Resveratrol oligomers and their O-glucosides from Cotylelobium lanceolatum

Three new resveratrol oligomers, cotylelophenol C (1) (resveratrol tetramer) and cotylelosides A (2) and B (3) (O-glucosides of resveratrol trimer), together with four known glucosides of resveratrol oligomers (vaticasides A, B, C, D) and piceid, were isolated from an acetone soluble part of stem of Cotylelobium lanceolatum (Dipterocarpaceae). The structures of new compounds were determined by spectral data analysis. The characteristic properties observed in the NMR spectra of 1 were also discussed.     

Photo-initiated base-formation in a polymer matrix

It was found that amines were formed efficiently by the photolysis of O-acyloximes followed by hydrolysis in polystyrene films and the relationship between structures of O-acyloximes and yields of amines were investigated. O-phenylacetyl acetophenone oxime (PaApO), O-pivaloyl acetophenone oxime (PApO), and O-benzoyl acetophenone oxime (BApO) as monofunctional O-acyloximes and O,O′-succinyl diacetophenone oxime (SDApO) and O,O′-glutaryl diacetophenone oxime (GDApO) as bifunctional O-acyloximes were examined. The yields of amines for PaApO and SDApO under N₂ were ca. 70%, which was the highest among O-acyloximes examined in this experiment. On the other hand, the yields for PApO, BApO, and GDApO were less than 15% and it was verified that the hydrogen abstraction by imino radicals via 6-membered cyclic intermediates resulted in the lowering of yields. Although the effect of oxygen under photolysis on the yields of amine for PaApO was negligible under 50% conversion of PaApO, the yield decreased with further increase in the conversion and was 50% at 90% conversion. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Rapid screening swine foot-and-mouth disease virus using micro-ELISA system

In order to tackle both regional and global foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) epdimics, we hereby develop a rapid microfluidic thermal lens microscopic method to screen swine type O FMDV with good efficiency. The scheme has great merits in terms of field portability, sample volume, assay time, analytical sensitivity, and test reproducibility.     

Development of a microfluidic platform for single-cell secretion analysis using a direct photoactive cell-attaching method

A precise understanding of individual cellular processes is essential to meet the expectations of most advanced cell biology. Therefore single-cell analysis is considered to be one of possible approach to overcome any misleading of cell characteristics by averaging large groups of cells in bulk conditions. In the present work, we modified a newly designed microchip for single-cell analysis and regulated the cell-adhesive area inside a cell-chamber of the microfluidic system. By using surface-modification techniques involving a silanization compound, a photo-labile linker and the 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) polymer were covalently bonded on the surface of a microchannel. The MPC polymer was utilized as a non-biofouling compound for inhibiting non-specific binding of the biological samples inside the microchannel, and was selectively removed by a photochemical reaction that controlled the cell attachment. To achieve the desired single-macrophage patterning and culture in the cell-chamber of the microchannel, the cell density and flow rate of the culture medium were optimized. We found that a cell density of 2.0 × 10(6) cells/ml was the appropriate condition to introduce a single cell in each cell chamber. Furthermore, the macrophage was cultured in a small size of the cell chamber in a safe way for 5 h at a flow rate of 0.2 μl/min under the medium condition. This strategy can be a powerful tool for broadening new possibilities in studies of individual cellular processes in a dynamic microfluidic device.     

Identification and Purification of the CPD Photolyase in Vibrio parahaemolyticus RIMD2210633

Photoreactivation is an error‐free mechanism of DNA repair, utilized by prokaryotes and most eukaryotes and is catalyzed by specific enzymes called DNA photolyases. Photoreactivation has been reported in Vibrio parahaemolyticus WP28; however, information on photolyases in V. parahaemolyticus (V.p) strains has not been reported. This study examined the photoreactivation in V.p RIMD2210633. The photolyase responsible for repairing cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD) in DNA was identified, and the corresponding gene was determined as VPA1471. The protein was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and was purified for functional assessment in vitro. The mRNA level and protein expression level of this gene increased after ultraviolet A (UVA) illumination following ultraviolet C (UVC) irradiation. In vitro experiments confirmed that the protein encoded by VPA1471 could reduce the quantity of CPD in DNA. We designated the corresponding gene and protein of VPA1471 phr and Phr, respectively, although the function of two other photolyase/cryptochrome family members, VPA0203 and VPA0204, remains unclear. UV (ultraviolet) irradiation experiments suggest that these two genes possess some photorepairing ability. Therefore, we hypothesize that VPA0203 and VPA0204 encode (6‐4) photolyase in V. parahaemolyticus RIMD2210633.     

