The algorithm for cross-evaluation (ACE) of biologically active compounds.

A non-linear algorithm, ACE (Algorithm for Cross-Evaluation), was developed to correlate the activity of anti-cancer drugs against human cell lines. ACE evaluates the relationships among compounds and cell lines and displays the resulting clusters on a 3-D surface plot. This plot along with a frequency plot and rank graph provides clear information regarding the sensitivity of groups of cell lines to particular compounds. The program was tested on published anti-cancer data sets and found associations useful in the selection and design of chemotherapy drugs for pre-clinical trials. ACE may be applied to other situations where details of groupings and relationships need to be extracted from large sets of data.     

Use of an in vitro flat-bed biofilm model to measure biologically active anti-odour compounds

The objective of this study was to demonstrate the utility of a modified flat-bed perfusion biofilm matrix system for testing toothpaste formulations directly, without dilution, as a layer in direct contact with the biofilm matrix surface. Final biofilm yields and volatile sulphur compounds (VSC) biogenesis were measured to show the relative efficacy of toothpaste formulations. Diffusion characteristics of the flat-bed system to exposure with Meridol® tooth and tongue gel (TTG; 1,400 ppm F^? from amine fluoride/stannous fluoride, 0.5 % zinc lactate, oral malodour counteractives) was assessed using a bioluminescent target species Escherichia coli Nissle 1917/pGLITE coupled with a low-light photon camera to visualise the kill kinetics. Tongue-flora derived, mixed culture biofilms (n?=?4) received 5, 15 and 30 min treatment with TTG, respectively, to determine the optimum time of exposure. VSC biogenesis was measured from headspace samples by gas chromatography prior to and following treatment of two daily applications for 4 days of treatment (TTG), positive control (CHX gel) and negative controls (placebo and sham treatment). Viable counts were performed at the end of experiments by destructive sampling of the biofilms and plating onto selective and non-selective agar. Following a single treatment with TTG, the E. coli biofilm with lux target gave >50 % reduction of luminescence within 2 to 3 h before recovering to a steady state over 10 h, suggesting biofilm cidal activity rather biostasis. For mixed culture biofilms, 15- and 30-min treatment exposure with TTG gave almost identical reductions in final biofilm yields. For comparing efficacy of treatments, biofilms treated with TTG gave greatest reductions in both pre–post levels of H₂S (P?<?0.01) and CH₃SH (P?<?0.05) and population yields at the end of the experiments (P?<?0.001) compared to placebo and positive control. The in vitro flat-bed perfusion model may be used to replicate many of the activities and reactions believed to be occurring by the tongue biofilm microflora within a real mouth, including VSC biogenesis and its inhibition by exposure to active agents as components of toothpastes and gels applied in direct contact with the biofilm.     

A review on the genus Populus: a potential source of biologically active compounds

Phytochemistry Reviews - Genus Populus (Salicaceae family) consists of dioecious, deciduous, and commercially important forest tree species which are widely spread over the Northern Hemisphere....     

Correction to: A review on the genus Populus: a potential source of biologically active compounds

Phytochemistry Reviews -     

Use of rare-earth elements as labels for studying biologically active compounds. IV. Luminescence spectra and structure of compounds of europium with nucleotides]

Spectra of europium coordinating nucleotides are investigated. Europium is shown to coordinate phosphate, but the way of coordination may change. Conditions of nitrogen bases coordination are determined. The evidence or the existence of coordinated immobilized water is found.     

Effects of some biologically active compounds on phagosome-lysosome fusion in peritoneal macrophages of mice.

Effects of biologically active compounds bilirubin (BR), farmorubicin (FR), and chelerythrine (CR) on phagosome-lysome (P-L) fusion in mouse peritoneal macrophages were studied using fluorescent dye acridine orange as lysosomal labelling and yeast cells as target. It was found that all three compounds tested enhanced P-L fusion. To investigate mechanisms of these effects, changes in fluidity of rat liver lysosomal membranes under influence of BR, FR and CR were studied by measuring fluorescence intensity, lifetime, and polarization of DPH or TMA-DPH incorporated in isolated rat liver lysosomes. In order to characterize the cytoskeleton changes under the action of these biologically active compounds F-actin content in peritoneal macrophages of mice was determined. Our results demonstrate that BR action induces a decrease in DPH and TMA-DPH polarization, FR increases DPH and TMA-DPH polarization, and CR causes only an increase in TMA-DPH polarization in lysosomal membranes. All three compounds tested increase F-actin content in peritoneal macrophages. Thus, the effect of BR on P-L fusion is connected with increasing fluidity of lysosomal membranes and the cytoskeleton changes. The enhancement of P-L fusion under the action of FR and CR can most likely be explained by changes of the cytoskeleton state.     

A novel strategy for production of a highly expressed recombinant protein in an active form.

