Search

A three-dimensional coordination polymer, [Mn3(OH)2Na2(3-cnba)6]n (1) (3-Hcnba = 3-cyanobenzoic acid), has been synthesized by the reaction of MnCl2, NaN3, and 3-Hcnba in water. Its crystal structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Magnetic studies show that the complex behaves as a three-dimensional metamagnet built from effective ferrimagnetic Mn(II) chains in which spin moments are linked by interactions in an AF-F-AF (F = ferromagnetic and AF = antiferromagnetic) sequence in the triangular magnetic repeating unit.

Silver nanowires are synthesized by simple reduction of the silver ions with reductants such as glucose, sodium citrate, and sodium hypophosphite, etc., in the absence of the so-called surfactants or capping reagents at the temperature from 80 to 200 degrees C. Regardless of the reductants, the nanowires prepared at a given temperature are uniform in diameters, ranging from 30 to 50 nm at 100 degrees C. Nanoparticles coexist with nanowires in the products with larger diameters (usually larger than 50 nm). We find that all the silver nanowires in the as-prepared products are of cyclic penta-twinned structure, where five crystallites bond by the {111} facets. We propose that the intrinsic factor of the cyclic penta-twinned structure, i.e., the angular mismatch of the five crystallites in forming a gapless rod, controls the size of the nanowires and guides the directional growth of the nanowires with {110} as the active facets. The nanoparticles in the products are aggregates of imperfect penta-twinned crystals, which inhibits them from growing into nanowires and results in larger size. From the structural information of the nanoparticles synthesized at room temperature, we propose that the formation of the cyclic penta-twinned structure is due to the stacking fault and the intrinsic equilibrium structures of the lower energy.

Objective: To observe the effect of taurine on hepatic stellate cell's apoptosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats and to study its protective mechanisms., Methods: CCl4-induced rat hepatic fibrosis was treated by taurine. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), plasma protein, hyaluronic acid (HA), procollagen III (PC III), hepatic microsomal drug-metabolizing enzyme and anti-transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) were determined. In addition, hepatic stellate cell's apoptosis and the pathological changes of liver tissue were observed under light microscope., Results: The activity of serum ALT and the levels of serum HA, PC III were markedly reduced by taurine treatment. The hepatic cytochrome P450 (Cyt. P450) and cytochrome b5 (Cytb5) contents were increased by the same treatment. In addition, taurine could significantly inhibit the expression of TGF-beta1, promote the hepatic stellate cell's apoptosis, and relieve hepatic fibrosis., Conclusion: Taurine fulfills a role in promoting hepatic stellate cell's apoptosis in the case of hepatic fibrosis, it mitigates the liver injury, decreases the expression of TGF-beta1, and relieves hepatic fibrosis.

Based on the principle of the pathway engineering, a novel pathway of producing glycerol was built in E. coli. The gpd1 gene encoding glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase and the hor2 gene encoding glycerol 3-phosphatase were cloned from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively. The two genes were inserted into expression vector pSE380 together. A recombinant plasmid pSE-gpd1-hor2 containing polycistron was constructed under the control of the strong trc promoter. Then it was transformed into E. coli BL21. The result showed the recombinant microorganism GxB-gh could convert glucose to glycerol directly. And the recombinant microorganism GxB-gh was incubated to produce glycerol from D-glucose in the fermentor. The maximal concentration of glycerol was 46.67g/L at 26h. Conversion rate of glucose was 42.87%. The study is about "green" producing glycerol by recombinant microorganism and is also useful for further working in recombining microorganism of producing 1,3-propanediol.

Three Keggin-based supramolecular architectures were synthesized on the basis of same molecular building units, showing that the pH value of the reaction plays a crucial role in controlling the topological structures of the supramolecular architectures.

