Size control for two-dimensional iron oxide nanodots derived from biological molecules

We demonstrated the fabrication of size-controlled two-dimensional iron oxide nanodots derived from the heat treatment of ferritin molecules self-immobilized on modified silicon surfaces. Ferritin molecules were immobilized onto 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (3-APMS)-modified silicon surfaces by electrostatic interactions between negatively charged amino acids of ferritin molecules and amino terminal functional groups of 3-APMS. Heat treatments were performed at 400 degrees C for 60 min to fabricate two-dimensional nanodots based on ferritin cores. XPS and FT-IR results clearly indicate that ferritin shells were composed of amino acids and 3-APMS modifiers on silicon surfaces were eliminated by heat treatment. Nanodots on substrate surfaces corresponded to iron oxides. The size of nanodots was tunable in the range of 0-5 (+/-0.75) nm by in situ reactions of iron ion chelators with ferritin molecules immobilized on substrates before heat treatment.     

Face-selective decoration of an organic single crystal toward photochemical devices

Face-selective decoration of a single crystal constructed from 1-pyrenemethylammonium chloride by an anionic porphyrin dye is reported. CLSM observations indicated that the {001} face of the single crystal was selectively coated by the anionic porphyrin (TPPS). This novel achievement could be the first step for preparation of multi-component composite materials mediated by anisotropy of organic single crystals toward photochemical devices.     

Hadamard transform capillary electrophoresis combined with laser-induced fluorometry using electrokinetic injection

Hadamard transform capillary electrophoresis (HTCE) based on electrokinetic injection allows laser-induced fluorescence detection using a small laser, namely the laser-diode-pumped YAG laser, as an excitation source. A small hole is fabricated at the center of a capillary by laser ablation; this hole functions as an inlet port for a sample solution. Therefore, the sample solution can be introduced electrophoretically into the capillary through the small hole. Multiple sample injection is accomplished by introducing a buffer solution from the end of the capillary and the sample solution through the hole. Both solutions are injected using two sets of high-voltage power supplies and migrate toward the opposite end of the capillary. A fluorescent analyte, rhodamine B, is successfully detected in the case of both single and multiple injection according to the Hadamard sequence code. By transforming the data encoded by the Hadamard matrix, the decoded data showed an increase in the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio by a factor of 9.8. In the case of the sample containing two amino acids labeled with rhodamine B isothiocyanate (RBITC), although the concentration of every component including free RBITC is lower than the concentration limit of detection obtained by single injection, a substantial improvement in the sensitivity is achieved and all components are identified by the Hadamard transform technique.     

Phase changes of CO2 hydrate under high pressure and low temperature

High pressure and low temperature experiments with CO(2) hydrate were performed using diamond anvil cells and a helium-refrigeration cryostat in the pressure and temperature range of 0.2-3.0 GPa and 280-80 K, respectively. In situ x-ray diffractometry revealed that the phase boundary between CO(2) hydrate and water+CO(2) extended below the 280 K reported previously, toward a higher pressure and low temperature region. The results also showed the existence of a new high pressure phase above approximately 0.6 GPa and below 1.0 GPa at which the hydrate decomposed to dry ice and ice VI. In addition, in the lower temperature region of structure I, a small and abrupt lattice expansion was observed at approximately 210 K with decreasing temperature under fixed pressures. The expansion was accompanied by a release of water content from the sI structure as ice Ih, which indicates an increased cage occupancy. A similar lattice expansion was also described in another clathrate, SiO(2) clathrate, under high pressure. Such expansion with increasing cage occupancy might be a common manner to stabilize the clathrate structures under high pressure and low temperature.     

