Successful preferential formation of a novel macromolecular assembly--trilayered polymeric micelle--that can incorporate hydrophilic compounds: the optimization of factors affecting the micelle formation from amphiphilic block copolymers

We have developed a novel macromolecular assembly, trilayered polymeric micelle, which can incorporate hydrophilic compounds. The micelle can be prepared from the amphiphilic block copolymers without regard to their properties such as the copolymer's charges and the homogeneity of the copolymers forming the micelle's inner and outer parts. In this study, we investigated the optimal condition for the preferential formation of the trilayered polymeric micelle. GPC results clarified that the composition of the block copolymer, the concentration of PVA in the aqueous bulk phase, and the temperature during the preparation were the important preparation factors affecting preferential formation of the trilayered polymeric micelles. We successfully achieved the preferential formation of the trilayered polymeric micelles under optimal conditions. Furthermore, we confirmed that the model hydrophilic compound, FITC-dextran, was successfully encapsulated into the hydrophilic core of the trilayered polymeric micelles. The novel micelle that can incorporate hydrophilic compounds can have a variety of future medical applications such as a protein delivery-based therapy.     

Conformations of spermine in adenosine triphosphate complex: the structural basis for weak bimolecular interactions of major cellular electrolytes

Selectively (2)H- and (13)C-labeled spermines (SPM) were efficiently synthesized and analyzed by NMR spectroscopy to determine the spin-spin coupling constants for six conformationally relevant bonds. SPM that is composed of three alkyl moieties, a butanylene, and two propanylene chains undergoes a conformational change when interacting with multivalent anions (e.g., adenosine triphosphate (ATP), ATP-Mg(2+) , and tripolyphosphate). Upon interaction with ATP, the C-C bonds, which affect the distance between the neighboring pairs of ammonium groups (i.e., N1/N5 and N5/N5'), increase the population of gauche rotamers by 17-20% relative to those in the 4 HCl salt of SPM. However, the trend in increments of the gauche conformers for the SPM-ATP complex profoundly differs from that of the spermidine (SPD)-ATP complex. This implies that SPM may preferentially recognize the adenyl group of ATP rather than the tripolyphosphate moiety. This may account for the higher affinity of SPM to ATP-Mg(2+) than with that of SPD, which chiefly interacts with β- and γ-phosphates and is easily replaced by Mg(2+) . These results may provide a clue for the further understanding of the structural basis of polyamine biological functions.     

Noise-intensity fluctuation in Langevin model and its higher-order Fokker-Planck equation

In this paper, we investigate a Langevin model subjected to stochastic intensity noise (SIN), which incorporates temporal fluctuations in noise-intensity. We derive a higher-order Fokker-Planck equation (HFPE) of the system, taking into account the effect of SIN by the adiabatic elimination technique. Stationary distributions of the HFPE are calculated by using the perturbation expansion. We investigate the effect of SIN in three cases: (a) parabolic and quartic bistable potentials with additive noise, (b) a quartic potential with multiplicative noise, and (c) a stochastic gene expression model. We find that the existence of noise-intensity fluctuations induces an intriguing phenomenon of a bimodal-to-trimodal transition in probability distributions. These results are validated with Monte Carlo simulations.     

Synthesis and Polymerization of Optically Active Mono-I-Menthyl Itaconate

Optically active mono-l-menthyl itaconate (MMI) was prepared from ita-conic acid and l-menthol. MMI was polymerized in bulk at 80°C to give a chiral homopolymer having -49.5° specific rotation. MMI (M₁ was copolymerized with styrene (ST, M₂), methyl methacrylate (MMA, M₂), and N-cyclohexylmaleimide (CHMI, M₂) by using 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as the radical initiator and benzene as the polymerization solvent at 50°C. The monomer reactivity ratios (r₁, r₂) and Alfrey-Price Q, e values were determined to be r₁ = 0.28, r₂ = 0.32, Q₁ = 0.90, and e₁ = 0.75 in MMI-ST; r₁ = 0.09 and r₂ = 0.51 in MMI-MMA; and r₁ = 0.78 and r₂ = 0.39 in MMI-CHMI. The chiroptical properties of the polymers were investigated.     

Stereoselective Aldol Reaction of α-Phenylseleno Esters

Abstract

The TiCl₄-catalyzed reaction of a-phenylseleno esters with aldehydes in the presence of Ph₃P or Ph₃P=O gives aldol products with high syn selectivity.     

