Imino acids and collagen triple helix stability: characterization of collagen-like polypeptides containing Hyp-Hyp-Gly sequence repeats

The analysis of factors contributing to the stability of proteins is a subject of intense debate. Particularly challenging is the study of structural proteins, since their function is their structure. Among these is collagen, the key structural component of bones, skin, cartilage, tendons, and other connecting tissues. It is well established that the collagen triple helix is characterized by the presence of hydroxyproline, whose content modulates triple helix thermal stability according to the requirement of the host organism. Because of the complexity and the fibrous nature of collagen, data on the stability and structure of this protein have been mainly obtained by the use of collagen-like polypeptides. On the basis of CD characterization of collagen-like polypeptides we here show that the presence of Hyp at the X position of repeating triplets Hyp-Hyp-Gly stabilizes the triple helix significantly. This extra-stabilization has been ascribed, by using molecular modeling, to the formation of a hydrogen bond between Hyp residues belonging to the X and the Y positions of adjacent chains. This communication also provides a comprehensive interpretation of the ensemble of available data on polypeptides containing proline derivatives.     

Preparation and characterization of bolaform surfactant vesicles

Vesicular formulations (liposomes and niosomes) play an increasingly important role since they can be used as drug delivery and targeting systems. We described the formation of two niosomal systems based on synthetic bolaform surfactants (4,7,10,13-pentaoxa-16-aza-cyclooctadecane)-hexadecanedioc acid diamide (BD-16) and alpha,omega-(4,7,10,13-pentaoxa-16-aza-cyclooctadecane)-hexadecane (BC-16). Systems containing BD-16 or BC-16 and different amount of cholesterol (CH) were prepared by aqueous dispersion of films, followed by examination of methylene blue (MB) entrapment, particle size and morphology. Indeed, we also studied the hydration in the distilled water and physiological solution, in order to investigate the complexing ability on vesicle formation. The results obtained in this study show a high encapsulation capacity and this ability and the size depends on cholesterol content.     

A new procedure for bovine milk digestion in a focused microwave oven: gradual sample addition to pre-heated acid

Milk samples can be efficiently digested using a focused microwave oven, however the conventional procedure of addition of concentrated acids to the liquid sample leads to digestates with elevated acidity and residual carbon concentrations. In this work a focused microwave oven was applied for acid digestion of bovine milk samples using a conventional and an alternative procedure based on gradual sample addition to hot and concentrated acids. A two-level 2³ full factorial design experiment with eight runs was carried out to evaluate the optimum experimental conditions for reducing both the residual carbon and the final acidity of digestates. The three studied parameters were: temperature of the digestion medium for sample addition, addition of sulfuric acid before the sample or during the first step, and number of aliquots of the sample gradually added. The best conditions were attained by adding small aliquots of milk (ten-fold a volume of 0.5 ml added during 5.0 min) to a digestion mixture containing 3.0 ml nitric acid plus 1.0 ml sulfuric acid heated at 105 °C. It was demonstrated that the digestion efficiency of the alternative procedure was better than the conventional procedure, i.e. 98 and 80%, respectively. The alternative procedure was applied for determination of Ba, Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Na, P, and Zn in whole and non-fat bovine milk. The accuracy was proved using two certified reference materials (whole and non-fat milk powder).     

Oxidation of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol with polymer anchored molybdenyl and vanadyl complexes

The oxidation of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol with tert-butylhydroperoxide (Bu^tO₂H) has been studied using polymer (XAD₄) anchored salicylaldoxime, 1,3-propylene-bis-salicylaldimine and o-phenylene-bis-salicylaldimine complexes of molybdenum and vanadium in acetonitrile. The predominant products formed in the oxidation reactions were 2,6-di-tert-butylbenzoquinone (BQ) and 3,3′-5,5′-tetra-tert-butyldiphenoquinone (dPQ), whereas with some only 2,6-di-tert-butylbenzoquinone was formed. This is the first reported use of polymer anchored molybdenyl and vanadyl complexes in selective oxidation of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol. Solvent plays an important role in this reaction. The effects of varying the ligand, metal and the support on the catalytic activity in the oxidation of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol have been studied. With polymer anchored MoO₂(salpen), 81% of 2,6-di-tert-butylbenzoquinone was formed from 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol.     

