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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Photodissociation dynamics of the iodide-uracil (I{sup −}U) complex

Photofragment action spectroscopy and femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging are utilized to probe the dissociation channels in iodide-uracil (I{sup −} ⋅ U) binary clusters upon photoexcitation. The photofragment action spectra show strong I{sup −} and weak [U—H]{sup −} ion signal upon photoexcitation. The action spectra show two bands for I{sup −} and [U—H]{sup −} production peaking around 4.0 and 4.8 eV. Time-resolved experiments measured the rate of I{sup −} production resulting from excitation of the two bands. At 4.03 eV and 4.72 eV, the photoelectron signal from I{sup −} exhibits rise times of 86 ± 7 ps and 36 ± 3 ps, respectively. Electronic structure calculations indicate that the lower energy band, which encompasses the vertical detachment energy (4.11 eV) of I{sup −}U, corresponds to excitation of a dipole-bound state of the complex, while the higher energy band is primarily a π–π{sup ∗} excitation on the uracil moiety. Although the nature of the two excited states is very different, the long lifetimes for I{sup −} production suggest that this channel results from internal conversion to the I{sup −} ⋅ U ground state followed by evaporation of I{sup −}. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the dissociation rates to Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus calculations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structural and biophysical analysis of interactions between cod and human uracil-DNA N-glycosylase (UNG) and UNG inhibitor (Ugi)

A structural and biophysical study of the interactions between cod and human uracil-DNA N-glycosylase (UNG) and their inhibitor Ugi is presented. The stronger interaction between cod UNG and Ugi can be explained by a greater positive electrostatic surface potential. Uracil-DNA N-glycosylase from Atlantic cod (cUNG) shows cold-adapted features such as high catalytic efficiency, a low temperature optimum for activity and reduced thermal stability compared with its mesophilic homologue human UNG (hUNG). In order to understand the role of the enzyme–substrate interaction related to the cold-adapted properties, the structure of cUNG in complex with a bacteriophage encoded natural UNG inhibitor (Ugi) has been determined. The interaction has also been analyzed by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The crystal structure of cUNG–Ugi was determined to a resolution of 1.9 Å with eight complexes in the asymmetric unit related through noncrystallographic symmetry. A comparison of the cUNG–Ugi complex with previously determined structures of UNG–Ugi shows that they are very similar, and confirmed the nucleotide-mimicking properties of Ugi. Biophysically, the interaction between cUNG and Ugi is very strong and shows a binding constant (K{sub b}) which is one order of magnitude larger than that for hUNG–Ugi. The binding of both cUNG and hUNG to Ugi was shown to be favoured by both enthalpic and entropic forces; however, the binding of cUNG to Ugi is mainly dominated by enthalpy, while the entropic term is dominant for hUNG. The observed differences in the binding properties may be explained by an overall greater positive electrostatic surface potential in the protein–Ugi interface of cUNG and the slightly more hydrophobic surface of hUNG.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Electron-Impact Excitation of Uracil Luminescence on a Ceramic Surface

Photoelectron spectroscopy was applied to pyrimidine nitrogenous bases, an important class of six-membered heterocyclic compounds incorporated into nucleic acids. The emission spectrum of uracil adsorbed on a ceramic surface that was obtained by bombardment with 600-eV electrons in a high vacuum was analyzed. Broad bands with maxima at 335, 435, and 495 nm were observed in the UV and visible regions. The strongest band (λ = 335 nm) was attributed to fluorescence and corresponded to a singlet–singlet transition from the first excited electronic state into the molecular ground state. Electronic transitions from a triplet T{sub 1} into the ground state formed a weaker phosphorescence band (λ = 435 nm). The nature of the band maximum at 495 nm is discussed. The obtained luminescence spectrum was compared with photoluminescence spectra in various phases.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Theoretical structural and vibrational study of 5-trifluoromethyluracil. A comparison with uracil

In the present work, a comparative study on the structural and vibrational properties of the 5-trifluoromethyluracil (TFMU) derivative with those corresponding to uracil in gas and aqueous solution phases was performed combining the available H{sup 1}-NMR, C{sup 13}-NMR, F{sup 19}-NMR and FTIR spectra with Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. Three stable conformers were theoretically determined in both media by using the hybrid B3LYP/6-31G* method. The solvent effects were simulated by means of the self-consistent reaction field (SCRF) method employing the integral equation formalism variant (IEFPCM). Complete assignments of the vibrational spectra in both phases were performed combining the internal coordinates analysis and the DFT calculations with the Scaled Quantum Mechanics Force Field (SQMFF) methodology. The atomic charges, bond orders, solvation energies, dipole moments, molecular electrostatic potentials and force constants parameters were calculated for the three conformers of TFMU in gas phase and aqueous solution.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2011

Following Ultrafast Radiationless Relaxation Dynamics With Strong Field Dissociative Ionization: A Comparison Between Adenine, Uracil, and Cytosine

