Probe sialidase substrate specificity using chemoenzymatically synthesized sialosides containing C9-modified sialic acid

A library of α2-3- and α2-6-linked sialyl galactosides containing C9-modified sialic acids was synthesized from C6-modified mannose derivatives using an efficient one-pot three-enzyme system. These sialosides were used in a high-throughput sialidase substrate specificity assay to elucidate the importance of C9-OH in sialidase recognition.     

Acute toxicity evaluation, antibacterial, antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects of Melastoma malabathricum

Melastoma malabathricum (MM) is a well-known plant in Malaysian traditional medicine, locally known as senduduk. Its ethanol and aqueous extracts have been used in the present investigation to study the immunomodulatory role on human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC), and the DPPH, ABTS and FRAP free radical scavenging activities were also measured. Total flavonoids and total phenolic contents were assayed and the antibacterial effect was tested against four species of bacteria; two Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus agalactiae) and two Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Klebsilla pneumonia). The tests were carried out using the disc diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) methods. Moreover, the acute toxicity was evaluated in vivo on the ethanol extract of MM to establish its safety when administered orally. In our results, both extracts of MM showed abilities to scavenge DPPH and ABTS free radicals, IC(50) values: (11.599 ± 0.84, 10.573 ± 0.58 μmol/L) and (62.657 ± 0.78, 63.939 ± 0.48 μmol/L) for ethanol and aqueous extracts respectively. Indeed the ethanol extract evidenced high phenolic content (384.33 ± 0.005 mg/g), flavonoids contents (85.8 ± 0.009 mg/g) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (33,590 ± 0.038 mmol/g), with high activity against S. aureus and S. agalactiae (11 ± 0.3 and 12 ± 0.6 mm inhibition zones). Likewise, the percentage of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) viability was increased in response to MM, IC(50) values (1.781 ± 1.2 and 6.545 ± 0.93 μg/mL) for ethanol and aqueous extracts, respectively. In addition, our results showed that the MM extract is safe even at a high dose of 5,000 mg/kg and has no oral toxicity. These findings suggest the excellent medicinal bioactivity of MM and explain the popularity of this plant in the folk medicine as a remedy for different illnesses.     

Preconcentration procedure trace amounts of palladium using modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes sorbent prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometry: 1st Nano Update

A method for preconcentration of palladium at trace level on modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes columns and determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) has been developed. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were oxidized with concentrated HNO₃ and the oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes were modified with 5-(4′-dimethylamino benzyliden)-rhodanine, and then were used as a solid sorbent for preconcentration of Pd(II) ions. Factors influencing sorption and desorption of Pd(II) ions were investigated. The sorption of Pd(II) ions was quantitative in the pH range of 1.0–4.5, whereas quantitative desorption occurs with 3.0 mL 0.4 mol L^?1 thiourea. The amount of eluted palladium was measured using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The effects of experimental parameters, including sample flow rate, eluent flow rate, and eluent concentration were investigated. The effect of coexisting ions showed no interference from most ions tested. The proposed method permitted a large enrichment factor (about 200). The relative standard deviation of the method was ±2.73% (for eight replicate determination of 2.0 μg mL^?1 of Pd(II)) and the limit of detection was 0.3 ng mL^?1. The method was applied to the determination of Pd(II) in water, road dust, and standard samples.     

Thermochemical properties of some vinyl chloride-induced DNA lesions: detailed view from NBO & AIM analysis

Etheno-damaged DNA adducts such as 3,N ⁴-ethenocytosine, N ²,3-ethenoguanine, and 1,N ²-ethenoguanine are associated with carcinogenesis and cell death. These inevitable damages are counteracted by glycosylase enzymes, which cleave damaged nucleobases from DNA. Escherichia coli alkyl purine DNA glycosylase is the enzyme responsible for excising damaged etheno adducts from DNA in humans. In an effort to understand the intrinsic properties of these molecules, we examined gas-phase acidity values and proton affinities (PA) of multiple sites of these molecules as well as equilibrium tautomerization and base pairing properties by quantum mechanical calculations. We also used calculations to compare the acidic and basic properties of these etheno adduct with those of the normal bases—cytosine and guanine nucleobases. We hypothesize that alkyl DNA glycosylase may cleave certain damaged nucleobases as anions and that the active site may take advantage of a nonpolar environment to favor deprotonated cytosine or guanine as a leaving group versus damaged nucleobases.     

