Basic peptides as functional components of non-viral gene transfer vehicles

Improving the performance of non-viral gene-delivery vehicles that consist of synthetic compounds and nucleic acids is a key to successful gene therapy. Supplementing synthetic vehicles with various biological functions by using natural or artificial peptides is a promising approach with which to achieve this goal. One of the obstacles hindering this effort is that some of the potentially useful peptides, especially those with many basic amino acid residues, interfere with the formation of the complex owing to strong electrostatic interactions with the nucleic acid. In this review, we describe our recent work in examining the potential of these peptides in gene delivery, using a recombinant lambda phage particle as the model for the gene-delivery complex. Lambda phage encapsulates large duplex DNA in a rigid polyplex-like shell with a diameter of 55 nm, and can display various peptides on this capsid, independently of particle formation. By examining the expression of marker genes encapsulated in the phage capsid, we have demonstrated that the protein transduction domain of HIV Tat protein and the nuclear localization signal derived from SV40 T antigen can remarkably facilitate the delivery of these marker genes across the two major barriers, the cell membrane and the nuclear membrane, respectively. Our results indicate that these basic peptides can constitute effective components of synthetic gene-transfer complexes, as long as sufficient copies are displayed on the outer surface of the complex.     

X-ray structure characterization of palladium(II) ternary complexes of pyridinedicarboxylic and phthalic acid with phenanthroline and bipyridine

The crystal structures of the series of four ternary complexes, [Pd(phen)(2,6-PDCA)].4H(2)O (1) (phen=1,10-phenanthroline; 2,6-PDCA=2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid), [Pd(bpy)(2,3-PDCA)].3H(2)O (2) (bpy=2,2'-bipyridineand; 2,3-PDCA=2,3-pyridinedicarboxylic acid) and [Pd(phen)(PHT)].2.5H(2)O (3) (PHT=o-phthalic acid ) and [Pd(bpy)(PHT)].1.5H(2)O (4), are determined and the coordination modes of palladium(II) ternary complexes are characterized. All complexes take the mononuclear Pd(II) complexes, in which central Pd(II) atom of each complex has a similar distorted square-planar four coordination geometry. In all complexes, the aromatic heterocyclic compounds, phen and bpy, behave as a bidentate N, N' ligand. In the complex 1 and 2, 2,6-PDCA and 2,3-PDCA behave as a bidentate N, O ligand, and in complex 3 and 4, PHT behaves as a bidentate O, O' ligand.     

Solving the Huff-Based Competitive Location Model on a Network with Link-Based Demand

This paper shows a computational method for optimizing the location of a store on a network in a competitive environment, assuming that consumers probabilistically choose stores following the Huff model (1963) and that the store can be located on a continuum of a network. This method gives the exact optimal solution with the computational order of n _N ² logn _N where n _N is the number of nodes of the network.     

Phase diagram of the square-lattice three-state Potts antiferromagnet with a staggered polarization field

We study a square-lattice three-state Potts antiferromagnet with a staggered polarization field at finite temperature. Numerically treating the transfer matrices, we determine two phase boundaries separating the model-parameter space into three parts. We confirm that one of them belongs to the ferromagnetic three-state Potts criticality, which is in accord with a recent prediction, and another to the Ising-type; these are both corresponding to the massless renormalization-group flows stemming from the Gaussian fixed points. We also discuss a field theory to describe the latter Ising transition.     

Equilateral-triangular shape in 14C

An equilateral-triangular shape of three alpha clusters surrounded by excess neutrons is suggested for 14C, based on the molecular-orbit model. It is found that the attractive interaction between an excess neutron and an alpha particle stabilizes the K(pi)=0(+) and 3(-) rotational bands, which demonstrates an equilateral-triangular symmetry. This K(pi)=3(-) band at 3 MeV below the 10Be+alpha threshold energy corresponds to the experimentally observed band built on top of the second 3(-) state. A positive-parity rotational band (0(+), 2(+), 4(+)) arises similarly. These two bands suggest a molecular 3-alpha structure stabilized by the excess neutrons and can be viewed as a realization of the alpha crystallization in the dilute nuclear medium.     

Deracemization of 1,2-diol monotosylate derivatives by a combination of enzymatic hydrolysis with the Mitsunobu inversion using polymer-bound triphenylphosphine

The deracemization of 1,2-diol monotosylate derivatives is achieved by the sequential combination of enzymatic hydrolysis and Mitsunobu inversion using a polymer-bound triphenylphosphine. After the lipase-catalysed hydrolysis of the racemic 2-acetoxyhexyl tosylate, the subsequent Mitsunobu reaction without separation causes an inversion of the resulting (R)-alcohol to give the (S)-enantiomer of the acetate as a single product. In particular, the reaction using the polymer-bound triphenylphosphine also proceeds smoothly, and the product is easily separated by filtration from the polymer-bound reagent and its by-products. This deracemization process is applicable to the preparation of several optically active 1,2-diol monotosylates.