Free radical rearrangements of organocobaloximes: alkynyl to cycloalkylidene and hexenyl to cyclopentylmethyl

Under irradiation by tungsten light in pyridine solution, several substituted alkylcobaloximes undergo rearrangement to more stable substituted alkyl- or alkenyl-cobaloximes. When the same reactions are carried out in the presence of carbon tetrachloride or chloroform, no rearranged organocobaloximes are obtained, but a variety of organic products are obtained derived from the interception of transient organic radicals by the halogenated solvent. The rearrangements are rationalised in terms of a reversible homolysis of the carbon-cobalt bond, rearrangement of the organic radical and recapture by the cobalt(II) fragment to give complexes that are more stable to irradiation than their precursors.     

Determination of chromium,iron and copper in niobium by radiochemical proton activation analysis

Chromium, iron and copper were determined in niobium by radiochemical proton activation analysis (PAA). The main steps of the technique involved the irradiation of the samples with 13 MeV protons, the post-irradiation decontamination of the sample surface, a two-step separation procedure based on anion exchange from HF and HCl medium, and counting the separated indicator radionuclides with a well-type NaI detector. For a 5-hr irradiation, limits of detection for chromium, iron, and copper were 0.2, 5.0, and 15 ppb respectively. The results obtained by this technique are compared with data obtained by radiochemical neutron activation analysis (NAA) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS).     

Validation of the LacTek test applied to spiked extracts of tissue samples: determination of performance characteristics

LacTek tests are competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays intended for rapid detection of antimicrobial residues in bovine milk. In this study, the LacTek test protocol was modified for use with extracts of bovine tissue to detect beta-lactam, tetracycline, and sulfamethazine residues. Test performance characteristics--precision, accuracy, ruggedness, practicability, and analytical specificity and sensitivity--were investigated. Results suggest that LacTek tests can be easily adapted to detect antimicrobial residues in extracts of lean ground beef. However, positive samples may not contain residues at violative concentrations (i.e., Canadian maximum residue limits), and therefore, additional analysis would be required for final confirmation and quantitation (e.g., chromatography).     

Seasonal fluctuation of DNA photodamage in marine plankton assemblages at Palmer Station, Antarctica

Ultraviolet radiation-induced DNA damage frequencies were measured in DNA dosimeters and natural plankton communities during the austral spring at Palmer Station, Antarctica, during the 1999-2000 field season. We found that the fluence of solar ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) at the earth's surface correlated with stratospheric ozone concentrations, with significant ozone depletion observed because of "ozone hole" conditions. To verify the interdependence of ozone depletion and DNA damage in natural microbial communities, seawater was collected daily or weekly from Arthur Harbor at Palmer Station, Antarctica, throughout "ozone season," exposed to ambient sunlight between 0600 and 1800 h and fractionated using membrane filtration to separate phytoplankton and bacterioplankton populations. DNA from these fractions was isolated and DNA damage measured using radioimmunoassay. Under low-ozone conditions cyclobutane dimer concentrations in bacterioplankton and phytoplankton communities were maximal. DNA damage measured in dosimeters correlated closely with ozone concentrations and UV-B fluence. Our studies offer further support to the theory that stratospheric deozonation is detrimental to marine planktonic organisms in the Southern Ocean.     

Intramolecular Stacking in Ternary Complexes Containing Uridine 5′-Triphosphate, 2,2′-Bipyridyl,and a Divalent Metal Ion

The stability constants of the ternary complexes containing UTP, 2,2′-bipyridyl (bipy), and Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, or Zn²⁺ (M²⁺) have been determined by potentiometric titrations (Table 1). Changes in stability are quantified by Δlog K_M = log K–log K. For the Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺ systems Δlog K_M is 0.10, ?0.13, 0.36, and 0.15, respectively. All these ternary complexes are considerably more stable than would be expected on statistical grounds; indeed, for Co²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺, UTP^4? binds more tightly to M (bipy)²⁺ than to M²⁺. An UV. difference spectroscopic study suggests that stacked adducts between bipyridyl and the pyrimidine moiety of uridine are formed. ¹H-NMR. studies of the bipy/uridine, bipy/UTP, and bipy/UTP/Zn²⁺ systems (Figs. 1 and 2) confirm the presence of stacking in the binary adducts and in the ternary complex. There is also evidence for the existence of the stacked protonated complex, Zn(bipy) (HUTP)^?, with the proton at the γ-phosphate group. The acidity constant of this ternary complex has been measured (Fig. 3). The observed stability enhancement of stacked adducts by the formation of a metal ion bridge is discussed (Fig. 4) and biological implications are indicated.     