[reaction: see text] The forced one-electron reduction of carbon tetrachloride with sodium in a sealed steel vessel is shown to have a narrow window of conditions to arrest the reaction at the polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons (PCAHs), as well as to prevent the reaction from proceeding all the way to the final stage of graphite and other carbon solids. The intermediates are quenched with toluene or benzene to give electrophilic substitution products and with water to give a quinomethine as the major product. The product pattern leads us to propose the carbene, perchlorobenzo[c,d]pyren-6-ylidene, or its reversible dimer as the major intermediate among others, that survives the severe conditions until coming into contact with these nucleophiles. Mainly from aromatic resonance stabilization, the carbene is proposed to have a delocalized singlet state analogous to a ylide electronic structure and, thus, undergoes observed ionic reactions instead of typical carbene reactions. This work serves as a mechanistic link on the structural evolution of carbon networks between molecular chemistry and nanomaterial chemistry.

In the title complex, poly[copper(II)-di-mu-5-carboxy-1H-imidazole-4-carboxylato], [Cu(C5H3N2O4)2]n or [Cu(H2Imda)2]n, each imidazole moiety is bonded to the Cu atom via O and N atoms to give a square-planar coordination [Cu-O = 2.014 (2) and 2.016 (2) A, and Cu-N = 1.982 (3) and 1.992 (2) A]. The distorted square-pyramidal geometry at the Cu atom results from coordination to an adjacent O atom [Cu-O = 2.305 (2) A], which generates zigzag chains. There is a sixth, weaker, octahedral coordination to the Cu atom from an inversion-related O atom [Cu-O = 3.090 (2) A], which links the chains into sheets in the (100) plane. Imidazole moieties in the sheets are linked in the [100] direction by pairs of N-H...O and C-H...O hydrogen bonds, thus generating a three-dimensional network.

Reaction of 5,5'-(1,4-phenylene)bis(1H-tetrazole), which was prepared in two steps, with cadmium nitrate in DMF produced a three-dimensional framework with one-dimensional channels (35% void volume), in which unprecedented hydrogen-bond-supported D(2)(h)() tetrameric cyclic water clusters ranked.

Single crystalline SnO(2) nano-needles with length up to 6-7 microm and diameter less than 300 nm are synthesized on an Au-coating porous silicon substrate from SnH(4) source via a glow discharge process.

A new open reading frame in Thermobifida fusca sequenced genome was identified to encode a new trehalose synthase, annotated as "glycosidase" in the GenBank database, by bioinformatics searching and experimental validation. The gene had a length of 1830 bp with about 65% GC content and encoded for a new trehalose synthase with 610 amino acids and deduced molecular weight of 66 kD. The high GC content seemed not to affect its good expression in E. coli BL21 in which the target protein could account for as high as 15% of the total cell proteins. The recombinant enzyme showed its optimal activities at 25 degrees and pH 6.5 when it converted substrate maltose into trehalose. However it would divert a high proportion of its substrate into glucose when the temperature was increased to 37 degrees, or when the enzyme concentration was high Its activity was not inhibited by 5 mM heavy metals such as Cu2+, Mn2+, and Zn2+ but affected by high concentration of glucose. Blasting against the database indicated that amino acid sequence of this protein had maximal 69% homology with the known trehalose synthases, and two highly conserved segments of the protein sequence were identified and their possible linkage with functions was discussed.

A well-resolved uudd cyclic water tetramer was reported in the crystal host of [Cu(adipate)(4,4-bipyridine)].(H(2)O)(2), showing the contribution of the water cluster to the stability of the crystal host and the role of cooperative association of the water cluster and the crystal host in the formation of the water cluster.

An electroless deposition method has been employed for the synthesis of silver nanotubes using porous anodic aluminium oxide as templates, by which high-yield silver nanotubes with length over ten microns have been synthesized.

Addition of a small quantity (approximately 3%) of CCl4 to the He atmosphere of the graphite arc-discharge reaction revealed a marked increase in fullerene yield.

