Biochemical Studies on Hemoglobin Modified with Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)

Hemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen transporting metalloprotein in the red cells of blood in mammals and other animals. Hemoprotein-mediated oxidative stress is thought to play a major role in pathophysiology of cerebral hemorrhage, blast pressure injury, crush injury, myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury. Hemoglobin undergoes oxidation-reduction reactions that lead to both generation and consumption of highly reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. In the present study, hemoglobin molecule was treated with hydrogen peroxide and the modification so incurred was analyzed by UV spectra, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and detection of carbonyl content. Our observations suggest that carbonyl content increases with increase in concentration of hydrogen peroxide. Production of hydroxyl radical was assessed by using benzoate degradation analysis. Our results was in tandem with the fact that hemoglobin on treatment with hydrogen peroxide rapidly generates free-radical species that can degrade benzoate to thiobarbituric acid reactive material which on reacting with thiobarbituric acid gives color. The increase in absorbance of ROS-modified hemoglobin at 532 nm shows the increase in benzoate degradation, which is a parameter of hydroxyl radical formation with increase in concentration of hydrogen peroxide. Modified hemoglobin was treated with catalase, mannitol, thiourea, glutathion, sodium benzoate and their effect were detected by spectroscopy and SDS-PAGE (12%). Substantial scavenging effect of aforementioned antioxidants reiterates the formation of hydroxyl radical. Catalase shows the maximum scavenging effect followed by thiourea and mannitol.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of some heterocyclic 2,6‐bis(substituted)‐1,3,4‐thiadiazolo‐, oxadiazolo‐, and oxathiazolidino‐pyridine derivatives from 2,6‐pyridine dicarboxylic acid dihydrazide

In this work, we report on the synthesis and preliminary biological activity screening of several heterocyclic derivatives 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 10a , 10b , 11 , 11a , 11b , 12 , 12a , 12b , 13 , 13a , 13b , 14 , 15 based on N2′,N6′‐diphenylthiosemi‐carbazide pyridine‐2,6‐dicarbohydrazide 2 , which has been obtained from the corresponding dihydrazide 1 . The biological screening showed that many of these compounds have good antimicrobial activities. The structure of the new compounds has been established on the bases of chemical and spectroscopic evidences. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).     

Synthesis and Evaluation of a Schiff-Based Fluorescent Chemosensors for the Selective and Sensitive Detection of Cu<Superscript>2+</Superscript> in Aqueous Media with Fluorescence Off-On Responses

Copper being an essential nutrient; also pose a risk for human health in excessive amount. A simple and convenient method for the detection of trace amount of copper was employed using an optical probe R1 based on Schiff base. The probe was synthesized by Schiff base condensation of benzyl amine and 2-hydroxy-1-napthaldehyde and characterized by single X-ray diffraction, ¹H NMR and FTIR. By screening its fluorescence response in a mixture of DMSO and H₂O (20:80, v/v) R1 displayed a pronounced enhancement in fluorescence only upon treatment with copper. Other examined metal ions such as alkali, alkaline and transition had no influence. Within a wide pH range 5–12 R1 could selectively detect copper by interrupting ICT mechanism that results in CHEF. From Job’s plot analysis a 2:1 binding stoichiometry was revealed. The fluorescence response was linear in the range 1–10?×?10^?9 M with detection limit 30?×?10^?9 M. Association constant was determined as 1?×?10¹¹ M^?2 by Benesi-Hilderbrand plot. As a fast responsive probe it possesses good reproducibility and was employed for detection of copper in different water samples.     

