Since the beginning of the last century, it has been known that ascidians accumulate high levels of a transition metal, vanadium, in their blood cells, although the mechanism for this curious biological function remains unknown. Recently, we identified three vanadium-binding proteins (vanabins), previously denoted as vanadium-associated proteins (VAPs) [Zool. Sci. 14 (1997) 37], from the cytoplasm fraction of vanadium-containing blood cells (vanadocytes) of the vanadium-rich ascidian Ascidia sydneiensis samea. Here, we describe the cloning, expression, and analysis of the metal-binding ability of vanabins. Recombinant proteins of two independent but related vanabins, vanabin1 and vanabin2, bound to 10 and 20 vanadium(IV) ions with dissociation constants of 2.1x10(-5) and 2.3x10(-5) M, respectively. The binding of vanadium(IV) to these vanabins was inhibited by the addition of copper(II) ions, but not by magnesium(II) or molybdate(VI) ions. Vanabins are the first proteins reported to show specific binding to vanadium ions; this should provide a clue to resolving the problem regarding the selective accumulation of vanadium in ascidians.

The unusual ascidian ability to accumulate high levels of vanadium ions at concentrations of up to 350 mM, a 10(7)-fold increase over that found in seawater, has been attracting interdisciplinary attention for a century. Accumulated V(V) is finally reduced to V(III) via V(IV) in ascidian vanadocytes. Reducing agents must therefore participate in the reduction. Previously, we identified a vanadium-binding protein, Vanabin2, in which all 18 cysteines form nine disulfide bonds. Here, we report that Vanabin2 is a novel vanadium reductase because partial cleavage of its disulfide bonds results in the reduction of V(V) to V(IV). We propose that Vanabin2 forms a possible electron transfer cascade from the electron donor, NADPH, via glutathione reductase, glutathione, and Vanabin2 to the acceptor, and vanadium ions conjugated through thiol-disulfide exchange reactions.

Two series of new mixed-ligand nitronyl nitroxide Ni(II) complexes of [Ni(beta-diketonato)(2)(NIT2-py)] and [Ni(beta-diketonato)(tmen)(NIT2-py)](+) types with various kinds of beta-diketonates have been synthesized and structurally and magnetically characterized, where NIT2-py is 2-(2-pyridyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazolyl-1-oxyl 3-oxide and tmen is N,N,N ',N '-tetramethylethylenediamine. The X-ray structural analysis for three tmen complexes with 2,4-pentanedionate (1b), 1,3-diphenyl-1,3-propanedionate (2b), and 4,4,4-trifluoro-1-phenyl-1,3-butanedionate (5b) demonstrated that the beta-diketonato complexes assume a mer (cis,trans) N(3)O(3) geometrical configuration. The structural parameters are as follows: 1b (C(23)H(39)F(6)N(5)NiPO(4).(1)/(3)CH(2)Cl(2)), trigonal, R&thremacr;, a = 33.299(5) Å, c = 15.007(9) Å, Z = 18; 2b (C(28)H(41)F(6)N(5)NiPO(4)), orthorhombic, Pbca, a = 23.732(6) Å, b = 18.504(5) Å, c = 15.345(4) Å, Z = 8; 5b (C(28)H(38)F(9)N(5)NiPO(4)), triclinic, P&onemacr;, a = 12.068(2) Å, b = 16.942(2) Å, c = 9.161(1) Å, alpha = 105.26(1) degrees, beta = 103.72(1) degrees, gamma = 71.62(1) degrees, Z = 2. The antiferromagnetic interactions between Ni(II) and NIT2-py were found within ranges of J = -207 to -224 cm(-)(1) for the bis(beta-diketonato) complexes and of J = -35 to -150 cm(-)(1) for the (beta-diketonato)(tmen) complexes. The displacement of the beta-diketonates with tmen in bis(beta-diketonato) complexes decreases the J values, and the effect of the 1,3-substituents in the beta-diketonates on the J values is observed in a systematic manner for all the bis(beta-diketonato) complexes and for the (methyl- and phenyl-substituted-beta-diketonato)(tmen) complexes but not for the trifluoromethyl-substituted complex. The room-temperature electronic spectra of the bis(beta-diketonato) and the (beta-diketonato)(tmen) complexes exhibit enhanced spin-forbidden d-d transitions at 13.0 x 10(3) cm(-)(1) and new metal-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) transitions around (16.0-19.0) x 10(3) cm(-)(1). The variation of the spectroscopic characteristics with modification of the beta-diketonato ligands is discussed through the exchange mechanism in connection with the antiferromagnetic interactions in terms of the substituent effects or the Hammett sigma(m) constants.

The dissolution of PtO2 in concentrated H2SO4 under an atmosphere of CO results in the formation of hexacarbonyldiplatinum(I), [{Pt(CO)3}2]2+ (1), the first homoleptic, dinuclear, cationic platinum carbonyl complex, of which a prolonged evacuation leads to reversible disproportionation to give cis-[Pt(CO)2]2+ (solv) (2) and Pt(0). 1 has been completely characterized by NMR (13C and 195Pt), IR, Raman, and EXAFS spectroscopy. The structure of 1 is rigid on the NMR time scale at room temperature. NMR:  δ(13CA) 166.3, δ(13CB) 158.7, δ(195Pt) −211.0 ppm; 1 J(Pt−CA) = 1281.5 Hz, 1 J(Pt−CB) = 1595.7 Hz, 1 J(Pt−Pt‘) = 550.9 Hz. The strongly polarized, sharp Raman band at 165 cm-1 (ρ = ca. 0.25) indicates the presence of a direct Pt−Pt bond. The IR and Raman spectra in the CO stretching region are entirely consistent with the presence of only terminal CO's on a nonbridged Pt−Pt bond with D 2 d symmetry. ν(CO)IR:  2174 (E), 2187 (B 2), and 2218 cm-1 (B 2); ν(CO)Raman:  2173 (E), 2194 (B 2), 2219 (B 2), 2209 (A 1) and 2233 cm-1 (A 1). EXAFS measurements show that the Pt−Pt bond is 2.718 Å and the mean length of the Pt−C bonds is 1.960 Å. The geometric optimization for 1 by a density functional calculation at the B3LYP level of theory predicts that the dinuclear cation contains two essentially planar tricarbonyl platinum(I) units that are linked via a Pt−Pt bond about which they are twisted by exactly 90.0° with respect to each other.