Banach spacesX withX** separable

LetX be a Banach space and letZ be a closed subspace ofX** which containsX. It is proved in this paper that, in the caseX** separable, there exists a closed subspaceY ofX such thatX+ =Z, the closure ofY inX** for the weak-star topology.     

Serum protein immunogenicity: implications for liver xenografting

The objectives of this study were threefold: (i) assess immunogenicity of donor plasma proteins following hepatic xenotransplantation, (ii) identify potential immunogens, and (iii) consider the implications of antibody formation against these plasma proteins in xenograft survival. We studied liver and heart xenografts in a concordant combination, hamster to rat. All grafts were examined at necropsy for evidence of rat immunoglobulin G (IgG) deposition. Cardiac xenografts were placed in recipients who had, or had not, been sensitized with hamster serum. Hepatic xenografts were placed in naive recipients to see if antibodies to hamster serum proteins could be eluted from the rejecting organ. Sera of immunized rats were examined for the presence of anti-hamster antibodies by immunoelectrophoresis and by Western blotting following sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) separation of hamster serum. Antibodies in sera of immunized rats were compared with those eluted from rejecting livers. Candidate antigens were identified by tandem mass spectrometry, sequence analysis, and reference to protein databases. Results showed that sera of immunized rats recognized a minimum of four different antigens in hamster serum by immunoelectrophoresis, and a minimum of seven by the more sensitive SDS-PAGE Western blot. IgG eluted from rejecting livers bound three of seven candidate antigens recognized by sera of the immunized animals. Sequence analysis searches revealed proteinase inhibitors in each of the three SDS-PAGE bands common to the above samples. All of these candidate proteinase inhibitor immunogens share a common catabolic fate, uptake via the lipoprotein-related protein (LRP/alpha 2-macroglobulin receptor (CD91). Sensitization to hamster serum proteins hastened cardiac xenograft rejection in 30-50% of recipients (depending on sensitization protocol). Vascular deposition of rat IgG occurred in all rejecting xenografts. Antibody binding to proteinase inhibitors could disturb their functional activity and contribute to the pathogenesis of delayed xenograft rejection.     

Titanocene-catalyzed cascade cyclization of epoxypolyprenes: straightforward synthesis of terpenoids by free-radical chemistry

The titanocene-catalyzed cascade cyclization of epoxypolyenes, which are easily prepared from commercially available polyprenoids, has proven to be a useful procedure for the synthesis of C(10), C(15), C(20), and C(30) terpenoids, including monocyclic, bicyclic, and tricyclic natural products. Both theoretical and experimental evidence suggests that this cyclization takes place in a nonconcerted fashion via discrete carbon-centered radicals. Nevertheless, the termination step of the process seems to be subjected to a kind of water-dependent control, which is unusual in free-radical chemistry. The catalytic cycle is based on the use of the novel combination Me(3)SiCl/2,4,6-collidine to regenerate the titanocene catalyst. In practice this procedure has several advantages: it takes place at room temperature under mild conditions compatible with different functional groups, uses inexpensive reagents, and its end step can easily be controlled to give exocyclic double bonds by simply excluding water from the medium.     

Some notes on convex sets

In [1] Tukey proves that if A and B are closed convex subsets in a Banach space, so that A is bounded and A-B is dense in the open unit ball U then A-BU. We shall give here a more general result than the former one which contains the Banach's isomorphism theorem as particular case. Other results over convex sets are also given.The author is indebted to the referee for the several very valuable comments.     

Fréchet Spaces of Holomorphic Functions without Copies of l1

Let X be a Banach space. Let H_w*(X*) the Fréchet space whose elements are the holomorphic functions defined on X* whose restrictions to each multiple mB(X*), m = 1,2, …, of the closed unit ball B(X*) of X* are continuous for the weak-star topology. A fundamental system of norms for this space is the supremum of the absolute value of each element of H_w*(X*) in mB(X*), m = 1,2,…. In this paper we construct the bidual of l₁ when this space contains no copy of l¹. We also show that if X is an Asplund space, then H_w*(X*) can be represented as the projective limit of a sequence of Banach spaces that are Asplund.     

On the closed graph theorem in topological spaces

In this paper we introduce the class of C-Suslin topological spaces and we study some properties of this class in relation to the closed graph theorem.     

Peptide AS-48: prototype of a new class of cyclic bacteriocins

After the discovery of bacteriocin AS-48, a 70-residue cyclic peptide produced by Enterococcus faecalis subsp. liquefaciens, some naturally-occurring cyclic proteins from bacteria have been reported. AS-48 is encoded by the 68-kb pheromone-responsive plasmid pMB2, and the gene cluster involved in production and immunity has been identified and sequenced. This peptide exerts a bactericidal action on sensitive cells (most of the Gram-positive and some Gram-negative bacteria). Its target is the cytoplasmic membrane, in which it opens pores, leading to the dissipation of the proton motive force and cell death, a mechanism similar to that proposed for the action of defensins or, most generally, cationic antibacterial peptides. This fact, together with its remarkable stability and solubility over a wide pH range, suggest that this bacteriocin could be a good candidate as a natural food preservative. The amino acid composition of purified AS-48 shows the absence of modified or dehydrated residues, making it clearly different from lantibiotics. Bacteriocin AS-48 also differs from defensins in that it does not contain cysteines and consequently no disulfide bridges, which makes is high stability even more remarkable. Composition analysis of AS-48 shows a high proportion of basic to acidic amino acids, conferring to this peptide a strong basic character, with an isoelectric point close to 10.5. Determination of the AS-48 structural gene DNA sequence, together with the sequences of AS-48 protease digestion fragments and mass spectrometry determinations, allowed us to determine unambiguously the cyclic structure of the molecule, being the first example of a posttranslational modification in which a cyclic structure arises from a "head-to-tail" linkage. We have solved the three-dimensional structure of AS-48 in solution, and it consists of a globular arrangement of five alpha-helices enclosing a compact hydrophobic core. Interestingly, the head-to-tail peptide link between Trp-70 and Met-1 lies in the middle of alpha-helix 5, which is shown to have a pronounced effect on the stability of the three-dimensional structure. Analysis of structure-function relationship allowed us to propose models to understand the aspects of the molecular function of AS-48. The purpose of this work is to review recent developments in our understanding about the biochemical and biological characteristics and structure of this unusual type of bacteriocin.