Chemical synthesis and application of C-terminally 5-carboxyfluorescein-labelled thymopentin as a fluorescent probe for thymopoietin receptor.

Thymopentin (TP5) is a synthetic pentapeptide fragment, which corresponds to position 32 - 36 of thymic polypeptide thymopoietin. Thymopoietin and TP5 display a variety of biological functions, including phenotypic differentiation of T cells and the regulation of immune systems. Previous chemical modification experiments suggested that there was an absolute requirement for N-terminal amino acids to maintain the biological activity of TP5. On the basis of this structure-activity relationship, we designed and synthesized the C-terminally 5-carboxyfluorescein-coupled TP5 (TP5-FAM) as a fluorescent probe for thymopoietin receptor. TP5-FAM could bind to the membrane of human lymphoid cell lines, MOLT-4 cells, in which the thymopoietin receptor is expressed. The binding is specific and saturable (K(d) = 33 microM). TP5 and human splenopentin are nearly equipotent inhibitors of TP5-FAM binding to the thymopoietin receptor, but porcine secretin did not show any significant inhibition of TP5-FAM binding to MOLT-4 cells. Thus, TP5-FAM is suggested to be a potent and biologically active ligand that would be useful for studying the binding and functional characteristics of the human thymopoietin receptor.     

Hydroquinone oxidation catalyzed by pyridine–Cu(II) complexes attached to polyorganosiloxane. II. Elucidation of factors related to catalytic activity

The oxidation of hydroquinone catalyzed by pyridine-Cu(II) complexes attached to polyorganosiloxane was investigated in the mixed solvent of methanol/water (vol. ratio 2/1). The catalytic oxidation followed Michaelis-Menten-like kinetics. The large k₂ term related to a turnover number indicated that the present polymeric catalysts have a remarkable effect on the activation process. The methylene number between the side-chain acid amido and pyridyl groups of the polymeric ligand was shown to be closely related to the appearance of hydrophobic effects in both the substrate-binding and the activation processes as deduced from the Michaelis constant and the thermodynamic and activation parameters. The binding parameters for 4-methoxyphenol with pyridyl-functionalized polyorganosiloxanes supported that the flexible backbone is also effective in the oxidation of hydroquinone. The Cu(II) complexes with pyridyl-functionalized polyorganosiloxane would have the structures distorted from square planar formation, which would promote the reduction of Cu(II) to Cu(I), as concluded from ESR spectroscopy and electrochemical measurement. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Free energies of the spherical model of a spin glass

Free energies g(m, m_s) and f(m, q) of the spherical spin glass (SG) model due to Kosterlitz et al. are calculated explicitly as functions of the uniform magnetization m, and SG order parameter m_s and the Edwards-Anderson order parameter q. It is shown that g(0, m_s) and f(0, q) below the transition temperature T_g are constant in the ranges 0 ≦ m_s ≦ m_s⁰ and 0 ≦ q ≦ q₀ respectively, where $\text{q}{}_0\text{= (1 -?}\text{T}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{g}}\text{) = m}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{s}}{}^0$. The proper equilibrium values of m_s( = m_s⁰) and q( d=q₀) are then fixed from the inspection of their behaviors under infinitesimal uniform field proproportional to N^-a($\text{a ≧ 0}$).     

Synthesis of poison-frog alkaloids 237D, 207A, and two congeners of 235B' for evaluation to inhibitory effect of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

Enantioselective synthesis of the poison-frog alkaloids 237D, 207A, and two congeners of 235B' has been achieved. The absolute stereochemistry of 237D was determined to be 5S, 8S, 9R by the present synthesis.     

Constituents of Holothuroidea, 15. Isolation of ante-iso type regio-isomer on long chain base moiety of glucocerebroside from the sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota

An ante-iso type regio-isomer on the long chain base moiety of a glucocerebroside, HLC-2-A, has been isolated from its parent glucocerebroside molecular species HLC-2 composed of iso and ante-iso isomers, from the less polar lipid fraction of a chloroform/methanol extract of the sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota. Reverse-phase HPLC that included a recycling system was effective in separating the regio-isomer from its counterpart, revealing a very close resemblance in structure. Other typical glucocerebroside molecular species HLC-1 and HLC-3 were obtained together with HLC-2. The structures of these glucocerebrosides were determined on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidence.     

Distributing the Encryption and Decryption of a Block Cipher

In threshold cryptography, the goal is to distribute the computation of basic cryptographic primitives across a number of nodes in order to relax trust assumptions on individual nodes, as well as to introduce a level of fault-tolerance against node compromise. Most threshold cryptography has previously looked at the distribution of public key primitives, particularly threshold signatures and threshold decryption mechanisms. In this paper, we look at the application of threshold cryptography to symmetric primitives, and in particular the encryption or decryption of a symmetric key block cipher. We comment on some previous work in this area and then propose a model for shared encryption / decryption of a block cipher. We will present several approaches to enable such systems and will compare them.AMS classification: 94A60, 94A62, 68P25     

Nickel Boride Catalysts in Organic Synthesis (IV). The Effect of Water Washing on P-2 Nickel Boride Catalyst

Water washing of P-2 nickel boride brings about a new catalyst designated as P-2W nickel boride. This P-2W catalyst is more reactive than P-1 or P-2 in the hydrogenation of cyclohexanone and nitrobenzene. The P-2W, however, is less selective than P-2 in the hydrogenation of cyclic olefins.