Rapid PCR in a continuous flow device

Continuous flow polymerase chain reaction (CFPCR) devices are compact reactors suitable for microfabrication and the rapid amplification of target DNAs. For a given reactor design, the amplification time can be reduced simply by increasing the flow velocity through the isothermal zones of the device; for flow velocities near the design value, the PCR cocktail reaches thermal equilibrium at each zone quickly, so that near ideal temperature profiles can be obtained. However, at high flow velocities there are penalties of an increased pressure drop and a reduced residence time in each temperature zone for the DNA/reagent mixture, that potentially affect amplification efficiency. This study was carried out to evaluate the thermal and biochemical effects of high flow velocities in a spiral, 20 cycle CFPCR device. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to determine the steady-state temperature distribution along the micro-channel and the temperature of the DNA/reagent mixture in each temperature zone as a function of linear velocity. The critical transition was between the denaturation (95 degrees C) and renaturation (55 degrees C-68 degrees C) zones; above 6 mm s(-1) the fluid in a passively-cooled channel could not be reduced to the desired temperature and the duration of the temperature transition between zones increased with increased velocity. The amplification performance of the CFPCR as a function of linear velocity was assessed using 500 and 997 base pair (bp) fragments from lambda-DNA. Amplifications at velocities ranging from 1 mm s(-1) to 20 mm s(-1) were investigated. The 500 bp fragment could be observed in a total reaction time of 1.7 min (5.2 s cycle(-1)) and the 997 bp fragment could be detected in 3.2 min (9.7 s cycle(-1)). The longer amplification time required for detection of the 997 bp fragment was due to the device being operated at its enzyme kinetic limit (i.e., Taq polymerase deoxynucleotide incorporation rate).     

Modified nucleosides in human serum.

Methylated purines and pyrimidines derived from the degradation of transfer ribonucleic acid have been shown to be excreted in abnormal amounts in the urine of patients with cancer. Recent technology developed by Gehrke and Kuo has allowed the separation and quantification of modified nucleosides in serum using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array measurement. Serum levels of ten modified nucleosides were measured in 37 normal healthy adults to establish normal values and to correlate activity with age and sex. In addition, serum levels of patients with several malignancies were measured to determine activity in these diseases. Levels of modified nucleosides in normal individuals were consistently reproducible and showed no significant variation among males versus females or with age. Patients with malignant diseases showed consistent elevations and these were highest in patients with more advanced disease. The evidence of no significant differences in the mean levels of modified nucleosides in serum with age or sex in normal adults and elevations in patients with malignancies demonstrate the potential value of modified nucleosides as cancer biomarkers.     

Chemoproteomic profiling of kinases in live cells using electrophilic sulfonyl triazole probes

Sulfonyl-triazoles are a new class of electrophiles that mediate covalent reaction with tyrosine residues on proteins through sulfur-triazole exchange (SuTEx) chemistry. Recent studies demonstrate the broad utility and tunability of SuTEx chemistry for chemical proteomics and protein ligand discovery. Here, we present a strategy for mapping protein interaction networks of structurally complex binding elements using functionalized SuTEx probes. We show that the triazole leaving group (LG) can serve as a releasable linker for embedding hydrophobic fragments to direct molecular recognition while permitting efficient proteome-wide identification of binding sites in live cells. We synthesized a series of SuTEx probes functionalized with a lipid kinase fragment binder for discovery of ligandable tyrosines residing in catalytic and regulatory domains of protein and metabolic kinases in live cells. We performed competition studies with kinase inhibitors and substrates to demonstrate that probe binding is occurring in an activity-dependent manner. Our functional studies led to discovery of probe-modified sites within the C2 domain that were important for downregulation of protein kinase C-alpha in response to phorbol ester activation. Our proof of concept studies highlight the triazole LG of SuTEx probes as a traceless linker for locating protein binding sites targeted by complex recognition elements in live cells.

Sulfonyl-triazole probes modified with a kinase recognition element are developed for live cell activity-based profiling to identify tyrosine sites located in catalytic and regulatory domains that are important for kinase function.     

Photoreactivation of cyclobutane dimers and (6-4) photoproducts in the epidermis of the marsupial, Monodelphis domestica

Radioimmunoassays were used to investigate the repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and pyrimidine (6-4)pyrimidone photoproducts ((6-4] photoproducts) in the epidermis of the South American opossum, Monodelphis domestica. In the absence of photoreactivating light, both types of photodamage were excised with similar kinetics, 50% of the damage remaining 8 h after UV irradiation in vivo. Exposure of UV-irradiated skin to photoreactivating light resulted in removal of most of the cyclobutane dimers and an enhanced rate of (6-4) photoproduct repair. Photoenhanced excision repair of non-dimer damage increases the range of biologically effective lesions removed by in vivo photoreactivation.