The catecholamines N-acetyldopamine (NADA) and N-b-alanyldopamine (NBAD) are two precursors for quinonoios used as sclerotizing agents in insect cuticle. This study focused on the reaction pathways of the quinones of NADA and NBAD by using two nitrogencentered nucleophiles, imidazole and N-acetylhistidine, to model cuticular proteins containing histidyl residues. The quinones were prepared by e...

The origin of the 440 nm fluorescence of horse spleen ferritin and of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Azotobacter vinelandii bacterioferritin has been investigated using a Nitro Blue Tetrazolium/glycinate colorimetric test specific for quiones [Paz, Flückiger, Boak, Kagan & Gallop (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 689-692]. The results of the analysis indicate that ferritin and bacterioferritins contain qu...

Short-chain quinones are described as potent antioxidants and in the case of idebenone have already been under clinical investigation for the treatment of neuromuscular disorders. Due to their analogy to coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a long-chain quinone, they are widely regarded as a substitute for CoQ10. However, apart from their antioxidant function, this provides no clear rationale for their use in...

Protein misfolding and aggregation are associated with more than twenty diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic diseases. The amyloid oligomers and fibrils may induce cell membrane disruption and lead to cell apoptosis. A great number of studies have focused on discovery of amyloid inhibitors which may prevent or treat amyloidosis diseases. Polyphenols have been extensively s...

Lower chlorinated polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are readily metabolized via hydroxylated metabolites to reactive PCB quinones. Although these PCB metabolites elicit biochemical changes by mechanisms involving cellular target molecules, such as the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, and toxicity by interacting with enzymes like topoisomerases, only few PCB quinones have been synthesized and their con...

The ability of three substituted quinones, 2,5-dibromo-3-methyl-6-isopropyl-p-benzoquinone (DBMIB), 2,6-dichloro-p-benzoquinone (DCBQ), and tetramethyl-p-benzoquinone (duriquinone) to quench the excited states of chlorophyll (Chl) molecules in Photosystem I (PSI) was studied. Chl fluorescence emission measured with isolated PSI submembrane fractions was reduced following the addition of exogeno...

A series of heterocyclic quinones based on benzofuran, benzothiophene, indazole and benzisoxazole has been synthesized, and evaluated for their ability to function as substrates for recombinant human NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), a two-electron reductase upregulated in tumor cells. Overall, the quinones are excellent substrates for NQO1, approaching the reduction rates observed for men...

1,4-Quinones display unique redox and biological properties have multiple applications in a wide array of fields, including health. Synthesis diversely substituted quinone-based compounds remains difficult usually consists step sequences. Interest direct C?H radical alkylation 1,4-quinones has thus continuously grown over this last decade. These reactions involve addition carbon-centered radica...

Quinones are widespread secondary metabolites that function as signal molecules between organisms in the rhizosphere. Quinones are particularly important in the exchange of chemical signals between plant roots, a phenomenon classically termed allelopathy. The bioactivity of quinones is due in large part to radical intermediates formed during redox cycling between quinone and hydroquinone states...

Short-chain quinones have been investigated as therapeutic molecules due to their ability to modulate cellular redox reactions, mitochondrial electron transfer and oxidative stress, which are pathologically altered in many mitochondrial and neuromuscular disorders. Recently, we and others described that certain short-chain quinones are able to bypass a deficiency in complex I by shuttling elect...