Vibrational Spectroscopy of Surface Adsorbates by Sum Frequency Generation (SFG)

The vibrational spectroscopy by way of vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) has been made of formic acid adsorbed on MgO(001) surface and of n-alkyltrichlorosilanes chemisorbed on quartz plates. It was revealed that the species on the MgO surface was formate ion (HCOO⁺) with CH bonds standing vertical to the surface and that the different adsorption sites showed up on repeated cycles of adsorption-desorption processes. The results of chemisorbed films indicated that the g-t and/or g-t-g′ conformational scquences of n-alkyl chains occurred more frequently by the length of alkyl chain and that the surface hydroxyls, which are the sites of chemisorption, are ripped off by pre-exposure of substrate to oxygen plasma.     

Image enhancement with lightness correction and image sharpening based on characteristics of vision for elderly persons

Optical Review - In general, as people age the functions of their sensory organs deteriorate. For example, in the eye of an elderly person, the visual field becomes dark owing to a decrease in the...     

Microwave spectrum,conformation, and dipole moment of divinyl ether

The microwave spectrum of divinyl ether has been observed and a, b, and c type rotational transitions of one conformer assigned. This conformer has rotational constants closely related to the cis-trans planar form. The inertial defect and dipole moment reveal that it is not planar. This nonplanarity almost certainly results because of strong repulsion between the β hydrogen of the cis vinyl group and the α hydrogen of the trans vinyl group. The c type transitions are split 53 MHz by inversion tunneling. The dipole moment has been obtained from Stark effect measurements and is 0.782 debye.     

Five new subspicatins and noreremophilane from Paraseneciopetasitoides collected in China

Five new 1β-angeloyloxyeremophilanolides (subspicatins H-L) and 1β-angeloyloxytetranoreremophilanone (norsubspicatin A), were isolated from the EtOAc extracts of Parasenecio petasitoides and their structures established on the basis of spectroscopic analyses. They are biogenetically mutually related to each other and represent a new category in the Parasenecio group. These findings suggest that there is diversity in this species, too.     

Twelve new compounds from Ligularia melanothyrsa; isolation of melanothyrsins A–E,normelanothyrsin A,and other eremophilane sesquiterpenoids

Twelve new compounds, namely, five melanothyrsins A–E (1α-angeloyloxyeremophilenolides), normelanothyrsin A (1α-angeloyloxynoreremophilenone), and six other eremophilane-type compounds, have been isolated from Ligularia melanothyrsa Hand.-Mazz. (Asteraceae), collected in the Sichuan Province of China. Six of the compounds have a 1α-angeloyloxy moiety, while the other six have no functional group at the C-1 position. The absolute configuration was also determined using CD spectra. This is the first chemical study of compounds isolated from this species.     

Antioxidant effects of photodegradation product of nifedipine

Recently, increasing evidence suggests that the antihypertensive drug nifedipine acts as a protective agent for endothelial cells, and that the activity is unrelated to its calcium channel blocking. Nifedipine is unstable under light and reportedly decomposes to a stable nitrosonifedipine (NO-NIF). NO-NIF has no antihypertensive effect, and it has been recognized as a contaminant of nifedipine. The present study for the first time demonstrated that NO-NIF changed to a NO-NIF radical in a time-dependent manner when it interacted with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal of NO-NIF radicals in HUVECs showed an asymmetric pattern suggesting that the radicals were located in the membrane. The NO-NIF radicals had radical scavenging activity for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, whereas neither NO-NIF nor nifedipine did. In addition, the NO-NIF radical more effectively quenched lipid peroxides than NO-NIF or nifedipine. Furthermore, NO-NIF attenuated the superoxide-derived free radicals in HUVECs stimulated with LY83583, and suppressed iron-nitrilotriacetic acid (Fe-NTA)-induced cytotoxicity in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. Our findings suggest that NO-NIF is a candidate for a new class of antioxidative drugs that protect cells against oxidative stress.     

Tetraspanin CD9 modulates ADAM17-mediated shedding of LR11 in leukocytes

LR11, also known as SorLA or SORL1, is a type-I membrane protein from which a large extracellular part, soluble LR11 (sLR11), is released by proteolytic shedding on cleavage with a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17). A shedding mechanism is presumed to have a key role in the functions of LR11, but the evidence for this has not yet been demonstrated. Tetraspanin CD9 has been recently shown to regulate the ADAM17-mediated shedding of tumor necrosis factor-α and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 on the cell surface. Here, we investigated the role of CD9 on the shedding of LR11 in leukocytes. LR11 was not expressed in THP-1 monocytes, but it was expressed and released in phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced THP-1 macrophages (PMA/THP-1). Confocal microscopy showed colocalization of LR11 and CD9 proteins on the cell surface of PMA/THP-1. Ectopic neo-expression of CD9 in CCRF-SB cells, which are LR11-positive and CD9-negative, reduced the amount of sLR11 released from the cells. In contrast, incubation of LR11-transfected THP-1 cells with neutralizing anti-CD9 monoclonal antibodies increased the amount of sLR11 released from the cells. Likewise, the PMA-stimulated release of sLR11 increased in THP-1 cells transfected with CD9-targeted shRNAs, which was negated by treatment with the metalloproteinase inhibitor GM6001. These results suggest that the tetraspanin CD9 modulates the ADAM17-mediated shedding of LR11 in various leukemia cell lines and that the association between LR11 and CD9 on the cell surface has an important role in the ADAM17-mediated shedding mechanism.     

Properties of TiO2-polyacrylic acid dispersions with potential for molecular recognition

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂)/polyacrylic acid (PAA) (TiO₂/PAA) particles were formed by mixing PAA and an acidic solution of TiO₂ nanoparticles in dimethylformamide (DMF) followed by heat treatment. TEM and particle analysis showed that the resulting particles had a narrow size distribution. The colloid was very stable and aggregation was not observed over a wide pH range (3–9) or at high salt concentration. The residual carboxylic acid of PAA could be modified via EDC/NHS activation to form an amide bond with a protein. An antibody was attached to the hybrid nanoparticle and specific binding to antigen was monitored by surface plasmon resonance. The results suggest that TiO₂/PAA nanoparticles are candidates as the base component of a photocatalytic system with potential for substrate selectivity.