We present the application of ultrafast time- and mass-resolved ion yield laser spectroscopy in conjunction with ab initio electronic structure calculations to track molecular excited-state dynamics. We discuss how molecular fragment ions can be associated with conformations the molecule assumes during its relaxation, and how various features of the pump-probe signal for those fragments can be used to infer details of the excited state dynamics. We present results for radiationless relaxation in DNA and RNA bases adenine, cytosine, and uracil in the gas phase, pumped near a one-photon resonance transition to an excited state, and probed via strong-field near-IR dissociative ionization.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Antiproliferative activity of ursolic acid/glycyrrhetinic acid-uracil/thymine hybrids

As pharmacophore hybridization has been used frequently in the discovery of new drugs, ursolic acid/glycyrrhetinic acid-uracil/thymine hybrids have been synthesized and evaluated their antiproliferative activity by the MTT assay. The results displayed that, the hybrids of glycyrrhetinic acid (7a–7b to 10a–10b) exhibited slightly better antiproliferative activity than that of ursolic acid hybrids (3a–3b to 6a–6b). Two single glycyrrhetinic acid-thymine hybrids (8a and 10a) possessed good antiproliferative activity against tested A549 cell line (IC{sub 50} = 10.7 and 18.3 µM, respectively). And three hybrids (3a, 5a, and 10b) exhibited about 80% inhibitory ratio against tested Hela cell line.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Cadmium(II) inhibition of human uracil-DNA glycosylase by catalytic water supplantation

Toxic metals are known to inhibit DNA repair but the underlying mechanisms of inhibition are still not fully understood. DNA repair enzymes such as human uracil-DNA glycosylase (hUNG) perform the initial step in the base excision repair (BER) pathway. In this work, we showed that cadmium [Cd(II)], a known human carcinogen, inhibited all activity of hUNG at 100 μM. Computational analyses based on 2 μs equilibrium, 1.6 μs steered molecular dynamics (SMD), and QM/MM MD determined that Cd(II) ions entered the enzyme active site and formed close contacts with both D145 and H148, effectively replacing the catalytic water normally found in this position. Geometry refinement by density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed that Cd(II) formed a tetrahedral structure with D145, P146, H148, and one water molecule. This work for the first time reports Cd(II) inhibition of hUNG which was due to replacement of the catalytic water by binding the active site D145 and H148 residues. Comparison of the proposed metal binding site to existing structural data showed that D145:H148 followed a general metal binding motif favored by Cd(II). The identified motif offered structural insights into metal inhibition of other DNA repair enzymes and glycosylases.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2024

A compact stem-loop DNA aptamer targets a uracil-binding pocket in the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid RNA-binding domain

Abstract SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein is a structural component of the virus with essential roles in the replication and packaging of the viral RNA genome. The N protein is also an important target of COVID-19 antigen tests and a promising vaccine candidate along with the spike protein. Here, we report a compact stem-loop DNA aptamer that binds tightly to the N-terminal RNA-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 N protein. Crystallographic analysis shows that a hexanucleotide DNA motif (5′-TCGGAT-3′) of the aptamer fits into a positively charged concave surface of N-NTD and engages essential RNA-binding residues including Tyr109, which mediates a sequence-specific interaction in a uracil-binding pocket. Avid binding of the DNA aptamer allows isolation and sensitive detection of full-length N protein from crude cell lysates, demonstrating its selectivity and utility in biochemical applications. We further designed a chemically modified DNA aptamer and used it as a probe to examine the interaction of N-NTD with various RNA motifs, which revealed a strong preference for uridine-rich sequences. Our studies provide a high-affinity chemical probe for the SARS-CoV-2 N protein RNA-binding domain, which may be useful for diagnostic applications and investigating novel antiviral agents.

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology↗
DOE OSTI2016

X-ray structures of uridine phosphorylase from Vibrio cholerae in complexes with uridine, thymidine, uracil, thymine, and phosphate anion: Substrate specificity of bacterial uridine phosphorylases

In many types of human tumor cells and infectious agents, the demand for pyrimidine nitrogen bases increases during the development of the disease, thus increasing the role of the enzyme uridine phosphorylase in metabolic processes. The rational use of uridine phosphorylase and its ligands in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries requires knowledge of the structural basis for the substrate specificity of the target enzyme. This paper summarizes the results of the systematic study of the three-dimensional structure of uridine phosphorylase from the pathogenic bacterium Vibrio cholerae in complexes with substrates of enzymatic reactions—uridine, phosphate anion, thymidine, uracil, and thymine. These data, supplemented with the results of molecular modeling, were used to consider in detail the structural basis for the substrate specificity of uridine phosphorylases. It was shown for the first time that the formation of a hydrogen-bond network between the 2′-hydroxy group of uridine and atoms of the active-site residues of uridine phosphorylase leads to conformational changes of the ribose moiety of uridine, resulting in an increase in the reactivity of uridine compared to thymidine. Since the binding of thymidine to residues of uridine phosphorylase causes a smaller local strain of the β-N1-glycosidic bond in this the substrate compared to the uridine molecule, the β-N1-glycosidic bond in thymidine is more stable and less reactive than that in uridine. It was shown for the first time that the phosphate anion, which is the second substrate bound at the active site, interacts simultaneously with the residues of the β5-strand and the β1-strand through hydrogen bonding, thus securing the gate loop in a conformation.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1995

