Synthesis and characterization of dual‐responsive micrometer‐sized core‐shell composite polymer particles

Dual‐responsive micrometer‐sized core‐shell composite polymer particles were prepared by dispersion polymerization followed by seeded copolymerization. Polystyrene (PS) particles prepared by dispersion polymerization were used as core particles. N‐isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAM) and methacrylic acid (MAA) were used to induce dual‐responsive that is thermo‐ and pH‐responsive properties in the shell layer of composite polymer particles, prepared by seeded copolymerization with PS core particles. Temperature‐ and pH‐dependent adsorption behaviors of some macromolecules on composite polymer particles indicate that produced composite polymer particles exhibit dual‐responsive surface properties. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New insights into the transition pathway from nonspecific to specific complex of DNA with Escherichia coli integration host factor

To elucidate the nature of the transition-state ensemble along the reaction pathway from a nonspecific protein-DNA complex to the specific complex, we have carried out measurements of DNA bending/unbending dynamics on a cognate DNA substrate in complex with integration host factor (IHF), an architectural protein from E. coli that bends its cognate site by approximately 180 degrees . We use a laser temperature jump to perturb the IHF-DNA complex and monitor the relaxation kinetics with time-resolved FRET measurements on DNA substrates end-labeled with a FRET pair. Previously, we showed that spontaneous bending/kinking of DNA, from thermal disruption of base-pairing/-stacking interactions, may be the rate-limiting step in the formation of the specific complex (Kuznetsov, S. V.; Sugimura, S.; Vivas, P.; Crothers, D. M.; Ansari, A. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2006, 103, 18515). Here, we probe the effect of varying [KCl], which affects the stability of the complex, on this rate-limiting step. We find that below approximately 250 mM KCl, the observed relaxation kinetics are from the unimolecular bending/unbending of DNA, and the relaxation rate kr is independent of [KCl]. Above approximately 300 mM KCl, dissociation of the IHF-DNA complex becomes significant, and the observed relaxation process includes contributions from the association/dissociation step, with kr decreasing with increasing [KCl]. The DNA bending step occurs with a positive activation enthalpy, despite the large negative enthalpy change reported for the specific IHF-DNA complex (Holbrook, J. A.; Tsodikov, O. V.; Saecker, R. M.; Record, M. T., Jr. J. Mol. Biol. 2001, 310, 379). Our conclusion from these studies is that in the uphill climb to the transition state, the DNA is kinked, but with no release of ions, as indicated by the salt-independent behavior of k(r) at low [KCl]. Any release of ions in the unimolecular process, together with conformational changes in the protein-DNA complex that facilitate favorable interactions and that contribute to the negative enthalpy change, must occur as the system leaves the transition state, downhill to the final complex.     

Synthesis and structure of iron(iii) diamine-bis(phenolate) complexes

The structures and properties of six new iron(iii) diamine-bis(phenolate) complexes are reported. Reaction of anhydrous FeX(3) salts (where X = Cl or Br) with the diprotonated tripodal tetradentate ligands 2-pyridylamino-N,N-bis(2-methylene-4-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol), H(2)[L(1)], and N,N-dimethyl-N',N'-bis(2-methylene-4-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol)ethylenediamine, H(2)[L(2)], produces the trigonal bipyramidal iron(iii) complexes, [L(1)]FeCl , [L(1)]FeBr , [L(2)]FeCl and [L(2)]FeBr . Reaction of FeX(3) with the related linear tetradentate ligand N,N'-bis(4,6-tert-butyl-2-methylphenol)-N,N'-bismethyl-1,2-diaminoethane, H(2)[L(3)], generates square pyramidal iron(iii) complexes, [L(3)]FeCl and [L(3)]FeBr . Complexes have been characterized using electronic absorption spectroscopy and magnetometry. Single crystal X-ray molecular structures have been determined for complexes 1, 3, 5 and 6.     

Synthesis of new bicarbazole-linked triazoles as non-cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) inhibitors

Abstract

Carbazole analogs 3 and 4 and a new library of bicarbazole-linked triazoles 6–11 were prepared via new synthetic methodology. Metal-catalyzed oxidative coupling reaction was utilized for the synthesis of bicarbazole acetylene 4 and different metals (Zn⁺², Co⁺², Fe⁺³, Ni⁺², Cu⁺², Mn⁺²) as catalyst were screened. Only Fe-catalyzed reaction was found to be excellent and gave homocoupled product 4. Cu-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition was also utilized to install triazole moiety for the synthesis of hybrid molecules 6–11. Based on reported anti-inflammatory activity of carbazole and triazole scaffolds, all compounds were screened for their reactive oxygen species (ROS) inhibitory potential. Results from these studies revealed triazole 9 as most active compound (IC₅₀ value of 7.6?±?0.1?µg/mL on human whole blood and 2.7?±?0.09?µg/mL on isolated neutrophils) using ibuprofen as a standard. Therefore, class described herein can serve as attractive structural element for further studies on ROS inhibition.     

