Synthesis of glycosaminoglycans via enzymatic polymerization

Hyaluronic acid and chondroitin were successfully synthesized as representative molecules of glucosaminoglycans and galactosaminoglycans found in a glycosaminoglycan family via enzymatic polymerization catalyzed by testicular hyaluronidases. A newly designed N-acetylhyalobiuronate oxazoline derivative with a β-D -glucuronyl-(1→3)-N-acetyl-D -glucosamine disaccharide structure served as a transition-state analogue substrate monomer for the enzyme, giving rise to artificial hyaluronic acid in 52% yields with a number-average molecular weight of 1.35 × 10⁴ through ring-opening polyaddition in a perfect regioselective and stereoselective manner. A novel N-acetylchondrosine oxazoline derivative with a β-D -glucuronyl-(1→3)-N-acetyl-D -galactosamine disaccharide structure also acted as a transition-state analogue substrate monomer for the enzyme, yielding artificial chondroitin in 35% yields with a number-average molecular weight of 2.5 × 10³. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3541–3548, 2003     

Effect of the langmuir-type ion adsorption on the membrane potential of a non-charged membrane

Membrane potential is determined by the combination of the properties of ions and of the membrane. There is, therefore, a possibility that the properties of ions can be reflected on the membrane potential more effectively by artificially modifying the membrane properties. In this paper, the membrane is assumed to have no charge but to adsorb cations or anions selectively, and the effect of Langmuir-type adsorption of ions on the membrane potential is investigated theoretically. The variation of the amount of adsorbed ions affects not only the surface potential but also the diffusion potential within the membrane. The membrane potential shows a minimum or a maximum with the variation of the ion concentration in the bulk solution. This phenomenon results from the variation of the amount of ions adsorbed onto the membrane surfaces. Therefore, information on both the adsorption coefficient of a given ion and the amount of saturation of absorption of the ion is obtained from an analysis of the membrane potential. The theory is applied to the analysis of the affinity membrane potential, which can be used for the determination of blood type, and it is shown that the theory is in good agreement with experimental data.     

Versatile glycoblotting nanoparticles for high-throughput protein glycomics

We have developed an effective and practical trap-and-release method based on chemoselective ligation of carbohydrates with reactive aminooxyl groups attached to the surface of nanoparticles (referred to as glycoblotting nanoparticles). These glycoblotting nanoparticles were synthesized by UV irradiation of diacetylene-functionalized lipids that contain the aminooxyl group. The glycoblotting nanoparticles captured carbohydrates in aqueous solution under mild conditions and were collected by simple centrifugation. The trapped carbohydrates were effectively released from the nanoparticles under acidic conditions to give pure oligosaccharides. This glycoblotting process reduced the time required for the purification process of carbohydrates to less than 6 h, compared to the several days needed for conventional chromatographic techniques. The oligosaccharides (N-glycan) were released from ovalbumin (glycoprotein) by PNGase F after tryptic digestion. MALDI-TOF mass spectra before purification did not show any significant signals corresponding to N-glycans because these signals were hidden by the large signals of the abundant peptides. However, after purification with the glycoblotting nanoparticles, only signals corresponding to oligosaccharides appeared. We also demonstrated a clear analysis of the oligosaccharides contained in the mice dermis by means of glycoblotting.     

A novel synthesis of theophylline derivatives

Treatment of 6-amino-5-arylazo-1,3-dimethyluracils with ethyl propiolate gave the corresponding Michael-type adducts, 5-arylazo-1,3-dimethyl-6-ethoxycarbonylvinylaminouracils, which on treatment with a mixture of hydrochloric acid and acetic acid caused the acid-catalyzed rearrangement accompanied with rearrangement to give rise to the corresponding 8-anilinomethyltheophylline derivatives. In the case that the arylazo group possesses an electron-releasing substituent such as methoxy, the reaction proceeded in a different way to afford 1,2-bis(theophyllin-8-yl)ethane. The presumable reaction mechanisms for the above purine syntheses were proposed.     

E 6,7,8 magnetized extra-dimensional models

We study 10D super Yang–Mills theory with the gauge groups E ₆, E ₇ and E ₈. We consider the torus/orbifold compactification with magnetic fluxes and Wilson lines. They lead to 4D interesting models with three families of quarks and leptons, whose profiles in extra dimensions are quasi-localized because of magnetic fluxes.     

