Interfacial properties of self-organized TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanotubes studied by impedance spectroscopy

The semiconductor properties of the interface TiO₂/electrolyte in high organized porous oxide structures were analyzed by means of impedance spectroscopy near the flat band potential. The impedance and capacitance studies performed on the as-anodized and thermally treated samples (anatase) indicate the presence of a duplex structure formed by (1) the oxide at the bottom of the pores and (2) the walls of pores with different donor densities and surface state concentrations.     

Synthesis and lysozyme adsorption of rod-like large-pore periodic mesoporous organosilica

Highly ordered rod-like large-pore periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) was successfully synthesized at low acid concentration with the assistance of inorganic salt using triblock copolymer P123 as a template. The roles of inorganic salt and acidity in the production of highly ordered mesostructure and the morphology control of PMOs were investigated. It was found that the inorganic salt can significantly widen the range of the synthesis parameters to produce highly ordered 2D hexagonal pore structure of p6mm symmetry. However, the uniform rod-like PMOs can only be synthesized in a narrow range of acid and salt concentrations, which were sensitive to induction time. The adsorption of lysozyme on PMO was studied at different pH values in comparison with adsorption on pure silica material under controlled morphology and pore structure. It was found that the adsorption capacity of lysozyme on the PMO was lower than that on pure SBA-15 silica material and the adsorption amounts are larger at pH 9.6 than at 7.0 for both materials. The results show that the electrostatic interaction between lysozyme and PMO/SBA-15 surface is more dominant than the hydrophobic forces and the interaction of neighboring lysozyme molecules also plays an important role.     

Multidimensional high performance liquid chromatography--capillary electrophoresis separation of a protein digest: an update

The trypsin digest of a mixture of two proteins, namely cytochrome c and myoglobin, was first separated in the first dimension by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Fractions from the HPLC were collected every 30s with the aid of a fraction collector into a 96-well microtiter plate. After concentration, all the collected fractions were analyzed simultaneaosly in the second dimension by a 96-array capillary electrophoresis system. The labeled peptides were detected by laser-induced fluorescence. An internal standard, allura red, was added to all the fractions, prior to capillary electrophoretic analysis. The internal standard serves two functions, migration time correction and signal intensity correction. The data are presented in two different formats, as an electropherogram of all the fractions and in a two-dimensional (2-D) format. The 2-D plot of the data shows the density of each spot, which corresponds to the concentration of the migrating peptides. The total experimental time for the HPLC and capillary electrophoretic analyses ist less than 1 h, which ist much faster than using 2-D slab-gel electrophoresis or single-capillary capillary electrophoresis.     

Aqueous p-nitrotoluene oxidation induced with direct glow discharge plasma

A plasma induced degradation process has been studied to treat 4-nitrotoluene (4-NT) present as an aqueous pollutant. The plasma was locally generated from a glow discharge around a tip of a platinum anode in an electrolytic solution. The influence of initial pH and Fe²⁺ on the degradation was examined. Major intermediates resulting from the degradation process were identified. Amongst the aromatic intermediates, p-hydroxybenzoic acid was the predominant degradation product. The formation of oxalic acid, malic acid was also observed. The final products of degradation were NH ₄ ⁺ , NO ₃ ⁻ and CO₂. Based on the analysis of intermediates and the kinetic considerations, the degradation was shown to follow a pseudo-first order reaction hence, a possible reaction pathway was proposed.     

Reactivity of DNA guanyl radicals with phenolate anions

Guanine bases are the most easily oxidized sites in DNA. Electron-deficient guanine species are major intermediates produced in DNA by the direct effect of ionizing radiation (ionization of the DNA itself) because of preferential hole migration within DNA to guanine bases. By using thiocyanate ions to modify the indirect effect (ionization of the solvent), we are able to produce these single-electron-oxidized guanine radical species in dilute aqueous solutions of plasmid DNA where the direct effect is negligible. The guanyl radical species produce stable modified guanine products. They can be detected in the plasmid by converting them to strand breaks after incubation with a DNA repair enzyme. If a phenol is present during irradiation, the yield of modified guanines is decreased. The mechanism is reduction of the guanine radical species by the phenol. It is possible to derive a rate constant for the reaction of the phenol with the guanyl radical. The pH dependence shows that phenolate anions are more reactive than their conjugate acids, although the difference for guanyl radicals is smaller than with other single-electron-oxidizing agents. At physiological pH values, the reduction of a guanyl radical entails the transfer of a proton in addition to the electron. The relatively small dependence of the rate constant on the driving force implies that the electron cannot be transferred before the proton. These results emphasize the potential importance of acidic tyrosine residues and the intimate involvement of protons in DNA repair.     

