Nonnucleoside HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors, Part 4[1]. Synthesis and Anti-HIV Activity of N-1-β-Carbonyl-6-naphthyl-methyl Analogues of HEPT

Summary.  A series of 6-naphthylmethyl substituted HEPT analogues bearing a β-carbonyl and a terminal phenyl ring or ester groups on the N-1 side chain of uracil were synthesized, and the in vitro anti-HIV activity was evaluated. Most of these HEPTs were considerably less potent and selective or inactive, only a few compounds showed moderate or high activity against HIV-1. The results demonstrated that the anti-HIV-1 activity of 6-naphthylmethyl substituted HEPT analogues was diminished or eliminated when the β-oxygen of N-1 side chain was replaced by a carbonyl group.     

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence molecules and their new applications aside from OLEDs

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence molecules (TADF) molecules have been found to undergo efficient intersystem crossing (ISC) and reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) processes, which benefit their successful applications in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Due to their long-lived delayed fluorescence, TADF molecules can also be applied in time-resolved luminescence imaging. Besides their special singlet properties, their excited triplet characteristics provide their potential applications in triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC), photodynamic therapy (PDT) and organic photocatalytic synthesis by used as a triplet photosensitizer.     

Direct antigen capture by soluble scFv antibodies

For ease of detection, soluble forms of phage-displayed scFv antibodies are usually expressed with a tag, e.g., c-myc or His (Histidine). The binding is then assayed by a monoclonal antibody to the tag. In this article, we describe the use of biotinylated antigen for detecting soluble scFv antibodies without utilizing the peptide tag detection system. The scFv antibodies were against the oncoplacental antigen heat-stable alkaline phosphatase (HSAP). The method essentially consisted of either reverse Western or antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In the reverse Western, periplasmic extract was electrophoresed, and binding to biotinylated antigen was detected by the detection system based on streptavidin-horseradish peroxidase. The antigen capture ELISA utilized the binding of periplasmic extract to a polystyrene plate. We have also demonstrated the use of antigen capture ELISA for studying specificity and affinity of the selected clones. Although these techniques have been developed for antibodies to HSAP, they have general utility for phage expression systems without a peptide tag.     

Formation of TiO2 Sols,Gels and Nanopowders from Hydrolysis of Ti(OiPr)4 in AOT Reverse Micelles

Titania sols, gels and nanopowders have been produced by the controlled hydrolysis of tetraisopropyltitanate (TPT) in sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT) reverse micelles. Particle formation and aggregation have been investigated by photon correlation spectroscopy, the crystal phases by FT-Raman spectroscopy, and the crystallite dimensions of the precipitates by transmission electron microscopy. Nanoparticles could be produced at relatively high Ti(IV) concentrations (up to 0.05 mol dm^–3). These nanoparticles aggregated into sols, with colloid sizes of 20–300 nm, eventually forming gelatinous precipitates. The kinetics of particle formation and aggregation were controlled by varying the primary process parameters [TPT], [H₂O]/[AOT] (w₀), and [H₂O]/[Ti(IV)] (R), yielding a range of products including stable, transparent sols, precipitates and monolithic gels. The aggregation kinetics and physical properties of the sols depended strongly on w₀. Different titania phases were produced, depending on w₀; w₀ 6 yielded amorphous particles, while w₀ 10 produced anatase. The dimensions of the crystallites were comparable to those of the parent reverse micelles. A model was developed to interpret the effect of the primary process parameters on colloidal stability: (1) nucleation to form primary crystallites occurs by rapid hydrolysis and condensation reactions within the reverse micelle and (2) subsequent colloidal growth by aggregation occurs by reverse micellar exchange, where the rate of growth is governed by electrostatic and steric stability factors which increase as [AOT]/[TPT] (S) and residual [H₂O]/[AOT] (w_r) increase.     

Steered molecular dynamics simulations of protein-ligand interactions

Molecular recognition and specific protein-ligandinteractions are central to many biochemical processes,such as enzyme catalysis, assembly of organelles, en-ergy transduction, signaling, diverse control functions,and replication, expression and storage of the geneticmaterial[1]. Moreover, protein-ligand interactions pro-vide the mechanism of many drug therapies and un-derstanding of such interactions is thus significant forrational drug design[1,2]. For the experimental studiesof protein-ligan…     

Photocatalytic decomposition of p-nitrophenol over titanium dioxide prepared by reverse microemulsion method using nonionic surfactants with different hydrophilic groups

TiO₂ nanoparticles were prepared using the hydrolysis of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) in W/O microemulsions consisting of water, nonionic surfactant and cyclohexane. The photocatalytic degradation of p-nitrophenol has been studied by using a batch reactor in the presence of UV light. The crystallite size and crystallinity increase with a decrease of hydrophilic group chain length and an increase of calcinations temperature. In addition, the photocatalytic activity increases with an increase of hydrophilic group length. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

泛函数迭代法求解反胶束内双电层电势

用泛函数分析理论中的迭代法求解了反胶束内关于双电层势的Poisson- Boltzmann（PB）方程，导出了泛电位下的第一、二次迭代的解析表达式。与 Debye-Huckel（DH）线性近似及计算机的数值解进行对比表明，迭代解不仅在低电 位条件下能与两者相符合，而且在高电位下与数值解在相吻合。     

Activity and stability studies of ultrafine nanoencapsulated catalase and penicillinase

The enzymes catalase (bovine liver, EC 1.11.1.6) and -penicillinase (bacillus cereus strain 569, type I, EC 3.5.2.6) were successfully encapsulated in the polyacrylamide matrix. The encapsulation was carried out in the water pool of water/aerosol OT/n-hexane reverse micelles. The polymeric particles of encapsulated enzymes were reasonably monodisperse and had diameters in the range of several tens of nanometers as measured from quasi-elastic laser light scattering. The activity- pH profile of the encapsulated enzymes in buffer followed the same pattern as that of free enzymes. However, the encapsulated enzymes were found to be less active than their free forms. The enzymes in the encapsulated form were more stable (both thermal stability and shelf-life) as compared to free enzymes. The activity of the encapsulated enzymes was found to be dependent on the degree of cross-linking of the polymer matrix. The greater the cross-linking in the matrix, the lesser were the activity of the encapsulated enzyme.     

An ab initio study of electronic spectra and excited-state properties of 7-azaindole in vapour phase and aqueous solution

The geometries of 7-azaindole (7AI), its tautomer (7AT), and 7AI–H₂O and 7AT–H₂O complexes were optimised in the ground state and some low-lying singlet excited states using the 3-21G basis set. Differences of total energies of the optimised ground and excited states and the vertical excitation energies of these systems were used to explain the observed electronic spectra. Effect of solvation of these systems in bulk water was studied using the polarized continuum model (PCM). The mode of binding of a water molecule in the S₂(n–π^*) excited state of 7AI was found to be quite different from those in its ground and π–π^* excited states. It is shown that crossing of the lowest two singlet excited-state potential surfaces S₁(π–π^*) and S₂(n–π^*) of 7AI occurs in the vapour phase under geometry relaxation while on interaction with water, the S₂(n–π^*) excited state is raised up appreciably going even above the S₃(π–π^*) excited state. Ground- and excited-state molecular electrostatic potential mapping was carried out, which led to valuable information regarding the nature of excited states of the above-mentioned systems.