Inhibition of UVB-mediated oxidative stress and markers of photoaging in immortalized HaCaT keratinocytes by pomegranate polyphenol extract POMx

In recent years there has been an increase in use of botanicals with antioxidant properties as skin photoprotective agents. Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruit possesses strong antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties. Recently, we have shown that pomegranate-derived products rich in anthocyanidins and ellagitannins inhibit UVB-mediated activation of nuclear factor kappa B and modulate UVA-mediated cell proliferation pathways in normal human epidermal keratinocytes. In this study, we evaluated the effect of polyphenol-rich pomegranate fruit extract (POMx) on UVB-induced oxidative stress and photoaging in human immortalized HaCaT keratinocytes. Our data show that pretreatment of HaCaT cells with POMx (10-40 microg mL(-1)) inhibited UVB (15-30 mJ cm(-2))-mediated (1) decrease in cell viability, (2) decrease in intracellular glutathione content and (3) increase in lipid peroxidation. Employing immunoblot analysis we found that pretreatment of HaCaT cells with POMx inhibited UVB-induced (1) upregulation of MMP-1, -2, -7 and -9, (2) decrease in TIMP-1, (3) phosphorylation of MAPKs and (iv) phosphorylation of c-jun, whereas no effect was observed on UVB-induced c-fos protein levels. These results suggest that POMx protects HaCaT cells against UVB-induced oxidative stress and markers of photoaging and could be a useful supplement in skin care products.     

Distributed Gaussian discrete variable representation

A discrete variable representation (DVR) made from distributed Gaussians g_n(x) = e, (n = ?∞, …, ∞) and its infinite grid limit is described. The infinite grid limit of the distributed Gaussian DVR (DGDVR) reduces to the sinc function DVR of Colbert and Miller in the limit c → 0. The numerical performance of both finite and infinite grid DGDVRs and the sinc function DVR is compared. If a small number of quadrature points are taken, the finite grid DGDVR performs much better than both infinite grid DGDVR and sinc function DVR. The infinite grid DVRs lose accuracy due to the truncation error. In contrast, the sinc function DVR is found to be superior to both finite and infinite grid DGDVRs if enough grid points are taken to eliminate the truncation error. In particular, the accuracy of DGDVRs does not get better than some limit when the distance between Gaussians d goes to zero with fixed c, whereas the accuracy of the sinc function DVR improves very quickly as d becomes smaller, and the results are exact in the limit d → 0. An analysis of the performance of distributed basis functions to represent a given function is presented in a recent publication. With this analysis, we explain why the sinc function DVR performs better than the infinite grid DGDVR. The analysis also traces the inability of Gaussians to yield exact results in the limit d → 0 to the incompleteness of this basis in this limit. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005     

Analysis of effective molecular diffusion rates for verteporfin in subcutaneous versus orthotopic Dunning prostate tumors

Photosensitizer biodistribution change inside tissue is one of the dominant factors in photodynamic therapy efficacy. In this study, the pharmacokinetics of a benzoporphyrin derivative (BPD), delivered in verteporfin for injection formulation, have been quantified in the rat Dunning prostate tumor MAT-LyLu model, using both subcutaneous and orthotopic sites. Blood plasma sampling indicated that BPD had a bi-exponential metabolic lifetime in vivo, with the two lifetimes being 9.6 min and 8.3 h. The spatial distributions in the tumor were quantified as a function of distance from the perfused blood vessels, using fluorescence histologic images of the tumor. A fluorescent vascular marker was used to obtain locations and shapes of perfused capillaries at a wavelength of emission different from that of BPD and to allow colocalized images to be acquired of vessel and BPD locations. Using the BPD fluorescence images obtained 15 min after intravenous administration, a forward finite-element solution to the diffusion equation was used to predict the drug distribution by matching the fluorescence intensity images observed microscopically. An inverse solver was used to minimize the root mean square error between the image of simulated diffusion and the experimental image, resulting in estimation of the diffusion coefficient of BPD in the tumor models. Effective diffusion coefficients were 0.88 and 1.59 microm2/s for the subcutaneous and orthotopically grown tumors, respectively, indicating that orthotopic tumors have significantly higher vascular extravasation rates as compared with subcutaneous tumors. This analysis supports the hypothesis that leakage rates of the photosensitizer vary considerably. Thus, although varying the time between injection and optical irradiation may be used to vary the targeting between vascular and less vascular areas, the precise time of treatment will depend on the nature of the permeability of the vasculature in the tissue being treated.     

Novel 1,2,3,4‐Tetrahydroquinazolinones via Reaction of 2‐Amino‐N‐substituted Benzamides and Dimethyl Acetylenedicarboxylate

Reaction of 2‐amino‐N‐substituted benzamides and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD) in the presence of 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene (DBU) in H₂O at room temperature led to the formation of novel 1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinazolinones.     

Novel and Stereospecific Synthesis of (2S)‐3‐(2,4,5‐Trifluorophenyl)propane‐1,2‐diol from D‐Mannitol

A stereospecific synthesis of (2S)‐3‐(2,4,5‐trifluorophenyl)propane‐1,2‐diol from D ‐mannitol has been developed. The reaction of 2,3‐O‐isopropylidene‐D ‐glyceraldehyde with 2,4,5‐trifluorophenylmagnesium bromide gave [(4R)‐2,2‐dimethyl‐1,3‐dioxolan‐4‐yl](2,4,5‐trifluorophenyl)methanol in 65% yield as a mixture of diastereoisomers (1 : 1). The Ph₃P catalyzed reaction of the latter with C₂Cl₆ followed by reduction with Pd/C‐catalyzed hydrogenation gave (2S)‐3‐(2,4,5‐trifluorophenyl)propane‐1,2‐diol with >99% ee and 65% yield.