Descripción: This paper reports a synthesis of novel diheteroarylethenes functionalized for coupling to biomolecules starting from indole derivatives. The strategy is based on the derivatization at the N-atom in the indole substructure. TBDMS protection proved to be superior over BOC protection schemes, leading to higher yields in the overall synthesis. The suitability of the new derivatives as acceptors for pcFRET was calculated for selected donors.

Descripción: Four brassinosteroids analogs of homoteasterone and homotyphasterol bearing 5α-OH and 5α-F groups have been synthesized and their bioactivities evaluated.

Descripción: The synthesis of 2,3,5,6-tetra-O-benzyl-D-galactofuranose, a useful compound for α-glycosylation studies, is described. Direct anomeric O-alkylation of galactose was employed for alpha-allylation to yield pure allyl α-D-galactofuranoside, which is a versatile precursor for the synthesis of galactofuranose-containing oligosaccharides. Allyl removal of the benzylated galactofuranosyl derivative was performed using palladium (II) chloride as catalyst. ©ARKAT.

Descripción: Factorization of J-biexpansive operator-valued functions on an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space is performed, to extract terms with an arbitrary number of poles of first order on the left and right half planes. Special emphasis is given to the case of reciprocal poles, which has an application to the synthesis of reciprocal passive linear systems as an extension of the classical synthesis of reciprocal n-ports by factor decomposition. © 1986.

Descripción: A factorization method is given to extract poles located on the imaginary axis for J-biexpansive meromorphic operator-valued functions acting on an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space. Decomposition of a real operator in terms of real factors, applicable to Hilbert ports, is also described, thus generalizing synthesis techniques originally developed for passive n-ports. © 1985.

Descripción: Phosphatidylcholine (PC), a common phospholipid of the eukaryotic cell membrane, is present in the cell envelope of the intracellular pathogen Brucella abortus, the etiological agent of bovine brucellosis. In this pathogen, the biosynthesis of PC proceeds mainly through the phosphatidylcholine synthase pathway; hence, it relies on the presence of choline in the milieu. These observations imply that B. abortus encodes an as-yet-unknown choline uptake system. Taking advantage of the requirement of choline uptake for PC synthesis, we devised a method that allowed us to identify a homologue of ChoX, the high-affinity periplasmic binding protein of the ABC transporter ChoXWV. Disruption of the choX gene completely abrogated PC synthesis at low choline concentrations in the medium, thus indicating that it is a high-affinity transporter needed for PC synthesis via the PC synthase (PCS) pathway. However, the synthesis of PC was restored when the mutant was incubated in media with higher choline concentrations, suggesting the presence of an alternative low-affinity choline uptake activity. By means of a fluorescence-based equilibrium- binding assay and using the kinetics of radiolabeled choline uptake, we show that ChoX binds choline with an extremely high affinity, and we also demonstrate that its activity is inhibited by increasing choline concentrations. Cell infection assays indicate that ChoX activity is required during the first phase of B. abortus intracellular traffic, suggesting that choline concentrations in the early and intermediate Brucella-containing vacuoles are limited. Altogether, these results suggest that choline transport and PC synthesis are strictly regulated in B. abortus. © 2013, American Society for Microbiology.

Descripción: Messenger RNA (mRNA) for enzymes involved in adrenal steroid biosynthesis are expressed in the brain, and the coded enzymes have been shown to be active. The expression of mRNA for the cytochrome P-450 enzyme aldosterone synthase, crucial for the final step in the synthesis of aldosterone and the synthesis of aldosterone was studied in several anatomic areas of the rat brain. Expression of the mRNA for the aldosterone synthase was demonstrated by RT-PCR/Southern blot in adrenal, aorta, hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, cerebrum, and cerebellum. Incubation of brain minces from intact and adrenalectomized rats demonstrated the synthesis of corticosterone and aldosterone from endogenous precursors. Incubations of brain mince, with [1,23H]-deoxycorticosterone, followed by extraction and three different successive TLCs, demonstrated the presence of labeled aldosterone, corticosterone, and 18-hydroxy-deoxycorticosterone. Incubation, in the presence of 10 μM cortisol or metyrapone, inhibited the synthesis of aldosterone or both aldosterone and corticosterone, respectively. These studies indicate that the rat brain has the enzymatic machinery for the synthesis of adrenal corticosteroids and is capable of synthesizing aldosterone. Aldosterone synthesized in the brain might play a paracrine role in the regulation of blood pressure.

