Calculation of membrane potential in synaptosomes with use of a lipophilic cation (tetraphenylphosphonium)

To estimate membrane potential in synaptosomes with the use of tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP+), an equation relating the amount of TPP+ accumulated in synaptosomes with membrane potential was derived from the following two assumptions. (1) TPP+ molecules were distributed into plasma membranes, mitochondria and cytosol of synaptosomes. (2) TPP+ achieves a Nernst equilibrium across both the synaptosomal and inner mitochondrial membranes. We propose three methods for calculation of membrane potential using this equation. The concentration of TPP+ was measured under various controlled conditions with an electrode selective for TPP+. The amount of TPP+ accumulated in synaptosomes was determined by measuring the difference between its initial concentration and the concentration after addition of synaptosomes, and membrane potential was estimated by the three methods. The resting potential of synaptosomes was estimated to be -75 to -90 mV by all of these methods. Membrane potentials under various controlled conditions were calculated, and the characteristics of the methods for estimation of membrane potential and those of membrane potential obtained by the methods are discussed.     

Solvent effect on protein binding by polymer brush grafted onto porous membranes

An epoxy-group-containing polymer chain was grafted onto the hollow-fiber form of a porous polyethylene membrane by the immersion of the electron beam-irradiated trunk polymer in glycidyl methacrylate diluted with methanol and 1-butanol. The epoxy group density ranged from 8.5 to 13.4 mol per kg of the trunk polymer. Subsequently, the epoxy groups produced were converted into sulfonic acid and diethylamino groups. The density of -SOH and -N(C2H5), groups was 0.40 and 2.2 mol per kg of the product. respectively. The polymer brush, defined as a polymer chain extending from the surface of a pore toward the interior of the pore, was evaluated from the determination of an equilibrium binding capacity of hen egg lysozyme (HEL) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). The polymer brush prepared in 1-butanol was found to be longer than that prepared in methanol from the determinations of liquid permeability and protein adsorptivity. The proteins were bound to the polymer brush prepared in 1-butanol, followed by the functionalization, at higher degrees of multilayer binding: about 30 for HEL and 6 for BSA.     

Planar chiral cyclic ether: asymmetric resolution and chirality transformation

Remarkably stable planar chirality was found in a nine-membered diallylic cyclic ether. Enantiomerically enriched ether was prepared by a kinetic resolution of a racemic one, which is valuable as a novel type of chiral building block.     

Bioactive marine metabolites VI. Structure elucidation of discodermin a,an antimicrobial peptide from the marine sponge Discodermia kiiensis

The structure of an antimicrobial peptide discodermin A isolated from the marine sponge Discodermia kiiensis has been elucidated as CHO-d-Ala-l-Phe-d-Pro-d-t-Leu-l-t-Leu-d-Trp-l-Arg-d-Cys(O₃H)-l-T$\text{hr-}\text{l}\text{-MeGln-}\text{d}\text{-Leu-}\text{l}\text{-Asn-}\text{l}\text{-Thr-Sar}$.     

Size distribution and characteristics of chemical components in ambient particulate matter.

Ambient particulate matter and gas in Kyoto were investigated by gravimetric analysis, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, and ion chromatography in order to clarify their behavior and origin. The size distribution and characteristics of the chemical components in ambient particulates collected on PTFE membrane filters using an Andersen air sampler were examined from August 2001 to April 2004. A four-stage filter pack method was used to sample the atmosphere for the determination of gas (SO2, HNO3, HCl, NH3) and particulate matter (SO42, NO3, Cl-, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, NH4+) concentrations from October 2002 to April 2004. The concentration of SPM mass was in the range of 6.7 - 80.2 microg/m3. The size distributions of SPM mass were bimodal, peaking at around 0.65 - 1.1 and 3.3 - 4.7 microm, and 40 - 85% of SPM mass was fine particles (< 2.1 microm). Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Cl, and Fe were mainly present in coarse particles (2.1 to 11.0 microm), while S was present in fine particles. The concentrations of Al, Si, Ca, Mg, and Fe in fine particles increased from March to April in 2002, and those in coarse particulates increased in November 2002 and from March to April in 2004. This may be the effect of the continental yellow sand "Kosa." The differences in the size distributions of Al, Si, Ca, Mg, and Fe in particles may depend on differences in their place of occurrence and course of transport from China to Japan. The concentration of HCl gas was higher than that of particulate chloride ion in summer. Nitric acid gas existed at higher concentrations in summer, but fine particulate nitrate ion was observed in winter. The gaseous-to-fine aerosol nitrate fraction became higher at warmer temperatures. Coarse sulfate was below 10%, and SO2 gas and fine particulate sulfate were above 90%.     

Electrochemical synthesis of a polypyrrole thin film with supercritical carbon dioxide as a solvent

A conductive polypyrrole (PPy) film was successfully synthesized in a homogeneous supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2)/acetonitrile (AN) system. The occurrence of a homogeneous supercritical state was confirmed by observations of the phase behavior of the system through a high-pressure cell with a viewing window. The concentration of a supporting electrolyte, tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF6), significantly changed the phase behavior of the scCO2/AN system. The polymerization rate of the film in that system decreased with further addition of CO2. This result suggested that the low viscosity of scCO2 did not play an important role in improving the growth rate of the PPy film. The low polymerization rate might have been due to the electron-transfer resistance arising from the low dielectric constant of scCO2/AN mixture. The roughness of the film prepared in the homogeneous scCO2/AN system was 1/10 that synthesized in AN itself as a solvent. The slow growth of film and the high diffusion rate of the monomer seemed to account for the smooth flat film formation.     

