Response of Cellulase Activity in pH-Controlled Cultures of the Filamentous Fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Acremonium cellulolyticus</Emphasis>

Cellulase production was investigated in pH-controlled cultures of Acremonium cellulolyticus. The response to culture pH was investigated for three cellulolytic enzymes, carbomethyl cellulase (CMCase), avicelase, and β-glucosidase. Avicelase and β-glucosidase showed similar profiles, with maximum activity in cultures at pH 5.5–6. The CMCase activity was highest in a pH 4 culture. At an acidic pH, the ratios of CMCase and avicelase activity to cellulase activity defined by filter paper unit were high, but at a neutral pH, the β-glucosidase ratio was high. The pH 6.0 culture showed the highest cellulase activity within the range of pH 3.5–6.5 cultures. The saccharification activity from A. cellulolyticus was compared to those of the cellulolytic enzymes from other species. The A. cellulolyticus culture broth had a saccharification yield comparable to those of the Trichoderma enzymes GC220 and Cellulosin T2, under conditions with the same cellulase activity. The saccharification yields from Solka floc, Avicel, and waste paper, measured as the percent of released reducing sugar to dried substrate, were greater than 80% after 96 h of reaction. The yields were 16% from carboxymethylcellulose and 26% from wood chip refiner. Thus, the A. cellulolyticus enzymes were suitable for converting cellulolytic biomass to reducing sugars for biomass ethanol production. This study is a step toward the establishment of an efficient system to reutilize cellulolytic biomass.     

Tunneling in hydrogen-transfer isomerization of n-alkyl radicals

The role of quantum tunneling in hydrogen shift in linear heptyl radicals is explored using multidimensional, small-curvature tunneling method for the transmission coefficients and a potential energy surface computed at the CBS-QB3 level of theory. Several one-dimensional approximations (Wigner, Skodje and Truhlar, and Eckart methods) were compared to the multidimensional results. The Eckart method was found to be sufficiently accurate in comparison to the small-curvature tunneling results for a wide range of temperature, but this agreement is in fact fortuitous and caused by error cancellations. High-pressure limit rate constants were calculated using the transition state theory with treatment of hindered rotations and Eckart transmission coefficients for all hydrogen-transfer isomerizations in n-pentyl to n-octyl radicals. Rate constants are found in good agreement with experimental kinetic data available for n-pentyl and n-hexyl radicals. In the case of n-heptyl and n-octyl, our calculated rates agree well with limited experimentally derived data. Several conclusions made in the experimental studies of Tsang et al. (Tsang, W.; McGivern, W. S.; Manion, J. A. Proc. Combust. Inst. 2009, 32, 131-138) are confirmed theoretically: older low-temperature experimental data, characterized by small pre-exponential factors and activation energies, can be reconciled with high-temperature data by taking into account tunneling; at low temperatures, transmission coefficients are substantially larger for H-atom transfers through a five-membered ring transition state than those with six-membered rings; channels with transition ring structures involving greater than 8 atoms can be neglected because of entropic effects that inhibit such transitions. The set of computational kinetic rates were used to derive a general rate rule that explicitly accounts for tunneling. The rate rule is shown to reproduce closely the theoretical rate constants.     

β-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes of 2-Hydroxyfluorene and 2-Hydroxy-9-fluorenone: Differences in Stoichiometry and Excited State Prototropic Equilibrium

We report that 1:1 and 1:2 complexes are formed for 2-hydroxy-9-fluorenone with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and that there is an unusual red shift in emission at higher concentrations of β-CD. Between different stoichiometries of the complexes the titrimetric curves for the neutral–anionic equilibria for the guests differ drastically and so do the excited state pK values. The formation of an 1:1 inclusion complex with 2-hydroxy-9-fluorenone (2HFN) as the guest in β-CD with the binding constant (K) of 606.65 L·mol^?1 was determined. The ground and excited state pK _a values for the neutral–mono-anion equilibrium are not affected by β-CD. Hence the hydroxyl group is considered exposed in the aqueous environment. Two different types of inclusion complexes of 2HFN were observed in β-CD. The 1:2 complex of 2HFN shows a red shift from the 1:1 complex and is less fluorescent that the 1:1 complex. The red shift reveals that the 1:2 complex is more stabilized than the 1:1 complex. The excited state pK _a values in both complexes with β-CD are higher that those in aqueous solution. This shows that the complexation makes the molecule less acidic in the S1 state. The β-CD molecule is perceived as not able to encapsulate the 2HFN molecule fully, but the larger rim of the β-CD comes closer to the C=O group. The other half of the 2HFN molecule is encapsulated by the second β-CD molecule and thus there is formation of the 1:2 inclusion complex at higher concentrations of β-CD.     