An efficient prebiotic synthesis of cytosine and uracil

In contrast to the purines, the routes that have been proposed for the prebiotic synthesis of pyrimidines from simple precursors give only low yields. Cytosine can be synthesized from cyanoacetylene and cyanate; the former precursor is produced from a spark discharge in a CH4/N2 mixture and is an abundant interstellar molecule. But this reaction requires relatively high concentrations of cyanate (> 0.1 M), which are unlikely to occur in aqueous media as cyanate is hydrolysed rapidly to CO2 and NH3. An alternative route that has been explored is the reaction of cyanoacetaldehyde (formed by hydrolysis of cyanoacetylene) with urea. But at low concentrations of urea, this reaction produces no detectable quantities of cytosine. Here we show that in concentrated urea solution--such as might have been found in an evaporating lagoon or in pools on drying beaches on the early Earth--cyanoacetaldehyde reacts to form cytosine in yields of 30-50%, from which uracil can be formed by hydrolysis. These reactions provide a plausible route to the pyrimidine bases required in the RNA world.

Non-NASA Center↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electron Detachment as a Probe of Intrinsic Nucleobase Dynamics in Dianion-Nucleobase Clusters: Photoelectron Spectroscopy of the Platinum II Cyanide Dianion Bound to Uracil, Thymine, Cytosine and Adenine

We report the first low-temperature photodetachment photoelectron spectra of isolated gas-phase complexes of the platinum II cyanide dianion bound to nucleobases. These systems are model systems for understanding platinum-complex photodynamic therapies, and knowledge of the intrinsic photodetachment properties is crucial for understanding their broader photophysical properties. Well-resolved, distinct peaks are observed in the spectra consistent with the complexes where the Pt(CN)42- moiety is largely intact. The adiabatic electron detachment energies for the dianion-nucleobase complexes are measured to be between 2.39-2.46 eV. The magnitudes of the repulsive Coulomb barriers of the complexes are estimated to be between 1.9 and 2.1 eV, values that are lower than for the bare Pt(CN)42- dianion as a result of charge solvation by the nucleobases. In addition to the resolved spectral features, broad featureless bands indicative of delayed electron detachment are observed in the 193 nm photodetachment spectra of the four nucleobase-dianion complexes, and also in the 266 nm spectra of the Pt(CN)42-∙thymine and Pt(CN)42-∙adenine complexes. The selective excitation of these features in the 266 nm spectra is attributed to one-photon excitation of [Pt(CN)42-∙T]* and [Pt(CN)42-∙A]* long-lived excited states that can effectively couple to the electron detachment continuum, producing strong electron detachment signals. We attribute the resonant electron detachment bands observed here for Pt(CN)42-∙T and Pt(CN)42-∙A but not for Pt(CN)42-∙U and Pt(CN)42-∙C to fundamental differences in the individual nucleobase photophysics following 266 nm excitation. This indicates that the Pt(CN)42- dianion in the Pt(CN)42-∙M clusters can be viewed as a “dynamic tag” which has the propensity to emit electrons when the attached nucleobase disaplys a long-lived excited state.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dissociative electron attachment to 5-bromo-uracil: non-adiabatic dynamics on complex-valued potential energy surfaces

Electron induced dissociation reactions are relevant to many fields, ranging from prebiotic chemistry to cancer treatments. However, the simulation of dissociation electron attachment (DEA) dynamics is very challenging because the auto-ionization widths of the transient negative ions must be accounted for. We propose an adaptation of the ab initio multiple spawning (AIMS) method for complex-valued potential energy surfaces, along the lines of recent developments based on surface hopping dynamics. Our approach combines models for the energy dependence of the auto-ionization widths, obtained from scattering calculations, with survival probabilities computed for the trajectory basis functions employed in the AIMS dynamics. The method is applied to simulate the DEA dynamics of 5-bromouracil in full dimensionality, i.e., taking all the vibrational modes into consideration. The propagation starts on the $π_{2}^{*}$ resonance state and describes the formation of Br - anions mediated by non-adiabatic couplings. The potential energies, gradients and non-adiabatic couplings were computed with the fractional-occupancy molecular orbital complete-active-space configuration-interaction method, and the calculated DEA cross section are consistent with the observed DEA intensities.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