Inhibitory effects of 1,3-selenazol-4-one derivatives on mushroom tyrosinase

This study reports depigmenting potency of 1,3-selenazol-4-one derivatives, which would be based upon the finding of direct inhibition to mushroom tyrosinase. 1,3-Selenazol-4-one derivatives exhibited inhibitory effect on dopa oxidase activity of mushroom tyrosinase. In this study, inhibitory effects of six kinds of 1,3-selenazol-4-one derivatives (A, B, C, D, E and F) on mushroom tyrosinase were investigated. Compounds at a concentration of 500 microM exhibited 33.4-62.1% of inhibition on dopa oxidase activity of mushroom tyrosinase. Their inhibitory effects were higher than that of kojic acid (31.7%), a well known tyrosinase inhibitor. 2-(4-Methylphenyl)-1,3-selenazol-4-one (A) exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect among them dose-dependently and in competitive inhibition manner.     

A novel way to study the initial stages of soap-free emulsion polymerizations: The intercalation of polystyrene oligomers into hydrotalcite

The dominant species in the early stages of an emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization of styrene has been found to be an oligomer of two to three monomer units using a novel trapping technique. This involved the intercalation of charged primary oligomers between the layers of a hydrotalcite, [Mg₄Al₂(OH)₁₂]²⁺[A]^2- (where A = dianion). Hydrotalcites are an important class of lamellar, inorganic compounds whose interlayer spacing can be mod-ified by anion exchange. Our approach first involved preparing a hydrotalcite precursor in which the layers were propped apart by an organic dianion (terephthalate = TA). This material was then used to capture the negatively charged polystyrene oligomers from the emulsion polymerization reaction mixture. We found that TA was rapidly ion-exchanged for the charged oligomers. The resulting pillared hydrotalcite material was characterized using XRD and SEC. We found that the interlayer spacing between the hydroxide layers increased to 23.2 Å on exposure to the emulsion reaction mixture. This represents an interlayer expansion of 18.3 Å (after subtraction of the hydroxide layer contribution), which is cnsistent with intercalation of oligomers with two to three monomer units arranged in a bilayer. This size estimate was confirmed by the results of size exclusion chromatography. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Alcohol sensing membrane based on immobilized ruthenium(II) complex in carboxylated PVC and surface covalently bonded alcohol oxidase

Alcohol sensing membranes coated on overhead transparency films for the continuous monitoring of ethanol, propanol and butanol are presented. Alcohol oxidation catalyzed by alcohol oxidase in conjunction with the fluorescence quenching reaction of oxygen-sensitive dye ion-pair, tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium(II) didodecylsulphate was chosen for the determination. Alcohol oxidase was immobilized covalently on a plasticized carboxylated poly(vinyl chloride) membrane and the oxygen-sensitive dye ion-pair was entrapped in the same membrane. The sensing membrane relates oxygen consumption, as a result of enzymatic oxidation, to alcohol concentration. Measurements have been performed in air-saturated alcohol standard solutions of pH 7.0. Storage stability, reproducibility and the effect of pH on sensing membrane performance have been studied in detail. The alcohol sensing membrane proposed here is simple to prepare and has a fairly rapid response time of <1 min. It has been successfully applied to the determination of the ethanol contents in various spirits.     

bPAK-interacting exchange factor may regulate actin cytoskeleton through interaction with actin

p21-activated kinase (PAK)-interacting exchange factor (PIX) is known to be involved in regulation of Cdc42/Rac GTPases and PAK activity. PIX binds to the proline-rich region of PAK, and regulates biological events through activation of Cdc42/Rac GTPase. To further investigate the role of PIX we produced monoclonal antibodies (Mab) against bPIX. Three clones; N-C6 against N-terminal half and C-A3 and C-B7 against C- terminal half of bPIX were generated and characterized. N-C6 Mab detected bPIX as a major band in most cell lines. C-A3 Mab recognizes GIT-binding domain (GBD), but it does not interfere with GIT binding to bPIX. Using C-A3 Mab possible bPIX interaction with actin in PC12 cells was examined. bPIX Mab (C-A3) specifically precipitated actin of the PC12 cell lysates whereas actin Mab failed to immunoprecipitate bPIX. Co-sedimentation of PC12 cell lysates with the polymerized F-actin resulted in the recovery of most of bPIX in the cell lysates. These results suggest that bPIX may not interact with soluble actin but with polymerized F-actin and revealed that bPIX constitutes a functional complex with actin. These data indicate real usefulness of the bPIX Mab in the study of bPIX role(s) in regulation of actin cyoskeleton.     

Effective isolation of magnesium lithospermate B and its inhibition of aldose reductase and fibronectin on mesangial cell line

We developed an effective isolation method of magnesium lithospermate B from Salviae miltiorrhizae Radix and found for the first time that magnesium lithospermate B shows strong in vitro inhibition (IC50=0.04 microM) of aldose reductase (AR), 2.5 times than that of clinically used epalrestat (IC50=0.1 microM) and accumulation of fibronectin dose dependently.     