Interaction of Curculigosides and Their ��-Cyclodextrin Complexes with Bovine Serum Albumin: A Fluorescence Spectroscopic Study

Curculigosides A and B, two of the phyto-constituents of the medicinal plant Curculigo orchioides gatern, were isolated. The binding properties of these curculigosides with ??-cyclodextrin, and their interaction with bovine serum albumin in free and ??-cyclodextrin-complexed forms, were studied using fluorescence spectroscopy. The stoichiometry and binding constants of these complexes together with their binding modes are reported. Both of the curculigoside?Ccyclodextrin complexes are found to bind more weakly to the bovine serum albumin molecule than their free forms. The difference in the binding strengths of curculigoside A and curculigoside B with cyclodextrin makes a difference in their binding with bovine serum albumin.     

Zerumbone Ameliorates Neuropathic Pain Symptoms via Cannabinoid and PPAR Receptors Using In Vivo and In Silico Models

Neuropathic pain is a chronic pain condition persisting past the presence of any noxious stimulus or inflammation. Zerumbone, of the Zingiber zerumbet ginger plant, has exhibited anti-allodynic and antihyperalgesic effects in a neuropathic pain animal model, amongst other pharmacological properties. This study was conducted to further elucidate the mechanisms underlying zerumbone’s antineuropathic actions. Research on therapeutic agents involving cannabinoid (CB) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) is rising. These receptor systems have shown importance in causing a synergistic effect in suppressing nociceptive processing. Behavioural responses were assessed using the von Frey filament test (mechanical allodynia) and Hargreaves plantar test (thermal hyperalgesia), in chronic constriction injury (CCI) neuropathic pain mice. Antagonists SR141716 (CB₁ receptor), SR144528 (CB₂ receptor), GW6471 (PPARα receptor) and GW9662 (PPARγ receptor) were pre-administered before the zerumbone treatment. Our findings indicated the involvement of CB₁, PPARα and PPARγ in zerumbone’s action against mechanical allodynia, whereas only CB₁ and PPARα were involved against thermal hyperalgesia. Molecular docking studies also suggest that zerumbone has a comparable and favourable binding affinity against the respective agonist on the CB and PPAR receptors studied. This finding will contribute to advance our knowledge on zerumbone and its significance in treating neuropathic pain.     

Selective methoxy ether cleavage of 2,6-dimethoxyphenol followed by a selective acylation

A Friedel-Crafts reaction of 2,6-dimethoxyphenol in the presence of aluminum chloride and propanoyl or butanoyl chlorid, respectively, lead, at elevated temperatures, to a selective cleavage of one of the methoxy groups followed by a selective acylation of the meta position with respect to the phenolic hydroxyl group. Under the same reaction conditions 2-methoxyphenol doesn't get demethylated; a mechanism to account for these findings is proposed. This reaction gives access to a variety of ortho-acylated catechols. Substituted catechols are widely used in supramolecular chemistry and are precursors of pesticides, flavors and fragrances. Additionally, catechol moieties are found in various natural products.     

Photonic crystal lens: from negative refraction and negative index to negative permittivity and permeability

We consider a dielectric photonic crystal made of cylindrical holes in a high index matrix. We show that a given finite size photonic crystal can mimic a homogeneous material whose permittivity and permeability are negative. We pay attention to the limitation of the homogeneous medium model and the vital role of the truncation of the crystal.     

Broadband cylindrical acoustic cloak for linear surface waves in a fluid

We describe the first practical realization of a cylindrical cloak for linear surface liquid waves. This structured metamaterial bends surface waves radiated by a closely located acoustic source over a finite interval of Hertz frequencies. We demonstrate theoretically its unique mechanism using homogenization theory: the cloak behaves as an effective anisotropic fluid characterized by a diagonal stress tensor in a cylindrical basis. A low azimuthal viscosity is achieved, where the fluid flows most rapidly. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the homogenized cloak behaves like the actual structured cloak. We experimentally analyze the decreased backscattering of a fluid with low viscosity and finite density (methoxynonafluorobutane) from a cylindrical rigid obstacle surrounded by the cloak when it is located a couple of wavelengths away from the acoustic source.