Glycerophosphodiesterase (GpdQ) from Enterobacter aerogenes is a nonspecific diesterase that enables Escherichia coli to utilize alkyl phosphodiesters, such as diethyl phosphate, as the sole phosphorus source. The catalytic properties of GpdQ were determined, and the best substrate found was bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate with a kcat/Km value of 6.7 x 10(3) M-1 s-1. In addition, the E. aerogenes ...

The ability of oximes to reactivate organophosphorus nerve agent-inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity is critical for protection against chemical warfare nerve agent intoxication. We have studied the capability of the tertiary oximes monoisonitrosoacetone (MINA) and diacetylmonoxime (DAM), in comparison with the quaternary oximes 2-PAM, HLo7 and MMB-4 to reactivate AChE inhibited by s...

Nerve agents belong to the most toxic organophosphates (OP) in the group of cholinesterase inhibitors. They can be used as chemical warfare agents and, they can be (and were) misused by terrorists, as happened in Matsumoto city (1994) and Tokyo subway (1995). Sarin was used in these cases. Medical protection against their effect (i.e. antidotal treatment) is of prime importance (Bajgar 2004, 20...

Recently, a new chapter was started in the handbook of terror involving the application of nerve gas technology to the killing of civilians. On March 19, a terrorist attack in a Tokyo subway resulted in the loss of 10 lives and injury to over 5,000 others. In view of the lethality of the suspected agent, sarin, the fatalities were surprisingly few. Terrorist attacks on civilians are not new, bu...

Organophosphorus (OP) nerve agents are potent inhibitors of human acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase. Although some OPs may induce delayed toxic effects on muscle and nerve,1 it is the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase that accounts for the acute life-threatening toxicity of soman, sarin, VX, tabun and similar OP compounds. This acute toxicity, which arises from the uncontrolled ac...

A strategy for combined experimental and computational screening of candidate carbonaceous materials for capturing highly volatile nerve agents at ambient temperature using physisorption. Based on theoretical calculations of Henry constants and zero-coverage adsorption enthalpies for sarin and DMMP (its common stimulant) adsorbed in model slit-shaped carbon pores at 298 K, we found the followin...

Excitation energies, oscillator strengths, and vacuum-ultraviolet/deep-ultraviolet absorption spectra were calculated for nerve agents, such as sarin, soman, VX, tabun, mustard gas, and analogs. We used time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods that included B3LYP combined with basis sets of cc-pVDZ and cc-pVTZ, and ωB97XD with cc-pVTZ. The vertical ionization energies were also...

The recent attacks with the nerve agent sarin in Syria reveal the necessity of effective countermeasures against highly toxic organophosphorus compounds. Multiple studies provide evidence that a rapid onset of antidotal therapy might be life-saving but current standard antidotal protocols comprising reactivators and competitive muscarinic antagonists show a limited efficacy for several nerve ag...

Inhalation of subclinical doses of sarin suppresses the antibody-forming cell (AFC) response, T-cell mitogenesis, and serum corticosterone (CORT) levels, and high doses of sarin cause lung inflammation. However, the duration of these changes is not known. In these studies, rats were exposed to a subclinical dose of sarin (0.4 mg/m3/h/day) for 1 or 5 days, and immune and inflammatory parameters ...

The brainstem represents a major tissue area affected by sarin organophosphate poisoning due to its function in respiratory and cardiovascular control. While the acute toxic effects of sarin on brainstem-related responses are relatively unknown, other brain areas e.g., cortex or cerebellum, have been studied more extensively. The study objective was to analyze the guinea pig brainstem toxicolog...