Study of Al3+ binding and conformational properties of the alanine-substituted C-terminal domain of the NF-M protein and its relevance to Alzheimer's disease.

NF-M13 [H-(Lys-Ser-Pro-Val-Pro-Lys-Ser-Pro-Val-Glu-Glu-Lys-Gly)-OH], NF-M17 [H-(Glu-Glu-Lys-Gly-Lys-Ser-Pro-Val-Pro-Lys-Ser-Pro-Val-Glu-Glu-Lys-Gly) -OH], and their phosphorylated derivatives, representing the C-terminal phosphorylation domain of the neurofilament protein midsize subunit, have four possible binding sites for metal ions: the COO- group of glutamate, the OH group of the serine residue, the PO3H- group of phosphoserine (when present), and the COO- at the terminus of the peptide chain. The CD titration of the phosphorylated neurofilament fragments with Al3+ and Ca2+ yielded a significant conformational change that resulted in conformations containing high beta-pleated-sheet contents, which precipitate on standing (intermolecular complex). Al3+ binding to the unphosphorylated NF-M13 and NF-M17 did not exhibit this behavior. Several alanine analogues of the parent NF-M17 peptide were synthesized in order to determine the relationship between metal ions and possible binding sites. CD titration of analogues with Ca2+ indicated that the critical residues of NF-M17 for Ca(2+)-induced conformational changes, from random to beta-pleated sheet, are the N-terminal serine or both phosphorylated serines. Al(3+)-induced conformational changes suggest that the critical sites of NF-M17 yielding the beta-pleated-sheet structure are the four glutamates or phosphorylated serines, especially the C-terminal SerP. On the basis of the titration data, it is very likely that analogues with a serine in position 11 form a stable intramolecular complex with Al3+ that, however, does not result in the adoption of the beta-conformation. Back-titration with citric acid fails to reverse the Al(3+)-induced conformational changes of the phosphorylated peptides. The above results, especially the possible formation of intramolecular and intermolecular Al3+ complexes, may have relevance to the molecular mechanism, through which the neurotoxin Al3+ gives rise to the formation of neurofilament tangles.

Unexpected dependence of the protonation constant of 2,2'-bipyridyl on ionic strength.

The protonation constants of 2,2'-bipyridyl and ammonia have been determined by pH titration at 25 degrees , at ionic strengths of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0M obtained by using LiNO(3), NaNO(3), KNO(3), LiClO(4) and NaClO(4) as background electrolytes. The protonation constants generally change by about 0.3-0.4 log units for both ligands in nitrate media. A similar change in the protonation constant of ammonia was observed in perchlorate media. There is, however, a change of about 0.8-0.9 log units in the protonation constant of bipyridyl in the perchlorate media. This phenomenon is interpreted by postulating ion-pair formation between perchlorate and the protonated form of bipyridyl, HBp(+) + ClO(4)(-) rlharr2; HBp(+).ClO(4)(-) with formation constants of 0.54 in 2M lithium nitrate and 0.45 in 2M sodium nitrate.

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the appearance of extrema on concentration distribution curves in complex equilibrium systems.

It is shown that species distribution curves with at least one minimum may be found in most equilibrium systems with three or more components. Whether such concentration minima are actually observed then depends on the values of the equilibrium constants and on the total (analytical) concentrations of the components. A general algorithm is given for the necessary and sufficient conditions for the appearance of extrema in multicomponent systems. Three-component systems are studied in more detail and special attention is given to the limiting case of a horizontal inflection, i.e., the point where the concentration minimum just disappears. Two well-studied chemical examples, the Cu(2+)-diethylenetriamine-OH(-) and Hg(2+)-Cl(-)-OH(-) systems are discussed, along with a simple model system showing as many as five extrema on a single distribution curve.

Diagrams for complete representation of binary mononuclear complex systems.

Solution equilibria are calculated from the system of equations expressing the mass balance and the law of mass action. The solution of these equations usually requires the use of complicated iterative procedures. It is shown in the present paper, that for mononuclear complex formation, the whole system can be represented by a single diagram exhibiting all of the important chemical information, including solubility equilibria. The data necessary for the construction of the diagrams can be calculated directly without iterative procedures.

The possibility and accuracy of potentiometric equilibrium studies at very high ligand to metal concentration ratios.

The possibility and accuracy of potentiometric equilibrium studies are analysed by use of the rules of the implicit function-systems for the mass-balance equations. The conditions necessary for the use of potentiometry at very high ligand to metal concentration ratios are briefly outlined. The effect of the total ligand (glycine) concentration on the measured pK is studied experimentally and interpreted in terms of the change in the difference in diffusion potential between the reference half-cell and the solution.

Determination of component concentrations in mixtures of weak and strong acids and bases by linear algebraic methods.

A general expression for transforming potentiometric titration curves of mixtures of weak acids into a system of linear equations is derived. The solution of the linear equations gives directly the concentrations of the components. This linear transformation method is illustrated by the analysis of mixtures of weak acids with overlapping dissociation equilibria. The possible presence of a strong acid or strong base in the mixture can also be detected and its concentration simultaneously determined. The method can also be used for analysis of an ampholyte and solutions containing a weak acid and its conjugate base. For example a mixture of hydroxyacetic acid (pK approximately 3.6), acetic acid (pK approximately 4.6) and hydroxylamine hydrochloride (pK approximately 6) was analysed in the presence of strong acid with an average relative error of approximately 2%.

Analytical evaluation of the derivatives used in equilibrium calculations.

The derivatives of the total concentrations and other measured quantities with respect to the formation constants are calculated in general by a numerical method using finite increments. It is shown in this paper that these values can be calculated analytically, whereby the disadvantages of numerical differentiation may be avoided. The use of this method gives the possibility of writing faster programs for the calculation of the stability constants, based on the SCOGS and LETAGROP principle, without as large a memory requirement as in the LEAST and MINIQUAD programs.