| Research Abstract |
Recently, FAO and WHO warned that the amount of mercury accumulated in large fishes (especially in tune) became a toxic level against embryos. In order to reduce mercury accumulated in fishes, it is important to reduce the concentration (total amount) of environmental mercury. For this purpose, considerable numbers of techniques to capture Hg(II) from environment have been proposed, such as precipitation with iodide (r), chelation of Hg(II) by resins modified with EDTA-related compounds or cysteine, and bacterial trapping of mercury (bio-remediation). However, these techniques are not specific for Hg(II) ions. In this project, we propose a new technology for a Hg(II)trapping which is highly specific for Hg(II). This technique rely on a knowledge in our group that Hg(II) is captured by thymine (T) residues in T -T mismatches in DNA duplexes (J. Am Chem Soc., 2006, 128, 2172-2173.). Therefore, the awardee of this grant (Tanaka) postulated that by using resins modified with oligo-T would
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work as a Hg(II)trapping device. He then synthesized the oligo-T-modified poly-stylene resin, and examine its Hg(II)-trapping efficiency with ICP spectroscopy. It was found that this oligo-T modified poly-stylene resin (Hg(II) trapping device) efficiently trapped Hg(II) from solution in the presence or absence of other metal rations. More interestingly, this Hg(II)trapping device specifically captured Hg(II) without trapping any other metal cations significantly. In addition, the awardee performed structure determination and physicochemical characterizations of T-Hg(II) T base-pairs, in outer to facilitate developments of more efficient Hg(II) trapping devices and to clarify appropriate sequences for them. Especially, the determination of the chemical structure of T-Hg(II) T base-pairs with ^15N NMR (J. Am Chem Soc., 2007, 129, 244-245.) gave impact to the field of nucleic acids-metal interactions in world-wide manner, and the awardee was invited as. A writer for a book chapter (N. Hadjiliadis and E. Sletten Eds., "Metal Complexes - DNA Interactions", Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK.) and a personal account (Dalton Transactions). In conclusion, the awardee revealed the fundamental properties of the T-Hg(II) T base-pan and created a Hg(II)-trapping device based on basic sciences of the T-Hg(II) T base-pairs. Less
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