Mechanistic Investigation of Photochemical Reactions by Mass Spectrometry.

This Minireview highlights the application of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) to investigating photochemical reactions. We show possible approaches to on-line ESI-MS monitoring of photocatalytic reactions and give examples of the characterization of short-lived photochemical intermediates by ion spectroscopy. The minireview also exemplifies in-depth mass spectrometric studies of photoisomerization reactions and photofragmentation reactions. Apart from mechanistic studies, the coupling of photochemistry and mass spectrometry is a powerful approach to studying structure and properties of biomolecules. We show several examples focused on investigation of intrinsic properties of model biomolecules.

Cyclodextrin-peptide conjugates for sequence specific DNA binding.

Synthetic models of bZIP transcription factors have been developed with the capability of specific DNA recognition. Our design is based on the CuAAC mediated conjugation of basic region Leucine Zipper peptides to different derivatives of α, ß and γ-cyclodextrins equipped with azide functionalities. Thorough optimization of reaction conditions allowed convergent and simultaneous conjugation of two long unprotected cationic peptides to cyclodextrin-bis azide derivatives. The resulting constructs were shown to specifically recognize their cognate DNA sequence with nM affinities. In comparison with previously developed TF models, the derivatives described here combine the enhanced DNA binding capabilities with an easy and convergent synthetic route.