Investigation of Tomato Plant Defence Response to Tobacco Mosaic Virus by Determination of Methyl Salicylate with SPME-Capillary GC-MS

Headspace SPME was applied to investigation of tomato plant defence response to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) by determination of compounds emitted from tomato plants at the extraction conditions of 25 °C and 15 min. It was found that TMV-inoculated tomato plant released large amount of methyl salicylate (MeSA) as response to TMV and MeSA concentration changed dramatically with time after inoculation. Gaseous MeSA as a signaling compound could induce in surrounding tomato plants to produce salicylic acid (SA) and synthesize and release MeSA. These results show that MeSA might be an airborne plant-signalling molecule in tomato plant response to TMV. The present method provided low detection limit of 2.0 ng L^–1 and needed little sample preparation time (15 min), so the method makes it easy to find the critical times of tomato plant response to TMV by fast determination of MeSA released from tomato plant.     

Method development for the quantitation of ABT-578 in rabbit artery tissue by 96-well liquid-liquid extraction and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric detection

Quantitative determination of drug concentrations in tissue samples can provide critical information for drug metabolism, kinetics, and toxicity evaluations. For analysis of tissue samples using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric (LC/MS/MS) detection, homogenization is a critical step in achieving good assay performance. Assay performance can be closely evaluated by spiking the drug directly into tissue samples prior to homogenization. It is especially important to include this assay evaluation for the analysis of artery tissue samples because artery tissue is very elastic, making it quite a challenge to develop an effective procedure for homogenization. An LC/MS/MS assay in 96-well format using liquid-liquid extraction was developed for analyzing ABT-578 in rabbit artery samples. Tissue quality control samples were prepared by spiking ABT-578 stock solutions directly into the tissue before homogenization. The usage of the tissue control samples gives a thorough evaluation of the sample preparation process that includes both homogenization and sample extraction. A 20% blood in saline solution was used as a homogenization solution. Calibration standards were made by spiking ABT-578 into rabbit whole blood. Blood quality control samples were also prepared by spiking ABT-578 into rabbit whole blood. These blood QC samples were used to confirm the validity of the calibration curve. A lower limit of quantitation of 0.050 ng/mL was achieved. The linear dynamic range of blood standards was from 0.050-30.3 ng/mL with the correlation coefficient (r) ranging from 0.9969-0.9996. Overall %CV was between 1.3 and 7.0%, and analytical recovery was between 98.2 and 105.8% for blood QC samples. The %CVs for tissue QC samples were between 6.7 and 13.0%, and analytical recovery after correction was between 93.5 and 114.3%.     

配合物Cu_2（C_（21）H_（20）N_2O_3）（CH_3COO）_2的EXAFS研究

用延伸Ｘ射线吸收精细结构（ＥＸＡＦＳ），测定了标题化合物中两个铜原子的配位结构。两个铜原子有相同的配位，确认每个铜原子均与一个氮原子，三个氧原子形成四配位结构。一氧一氮源于ＨＳＢ，而另两个氧由乙酸提供。     

Structural Features of a Polysaccharide from Centella asiatica

Centella asiatica has been used as remedy for sodation, stabilization and against lepra, anabrosis1 in the oriental countries. The low-molecular-weight constituents in Centella asiatica have been investigated1. However, no polysaccharides have been reported. 1BI was the first polysaccharide isolated from C. asiatica, which had immunostimulating activity in vitro. In present study, we report the structural features of 1BI. Experimental Extraction, isolation and purification Dried C.…     

Surface chemistry studies of (CdSe)ZnS quantum dots at the air-water interface

Trioctylphosphine oxide- (TOPO-) capped (CdSe)ZnS quantum dots (QDs) were prepared through a stepwise synthesis. The surface chemistry behavior of the QDs at the air-water interface was carefully examined by various physical measurements. The surface pressure-area isotherm of the Langmuir film of the QDs gave an average diameter of 4.4 nm, which matched very well with the value determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements if the thickness of the TOPO cap was counted. The stability of the Langmuir film of the QDs was tested by two different methods, compression/decompression cycling and kinetic measurements, both of which indicated that TOPO-capped (CdSe)ZnS QDs can form stable Langmuir films at the air-water interface. Epifluorescence microscopy revealed the two-dimensional aggregation of the QDs in Langmuir films during the early stage of the compression process. However, at high surface pressures, the Langmuir film of QDs was more homogeneous and was capable of being deposited on a hydrophobic quartz slide by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film technique. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was utilized to characterize the LB films. The PL intensity of the LB film of QDs at the first emission maximum was found to increase linearly with increasing number of layers deposited onto the hydrophobic quartz slide, which implied a homogeneous deposition of the Langmuir film of QDs at surface pressures greater than 20 mN.m(-1).     

CHIP-mediated hyperubiquitylation of tau promotes its self-assembly into the insoluble tau filaments

The tau protein is a highly soluble and natively unfolded protein. Under pathological conditions, tau undergoes multiple post-translational modifications (PTMs) and conformational changes to form insoluble filaments, which are the proteinaceous signatures of tauopathies. To dissect the crosstalk among tau PTMs during the aggregation process, we phosphorylated and ubiquitylated recombinant tau in vitro using GSK3β and CHIP, respectively. The resulting phospho–ub-tau contained conventional polyubiquitin chains with lysine 48 linkages, sufficient for proteasomal degradation, whereas unphosphorylated ub-tau species retained only one–three ubiquitin moieties. Mass-spectrometric analysis of in vitro reconstituted phospho–ub-tau revealed seven additional ubiquitylation sites, some of which are known to stabilize tau protofilament stacking in the human brain with tauopathy. When the ubiquitylation reaction was prolonged, phospho–ub-tau transformed into insoluble hyperubiquitylated tau species featuring fibrillar morphology and in vitro seeding activity. We developed a small-molecule inhibitor of CHIP through biophysical screening; this effectively suppressed tau ubiquitylation in vitro and delayed its aggregation in cultured cells including primary cultured neurons. Our biochemical findings point to a “multiple-hit model,” where sequential events of tau phosphorylation and hyperubiquitylation function as a key driver of the fibrillization process, thus indicating that targeting tau ubiquitylation may be an effective strategy to alleviate the course of tauopathies.