Quantitation of SU1 1248, an oral multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor, and its metabolite in monkey tissues by liquid chromatograph with tandem mass spectrometry following semi-automated liquid-liquid extraction

SU11248 is a potent inhibitor of PDGFR, VEGFR, KIT, and Flt3, and is currently under Phase I clinical evaluation as an anticancer drug. A sensitive and specific analytical method for the quantitation of SU11248 and its metabolite in several monkey tissues (liver, kidney, brain and white fat) using LC-MS-MS following semi-automated liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) was developed and validated. Amounts of 50 mg of tissue were homogenized using an ultrasonic processor. After addition of the stable labelled internal standard (IS) and ammonium hydroxide (0.3%), samples were extracted with 2.5 ml of tert-butyl methyl ether. Following centrifugation, aliquots of 1.8 ml of the organic phase were transferred into a 96-well plate. The Packard Multiprobe II robotic liquid handler was used to perform all steps mentioned above. The organic phase was dried and the residue was reconstituted with 800 microl of 15 mM ammonium formate buffer solution (pH 3.25) using a Tomtec Quadra 96 workstation. Aliquots of 10 microl of the resulting solution were injected into the LC-MS-MS system. A Symmetry Shield C8 column (50 mm x 2.1 mm, 3.5 microm) was used to perform the chromatographic analysis. The mobile phase was 15 mM ammonium formate buffer solution (pH 3.25)-acetonitrile (74:26 (v/v)) with a flow-rate of 0.35 ml/min. Retention times of the metabolite and SU11248 were about 2.5 and 3.5 min, respectively. Total cycle time was 5 min. MS detection used the Applied Biosystems-MDS Sciex API 3000 with TurbolonSpray interface and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) operated in positive ion mode. The method was validated for both compounds over the calibration range of about 2 and 2000 ng/g. The suitability and robustness of the method for in vivo samples were confirmed by analysis of monkey tissues from animals dosed with SU11248.     

Combinatorial synthesis of a small-molecule library based on the vinyl sulfone scaffold

[reaction: see text] A 30-member library of small molecules based on the vinyl sulfone scaffold was prepared on rink amide resin, using solid phase-based reactions such as oxidation and Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction. The library was designed such that three points of diversity were readily introduced in the library to accommodate the S(1)', S(1), and S(2) binding pockets of different cysteine proteases, making the strategy suitable for high-throughput generation of potential cysteine protease inhibitors.     

Fluorescent sensors for the enantioselective recognition of mandelic acid: signal amplification by dendritic branching

Novel chiral bisbinaphthyl compounds have been synthesized for the enantioselective fluorescent recognition of mandelic acid. By introducing dendritic branches to the chiral receptor unit, the fluorescence signals of the receptors are significantly amplified because of the light-harvesting effect of the dendritic structure. This has greatly increased the sensitivity of the sensors in the fluorescent recognition. Study of the three generation sensors demonstrates that the generation zero sensor is the best choice for the recognition of mandelic acid because of its greatly increased fluorescence signal over the core and its high enantioselectivity. This sensor is potentially useful for the high throughput screening of chiral catalysts for the asymmetric synthesis of alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids.     

An in silico ensemble method for lead discovery: decision forest

Recent progress in combinatorial chemistry and parallel synthesis has radically changed the approach to drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry. At present, thousands of compounds can be made in a short period, creating a need for fast and effective in silico methods to select the most promising lead candidates. Decision forest is a novel pattern recognition method, which combines the results of multiple distinct but comparable decision tree models to reach a consensus prediction. In this article, a decision forest model was developed using a structurally diverse training data set containing 232 compounds whose estrogen receptor binding activity was tested at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR). The model was subsequently validated using a test data set of 463 compounds selected from the literature, and then applied to a large data set with 57,145 compounds as a screening example. The results show that the decision forest method is a fast, reliable and effective in silico approach, which could be useful in drug discovery.     

Determination of lead by selective chelatometric titration with HEDTA after separation as its sulphate by an improved method of precipitation

A selective titrimetric determination of Pb after separation by a modified method of precipitation as its sulphate is proposed. Pb(II), present as the perchlorate, is precipitated by gentle boiling in 3.6M H(2)SO(4) presaturated with PbSO(4) and free from any extraneous anions. The customary time-consuming evaporation to fumes of sulphuric acid is dispensed with. The precipitate is collected, and dissolved in excess of HEDTA, the surplus of which is back-titrated with Zn(II) at pH 5.0-5.5. Use of Catechol Violet and Xylenol Orange as a mixed indicator gives a sharper end-point. The standard deviation of the proposed method for 60 mg of lead is 0.35 mg. The method has been successfully used to determine Pb in non-ferrous alloys.