the C-terminal calcium binding site of the dicalcium protein calbindin D(9k). A fairly constant coordination environment is maintained throughout the series. At variance with several lanthanide complexes with small chelating ligands investigated in the past, the large protein moiety provides a large number of NMR signals whose hyperfine shifts can be exclusively ascribed to pseudocontact shifts (PCS). The chemical shifts of 1H and 15N backbone and side chain amide NH groups were accurately measured through HSQC experiments. 1097 PCS were estimated from these by subtracting the diamagnetic contributions measured on HSQC spectra of either the 4f(0) lanthanum(III) or the 4f(14) lutetium(III) derivatives and used to define a quality factor for the structure. The differences in diamagnetic chemical shifts between the two diamagnetic blanks were relatively small, although some were not negligible especially for the nuclei closest to the metal center. These differences were used as a tolerance for the PCS. The magnetic susceptibility tensor anisotropies for each paramagnetic lanthanide ion were obtained as the result of the solution structure determination performed by using the NOEs of the cerium(III) derivative and the PCS of all lanthanides simultaneously. This set of reliable magnetic data permits an experimental assessment of Bleaney's theory relative to the magnetic properties for an extended series of lanthanide complexes in solution. All of the obtained tensors show some rhombicity, as could be expected from the lack of symmetry of the protein environment. The directions of the largest magnetic susceptibility component for Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Tb, Dy, and Ho and of the smallest magnetic susceptibility component for Eu, Er, Tm, and Yb were found to be all within 15 degrees from their average (within 20 degrees for Sm), confirming the essential similarity of the coordination environment for all lanthanides. Bleaney's theory is in excellent qualitative agreement with the observed pattern of axial anisotropies. Its quantitative agreement is substantially better than that suggested by previous analyses performed on more limited sets of PCS data for small lanthanide complexes, the so-called crystal field parameter varying only within +/-30% from one lanthanide to another. These variations are even smaller (+/-15%) if a reasonable T(-3) correction is taken into consideration. A knowledge of magnetic susceptibility anisotropy properties of lanthanides is essential in determining the self-orienting properties of lanthanide complexes in solution when immersed in magnetic fields.

Solution structure calculations through self-orientation in a magnetic field of a cerium(III) substituted calcium-binding protein.

Within the frame of a research aimed at characterizing paramagnetic metal ions capable of inducing self-orientation of metalloproteins in solution, we have studied the complex of the 75-amino-acid calcium-binding protein calbindin D(9k) with one Ce(III) ion (CaCeCb). Backbone (15)N-(1)H (1)J values have been determined for CaCeCb at two different magnetic fields. The above values showed a distinct dependence on the magnetic field, which is caused by the partial orientation of the molecule in solution. The difference in the values at the two magnetic fields provides structural constraints, which have been used to refine the structure of CaCeCb. The refined structure showed an improvement in terms of the number of residues falling in favored regions of the Ramachandran plot. The comparison of the molecular magnetic susceptibility tensor, obtained from the (15)N-(1)H (1)J values, with the magnetic susceptibility tensor of the metal, obtained from pseudocontact shifts, showed that the orientation of the molecule in solution is mainly determined by the Ce(III) ion. This paper shows that Ce(III), like low-spin Fe(III) in hemoproteins, is sufficiently magnetically anisotropic to induce self-orientation to an extent which can be exploited for solution structure determination.

trans-(NH3)(2)Pt(II)-modified deoxyoligonucleotides as potential antisense agents: cross-linking reactions between two 12-mers.

An approach is presented which probes the possible use of trans-[(NH3)(2)PtCl](+)-modified deoxyoligonucleotides in the antisense strategy. It consists of (1) the selective platination of an oligonucleotide containing 11 pyrimidine (T, C) bases as well as a single guanine (G) as a Pt-anchoring group at the 5'-end to give trans-[(NH3)(2)Pt¿5'-d(G(N7)T(2)C(2)T(2)C(2)T(2)C¿Cl](10-) 1 ("antisense strand") and (2) subsequent hybridization with the purine 12-mer 5'-d(GA(2)G(2)A(2)G(2)A(2)G)(11-) ("sense strand"). According to HPLC, three major species 2-4 are formed during reaction (2), all of which are cross-linking adducts between 1 and the sense strand, as confirmed by ESI MS and melting temperature measurements. Only for the major product 3 can a structure be proposed on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR spectra. According to these, G(1) of the antisense strand is cross-linked with G(20) via trans-(NH3)(2)Pt(II). The complementary overhangs of the duplex represent "sticky ends" and are, in principle, capable of associating into multimers of the duplex.

Reactivity of an extremely sterically crowded monofunctional Pt complex, [Pt(1-MeC-N3)3(H2O)]2+ (1-MeC = 1-methylcytosine), toward model nucleobases and selectivity toward guanine in single- and double-stranded deoxyoligonucleotides.

Reactions of [Pt(1-MeC-N3)3Cl]NO3 (1-MeC-N3 = 1-methylcytosine, bound to Pt via N3) and the respective aqua species [Pt(1-MeC-N3)3(H2O)]2+ with the model nucleobases 9-ethylguanine (9-EtGH), 9-methyladenine (9-MeA), single-stranded 5'd(T3GT3), and double-stranded [5'd(GA-GA2GCT2CTC)]2 have been studied in solution by means of 1H NMR spectroscopy, HPLC, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Reactions are generally slow, in particular with the chloro species, and guanine is the only reactive base in the oligonucleotides. However, unlike (dien)PtII, which binds randomly to the guanines in the ds dodecamer, (1-MeC-N3)3PtII binds selectively to the terminal guanine only, probably because base fraying takes place at the duplex ends. The X-ray crystal structures of [Pt(1-MeC-N3)3(9-EtG-N7)]ClO4.8H2O (1b) and of [Pt(1-MeC-N3)3(9-MeA-N7)](ClO4)2.0.5H2O as well as NMR spectroscopic studies of [Pt(1-MeC-N3)3(9-EtGH-N7)] (NO3)2.H2O (1a) are reported. The tetrakis(nucleobase) complexes adopt a head-tail-head orientation of the three 1-MeC bases and an orientation of the fourth base (purine) that permits a maximum of intracomplex H bonds between exocyclic groups. As far as the guanine adduct (1a, 1b) is concerned, relative orientations of the four bases are identical in the model and in the oligonucleotide adduct.