Skin Necrosis due to Photodynamic Action of Benzoporphyrin Depends on Circulating Rather than Tissue Drug Levels: Implications for Control of Photodynamic Therapy

In an ideal world, photodynamic therapy (PDT) of abnormal tissue would reliably spare the surrounding normal tissue. Normal tissue responses set the limits for light and drug dosimetry. The threshold fluence for necrosis (TFN) was measured in normal skin following intravenous infusion with a photosensitizer, benzoporphyrin derivative monoacid ring A (BPD-MA) Verteporfin as a function of drug dose (0.25-2.0 mg/kg), wavelength of irradiation (458 and 690 nm) and time interval (0–5h) between drug administration and irradiation. The BPD-MA levels were measured in plasma and skin tissue to elucidate the relationship between TFN, drug kinetics and biodistribution. The PDT response of normal skin was highly reproducible. The TFN for 458 and 690 nm wavelengths was nearly identical and the estimated quantum efficiency for skin response was equal at these two wavelengths. Skin phototoxicity, quantified in terms of 1/ TFN, closely correlated with the plasma pharmacokinetics rather than the tissue pharmacokinetics and was quadratically dependent on the plasma drug concentration regardless of the administered drug dose or time interval between drug and light exposure. This study strongly suggests that noninvasive measurements of the circulating drug level at the time of light treatment will be important for setting optimal light dosimetry for PDT with liposomal BPD-MA, a vascular photosensitizer.     

Resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization of molecular hydrogen via the E,F1Σg+ state: Photoelectron energy and angular distributions

Photoelectron energy and angular distributions are measured for the 2+1 multiphoton ionization process H₂ X¹Σ_g⁺ (ν = 0,J) + 2hv → E,F¹Σ_g⁺(ν_E,J_E = J) + hν → H₂⁺X²Σ_g⁺ (ν⁺) + e^?, for ν_E = 0, 1, or 2 and for J_E = 0 or 1 of the inner well of the double-minimum E,F state. Although a strong preference is found for ν⁺ = ν_E, the detailed H₂⁺ vibrational distribution does not exhibit Franck-Condon behavior, and the photoelectron angular distributions vary markedly with both the J_E value of the intermediate state and the ν⁺ value of the ion.     

TECRA Unique test for rapid detection of Salmonella in food: collaborative study

The TECRA Unique Salmonella test uses the principle of immunoenrichment to allow rapid detection of Salmonellae in food. A collaborative study was conducted to compare the TECRA Salmonella Unique test with the reference culture method given in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Bacteriological Analytical Manual. Three food types (milk powder, pepper, and soy flour) were analyzed in Australia and 2 food types (milk chocolate and dried egg) were analyzed in the United States. Forty-one collaborators participated in the study. For each of the 5 foods at each of the 3 levels, a comparison showed no significant differences (p > or = 0.05) in the proportion of positive test samples for Unique and that for the reference method using the Chi-square test for independence with continuity correction.     

Synthesis of conjugated polyrotaxanes

A series of conjugated polyrotaxane insulated molecular wires are synthesised by aqueous Suzuki polymerisation, using hydrophobic binding to promote threading of the cyclodextrin units. These polyrotaxanes have conjugated polymer cores based on poly(para-phenylene), polyfluorene, and poly(diphenylene-vinylene), threaded through 0.9-1.6 cyclodextrins per repeat unit. Bulky naphthalene-3,6-disulfonate endgroups prevent the macrocycles from slipping off the conjugated polymer chains. Dialysis experiments show that the cyclodextrins become unthreaded only if smaller stoppers are used. MALDI TOF mass spectra detect oligomers with up to ten threaded cyclodextrins, and reveal the presence of some defects that result for oxidative homo-coupling of boronic acids. Weight-average molecular weights were determined by analytical ultracentrifugation, demonstrating that step-growth polymerisation is efficient enough to achieve degrees of polymerisation up to approximately 20 repeat units (84 para-phenylenes). The fluorescence spectra of these polyrotaxanes indicate that the presence of the threaded cyclodextrin macrocycles reduces the flexibility of the conjugated polymer pi-systems. Both the solution and the solid-state photoluminescence quantum yields are enhanced upon threading of the conjugated polyaromatic cores through alpha- or beta-cyclodextrins, and the emission spectra of the polyrotaxanes are blue-shifted compared to the corresponding unthreaded polymers. The greater weight of the 0-0 transition in the emission spectra, as well as the smaller Stokes shift, indicate that the polyrotaxanes are more rigid than the unthreaded polymers.     