In the crystal structure of dihydroxydiphthalatotricobalt(II), [Co(3)(C(8)H(4)O(4))(2)(OH)(2)](n), two of the four independent Co atoms lie at special positions of site symmetry 2. The hydroxy groups link three Co atoms to form a pyramidal Co(3)O unit, and adjacent Co(3)O units are linked through the Co base atoms into a honeycomb layer motif. Each of the phthalate dianions uses the O atoms of one carboxyl group to bind to three Co atoms, the bonding mode giving rise to six-coordinate Co atoms.

Ten polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons (PCAHs), perchlorobenzene (I), perchlorobiphenyl (II), perchlorobenzo[f]inden-1-one (III), perchloronaphthalene (IV), perchloropenta[def]phenanthren-4-one (V), 6H-1,2,4,5,7,8,9,10,11-nonachlorobenzo[cd]pyrene-3-one (VI), perchloroacenaphthylene (VII), 6-(p-tolyl)-6H-1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11-decachlorobenzo[cd]pyrene (VIII), perchlorofluoranthene (IX) and 6-(p-tolyl)-6H-1,11-dihydroxy-2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10-octachlorobenzo[cd]pyrene (X) have been separated with reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) by using two gradient eluents (toluene/methanol and cyclohexane/methanol), and were detected by ultraviolet (UV) and mass spectrometry (MS). The separation and detection of half of these ten compounds, which are of extremely high molecular weights, is an improvement over the chromatographic analysis of PCAHs. When the procedure was applied to the analysis of PCAHs of the products from the combustion of chlorobenzene and carbon tetrachloride, I, II, IV, VIII and X could be detected.

Background & Objective: Human tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2) is a newly discovered serine protease inhibitor, which inhibits plasmin, trypsin, matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs), but not urokinase, tissue-type plasminogen activators and thrombin. Earlier studies have shown that the production of TFPI-2 is downregulated during the progression of various cancers. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between TFPI-2 expression and ovarian tumor migration and invasion., Methods: Human TFPI-2 expression vector pBos-Cite-neo/TFPI-2 was transfected into ovarian tumor cells line A2780. After the transfected cells were screened by G418, transfected and nontransfected cells were examined for TFPI-2 mRNA and protein by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis, respectively. The number of transfected or nontransfected cells passing through membrane of Boyden chamber was counted as the basis assessing tumor cells migratory and invasive behaviors., Results: Expression of mRNA and protein of TFPI-2 were confirmed in transfected cells. In invasion assay, the number of TFPI-2-expressing cells to traverse a Matrigel-coated membrane was obviously decreased compared with that of nonexpressing cells (59.3+/-6.5 versus 109.7+/-5.5, P< 0.01); while in migration assay, no significant difference was observed between transfected and nontransfected cells (114.7+/-8.6 versus 127.3+/-7.1, P >0.05)., Conclusion: Expression of TFPI-2 may strongly inhibit the invasive ability of ovarian tumor cells in vitro, but has no effect on the migratory ability, which provides an experimental basis for treating human ovarian tumor with gene therapy.

In a nonionic inverse microemulsion system, surfactant (C12-18EO9)/cyclohexane/water, heteropolyanions [PMo12O40]3- react with K+ to form K3[PMo12O40].nH2O nanorods and assemble as three-dimensional starlike nanostructures.

A gas chromatographic method was developed to directly determine the enantiomers of acrylic ketone alcohol and acrylic ketone acetate. Two pairs of enantiomers were nearly baseline-separated by using Model HP-5890 Gas Chromatograph with flame ionization detector and WCOT CD-Chiral-DEX CB (30 m x 0.25 mm i.d.) column. The optimum conditions were the split ratio of 30:1 for the sample injected, the flow rates of 3.7 mL/min for the carrier gas (nitrogen), 60 mL/min for the hydrogen, and 250 mL/min for the oxygen, and temperatures of 148 degrees C for the column, 230 degrees C for the injector, and 230 degrees C for the detector. The linearity and reproducibility were satisfactory. The regression coefficients were over 0.9965. The RSDs obtained were less than 1.25%. The method was further used to trace the reactants and products, and to evaluate the enzyme catalyst activity and selectivity under different conditions. The results show that the method developed is very successful.

