Development of a novel reporter gene vector for cell based angiogenic studies

Angiogenesis is a promising area of research that targets key therapeutic areas like cancer; wound healing, inflammatory diseases, etc. There is an increasing demand for screening of potential angiogenic and anti-angiogenic agents using sensitive, robust cell-based assays. We have developed a reporter vector containing cis-acting elements that respond to growth factors/angiogenic ligands for use in a cell-based luciferase reporter assay. We performed transient transfection of our reporter gene vector in MCF-7 cells to establish its application for screening of potential pro/anti-angiogenic agents. Reporter gene transactivation studies with different concentrations of fetal bovine serum clearly indicated that the vector is functionally responsive to the angiogenic signals mediated by serum growth factors. We also used endostatin to inhibit transactivation and prove responsiveness to the anti-angiogenic agent. This vector is a promising tool for studying angiogenesis using cell-based reporter gene assays.     

Chiral discrimination in biomimetic systems: Phenylalanine

Chiral discrimination and recognition is important in peptide biosynthesis, amino acid synthesis and drug designing. Detailed structural information is available about the peptide synthesis in ribosome. However, no detailed study is available about the discrimination in peptide synthesis. We study the conformational energy variation of neutral methoxy phenyl alanine molecule as a function of its different dihedral angle to locate the minimum energy conformation using quantum chemical theory. We compared the intermolecular energy surfaces of phenyl alanine molecule in its neutral and zwitterionic state using quantum chemical theory as a function of distance and mutual orientation. The energy surfaces are studied with rigid geometry by varying the distance and orientation. The potential energy surfaces of L-L and D-L pairs are found to be dissimilar and reflect the underlying chirality of the homochiral pair and racemic nature of the heterochiral pair. The intermolecular energy surface of homochiral pair is more favourable than the corresponding energy surface of heterochiral pair.     

Soliton matter and the onset of color conductivity

We employ the hybrid soliton model of the nucleon consisting of a topological meson field and deeply bound quarks to investigate the behavior of the quarks on soliton matter as a function of density. We investigate a particular possible ground state by placing the solitons on a spatial lattice. The model suggests the transition of matter from a color insulator to a color conductor above a critical density of a few times normal nuclear density.     

Superconductivity in Bi2.2Ca2.8−x Sr x Cu2O y system and effect of rare earth substitution

The oxide system Bi_2.2Ca_2.8−x Sr _x Cu₂O _y has been investigated for superconductivity as a function of Ca/Sr ratio withx=0.7, 1.0, 1.4 and 1.8. All these compositions are found to be superconducting with onset temperature in the range of 80–90 K implying a large homogeneity range between Sr and Ca for the superconductivity to occur in this system. Effect of partial replacement of Bi by rare earths has been studied and it is observed that 20% replacement of Bi by Nd and Eu does not significantly affect the superconducting transition temperature.     

On the computation of stress intensities at fixed-free corners

A path independent integral formula is developed for the computation of the intensity of the stress singularity at a right corner where one edge is rigidly fixed and the other is free of traction. Numerical results are presented for the case of a strip compressed between rough rigid stamps and compared with previously published results for finite and semi-infinite strips and cylinders.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic method for the simultaneous estimation of the key intermediates of duloxetine

A simple reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method employing C-18 column has been developed for simultaneous analysis of three intermediates in the synthesis of S-duloxetine, the antidepressant drug, viz., 2-acetyl thiophene (AT), N,N-dimethyl-3-keto-(2-thienyl)-propanamine (DKTP) and (S)-N,N-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-(2-thienyl)-propanamine (DHTP). Good separations were achieved by employing an isocratic system using acetonitrile and 0.05 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 0.02% diethylamine. The detection was carried out at 241 nm. The method was validated for linearity, range, accuracy and precision. The developed method was applied for monitoring the progress of chemical synthesis of DKTP from AT followed by the biocatalytic reduction of DKTP to DHTP as the disappearance of the substrate and formation of the product can be monitored simultaneously by the present method.     

Effect of metal cationization on the tandem mass spectra of glycosyl dithioacetals

The effect of metal cationization on the tandem mass spectra of glycosyl dithioacetals of glucose, mannose, galactose, rhamnose, arabinose and xylose was studied by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry under ammonium and metal (Li, Na, Ag and Cu) ion cationization conditions. The ammonium-cationized glycosyl dithioacetals fragment by loss of ammonia followed by either two molecules of EtSH or one molecule of EtSH and one molecule of H2O. Lithium cationization leads to additional eliminations such as EtSEt and EtSSEt and C-C cleavages. Elimination of EtSH is not observed under sodium cationization. Silver cationization, on the other hand, leads to additional fragmentations involving the elimination of silver as AgOH and AgSEt. Copper cationization results in adducts where copper has undergone a change of oxidation state from II to I. Li+, Ag+ and Cu+ cationization seem to favour cyclization resulting in elimination of EtSH. However, the mechanisms seem to be differently affected by different metal ions. Li+ and Ag+ cationization appear to be non-specific and favour cyclization involving C2-, C4- and C5-hydroxyl hydrogens, whereas Cu+ cationization seems to favour cyclization involving C4-hydroxyl hydrogen.     

Uniqueness of the standard model neutral current predictions

In view of an excellent agreement between the recently determinedv _μ-hadron couplings and predictions of the standard model, the basic question discussed is how far its neutral current predictions can be mimiced in going either from the isodoublet to an isotriplet (or an even higher isospin) left-handed representation or from SU _L (2) × U(1) toG × U(1), whereG is a simple group of rank two. This question is addressed with reference to a sufficiently broad class of schemes. Their most distinctive properties are: in the higher isospin scheme, neutrino couplings are precisely in the form obtainable with standard l.h. representation; the higher g.g. scheme isL+R type in which, to each light fermion of evenRU parity, a superheavy fermion of the same charge and oddRU parity is associated, parity conservation forbidding their mixing. Reasons for excluding theL-type andG ₂ higher g.g. schemes are given. Their neutral current predictions are compared with those of the standard model. A higher isospin representation can mimic the predictions of the standard model in inclusive and semi-inclusivev _μ-hadron reactions but is conclusively discriminated from the isodoublet representation by elasticv _μ ⁽⁻ p scattering. TheG × U(1) scheme can mimic standard model neutrino sector but is conclusively discriminated from minimal scheme by parity violating effects.     

Preparation and characterization of some stereochemically rigid seven-coordinate η-cyclopentadienyltris(N,N-dialkyldithiocarbamato)hafnium(IV) complexes

Summary N,N-Dialkyldithiocarbametohafnium(IV) complexes of the type -CpHf(S₂CNR₂)₃, (R = Me or Et) have been prepared in nonaqueous media by reacting dichlorodicyclopentadienylhafnium(IV) with sodium salts of substituted dithiocarbamic acids. Conductance and i.r. studies show that these complexes are nonelectrolytes in which all of the dithiocarbamate ligands are bidentate. A coordination number of seven may be assigned to hafnium(IV) in these complexes, 'H n.m.r. spectra of the complexes in CDCI₃ at ambient temperature (30°) indicate that the metal centered rearrangement and the S₂C N bond rotation are both slow on the n.m.r. time scale. A capped octahedron configuration is suggested for these complexes.Author to whore all correspondence should be addressed.