Quantitative analysis of complex peptide mixtures using FTMS and differential mass spectrometry

Label-free LC-MS profiling is a powerful quantitative proteomic method to study relative peptide abundances between two or more biological samples. Here we demonstrate the use of a previously described comparative LC-MS method, differential mass spectrometry (dMS), to analyze high-resolution Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) data for detection and quantification of known peptide differences between two sets of complex mixtures. Six standard peptides were spiked into a processed plasma background at fixed ratios from 1.25:1 to 4:1 to make two sets of samples. The resulting mixtures were analyzed by microcapillary LC-FTMS and dMS. dMS successfully identified five out of the six peptides as statistically significant differences (p 相似文献   

Solvation thermodynamics of xylitol in water and in aqueous amino acids at 298.15 K

The scaled particle theory has been applied to calculate the free energy, ΔG_solv, enthalpy, ΔH_solv, and entropy, ΔS_solv of solvation for xylitol in water and in aqueous amino acids (glycine, alanine and valine) at 298.15 K. The solvation energy, enthalpy and entropy of xylitol are expressed in terms of their various ingredients. The results show that the interaction terms contribute favorably to the process of solvation. The results suggest that the cavity formation for accommodation of xylitol molecules in aqueous amino acids is an enthalpy‐dominated process. Furthermore, the investigated parameters indicate that xylitol–amino acid interactions follow the sequence: glycine alanine valine water. The findings of the present work may help to throw light on the role that xylitol can play to stabilize macromolecules like proteins in aqueous solutions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nondegenerate dual atomic parametric amplifier: entangled atomic fields

In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of two coupled quantum degenerate atomic fields (BEC) interacting with two classical optical fields in the nonlinear atom optics regime. Two-photon interaction produces entangled atom-atom pairs which exhibit nonclassical correlations. Since the system involves the creation of two correlated atom pairs, we call it the nondegenerate dual atomic parametric amplifier.     

“Is Macromolecular Crowding Overlooked?”- Effects of Volume Exclusion on DNA-Amino Acids Complexes and Their Reconstitutes

Biological macromolecules evolve and function within intracellular environments that are crowded with other macromolecules. Crowding results in surprisingly large quantitative effects on both the rates and the equilibria of interactions involving macromolecules, but such interactions are commonly studied outside the cell in uncrowded buffers. The addition of high concentrations of natural and synthetic macromolecules to such buffers enables crowding to be mimicked in vitro, and should be encouraged as a routine variable to study. In this study, we propose to understand the changes in DNA character and its modulation in presence of macromolecules such as PEG with reference to binding parameters to amino acids using fluorescence enhancement.     

Efficacy of Organophosphorus Derivatives Containing Substituted Chalcone Thiosemicarbazones and Dithiocarbazates Against Fungal Pathogens of Sugarcane

Ten novel organophosphorus derivatives have been prepared by the reactions of O,O-diethylchlorophosphate with two important series of substituted chalcones viz., substituted chalcone thiosemicarbazones and substituted chalcone dithiocarbazates. The derivatives have been characterized on the basis of analysis and spectral (IR, 1 H NMR) data. Fungicidal activity of these derivatives against Colletotrichum falcatum , Fusarium oxysporum , and Curvularia pallescens have been evaluated. The screening results have been correlated with the structural features of the tested compounds. Organophosphorus derivatives containing 2,2'-dihydroxybenzalacetophenone thiosemicarbazone, 2-chlorobenzal-2'-hydroxyacetophenone thiosemicarbazone, 2-chlorobenzal-2'-hydroxy acetophenone-S-benzyldithiocarbazate proved more active than some prevalent commercial synthetic fungicides.     

