Volatile fingerprints of artemisinin-rich Artemisia annua cultivars by headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry

The cultivar Anamed (A3) is a hybrid of Artemisia annua with a high content of the secondary metabolite artemisinin, a well-known antimalarial drug. Here we report for the first time the volatile profile of fresh leaves of this hybrid in comparison with that of Artemisia annua L. wild-type species. Evaluation and comparison of the volatile profiles of A. annua genotypes with different content in artemisinin were carried out by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) that was performed on fresh leaves of the plants under investigation using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fiber. The chromatograms obtained from hybrids with a high content of artemisinin (A. annua cv. Anamed A3 and A. annua cv. Artemis F2) reveal the total absence of artemisia ketone, one of the major and characteristic compounds of the wild-type A. annua L., along with a significantly lower variety of volatile compounds. In conclusion, HS-SPME coupled with GC/MS is a very useful, non-destructive and efficient method to describe the volatile pattern of Artemisia annua cultivars. It represents a rapid screening method for the evaluation of volatile biomarkers like artemisia ketone, whose absence is typical of artemisinin-rich A. annua cultivars.     

A rapid method for the quantification of artemisinin in Artemisia annua L. plants cultivated for the first time in Burundi

We describe a simple, rapid combined method for extracting the antimalarial compound artemisinin from the leaves of Artemisia annua L. cultivated for the first time in Burundi, and quantitating the active principle by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry.     

Speeding up biomolecular interactions by molecular sledding

Numerous biological processes involve association of a protein with its binding partner, an event that is preceded by a diffusion-mediated search bringing the two partners together. Often hindered by crowding in biologically relevant environments, three-dimensional diffusion can be slow and result in long bimolecular association times. Similarly, the initial association step between two binding partners often represents a rate-limiting step in biotechnologically relevant reactions. We demonstrate the practical use of an 11-a.a. DNA-interacting peptide derived from adenovirus to reduce the dimensionality of diffusional search processes and speed up associations between biological macromolecules. We functionalize binding partners with the peptide and demonstrate that the ability of the peptide to one-dimensionally diffuse along DNA results in a 20-fold reduction in reaction time. We also show that modifying PCR primers with the peptide sled enables significant acceleration of standard PCR reactions.     

Summability of Connected Correlation Functions of Coupled Lattice Fields

We consider two nonindependent random fields \(\psi \) and \(\phi \) defined on a countable set Z. For instance, \(Z=\mathbb {Z}^d\) or \(Z=\mathbb {Z}^d\times I\), where I denotes a finite set of possible “internal degrees of freedom” such as spin. We prove that, if the cumulants of \(\psi \) and \(\phi \) enjoy a certain decay property, then all joint cumulants between \(\psi \) and \(\phi \) are \(\ell _2\)-summable in the precise sense described in the text. The decay assumption for the cumulants of \(\psi \) and \(\phi \) is a restricted \( \ell _1\) summability condition called \(\ell _1\)-clustering property. One immediate application of the results is given by a stochastic process \(\psi _t(x)\) whose state is \(\ell _1\)-clustering at any time t: then the above estimates can be applied with \(\psi =\psi _t\) and \(\phi =\psi _0\) and we obtain uniform in t estimates for the summability of time-correlations of the field. The above clustering assumption is obviously satisfied by any \(\ell _1\)-clustering stationary state of the process, and our original motivation for the control of the summability of time-correlations comes from a quest for a rigorous control of the Green–Kubo correlation function in such a system. A key role in the proof is played by the properties of non-Gaussian Wick polynomials and their connection to cumulants     

Simultaneous measurement of weight loss and delta temperature

Simultaneous TG (thermogravimetric analysis)-DTA (differential thermal analysis) measures both differential temperatures and weight changes in a material as a function of temperature or time in a controlled atmosphere. Simultaneous measurement of these two material properties not only improves productivity but also simplifies interpretation of the results. The complementary information obtained allows differentiation between endothermic and exothermic events which have no associated weight loss (e.g. melting and crystallization) and those which involve a weight loss (e.g. degradation). The combined evaluation also assures identical experimental and sampling conditions for both measurements, thereby eliminating those sources of uncertainty. This paper briefly describes a new simultaneous TG-DTA instrument with emphasis on how the measurements are made and with several typical applications     

Conformationally Constrained Cyclic Peptides: Powerful Scaffolds for Asymmetric Catalysis

Cyclic peptides containing a disulfide bridge were identified as a simple and versatile coordination sphere for asymmetric catalysis. Upon complexation with Cu²⁺ ions they catalyze Diels–Alder and Friedel–Crafts reactions with high enantioselectivities of up to 99 % ee and 86 % ee, respectively. Moreover, the peptides ligands were systematically optimized with the assistance of “Alanine Scanning”. This biomolecular design could greatly expand the choice of peptide scaffolds for artificial metallopeptide catalysts.     

High Affinity Recognition of a Selected Amino Acid Epitope within a Protein by Cucurbit[8]uril Complexation

Supramolecular interactions between the host cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) and amino acids have been widely interrogated, but recognition of specific motifs within a protein domain have never been reported. A phage display approach was herein used to select motifs with the highest binding affinity for the heteroternary complex with methyl viologen and CB[8] (MV?CB[8]) within a vast pool of cyclic peptide sequences. From the selected motifs, an epitope consisting of three amino acid was extrapolated and incorporated into a solvent‐exposed loop of a protein domain; the protein exhibited micromolar binding affinity for the MV?CB[8] complex, matching that of the cyclic peptide. By achieving selective CB[8]‐mediated conjugation of a small molecule to a recombinant protein scaffold we pave the way to biomedical applications of this simple ternary system.     

Renormalization of Generalized KPZ Equation

Journal of Statistical Physics - We use Renormalization Group to prove local well posedness for a generalized KPZ equation introduced by H. Spohn in the context of stochastic hydrodynamics. The...