Synthesis of 5,6,8,9,14,14a-hexahydroisoquino[1,2-b][3]benzazepines

Syntheses of 5,6,8,9,14,14a-hexahydroisoquino[1,2-b][3]benzazepine-2,3,11,12-tetrol and related compounds are described. Key steps involve an initial construction of the isoquinoline ring under the Bischler-Napieralski conditions, which is followed by the building of the azepine ring via an intramolecular lactam formation on to the isoquinoline nucleus.     

Dissolution nature of the lithium hydroxide by water molecules

The structures, stabilities, thermodynamic quantities, dissociation energies, infrared spectra, and electronic properties of LiOH hydrated by up to seven water molecules are investigated by using the density-functional theory and the M?ller-Plesset second-order perturbation theory (MP2). Further accurate analysis based on the coupled-cluster theory with singles, doubles, and perturbative triples excitations agrees with the MP2 results. The Li-OH stretch mode significantly shifts with the increase of water molecules, and it eventually disappears upon dissociation. It is revealed that seven water molecules are needed for the stable dissociation of LiOH (as a completely dissociated conformation), in contrast to the cases of RbOH and CsOH which require four and three water molecules, respectively.     

Hetero-calix[4]pyrroles: incorporation of furans, thiophenes, thiazoles or fluorenes as a part of the macrocycle

Furans, thiazoles, fluorene or thiophene incorporated calix[4]pyrrole analogues were synthesized and characterized. The synthesis was achieved by utilization of various building blocks such as 7, 13, 14, 18 and 21. Acid catalyzed condensation of those building blocks with acetone or meso-disubstituted dipyrromethanes afforded desired macrocycles.     

Molecular variations in Th1-specific cell surface gene Tim-3

The family of T-cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain (TIM) proteins is identified to be expressed on T cells. A member of Tim family, Tim-3 (T cell immunoglobulin mucin 3) is selectively expressed on the surface of differentiated Th1 cells. Tim-3 might have an important role in the induction of autoimmune diseases by regulating macrophage activation and interacts with Tim-3 ligand to regulate Th1 responses. To determine the variation sites in the coding and promoter region of human Tim-3 gene, we performed variation scanning by direct sequencing using the genomic DNA isolated from the patients with asthma or allergic rhinitis and healthy controls without asthma and allergic rhinitis. We identified four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) including one novel SNPs (-1541C>T) and two variation sites (-1292_-1289delTAAA and -1282_-1278dupTAAAA) in the coding and promoter region of human Tim-3 gene in both the patients and healthy groups.     

Use of long-chain alkylamines for preconcentration and determination of traces of molybdenum, tungsten and rhenium by atomic-absorption spectroscopy-II: molybdenum in soils, sediments and natural waters

Molybdenum is extracted as the thiocyanate complex with the quaternary long-chain aliphatic amine Aliquat 336 in chloroform, followed by evaporation of the solvent, dissolution in MIBK, and atomic-absorption spectroscopy. The method is simple, rapid and sensitive, with few interference problems for the determination of the Mo content of soils and sediments in the range 0.1-1.0 ppm with a relative standard deviation better than 5% when 1-g samples are used. Quantitative extraction from large volumes of aqueous solution has also been confirmed, allowing the determination of Mo in natural waters in the ppM range.     

Clustering of nucleosides in the presence of alkali metals: Biologically relevant quartets of guanosine,deoxyguanosine and uridine observed by ESI-MS/MS

Electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectra of nucleosides, recorded in the presence of alkali metals, display alkali metal ion-bound quartets and other clusters that may have implications for understanding non-covalent interactions in DNA and RNA. The tetramers of guanosine and deoxyguanosine and also their metaclusters (clusters of clusters), cationized by alkali metals, were observed as unusually abundant magic number clusters. The observation of these species in the gas phase parallels previous condensed-phase studies, which show that guanine derivatives can form quartets and metaclusters of quartets in solution in the presence of metal cations. This parallel behavior and also internal evidence suggest that bonding in the guanosine tetramers involves the bases rather than the sugar units. The nucleobases thymine and uracil are known to form magic number pentameric adducts with K+, Cs+ and NH4+ in the gas phase. In sharp contrast, we now show that the nucleosides uridine and deoxythymidine do not form the pentameric clusters characteristic of the corresponding bases. More subtle effects of the sugars are evident in the fact that adenosine and cytidine form numerous higher order clusters with alkali metals, whereas deoxyadenosine and deoxycytidine show no clustering. It is suggested that hydrogen bonding between the bases in the tetramers of dG and rG are the dominant interactions in the clusters, hence changing the ribose group to deoxyribose (and vice versa) generally has little effect. However, the additional hydroxyl group of RNA nucleosides enhances the non-selective formation of higher-order aggregates for adenosine and cytidine and results in the lack of highly stable magic number clusters. Some clusters are the result of aggregation in the course of ionization (ESI) whereas others appear to be intrinsic to the solution being examined.     

