Antimicrobial effects of vanillin-based pyridyl-benzylidene-5-fluoroindolins

In this study, the antimicrobial effect and DNA gyrase inhibitor potential of vanillin-based pyridyl–substituted fluoro-indolines were evaluated. These compounds are synthesized and established through green-chemistry approaches. The inhibition effect on both DNA gyrase A and B was evaluated in silico and in vitro. Agar well diffusion method–based antimicrobial activity against Gram-ve Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 424) and Escherichia coli (MTCC 443), Gram+ve Streptococcus pyogenes (MTCC 442) and Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC 96), and a clinical isolate of Candida albicans (Fungi) was evaluated. The cytotoxicity of the compounds was assessed over macrophages using the MTT assay. In the results, the target compounds exhibited a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against both bacterial types and fungal.     

Volatile profiling reveals intracellular metabolic changes in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus parasiticus</Emphasis>: <Emphasis Type="Italic">veA</Emphasis> regulates branched chain amino acid and ethanol metabolism

Background  

Filamentous fungi in the genus Aspergillus produce a variety of natural products, including aflatoxin, the most potent naturally occurring carcinogen known. Aflatoxin biosynthesis, one of the most highly characterized secondary metabolic pathways, offers a model system to study secondary metabolism in eukaryotes. To control or customize biosynthesis of natural products we must understand how secondary metabolism integrates into the overall cellular metabolic network. By applying a metabolomics approach we analyzed volatile compounds synthesized by Aspergillus parasiticus in an attempt to define the association of secondary metabolism with other metabolic and cellular processes.     

Self-injective algebras and the second Hochschild cohomology group

In this paper we study the second Hochschild cohomology group ${\mathrm{HH}}^2(\Lambda )$ of a finite dimensional algebra Λ. In particular, we determine ${\mathrm{HH}}^2(\Lambda )$ where Λ is a finite dimensional self-injective algebra of finite representation type over an algebraically closed field K and show that this group is zero for most such Λ; we give a basis for ${\mathrm{HH}}^2(\Lambda )$ in the few cases where it is not zero.     

Fibrin Matrices as (Injectable) Biomaterials: Formation,Clinical Use,and Molecular Engineering

This review focuses on fibrin, starting from biological mechanisms (its production from fibrinogen and its enzymatic degradation), through its use as a medical device and as a biomaterial, and finally discussing the techniques used to add biological functions and/or improve its mechanical performance through its molecular engineering. Fibrin is a material of biological (human, and even patient's own) origin, injectable, adhesive, and remodellable by cells; further, it is nature's most common choice for an in situ forming, provisional matrix. Its widespread use in the clinic and in research is therefore completely unsurprising. There are, however, areas where its biomedical performance can be improved, namely achieving a better control over mechanical properties (and possibly higher modulus), slowing down degradation or incorporating cell‐instructive functions (e.g., controlled delivery of growth factors). The authors here specifically review the efforts made in the last 20 years to achieve these aims via biomimetic reactions or self‐assembly, as much via formation of hybrid materials.     

“One-shot” analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and their hydroxylated and methoxylated analogs in human breast milk and serum using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

The presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and their hydroxylated (OH-BDE) and methoxylated (MeO-BDE) analogs in humans is an area of high interest to scientists and the public due to their neurotoxic and endocrine disrupting effects. Consequently, there is a rise in the investigation of the occurrence of these three classes of compounds together in environmental matrices and in humans in order to understand their bioaccumulation patterns. Analysis of PBDEs, OH-BDEs, and MeO-BDEs using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) can be accomplished simultaneously, but detection limits for PBDEs and MeO-BDEs in LC-MS is insufficient for trace level quantification. Therefore, fractionation steps of the phenolic (OH-BDEs) and neutral (PBDEs and MeO-BDEs) compounds during sample preparation are typically performed so that different analytical techniques can be used to achieve the needed sensitivities. However, this approach involves multiple injections, ultimately increasing analysis time. In this study, an analytical method was developed for a “one-shot” analysis of 12 PBDEs, 12 OH-BDEs, and 13 MeO-BDEs using gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). This overall method includes simultaneous extraction of all analytes via pressurized liquid extraction followed by lipid removal steps to reduce matrix interferences. The OH-BDEs were derivatized using N-(t-butyldimethylsilyl)-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide (TBDMS-MTFA), producing OH-TBDMS derivatives that can be analyzed together with PBDEs and MeO-BDEs by GC-MS/MS in “one shot” within a 25-min run time. The overall recoveries were generally higher than 65%, and the limits of detection ranged from 2 to 14 pg in both breast milk and serum matrices. The applicability of the method was successfully validated on four paired human breast milk and serum samples. The mean concentrations of total PBDEs, OH-BDEs, and MeO-BDEs in breast milk were 59, 2.2, and 0.57 ng g⁻¹ lipid, respectively. In serum, the mean total concentrations were 79, 38, and 0.96 ng g⁻¹ lipid, respectively, exhibiting different distribution profiles from the levels detected in breast milk. This “one-shot” GC-MS/MS method will prove useful and cost-effective in large-scale studies needed to further understand the partitioning behavior, and ultimately the adverse health effects, of these important classes of brominated flame retardants in humans.     

Novel copolymers of styrene. 8. Fluoro,methoxy, and methyl ring-disubstituted propyl 2-cyano-3-phenyl-2-propenoates

Novel trisubstituted ethylenes, ring-disubstituted propyl 2-cyano-3-phenyl-2-propenoates, RPhCH?C(CN)CO₂C₃H₇ (where R is 2-fluoro-5-methoxy, 2-fluoro-6-methoxy, 3-fluoro-4-methoxy, 4-fluoro-3-methoxy, 5-fluoro-2-methoxy, 2-fluoro-6-methyl, 3-fluoro-2-methyl, 4-fluoro-2-methyl, 4-fluoro-3-methyl, 5-fluoro-2-methyl) were prepared and copolymerized with styrene. The monomers were synthesized by the piperidine catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation of ring-substituted benzaldehydes and propyl cyanoacetate and characterized by CHN elemental analysis, IR, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR. All the ethylenes were copolymerized with styrene (M₁) in solution with radical initiation (ABCN) at 70°C. The composition of the copolymers was calculated from nitrogen analysis, and the structures were analyzed by IR, ¹H and ¹³C-NMR, GPC, DSC, and TGA. Decomposition of the copolymers in nitrogen occurred in two steps, first in the 200–500°C range with residue (1.4–3.0% wt.), which then decomposed in the 500–800°C range.