Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of proteins in dry-cured hams: data registration and multivariate analysis across multiple gels

This study investigates whether dry-cured hams from two European countries can be distinguished using SDS-PAGE. Thirty-seven commercial hams (19 Spanish, 18 French) were used in the study. Four protein fractions were extracted from each sample, with sufficient material prepared to allow each fraction to be analysed in triplicate lanes. The complete extraction process was carried out in duplicate. The 24 specimens originating from each ham sample were randomly allocated to different lane positions and gels, as were at least two reference lanes (for reference proteins). In total, 118 gels were prepared. Mathematical routines were developed using a matrix language to process the gel image files. Procedures were written to carry out 'within-gel' image correction, lane extraction and normalization, 'between-gel' data registration and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) of each fraction's data to establish whether the provenance could be systematically distinguished. The between-gel registration was carried out using a genetic algorithm (GA). Feature selection was also performed using a GA, to pass subsets of features to the LDA routine. Cross-validated classification success rates were 84, 91, 81 and 85%, respectively, for the four fractions. We conclude that SDS-PAGE can be conducted in a sufficiently quantitative manner and can potentially verify the provenance of regional speciality dry-cured hams.     

Pseudo-steady-state solutions for solidification in a wedge

Polubarinova-Kochina's analytical differential equation methodis used to determine the pseudo-steady-state solution to problemsinvolving the freezing (solidification) of wedges of liquidwhich are initially at their fusion temperature. In particular,we consider four distinct problems for wedges which are: freezingwith the same constant boundary temperature, freezing with thesame constant boundary heat fluxes, freezing with distinct constantboundary temperatures and freezing with distinct constant fluxesat the boundaries. For the last two problems, a Heun's differentialequation with an unknown singularity is derived, which in bothcases admits a particularly elegant simple solution for thespecial case when the wedge angle is . The moving boundariesobtained are shown pictorially.     

Spectroscopic studies of the interaction of ferrous bleomycin with DNA

Bleomycin is an antibiotic used in cancer chemotherapy for its ability to achieve both single- and double-strand cleavage of DNA through abstraction of the deoxyribose C4'-H. Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) and X-ray absorption (XAS) spectroscopies have been used to study the interaction of the biologically relevant FeIIBLM complex with DNA. Calf thymus DNA was used as the substrate as well as short oligonucleotides, including one with a preferred 5'-G-pyrimidine-3' cleavage site [d(GGAAGCTTCC)2] and one without [d(GGAAATTTCC)2]. DNA binding to FeIIBLM significantly perturbs the FeII active site, resulting in a change in intensity ratio of the d d transitions and a decrease in excited-state orbital splitting (5Eg). Although this effect is somewhat dependent on length and composition of the oligonucleotide, it is not correlated to the presence of a 5'-G-pyrimidine-3' cleavage site. No effect is observed on the charge-transfer transitions, indicating that the H-bonding recognition between the pyrimidine and guanine base does not perturb Fe-pyrimidine backbonding. Azide binding studies indicate that FeIIBLM bound to either oligomer has the same affinity for N3-. Parallel studies of BLM structural derivatives indicate that FeIIiso-PEPLM, in which the carbamoyl group is shifted on the mannose sugar, forms the same DNA-bound species as FeIIBLM. In contrast, FeIIDP-PEPLM, in which the -aminoalanine group is absent, forms a new species upon DNA binding. These data are consistent with a model in which the primary amine from the -aminoalanine is an FeII ligand and the mannose carbamoyl provides either a ligand to the FeII or significant second-sphere effects on the FeII site; intercalation of the bithiazole tail into the double helix likely brings the metal-bound complex close enough to the DNA to create steric interactions that remove the sugar groups from interaction with the FeII. The fact that the FeII active site is perturbed regardless of DNA sequence is consistent with the fact that cleavage is observed for both 5'-GC-3' and nonspecific oligomers and indicates that different reaction coordinates may be active, depending on orientation of the deoxyribose C4'-H.     

Spectroscopic and kinetic studies of PKU-inducing mutants of phenylalanine hydroxylase: Arg158Gln and Glu280Lys

Phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) is a tetrahydrobiopterin-dependent, nonheme iron enzyme that catalyzes the hydroxylation of L-Phe to L-Tyr in the rate-limiting step of phenylalanine catabolism. This reaction is tightly coupled in the wild-type enzyme to oxidation of the tetrahydropterin cofactor. Dysfunction of PAH activity in humans leads to the disease phenylketonuria (PKU). We have investigated two PKU-inducing mutants, Arg158Gln and Glu280Lys, using kinetic methods, magnetic circular dichrosim (MCD) spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Analysis of the products produced by the mutant enzymes shows that although both oxidize pterin at more than twice the rate of wild-type enzyme, these reactions are only approximately 20% coupled to production of L-Tyr. Previous MCD and XAS studies had demonstrated that the resting Fe(II) site is six-coordinate in the wild-type enzyme and converts to a five-coordinate site when both L-Phe and reduced pterin are present in the active site. Although the Arg158Gln mutant forms the five-coordinate site when both cosubstrates are bound, the Fe(II) site of the Glu280Lys mutant remains six-coordinate. These results provide insight into the PAH reaction and disease mechanism at a molecular level, indicating that the first step of the mechanism is formation of a peroxy-pterin species, which subsequently reacts with the Fe(II) site if the pterin is properly oriented for formation of an Fe-OO-pterin bridge and an open coordination position is available on the Fe(II).     

Design,synthesis, antitubercular and antibacterial activities of pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyridine-3-carboxamide linked 2-methoxypyridine derivatives and in silico docking studies

Abstract

A novel series pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyridine-3-carboxamide linked 2-methoxypyridine derivatives have been designed, synthesized and confirmed by FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹⁹F NMR, MS, and elemental analysis. The synthesized compounds were screened for their antitubercular activity using microplate alamar blue assay method and antibacterial activity. Among the tested compounds, 4- fluorophenyl (8m), 4- chlorophenyl (8n) and 4-methoxyphenyl (8i) showed potent anti-TB activity (3.12?µg/mL) in comparison with reference drug, Pyrazinamide ((3.12?µg/mL). In addition, all compounds were docked into DprE1 (PDB code: 4KW5) to explore their binding interactions at the active site. The compounds exhibited essential key interactions as that of reported DprE1 inhibitors and hence, the synthesized compounds may be considered as molecular scaffolds for antitubercular activity. Compounds, 4-chlorophenyl (8n) and 4-flurophenyl (8m) showed significant antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus strains. In silico prediction of toxicities, druglikeness and drug score profiles of the tested compounds are promising.     

新型BrФnsted酸性离子液体的合成与表征

制备了五种对水稳定性好、带-SO3H官能团的磺酸类BrФnsted酸离子液体,用核磁共振(NMR)、红外光谱(IR)、电喷雾质谱(ESI-MS)、热重分析(TG)等表征手段对制备的离子液体进行了表征。结果表明,制备的离子液体与预期设计的结构一致,离子液体纯度大于95%;热重分析发现离子液体具有高的热稳定性和较宽的液态范围,其分解温度均高于300℃;五种离子液体均存在四种离子存在形式,H 可以单独以离子形式存在,并不是通常所认为的仅有两种离子存在形式。另外,研究了离子液体在常用溶剂中的溶解性,发现制备的离子液体易溶于水、甲醇,不溶于乙醚、甲苯和乙酸乙酯。