Membrane Transport of the Zwitterionic Aromatic α-Amino Acids by α-Aminophosphonates

Abstract

Bghly selective biological transport of amino acids is usually mediated by carrier proteins. The application of such membrane systems for the analysis and separation of amino acids has long studied. This work is devoted to the transport of zwitterionic form of aromatic a-amino acids such as d,l-Phe, d,l-DOPA, d,l-His, d,l-Tyr, d,l-Trp, via supported liquid membrane (SLM). The lipophilic α-aminophosphonates (I).

R₁ amyl or 2-ethylhexyl; R₂, R₂-(CH₂)4-(CH₂)5-CH₃ & (CH₃), C₄ H(CH₉) & H; H & H; have been used as carrier in the membrane systems composed of a porous polymeric support (Millipore Type FA) impregnated with 10^?1 M carrier in o-nitrophenyl n-octyl ether (amino acid concentration in source phase is 10^?3 M). The cell for membrane extractions is presented on Fig I.     

γ-Cyclodextrin/alkylthiol inclusion compounds crystals as substrates for the formation and immobilization of gold nanoparticles produced by magnetron sputtering

In this work, we report the nanodecoration of microcrystals of inclusion compound (IC) of γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD) that contain octanethiol, decanethiol and dodecanethiol. Crystals of these ICs provide a suitable environment for nucleation, growth and immobilization of gold nanoparticles that were obtained by the magnetron sputtering technique. The use of γ-CD IC substrates with a specific surface morphology (i.e., the functional group of the guest molecule faces outward preferentially from a crystal plane) is an efficient method for the preparation of AuNPs with low size dispersion, which is due to the high affinity between the functional group of the surfactant alkylthiol guest with the metal nanoparticles.     

Resveratrol augments ER stress and the cytotoxic effects of glycolytic inhibition in neuroblastoma by downregulating Akt in a mechanism independent of SIRT1

Cancer cells typically display increased rates of aerobic glycolysis that are correlated with tumor aggressiveness and a poor prognosis. Targeting the glycolytic pathway has emerged as an attractive therapeutic route mainly because it should spare normal cells. Here, we evaluate the effects of combining the inhibition of glycolysis with application of the polyphenolic compound resveratrol (RSV) in neuroblastoma (NB) cancer cell lines. Inhibiting glycolysis with 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) significantly reduced NB cell viability and was associated with increased endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and Akt activity. Administration of 2-DG increased the expression of the ER molecular chaperones GRP78 and GRP94, the prodeath protein C/EBP homology protein (CHOP) and the phosphorylation of Akt at S473, T450 and T308. Combined treatment with both RSV and 2-DG reduced GRP78, GRP94 and Akt phosphorylation but increased CHOP and NB cell death when compared with the administration of 2-DG alone. The selective inhibition of Akt activity also decreased 2-DG-induced GRP78 and GRP94 expression and increased CHOP expression, suggesting that Akt can modulate ER stress. Protein phosphatase 1α (PP1α) was activated by RSV, as indicated by a reduction in PP1α phosphorylation at T320. Pretreatment of cells with tautomycin, a selective PP1α inhibitor, prevented the RSV-mediated decrease in Akt phosphorylation, suggesting that RSV enhances 2-DG-induced cell death by activating PP1 and downregulating Akt. The RSV-mediated inhibition of Akt in the presence of 2-DG was not prevented by the selective inhibition of SIRT1, a known target of RSV, indicating that the effects of RSV on this pathway are independent of SIRT1. We propose that RSV inhibits Akt activity by increasing PP1α activity, thereby potentiating 2-DG-induced ER stress and NB cell death.     