ESTABLISHMENT and CHARACTERIZATION OF A MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY RECOGNIZING THE DEWAR ISOMERS OF(6–4)PHOTOPRODUCTS

Abstract— We established a monoclonal antibody(DEM–1) that recognizes UV-induced DNA damage other than cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers or(6–4)photoproducts. The binding ofDEM–1 antibody to 254 nm UV-irradiated DNA increased with subsequent exposure to UV wavelengths longer than 310 nm, whereas that of the 64M-2 antibody specific for the(6–4)photoproduct decreased with this treatment. Furthermore, the increase inDEM–1 binding was inhibited by the presence of the 64M-2 antibody during the exposure. We concluded that theDEM–1 antibody specifically recognized the Dewar photoproduct, which is the isomeric form of the(6–4)photoproduct. TheDEM–1 antibody, however, also bound to DNA irradiated with high fluences of 254 nm UV, suggesting that 254 nm UV could induce Dewar photoproducts without subsequent exposure to longer wavelengths of UV. Furthermore, an action spectral study demonstrated that 254 nm was the most efficient wavelength for Dewar photoproduct induction in the region from 254 to 365 nm, as well as cyclobutane dimers and(6–4)photoproducts, although the action spectrum values in the U V-B region were significantly higher compared with those for cyclobutane dimer and(6–4)photoproduct induction.     

Direct chiral resolution of tartaric acid by ion-pair capillary electrophoresis using an aqueous background electrolyte with (1R,2R)-(-)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane as a chiral counterion

Chiral resolution of native DL-tartaric acid was achieved by ion-pair capillary electrophoresis (CE) using an aqueous-ethanol background electrolyte with (1R,2R)-(-)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane (R-DACH) as a chiral counterion. Factors affecting chiral resolution and migration time of tartaric acid were studied. By increasing the viscosity of the background electrolyte and the ion-pair formation, using organic solvents with a lower relative dielectric constant, resulted in a longer migration time. The optimum conditions for both high resolution and short migration time of tartaric acid were found to be a mixture of 65% v/v ethanol and 35% v/v aqueous solution containing 30 mM R-DACH and 75 mM phosphoric acid (pH 5.1) with an applied voltage of -30 kV at 25 degrees C, using direct detection at 200 nm. By using this system, the resolution (Rs) of racemic tartaric acid was approximately 1. The electrophoretic patterns of tartaric and malic acids suggest that two carboxyl groups and two hydroxyl groups of tartaric acid are associated with the enantioseparation of tartaric acid by the proposed CE method.     

A novel synthesis, including asymmetric synthesis, of 2,4,4-trisubstituted 2-cyclopentenones based on the reaction of 1-chlorovinyl p-tolyl sulfoxides with acetonitrile and its homologues

Reaction of 1-chlorovinyl p-tolyl sulfoxides, which were synthesized from chloromethyl p-tolyl sulfoxide and ketones in high overall yields, with cyanomethyllithium (lithium α-carbanion of acetonitrile) gave adducts in high to quantitative yields. The adducts were treated with LDA followed by lithium α-carbanion of the homologues of acetonitrile to give 3,5,5-trisubstituted enaminonitriles in good to high yields. Hydrolysis of the enaminonitriles under acidic conditions gave 2,4,4-trisubstituted 2-cyclopentenones in good yields. By using the optically active chloromethyl p-tolyl sulfoxide and unsymmetrical ketones, this procedure gave the optically pure 2,4,4-trisubstituted 2-cyclopentenones. The scope and limitations of this method and the mechanism of the reactions are also discussed. These procedures offer a new and effective method for the synthesis of 2,4,4-trisubstituted 2-cyclopentenones from four components, ketones, chloromethyl p-tolyl sulfoxide, acetonitrile, and its homologues.     

Theoretical study on spin alignments in ferromagnetic heterospin chains with competing exchange interactions: a generalized ferrimagnetic system containing organic biradicals in the singlet ground state

Spin alignments in heterospin chains are examined from numerical calculations of model spin Hamiltonians. The Hamiltonians of the heterospin chains mimic an open-shell molecular assemblage composed of an organic biradical in a singlet (S = 0) ground state and a doublet (S = 1/2) monoradical, which are coupled by intermolecular ferromagnetic exchange interactions. It is found from numerical calculations of the spin Hamiltonians that the spin value S2 of the ground-state singlet biradical embedded in the exchange-coupled assemblage deviates from zero and contributes to the bulk magnetization. The alternating chain is found to have two kinds of ground spin states, a high- and a low-spin state. All the spins are parallel to each other in the high-spin state, which is characterized by the spin correlation function of (S(i).S(j)) = 0.25. On the other hand, the spin alignment in the low-spin state is found to be dependent on the topology of the intermolecular exchange interactions. The energy preference of the two states depends on the relative amplitude of the exchange interactions in the chain. The intermolecular ferromagnetic couplings are competing in the ground-state singlet biradical with the intramolecular antiferromagnetic interaction. The appearance of the two kinds of ground states is attributed to a quantum spin frustration effect inherent in the triangular motif of the competing interactions. Magnetic properties of a zigzag chain complex composed of a nitronyl nitroxide biradical with a singlet ground state and Cu(hfac)2 are examined on the basis of the theoretical calculations. The vanishing magnetic moments, or the product of susceptibility and temperature chiT, at low temperatures observed for the complex are consistent with those of the low-spin state predicted in the theoretical calculations.