Power-free poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfluidic devices for gold nanoparticle-based DNA analysis

An extremely simple, power-free pumping method for poly(dimethylsiloxane)(PDMS) microfluidic devices is presented. By exploiting the high gas solubility of PDMS, the energy for the pumping is pre-stored in the degassed bulk PDMS, therefore no additional structures other than channels and reservoirs are required. In a Y-shaped microchannel with cross section of 100 microm width x 25 microm height, this method has provided flow rate of 0.5-2 nL s(-1), corresponding to linear velocity of 0.2-0.8 mm s(-1), with good reproducibility. As an application of the power-free pumping, gold nanoparticle-based DNA analysis, which does not rely on the cross-linking mechanism between nanoparticles, has been implemented in a microchannel with three inlets. Target 15mer DNA has been easily and unambiguously discriminated from its single-base substituted mutant. Instead of colorimetric detection in a conventional microtube, an alternative detection technique suitable for microdevices has been discovered-observation of deposition on the PDMS surfaces. The channel layout enabled two simultaneous DNA analyses at the two interfaces between the three laminar streams.     

1,6,11,16‐Tetra­oxacyclo­eicosane‐2,5,12,15‐tetra­one

The 20‐membered ring of the title compound, C₁₆H₂₄O₈, adopts an approximately flat rectangular structure with three‐ and seven‐bond sides and lies across a crystallographic center of inversion. The corners of the ring occur at both ends of one of the planar ester segments. All of the carbonyl O atoms are involved in inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds.     

Dynamics of superionic Rb3H(SeO4)2 single crystals studied by H and Rb spin-lattice relaxation

The ¹H and ⁸⁷Rb spin-lattice relaxation and spin-spin relaxation times in superionic Rb₃H(SeO₄)₂ single crystals grown by the slow evaporation method were measured over the temperature range 160-450 K. The temperature dependencies of the ¹H T₁, T_1ρ, and T₂ are measured. In the ferroelastic phase, T₁ differs from T_1ρ, which is in turn different from T₂, although these three relaxation times converge to similar values near 410 K. This transition seems to occur at temperature which is about 40 K lower than the superionic transition temperature. The observation of liquid-like values of the ¹H T₁, T_1ρ, and T₂ in the high temperature is compatible with the phase being superionic, indicating that the destruction and reconstruction of hydrogen bonds does indeed occur at high temperature. In addition, the ⁸⁷Rb T₁ and T₂ values at high temperature were similar (on the order of milliseconds), a trend that was also observed for ¹H T₁ and T₂. This behavior is expected for most hopping-type ionic conductors, and could be attributed to interactions between the mobile ions and the neighboring group ions within the crystal. The motion giving rise to this liquid-like behavior is related to the superionic motion.     

Neutron activation analysis of uranium in human bone,drinking water and daily diet

Uranium in human bone, drinking water and daily diet has been determined by neutron activation analysis using the²³⁸U(n, γ)²³⁹U reaction. An improved scheme for the separation of the²³⁹U is proposed; with this scheme, after neutron irradiation in a 100 kW TRIGA reactor, a uranium content as low as 5·10⁻¹¹ g can be determined reliably, rapidly and easily. A wide range of uranium concentrations, from about 0.1 ppb up to about 10 ppb has been found in the bones of normal Japanese. Water from several Japanese city water services, and the daily diet taken in two Japanese cities, have been found to contain an average 9·10⁻⁹ g/l and 1.5 μg per person-day uranium, respectively.     

Synthesis of stable and cell-type selective analogues of cyclic ADP-ribose, a Ca(2+)-mobilizing second messenger. Structure--activity relationship of the N1-ribose moiety

We previously developed cyclic ADP-carbocyclic ribose (cADPcR, 2) as a stable mimic of cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR, 1), a Ca(2+)-mobilizing second messenger. A series of the N1-ribose modified cADPcR analogues, designed as novel stable mimics of cADPR, which were the 2"-deoxy analogue 3, the 3"-deoxy analogue 4, the 3"-deoxy-2"-O-(methoxymethyl) analogue 5, the 3"-O-methyl analogue 6, the 2",3"-dideoxy analogue 7, and the 2",3"-dideoxydidehydro analogue 8, were successfully synthesized using the key intramolecular condensation reaction with phenylthiophosphate-type substrates. We investigated the conformations of these analogues and of cADPR and found that steric repulsion between both the adenine and N9-ribose moieties and between the adenine and N1-ribose moieties was a determinant of the conformation. The Ca(2+)-mobilizing effects were evaluated systematically using three different biological systems, i.e., sea urchin eggs, NG108-15 neuronal cells, and Jurkat T-lymphocytes. The relative potency of Ca(2+)-mobilization by these cADPR analogues varies depending on the cell-type used: e.g., 3"-deoxy-cADPcR (4) > cADPcR (2) > cADPR (1) in sea urchin eggs; cADPR (1) > cADPcR (2) approximately 3"-deoxy-cADPcR (4) in T-cells; and cADPcR (2) > cADPR (1) > 3"-deoxy-cADPcR (4) in neuronal cells, respectively. These indicated that the target proteins and/or the mechanism of action of cADPR in sea urchin eggs, T-cells, and neuronal cells are different. Thus, this study represents an entry to cell-type selective cADPR analogues, which can be used as biological tools and/or novel drug leads.     

