Study on the pressure induced charge transfer phase transition in (C5H11)4N(FeFe(C2O2S2)3) by means of μSR spectroscopy

We have investigated the magnetic properties of iron mixed-valence complexes, (n-C_nH_2n+1)₄N[Fe^IIFe^III(dto)₃] (dto = C₂O₂S₂, n = 3, 5), in which not only a ferromagnetic transition but also a novel charge transfer phase transition (CTPT) take place [1]. This CTPT can be observed under ambient pressure for n = 3, while it appears abruptly above 0.5 GPa for n = 5 [2]. Recently, we have measured the muon spin relaxation (μSR) for the CTPT of n = 3, which revealed the dynamical process of electron-transfer between Fe^II and Fe^III and its frequency was estimated at about 0.1 MHz [3]. To investigate the pressure induced CTPT for n = 5, we carried out the μSR measurement for n = 5 at 150 K between 0.30 and 0.64 GPa with the ⁴He gas-operated pressure system. The asymmetry of the muon spin relaxation for n = 5 with Cu-Be pressure cell was almost constant up to 0.55 GPa, while it rapidly decreased with increasing pressure above 0.60 GPa. This result shows that the applied pressure causes the spin fluctuation due to the CTPT, which induces the decrease of the asymmetry of muon spin relaxation. This experiment can correctly decide the phase transition pressure from the absence to the appearance of the CTPT for n = 5.     

Potential energy curve for ring-opening reactions: comparison between broken-symmetry and multireference coupled cluster methods

The spin-unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF)-based coupled cluster singles and doubles (UHF-CCSD) and Mukherjee's state-specific multireference CCSD (MkCCSD) methods are applied to four ring-opening reactions. The spin-restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF)-based CCSD (RHF-CCSD) calculations are also performed for comparison. In the case of the UHF-CCSD method, an approximate spin-projection (AP) method is applied to the broken-symmetry (BS) singlet solution to remove the spin contamination effect. For potential energy curves (PECs) of all reactions presented in this study, the results of RHF-CCSD and UHF-CCSD are substantially different from those of MkCCSD, while the results after the AP method (AP-UCCSD) reproduce the MkCCSD results well. It strongly suggests that the spin contamination effect should be removed by the AP correction even at the UHF-CCSD level to predict reliable energetics of these reactions.     

The synthetic and biological studies of discorhabdins and related compounds

Various analogues of the marine alkaloids, discorhabdins, have been synthesized. The strategy contains spirocyclization with phenyliodine(III) bis(trifluoroacetate) (PIFA), oxidative fragmentation of the β-amino alcohols with the hypervalent iodine reagent C(6)F(5)I(OCOCF(3))(2), the detosylation and dehydrogenation reaction of the pyrroloiminoquinone unit in the presence of a catalytic amount of NaN(3) and the bridged ether synthesis with HBr-AcOH as the key reactions. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated by in vitro MTT assay for cytotoxic activity against the human colon cancer cell line HCT-116. Furthermore, the discorhabdin A oxa analogues were also evaluated against four kinds of tumor model cells, a human colon cancer cell line (WiDr), a human prostate cancer cell line (DU-145) and murine leukemia cell lines (P388 and L1210). For the identification of the target, discorhabdin A and the discorhabdin A oxa analogue were evaluated by an HCC panel assay. In the test, discorhabdins could have a novel mode of action with the tumor cells.     

Towards single cell heat shock response by accurate control on thermal confinement with an on-chip microwire electrode

Metal electrodes with micron scale width enable the heating of less than a dozen cells in a confluent layer at predictable temperatures up to 85 °C with an accuracy of ±2 °C. Those performances were obtained by a preliminary robust temperature calibration based on biotin-rhodamine fluorescence and by controlling the temperature map on the substrate through thermal modeling. The temperature accuracy was proved by inducing the expression of heat shock proteins (HSP) in a few NIH-3T3 cells through a confined and precise temperature rise. Our device is therefore effective to locally induce a heat shock response with almost single-cell resolution. Furthermore, we show that cells heated at a higher temperature than the one of heat shock remain alive without producing HSP. Electrode deposition being one of the most common engineering processes, the fabrication of electrode arrays with a simple control circuit is clearly within reach for parallel testing. This should enable the study of several key mechanisms such as cell heat shock, death or signaling. In nanomedicine, controlled drug release by external stimuli such as for example temperature has attracted much attention. Our device could allow fast and efficient testing of thermoactivable drug delivery systems.     

Extraction and Separation Properties of Hydrophilic Compounds Using Novel Water-Holding Adsorbents Bonded with a Zwitter-Ionic Polymer

A novel water-holding adsorbent was synthesized by introducing a zwitter-ionic polymer to a hydrophilic methacrylate base resin. The retention abilities of the hydrophilic compounds on the adsorbents with and without cross-link in the zwitter-ionic functional groups were examined. The amount of held water on the non-cross-linked adsorbent was higher than that of the cross-linked one. The extraction efficiencies of the hydrophilic solutes on the adsorbents were evaluated by the solid phase extraction method. These adsorbents showed high affinity for nucleosides and glycosides, and good recoveries for such hydrophilic compounds in the solid-phase extraction were obtained. Furthermore, the retention properties of the hydrophilic solutes on the adsorbents were also evaluated by LC. The hydrophilic solutes were retained on these adsorbents by a partition mode based on a hydrophilic interaction. The retention factors of the hydrophilic solutes showed good correlation to their log P _o/w (logarithm of octanol?Cwater partition coefficient) and good separation based on hydrophilic interaction was obtained for nucleobases and nucleosides.     

Fibrin glue increases the cell survival and the transduced gene product secretion of the ceiling culture-derived adipocytes transplanted in mice

The development of clinically applicable scaffolds is important for the application of cell transplantation in various human diseases. The aims of this study are to evaluate fibrin glue in a novel protein replacement therapy using proliferative adipocytes and to develop a mouse model system to monitor the delivery of the transgene product into the blood and the fate of the transduced cells after transplantation. Proliferative adipocytes from mouse adipose tissue were transduced by a retroviral vector harboring the human lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (lcat) gene, and were subcutaneously transplanted into mice combined with fibrin glue. The lcat gene transduction efficiency and the subsequent secretion of the product in mouse adipocytes were enhanced using a protamine concentration of 500 μg/ml. Adipogenesis induction did not significantly affect the lcat gene-transduced cell survival after transplantation. Immunohistochemistry showed the ectopic enzyme production to persist for 28 days in the subcutaneously transplanted gene- transduced adipocytes. The increased viability of transplanted cells with fibrin glue was accompanied with the decrease in apoptotic cell death. The immunodetectable serum LCAT levels in mice implanted with the fibrin glue were comparable with those observed in mice implanted with Matrigel, indicating that the transplanted lcat gene-transduced adipocytes survived and functioned in the transplanted spaces with fibrin glue as well as with Matrigel for 28 days. Thus, this in vivo system using fibrin is expected to serve as a good model to further improve the transplanted cell/scaffold conditions for the stable and durable cell-based replacement of defective proteins in patients with LCAT deficiency.     

Intramolecular iodoetherification of ene or diene ketals: facile synthesis of spiroketals

A novel and rapid approach to chiral mono- or di-substituted spiroketals based on remote asymmetric induction by intramolecular iodoetherification of ene or diene ketals has been developed. This strategy concisely offers 5,5- and 5,6-spiroketals including the natural insect pheromone of the wasp.