[Zn8(SiO4)(C8H4O4)6]n (C8H4O4 = isophthalate), synthesized by hydrothermal reaction, possesses a diamondoid framework structure constructed from hexahedron-like Zn8(SiO4) cores and C8H4O4 linkers and remains stable up to 500 degrees C in air, representing the first member of a new class of metallosilicate-organic hybrid materials.

Simultaneous separation and identification of perchlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PCPAHs) and fullerenes is of practical interest due to the growth mechanism of fullerenes involved with PCPAHs. Non-aqueous reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), with an ODS column and a gradient mobile phase of methanol-ethanol-cyclohexane mixtures, was combined with both rapid-scan ultraviolet spectrometry (UV) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI-MS) for the separation and identification of over 80 PCPAHs as well as fullerenes C60 and C70, that were synthesized in the discharge reaction of chloroform. PCPAH retention was found to depend on the number of aromatic rings and the degree of non-planarity of PCPAH structure. Based on the isotopic pattern of molecular ion or/and quasi-molecular ion peaks in corresponding mass spectra, molecular compositions of the PCPAH products were unambiguously determined. The results obtained from the HPLC-UV-MS analysis not only are helpful for the understanding of the fullerenes formation mechanism, but also contribute to the analytical technique capable of separating and identifying the complicated mixture of PCPAHs and fullerenes.

We studied a Chinese family and revealed 5.4% and 3.2% fetal hemoglobin (HbF) with advantageously Agamma type in the mother and the daughter, respectively, using alkali denaturation assay and urea-Triton-acrylamide gel electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography. The father's HbF was less than 0.5%. Large deletion was not observed within the beta-globin gene cluster by restriction endonuclease mapping. Characterization by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing demonstrated the mother is a homozygote with a novel four base-pair "AAGC" (-226 to -223) deletion within the Agamma-globin gene promoter and the daughter is a heterozygote with this deletion. The deletion was not detected in the father. No any mutations were identified in the Ggamma promoter of all the subjects studied. We propose that the small deletion is associated with the slight increase of Agamma gene expression in adult., (Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was coupled with ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (UV) for the simultaneous separation and identification of a series of perchlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, such as perchlorobenzene (C6Cl6), perchloronaphthalene (C10Cl8), perchlorobiphenyl (C12Cl10), perchloroanthracene (C14Cl10), perchlorophenanthrene (C14C10), perchloroacenaphthylene (C12Cl8), perchloropyrene (C16Cl10) and perchlorofluoranthene (C16Cl10). HPLC was performed on an ODS column using methanol-hexane (80:20) as mobile phase at a flow-rate of 1.0 ml/min. UV absorption spectra of the elutes were detected in the region of 210-350 nm.

Aqueous two-phase systems have been used for the separation and purification of recombinant virus-like particles (VLPs) from a yeast cell homogenate. Systems have been evaluated on the basis of their ability to separate VLPs from cell debris and from contaminating proteins. Two strategies are proposed for VLP separation, both involve the use of two PEG/salt aqueous two-phase systems. For separation of VLPs from cell debris systems composed of PEG 400 or 600 and (NH4)2SO4 or PEG 4000/MgSO4 can be used and for separation of VLPs from proteins PEG 4000/(NH4)2SO4 or MgSO4 and Na2SO4 are effective. The molecular weight of the PEG used and the use of additional salts (e.g. NaCl) greatly influence the effectiveness of the systems.

The cytochrome P-450 (Cyt P-450) sensitive to mepyramine (HP-450) in liver microsome is a protein that possesses properties of both H1 receptor and cytochrome P-450. We used [3H]mepyramine radioligand binding assay and enzymological technique to study the kinetic properties of HP-450 and Cyt P-450. Age-related changes in the Bmax, Kd of HP-450 and Cyt P-450 in rat hepatic microsome were demonstrated. The levels of Bmax for both HP-450 and the Cyt P-450 dramatically increased in the postnatal period from the second to the eighth week, and reached maximum steady status during the eighth to tenth week. The values of Bmax of HP-450 correlated well with the content of Cyt P-450 in rat liver microsome (r = 0.625). The affinity of HP-450 (Kd) decreased with the growth of rats during postnatal. No sexual-related difference was observed in this experiment.

