Computational basis for the design of PLK-2 inhibitors

Structural Chemistry - PLK-2 is a serine/threonine protein kinase and plays a crucial role in cell cycle regulation; due to its pivotal function, this enzyme is approved as cancer drug target. We...     

Methanogenesis mediated by methylotrophic mixed culture

Enrichment of methanogenic cultures on methanol from the microbial population in the anaerobic digesters operated on agricultural wastes revealed a high rate of biomethanation efficiency. Routine maintenance of this enrichment in a minimal basal medium at room temperature resulted in maximal growth in 40–50 d, and indicated pigment production toward the end of the growth phase. The cultures grown in three different media, with different substrates under light and dark conditions, were analyzed for protein, pigment, and gaseous products, and morphological studies were carried out by light, phase-contrast, fluorescence, and electron microscopy. In different media with methanol as substrate, growth and pigment production were maximal for the light-grown cells, decreasing in the order: phototrophic (PS(m)) > mineral > basal medium. Methanation and phototrophic growth were inversely correlated under lightgrown conditions. In contrast, growth in the dark was predominently methanogenic in the decreasing order: mineral > basal > PS (m). Among other growth conditions tested, utilization of phototrophic substrates under light and dark conditions indicated the following:

1. Basal and mineral media were supportive of methanogenic growth under both light and dark conditions, although methane yields under light-grown conditions were low;
2. Among the different substrates tested, methanol-grown cells gave the highest methane yield in the dark and;
3. Phototrophic growth in PS medium with succinate, malate, and pyruvate was better than that with methanol.

Absorption spectra of light-grown cells indicated the presence of bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchl a), as a doublet in the 800–0 nm region, which was absent in the dark-grown cells. Spectra of extracted pigments confirmed the presence of Bchl a with a 770-nm peak and carotenoid absorption bands in the 400–500 nm region indicative of the presence of a pigment of the spirilloxanthin type. Collective evidence for the predominant growth of a phototrophic organism under lightgrown conditions and microscopic examination under all conditions indicated the possible presence in the mixed culture of purple nonsulfur bacteria of theRhodopseudomonas type. In addition, the enrichment culture was found to contain other morphological forms, such as short and long rods, both individually and in clusters and coccoid cells. The presence of such different forms of microbial population in a methylotrophic enrichment along with phototrophic bacteria is interesting and is of ecological significance. Considering the uphill task of methanol oxidation under anaerobic conditions, the studies on the present enrichment signify metabolic partnerships in the methylotrophic biochemical mechanisms operative toward energy recovery.     

Natural abundance nitrogen-15 nuclear magnetic resonance spectral studies on selected donors

The natural abundance 15N-NMR chemical shifts of selected aliphatic amines, 2-substituted pyridine type compounds, bialicyclic tertiary amines have been measured as a function of the nature of the solvent. In the case of cyclic aliphatic amines, like piperidine, morpholine, piperazine, thiomorpholine, the nitrogen is more shielded in concentrated solution compared to that in dilute solution whereas in the hydrogen bonding and protonating solvents there is a prominent deshielding. 2-Substituted pyridines studied can be further divided into four sub groups. The site of hydrogen bonding and protonation in 2-amino, 2-hydroxy and 2-mercapto pyridines have been conclusively proved from the 15N-NMR chemical shifts and the well-known tautomeric forms of the above compounds. Similarly in the case of 2-(2-thienyl)pyridine and 2-(3-thienyl)pyridine, the site of donation has been proved as the nitrogen of the pyridine ring in both the compounds. In a similar manner, the site of hydrogen bonding and protonation in two individual compounds 2-anilinopyridine and 2-(2-pyridyl)benzimidazole have also been established. Among the bialicyclic amines, 1,2-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) behaved differently from the other two compounds. In both 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) and 1,5-diazabicyclo[4.3.0]non-5-ene (DBN), it was possible to show that N1-nitrogen in both the compounds is the site of donation. The effect of the second donor site on the 15N-NMR chemical shift, the site of donation in the selected compounds and some typical compounds reported in literature have been presented and discussed.     