Under standard growth conditions, E. coli transformed with the high-level expression vector pMON5525 produces recombinant DMAPP/AMP transferase in inactive, insoluble complexes. We have produced large amounts of active, soluble protein by growing and inducing the cells under osmotic stress in the presence of sorbitol and glycyl betaine. This caused an increase of up to 427-fold in the active yield, and the disappearance of the protein from the pelletable fraction of cell extracts. This treatment may have wide applicability.     

A peptide carrier for the delivery of biologically active proteins into mammalian cells.

The development of peptide drugs and therapeutic proteins is limited by the poor permeability and the selectivity of the cell membrane. There is a growing effort to circumvent these problems by designing strategies to deliver full-length proteins into a large number of cells. A series of small protein domains, termed protein transduction domains (PTDs), have been shown to cross biological membranes efficiently and independently of transporters or specific receptors, and to promote the delivery of peptides and proteins into cells. TAT protein from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) is able to deliver biologically active proteins in vivo and has been shown to be of considerable interest for protein therapeutics. Similarly, the third alpha-helix of Antennapedia homeodomain, and VP22 protein from herpes simplex virus promote the delivery of covalently linked peptides or proteins into cells. However, these PTD vectors display a certain number of limitations in that they all require crosslinking to the target peptide or protein. Moreover, protein transduction using PTD-TAT fusion protein systems may require denaturation of the protein before delivery to increase the accessibility of the TAT-PTD domain. This requirement introduces an additional delay between the time of delivery and intracellular activation of the protein. In this report, we propose a new strategy for protein delivery based on a short amphipathic peptide carrier, Pep-1. This peptide carrier is able to efficiently deliver a variety of peptides and proteins into several cell lines in a fully biologically active form, without the need for prior chemical covalent coupling or denaturation steps. In addition, this peptide carrier presents several advantages for protein therapy, including stability in physiological buffer, lack of toxicity, and lack of sensitivity to serum. Pep-1 technology should be extremely useful for targeting specific protein-protein interactions in living cells and for screening novel therapeutic proteins.     

Strategy for analysis and screening of bioactive compounds in traditional Chinese medicines

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), due to their long time clinic test and reliable therapeutic efficacy, are attracting increased global attention served as excellent pools of bioactive compounds for the discovery of new drugs. However, hundreds or even thousands of components are usually contained in traditional Chinese medicines and only a few compounds are responsible for the pharmaceutical and/or toxic effects. The large numbers of other components in traditional Chinese medicines make the screening and analysis of the bioactive components extremely difficult. By the way, the combination effect of bioactive components on the pharmacological activity makes it very difficult to clear the therapeutic mechanism of TCMs. Therefore, some strategies have to design for screening of bioactive compounds in traditional Chinese medicines, which further leads to disclose the therapeutic mechanism of TCMs in molecular level. The review will summarize the present state of the art of screening strategy for active compounds in traditional Chinese medicines, and the chromatography methods for screening and analysis of bioactive compounds in traditional Chinese medicines will be emphasized.     

Synthesis of Pro-XylaneTM: A new biologically active C-glycoside in aqueous media

The scope and limitation of Lubineau’s reaction were evaluated for the synthesis of C-glycosides (compounds 1–13). Further transformation of side chain carbonyl was also achieved (compounds 16–23). Optimization of these two steps was investigated in xylose case. Some of the compounds were shown to stimulate sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) synthesis. Compound 20 (called Pro-Xylane^TM) was identified as the best activator of GAGs biosynthesis. Pro-Xylane^TM was developed using environmentally friendly conditions relevant to ‘Green-Chemistry’ principles and launched on the market in September 2006. This compound is the first example of ‘Green’ chemical used in cosmetic.     

驱蛔中药的活性成分川楝素的生物效应

利用楝属植物皮和种子治疗消化道寄生虫病和防治农业虫害,早在两千年前的中国古代已有记载。川楝素（toosendanin,C30H38O11,FW=574）是我国科学家在上世纪五十年代从川楝皮提取、分离的一个用以代替进口驱蛔药山道年的三萜化合物。研究已证明川楝素具多种独特的生物效应和在科学研究、临床医学及农业上的应用价值。第一,川楝素以先易化后抑制的双相作用干扰神经递质释放,阻遏神经肌肉接头和中枢神经突触的突触传递。此作用可能是川楝素改变递质释放装置的Ca^2＋敏感性和使之最终完全消失的结果。第二,尽管川楝素与肉毒神经毒素阻遏神经肌肉接头传递的作用有许多相似,川楝素在离体和在体实验中均显示出极有效的抗肉毒神经毒素作用：川楝素可治愈致死量肉毒中毒的小鼠和猴;经川楝素孵育的离体神经肌肉标本,或由经一次川楝素注射的动物取出的神经肌肉标本具抵抗肉毒神经毒素作用的能力。已有证据表明抗肉毒神经毒素作用是通过川楝素阻隔肉毒神经毒素与其酶解底物SNARE蛋白的接近而实现的。第三,近年观察到川楝素还引发细胞分化和凋亡,抑制人的多种肿瘤细胞增殖。该作用是Ca^2＋依赖性的,有线粒体依赖的凋亡通路参与。第四,川楝素抑制多种K^＋通道,选择性地易化通过L型Ca^2＋通道的Ca^2＋流,并由此导致细胞内Ca^2＋浓度（[Ca^2＋]i）持续升高。川楝素对K^＋通道的抑制,对L型Ca^2＋通道的易化和由之引起的[Ca^]．升高和超载,是川楝素引发细胞分化和凋亡、抑制细胞增殖,以及川楝素产生神经递质双相变化和阻遏突触传递的机制。     

