Separation of purine and pyrimidine bases by ion chromatography with direct conductivity detection

A simple, rapid and accurate method for the simultaneous determination of four purine and pyrimidine bases (cytosine, 5-methylcytosine, adenine and N6-methyladenine) has been developed. The quantitative determination of these bases was accomplished by ion chromatography (IC) with direct conductivity detection (CD) based on their ionization in acidic medium without chemical suppression. The recovery of cytosine, 5-methylcytosine, and adenine in calf thymus DNA was more than 98% (n=3) and the relative standard deviation (RSD, n=5) less than 2.4%. In a single chromatographic run, the four bases could be separated and determined in less than 10 min. The detection limits were found to be 0.05 microg/mL for cytosine, 0.08 microg/mL for 5-methylcytosine, 0.07 microg/mL for adenine, and 0.07 microg/mL for N6-methyladenine. Linear ranges were 0.2-95.1 microg/mL for cytosine (r2=0.9996), 0.3-196.6 microg/mL for 5-methylcytosine (r2=0.9994), 0.3-105.5 microg/mL for adenine (r2=0.9998), and 0.3-159.1 microg/mL for N6-methyladenine (r2=0.9999). With the proposed method, purine and pyrimidine bases could be successfully detected in calf thymus DNA. We also determined these bases in calf thymus DNA using RP-HPLC. Compared to RP-HPLC, the IC method offers advantages such as high selectivity and simple mobile phase.     

Characterization of organosulfates from the photooxidation of isoprene and unsaturated fatty acids in ambient aerosol using liquid chromatography/(-) electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

In the present study, we have characterized in detail the MS(2) and MS(3) fragmentation behaviors, using electrospray ionization (ESI) in the negative ion mode, of previously identified sulfated isoprene secondary organic aerosol compounds, including 2-methyltetrols, 2-methylglyceric acid, 2-methyltetrol mononitrate derivatives, glyoxal and methylglyoxal. A major fragmentation pathway for the deprotonated molecules of the sulfate esters of 2-methyltetrols and 2-methylglyceric acid and of the sulfate derivatives of glyoxal and methylglyoxal is the formation of the bisulfate [HSO(4)](-) anion, while the deprotonated sulfate esters of 2-methyltetrol mononitrate derivatives preferentially fragment through loss of nitric acid. Rational interpretation of MS(2), MS(3) and accurate mass data led to the structural characterization of unknown polar compounds in K-puszta fine aerosol as organosulfate derivatives of photooxidation products of unsaturated fatty acids, i.e. 2-hydroxy-1,4-butanedialdehyde, 4,5- and 2,3-dihydroxypentanoic acids, and 2-hydroxyglutaric acid, and of alpha-pinene, i.e. 3-hydroxyglutaric acid. The deprotonated molecules of the sulfated hydroxyacids, 2-methylglyceric acid, 4,5- and 2,3-dihydroxypentanoic acid, and 2- and 3-hydroxyglutaric acids, showed in addition to the [HSO(4)](-) ion (m/z 97) neutral losses of water, CO(2) and/or SO(3), features that are characteristic of humic-like substances. The polar organosulfates characterized in the present work are of climatic relevance because they may contribute to the hydrophilic properties of fine ambient aerosol. In addition, these compounds probably serve as ambient tracer compounds for the occurrence of secondary organic aerosol formation under acidic conditions.     

High-density targeting of a viral multifunctional nanoplatform to a pathogenic, biofilm-forming bacterium

Nanomedicine directed at diagnosis and treatment of infections can benefit from innovations that have substantially increased the variety of available multifunctional nanoplatforms. Here, we targeted a spherical, icosahedral viral nanoplatform to a pathogenic, biofilm-forming bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus. Density of binding mediated through specific protein-ligand interactions exceeded the density expected for a planar, hexagonally close-packed array. A multifunctionalized viral protein cage was used to load imaging agents (fluorophore and MRI contrast agent) onto cells. The fluorescence-imaging capability allowed for direct observation of penetration of the nanoplatform into an S. aureus biofilm. These results demonstrate that multifunctional nanoplatforms based on protein cage architectures have significant potential as tools for both diagnosis and targeted treatment of recalcitrant bacterial infections.     

Effect of Chain Length on the Adsorption Behavior of n-Alkanes in Ferrierite

¹³ C NMR spectroscopy and computer simulations have shown that the chain length of hydrocarbons has a surprising effect on where these molecules reside in the zeolite FER. Propane and butane can access the entire two-dimensional channel structure, while hexane only the one-dimensional substructure. This difference has important consequences for the catalytic activity and explains some of the experimental observations.     