MassBank: a public repository for sharing mass spectral data for life sciences

MassBank is the first public repository of mass spectra of small chemical compounds for life sciences (<3000 Da). The database contains 605 electron‐ionization mass spectrometry(EI‐MS), 137 fast atom bombardment MS and 9276 electrospray ionization (ESI)‐MSⁿ data of 2337 authentic compounds of metabolites, 11 545 EI‐MS and 834 other‐MS data of 10 286 volatile natural and synthetic compounds, and 3045 ESI‐MS² data of 679 synthetic drugs contributed by 16 research groups (January 2010). ESI‐MS² data were analyzed under nonstandardized, independent experimental conditions. MassBank is a distributed database. Each research group provides data from its own MassBank data servers distributed on the Internet. MassBank users can access either all of the MassBank data or a subset of the data by specifying one or more experimental conditions. In a spectral search to retrieve mass spectra similar to a query mass spectrum, the similarity score is calculated by a weighted cosine correlation in which weighting exponents on peak intensity and the mass‐to‐charge ratio are optimized to the ESI‐MS² data. MassBank also provides a merged spectrum for each compound prepared by merging the analyzed ESI‐MS² data on an identical compound under different collision‐induced dissociation conditions. Data merging has significantly improved the precision of the identification of a chemical compound by 21–23% at a similarity score of 0.6. Thus, MassBank is useful for the identification of chemical compounds and the publication of experimental data. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sequence-selective osmium oxidation of DNA: efficient distinction between 5-methylcytosine and cytosine

5-Methylcytosine was distinguished from cytosine using the large difference of their osmium oxidation rates, and this reaction was applied to detection of the cytosine methylation status at a specific site of a long sequence using the formation of a bulge structure by hybridization with a guide DNA.     

Three new dimeric benzofuran derivatives from the roots of Ligularia stenocephala MATSUM. et KOIDZ

Three new dimeric benzofuran derivatives, ligulacephalins A (1), B (2) and C (3), were isolated from the roots of Ligularia stenocephala MATSUM. ET KOIDZ. (Compositae) together with three known compounds, 5,6-dimethoxy-2-isopropenylbenzofuran (4), euparin (5) and (R)-(-)-hydroxytremetone (6). The structures of the new compounds were determined by spectroscopic evidence. The chiral HPLC analysis demonstrated that 1-3 occurred as a racemate. The absolute configurations of each enantiomer from 1-3 were elucidated on the basis of circular dichroism (CD) data.     

High enrichment method for the determination of ultra-trace levels of cobalt by liquid—liquid extraction using water/oil/water emulsions as liquid surfactant membranes

A high preconcentration method for the determination of cobalt by graphie furnace atomic absorption spectrometry using liquid surfactant membranes was developed. Droplets of dilute hydrochloric acid in kerosene containing 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester emulsion coated with sorbitan monooleate are dispersed in an aqueous sample solution. Cobalt(II) diffuses through the liquid membrane to form the complex with the ester and the analyte ion is extracted successively into the inner acidic aqueous phase. A 550-fold enrichment of cobalt(II) and a detection limit of 10 pg ml^?1 are achieved.     

Two-dimensional fluorescence correlation spectroscopy II: spectral analysis of derivatives of anthracene and pyrene in micellar solutions

Generalized two-dimensional (2D) correlation spectroscopy has been applied to the analysis of fluorescence spectra in two micellar systems: (1) a mixture of pyrene and 1,3,6,8-pyrenetetrasulfonic acid in the cationic micellar solutions of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) and (2) a mixture of pyrene and 9-anthracencepropionic acid in anionic micellar solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Fluorescence quenching is employed as a perturbation mode for causing intensity changes in fluorescence bands (quenching perturbation). Iodide ion (I-) is used as a quencher in the former system, and cetyl pridinium chloride (CPC) is used in the latter. Vibronic bands in the complicated fluorescence spectra of the mixture of the analytes were successfully resolved. It is shown that asynchronous maps are especially useful for spectral resolution enhancement when the quenching perturbation is employed in 2D fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Furthermore, the information about the order of response of the bands to quenching is obtained by comparing the signs of synchronous and asynchronous cross-peaks.     

Monitoring DNA structures by dual fluorescence of pyrene derivatives

We have developed a nucleotide modified by a pyrene derivative with dual fluorescence. The dual fluorescence of the fluorophore, which was incorporated into DNA, was effectively controlled at ambient temperature according to DNA structural status. Our nucleoside with dual fluorescence is effective as a conceptually new probe for monitoring DNA hybridization by the color change without multilabeling with fluorescent dyes.