Descripción: We assessed the effects of different arcA mutations on poly(3- hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) synthesis in recombinant Escherichia coli strains carrying the pha synthesis genes from Azotobacter sp. strain FA8. The arcA mutations used were an internal deletion and the arcA2 allele, a leaky mutation for some of the characteristics of the Arc phenotype which confers high respiratory capacity. PHB synthesis was not detected in the wild-type strain in shaken flask cultures under low-oxygen conditions, while ArcA mutants gave rise to polymer accumulation of up to 24% of their cell dry weight. When grown under microaerobic conditions in a bioreactor, the arcA deletion mutant reached a PHB content of 27% ± 2%. Under the same conditions, higher biomass and PHB concentrations were observed for the strain bearing the arcA2 allele, resulting in a PHB content of 35% ± 3%. This strain grew in a simple medium at a specific growth rate of 0.69 ± 0.07 h-1, whereas the deletion mutant needed several nutritional additives and snowed a specific growth rate of 0.56 ± 0.06 h-1. The results presented here suggest that arcA mutations could play a role in heterologous PHB synthesis in microaerobiosis. Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Descripción: The mechanisms of RNA replication of plus-strand RNA viruses are still unclear. Here, we identified the first promoter element for RNA synthesis described in a flavivirus. Using dengue virus as a model, we found that the viral RdRp discriminates the viral RNA by specific recognition of a 5′ element named SLA. We demonstrated that RNA-RNA interactions between 5′ and 3′ end sequences of the viral genome enhance dengue virus RNA synthesis only in the presence of an intact SLA. We propose a novel mechanism for minus-strand RNA synthesis in which the viral polymerase binds SLA at the 5′ end of the genome and reaches the site of initiation at the 3′ end via long-range RNA-RNA interactions. These findings provide an explanation for the strict requirement of dengue virus genome cyclization during viral replication. © 2006 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Descripción: We investigated the molecular basis of the activity of 4-phenoxyphenoxyethyl thiocyanate (WC-9) against Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas' disease. We found that growth inhibition of T. cruzi epimastigotes induced by this compound was associated with a reduction in the content of the parasite's endogenous sterols due to a specific blockade of their de novo synthesis at the level of squalene synthase.

Descripción: The synthesis of some isoxazolic compounds from carbohydrate derivatives is described. These products are obtained by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction and their functionalization leads to derivatives with potential biological activities.

Descripción: We have described a method for preparation of [10B]-enriched-8- dihydroxyborylharmine (III) and characterized it by their spectral properties (MS, IR and NMR). This compound is a potential BNCT agent.

Descripción: 1. 1. Porphyrin biosynthesis from 5-aminoevulinic acid (ALA) was investigated using the technique of tissue explant cultures, in both human breast cancer and its original normal tissue. 2. 2. The activity of ALA-dehydratase, porphobilinogenase and uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase was directly determined in both tumor and normal mammary tissues. 3. 3. Porphyrin synthesis capacity of human breast carcinoma was 20-fold enhanced, as compared with normal tissue, at least between the stages of porphobilinogen and coproporphyrinogen formation. 4. 4. The activity of the three enzymes examined was always lower in normal tissue than in tumoral tissue. 5. 5. Present findings show that porphyrin biosynthesis is increased in breast cancer tissue. © 1990.

Descripción: The chemical synthesis of nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (N-TiO 2) is explored in an attempt to understand the mechanisms of doping. Urea is used as precursor in a sol gel synthesis of N-TiO 2. Chemical and structural changes during thermal treatment of the precursors were followed by several techniques. The effect of doping on band gap, morphology, and microstructure was also determined. The byproducts produced during firing correspond to those obtained during urea thermal decomposition. Polynitrogenated colored compounds produced at temperatures below 400°C may act as sensitizer. Incorporation of N in the TiO 2 structure is possible at higher temperatures. Degradation experiments of salicylic acid under UVA and visible light (γ≥400 nm) in the presence of TiO 2 or N-TiO 2 indicate that doping decreases the activity under UVA light, while stable byproducts are produced under visible light. © 2011 Matias Factorovich et al.

Descripción: Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) of Crithidia fasciculata extracts shows maximal activity during exponential growth of the parasite and decreases markedly in the stationary phase. The inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide evoked a rapid loss of enzyme activity with a half-life of about 30 min. Upon removal of DFMO from Crithidia cultures treated with the drug for 24 h, the ODC activity increased at the same rate as total protein synthesis. The addition of putrescine at high concentrations to parasites cultivated in a synthetic medium showed that Crithidia CDC levels were not reduced by polyamines. © 1992.

Descripción: We obtain in this article theorems on linear fractional transformations of j-expansive matrix-valued functions wich provide a procedure to synthetize linear passive 2n-ports. In particular, these results permit us to solve the problem of Darlington realizations of transfer-scattering matrices of linear passive 2n-ports on the basis of the synthesis of transfer-scattering matrices of linear 4n-ports without losses. It is a pleasure to acknowledge our debt to the remarkable paper [4] by Arov. © 1983.

Descripción: An experimental validation of an model for the production of birdsongs was discussed. The derivation of the model with functions whose time dependence came from recordings of muscle activities and air sac pressure was studied. It was found that birds' songs were recorded and compared with the synthetic songs. Some predictions of the model concerning the relative levels of activity in the gating muscles at the beginning and end of a syllable were also tested.

Descripción: 11α,12α-aziridinosteroids (2a, b, c) were prepared from 5β-H-11-pregnene-3, 20-dione (1) using different iminophenyliodinanes and cloramine aziridination reagents.

Descripción: Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 10132 mutants altered in acetic acid synthesis or in the shift to solventogenesis were directly selected by a proton suicide method after mutagenic treatment, by using bromide and bromate as selective agents. The mutants were characterized according to their solvent and acid production. On the selection plates they differed in colony phenotype from the parent strain.