Multiple-hit model for tau aggregation, where sequential events of tau phosphorylation and hyperubiquitylation function as a key driver of the fibrillization process.     

Large-volume stacking in capillary electrophoresis using pH hysteresis of the electroosmotic flow in a bare fused-silica capillary

For large-volume stacking with the electroosmotic flow pump (LVSEP) in capillary electrophoresis of anionic analytes it is required that the electroosmotic mobility (EOM) should be smaller than the magnitudes of the effective mobilities of the analytes. When a fused-silica capillary is treated with an acidic solution, the silanoate group on the silica surface is neutralized to silanol and the EOM is suppressed. Due to the slow deprotonation equilibrium of the silanol group at an intermediate pH, this reduced EOM can be retained during a number of electrophoresis runs. Using a bare fused-silica capillary preconditioned with 0.01 M HCl, successful LVSEP at pH 6.0 was achieved for weakly acidic compounds with two orders of magnitude enhancements in the concentration sensitivity. The repeatability in migration times of ten analytes stacked by LVSEP in a single day was excellent with the relative standard deviation (RSD) less than 1% (n = 6). The day-to-day repeatability was also excellent with RSD less than 3% (n = 3 x 6) when the capillary was preconditioned each day.     

Low-temperature suspension polymerization of vinyl pivalate for the preparation of syndiotacticity-rich ultrahigh molecular weight poly(vinyl alcohol) microfibrils with high yield

To prepare ultrahigh molecular weight (UHMW) poly(vinyl pivalate) (PVPi) with high conversion and high linearity for a precursor of syndiotacticity-rich UHMW poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), vinyl pivalate (VPi) was suspension polymerized using a low-temperature initiator, 2,2'-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) (ADMVN), and the effects of polymerization conditions on the polymerization behavior and molecular structures of PVPi and PVA prepared by saponifying PVPi were investigated. Suspension polymerization was slightly inferior to bulk polymerization in increasing the molecular weight of PVA. In contrast, the former was superior in increasing the conversion of the polymer. Suspension polymerization of VPi at 25 °C by controlling various polymerization factors proved to be successful in obtaining PVA of UHMW (number-average degree of polymerization (P_n): 14,700-16,700), high syndiotactic diad content (62%), and of high yield (ultimate conversion of VPi into PVPi: 85-90%). In the case of bulk polymerization of VPi under the same conditions, maximum P_n, conversion of 15,800-17,000, and 25-35% were obtained, respectively. The degree of branching was lower and the P_n and syndiotacticity were higher with PVA prepared from PVPi polymerized at lower temperatures. All PVAs from PVPi suspension-polymerized at 25 °C were fibrous, with a high degree of crystallinity and orientation of the crystallites.     

Structural determination of hexadecanoic lysophosphatidylcholine regioisomers by fast atom bombardment tandem mass spectrometry

The structural determination of sn-1 and sn-2 hexadecanoic lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) regioisomers was carried out using fast atom bombardment tandem mass spectrometry (FAB-MS/MS). The collision-induced dissociation (CID) of protonated and sodiated molecules produced diverse product ions due mainly to charge remote fragmentations. Based on the information obtained from the CID spectra of protonated and sodiated molecules, sn-1 and sn-2 hexadecanoic LPC isomers could be discriminated. Especially, the abundance ratio of the diagnostic ion pair [m/z 224/226] in the CID spectra of [M + H](+) ions was shown to be greatly different. Moreover, the CID-MS/MS spectra of sodium-adducted molecules for hexadecanoic LPC isomers showed characteristic product ions such as [M + Na - 103](+), [M + Na - 85](+), and [M + Na - 59](+), by which their regio-specificity can be differentiated.     

Proteomic analysis of colonic crypts from normal, multiple intestinal neoplasia and p53-null mice: a comparison with colonic polyps

In order to observe cellular changes caused by mutation of the tumor suppressors, APC and p53, we have generated protein expression profiles of mouse colon epithelial cells using two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). Crypts, polyps and stroma were isolated from normal, multiple intestinal neoplasia (MIN) and p53-null mice, each with a C57Black/6J background, and subjected to 2-DE in two separate pH ranges (pH 3-10 and pH 6-11). No significant differences in protein expression patterns were observed between the normal, MIN and p53-null colon epithelial crypts. However, 64 proteins from the MIN polyps showed a 2-fold or greater difference in intensity that was statistically significant as assessed by the Wilcoxon rank-sum test (p < or = 0.05). Of these, calreticulin, carbonic anhydrase I and a new member of the glutathione-S-transferase theta family of proteins have so far been identified using an in-gel digestion protocol coupled with reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) ion-trap mass spectrometry. In addition, 38 marker proteins have been identified in a continuing effort to generate a comprehensive 2-DE database of proteins expressed by mouse colon epithelial cells (these databases are available at http://www.ludwig.edu.au/jpsl/jpslhome. html).