Use of Highly Purified and Mixed Antibodies for Simultaneous Detection of Multiple Protein Species Released from Mitochondria upon Induction of the Permeability Transition

Concomitant with the induction of the mitochondrial permeability transition (PT), cytochrome c is released from mitochondria into the cytosol where it triggers subsequent steps of cellular apoptosis. Thus, inducers of the mitochondrial PT would become “seed compounds” of regulators of apoptosis. However, when we examine the actions of certain chemicals on the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c, the behaviors of not only cytochrome c but also multiple mitochondrial protein species must be carefully examined because the mitochondrial PT and release of proteins from mitochondria occur in diverse manners. In the present study, we examined whether it is possible to measure the behaviors of multiple protein species in a single experiment using purified and mixed antibodies. The results obtained clearly indicate that this procedure would be applicable for high-throughput screening of regulators of apoptosis. Further requirements necessary for the establishment of a useful screening system for apoptosis regulators are discussed.     

Fabrication and placement of a ring structure of nanoparticles by a laser-induced micronanobubble on a gold surface

We have developed a new fabrication method for a ring structure of assembled nanoparticles on a gold surface by the use of continuous Nd:YAG laser light. A micronanobubble on a gold surface, created by laser local heating, acts as a template for the formation of the ring structure. Both Marangoni convection flow and capillary flow around the micronanobubble are responsible for the driving force to assemble nanoparticles such as CdSe Q-dots into the ring structure from the solution. Because a single micronanobubble was generated by the Nd:YAG laser focusing point, the precise positioning of the ring structure was feasible directly on the gold surface, which makes it possible to fabricate various patterns of rings such as arrays and letters and even a double-ring structure without any photomasks or any templates.     

Stereocontrolled spirocyclization of exo-glucal derivatives for stereodivergent synthesis of spiro[5.5]ketals

This Letter describes a stereoselective synthetic approach to spiro[5.5]ketals from the exo-glucals, constructed from 1-(4-hydroxyalkylidene)-1,5-anhydro-d-glucitol, by spirocyclization based on intramolecular α- and β-selective glycosylation. Stereodivergent synthesis of both α- and β-glucoside of spiro[5.5]ketals was attained by combination of chiral d-glucopyranose environment and C-4′ chiral center on the side chain.     

Metabolome-Based Discrimination Analysis of Shallot Landraces and Bulb Onion Cultivars Associated with Differences in the Amino Acid and Flavonoid Profiles

Shallot landraces and varieties are considered an important genetic resource for Allium breeding due to their high contents of several functional metabolites. Aiming to provide new genetic materials for the development of a novel bulb onion cultivar derived from intraspecific hybrids with useful agronomic traits from shallots, the metabolic profiles in the bulbs of 8 Indonesian shallot landraces and 7 short-day and 3 long-day bulb onion cultivars were established using LC–Q-TOF-MS/MS. Principal component analysis, partial least squares discriminant analysis, and dendrogram clustering analysis showed two major groups; group I contained all shallot landraces and group II contained all bulb onion cultivars, indicating that shallots exhibited a distinct metabolic profile in comparison with bulb onions. Variable importance in the projection and Spearman’s rank correlation indicated that free and conjugated amino acids, flavonoids (especially metabolites having flavonol aglycone), and anthocyanins, as well as organic acids, were among the top metabolite variables that were highly associated with shallot landraces. The absolute quantification of 21 amino acids using conventional HPLC analysis showed high contents in shallots rather than in bulb onions. The present study indicated that shallots reprogrammed their metabolism toward a high accumulation of amino acids and flavonoids as an adaptive mechanism in extremely hot tropical environments.     

Contracted Representation of Yang's Spacetime Algebra and Buniy-Hsu-Zee's Discrete Spacetime

Motivated by the recent proposition by Buniy, Hsu, and Zee with respect to discrete spacetime and finite spatial degrees of freedom of our physical world with short- and long-distance scales, l _P and L, we reconsider the Lorentz-covariant Yang's quantized spacetime algebra (YSTA), which is intrinsically equipped with two such kinds of scale parameters, λ and R. In accordance with their proposition, we find the so-called contracted representation of YSTA with finite spatial degrees of freedom associated with the ratio R/λ, which gives a possibility of the divergence-free noncommutative field theory on YSTA. The canonical commutation relations familiar in the ordinary quantum mechanics appear as the cooperative Inonu-Wigner's contraction limit of YSTA, λ → 0 and R → ∓.     

Feasibility of carboxymethylcellulose with phenol moieties as a material for mammalian cell-enclosing subsieve-size capsules

Mammalian cell-enclosing capsules have been investigated as devices for bioproduction, cell therapy and stem cell research. In this study, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) with phenol moieties (CMC-Ph), synthesized through the conjugation reaction of CMC and tyramine, was investigated as a material for these types of devices. Subsieve-size capsules of less than 100 μm in diameter were prepared by extruding aqueous CMC-Ph solution into co-flowing liquid paraffin containing H₂O₂. The capsule diameter was controlled between 60–220 μm by changing the flow rate of liquid paraffin. There was no harmful effect specific for CMC-Ph on mammalian cells enclosed in capsules. Feline kidney cells enclosed in subsieve-size CMC-Ph capsules exhibited 87.0 ± 4.5% viability. In addition, the enclosed cells continued to grow over 13 days of study. These results demonstrated the feasibility of CMC-Ph as a material for subsieve-size cell-enclosing capsules prepared via the droplet breakup technique in a co-flowing water-immiscible fluid.     

The influence of Cr content in Fe-Cr-Co alloys on the magnetic properties and Mössbauer effect

Fe-xCr-8Co (x=24, 25, 27, 29 and 32 wt%) permanent magnetic alloys have been studied bv Mössbauer effect, magnetic balance and vibrating-sample magnetometer. It is indicated that the optimum permanent magnetic properties obtained for the composition of the alloys at about x=27. The value of Cr content in these alloys sigificantly influences the average hyperfine field, the saturation magnetic moment, the proportion of paramagnetic phase and orientation of magnetic moment in these alloys. The intrinsic coercive force is gradually reduced with the temperature decreasing from 290 to 77k. The paramagnetic peak in the spectrum disappars at about 125k. The certain mechanism has been suggested to explain the experimental results.     

Library‐directed Solution‐ and Solid‐phase Synthesis of 2,4‐Disubstituted Pyridines: One‐pot Approach through 6 π‐Azaelectrocyclization

An efficient one‐pot synthetic procedure for the synthesis of 2,4‐disubstituted pyridines has been successfully established. The method proceeds through a 6π‐azaelectrocyclization‐aromatization sequence. Using this method, a wide variety of pyridine structures substituted at the 2‐position have been rapidly constructed from vinyl stannanes, vinyl iodide, sulfonamide, and a palladium catalyst. The method was further applied to the solid‐phase synthesis wherein the use of a “traceless” sulfonamide linker enabled the rapid preparation of a small library of pyridines with high purity, without any chromatographic separation.