Mechanisms and kinetics of trisodium 2-hydroxy-1,1'-azonaphthalene-3,4',6-trisulfonate adsorption onto chitosan

Chitosan, a naturally abundant biopolymer, has widely been studied for metal adsorption from various solutions, but the extension of chitosan as an adsorbent to remove organic substances from water and wastewater has seldom been explored. In this study, the adsorption of an azo dye, trisodium 2-hydroxy-1,1'-azonaphthalene-3,4',6-trisulfonate (1), from aqueous solution onto the various degrees of deacetylated chitosan has been investigated. Equilibrium studies have been carried out to determine the capacity of chitosan for dye. The experimental data were analyzed using two isotherm correlations, namely, Langmuir and Freundlich equations. The linear correlation coefficients were determined for each isotherm and the Langmuir provided the best fit. The experimental adsorption isotherms were perfectly reproduced in the simulated data obtained from numerical analysis on the basis of the Langmuir model and the isotherm constants. Adsorption of (1) onto the chitosan flakes was found to be strongly depending on degrees of deacetylation in chitosan and temperatures. Significant amounts of (1) were adsorbed by chitosan 8B (higher degree of deacetylated chitosan), but the adsorption capacity was reduced remarkably with increasing solution temperatures. Thermodynamic parameters such as change in free energy (DeltaG), enthalpy (DeltaH), and entropy (DeltaS) were also determined. In addition, kinetic study indicated that the adsorption process mechanisms were both transport- and attachment-limited.     

Stereoselective allyl amine synthesis through enantioselective addition of diethylzinc and [1,3]-chirality transfer: synthesis of lentiginosine and polyoxamic acid derivative

A new synthetic method for the preparation of allyl amines has been developed. The key steps of this method are enantioselective addition of diethylzinc and [1,3]-chirality transfer through the [3.3] sigmatropic rearrangement of allyl cyanates. Stereocontrolled syntheses of lentiginosine (1) and polyoxamic acid derivative 2 from a common intermediate 7 derived from D-tartaric acid (8), have been accomplished.     

Cubic phases of 4′-n-alkoxy-3′-nitrobiphenyl-4-carboxylic acids (ANBC-n)

The structure of the thermotropic cubic phases of 4′- ⁿ -alkoxy-3′-nitrobiphenyl-4-carboxylic acids (ANBC- ⁿ , where ⁿ indicates the number of carbon atoms in the alkoxy group) was studied by X-ray diffraction. For the homologues with ⁿ = 15, 16, 17, and 18, the cubic phase was of an ^Ia 3 ^d type, whereas the homologues with ⁿ = 19, 20, and 21 exhibited an ^Im 3 ^m cubic structure; for these seven homologues the same type of cubic structure was observed both on heating and cooling. Further lengthening of the alkoxy chain to ⁿ = 22 and 26, however, gave two types of cubic structure in the cubic phase region on heating, one with ^Im 3 ^m symmetry in the low temperature region and the other with ^Ia 3 ^d symmetry in the high temperature region. On cooling, the two homologues exhibited the ^Ia 3 ^d cubic structure only. This is the first example in the cubic phase region of a series of homologues containing two types of structure, dependent on temperature and ⁿ . Such a complicated phase diagram in the cubic region is clearly understood qualitatively in terms of Gibbs free energy-temperature diagrams. The dependence of structural parameters such as the cubic lattice constant on the alkoxy chain length ⁿ are also presented and discussed.     

Synthesis of All Stereoisomers of Monomeric Spectomycin A1/A2 and Evaluation of Their Protein SUMOylation-Inhibitory Activity

A synthetic methodology to access all possible stereoisomers of spectomycin A1 (SMA1) and A2 (SMA2) has been established through late-stage diversification. The key reaction for the construction of all four diastereomers is an intramolecular cyclization based on the umpolung of π-allyl palladium species with bis(pinacolato)diborane (B₂(pin)₂). Silyl group assisted direct benzylic oxidation of each isomer enabled construction of the fragile β-hydroxytetralone skeleton to provide the SMAs. The relative and absolute stereochemistry of SMA2 was also determined, and the absolute stereochemistry of SMA1 was extrapolated based on the optical rotation of SMA2. The axial chirality of SMAs is discussed based on circular dichroism spectra and DFT calculations, and it is concluded that the M isomer is predominant in solution. Biochemical assessment of all isomers in vitro revealed that the C9 hydroxyl group and dimeric structure were both important for protein SUMOylation-inhibitory activity.