Preparation of pH-sensitive liposomes retaining SOD mimic and their anticancer effect

We prepared an anticancer drug based on a pH-sensitive liposome retaining Fe-porphyrin as an SOD mimic. The liposomes contained cationic/anionic lipid combinations and were composed of Fe-porphyrin, 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine, dimethylditetradecylammonium bromide, sodium oleate, and Tween-80. The Fe-porphyrin was released from the liposome at low pH, and the cytotoxicity for cancer cells by the liposome depended on the acidic environments of the endosomes in the cells. Furthermore, although the liposome exhibited an excellent anticancer effect on a gastric cancer cell line, the SOD activity of Fe-porphyrin was shown to have a significant influence on the cytotoxicity toward cancer cells. These findings suggest that the pH-sensitive liposome retaining the Fe-porphyrin as an SOD mimic promises to be a novel anticancer drug for endosomal escape.     

Dynamic interaction among the platform domain and two membrane-proximal immunoglobulin-like domains of class I major histocompatibility complex: normal mode analysis

Class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules have three domains, a platform domain and two membrane-proximal immunoglobulin-like domains, an alpha3 domain and a beta2-immunoglobulin (beta2m). To understand the dynamic interactions among the three domains, we simulated the behavior of a partial model deficient in beta2m and another model deficient in the alpha3 domain, by normal mode analysis. As a result, the partial model deficient in beta2m was more flexible in interdomain conformation than the other model. The lowest frequency modes (<2 cm(-1)) observed for the simulations of the partial model deficient in beta2m showed clear interdomain motions as if each domain moved like a rigid body. Such low frequencies and clear interdomain motions were not observed for the simulations of the other model, therefore the interdomain flexibility of the partial model deficient in beta2m may be due to the lowest frequency modes (<2 cm(-1)). These results suggest that beta2m contributes to maintaining the interdomain conformation of class I MHC molecules more than the alpha3 domain does, and may offer convincing evidence to support the notion that the alpha3 domain and beta2m do not have an equal influence on the structural stability of class I MHC molecules.     

Synthesis of N-functionalized oleamide derivatives

Oleamide is an interesting compound, which shows various pharmacological activities including the inhibitory effect of gap junction formation. Recently, the studies of the gap junction have been some of the hot topics in biology and its inhibitors have become more useful tools [Cravatt, B. F.; Garcia, O. P.; Siuzdak, G.; Gilula, N. B.; Henriksen, S. J.; Boger, D. L.; Lerner, R. A. Science1995, 268, 1506-1509; Cravatt, B. F.; Lerner, R. A.; Boger, D. L. J. Am. Chem. Soc.1996, 118, 580-590; Guan, X; Cravatt, B. F.; Ehring, G. R.; Hall, J. E.; Boger, D. L.; Lerner, R. A.; Gilula, N. B. J. Cell Biol.1997, 139, 1785-1792; Boger, D. L.; Patterson, J. E.; Guan, X.; Cravatt, B. F.; Lerner, R. A.; Gilula, N. B. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.1998, 95, 4810-4815; Ito, A.; Morita, N.; Miura, D.; Koma, Y.; Kataoka, T. R.; Yamasaki, H.; Kitamura, Y.; Kita, Y.; Nojima, H. Carcinogenesis2004, 25, 2015-2022]. However, many reports suggest that the functionalizations of oleamide to retain its biological activity were difficult [Boger, D. L.; Patterson, J. E.; Guan, X.; Cravatt, B. F.; Lerner, R. A.; Gilula, N. B. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.1998, 95, 4810-4815; Ito, A.; Morita, N.; Miura, D.; Koma, Y.; Kataoka, T. R.; Yamasaki, H.; Kitamura, Y.; Kita, Y.; Nojima, H. Carcinogenesis2004, 25, 2015-2022]. The synthesis of the functionalized oleamide derivatives, whose biological activity is not blocked, has become attractive in both the biological and chemical fields.Herein, by linking the fluorophore to the oleamide by alkyl chains, we synthesized the fluorescently tagged oleamide whose biological feature is similar to that of oleamide. Moreover, we also synthesized other bioactive derivatives tagged by other groups such as the sugars and biotin via alkyl chain linkers.     

Protein-templated organic/inorganic hybrid materials prepared by liquid-phase deposition

Organic/inorganic hybrid thin films for protein recognition have been prepared by the liquid-phase deposition (LPD) coupled with template synthesis, i.e., molecular imprinting, where pepsin (Pep) was used as a model protein and titanium oxide was deposited on gold substrates in the presence of Pep-poly-L-lysine (PL) complexes. The complexes remained in the templated film after the deposition, and the binding sites for Pep were constructured after Pep was removed from the film. Surface plasmon resonance signals on the deposited films were measured to examine the binding behaviors toward proteins. The binding of Pep on the templated film was reversible, and the binding isotherm of Pep depicted a saturation curve with a binding constant of 7.3 x 105 M(-1), which was 10 times higher than that of albumin. In contrast, titanium oxide films prepared without PL did not show any selectivity; therefore, the hybridization of PL as the organic binder with the inorganic material is necessary to obtain selective binding sites for Pep. It was also shown that the hybridization process should proceed without denaturing the template protein, in order to obtain selective binding sites for the template. The procedure for preparation of the films was simple to perform, and the process for hybridization of the thin films with nanometer-order thickness was easily controlled by changing the LPD reaction time period. Consequently, the proposed LPD coupled with template synthesis is among the most appropriate methods to prepare hybrid materials with protein recognition ability, which proceeds under mild conditions in aqueous solution.     

