The assembly dynamics of FtsZ, a prokaryotic homolog of tubulin, are important for their role in bacterial cytokinesis. Here we used isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to measure the heat of FtsZ self-association under various conditions. The measurements were designed to test whether FtsZ protofilaments are assembled by an isodesmic (linear aggregates in which each bond has an identical eq...

A number of hexaarylbenzene compounds were studied theoretically, in order to compare energy changes as a result of the toroidal delocalization effect that is characteristic of all these species. The energy was studied taking advantage of locally designed isodesmic reactions. Results indicate that the amount of aromaticity manifested by each substituent is a factor that should be considered whe...

Stacking self-association equilibria in aqueous solutions of m3uridine, m34,2',3',5'uridine, 2'-deoxyuridine, m13,4,4cytosine, m14,4,4,5cytosine, s2cytidine and s4thymidine were studied at various temperatures by vapour-pressure osmometry. Equilibrium constants Kst's were computed on the assumption of the isodesmic model of self-association. Enthalpies of association were also obtained from the...

To understand how the conformational heterogeneity of protofibrils formed by any protein, as well as the mechanisms of their formation, are modulated by a change in aggregation conditions, we studied the formation of amyloid protofibrils by barstar at low pH by multiple structural probes in the presence of hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP). In the presence of 10% HFIP, aggregation proceeds with the ...

Energy selected mono-, di- and trimethylamine ions were prepared by threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy (TPEPICO). Below 13 eV, the main dissociative photoionization path of these molecules is hydrogen atom loss. The ion time-of-flight (TOF) distributions and breakdown diagrams for H loss are analyzed in terms of the statistical RRKM theory, which includes tunneling. Exper...

FtsZ is the major cytoskeletal protein operating in bacterial cell division. FtsZ assembles into protofilaments in vitro, and there has been some controversy over whether the assembly is isodesmic or cooperative. Assembly has been assayed previously by sedimentation and light scattering. However, these techniques will under-report small polymers. We have now produced a mutant of Escherichia col...

We present density functional theory level predictions and analysis of the basic properties of newly synthesized high-nitrogen compounds together with 3,6-bis(2H-tetrazol-5-yl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (BTT) and 3,3'-azobis(6-amino-1,2,4,5-tetrazine) (DAAT), for which experimental data are available. The newly synthesized high-nitrogen compounds are based on tricycle fused 1,2,4-triazine and 1,2,4,5-t...

The heats of formation for the n-alkanes C(n)H(n+2) for n = 5, 6, and 8 have been calculated using ab initio molecular orbital theory. Coupled-cluster calculations with perturbative triples (CCSD(T)) were employed for the total valence electronic energies. Correlation-consistent basis sets were used, up through the augmented quadruple zeta, to extrapolate to the complete basis set limit. Geomet...

Rapid yet accurate pKa prediction for druglike molecules is a key challenge in computational chemistry. This study uses PM6-DH+/COSMO, PM6/COSMO, PM7/COSMO, PM3/COSMO, AM1/COSMO, PM3/SMD, AM1/SMD, and DFTB3/SMD to predict the pKa values of 53 amine groups in 48 druglike compounds. The approach uses an isodesmic reaction where the pKa value is computed relative to a chemically related reference ...