Dendrimers and combinatorial chemistry—tools for fluorescent enhancement in protease assays

FRET based systems are some of the best methods available to detect and monitor proteolytic activity. To enhance fluorescent signals and hence assay sensitivity, two different systems were developed using two different dendrimeric constructs. In the first case, a triple branched dendrimer bearing three dansyl groups was used to enhance assay sensitivity and showed a significant enhancement of fluorescence following enzymatic cleavage. In another example, a tris-fluorescein probe, that undergoes self-quenching, was utilized in a combinatorial library synthesis to map the substrate specificity of proteases.     

头发锌含量测定的应用价值评价

以114例2－5岁儿童为对象，同时取其末梢血和头发，测定锌含量。以全血锌值为标准，评价头锌测定的应用价值。结果显示，头发锌测定的灵敏度可达86．1％，特异度为52．4％，符合率为73．7％。     

In silico engineering of tailored ink-binding ability at molecular printboards.

Molecular recognition between guest ink molecules and beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) cavities at self-assembled monolayers provides a molecular printboard for nanopatterning applications. We recently used molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to describe the specificity of ink-printboard binding and here extend the simulations to include charged cyclodextrin hosts, necessary to broaden the chemistry of molecular printboards and bind charged inks such as the ferrocenium cation. Shifting to high pH, or alternatively grafting a charged sidearm onto beta-CD, created three distinct types of anionic beta-CD cavity and we used electronic structure calculations and MD simulations to measure host-guest charge transfer and binding strengths. We find that steric recognition of uncharged organic molecules is retained at the charged printboards, and that improved guest-host electrostatic contacts can strengthen binding of larger inks while penalising small inks, enhancing the level of discrimination. A prudent choice of complementary host-guest shape and charge states thus provides a means of tuning both ink binding strength and specificity at molecular printboards.     

Aminolysis ofO-alkylO-4-nitropyenyl chloromethylphosphonates in reverse micellar solutions of the nonionic surfactant

The reaction ofn-hexylamine withO-alkylO-4-nitrophenyl chloromethylphosphonates in toluene solutions of poly(ethylene glycol)-600 monolaurate (PM) has been studied by spectrophotometry. The reverse micelles of the nonionic surfactant increase more than tenfold the observed rate constant of aminolysis. The catalytic activity of the surfactant is practically independent of the alkyl radical length of phosphonate. An increase in the concentration of amine results in a decrease in the catalytic efficiency. The character of the dependence of the rate constant on the concentration of PM is affected by the alkyl chain length of the substrate. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 1735–1738, September, 1998.     

Ascorbate oxidase

Ascorbate oxidase fromCucurbita sp. was isolated by ammonium sulfate precipitation and DEAE-dextran-silochrome column chromatography. The thermal and pH stabilities of the purified enzyme were investigated. TheK _M forl-ascorbic acid (1.5 mM) and chlorohydroquinone (0.37 mM) was determined. Substrate specificity of ascorbate oxidase was investigated and compared with those of laccases fromCoriolus hirsutus andCerrena maxima. Ascorbate oxidase was covalently bound to a polymeric membrane and used in an enzyme electrode for ascorbic acid.     

Hydrolysis of DNA by cerium(IV)/EDTA complex

Homogeneous solutions are formed from equimolar amounts of Ce(NH₄)₂(NO₃)₆ and EDTA. These solutions hydrolyze single-stranded DNA far more efficiently than double-stranded DNA. In contrast, Ce(IV) hydroxide gel, obtained in the absence of EDTA, hydrolyzes both single-stranded and double-stranded DNAs at almost the same rates. In order to achieve this substrate-specificity sufficiently, the mole ratio of EDTA to Ce(NH₄)₂(NO₃)₆ must be 1.0 or greater. By using this remarkable specificity of Ce(IV)/EDTA complex, gap-site in substrate DNA is selectively hydrolyzed. The scission-site is modulated by use of appropriate combination of oligonucleotide additives. The reactions have been kinetically analyzed.     

Caste and Population Specificity of Termite Cuticule Hydrocarbons

The composition of hydrocarbons from the termites Reticulitermes lucifugus Rossi and Kalotermes flavicollis Fabr. belonging to different castes and populations was determined using GC and mass spectrometry. The role of cuticular hydrocarbons in olfactory recognition of termite caste and population status was demonstrated.__________Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 3–6, January–February, 2005.     

A pseudoreceptor modelling study of the varicella-zoster virus and human thymidine kinase binding sites

Summary A representative range of pyrimidine nucleoside analogues that are known to inhibit herpes simplex virus (HSV) replication have been used to construct receptor binding site models for the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), thymidine kinase (TK) and human TK1. Given a set of interacting ligands, superimposed in such a manner as to define a pharmacophore, the pseudoreceptor modelling technique Yak provides a means of building binding site models of macromolecules for which no three-dimensional experimental structures are available. Once the models have been evaluated by their ability to reproduce experimental binding data [Vedani et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 117 (1995) 4987], they can be used for predictive purposes. Calculated and experimental values of relative binding affinity are compared. Our models suggest that the substitution of one residue may be sufficient to determine ligand subtype affinity.     

头发铅含量测定的应用价值评价

调查了125例2－5岁儿童铅中毒状况，测定其全血铅含量和头发铅含量，以全血铅含量为标准，应用诊断试验评价方法评价头发铅测定的应用价值。结果表明，该试验的灵敏度可达88．3％，应用串联试验，即同时测定头发中锌、铁、钙含量，可将该试验的特异度提高至81．8％，阳性预测值达69．6％，阴性预测值达78．8％。     

Tuning the Reactivity of a Substrate for SNAP-Tag Expands Its Application for Recognition-Driven DNA-Protein Conjugation

Recognition-driven modification has been emerging as a novel approach to modifying biomolecular targets of interest site-specifically and efficiently. To this end, protein modular adaptors (MAs) are the ideal reaction model for recognition-driven modification of DNA as they consist of both a sequence-specific DNA-binding domain (DBD) and a self-ligating protein-tag. Coupling DNA recognition by DBD and the chemoselective reaction of the protein tag could provide a highly efficient sequence-specific reaction. However, combining an MA consisting of a reactive protein-tag and its substrate, for example, SNAP-tag and benzyl guanine (BG), revealed rather nonselective reaction with DNA. Therefore new substrates of SNAP-tag have been designed to realize sequence-selective rapid crosslinking reactions of MAs with SNAP-tag. The reactions of substrates with SNAP-tag were verified by kinetic analyses to enable the sequence-selective crosslinking reaction of MA. The new substrate enables the distinctive orthogonality of SNAP-tag against CLIP-tag to achieve orthogonal DNA-protein crosslinking by six unique MAs.