Improved immunodetection of human papillomavirus E7

Human papillomavirus E7 (HPV E7) is a viral oncoprotein that plays an important role in cervical carcinogenesis through binding with retinoblastoma protein (Rb). Inactivation of Rb by E7 is necessary but not sufficient for cellular transformation, suggesting other protein-protein interactions are required for E7-mediated cellular transformation aside from the interaction with Rb. However, studies on the oncogenic function of HPV E7 have been limited by its poor immunoreactivity. In this report, we show that the fixation of purified recombinant HPV E7 on blotted nitrocellulose membrane with glutaldehyde markedly enhanced the immunoreactivity of HPV E7 protein. Using HeLa and Caski cell lines which are infected with HPV 18 and HPV 16, respectively, we demonstrated that native HPV E7 proteins also could be detected by this method. These results therefore can provide the experimental conditions for detection of HPV E7 proteins with greater sensitivity and may help to analyze E7 functions.     

Photochemical interaction of polystyrene nanospheres with 193 nm pulsed laser light

The photochemical interaction of 193 nm light with polystyrene nanospheres is used to produce particles with a controlled size and morphology. Laser fluences from 0 to 0.14 J/cm2 at 10 and 50 Hz photofragment nearly monodisperse 110 nm spherical polystyrene particles. The size distributions before and after irradiation are measured with a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), and the morphology of the irradiated particles is examined with a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results show that the irradiated particles have a smaller mean diameter ( approximately 25 nm) and a number concentration more than an order of magnitude higher than nonirradiated particles. The particles are formed by nucleation of gas-phase species produced by photolytic decomposition of nanospheres. A nondimensional parameter, the photon-to-atom ratio (PAR), is used to interpret the laser-particle interaction energetics.     

Calix[2]furano[2]pyrrole and related compounds as the neutral carrier in silver ion-selective electrode

The performance of calix[2]furano[2]pyrrole and related compounds used as neutral carriers for silver selective polymeric membrane electrode was investigated. The silver ion-selective electrode based on calix[2]furano[2]pyrroles gave a good Nernstian response of 57.1 mV per decade for silver ion in the activity range 1×10⁻⁶ to 1×10⁻² M. The present silver ion-selective electrode displayed very good selectivity for Ag⁺ ion against alkali and alkaline earth metal ions, NH₄⁺, and H⁺. In particular, the present Ag⁺-selective electrode exhibited very low responses towards Hg²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions. The potentiometric selectivity coefficients of the silver ion-selective electrode exhibited a strong dependence on the solution pH. In particular, the response of the electrode to the Hg²⁺ activity was greatly diminished at pH 2.5 compared to that at pH 5.0. Overall, the performance of the present silver ion-selective electrode based on the ionophore, calix[2]furano[2]pyrrole, is very comparable to that of the electrode prepared with the commercially available neutral carrier in terms of slope, linear range, and detection limits.     

Design Features of a Prompt Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis System at HANARO

The design features are described of a prompt gamma neutron activation analysis system at HANARO, a 30 MW research reactor in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. The beam consists of polychromatic thermal neutrons diffracted by a set of pyrolytic graphite crystals at orders n in the range 1n6 at a Bragg angle of 45° on a horizontal beam line. A neutron flux of 1.0·10⁸ n·cm^–2·s^–1 is calculated at the sample position from the reflectivity of the crystal which has been confirmed in a measurement of a diffracted neutron spectrum using a time-of-flight spectrometer and gold-wire activation. The fast neutron and gamma backgrounds will be low due to the use of a diffracted beam and a tapered collimator. The detection system comprises a 30% n-type HPGe detector, signal electronics and a fast ADC. The first application of this system will be the analysis of boron concentration in biological samples for neutron capture therapy. Construction of the beam line and the arrangement of the detection system is proceeding.     

Operating characteristics and energy distribution in transferred plasma arc systems

A specially designed plasma chamber was constructed to study the operating characteristics of a dc plasma-transferred arc of argon, struck between a fluid convective cathode and a water-cooled anode. The arc voltage increased markedly with arc length and with an increase in the inlet velocity of the argon flow past the cathode tip, and much less with an increase in current. Radiation from the plasma column to the chamber walls and transfer of energy to the anode were the two principal modes of transfer of the arc energy. The former was dominant in the case of long arcs and at high inlet argon velocities. At the anode, the major contribution was from electron transfer, which occurred on a very small area of the anode (～5 mm in diameter). Convective heat transfer from the plasma was somewhat less. In all cases, the arc energy contributions to cathode cooling and to the exit gas enthalpy were small. From total heat flux and radiative heat transfer measurements, it was estimated that the plasma temperature just above the anode was in the range 10,000–12,000 K. Preliminary experiments with an anode consisting of molten copper showed that the arc root was no longer fixed but moved around continuously. The arc was othwewise quite stable, and its operating characteristics differed little from those reported for solid anodes, in spite of the greater extent of metal vaporization.