Photochemical Synthesis of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles—A Review

Nanomaterials have supported important technological advances due to their unique properties and their applicability in various fields, such as biomedicine, catalysis, environment, energy, and electronics. This has triggered a tremendous increase in their demand. In turn, materials scientists have sought facile methods to produce nanomaterials of desired features, i.e., morphology, composition, colloidal stability, and surface chemistry, as these determine the targeted application. The advent of photoprocesses has enabled the easy, fast, scalable, and cost- and energy-effective production of metallic nanoparticles of controlled properties without the use of harmful reagents or sophisticated equipment. Herein, we overview the synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles via photochemical routes. We extensively discuss the effect of varying the experimental parameters, such as the pH, exposure time, and source of irradiation, the use or not of reductants and surfactants, reagents’ nature and concentration, on the outcomes of these noble nanoparticles, namely, their size, shape, and colloidal stability. The hypothetical mechanisms that govern these green processes are discussed whenever available. Finally, we mention their applications and insights for future developments.     

BF3·Et2O catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of diethyl 2-(dialkoxyphosphorylethynyl)-2-arylaminomalonates to 3-phosphonylated indoles

The boron trifluoride diethyl etherate catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of diethyl 2-(dialkoxyphosphorylethynyl)-2-arylaminomalonates afforded a series of novel 3-phosphonylated indoles, diethyl 2-[3-(dialkoxyphosphoryl)-1H-indol-2-yl]propanedioates. Decarboxylation of the latter compounds resulted in the formation of ethyl 2-[3-(dialkoxyphosphoryl)-1H-indol-2-yl]acetates.     

Study of rare encounters in a membrane using quenching of cascade reaction between triplet and photochrome probes with nitroxide radicals

Measurements of active encounters between molecules in native membranes containing ingredients, including proteins, are of prime importance. To estimate rare encounters in a high range of rate constants (rate coefficients) and distances between interacting molecules in membranes, a cascade of photochemical reactions for molecules diffusing in multilamellar liposomes was investigated. The sensitised cascade triplet cis-trans photoisomerisation of the excited stilbene involves the use of a triplet sensitiser (Erythrosin B), a photochrome stilbene-derivative probe (4-dimethylamino-4'-aminostilbene) exhibiting the phenomenon of trans-cis photoisomerisation, and nitroxide radicals (5-doxyl stearic acid) to quench the excited triplet state of the sensitiser. Measurement of the phosphorescence lifetime of Erythrosin B and the fluorescence enhancement of the stilbene-derivative photochrome probe, at various concentrations of the nitroxide probe, made it possible to calculate the quenching rate constant k(q)= 1.1 x 10(15) cm2 M(-1) s(-1) and the rate constant of the triplet-triplet energy transfer between the sensitiser and stilbene probe k(T)= 1.0 x 10(12) cm2 M(-1) s(-1). These values, together with the data on diffusion rate constant, obtained by methods utilising various theoretical characteristic times of about seven orders of magnitude and the experimental rate constants of about five orders of magnitude, were found to be in good agreement with the advanced theory of diffusion-controlled reactions in two dimensions. Because the characteristic time of the proposed cascade method is relatively large (0.1 s), it is possible to follow rare collisions between molecules and free radicals in model and biological membranes with a very sensitive fluorescence spectroscopy technique, using a relatively low concentration of probes.     

π-d-Interaction and the temperature dependent magnetic circular dichroism spectra of low spin Fe(III)-heme compounds

The magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) of metmyoglobin cyanide, ferricytochromec and horseradish peroxidase cyanide were measured in the region 340–800 nm over a range of temperatures from 293 to 15 K. All three species show the temperature dependent MCD (TheC-type effects ∼1/T) in both visibleQ and near UVB bands. While the MCD and absorption inB- region as well as the absorption inQ region are quite similar for all three species the MCD inQ- bands reveal the marked differences, especially at low temperatures. To explain these observations, the theoretical treatment based on our previous model (A. P. Mineyev and Yu. A. Sharonov, 1978, Theoret. Chim. Acta (Berl.)49, 295–307) is proposed. The key point of this consideration is the configuration π-d- interaction which in addition to our previous analysis involves the first excited Fe(III)-ion Kramers doublet and theB-Q-mixing effects. The simultaneous least square fit of MCD and absorption data allows to evaluate the π —d- parameters which appear to be of the order of 10²−10³ cm⁻¹. The role of the π -d- interaction in the forming of hemoprotein spectra are discussed.