Blood serum DSC analysis of well-trained men response to CrossFit training and green tea extract supplementation

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used for the detection of post-exercise changes in blood serum resulting from participation in the CrossFit (CF) training combined with green tea extract (GTE) supplementation. Blood samples from 20 well-trained men were collected at rest, immediately post-exercise and after 1 h of recovery in two trials: first before and second after CF training combined with GTE or placebo administration in the supplemented (S) and control (C) groups, respectively. Selected muscle damage biomarkers have been compared in different phases of the experiment. A significant increase in blood lactate content has been observed post-exercise in both trials in both participants’ groups. The opposite trends have been noted for the C and S groups in creatine kinase (CK) activity changes recorded during the first to the second trial: an increase in CK for the control and a decrease for the supplemented group in all phases of the experiment: pre-exercise, post-exercise and after recovery. In the second trial, all CK values for the S group have been found significantly lower than the corresponding values recorded in the C group. These results suggest a mitigate effect of GTE supplementation on post-training muscle damage. DSC results did not reveal clear effects of training nor GTE supplementation on serum denaturation transition. However, interesting dependences of thermodynamic parameters describing this transition have been observed in different phases of the experiment. Statistically significant negative correlations have been found between post-training VO_2max and post-exercise thermodynamic parameters associated with haptoglobin contribution to serum denaturation transition.     

Local protein backbone folds determined by calculated NMR chemical shifts

NMR chemical shifts (CSs: δN(NH), δC(α), δC(β), δC', δH(NH), and δH(α)) were computed for the amino acid backbone conformers (α(L), β(L), γ(L), δ(L), ε(L), α(D), γ(D), δ(D), and ε(D) [Perczel et al., J Am Chem Soc 1991, 113, 6256]) modeled by oligoalanine structures. Topological differences of the extended fold were investigated on single β-strands, hairpins with type I and II β-turns, as well as double- and triple-stranded β-sheet models. The so-called "capping effect" was analyzed: residues at the termini of a homoconformer sequence unit usually have different CSs than the central residues of an adequately long homoconformer model. In heteroconformer sequences capping effect ruins the direct applicability of several chemical shift types (δH(NH), δC', and δN(NH)) for backbone structure determination of the parent residue. Experimental δH(α), δC(α), and δC(β) values retrieved from protein database are in good agreement with the relevant computed data in the case of the common backbone conformers (α(L), β(L), γ(L), and ε(L)), even though neighboring residue effects were not accounted for. Experimental and computed ΔδH(α)-ΔδC(α), ΔδH(α)-ΔδC(β), and ΔδC(α)-ΔδC(β) maps give qualitatively the same picture, that is, the positions of the backbone conformers relative to each other are very similar. This indicates that the H(α), C(α), and C(β) chemical shifts of alanine depend considerably on the backbone fold of the parent residue also in proteins. We provide tabulated CSs of the chiral amino acids that may predict the various structures of the residues.     

Silyl modification of biologically active compounds. 12. Silyl group as true incentive to antitumour and antibacterial action of choline and colamine analogues

A series of triorganylsilyl(β‐dialkylaminoethoxy)silanes was prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, ¹H, ¹³C, ²⁹Si NMR and mass spectroscopy. Comparative study of ²⁹Si resonance of newly synthesized compounds showed correlation between its value and substituent nature at the silicon atom, and is shifted upfield for β‐triorganyl(N,N‐dialkylaminoethoxy)silanes in comparison with corresponding methiodides, revealing weak N^…Si interaction for proper silanes. In vitro antitumour and antimicrobial properties were investigated. The biological activity data exhibited a marked enhancement of inhibitory activity on trialkylsilylation against tumour cell lines and all the test bacterial/fungal strains. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.