Spectral diffusion in nitride quantum dots: Emission energy dependent linewidths broadening via giant built‐in dipole moments

We present a study about the origin of the huge emission linewidths broadening commonly observed for wurtzite GaN/AlN quantum dots. Our analysis is based on a statistically significant number of quantum dot spectra measured by an automatized µ‐photoluminescence mapping system applying image recognition techniques. A clear decrease of the single quantum dot emission linewidths is observed with rising overall exciton emission energy. 8‐band k · p based model calculations predict a corresponding decrease of the built‐in exciton dipole moments with increasing emission energy in agreement with the measured behavior for the emission linewidths. Based on this proportionality we explain the particular susceptibility of nitride quantum dots to spectral diffusion causing the linewidth broadening via the linear quantum‐confined Stark effect. This is the first statistical analysis of emission linewidths that identifies the giant excitonic dipole moments as their origin and estimates the native defect‐induced electric field strength to ～2 MV/m. Our observation is in contrast to less‐polar quantum dot systems as e.g. arsenides that exhibit a naturally lower vulnerability to emission linewidth broadening due to almost negligible exciton dipole moments. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Orientation of fluorinated cholesterol in lipid bilayers analyzed by 19F tensor calculation and solid-state NMR

6-F-cholesterol was reported to exhibit biological and interfacial properties similar to unmodified cholesterol. We have also found that 6-F-cholesterol mimicked the cholesterol activity observed in the systems of amphotericin B and lipid rafts. However, to use 6-F-cholesterol as a molecular probe to explore molecular recognition in membranes, it is indispensable to have detailed knowledge of the dynamic and orientation properties of the molecule in membrane environments. In this paper, we present the molecular orientation of 6-F-cholesterol (30 mol %) in dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) bilayers revealed by combined use of 19F chemical shift anisotropy (CSA), 2H NMR, and C-F rotational echo double resonance (REDOR) experiments. The axis of rotation of 6-F-cholesterol was shown to be in a similar direction to that of cholesterol in DMPC bilayers, which is almost parallel to the long axis of the molecular frame. The molecular order parameter of 6-F-cholesterol was determined to be ca. 0.85, which is within the range of reported values of cholesterol. These findings suggest that the dynamic properties of 6-F-cholesterol in DMPC are quite similar to those of unmodified cholesterol; therefore, the introduction of a fluorine atom at C6 has virtually no effect on cholesterol dynamics in membranes. In addition, this study demonstrates the practical utility of theoretical calculations for determining the 19F CSA principal axes, which would be extremely difficult to obtain experimentally. The combined use of quantum calculations and solid-state 19F NMR will make it possible to apply the orientation information of 19F CSA tensors to membrane systems.     

A new route to alkenylcyclobutenes

Reaction of titanium cyclobutylidene complexes, prepared by the desulfurizative titanation of 1,1-bis(phenylthio)cyclobutanes with Cp₂Ti[P(OEt)₃]₂, with alkynes gave 1-(alk-1-enyl)cyclobutenes.     

A simple hemostasis model for the quantitative evaluation of hydrogel-based local hemostatic biomaterials on tissue surface

Several hemostat hydrogels are clinically used, and some other agents are studied for safer, more facile, and more efficient hemostasis. In the present paper, we proposed a novel method to evaluate local hemostat hydrogel on tissue surface. The procedure consisted of the following steps: (step 1) a mouse was fixed on a cork board, and its abdomen was incised; (step 2) serous fluid was carefully removed because it affected the estimation of the weight gained by the filter paper, and parafilm and preweighted filter paper were placed beneath the liver (parafilm prevented the filter paper's absorption of gradually oozing serous fluid); (step 3) the cork board was tilted and maintained at an angle of about 45 degrees so that the bleeding would more easily flow from the liver toward the filter paper; and (step 4) the bleeding lasted for 3 min. In this step, a hemostat was applied to the liver wound immediately after the liver was pricked with a needle. We found that (1) a careful removal of serous fluid prior to a bleeding and (2) a quantitative determination of the amount of excess aqueous solution that oozed out from a hemostat were important to a rigorous evaluation of hemostat efficacy. We successfully evaluated the efficacy of a fibrin-based hemostat hydrogel by using our method. The method proposed in the present study enabled the quantitative, accurate, and easy evaluation of the efficacy of local hemostatic hydrogel which acts as tissue-adhesive agent on biointerfaces.