Phase separation of gas–liquid and liquid–liquid microflows in microchips

Phase separation of gas–liquid and liquid–liquid microflows in microchannels were examined and characterized by interfacial pressure balance. We considered the conditions of the phase separation, where the phase separation requires a single phase flow in each output of the microchannel. As the interfacial pressure, we considered the pressure difference between the two phases due to pressure loss in each phase and the Laplace pressure generated by the interfacial tension at the interface between the separated phases. When the pressure difference between the two phases is balanced by the Laplace pressure, the contact line between the two phases is static. Since the contact angle characterizing the Laplace pressure is restricted to values between the advancing and receding contact angles, the Laplace pressure has a limit. When the pressure difference between the two phases exceeds the limiting Laplace pressure, one of the phases leaks into the output channel of the other phase, and the phase separation fails. In order to experimentally verify this physical picture, microchips were used having a width of 215 μm and a depth of 34 μm for the liquid–liquid microflows, a width of 100 μm and a depth of 45 μm for the gas–liquid microflows. The experimental results of the liquid–liquid microflows agreed well with the model whilst that of the gas–liquid microflows did not agree with the model because of the compressive properties of the gas phase and evaporation of the liquid phase. The model is useful for general liquid–liquid microflows in continuous flow chemical processing.     

Zooxanthellamide Cs: vasoconstrictive polyhydroxylated macrolides with the largest lactone ring size from a marine dinoflagellate of Symbiodinium sp

Zooxanthellamide Cs (ZAD-Cs), C(128)H(220)N(2)O(53)S(2) (ca. 2.7 kDa), was obtained from a cultured marine dinoflagellate of the genus Symbiodinium as an inseparable isomeric mixture of polyhydroxylated 61- to 66-membered macrolides. The chemical structures of the components were clarified by detailed 2D NMR analysis to be the macrolactonized analogues of zooxanthellamide A (ZAD-A), which had been previously isolated from the same microalgae. Chemical lability of ZAD-Cs suggests that ZAD-A is an artifact derived from ZAD-Cs during the isolation steps. Three of the components possess the largest (63-, 64-, and 66-membered) ring sizes found to date among the natural macrolides. ZAD-Cs exhibited higher vasoconstrictive activity than that of the zooxanthellatoxins, the first vasoconstrictive macrolides from Symbiodinium sp. The structure-activity relationship suggests that the huge macrolactone structure is important for biological activity. The relationship between the structures of the polyol metabolites and the phylogenetic systematics of Symbiodinium sp. is also discussed.     

tert-Butoxide-mediated arylation of benzene with aryl halides in the presence of a catalytic 1,10-phenanthroline derivative

Sodium tert-butoxide mediates the coupling of aryl halides with benzene derivatives without the aid of transition metal catalysts but with a catalytic 1,10-phenanthroline derivative.     

Molecule-Based Artificial Photosynthesis

Guidelines for the design of molecules with a long lifetime of the charge-separated state and for the formation of a self-assembled monolayer were studied by preparing various model compounds linking donor and acceptor with chemical bonds. Based on the obtained results we designed and prepared the SAMs of C₆₀-(porphyrin)-(ferrocene)-(CH₂)₁₁SH on a gold surface and observed a photocurrent with high efficiency (25% quantum yield). In addition, a well-defined, rigid-sheet-structured oligoporphyrin with 21 porphyrin chromophores was prepared as a model for antenna chlorophylls.