A novel application for oil palm empty fruit bunch: extraction and modification of cellulose for solid polymer electrolyte

Biopolymer-based materials from renewable sources are the core target of the researchers in modern time. Following this motivation, we have developed solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) from empty fruit branch (EFB) of oil palm. The cellulose was extracted from EFB and modified to carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) by its reaction with monochloroacetic acid in a strongly alkaline medium. The samples were characterized by FTIR, ¹³C NMR, and XRD to confirm the presence of different functional groups, new connectivity, and crystalline/amorphous nature of the materials, respectively. The CMC-based SPEs were fabricated by blending it with different quantities of lithium iodide (LiI) as dopant. The existence of polymer-salt interactions was revealed by FTIR analysis. The maximum ionic conductivity of 5.58?×?10^?3 S cm^?1 was observed on sample containing 65 wt% LiI with the lowest activation energy of 0.249 eV.     

Low temperature X-ray diffraction study of CdI2 crystals

Solid state structural transformations in polytypic crystals of cadmium iodide have been investigated at low temperatures using X-ray diffraction techniques. The crystals were cooled to liquid nitrogen and liquid helium temperatures employing three different methods. The results obtained are discussed on the basis of bond dissociation energies of interlayer and intralayer bonds and the possible mode of layer displacements in MX₂-type polytypic crystals.     

Complexation behavior of gelatin with amphiphilic drug imipramine hydrochloride as studied by conductimetry,surface tensiometry and circular dichroism studies

Herein we report our studies carried out on the interaction between IMP and gelatin in aqueous medium at 25 °C using conductimetry, surface tensiometry and circular dichroism (CD) techniques. Both surface tensiometry and conductimetry results indicate that the drug interacts with the gelatin in a surfactant-like manner, i.e., both critical aggregation (cac) and polymer saturation points (psp) were observed. The interaction starts with the formation of a highly surface-active complex as revealed by the lowering of surface tension on the addition of drug to the macromolecule. The decrease in cac on increasing gelatin concentration is an indication of the strong interaction between gelatin and IMP. However, at low concentration of gelatin the interaction was not much strong as exposed by surface tension study, i.e., the cac was not very clear (as with higher gelatin concentrations). As usual, the psp increased on increasing the gelatin concentration and was always higher than the critical micelle concentration of the drug in pure aqueous medium. Using CD measurements the influence of IMP on the secondary structure of gelatin in aqueous solutions was also investigated. CD studies (performed at very low drug concentrations) illustrated that the random coil content of gelatin increases with increasing drug concentration. Free energies of aggregation (ΔG_agg) and micellization (ΔG_mic) were computed with the help of degrees of micelle ionization obtained from the specific conductivity – [IMP] plots.     

Self-assembling of chain molecules in low dimensions: A Monte Carlo study

We studied the self-assembling of linear chain molecules in insoluble monolayers due to attractive interactions. We used lattice Monte Carlo simulations in a two-dimensional system. The molecules consist of segments occupying adjacent lattice sites. The head segments are confined to move along a line whereas the chain segments can arrange in a plane above the heads. Only one interaction parameter is applied. At high densities and small interaction energy the system shows percolation behavior. At moderate and small densities it can be characterized by a monotonous cluster size distribution. Self-assembling occurs at small densities for strong attractive interactions. The corresponding cluster size distributions indicate preferred cluster sizes which depend upon density and interaction strength. With increasing density the clusters grow. The internal cluster structure depends on the cluster size and the interaction parameter. The clusters tend to minimize their total energy. Molecules at cluster margins contribute less to the cluster energy and are mainly disordered. They cause that the cluster properties strongly depend on the cluster size. Large clusters only have minimum energy if the molecules in the cluster are in stretched-out conformation. With decreasing interaction strength the clusters get disordered thereby producing less energy-minimized domain boundaries.     

A Comparative Study of Existing Polytype Notations with Reference to the CdI2 Polytypes

Existing polytype notations have been critically examined to select a single notation which can describe the CdI₂ structures completely and most conveniently. A comparative study shows that the Zhdanov notation fulfils both the conditions. However, the ambiguities in the similar looking symbols is removed by employing some simple criteria proposed by Jain and Trigunayat for deciding the equivalent structures. Further, being numerical in nature this is the easiest notation to handle.