Identification of a potent antibacterial factor isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid: guanidine,N-[3-[(aminoiminomethyl)amino]propyl]-N-dodecyl-, a potential source of error in the analysis of antibacterial agents

The widespread use of antibiotics in modern society has encouraged the search for new antibacterial compounds. In this laboratory investigations are being made to identify and characterise novel antibacterial peptides. With this in mind, the antibacterial properties of human bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from sarcoidosis patients is being investigated. In this communication we report on the identification and characterisation of a highly active non-peptide antibacterial compound isolated from BAL fluid. The structure of this active compound was elucidated by high-resolution accurate mass and tandem mass spectrometry to be guanidine, N-[3-[(aminoiminomethyl)amino]propyl]-N-dodecyl-. This compound does not appear to be endogenous, and its presence in BAL fluid extracts presents a potential source of error in analysis of antibacterial agents. The biological effects of guanidine, N-[3-[(aminoiminomethyl)amino]propyl]-N-dodecyl- have not previously been described in the literature.     

Interaction between a partially fluorinated alkyl sulfate and gelatin in aqueous solution

The interaction of a partially fluorinated alkyl sulfate, sodium 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl sulfate (C6F13CH2CH2OSO3Na), with the polyampholyte gelatin has been examined in aqueous solution using surface tension and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The 19F chemical shift of each fluorine environment in the surfactant is unaltered by the addition of gelatin, indicating that there is no contact between the gelatin and the fluorocarbon core of the micelle. The chemical shift of the two methylene groups closest to the headgroup is altered when gelatin is present, disclosing the location of the polymer. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) of the surfactant, cmc = 17+/-1 mM, corresponds to an effective alkyl chain (CnH2n+1) length of n = 11. In the presence of gelatin, the cmc is substantially reduced as expected, cmc(1) = 4+/-1 mM, which is also consistent with an effective alkyl chain length of n = 11. In the presence of the fluorosurfactant, the monotonic decay of the SANS from the gelatin-only system is replaced by a substantial peak at an intermediate Q value mirroring the micellar interaction. At low ionic strengths, the gelatin/micelle complex can be described by an ellipsoid. At higher ionic strengths, the electrostatic interaction between the micelles is screened and the peak in the gelatin scattering disappears. The correlation length describing the network structure decreases with increasing SDS concentration as the bound micelles promote a collapse of the network.     

Hydrolysis of the amyloid beta-peptide (A beta) 1-40 between Asp23-Val24 produces non-aggregating fragments. An electrospray mass spectrometric study

The aggregation of full-length (residues 1-40) amyloid beta-peptide (A beta) and fragments corresponding to residues 1-23 and 24-40 was studied by electrospray mass spectrometry, using gramicidin as a non-aggregating reference. Following a lag period, A beta(1-40) at 140 microM concentration aggregates with apparent first-order kinetics. Under acidic conditions A beta(1-40) undergoes spontaneous cleavage between Asp23-Val24 and to a lesser extent also at two other Asp-X motifs. Incubation in acidic H(2)18O showed incorporation of 18O in fragment A beta(1-23), confirming that the Asp23-Val24 peptide bond had been hydrolyzed. Incubation of synthetic A beta(1-23) and A beta(24-40) peptides with A beta(1-40) showed that A beta(24-40) remained in solution for several months, that A beta(1-23) partly disappeared from solution, whereas A beta(1-40) completely disappeared. Further, treatment of sedimentable aggregates formed after co-incubation of the three peptides with hexafluoro-2-propanol or formic acid recovered the intensity of A beta(1-40). These data support previous studies showing that the region of A beta encompassing residues 16-24 is necessary for aggregation into amyloid fibrils.     

Synthesis and Evaluation of Phenothiazine Singlet Oxygen Sensitising Dyes for Application in Cancer Phototherapy

The synthesis of phenothiazine carboxylic dyes for PDT treatment of cancer is discussed.     

Heteronuclear 3 d/DyIII Coordination Clusters as Catalysts in a Domino Reaction

Three isoskeletal tetranuclear coordination clusters with general formula [M^II₂Dy^III₂L₄(EtOH)₆](ClO₄)₂?2 EtOH, (M=Co, 1 ; M=Ni, 2 ) and [Ni^II₂Dy^III₂L₄Cl₂(CH₃CN)₂]?2 CH₃CN ( 3 ), have been synthesized and characterized. These air‐stable compounds, and in particular 3 , display efficient homogeneous catalytic behavior in the room‐temperature synthesis of trans‐4,5‐diaminocyclopent‐2‐enones from 2‐furaldehyde and primary or secondary amines under a non‐inert atmosphere.     

Competition in growth and urns

We study survival among two competing types in two settings: a planar growth model related to two‐neighbor bootstrap percolation, and a system of urns with graph‐based interactions. In the planar growth model, uncolored sites are given a color at rate 0, 1 or , depending on whether they have zero, one, or at least two neighbors of that color. In the urn scheme, each vertex of a graph G has an associated urn containing some number of either blue or red balls (but not both). At each time step, a ball is chosen uniformly at random from all those currently present in the system, a ball of the same color is added to each neighboring urn, and balls in the same urn but of different colors annihilate on a one‐for‐one basis. We show that, for every connected graph G and every initial configuration, only one color survives almost surely. As a corollary, we deduce that in the two‐type growth model on , one of the colors only infects a finite number of sites with probability one. We also discuss generalizations to higher dimensions and multi‐type processes, and list a number of open problems and conjectures.     

Consistent Quantum Realism: A Reply to Bassi and Ghirardi

A recent claim by Bassi and Ghirardi that the consistent (decoherent) histories approach cannot provide a realistic interpretation of quantum theory is shown to be based upon a misunderstanding of the single-framework rule: they have replaced the correct rule with a principle which directly contradicts it. It is their assumptions, not those of the consistent histories approach, which lead to a logical contradiction.     

Influence of gas law on ultrasonic behaviour of porous media under pressure

This paper deals with the influence of gas law on ultrasonic behaviour of porous media when the saturating fluid is high pressured. Previous works have demonstrated that ultrasonic transmission through a porous sample with variations of the static pressure (up to 18 bars) of the saturating fluid allows the characterization of high damping materials. In these studies, the perfect gas law was used to link static pressure and density, which is disputable for high pressures. This paper compares the effects of real and perfect gas laws on modeled transmission coefficient for porous foams at these pressures. Direct simulations and a mechanical parameters estimation from minimization show that results are very similar in both cases. The real gas law is thus not necessary to describe the acoustic behaviour of porous media at low ultrasonic frequencies (100 kHz) up to 20 bars.