Ion interaction approach to calculations of volumetric properties of aqueous multiple-solute electrolyte solutions

The ion interaction approach developed by Pitzer was used for the prediction of volumetric properties of mixed electrolyte solutions at 25°C based on parameters calculated from experimental data for single-solute electrolyte solutions. Such an approach was shown to be especially effective for application to the calculation of volumetric properties of natural hypersaline brines and of industrial electrolyte solutions of large complexity. The use of the latest recommended sets of volumetric ion interaction parameters for single electrolyte solutions and symmetrical mixing parameters for Na–K–Cl ion combinations considerably improved the precision of the density calculations of highly concentrated mixed electrolyte solutions and of various natural waters.     

PHYTOENE AS A PROTECTIVE AGENT AGAINST SUNBURN (>280nm) RADIATION IN GUINEA PIGS

Abstract— Phytoene, the colorless triene precursor of β-carotene (17 mg/g body weight) or a placebo was given to guinea pigs by daily intraperitoneal injection for 14 days, after which the animals were exposed to radiation (> 280 nm). It was found that the animals receiving phytoene developed significantly less erythema to the radiation than did the animals receiving placebo.     

Preparation of an eight-membered sesquiterpene lactone resulting from sequential Gif System GoAgg(III) and MCPBA oxidation of (+)-10beta,14-dihydroxy-allo-aromadendrane

Studies aimed at a comparison of chemical, biomimetic (Gif system GoAgg(III))and enzymatic (CHMO) transformations of natural (+)-10beta,14-dihydroxy-allo-aromadendrane have led to preparation of an eight-member sesquiterpene lactone.     

Preparation and characterisation of thermoresponsive poly[(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamide-co-(hydroxyethyl acrylate)] microspheres as a matrix for the pulsed release of drugs

Despite the large number of publications and patents concerning pH/thermoresponsive polymers, few data are available concerning the preparation of thermoresponsive cross-linked microspheres from preformed polymers. Therefore, N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamide-co-(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) copolymers were obtained as a new thermoresponsive material with a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) around 36 degrees C, in phosphate buffer at pH 7.4, and with a cross-linkable OH group in their structure. The LCST value was determined both by UV spectroscopy and microcalorimetric analysis. These copolymers were solubilised in acidified aqueous solution below their LCST, dispersed in mineral oil, and transformed into stable microspheres by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde. The thermoresponsive microspheres were characterised by optical and scanning electron microscopy, degree of swelling, and water retention. The pore dimensions of the microspheres and the retention volumes of some drugs and typical compounds were evaluated at different temperatures by liquid chromatography. Indomethacin, as a model drug, was included in the microspheres by the solvent evaporation method. Finally, the influence of temperature and of temperature cycling on drug release was investigated.     

Asymptotic behavior of the solutions of certain parabolic equations

Some laws in physics describe the change of a flux and are represented by parabolic equations of the form (*) \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$$\frac{{\partial u}}{{\partial t}}=\frac{\partial}{{\partial x_j }}(\eta \frac{{\partial u}}{{ax_j}}-vju),$$\end{document} j≤m, where η and v_j are functions of both space and time. We show under quite general assumptions that the solutions of equation (*) with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions and initial condition u(x, 0) = u_o(x) satisfy The decay rate d > 0 only depends on bounds for η, v and G § R^m the spatial domain, while the constant c depends additionally on which norm is considered. For the solutions of equation (*) with homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions and initial condition u₀(x) ≥ 0 we derive bounds d₁u₁ ≤ u(x, t) ≤ d₂u₂, Where d_i, i = 1, 2, depend on bounds for η, v and G, and the u_i are bounds on the initial condition u₀.