An improved method for constructing a full-length enriched cDNA library using small amounts of total RNA as a starting material

We have developed an improved method for constructing a full-length cDNA library using small quantity of material by modifying the original oligo-capping method. In our devised method, total RNAs are used in sequential oligo-capping steps directly without preliminary mRNA purification. Using this method, we constructed full- length cDNA libraries from 100 mg of total RNA. These libraries contained 8x10(5) to 8x10(6) independent clones with average insert sizes of 2.0 kb. Moreover, the number of full-length cDNAs containing the translation initiation codon ATG in the constructed libraries was estimated to 60-70%. In addition, 54% of the known cDNAs had a longer 5' end than the corresponding genes in the public database. Our results show that the method can be effectively used to construct full-length enriched cDNA libraries, especially, if starting material is limited.     

Evaluation of enzymatic digestion and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry peptide mapping of the integral membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin

A method for the complete peptide mapping of the model integral membrane protein bacteri-orhodopsin is demonstrated. Utilizing more effective enzymatic digestion, procedures with capillary liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), all predicted tryptic digestion products were detected, as well as peptides from all previously reported post-translational modifications of bacteriorhodopsin. A significant contribution of chymotryptic-like digestion products was also observed. A characterization of the behavior of hydrophobic integral membrane peptides in a reversed-phase liquid chromatographic separation is also provided. The method reported here offers improved compatibility of the solubilizing reagents with both the chromatography and mass spectrometry, rendering it suitable for high-throughput proteomic applications.     

Separation of 99Mo from a simulated fission product solution by precipitation with a-benzoinoxime

The formation property of Mo precipitate was investigated and improved the existing process was using H₂O₂ that acts as an interfering compound in a subsequent alumina adsorption process. The property of the Mo precipitate was investigated by using SEM, FTIR, TG-DTA, and XRD. The simulated solution consisted of 1M nitric acid containing seven elements (Mo, I, Ru, Zr, Ce, Nd, Sr) and their radioactive tracers. As a result, the precipitate was composed of the Mo precipitate and re-precipitated a-benzoinoxime which was added excessively for increasing the precipitation efficiency. It was confirmed that the Mo precipitate was formed by the reaction of two a-benzoinoxime molecules and one MoO₂ ²⁺. Molybdenum precipitate was dissolved in 0.4M NaOH solution within 5 minutes without H₂O₂. Hydrogen peroxide induced only the rapid dissolution of the a-benzoinoxime re-precipitate. Also, the dissolution method without H₂O₂ was favorable in the purification aspect because Zr and Ru were contained as a small fraction of 1.3% and 7.7%, respectively, in the dissolving solution.     

Hydrophilic polymer membranes containing carboxylic groups—I. Acrylic acid—methyl methacrylate—glycidyl methacrylate copolymers

Copolymers of acrylic acid, methyl methacrylate and glycidyl methacrylate have been synthesized and converted into cross-linked hydrophilic membranes by successive treatments with heat, alkali solution and acidic solution. The copolymerization was carried out in solution using tetrahydrofuran and p-dioxane as solvents. The polymer was obtained as a clear viscous solution at yields of approximately 95%. The polymerization was stopped before gelation took place. This gelation resulted from the reaction of epoxy and carboxylic groups of the polymeric chain. The polymerization time ranged from 3.5 to 7 hr depending on the content of the glycidyl methacrylate in the feed. The monomer mixture consisted of 25–45 mol% of acrylic acid, 40–70 mol% of methyl methacrylate and 2.5–15 mol% of glycīdyl methacrylate. With increasing content of acrylic acid, the membranes became soft and elastic; with decreasing content, they became brittle and hydrophobic. The swelling of the cured polymeric film increased with increase in the acrylic acid content of the monomer mixture and decreased with increasing glycidyl methacrylate content. Dialysis runs were conducted with sodium chloride, urea and a series of ethylene glycols with molecular weights up to 600. The permeability coefficients through the membranes for the ethylene glycols were similar to those through a commercial cellulose membrane (Cuprophane). The permeability proportional to $\text{(permeant molecular wt)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$. The membranes showed very low permeabilities to sodium chloride compared with those of commercial nonionic membranes. This appears to be due to the ionic exclusion mechanisms expected for ion exchange membranes.