Rates of electronic excitation hopping in anisotropic ionic crystals of [Ru(2,2'-bipyridine)3]X2 (X = ClO4-, PF6-, SbF6-); Monte Carlo simulation of single- and multi-exponential emission decays

Emission decays of triplet metal-to-ligand charge transfer states in anisotropic crystals of [Ru(1 - x)Os(x)(bpy)(3)]X(2) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, X = PF(6)-, ClO(4)-, SbF(6)-, and 0.115 > x > 0.001) at approximately 300 K were measured by means of time-correlated single-photon counting. Rates of excitation hopping calculated on the basis of an interaction between transition dipoles of a donor cation and an acceptor cation are insufficient to simulate the single-exponential decays (x = 0.0099) and the multiexponential decays (x = 0.060 and 0.115) of the PF(6)- salt crystals. A limiting rate of excitation hopping to an imaginary cation at the van der Waals distance via a super-exchange interaction between d orbitals through the bpy ligands was determined to be 0.83 x 10(10) s(-1) on average by means of a step-by-step Monte Carlo simulation, assuming an distance-attenuation factor, beta, of the exchange interaction of 10 nm-1. The total rate of excitation hopping via both a dipole-dipole mechanism and a super-exchange mechanism to the neighboring sites of the cation was calculated to be 5.4 x 10(9) s(-1) for the PF(6)- crystal. Anisotropic diffusion constants estimated from the hopping rates and lengths in the PF(6)- crystal are 9.3 x 10(-6), 9.1 x 10(-6), and 1.4 x 10(-6) cm(2)s(-1) along the a axis, the b axis, and the c axis, respectively, which are compared with an isotropic diffusion constant, 1.3 x 10(-6) cm(2) s(-1), estimated from the pseudo-bimolecular rate constant of excitation transfer to [Os(bpy)(3)](2+), using an isotropic Smoluchowski equation. A multiexponential emission decay of [Ru(0.885)Os(0.115)(bpy)(3)](PF(6))(2) was also simulated to determined the limiting rate of excitation transfer to [Os(bpy)(3)](2+) at the van der Waals distance (2.6 x 10(11) s(-1)). The magnitude of beta determined is 6.5 and 11.5 nm(-1) for the ClO(4)- and the SbF(6)- salt crystals, respectively, on reference to that of beta (10 nm(-1)) for the PF(6)- salt crystal.     

Dynamic assembly of porphyrin wires trapped on a highly oriented pyrolitic graphite surface

Carefully designed porphyrin building blocks assemble through selective imidazole binding in various solvents to form linear multiporphyrin objects. From a dynamic mixture of monomers, dimers, and oligomers, linear objects were observed on a highly oriented pyrolitic graphite (HOPG) surface. On the surface, the objects' morphology clearly depended on the solvent used for deposition and was modified upon heating.     

Copper-mediated and copper-catalyzed cross-coupling of indoles and 1,3-azoles: double C-H activation

A new bronze age: the described copper-mediated cross-coupling with double C-H activation can provide a convergent access to indole-containing biheteroaryls that are of high interest in pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry. In this strategy an easily attachable and detachable 2-pyrimidyl directing group is used. Moreover, a variant that is catalytic in copper is achieved by using atmospheric oxygen as an ideal co-oxidant.     

Cloud point extraction and preconcentration for the gas chromatography of phenothiazine tranquilizers in spiked human serum.

Cloud point extraction was successfully applied to the preconcentration of phenothiazine derivatives, such as pericyazine (PC), chlorpromazine (CP) and fluphenazine (FUL), for gas chromatography (GC). Phenothiazine derivatives were separated from surfactants by passing the surfactant-rich phase through a cation exchange column after cloud point extraction, permitting the determination of the phenothiazine derivatives extracted in the surfactant-rich phase by GC. The optimal condition for the cloud point extraction of phenothiazine derivatives was also investigated using Triton X-100, Triton X-114, and PONPE10. Triton X-114 provided the most efficient recovery of phenothiazine derivatives among the surfactants used. The addition of sodium chloride and excess ammonia to the sample solution resulted in a decrement of the recovery of the phenothiazine derivatives. The proposed method was applied to the determination of phenothiazine derivatives in spiked human serum by GC. The recoveries of PC, CP, and FUL in spiked human serum were 95.1%, 87.1%, and 84.7%, respectively.     

Radiation-induced reactions via the lowest excited states in cinnamic acid crystals

Radiation-induced reactions of cinnamic acid derivatives have been examined and compared with photoreactions in the crystalline state; all the reaction products were exactly the same as those of the photoreactions, indicating that the reactions proceed only via the lowest excited state to give [2 + 2] cycloadducts, E/Z isomerization products, or starting molecules.