Design and synthesis of 4″,6″-unsaturated cyclic ADP-carbocyclic-ribose, a Ca-mobilizing agent selectively active in T cells

We previously developed cyclic ADP-carbocyclic-ribose (cADPcR, 3a) as a stable mimic of cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR, 1), a Ca²⁺-mobilizing second messenger. The unsaturated carbocyclic-ribose analogs of cADPR, i.e., 4″,6″-didehydro-cADPcR (8a) and its inosine congener 4″,6″-didehydro-cIDPcR (8b) were newly designed and successfully synthesized using the key intramolecular condensation reaction with S-phenyl phosphorothioate-type substrates. The Ca²⁺-mobilizing potency of the compounds was examined in sea urchin egg homogenates, NG108-15 neuronal cells, and permeabilized Jurkat T-lymphocytes, which may indicate that 4″,6″-didehydro-cADPcR is the first cADPR analog selectively active in T cells. Acid-base behavior and conformation of 8a were also investigated and compared with those of cADPcR.     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(succinimide-co-6-aminocaproic acid) by acid-catalyzed polycondensation of L-aspartic acid and 6-aminocaproic acid

The polycondensation of L -aspartic acid ( ASP ) with 6-aminocaproic acid ( ACA ) using o-phosphoric acid produced poly(succinimide-co-6-aminocaproic acid). The yield of the MeOH-insoluble copolymer decreased from 99 to 52% and that of the MeOH-soluble one increased from 9 to 47%, with increasing molar ratio of ACA in the monomer feed. The compositions of the succinimide ( SCI ) unit in the MeOH -insoluble and -soluble copolymers tended to be higher than those of ASP in the monomer feed. The copolymers with the 35 mol % SCI units or above were soluble in DMSO , DMF , and conc- H₂SO₄ , but those with the 20 and 21 mol % SCI units were soluble only in conc-H₂SO₄. The melting temperature appeared for the copolymers with less than 76 mol % SCI units. Poly(succinimide-co-6-aminocaproic acid) was easily hydrolyzed to yield poly(aspartic acid-co-6-aminocaproic acid), and it exhibited biodegradability toward activated sludge. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Heat‐Triggered Crystallization of Liquid Crystalline Macrocycles Allowing for Conductance Switching through Hysteretic Thermal Phase Transitions

A polymesomorphic thermal phase‐transition of a macrocyclic amphiphile consisting of aromatic groups and oligoethylene glycol (OEG) chains is reported. The macrocyclic amphiphile exists in a highly‐ordered liquid crystal (LC) phase at room temperature. Upon heating, this macrocycle shows phase‐transition from columnar‐lamellar to nematic LC phases followed by crystallization before melting. Spectroscopic studies suggest that the thermally induced crystallization is triggered by a conformational change at the OEG chains. Interestingly, while the macrocycle returns to the columnar‐lamellar phase after cooling from the isotropic liquid, it retains the crystallinity after cooling from the thermally‐induced crystal. Thanks to this bistability, conductance switching was successfully demonstrated. A different macrocyclic amphiphile also shows an analogous phase‐transition behavior, suggesting that this molecular design is universal for developing switchable and memorizable materials, by means of hysteretic phase‐transition processes.     

Preparation of alkaline earth phosphates with sol containing sodium alginate and sodium diphosphate

Magnesium hydrogen phosphate, calcium hydroxyapatite, and strontium hydroxyapatite were successfully prepared from sol consisting of sodium alginate and Na4P2O7 with Mg2+, Ca2+, and Sr2+ in the corresponding nitrates, respectively. It is revealed that the order of the addition of those substrates and the role of sodium alginate are important factors for the preparation of desired phosphate compounds. According to the previous paper on the preparation of calcium hydroxyapatite, sodium alginate was mixed with aqueous Na4P2O7, followed by the addition of the aqueous divalent cations, resulting in the poor formation of the target phosphates. However, as a revised sol-gel technique, sodium alginate was added to the mixture of Na4P2O7 and aqueous Mg2+ and Sr2+, resulting in a rather favorable formation of MgHPO4 and strontium hydroxyapatite, respectively, while the sol thus obtained was stable within a few days. However for aqueous Ca2+, calcium hydroxyapatite could not be obtained through the revised sol-gel technique. In the preparation of magnesium hydrogen phosphate, sodium alginate contributes mainly to the sol formation of the precursor. The ion exchange between Na+ in sodium alginate and aqueous Ca2+ was important for the preparation of calcium hydroxyapatite. In contrast, the reaction of sodium alginate with the mixture of Na4P2O7 and aqueous Sr2+ afforded strontium hydroxyapatite at the specific ratio of those three substrates. The structure of calcium and strontium phosphates prepared from the revised sol-gel process evidently depended on the amount of sodium alginate introduced into the mixture of Na4P2O7 and the corresponding divalent cations.     

