Microcalorimetric studies on the non-competitive inhibition of bovine liver arginase

Two methods, e.g. initial rate method and thermokinetic reduced extent method were presented for studies on non-competitive inhibition. Arginase-catalyzed the hydrolysis of L-arginine toL-ornithine and urea and the inhibition of this reaction by sodium fluoride were studied in the absence and presence of exogenous of Mn²⁺at 37°C in 40 mM sodium barbiturate-hydrochloric acid buffer solution (pH 7.4). Both methods were successively used to determine the values of K₁. The advances and disadvantages of each method were compared in this paper. Exogenous Mn²⁺ could result in more sensitivity of arginase to F^-1. Since the inhibition of arginase by F^-1 depends on the pH values of the reaction system and behave as a non-competitive inhibition, it probably due to its small volume and high electronic density allow it access to the activity site of the enzyme and replaces of μ-OH₂ (or μ-OH) as the bridge ligand with Mn(II, II) cluster. However, further studies are necessary to determine the modes of interaction of F^-1 with bovine liver arginase. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Fractal phenomena in molecular mechanics calculation

It is proposed that in molecular mechanics calculation points belonging to various stable or meta-sta-ble conformtrs are mixed up and form fractal structures in conformation space.The calculation results show the following two phenomena:(i)Two levels of structure with fractal feature were observed.Around the conformer without mirror symmetry points belonging to the conformer and its enantiomer are mixed up and form the first level of fractal structure; on the boundary of the attractive basin o{ each atlractor,points belonging to different attractors form the second level of fractal structure.(ii) The variation of molecular mechanics parameters will influence the structure and area of each attractive basin significantly The above phenomena may become the basis of a new method for solving the troublesome multi-minimum-point problem in molecular mechanics calculation.     

Oxygen binding of water-soluble cobalt porphyrins in aqueous solution

Water-soluble cobalt porphyrin 1Co and imidazole ligand 2 were synthesized. 1Co binds dioxygen in the presence of imidazole ligand 2 in aqueous solution. The formation of the oxygen adduct 2-1Co(O(2)) was studied using UV-vis and EPR spectroscopy. The impact of pH on the kinetic stability of the oxygen adduct was examined.     

Effect of carbon content on photocatalytic activity of C/TiO2 composite

A series of carbon-covered titania (CCT) were prepared via pyrolysis of sucrose highly dispersed on titania surface in flowing N₂. The samples were characterized by XRD, BET, DTA-TG, UV—Vis, and their photocatalytic properties were evaluated with two model pollutants, methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RB), at room temperature. The effect of carbon content on photocatalytic activity of the C/TiO₂ composite was investigated. It was found that the effect of carbon content is different for different pollutants or different light sources. For three tested samples, under UV illumination CCT01 has the highest activity for MB photocatalytic degradation, while in the case of RB, CCT02 is the most active photocatalyst. Under visible light illumination, CCT005 has the highest activity for both MB and RB photocatalytic degradation. Translated from Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2006, 27(1): (in Chinese)     

Low-temperature growth and photoluminescence property of ZnS nanoribbons

At a low temperature of 450 degrees C, ZnS nanoribbons have been synthesized on Si and KCl substrates by a simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method with a two-temperature-zone furnace. Zinc and sulfur powders are used as sources in the different temperature zones. X-ray diffraction (XRD), selected area electron diffraction (SEAD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis show that the ZnS nanoribbons are the wurtzite structure, and there are two types-single-crystal and bicrystal nanoribbons. Photoluminescence (PL) spectrum shows that the spectrum mainly includes two parts: a purple emission band centering at about 390 nm and a blue emission band centering at about 445 nm with a weak green shoulder around 510 nm.     

LC–MS Determination and Pharmacokinetic Study of a Novel Sulfonylurea: Potential Hypoglycemic Agent in Rat Plasma

To support preclinical pharmacokinetic investigation of 1-[4-[2-(4-bromobenzene-sulfonaminoethyl)phenylsufonyl]-3-(trans-4-methylcyclohexyl)urea (G004), a rapid, sensitive and specific high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC–ESI-MS) method was developed and validated. Glibenclamide was employed as internal standard. After liquid–liquid extraction the analyte was analyzed on a Kromasil C₁₈ column (150 × 2.0 mm i.d.) with a mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile–water (0.05% acetic acid), 30:70 (v/v). The flow rate was 0.2 mL min⁻¹. Detection was performed on a quadrupole mass spectrometer using an electrospray ionization interface and the selected-ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The retention time was about 3.5 and 4.2 min for Glibenclamide and G004, respectively. The assay was linear over the concentration range of 2.0–500.0 ng mL⁻¹. Extraction Recovery of G004 in rat plasma was more than 87%. The intra- and inter-assay precision was lower than 11.5% (CV). This validated method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetics of G004 in rats.