Polypyrrole/polyamide electrospun-based sorbent for microextraction in packed syringe of organophosphorous pesticides from aquatic samples

A novel method based on microextraction in packed syringe (MEPS) as sample preparation technique coupled off-line with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was developed using electrospun nanofibers as sorbent. For electrospinning of polypyrrole/polyamide-based nanofiber, a homogeneous solution containing nylon 6, ferric chloride and pyrrole monomer was prepared and then was drawn into a 2.5-mL syringe. By applying a voltage of 13 kV between the needle of the syringe and an aluminum-foil collector, the nanofibers could be formed on the surface of the collector. The prepared sheet was used as the sorbent for MEPS to analyze some selected organophosphorous pesticides. Important parameters influencing the extraction and desorption processes were optimized. Limits of detection were in the range of 0.04-0.1 ng/mL using time scheduled selected ion monitoring mode, and the relative standard deviation (RSD %) values with four replicates were in the range of 3.7-11.8% at a concentration level of 5 ng/mL. The linearity of the method was in the range of 0.5-500 ng/mL for diazinon and fenithrothion and 0.5-200 ng/mL for the rest of the analytes. The developed method was successfully applied to Zayandeh-roud river water samples, whereas the matrix factors were in the range of 0.87-0.98.     

Vibrational circular dichroism spectroscopy of two chiral binaphthyl diphosphine ligands and their palladium complexes in solution

BINAP (2,2'-diphenylphosphino-1,1'-binaphthyl) is a unique binaphthyl diphosphine ligand with axial chirality. The palladium complexes of BINAP and of its derivative TOLBINAP have found extensive applications in the field of asymmetric syntheses. The conformational changes in the BINAP and TOLBINAP ligands before and after coordination with palladium have been investigated using density functional theory, vibrational absorbance (VA) and vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy. VA and VCD spectra of these two chiral ligands and their corresponding palladium complexes have been recorded in CDCl(3) solution. Extensive conformational searches have been carried out for both the ligands and the associated palladium complexes. Coordination with palladium has been found to introduce structural rigidity to the ligands. The calculated VA and VCD spectra of the ligands and complexes in the gas phase show substantial differences to the experimental data. Incorporation of the implicit polarisable continuum solvation model has provided much better agreement between theory and experiment, especially for the complexes, allowing clear identification of the species and conformations. This and the high specificity of VCD spectral signatures to chirality and to conformations suggest the potential applications of VCD spectroscopy for following these important catalytic species in solution reactions directly.     

Anti-cholinergic effect of Zataria multiflora Boiss on guinea pig tracheal chains

The effects of three concentrations of aqueous-ethanolic extract, 10?nM atropine and saline on muscarinic receptors were tested on two groups of non-incubated (group 1; n?=?7) and incubated tracheal chains with propranolol and chlorpheniramine (group 2; n?=?6). The EC?? of higher concentration of the extract (2?μg?mL?1) in group 2 was significantly greater than those of group 1 (p?相似文献   

Influence of Y2Cu2O5 nanoparticles doping on superconducting properties of YBa2Cu3O7-δ

ABSTRACT

The blue phase of YBa₂Cu₃O_{7- δ} (YBCO) family, Y₂Cu₂O₅ (Y202) nanoparticles were prepared and doped into (YBCO) superconductor and the effect of doping on critical current density and critical temperature was investigated. Y202 nanoparticles with particle sizes of 47, 107 and 206?nm were prepared by a sol–gel combustion method and added into the YBCO superconductor by 0.5–2?wt.%. XRD and scanning electron microscope measurements were used to characterize the samples. The measurement of critical current density at 77?K revealed that the doped superconductors had larger critical current density compared to the undoped superconductors. For a fixed dopant concentration, by increasing the size of nanoparticles, the J_c was increased. For the samples including 0.5?wt.% of nanoadditives, J_c was higher. The highest critical current density of 137?A/cm² was measured for the superconductors containing 0.5?wt.% of 206?nm Y202 nanoparticles. Also, by increasing the nanoparticles concentration, the T_c was reduced.     

Inelastic effect of electron–phonon interactions in tunnelling magnetoresistance of a single metallofullerene

The effects of elastic and inelastic electron–phonon interactions on current–voltage characteristic and tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR) of Li@C₅₉X (X = N, B) molecule that is coupled to two ferromagnetic electrodes was investigated using the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) method. Our results by taking also into consideration spin degrees of freedom (excluding spin-mixing effects) indicate that the presence of inelastic electron–phonon interaction polaron formation increases current and shifts the TMR behaviour to higher values. Also, an increase of two orders of magnitude observed in current for Li@C₅₉B compared to C₆₀.     

Density and birefringence of a highly stable α,α,β-trisnaphthylbenzene glass

Spectroscopic ellipsometry has been used to understand the properties of α,α,β-trisnaphthylbenzene (ααβ-TNB) glasses vapor-deposited at a substrate temperature of 295 K (0.85 T(g)). In a single temperature ramping experiment, a range of properties of the as-deposited glass can be measured, including density, fictive temperature, onset temperature, thermal expansion coefficient, and birefringence. The vapor-deposited ααβ-TNB glass is 1.3% more dense than the ordinary glass prepared by cooling at 1 K/min, is found to be birefringent, has a fictive temperature 35 K below that of the ordinary glass, and an onset temperature 20 K above that of the ordinary glass. The thermal expansion coefficient of the vapor-deposited ααβ-TNB glass is 14% lower than that of the ordinary glass, indicating that lower portions of the potential energy landscape have more harmonic potential minima than the parts accessible to the ordinary glass.