Feature-Based Molecular Networks Identification of Bioactive Metabolites from Three Plants of the Polynesian Cosmetopoeia Targeting the Dermal Papilla Cells of the Hair Cycle

The term cosmetopoeia refers to the use of plants in folks’ cosmetics. The aerial parts of Bidens pilosa L., the leaves of Calophyllum inophyllum L. and the fruits of Fagraea berteroana A.Gray ex Benth are traditionally used in French Polynesia for hair and skin care. During the hair cycle, dermal papilla cells and their interaction with epithelial cells are essential to promote hair follicle elongation. The aim of our investigations was the identification of metabolites from these three plants and chemical families responsible for their hair growth activity. A bioactivity-based molecular network was produced by mapping the correlation between features obtained from LC-MS/MS data and dermal papilla cell proliferation, using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The analyses pointed out glycosylated flavonols and phenolic acids from B. pilosa and C. inophyllum, along with C-flavonoids, iridoids and secoiridoids from F. berteroana, as potential bioactive molecules involved in the proliferation of hair follicle dermal papilla cells. Our results highlight the metabolites of the plant species potentially involved in the induction of hair follicle growth and support the traditional uses of these plants in hair care.     

Spectroscopic Study of Di-Imide Hydrogenation of Natural Rubber

The diimide hydrogenation of natural rubber (NR) was studied by using p-toluenesulfonylhydrazide (TSH) as a diimide-releasing agent. The microstructure and the percentage of hydrogenation were studied by Raman, ¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopic techniques. Quantitative measurements on fraction of hydrogenated part gave the results in good agreement by using these techniques. The results indicated that percent hydrogenation increased with increasing of reaction time and about 80-85 % hydrogenation was achieved when a two-fold excess of TSH was used. The vibrational characteristic of C=C bond of NR is strongly Raman active and noted at 1663 cm⁻¹. The decrease of this signal was clearly observed during the progress of hydrogenation but the vibrational frequency of the cis and trans structures of the trisubstituted olefin unit of NR can not be differentiated by this technique. While ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR analysis showed that cis-trans isomerization of carbon-carbon unsaturation of NR occurred during hydrogenation.     

Prodock: Software package for protein modeling and docking

A new software package, Prodock , for protein modeling and flexible docking is presented. The protein system is described in internal coordinates with an arbitrary level of flexiblity for the proteins or ligands. The protein is represented by an all-atom model with the Ecepp /3 or Amber IV force field, depending on whether the ligand is a peptidic molecule or not. Prodock is based on a new residue data dictionary that makes the programming easier and the definition of molecular flexibility more straigthforward. Two versions of the dictionary have been constructed for the Ecepp /3 and Amber IV geometry, respectively. The global optimization of the energy function is carried out with the scaled collective variable Monte Carlo method plus energy minimization. The incorporation of a local minimization during the conformational sampling has been shown to be very important for distinguishing low-energy nonnative conformations from native structures. To make the Monte Carlo minimization method efficient for docking, a new grid-based energy evaluation technique using Bezier splines has been incorporated. This article includes some techniques and simulation tools that significantly improve the efficiency of flexible docking simulations, in particular forward/backward polypeptide chain generation. A comparative study to illustrate the advantage of using quaternions over Euler angles for the rigid-body rotational variables is presented in this paper. Several applications of the program Prodock are also discussed. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 20: 412–427, 1999     

Etude cristallochimique de derives du chrome(0) : I. Structure cristalline et moleculaire du benzoate de methyle chrome dicarbonyle thiocarbonyle

The crystal and molecular structure of methylbenzoatechromium dicarbonyl thiocarbonyl has been determined by a single-crystal X-ray study. The compound crystallizes with two molecules in a unit cell of symmetry P$\text{1}$, with the following parameters: triclinic system, a = 7.108(3), b = 10.340(4), c = 8.523(3) Å; α = 89.75(6), β = 95.89(4), γ = 105.50(4)°; V = 601 ų; d_m = 1.57 ± 0.05, d_c = 1.56. The structure has been refined to R and R″ values of 0.030 and 0.038 respectively, for 1963 independent reflections. The main feature of the molecule is the C_s symmetry of the Cr(CO)₂CS group with a CrC(S) bond length of 1.792(2) Å, shorter than the CrC(O) bond length, mean: 1.849(3) Å.     

Structure and stability of VO2+ in aqueous solution: a Car-Parrinello and static ab initio study

Quantum chemical calculations have been carried out to get some insight concerning the effects of temperature and solvent acidity on the structure and stability of solvated VO2+ as the elementary chemical unit involved in the nucleation of vanadophosphates. First, because some recent theoretical studies have suggested a tendency of density functional theory (DFT) to favor lower coordination numbers for such systems, static calculations have been performed on [VO2(H2O)(4-n)]+.nH2O (n=0-2) conformers at the MP2 and DFT level of theory, using two different combinations of basis sets. The results of two pure-GGA (BP86 and PBEPBE), two hybrid-GGA (PBE1PBE and mPWPW91), and two hybrid-meta-GGA (mPW1B95 and B1B95) functionals were analyzed on these systems. The comparison of the results indicates that the stability differences between the two methodologies are resolved when hydration energy is taken into account, provided that some amount of HF exchange is introduced in the DFT calculations. In a second step, Car-Parrinello simulations have been carried out starting from VO2(H2O)4+ surrounded by water molecules. The calculations at 300 K show the natural tendency of VO2(H2O)4+ to decompose to VO2(OH)2- and the requirements to work with an already acidified medium to be able to investigate the coordination sphere of VO2+ for an extended period of time. Under such conditions, we have obtained a clear preference for a five-coordinated vanadium. The molecular dynamics simulations performed at 500 K starting from hydrated VO2+ in a protonated medium found VO(OH)3 to be the most stable structure, whereas this ideal candidate for oxolation reactions is expected to be a very minor species at room temperature.     

Bis-allenylidene metal complex and unique related radical with delocalization of one electron over both trans carbon-rich chains

We report the preparation of the first real bis(allenylidene) metal complex trans-[Ph2C=C=C=Ru=C=C=CPh2(dppe)2]2+, and its one electron reduction that gives a stable radical with the unpaired electron delocalized over both trans carbon-rich chains linked by the ruthenium atom, on the basis of spectroscopic and DFT, QM(DFT)/MM computational studies.     

Growth of carbon nanotubes on metal nanoparticles: a microscopic mechanism from ab initio molecular dynamics simulations

We report on ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of the early stages of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) growth on metal nanoparticles. Our results show that a sp2 bonded cap is formed on an iron catalyst, following the diffusion of C atoms from hydrocarbon precursors on the nanoparticle surface. The weak adhesion between the cap and iron enables the graphene sheet to "float" on the curved surface, as additional C atoms covalently bonded to the catalyst "hold" the tube walls. Hence the SWCNT grows capped. At the nanoscale, we did not observe any tendency of C atoms to penetrate inside the catalyst, consistent with total energy calculations showing that alloying of Fe and C is very unlikely for 1 nm particles. Root growth was observed on Fe but not on Au, consistent with experiment.     

Carbonic anhydrase inhibitor coated gold nanoparticles selectively inhibit the tumor-associated isoform IX over the cytosolic isozymes I and II

An approach for the synthesis of carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) inhibitor coated gold nanoparticles is reported. This nanomaterial selectively inhibited the tumor-associated isoform CA IX overexpressed in hypoxic cancers over the ubiquitous, cytosolic housekeeping isozymes CA I and II and was membrane impermeant. As CA IX has an extracellular active site, the new nanomaterial which is confined to the extracellular space may be useful for imaging and treatment of hypoxic tumors.