Identification of the function of gene lndM2 encoding a bifunctional oxygenase-reductase involved in the biosynthesis of the antitumor antibiotic landomycin E by Streptomyces globisporus 1912 supports the originally assigned structure for landomycinone

The angucycline antibiotic family of the landomycins displays potent antitumor activity. To elucidate early post polyketide synthase (PKS) tailoring steps of the landomycin E biosynthetic pathway in Streptomyces globisporus 1912, the mutant S. globisporus M12 was prepared through gene replacement experiment of lndM2. It encodes an enzyme with putative oxygenase and reductase domains, according to sequencing of the gene and its counterpart lanM2 from S. cyanogenus S136 landomycin A biosynthetic gene cluster. The isolation of the novel shunt products 11-hydroxytetrangomycin and 4-hydroxytetrangomycin along with the well-known angucyclines tetrangomycin and tetrangulol from the culture of S. globisporus M12 provides evidence for the involvement of lndM2 in the early biosynthetic pathway of the landomycins, in particular in the formation of the alicyclic 6-hydroxy function of the landomycin aglycon. We therefore propose LndM2 to be responsible for both hydroxylation of the 6-position and its subsequent reduction. These reactions are necessary before the glycosylation reactions can occur. The results are in agreement with the originally published structure of landomycin but do not support the recently suggested revised structure.     

Arsenic Speciation in Urine and Blood Reference Materials

Acute and chronic exposure to arsenic is a growing problem in the industrialized world. Arsenic is a potent carcinogen and toxin in humans. In the body, arsenic is metabolized to produce several species, including inorganic forms, such as trivalent (As^III) and pentavalent (As^V), and the methylated metabolites such as monomethylarsonic acid, (MMA^V), and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA^V), in addition to arsenobetaine (AsB) which is ingested and excreted from the body in the same form. Each of these species has been reported to possess a specific but different degree of toxicity. Thus, not only is the measurement of total As required, but also quantification of the individual metabolites is necessary to evaluate the toxicity and risk assessment of this element. There are a large number of reference materials that are used to validate methodology for the analysis of As in blood and urine, but they are limited to total As concentrations. In this study, the speciation of five arsenic metabolites is reported in blood and urine from commercial available control materials certified for total arsenic levels. The separation was performed with an anion exchange column using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry as a detector. Baseline separation was achieved for As^III, As^V, MMA^V, DMA^V, and AsB, allowing us to quantify all five species. Excellent agreement between the total arsenic levels and the sum of the speciated As levels was obtained.     

Effects of trivalent phosphorus compounds on vinyl polymerizations—VII. A nonstationary state radical polymerization of methylmethacrylate in the presence of phenyldichlorophosphine

In the radical polymerization of methylmethacrylate in the presence of p-phenyldichlorophosphine, the initial rate and degree of polymerization increased with polymerization time. They first decreased with increase in the phosphine concentration but increased with further increase in the phosphine concentration. Termination was first order with respect to the initiator. The degree of polymerization was independent of the initiator concentration, but dependent on the conversion. The polymer contained no phosphorus units regardless of the phosphine concentration. The ESR spectra of system showed existence of a phosphorus radical. In order to explain these characteristics of the polymerization, it is proposed that there may be a nonstationary state in which the polymer radicals are regenerated during the polymerization from the phosphoranyl radicals.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of spongistatin/altohyrtin analogues: E-ring dehydration and C46 side-chain truncation

Simplified analogues of the potent antimitotic marine macrolide spongistatin 1/altohyrtin A were synthesised and evaluated as growth inhibitory agents against a range of human tumour cell lines, including Taxol-resistant strains, revealing that E-ring dehydration leads to enhanced cytotoxicity at the low picomolar level while truncation of the side-chain at C46 results in a drastic decrease in activity.     

Refractive Indices, Densities and Excess Molar Volumes of Monoalcohols + Water

The refractive index, n _D , and density, ρ, of binary mixtures of monoalcohols + water, have been measured at a temperature of 298.15,K and atmospheric pressure. The variation of the refractive indices of these solutions has also been determined with temperature in the range T = (278.15 to 338.15) K and atmospheric pressure. A comparative study has been made of the refractive indices obtained experimentally and those calculated by means of the Lorentz-Lorenz [Theory of Electrons, Dover Phoenix (1952)] and Gladstone-Dale relations [Trans. R. Soc. London 148:887–902 (1858)]; in all cases, the Gladstone–Dale equation was seen to afford values similar to those obtained experimentally. Calculations have been made of the excess molar volumes, V ^E, and the molar refraction deviations, ΔR, of these mixtures and the differences between the experimental values for refractive index and those obtained by means of the Gladstone–Dale equation. Values of V ^E were compared with others in the literature. In all cases the V ^E values were negative, and in all cases, except in the methanol + water, ΔR showed a maximum for x = 0.8.     

Whey proteins eluted reversed phase gradients

The behavior of bovine whey proteins in Reversed-Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) systems has been investigated. The Linear Solvent Strength (LSS) model has been applied to the separation of these proteins studying how their retention time and band broadening change when different gradient parameters are modified. From our results it is deduced that the LSS model describes the behaviour of the whey proteins in RP-HPLC. Also, it seems that t_s (the retention time for non-retained solutes) depends on the size of these proteins. The good fit observed between experimental data and the equations deduced from the LSS model allows the prediction of a gradient shape that permits a rapid analysis of the above mentioned proteins.     

