Expanding the genetic code of an animal

Genetic code expansion, for the site-specific incorporation of unnatural amino acids into proteins, is currently limited to cultured cells and unicellular organisms. Here we expand the genetic code of a multicellular animal, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.     

Light-activated kinases enable temporal dissection of signaling networks in living cells

We report a general strategy for creating protein kinases in mammalian cells that are poised for very rapid activation by light. By photoactivating a caged version of MEK1, we demonstrate the specific, rapid, and receptor independent activation of an artificial subnetwork within the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway. Time-lapse microscopy allowed us to precisely characterize the kinetics of elementary steps in the signaling cascade and provided insight into adaptive feedback and rate-determining processes in the pathway.     

The synthesis,X‐ray structure analysis,and photophysical characterization of 4‐[(E)‐2‐(4‐cyanophenyl)diazenyl]‐morpholine

A novel triazene, 4‐[(E)‐2‐(4‐cyanophenyl)diazenyl]‐morpholine ( 1 ) was prepared via a diazonium ion coupling reaction between 4‐aminobenzonitrile and morpholine. The x‐ray structure of 1 was determined and evidenced π delocalization in the triazene subunit. The room temperature absorption spectrum of 1 in acetonitrile was dominated by an intense triazene‐centered π→π* transition at 325 nm. Compound 1 was observed to be luminescent, with an emission maximum at 434 nm in room temperature acetonitrile solution. The emission spectrum of 1 in propionitrile glass at 77K exhibited a narrowed emission band with a maximum at 449 nm. Broad emission from 400–700 nm with poorly resolved vibrational structure was observed from solid 1 at room temperature. J. Heterocyclic Chem., 2011.     

A simple and sensitive CE method for the simultaneous determination of catecholamines in urine with in-column optical fiber light-emitting diode-induced fluorescence detection

A simple and sensitive method has been developed for simultaneous analysis of three catecholamines: dopamine (DA), epinephrine (EP) and norepinephrine (NE) in urine by capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with in-column fiber-optic light-emitting diode-induced fluorescence detection (ICFO-LED-IFD). Fluorescein isothiocyanate was used as the fluorescence tagged reagent for derivatization of DA, EP and NE. The CE conditions for separation of these catecholamines were systematically investigated. It was found that catecholamines could be more effectively separated by adding β-cyclodextin (β-CD) and acetonitrile (ACN) to a background electrolyte (BGE) of sodium borate. The migration times are 10.61, 10.83 and 11.14 min for DA, EP and NE, respectively and the catecholamines are completely separated within 11.5 min under the optimal condition of a BGE containing 10% v/v ACN, 20 mM β-CD and 20 mM sodium borate (pH 9.5), and an applied voltage of 13 kV. The relative standard deviations of migration time and peak area for these catecholamines are less than 0.16 and 2.0%, respectively. The limit of quantifications (LOQs) for DA, EP and NE are 3.5, 1.0 and 3.1 nM whereas the limit of detections (LODs) for DA, EP and NE are 1.0, 0.3 and 0.9 nM, respectively. Our proposed CE method provides low LOQ and LOD values. This CE-ICFO-LED-IFD methodology has been successfully applied to analyze catecholamines in human urine samples with good accuracy and satisfactory recovery.     

Photocycloaddition of 4‐(Alk‐1‐ynyl)‐Substituted Coumarins and Thiocoumarins to 2,3‐Dimethylbuta‐1,3‐diene

On irradiation (350 nm) in the presence of 2,3‐dimethylbuta‐1,3‐diene ( 8 ), 4‐(alk‐1‐ynyl)coumarins 1 afford mixtures of cyclobuta‐ and cycloocta‐annulated products 9 and 10 , respectively. In contrast, the corresponding thiocoumarins 2 react with the same diene chemoselectively to give cyclohexa‐annulated products 11 .     

Simultaneous deconvolution and re-construction of primary and secondary overlapping peak clusters in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography

In this study, simultaneous deconvolution and reconstruction of peak profiles in the first ((1)D) and second dimension ((2)D) of comprehensive two-dimensional (2D) gas chromatography (GC×GC) is achieved on the basis of the property of this new type of instrumental data. First, selective information, where only one component contributes to the peak elution window of a given modulation event, is employed for stepwise stripping of each (2)D peak with the help of pure components corresponding to that compound from the neighbouring modulations. Simulation based on an exponentially modified Gaussian (EMG) model aids this process, where the EMG represents the envelope of all (2)D peaks for that compound. The peak parameters can be restricted by knowledge of the pure modulated (2)D GC peaks derived from the same primary compound, since it is modulated into several fractions during the trapping and re-focusing process of the cryogenic modulation system according to the modulation period. Next, relative areas of all pure (2)D components of that compound are considered for reconstruction of the primary peak. This strategy of exploitation of the additional information provided by the second dimension of separation allows effective deconvolution of GC×GC datasets. Non-linear least squares curve fitting (NLLSCF) allows the resolved 2D chromatograms to be recovered. Accurate acquisition of the pure profiles in both (1)D and (2)D aids quantification of compositions and prediction of 2D retention parameters, which are of interest for qualitative and quantitative analysis. The ratio between the sum of squares of deconvolution residual and original peak response (R(rr)) is employed as an effective index to evaluate the resolution results. In this work, simulated and experimental examples are used to develop and test the proposed approach. Satisfactory performance for these studies is validated by minimum and maximum R(rr) values of 1.34e-7% and 1.09e-2%; and 1.0e-3% and 3.0e-1% for deconvolution of (1)D and (2)D peaks, respectively. Results suggest that the present technique is suitable for GC×GC data processing.     

Hupermine A,a novel C16N2-type Lycopodium alkaloid from Huperzia phlegmaria

A novel C₁₆N₂-type Lycopodium alkaloid consisting of a quinolizidine with a 6-dimethylaminohexyl side chain, hupermine A (1), was isolated from the club moss of Huperzia phlegmaria, and the structure and relative stereochemistry were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data.     

Sesquiterpenoids with PPARδ agonistic effect from a Korean marine sponge Ircinia sp.

One monocyclofarnesol-derived sesquiterpenoid (1), four new meroterpenoids (2–5) as well as two isolation artifacts (6–7) and a known sesquiterpenoid (8) were isolated from the marine sponge Ircinia sp. Their chemical structures were elucidated via analyses of spectroscopic data, which included NMR and HRMS data. Two terpenoids, 1 and 4, showed PPARδ agonistic activities, with EC₅₀ values of 18 and 30 μg/mL, respectively.     

Understanding Saul'yev‐type unconditionally stable schemes from exponential splitting

Saul'yev‐type asymmetric schemes have been widely used in solving diffusion and advection equations. In this work, we show that Saul'yev‐type schemes can be derived from the exponential splitting of the semidiscretized equation which fundamentally explains their unconditional stability. Furthermore, we show that optimal schemes are obtained by forcing each scheme's amplification factor to match that of the exact amplification factor. A new second‐order explicit scheme is found for solving the advection equation with the identical amplification factor as the implicit Crank–Nicolson algorithm. Other new schemes for solving the advection–diffusion equation are also derived.© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 30: 1961–1983, 2014