Reaction of 5-Carboxypyrimidine Derivatives with Sodium Bisulfite

5-Carboxyuracil derivatives were shown to react with aqueous sodium bisulfite in mild condition resulting in facile decarboxylation to give corresponding 5-decarboxy-5,6-dihydrouracil-6-sulfonates and uracils in good yield. The former compounds were quantitatively transformed to the latter in alkaline condition. Mechanistic feature of this reaction was discussed, which implied the initial nucleophilic addition of bisulfite across the 5,6-double bond. 5-Carboxycytosine was also shown to react similarly, however, accompanied by hydrolytic deamination.     

Stereochemistry of Cervicarcin

The relative stereochemistry of cervicarcin, an antitumor antibiotic, was determined as shown in 1, which represents the absolute stereochemistry also.     

Production of Antibacterial Compounds Analogous to Chloramphenicol by a n-Paraffin-grown Bacterium

Corynebacterium sp. KY 4339, when grown on n-paraffin (a mixture of C–12 to C–14 fractions) as the sole carbon source, produced three kinds of antibacterial compounds which were tentatively named Corynecins. These compounds were isolated by the extraction from the culture broth with ethyl acetate and by the chromatographies on silicic acid and alumina columns. Each component demonstrated some similarity to chloramphenicol on thin-layer chromatogram. Although their biological activities were not so remarkably as that of chloramphenicol, the patterns of antibacterial spectra against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria resembled to it.

For the production of corynecins, n-paraffin was a preferable carbon source. By controlling the pH of the medium in the neutral range and keeping the aeration at a high level during the fermentation, approximately 3 g of corynecins per liter of the medium were produced after 72-hr incubation.     

Caspase cleavage releases a nuclear protein fragment that stimulates phospholipid scrambling at the plasma membrane

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Further Evidence for the Formation in vivo of Phosphopeptide in the Intestinal Lumen from Dietary β-Casein

The occurrence of a new brassinosteroid of (22S,24R)-3β,22-dihydroxy-5α-ergostan-6-one, named cathasterone, was demonstrated by a GC-MS analysis in cultured cells of Catharanthus roseus. Its endogenous level was in the range of 2–4 ng/g fw, similar to those of brassinolide and castasterone. A feeding experiment with a deuterium-labeled substrate revealed that cathasterone was converted to teasterone and typhasterol. This is the first report of the natural occurrence of cathasterone as a brassinosteroid being the biosynthetic precursor of teasterone.     

Cellular Response to Substrate Rigidity Is Governed by Either Stress or Strain

Cells sense the rigidity of their substrate; however, little is known about the physical variables that determine their response to this rigidity. Here, we report traction stress measurements carried out using fibroblasts on polyacrylamide gels with Young’s moduli ranging from 6 to 110 kPa. We prepared the substrates by employing a modified method that involves N-acryloyl-6-aminocaproic acid (ACA). ACA allows for covalent binding between proteins and elastomers and thus introduces a more stable immobilization of collagen onto the substrate when compared to the conventional method of using sulfo-succinimidyl-6-(4-azido-2-nitrophenyl-amino) hexanoate (sulfo-SANPAH). Cells remove extracellular matrix proteins off the surface of gels coated using sulfo-SANPAH, which corresponds to lower values of traction stress and substrate deformation compared to gels coated using ACA. On soft ACA gels (Young’s modulus <20 kPa), cell-exerted substrate deformation remains constant, independent of the substrate Young’s modulus. In contrast, on stiff substrates (Young’s modulus >20 kPa), traction stress plateaus at a limiting value and the substrate deformation decreases with increasing substrate rigidity. Sustained substrate strain on soft substrates and sustained traction stress on stiff substrates suggest these may be factors governing cellular responses to substrate rigidity.