Synthesis,characterization of novel quinoline-2-carboxamide based chalcone derivatives and their molecular docking,photochemical studies

Abstract

Novel series of quinoline-2-carboxamide based chalcone derivatives (5a–g) have synthesized and characterized using ¹H-NMR, 13C-NMR, Mass, and elemental analysis. In-silico molecular docking studies exhibited that synthesized compounds 5a and 5g are good binding energy (?8.46?kcal and ?9.46?kcal) toward the essential requirements of targeted compounds for EGFR receptor-bearing quinazoline inhibitor (PDB ID: 1M17(Lapitinib)). UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy measurements provided a significant effect on the absorption, emission cyclic voltammetry (CV), and highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO). Lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) values of compound 5g are also confirmed band along with intramolecular charge transfer character (D-π-A). The red shift maxima (510?nm) the emission spectra in various solvents with increasing solvent polarity.     

Photocatalytic reduction of CO2 over Cu-TiO2 /molecular sieve 5A composite

TiO(2) and different Cu wt% loaded TiO(2) (TC(0.5-5.0)), 10 wt% TC(2.0) supported on molecular sieve 5A (10 wt% TC(2.0)/MS) were prepared by impregnation and solid-state dispersion methods. The photocatalysts prepared were characterized using XRD, SEM, and UV-Vis DRS, TEM, XPS spectroscopy techniques. Photocatalytic reduction of CO(2) in water and alkaline solution are investigated in a batch reactor. The yield of oxalic acid increased notably when TC was supported on molecular sieve. The Cu-TiO(2) supported on molecular sieve catalyst promotes the charge separation that leads to an increase in the selective formation of oxalic acid in addition to methanol, acetic acid and traces of methane. The product formation is due to the high adsorption of CO(2), water and product shape selectivity of the composite photocatalyst. The maximum yield of oxalic acid was found to be 65.6 μg h(-1) g(-1) per cat using 0.2 N NaOH containing solution over 10 wt% TC(2.0)/MS photocatalyst. The difference in the photocatalytic activity is related to its physicochemical properties.     

A Rapid Stability-Indicating LC Method for Ziprasidone Hydrochloride

A simple and rapid reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method was developed for the related substances determination and quantitative evaluation of ziprasidone hydrochloride, which is used as an antipsychotic agent. Forced degradation studies were performed on bulk sample of ziprasidone hydrochloride using acid, base, oxidative hydrolysis, thermal stress and photolytic degradation. Mild degradation of the drug substance was observed during thermal stress and considerable degradation observed during base hydrolysis. The chromatographic method was fine tuned using the samples generated from forced degradation studies. Good resolution between the peaks corresponds to synthetic impurities and degradation products from the analyte were achieved on YMC Pack Pro C18 column using the mobile phase consists of a mixture of 0.05% v/v of phosphoric acid in water and acetonitrile. The stressed test solutions were assayed against the qualified working standard of ziprasidone hydrochloride and the mass balance in each case was close to 99.7% indicating that the developed method was stability-indicating. Validation of the developed method was carried out as per ICH requirements.     

Bounded sets of KKT multipliers in vector optimization

In this article we discuss the conditions required to guarantee the non-emptiness and the boundedness of certain subsets of the set of Lagrange multipliers for an inequality and equality constrained vector minimization problem.     

Duality in ε-variational inequality problems

In this paper a general analysis of duality for an extended ε-variational inequality problem based on the notions of ε-convexity and ε-conjugacy is performed. Optimal solutions of both the primal and dual problems are also related to the saddle point of an associated Lagrangian. Gap functions for these problems are proposed. An existence theorem for the extended ε-variational inequality is also established by means of the KKM lemma.     

Elastic behavior of some manganite-based orthorhombic RMnO3 (R=Sm,Eu, Gd,Dy) multiferroics

A series of multiferroic materials with the compositional formula, RMnO₃ (where R=Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy) were prepared by the well-known citrate sol–gel technique. After characterizing the samples structurally, a systematic investigation of elastic behavior has been undertaken and it has been found that the elastic moduli are increasing continuously with decreasing ionic radii of the dopant ion. Variation of longitudinal velocity with temperature for all the samples, over a temperature range 80–300 K has also been studied and the observed experimental behavior is explained using four theoretical models. It has been concluded that Lakkad's model explains the variation of Young's modulus with temperature in a better way than the other ones.