Long-range flow-induced alignment of self-assembled rosette nanotubes on Si/SiOx and poly(methyl methacrylate)-coated Si/SiOx

Helical rosette nanotubes are obtained through the self-assembly of low molecular weight synthetic modules in water. Here we demonstrate that despite their dynamic nature, these materials respond very well to directional fluid flow and assume long-range order on flat substrates. Persistence length, order, and packing of the rosette nanotubes were found to depend dramatically on the surface properties of both the substrate and the nanotubes and vary from well-ordered long-range 2D films to bundled nanotubes or amorphous conglomerates. While flow-induced long-range alignment of dynamic nanostructures is unprecedented, the chemical tunability of the rosette nanotubes is anticipated to offer a versatile means for investigating the basis of interfacial forces in self-assembled organo-silicon devices and their effect on the stability and physical properties of organic nanostructures on electroactive surfaces.     

V2O5/TiO2 Catalytic Xerogels Raman and EPR Studies

Raman spectroscopy and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) studies were performed on a series of V₂O₅/TiO₂ catalysts prepared by a modified sol-gel method in order to identify the vanadium species. Two species of surface vanadium were identified by Raman measurements, monomeric vanadyls and polymeric vanadates. Monomeric vanadyls are characterized by a narrow Raman band at 1030 cm^–1 and polymeric vanadates by two broad bands in the region from 900 to 960 cm^–1 and 770 to 850 cm^–1. The Raman spectra do not exhibit characteristic peaks of crystalline V₂O₅. These results are in agreement with those of X-ray Diffractometry (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) previously reported (C.B. Rodella et al., J. Sol-Gel Sci. Techn., submitted). At least three families of V⁴⁺ ions were identified by EPR investigations. The analysis of the EPR spectra suggests that isolated V⁴⁺ ions are located in sites with octahedral symmetry substituting for Ti⁴⁺ ions in the rutile structure. Magnetically interacting V⁴⁺ ions are also present as pairs or clusters giving rise to a broad and structureless EPR line. At higher concentration of V₂O₅, a partial oxidation of V⁴⁺ to V⁵⁺ is apparent from the EPR results.     

Miniemulsion copolymerization of styrene–methyl methacrylate

Miniemulsion copolymerization of 50 : 50 weight fraction of styrene–methyl methacrylate monomer, using hexadecane as the cosurfactant, was carried out in both unseeded and seeded polymerizations. Effects of the hexadecane concentration and the ultrasonification time on the conversion–time curves and particle size of the final latex were investigated for unseeded polymerization. The kinetic and particle size distribution results showed that an increase in hexadecane concentration and ultrasonification time cause faster polymerization rate and smaller particle size. The mechanism of mass transport from miniemulsion droplets to polymer particles was also investigated for seeded polymerization. For this purpose a monomer miniemulsion was mixed with a fraction of a previously prepared miniemulsion latex particles prior to initiation of polymerization, using residual oil-soluble initiator in the seed latex. The concentration of hexadecane and a water-insoluble inhibitor (2,5 di-tert-butyl hydroquinone) in the miniemulsions were the main variables. Seeded polymerizations were also carried out in the presence of miniemulsion droplets containing a water-insoluble inhibitor and water-soluble initiator. The inhibitor concentration and the agitation speed during the course of polymerization were the experimental variables. The kinetic and particle size results from these seeded experiments suggested that collision between miniemulsion droplets and polymer particles may play a major role in the transport of highly water-insoluble compounds.     

Equilibrium and kinetic aspects of the uptake of poly(ethylene oxide) by copolymer microgel particles of N-isopropylacrylamide and acrylic acid

The use of microgels for controlled uptake and release has been an area of active research for many years. In this work copolymer microgels of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and acrylic acid (AAc), containing different concentrations of AAc and also cross-linking monomer, have been prepared and characterized. These microgels are responsive to pH and temperature. As well as monitoring the equilibrium response to changes in these variables, the rates of swelling/de-swelling of the microgel particles, on changing either the pH or the temperature, have also been investigated. It is shown that the rate of de-swelling of the microgel particles containing AAc is much faster than the rate of swelling, on changing the pH appropriately. This is explained in terms of the relative mobilities of the H(+) and Na(+) ions, in and out of the particles. It was observed that the microgels containing AAc, at pH 8, de-swelled relatively slowly on heating to 50 degrees C from 20 degrees C. This is attributed to the resistance to collapse associated with the large increase in counterion concentration inside the microgel particles. The swelling and de-swelling properties of these copolymer microgels have also been investigated in aqueous poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) solutions, of different MW (2000-300 000). The corresponding absorbed amounts of PEO from solution onto the microgels have also been determined using a depletion method. The results, as a function of AAc content, cross-linker concentration, PEO MW, pH, and temperature, have been rationalized in terms of the ease and depth of penetration of the PEO chains into the various microgel particles and also the H-bonding associations between PEO and either the -COOH of the AAc moeities and/or the H of the amide groups (much weaker). Finally, the adsorption and desorption of the PEO molecules in to and out of the microgel particles have been shown to be extremely slow compared to normal diffusion time scales for polymer adsorption onto rigid surfaces.