Synthesis of 4-(2-chloroethyl)-2,3-dihydro[1,4]oxazino[2,3-b]quinoline and 4-(2-chloroethyl)2,3-dihydropyrido[2,3-b][1,4]oxazine

The title compounds were synthesized from 3-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]quinolin-2(1H)-one 11a and 3-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]pyridin-2(1H)-one 18 respectively. The preparation involved a tandem chlorination/cyclization reaction.     

A polymorphic pocket at the P10 position contributes to peptide binding specificity in class II MHC proteins

Peptides bind to class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins in an extended conformation. Pockets in the peptide binding site spaced to accommodate peptide side chains at the P1, P4, P6, and P9 positions have been previously characterized and help to explain the obtained peptide binding specificity. However, two peptides differing only at P10 have significantly different binding affinities for HLA-DR1. The structure of HLA-DR1 in complex with the tighter binding peptide shows that the peptide binds in the usual polyproline type II conformation, but with the P10 residue accommodated in a shallow pocket at the end of the binding groove. HLA-DR1 variants with polymorphic residues at these positions were produced and found to exhibit different side chain specificity at the P10 position. These results define a new specificity position in HLA-DR proteins.     

The crystal structure of Ca3Cu3(PO4)4

Single crystals of Ca₃Cu₃(PO₄)₄ synthesized hydrothermally at 420°C and 55 kpsi (3.8 kbar) were found to occur in the space group $\text{P2}{}_1\text{a}$ (No. 14) with a = = 17.619(2), b = 4.8995(4), c = 8.917(1)Å, β = 124.08(1)°, and Z = 2. Full-matrix least-squares refinement of the structure using diffractometer data converged to a final anisotropic R = 0.037 (R_w = 0.046). The two calcium atoms are in six- and nine-coordination and the two copper-containing polyhedra (four- and five-coordinated) are similar to those previously found in Cu₃(PO₄)₂.     

Modern microscopy methods for the structural study of porous materials

This article describes a number of important recent microscopy tools and their application in particular to the study of porous inorganic materials. The authors believe that these new techniques are on the threshold of delivering enormous new power in the chemist's arsenal for understanding new and complex behaviour in multi-component, hierarchical or composite materials. In particular we consider the contribution of electron crystallography, three-dimensional electron tomography, ultra-high resolution scanning electron microscopy as well as the combined application of high-resolution electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy to the study of surfaces and crystal growth. Much of this work has taken on a particular significance owing to the ground breaking work of scientists at Mobil and in Japan 10 years ago in the successful synthesis of materials with porosity on many length scales achieved through the cooperative self-assembly between inorganic and organic phases. This resulted in a series of materials known as M41S of which MCM-41 and MCM-48 were two of the first and most important structures to be synthesised. This has led to a wealth of new porous structures with order over many length scales and has presented new problems in characterisation. Microscopy methods properly executed are particularly important in the study of this new class of material.     

Antibody properties for chemically reversible biosensor applications

A recently reported fiber-optic sensor based on a homogeneous fluorescence energy-transfer immunoassay operates in a continuous, reversible manner to quantify the anticonvulsant drug phenytoin (5,5-diphenylhydantoin). The chemical kinetics of the two simultaneous antibody-hapten (analyte) and antibody-hapten (labeled indicator) reactions in the sensor are now modeled mathematically. Simulation shows that the chemical response time is controlled by the dissociation rate constant and is independent of the association rate constant, and that an equalibrium chemical response can be achieved in minutes. The sensitivity and dynamic range of the analyte concentration which can be measured depends on the ratio of dissociation rate constants for the labeled and unlabeled hapten reactions, and on the total concentration of reactants in the sensor. The relative concentration ratios of antibody to labeled hapten has little impact on the sensitivity or dynamic range of the system, but can be optimized to provide the maximum amount of labeled hapten availble for instrumental measurement.