Microcontrolled release of biologically active compounds in chick embryos: beads of 200-microns diameter for the local release of retinoids

A method of controlled release that allows the continuous local application of retinoids (vitamin A derivatives) in living tissues has been developed. Several biocompatible 200-microns-diameter polymeric beads have been tested as possible carriers. Each type of bead was loaded by soaking in an isotopically labeled retinoid solution, washed, and then transferred into tissue culture medium for quantitative release measurements. Positively-charged ion-exchange resins of the Dowex 1 type were found to be the most suitable for the controlled release of retinoic acid, a negatively charged compound. For the controlled release of uncharged retinoids such as retinyl acetate, uncharged acrylic ester polymer beads are preferred; these beads can also be used to release the negatively charged compounds retinoic acid and prostaglandin E1. In all cases, a prolonged release is obtained that persists for more than a day. During this interval, the release is diffusion-controlled, and the total amount of compound released is directly proportional to the amount of the compound that the bead is exposed to during the initial loading step. High-performance liquid chromatography has been used to analyze the nature of the released retinoid. When the positively charged beads are loaded with all-trans-retinoic acid, there is a time-dependent decrease in the proportion of the all-trans isomer released which is due to an increased release of two cis isomers. This isomerization reaction occurs at a considerably slower rate when the uncharged beads are used as carriers. To mimic the conditions under which the local release of retinoic acid causes striking pattern duplications in developing chick wings, beads loaded with isotopically labeled retinoids were manually implanted into a slit cut into wing buds of stage-20 chick embryos. The release rate obtained was comparable to that found in vitro, and a time-dependent accumulation of the released radioactive compound was measured that was confined to the tissue near the site of implantation. All of the beads tested were readily accommodated by the tissue and could be easily removed at any time to terminate the treatment. It is believed that the controlled release of chemicals from such tiny biocompatible implants has a wide potential range of applications in biology.     

The bovine chromogranin A gene: structural basis for hormone regulation and generation of biologically active peptides.

The structure of the gene encoding bovine chromogranin-A has been determined by characterization of two isolated genomic clones. Chromogranin-A is encoded by eight exons, which organize the coding region into several distinct structural and functional domains. Exons 1-5 represent the highly conserved signal peptide and N-terminal domain, which are separated into regions corresponding to the signal peptide, N-terminal sequence, disulfide-bonded loop, and remainder of the conserved N-terminal domain. Exon 6 represents the variable domain and encodes a region that is identical to the novel chromogranin-A-derived peptide chromostatin. Exon 7 encodes the biologically active peptide pancreastatin as well as most of the conserved C-terminal domain, with the remainder found on exon 8. The mRNA sequence obtained from the gene contains five nucleotide differences from the consensus sequence of four reported bovine chromogranin-A cDNA clones. Two of the differences in the gene result in two amino acid changes in the region encoded by exon 6. The structural organization of the chromogranin-A gene resembles that of the chromogranin-B gene in the exons corresponding to the signal peptide, N-terminal sequence, disulfide loop, and C-terminal sequence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

A green fluorescent protein fusion strategy for monitoring the expression, cellular location, and separation of biologically active organophosphorus hydrolase

 Organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH) is capable of degrading a variety of pesticides and nerve agents. We have developed a versatile monitoring technique for detecting the amount of OPH during the expression and purification steps. This involves fusion of the gene for green fluorescent protein (GFP) to the 5′ end of the OPH gene and subsequent expression in Escherichia coli. The synthesized fusion protein was directly visualized due to the optical properties of GFP. Western blot analyses showed that the correct fusion protein was expressed after IPTG-induction. Also, the in vivo GFP fluorescence intensity was proportional to the OPH enzyme activity. Moreover, the OPH, which forms a dimer in its active state, retained activity while fused to GFP. Enterokinase digestion experiments showed that OPH was separated from the GFP reporter after purification via immobilized metal affinity chromatography, which in turn was monitored by fluorescence. The strategy of linking GFP to OPH has enormous potential for improving enzyme production efficiency, as well as enhancing field use, as it can be monitored at low concentrations with inexpensive instrumentation based on detecting green fluorescence. Received: 27 April 1999 / Received last revision: 18 October 1999 / Accepted: 1 November 1999