Precision study on capillary electrophoresis methods for metacycline

A CE method for metacycline (MTC) determination was investigated in an inter-laboratory experiment. Many problems were encountered in this study, most of which were related to the transfer of the method to different CE equipment. The reported problems could be classified into different categories: problems related to the precision, to the parameters in the protocol, and to the MTC peak shape. As the peak shape problem was partially responsible for the poor precision, a new CE method was developed in order to obtain a good MTC peak shape on all equipment. The precision of this new method for MTC determination was examined in an intermediate precision study, where the influence of the factors "time" and "equipment" was investigated. Although the new method could be transferred to different instruments, the precision remained poor mainly due to the contributions of the between-replicate and the between-injection variances.     

Are the Interactions between Recombinant Prion Proteins and Polymeric Surfaces Related to the Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Balance?

New non‐fouling tubes are developed and their influence on the adhesion of neuroproteins is studied. Recombinant prion proteins are considered as a single component representative of hydrophobic proteins. Samples are stored for 24 h at 4 °C in tubes coated with two different coatings: poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) as a hydrophilic surface and a plasma‐fluorinated coating as a hydrophobic one. The protein adhesion is monitored by ELISA tests, XPS and confocal microscopy. It appears that the highest recovery of recombinant prion protein in the liquid phase is obtained with the hydrophilic surface while the hydrophobic character of the storage tube induces an important amount of biological loss. However, the recovery is not complete even for tubes coated with poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide).

     

An Exact Procedure for the Resource-Constrained Weighted Earliness–Tardiness Project Scheduling Problem

In this paper we study the resource-constrained project scheduling problem with weighted earliness–tardinesss penalty costs. Project activities are assumed to have a known deterministic due date, a unit earliness as well as a unit tardiness penalty cost and constant renewable resource requirements. The objective is to schedule the activities in order to minimize the total weighted earliness–tardinesss penalty cost of the project subject to the finish–start precedence constraints and the constant renewable resource availability constraints. With these features the problem becomes highly attractive in just-in-time environments.We introduce a depth-first branch-and-bound algorithm which makes use of extra precedence relations to resolve resource conflicts and relies on a fast recursive search algorithm for the unconstrained weighted earliness–tardinesss problem to compute lower bounds. The procedure has been coded in Visual C++, version 4.0 under Windows NT. Both the recursive search algorithm and the branch-and-bound procedure have been validated on a randomly generated problem set.     

Identification of Anti-Proliferative Compounds from Genista monspessulana Seeds through Covariate-Based Integration of Chemical Fingerprints and Bioactivity Datasets

Genista monspessulana (L.) L.A.S. Johnson (Fabaceae) is a Mediterranean plant introduced to South America and other regions for ornamental purposes. However, it is considered an invasive shrub due to its reproductive vigor in many areas. Unlike other Genista plants, G. monspessulana has few studies disclosing its biologically active components, particularly cytotoxic agents against cancer cells. Thus, as part of our research on anti-proliferative bioactives, a set of ethanolic seed extracts from ten accessions of G. monspessulana, collected in the Bogotá plateau, were evaluated against four cell lines: PC-3 (prostate adenocarcinoma), SiHa (cervical carcinoma), A549 (lung carcinoma), and L929 (normal mouse fibroblasts). Extracts were also analyzed through liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC/MS) to record chemical fingerprints and determine the composition and metabolite variability between accessions. Using multiple covariate statistics, chemical and bioactivity datasets were integrated to recognize patterns and identify bioactive compounds among studied extracts. G. monspessulana seed-derived extracts exhibited dose-dependent antiproliferative activity on PC-3 and SiHa cell lines (>500 µg/mL < IC₅₀ < 26.3 µg/mL). Seven compounds (1–7) were inferred as the compounds most likely responsible for the observed anti-proliferative activity and subsequently isolated and identified by spectroscopic techniques. A tricyclic quinolizidine (1) and a pyranoisoflavone (2) were found to be the most active compounds, exhibiting selectivity against PC-3 cell lines (IC₅₀ < 18.6 µM). These compounds were used as precursors to obtain a quinolizidine-pyranoisoflavone adduct via Betti reaction, improving the activity against PC-3 and comparable to curcumin as the positive control. Results indicated that this composition–activity associative approach is advantageous to finding those bioactive principles efficiently within active extracts. This correlative association can be employed in further studies focused on the targeted isolation of anti-proliferative compounds from Genista plants and accessions.