Syntheses of 1,5-Benzothiazepines: Part XXXVI—Syntheses and Antimicrobial Evaluation of 2-(2-Chlorophenyl)-4-(4-chlorophenyl/2-thienyl)-2,5-dihydro-8-substituted-1,5-benzothiazepines

Six 5-substituted-2-aminobenzenethiols have been reacted with 3-(2-chlorophenyl)-1-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-propenone and 3-(2-chlorophenyl)-1-(2-thienyl)-2-propenone in dry ethanol saturated with dry HCl gas, to obtain twelve new compounds, 8-substituted-2-(2-chlorophenyl)-4-(4-chlorophenyl/2-thienyl)-2,5-dihydro-1,5-benzothiazepines in satisfactory yields. The structures of the final products have been assigned by elemental microanalyses data for elements, C, H, and N and by IR, ¹ H NMR, and mass spectroscopies. The synthesized compounds have been evaluated for their relative antimicrobial activity against the gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the fungus, Candida albicans. The compounds have been found to show little antibacterial activity, but interestingly, showed significant antifungal activity.     

Computational atomistic blueprinting of novel conducting copolymers using particle swarm optimization

A proficient metaheuristic approach viz., particle swarm optimization coupled with negative factor counting technique and inverse iteration method has been employed for designing novel binary and ternary copolymers based on thiophene, pyrrole and furan skeletons. A comparative study of the electronic structures and conduction properties of neutral heterocyclic copolymers and their benzene substituted analogues is inferred using the band structure results derived from ab-initio Hartree–Fock crystal orbital calculations. The band gap value decreases as a result of substitution on the polymer backbone due to increased quinoid contributions which is expected to enhance the intrinsic conductivity of the resulting copolymers. In general, it has been found that HOMO energies have a more decisive influence than LUMO energies on the relative fraction of constituents of the respective low band gap copolymers. The trends in the electronic properties of the respective copolymers are also verified and discussed with the help of density of states. These results can help streamline scrupulous synthetic efforts providing a potent route for molecular engineering of sustainable and efficient electronic materials.     

Aliskiren Hemifumarate Proliposomes for Improved Oral Drug Delivery: Formulation Development,In Vitro and In Vivo Permeability Testing

The objective of this study was to develop proliposomal formulations for a poorly bioavailable drug, aliskiren hemifumarate (AKH). A solvent evaporation method was used to prepare proliposomes using different lipids. The lipids of selection were soy phosphatidylcholine (SPC), dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), and dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol sodium (DMPG Na), stearylamine, and cholesterol in various ratios. Proliposomes were evaluated for particle size, zeta potential, in vitro drug release, in vitro permeability, and in vivo pharmacokinetics upon hydration with aqueous phase. In vitro drug release studies were conducted in 0.01 N hydrochloric acid using USP type II dissolution apparatus. Parallel artificial membrane permeation assay (PAMPA) and Caco-2 cell line models were used to study the in vitro drug permeation. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used to conduct in vivo pharmacokinetic studies. Among different formulations, proliposomes with drug/DMPC/cholesterol/stearylamine in the ratio of 1:5:0.025:0.050 (w/w/w/w) demonstrated the desired particle size, higher zeta potential, and higher encapsulation efficiency. The PAMPA and Caco-2 cell line experiments showed a significantly higher permeability of AKH with proliposomes as compared to pure AKH. In animal studies, the optimized formulation of proliposomes showed significant improvement in the rate and extent of absorption of AKH. Specifically, following a single oral administration, the relative bioavailability of AKH proliposome formulation was 230% when compared to pure AKH suspension.     

Density functional theory for Yukawa fluids

We develop an approximate field theory for particles interacting with a generalized Yukawa potential. This theory improves and extends a previous splitting field theory, originally developed for counterions around a fixed charge distribution. The resulting theory bridges between the second virial approximation, which is accurate at low particle densities, and the mean-field approximation, accurate at high densities. We apply this theory to charged, screened ions in bulk solution, modeled to interact with a Yukawa potential; the theory is able to accurately reproduce the thermodynamic properties of the system over a broad range of conditions. The theory is also applied to "dressed counterions," interacting with a screened electrostatic potential, contained between charged plates. It is found to work well from the weak coupling to the strong coupling limits. The theory is able to reproduce the counterion profiles and force curves for closed and open systems obtained from Monte Carlo simulations.