Total synthesis of kehokorins A and B

The total synthesis of a dibenzofuran rhamnoside, kehokorin A, and its aglycone, kehokorin B, was achieved via a route including Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling followed by Ullmann ether synthesis to form a dibenzofuran, stepwise bromination at C7 of the dibenzofuran, a second Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling to install a 4-methoxyphenyl group at C7, and rhamnosylation.     

Chemical Interactions of Cryptic Actinomycete Metabolite 5‐Alkyl‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinolines through Aggregate Formation

Organisms often produce secondary metabolites as a mixture of biosynthetically related congeners. However, why are metabolites with minor chemical variations produced simultaneously? 5‐Alkyl‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinolines (5aTHQs) are small, lipophilic metabolites produced by Streptomyces nigrescens HEK616 when cultured with Tsukamurella pulmonis TP‐B0596. A mixture of 5aTHQs forms aggregates that show enhanced membrane affinity and biological activity. The ability to form aggregates and membrane‐binding activity is regulated by the length of the alkyl chains. Aggregates with long alkyl chains were too stable to fuse with lipid membranes. However, if inactive 5aTHQ congener was mixed with active congener, the mixture showed increased membrane affinity, enabling cellular entry and biological activity. Therefore, it is shown that sloppiness in a biosynthetic pathway, by which minor structural variations can be produced, is functionally rational, as the metabolites show synergistic action.     

Antiadhesive Nanosomes Facilitate Targeting of the Lysosomal GlcNAc Salvage Pathway through Derailed Cancer Endocytosis

Activated endocytosis of extracellular macromolecules and their intracellular trafficking to lysosomes is an essential metabolic mechanism in cancer cells during their rapid proliferation. Cancer cells reuse a vast amount of N‐acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) supplied from the GlcNAc salvage pathway for the accelerated synthesis of a pivotal uridine diphosphate (UDP)‐GlcNAc. A method to inactivate key glycosidases in lysosomes could critically contribute to the development of potent anticancer therapy. Here we demonstrate that “nanosomes” made of core metals covered by an antiadhesive mixed self‐assembled monolayer allow for avoiding nonspecific surface protein corona and targeted molecular delivery through activated endocytosis. Nanosomes carrying suicide substrates showed that lysosomal glycosidases such as β‐hexosaminidase and β‐galactosidase in cancer cells are promising targets for novel anticancer therapeutic nanomedicine that induce apoptotic cell death through lysosomal membrane permeabilization. The advantage of this method is evident because multivalent surface loading by antiadhesive nanosomes makes it possible to highlight “weak interactions” such as carbohydrate–lectin interactions independent of surface protein corona.     

Trilinear Lp estimates with applications to the Cauchy problem for the Hartree-type equation

In this paper, $L^p$ estimates for a trilinear operator associated with the Hartree type nonlinearity are proved. Moreover, as application of these estimates, it is proved that after a linear transformation, the Cauchy problem for the Hartree-type equation becomes locally well posed in the Bessel potential and homogeneous Besov spaces under certain regularity assumptions on the initial data. This notion of well-posedness and the functional framework to solve the equation were firstly proposed by Y. Zhou.     

Investigation of Mizoroki‐Heck coupling polymerization as a catalyst‐transfer condensation polymerization for synthesis of poly(p‐phenylenevinylene)

Mizoroki‐Heck coupling polymerization of 1,4‐bis[(2‐ethylhexyl)oxy]‐2‐iodo‐5‐vinylbenzene ( 1 ) and its bromo counterpart 2 with a Pd initiator for the synthesis of poly(phenylenevinylene) (PPV) was investigated to see whether the polymerization proceeds in a chain‐growth polymerization manner. The polymerization of 1 with ^tBu₃PPd(Tolyl)Br ( 10 ) proceeded even at room temperature when 5.5 equiv of Cy₂NMe (Cy = cyclohexyl) was used as a base, but the molecular weight distribution of PPV was broad. The polymerization of 2 hardly proceeded at room temperature under the same conditions. In the polymerization of 1 , PPV with H at one end and I at the other was formed until the middle stage, and the polymer end groups were converted into tolyl and H in the final stage. The number‐average molecular weight (M_n) did not increase until about 90% monomer conversion and then sharply increased after that, indicating conventional step‐growth polymerization. The occurrence of step‐growth polymerization, not catalyst‐transfer chain‐growth polymerization, may be interpreted in terms of low coordination ability of H‐Pd(II)‐X(^tBu₃P) (X = Br or I), formed in the catalytic cycle of the Mizoroki‐Heck coupling reaction, to π‐electrons of the PPV backbone; reductive elimination of H‐X from this Pd species with base would take place after diffusion into the reaction mixture. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 543–551