Free energy perturbation approach to the critical assessment of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors

The discovery of selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors represents a major achievement of the efforts over the past few decades to develop therapeutic treatments for inflammation. To gain insights into designing new COX-2-selective inhibitors, we address the energetic and structural basis for the selective inhibition of COX isozymes by means of a combined computational protocol involving docking experiment, force field design for the heme prothetic group, and free energy perturbation (FEP) simulation. We consider both COX-2- and COX-1-selective inhibitors taking the V523I mutant of COX-2 to be a relevant structural model for COX-1 as confirmed by a variety of experimental and theoretical evidences. For all COX-2-selective inhibitors under consideration, we find that free energies of binding become less favorable as the receptor changes from COX-2 to COX-1, due to the weakening and/or loss of hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interactions that stabilize the inhibitors in the COX-2 active site. On the other hand, COX-1-selective oxicam inhibitors gain extra stabilization energy with the change of residue 523 from valine to isoleucine because of the formations of new hydrogen bonds in the enzyme-inhibitor complexes. The utility of the combined computational approach, as a valuable tool for in silico screening of COX-2-selective inhibitors, is further exemplified by identifying the physicochemical origins of the enantiospecific selective inhibition of COX-2 by -substituted indomethacin ethanolamide inhibitors.     

Effects of Calcination on the Physical and Photocatalytic Properties of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Powders Prepared by Sol–Gel Template Method

TiO₂ powders were prepared by sol–gel template method and calcined under different conditions. XRD, BET and TEM were used to characterize the TiO₂ powders obtained. The photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ was investigated by the degradation of methyl orange. It was found that TiO₂ powder has the highest photocatalytic activity at a calcination temperature of 673 K. The effects of physical properties such as surface area, crystallinity and crystal phase on the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ were discussed.     

Isothermal titration calorimetric studies of surfactant interactions with negatively charged, ‘hairy’ latex nanoparticles

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) measurements of the mixture of the cationic surfactant cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) with negatively charged, hairy copolymer latices (poly-(2,3-epoxypropylmethacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) in different ratio) at high water excess indicate a monomer adsorption mechanism of CTAB by the polymer particles. The number of adsorbed CTAB molecules at saturation corresponds approximately to the number of negative elementary charges bound at the surface of the latices. The mixing enthalpy is the sum of demicellization and sorption enthalpies. At 25 °C for CTAB the demicellization enthalpy amounts to 10 kJ/mol, whereas the adsorption enthalpy varies from –7 kJ/mol (surface charge density of the latices =–0.37 C/m²) to +3 kJ/mol (=–0.085 C/m²). The hydrodynamic radius R_H of the latex particles upon titration of cationic detergent and salt (NaBr) decreases by about 2 nm until the onset of aggregation near the isoelectric point. Titration of nonionic or anionic detergents has much less influence on the hydrodynamic radius and produces no measurable adsorption heat. The results are consistent within a model of latex particles with extended negatively charged polymer chains interacting predominantly via Coulombic forces with detergents.     

Expression ofAscaris suum malic enzyme in a mutantEscherichia coli allows production of succinic acid from glucose

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - The malic enzyme gene ofAscaris suum was cloned into the vector pTRC99a in two forms encoding alternative arnino-termini. The resulting plasmids, pMEAl and...     

The Influence of Cobalt (II) in Carboxymethyl Cellulose Processing

Controlling the reduction in molecular weight of the cellulose chains is essential in the production of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). Such a reduction can be achieved by the addition of cobalt during the process of cobalt(II) ions, which act as a catalyst for oxidative cleavage, and the influence thereof has been studied under a variety of conditions. This study has resulted in a model that summarises the effects of the added amount of cobalt, the time for the cobalt reaction, the temperature in the mercerisation stage of the CMC-manufacturing process and finally the effect of the temperature in the etherification stage. It is shown that it is important for cobalt to be present during the mercerisation stage in order to achieve the desired viscosity.     

Abelian cocycles for nonsingular ergodic transformations and the genericity of type III1 transformations

The authors prove that in the space of nonsingular transformations of a Lebesgue probability space the type III₁ ergodic transformations form a denseG set with respect to the coarse topology. They also prove that for any locally compact second countable abelian groupH, and any ergodic type III transformationT, it is generic in the space ofH-valued cocycles for the integer action given byT that the skew product ofT with the cocycle is orbit equivalent toT. Similar results are given for ergodic measure-preserving transformations as well.Research supported in part by: Nat. Sci. and Eng. Res. Council #A7163 and # U0080 F.C.A.C. Quebec, NSF Grants # MCS-8102399 and # DMS-8418431.     

Precipitation of beryllium from homogeneous solution in presence of sulphate by hydrolysis of urea

Beryllium can be precipitated from homogeneous solution as a dense and easily filterable precipitate by the hydrolysis of urea, in the presence of sulphate. The method has been applied to the gravimetric determination of beryllium as oxide. The nature of the precipitate thus obtained has been examined by thermogravimetric, infrared, photomicrographic and X-ray methods.