DNA Damage Induced by Late Spring Sunlight in Antarctica

Sunlight ultraviolet (UV) radiation constitutes an important environmental genotoxic agent that organisms are exposed to, as it can damage DNA directly, generating pyrimidine dimers, and indirectly, generating oxidized bases and single-strand breaks (SSBs). These lesions can lead to mutations, triggering skin and eye disorders, including carcinogenesis and photoaging. Stratospheric ozone layer depletion, particularly in the Antarctic continent, predicts an uncertain scenario of UV incidence on the Earth in the next decades. This research evaluates the DNA damage caused by environmental exposure to late spring sunlight in the Antarctic Peninsula, where the ozone layer hole is more pronounced. These experiments were performed at the Brazilian Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station, at King’s George Island, South Shetlands Islands. For comparison, tropical regions were also analyzed. Samples of plasmid DNA were exposed to sunlight. Cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs), oxidized base damage and SSBs were detected using specific enzymes. In addition, an immunological approach was used to detect CPDs. The results reveal high levels of DNA damage induced by exposure under the Antarctic sunlight, inversely correlated with ozone layer thickness, confirming the high impact of ozone layer depletion on the DNA damaging action of sunlight in Antarctica.     

Cis-trans isomerization and 13C-NMR chemical shift of polyphenylacetylene

Before and after cis-trans isomerization, the observed ¹³C-NMR chemical shifts of poly(phenylacetylene) (PPA) in the solid state were investigated on the basis of ¹³C-NMR chemical shift calculations within AM1 for the cis-transoidal and deflected trans-transoidal forms. Two ¹³C-resonance peaks in the observed CP/MAS ¹³C-spectrum were assigned theoretically by the ¹³C chemical shifts of the main and side chains. After thermal isomerization, the ¹³C peak of the main chain for PPA shifted upfield by 3.5 ppm, in contrast to the downfield shift of the ¹³C peak for polyacetylene. This upfield shift of trans-PPA largely was attributed to the increases of the excitation energy from the ground state to the lowest φ_π–π* state in the paramagnetic terms of ¹³C chemical shift on the main chain carbons with the increase in deflected angle τ of 0 to 80°. The ±80° deflected conformation of the trans-transoidal chain due to the cis-trans isomerization was confirmed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 1657–1664, 1999     

Acid-catalyzed copolymerization of aspartic acid with ω-amino acid. -Biodegradability and Ca2+ chelating ability of poly(aspartic acid -Co- ω-amino acid)-

The polycondensation of L-aspartic acid (1) with various ω-amino acids (2) using phosphoric acid catalyst produced poly(succinimide-co-ω-amino acid)s (3), which was followed by alkali hydrolysis to poly(aspartic acid-co-ω-amino acid) (4). The Ca²⁺ chelating abilities of 4 depended on the content of comonomer unit in the copolymer and on the kind of amino acids. For the copolymer using 11-aminoundecanoic acid (2d) as a comonomer, the Ca²⁺ chelating ability was higher than that of poly(sodium acrylate). For poly(aspartic acid-co-6-aminocaproic acid) (4c), there was a tendency to increase according to the increase of 6-aminocaproic acid (2c) unit in the copolymer. The biodegradability of the copolymer in the case of 2c as a comonomer, evaluated by TOC measurement, was 63%, which was the highest degradability among the copolymers having different methylen length. The biodegradability of 4c decreased with increasing the 2c unit in 4c.     

Extraction mechanism for palladium(II) from hydrochloric acid solution with 2-dodecylthiomethylpyridine using a stirred transfer cell.

2-Dodecylthiomethylpyridine (DTP) was newly synthesized to study its extraction properties for precious metals. DTP was a selective extractant for palladium(II) and gold(III) over base metals. The loading test for palladium(II) showed that one palladium ion reacted with one molecule of DTP. The extraction rate of palladium with DTP was measured using a Lewis-type transfer cell at 303 K. The extraction reaction of palladium with DTP has been found to be a first order reaction with respect to palladium ion, DTP, and hydrogen ion concentrations. This reaction is inversely proportional to chloride ion concentration. The rate-determining step was the parallel reactions of DTP with PdCl3(-) and PdCl4(2-) in the aqueous phase.