Acceleration of Proliferative Response of Mouse Fibroblasts by Short-Time Pretreatment with Polyphenols

Under the hypothesis that photo-irradiated proanthocyanidin could accelerate wound healing through reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, we examined the effect of proanthocyanidin on 3T3-L1 mouse fibroblasts with or without photo-irradiation. As a result, irrespective of presence or absence of photo-irradiation, only 1 min exposure of the cells to proanthocyanidin resulted in accelerated proliferation of the cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Similarly to proanthocyanidin, 1 min pretreatment with catechin, caffeic acid, and chlorogenic acid accelerated the proliferative response, but gallic acid, epicatechin gallate, epigallocatechin, and epigallocatechin gallate failed. If incorporated active ingredient such as proanthocyanidin for such a short time as 1 min accelerates the proliferation response, a bioassay was conducted by utilizing antioxidant potential of proanthocyanidin. That is, intracellular oxidation of 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescin induced by H₂O₂ was significantly inhibited when the cells were pretreated with proanthocyanidin for 1 min, suggesting that incorporated proanthocyanidin into the cells exerted antioxidant effect. This was also supported by a liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis in which incorporation of proanthocyanidin components such as catechin monomers and dimers into the cells within 1 min was confirmed. These results suggest that active polyphenolic compounds such as proanthocyanidin, catechin, caffeic acid, and chlorogenic acid incorporated into the cells in such a short time as 1 min could accelerate the proliferative response of the cells.     

Medicinal Flowers. XXXI. Acylated oleanane-type triterpene saponins, Sasanquasaponins I-V, with antiallergic activity from the flower buds of Camellia sasanqua

The methanolic extract and its 1-butanol-soluble fraction from the flower buds of Camellia sasanqua THUNB. were found to show inhibitory activities on the release of β-hexosaminidase from rat basophile leukemia (RBL-2H3) cells. From the 1-butanol-soluble fraction, five new acylated oleanane-type triterpene saponins, sasanquasaponins I-V, were isolated together with a known saponin and their chemical structures were elucidated on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. The principal saponin constituents, sasanquasaponins I-III, with an acyl group at the 22-position of the aglycon part showed the inhibitory effects on the release of β-hexosaminidase and some structure-activity relationships were reported.     

Palladium-catalyzed hydrocarbonation of methyleneaziridines with carbon pronucleophiles

The reaction of methyleneaziridine 1 with carbon pronucleophiles (2, H-CR₃) proceeds smoothly in the presence of a palladium catalyst affording the corresponding hydrocarbonation products 5 in good to high yield.     

Self-ordering process of phenanthrene polyesters observed by the simultaneous DSC-XRD method

Phase transition behavior of polyesters derived from 2,7-phenanthrene dicarbonic acid diethylester and alkanediols with even methylene carbon number was investigated by the simultaneous DSC-XRD method. The smectic A phase was observed on cooling from the molten state. The transition entropy from the isotropic state to the smectic A phase was about 9.0 J mol^-1 K^-1, which depended on the methylene carbon number. The linear expansion coefficients, based on the (001) spacing of the crystalline phase at room temperature, were 1.3·10^-4 K^-1 (crystalline phase), 5.7·10^-4 K^-1 (crystallization region), 1.7·10^-3 K^-1 (smectic A phase) during cooling, and 1.5·10^-4 K^-1 (crystalline phase), and 1.0·10^-3K^-1(melting region) on heating. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A Dual Functional-Group Derivatization Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method: Application for Quantification of Human Insulin

Chromatographia - Recently, we developed a sensitive and accurate quantification method for short-chain peptides using dual functional-group derivatization. Sensitive and accurate quantification...     

Cellulose-synthesizing machinery in bacteria

Cellulose - Cellulose is produced by all plants and a number of other organisms, including bacteria. The most representative cellulose-producing bacterial species is Gluconacetobacter xylinus, an...     

Catalytic Enantioselective Reaction of α‐Phenylthioacetonitriles with Imines Using Chiral Bis(imidazoline)–Palladium Catalysts

The catalytic enantioselective reaction of α‐phenylthioacetonitriles with imines has been developed. The reaction of various imines proceeds in good yields and diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities in the presence of chiral bis(imidazoline)–palladium catalysts. The obtained products can be converted into β‐aminonitrile or β‐aminoamide compounds without loss of enantiopurity.     

Experimental derivation of Auger transition probabilities from X-ray excited Auger electron spectra in XPS

Auger transition probabilities were experimentally derived from dominant XAES and related XPS peaks observed in XPS spectra. Some values of derived probabilities were higher than 1, because of addition or subtraction of background signal from the XAES or/and XPS peak intensity. However, the probabilities obtained are recognized to be useful for practical quantification by XAES and AES.     

Synthesis of a versatile functionalized tetraquinane. Convenient access to 1,3-bishomopentaprismanedione

The tetracyclic diene dione 1 has been synthesized by a short oxidative decarboxylation route starting with the domino Diels-Alder adduct 2. Photocyclization of the bisketal of 1 was used to arrive expediently at 1,3-bishomopentaprismanedione (7).