Remarkable proteolytic activity of imidazoles attached to cross-linked polystyrene

The insoluble resins synthesized by attaching imidazoles to poly(chloromethylstyrene-co-divinylbenzene) effectively hydrolyzed albumin with half-life as short as 20 min at pH 7 and 25 degrees C. Thus, peptide hydrolysis was accomplished with imidazole in an artificial system for the first time. The imidazole-based artificial proteinases manifested optimum activity at pH 7-8. The proteolytic activity of the imidazole-based artificial proteinases exceeded that of previously reported organic artificial proteinases including catalytic antibodies. High proteolytic activity was observed when imidazole was attached to the resin through the C-2 atom instead of the N atom. The catalytic activity was greatly reduced when the content of imidazole was lowered. This indicates catalytic cooperation of at least two proximal imidazole moieties attached to the resin. Possible mechanisms for the effective protein hydrolysis by the proximal imidazoles are presented.     

p21Cip/WAF1 activation is an important factor for the ERK pathway dependent anti-proliferation of colorectal cancer cells

p21Cip/WAF1, an important regulator of cell proliferation, is induced by both p53- and extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) pathways. The induction of p21Cip/WAF1 occurs by prolonged activation of the ERKs caused by extracellular stimuli, such as zinc. However, not all the cells appeared to respond to ERK pathway dependent p21Cip/WAF1 induction. Here we investigated the cause of such difference using colorectal cancer cells. p21Cip/WAF1 induction and concomitant reduction of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation were observed by zinc treatment within HT-29 and DLD-1. However, HCT-116 cells with high endogenous p21Cip/WAF1 levels did not show any additional increment of p21Cip/WAF1 levels by zinc treatment and did maintain high BrdU incorporation level. The p21Cip/WAF1 induction by zinc depended upon prolonged activation of extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) was not observed in HCT-116 cells. The percentage of BrdU positive cells was 50% higher in p21Cip/WAF1 -/- HCT-116 cells compared to p21Cip/WAF1 +/+ HCT- 116 cells, and no cells induced p21Cip/WAF1 incorporated BrdU in its nucleus, yet confirming the importance of p21Cip/WAF1 induction in anti- proliferation. These results again support that p21Cip/WAF1 induction is a determinant in the regulation of colonic proliferation by the ERK pathway.     

Kinetics and mechanism of benzylamine additions to ethyl alpha-acetyl-beta-phenylacrylates in acetonitrile

Kinetic studies of the addition of benzylamines to a noncyclic dicarbonyl group activated olefin, ethyl alpha-acetyl-beta-phenylacrylate (EAP), in acetonitrile at 25.0 degrees C are reported. The rates are lower than those for the cyclic dicarbonyl group activated olefins. The addition occurs in a single step with concurrent formation of the Calpha-N and Cbeta-H bonds through a four-center hydrogen bonded transition state.The kinetic isotope effects (kH/kD > 1.0) measured with deuterated benzylamines (XC6H4CH2ND2) increase with a stronger electron acceptor substituent (deltasigmaX > 0) which is the same trend as those found for other dicarbonyl group activated series (1-4), but is in contrast to those for other (noncarbonyl) group activated series (5-9). For the dicarbonyl series, the reactivity-selectivity principle (RSP) holds, but for others the anti-RSP applies. These are interpreted to indicate an insignificant imbalance for the former, but substantial lag in the resonance delocalization in the transition state for the latter series.     

Syntheses of methylene-bridged ansa-zirconocene complexes and copolymerization studies of ethylene and norbornene

Methylene-bridged ansa-metallocene complexes bearing substituents on the cyclopentadienyl (Cp) and fluorenyl (Flu) moieties, namely methylene[9-(2,7-di-tert-butyl)fluorenyl(2-(1,3-dimethylcyclopentadienyl))]zirconium dichloride (1a) and its analogue, methylene[(9-(2,7-di-tert-butyl)fluorenyl(2-(1-methyl-3-phenyl)cyclopentadienyl))]zirconium dichloride (2a), have been prepared from (2,7-di-tert-butyl)-9-prop-2-ynyl-9H-fluorene (2). This procedure includes the use of 3-bromo-1-propyne which affords the methylene bridging unit by way of an intermolecular Pauson-Khand reaction in which norbornadiene and a pendant alkyne cyclize to form a ring that later becomes a substituted cyclopentadienyl group. Ethylene-norbornene (E-N) copolymerization was then carried out using these new complexes (1a and 1b) in the presence of methylaluminoxane (MAO) as a cocatalyst; these activities can be compared to that of isopropylene[9-fluorenyl-cyclopentadienyl]zirconium dichloride (3a). The activity of catalyst 1a was comparable to that of 3a but much higher than that of 2a. In addition, 1a shows higher norbornene insertion performance, and gives an E-N copolymer with a higher glass transition temperature (T_g) than 2a under identical conditions; both 1a and 2a give a lower T_g polymer than 3a does.     

Sustainable biorefinery processes using renewable deep eutectic solvents

1. Download : Download high-res image (194KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition of azides with electron-deficient alkynes under mild condition in water

We report a simple synthetic protocol for the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides with electron-deficient alkynes. Alkyne with at least one neighboring electron-withdrawing group proceeds with the cycloaddition successfully without any catalysts at room temperature in water. Under this simple condition, we evaluated a series of small molecule model reactions and then coupled an azido-DNA molecule with electron-deficient alkynes for the formation of [1,2,3]-triazole heterocycle, providing a potential method for introducing functional groups to DNA under biological conditions.     

Soluble factor from tumor cells induces heme oxygenase-1 by a nitric oxide-independent mechanism in murine peritoneal macrophages

Tumor target-derived soluble secretary factor has been known to influence macrophage activation to induce nitric oxide (NO) production. Since heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is induced by a variety of conditions associated with oxidative stress, we questioned whether soluble factor from tumor cells induces HO-1 through NO-dependent mechanism in macrophages. We designated this factor as a tumor-derived macrophage-activating factor (TMAF), because of its ability to activate macrophages to induce iNOS. Although TMAF alone showed modest activity, TMAF in combination with IFN-gamma significantly induced iNOS expression and NO synthesis. Simultaneously, TMAF induced HO-1 and this induction was slightly augmented by IFN-gamma. Surprisingly, however, induction of HO-1 by TMAF was not inhibited by the treatment with the highly selective iNOS inhibitor, 1400 W, indicating that TMAF induces the HO-1 enzyme by a NO-independent mechanism. While rIFN-gamma alone induced iNOS, it had no effect on HO-1 induction by itself. Collectively, the current study reveals that soluble factor from tumor target cells induces HO-1 enzyme in macrophages. However, overall biological significance of this phenomenon remains to be determined.     

Synthesis of highly functionalized furanones via aldol reaction of 3-silyloxyfurans

[reaction: see text] The stereoselective aldol reaction of 3-silyloxyfurans with aldehydes in the presence of a Lewis acid is described. N-Bromosuccinimide (NBS)-mediated cyclization of the aldol product leads to the formation of the 2,7-dioxa-bicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-3-one ring system, which represents the formal product of hetero Diels-Alder reaction of the furan with the aldehyde.