We have used a pure lytic glucanase enzyme to selectively release recombinant 60 nm protein particles (virus like particles or VLPs) from yeast cells. Although the protease components of the lytic enzyme complexes were found to degrade the VLPs, purified glucanase enzymes from these complexes (derived from Cytophaga sp. and Oerskovia sp.) produced cell lysis without degradation and released the VLPs in the absence of mercaptoethanol, a reducing agent commonly used in cell lysis. The Oerskovia glucanase enzyme released the recombinant protein particles selectively as it only produced ca. 17% cell lysis compared to the use of the total lytic enzyme preparation. The use of osmotic supports did not improve the recovery of VLPs, however, treatment of the enzymatically lysed pellet with Triton X-100 did increase the amount of VLPs released. This 'selectivity', which results in the release of the recombinant particles with only a fraction of contaminating proteins, represents an improvement over presently used mechanical or enzymatic cell disruption processes.

A novel method has been developed for the separation of bioproducts from yeast cells. The method uses a combination of physical, chemical, and biological agents such as lytic enzymes, osmotic supports, and spheroplast stabilizers. Using this technique, products (proteins and enzymes) can be released from specific cell locations at different process states; it has thus been celled differential product release (DPR). The wall-associated proteins are released first and the lytic enzyme is removed together with the wall proteins at this stage. Secondly, the cytosol products are released by a mild procedure during which the organelles remained intact. Finally, the organelle proteins are solubilized. In each stage, specific proteins are released while others are kept inside the different cell compartments. This method can be used with relatively high yeast concentrations (up to 145 g dry wt/L) and gives higher product recoveries and much higher selectivity than mechanical disruption.

The effect of acute and chronic (94, 141 and/or 199 days) oral treatment of rats with the dopamine D2-selective antagonist raclopride (0, 5, 15, 45 and 135 mumol/kg) upon the turnover of dopamine in the striatum and limbic system and upon the activity of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) in the s. nigra, striatum and frontal cortex has been investigated. A dose-dependent tolerance to the effect of raclopride on the turnover of dopamine was observed after chronic treatment, although the degree of tolerance was marginal at the 5 and 15 mumol/kg doses. Acute treatment with raclopride was without effect on the activity of GAD in the s. nigra, striatum or frontal cortex, whereas chronic (199 days) treatment with 45 mumol/kg of raclopride produced an increase in the activity of GAD in the s. nigra and striatum.

In the present study amiflamine and other related reversible monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) inhibitory phenylalkylamines were examined in vitro for their ability to induce release of 3H-5-hydroxytryptamine (3H-5-HT) from rat occipital cortex slices. The slices were preincubated with 3H-5-HT 0.1 mumol/l in the presence of the irreversible MAO inhibitor pargyline 50 mumol/l and then continuously superfused. The effects were compared with those of the 5-HT releaser p-chloroamphetamine (pCA), the reversible MAO-inhibitor alpha-ethyltryptamine and the 5-HT uptake inhibitor citalopram. Amiflamine, some related compounds and alpha-ethyltryptamine which in vivo after transport by the 5-HT uptake mechanism preferentially inhibit MAO within the serotonergic neurons caused a Ca2+-independent release of 3H-5-HT. Some transported compounds, particularly NBF 027 were, however, very weak releasers of 5-HT. This release and that induced by pCA was prevented by citalopram in the superfusion medium. FLA 365, FLA 417 and FLA 1088, which are not transported into the neurons, were poor releasers of 5-HT. It is concluded that compounds which were effective releasers of 5-HT in vitro were those that are transported into the serotonergic neurons by the 5-HT carrier in vivo and has in addition an ability to mobilise vesicular 5-HT.