Microsphaerol and Seimatorone: Two New Compounds Isolated from the Endophytic Fungi,Microsphaeropsis sp. and Seimatosporium sp.

A new polychlorinated triphenyl diether named microsphaerol ( 1 ), has been isolated from the endophtic fungus Microsphaeropsis sp. An intensive phytochemical investigation of the endophytic fungus Seimatosporium sp., led to the isolation of a new naphthalene derivative named seimatorone ( 2 ) and eight known compounds, i.e., 1‐(2,6‐dihydroxyphenyl)‐3‐hydroxybutan‐1‐one ( 3 ), 1‐(2,6‐dihydroxyphenyl)butan‐1‐one ( 4 ), 1‐(2‐hydroxy‐6‐methoxyphenyl)butan‐1‐one ( 5 ), 5‐hydroxy‐2‐methyl‐4H‐chromen‐4‐one ( 6 ), 2,3‐dihydro‐5‐hydroxy‐2‐methyl‐4H‐chromen‐4‐one ( 7 ), 8‐methoxynaphthalen‐1‐ol ( 8 ), nodulisporins A and B ( 9 and 10 , resp.), and daldinol ( 11 ). The structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analysis including ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR, COSY, HMQC, HMBC, and HR‐EI‐MS, while the structures of the known compounds were deduced from comparison of their spectral data with those in the literature. Preliminary studies revealed that microsphaerol ( 1 ) showed good antibacterial activities against B. Megaterium and E. coli, and good antilagal and antifungal activities against C. fusca, M. violaceum, respectively. On the other hand, seimatorone ( 2 ) exhibited moderate antibacterial, antialgal, and antifungal activities.     

Isolation of secondary metabolites from roots of Plumbago auriculata Lam. by countercurrent chromatography

Centrifugal liquid-liquid partition chromatography presents significant advantages for the separation and purification of plant metabolites owing to the short operational time of the process and the elimination of possible irreversible adsorption of compounds. The crude chloroform extract from roots of Plumbago auriculata was analysed by countercurrent chromatography using hexane:ethyl acetate:methanol:water (40:10:10:2, v/v) as solvent system. The isolation of the naphthoquinones plumbagin and epi-isoshinanolone, the steroids sitosterol and 3-O-glucosylsitosterol, plumbagic and palmitic acids was easily achieved. Naphthoquinones are typical components of Plumbago species and they show interesting biological activities.     

Synthesis and Antifungal Activity of 2‐Hydroxy‐4,5‐methylenedioxyaryl Ketones as Analogues of Kakuol

In a study aiming to determine the structural elements essential to the antifungal activity of kakuol, we synthesized a series of 2‐hydroxy‐4,5‐methylenedioxyaryl ketones, and we assayed their in vitro antifungal activity. The most sensitive target organisms to the action of these class of compounds were Phytophthora infestans, Phytium ultimum, Cercospora beticola, Cladosporium cucumerinum, and Rhizoctonia solani. Most of the analogs showed a remarkable in vitro activity, and some of them appeared significantly more effective than the natural product. The biological activity was mainly affected by introducing structural modification on the carbonyl moiety of the natural‐product molecule. In particular, compound 5a , bearing a C?C bond conjugated to the C?O group, was found active with a MIC value of 10 μg ml^?1 against Cladosporium cucumerinum. The results suggest that 2‐hydroxy‐4,5‐methylenedioxyaryl ketones can be considered promising candidates in the development of new antifungal compounds.     

Simple identification of the neutral chlorinated auxin in pea by thin layer chromatography

One of the neutral chlorinated auxins of immature pea seeds was readily identified by thin layer procedures simple enough to serve in student's laboratory courses. 4-Chloroindole-3-acetic acid methyl ester was extracted from 50 g of commercial, frozen peas by either water or acetone, concentrated to small volumes and chromatographed in CHCl₃ or CCl₄ solvent systems separating the chlorinated auxin from indoleacetonitrile and the methyl or ethyl esters of indoleacetic acid. Colour reaction was carried out with some of the Salkowski FeCl₃ sprays of which Ehmann's FeCl₃/dimethylaminobenzaldehyde modification gave the most stable blue colour.     

Cytotoxic sesquiterpenes from Magnolia kachirachirai

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the root wood of Magnolia kachirachirai (Kanehira & Yamamoto) Dandy (Magnoliaceae) led to the isolation of three new compounds, kachiraterpenol (1), (E)-2,3-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-enal (15), and kachiranol (19), together with 27 known compounds, of which 4,4'-dihydroxy-3,3'-dimethoxybenzophenone (16) was isolated for the first time from a natural source. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis. Two of these isolates, costunolide (2) and dehydrosaussurea lactone (4), showed cytotoxic properties against MCF-7, NCI-H460, and SF-268 cancer cell lines in vitro.     

Chemical Composition,Enantiomeric Analysis,AEDA Sensorial Evaluation and Antifungal Activity of the Essential Oil from the Ecuadorian Plant Lepechinia mutica Benth (Lamiaceae)

This study describes the GC‐FID, GC/MS, GC‐O, and enantioselective GC analysis of the essential oil hydrodistilled from leaves of Lepechinica mutica (Lamiaceae), collected in Ecuador. GC‐FID and GC/MS analyses allowed the characterization and quantification of 79 components, representing 97.3% of the total sample. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (38.50%) and monoterpene hydrocarbons (30.59%) were found to be the most abundant volatiles, while oxygenated sesquiterpenes (16.20%) and oxygenated monoterpenes (2.10%) were the minor components. In order to better characterize the oil aroma, the most important odorants, from the sensorial point of view, were identified by Aroma Extract Dilution Analysis (AEDA) GC‐O. They were α‐Pinene, β‐Phellandrene, and Dauca‐5,8‐diene, exhibiting the characteristic woody, herbaceus, and earthy odors, respectively. Enantioselective GC analysis of L. mutica essential oil revealed the presence of twelve couples and two enantiomerically pure chiral monoterpenoids. Their enantiomeric excesses were from a few percent units to 100%. Moreover, the essential oil exhibited moderate in vitro activity against five fungal strains, being especially effective against M. canis, which is a severe zoophilic dermatophyte causal agent of pet and human infections.     

Clearance of porcine circovirus and porcine parvovirus from porcine-derived pepsin by low pH inactivation and cation exchange chromatography

The contamination of oral rotavirus vaccines by porcine circovirus (PCV) raised questions about potential PCV contamination of other biological products when porcine trypsin or pepsin is used in production process. Several methods can be potentially implemented as a safety barrier when animal derived trypsin or pepsin is used. Removal of PCV is difficult by the commonly used viral filters with the pore size cutoff of approximately 20 nm because of the smaller size of PCV particles that are around 17 nm. It was speculated that operating the chromatography step at a pH higher than pepsin's low pI, but lower than pIs, of most viruses would allow the pepsin to flow through the resin and be recovered from the flow through pool whilst the viruses would be retained on the resin. In this study, we investigated low pH inactivation of viruses including PCV Type 1 (PCV1) and PCV1 removal by cation exchange chromatography (CEX) in the presence of pepsin. Both parvovirus and PCV1 could be effectively inactivated by low pH and PCV1 could be removed by POROS 50HS CEX. The POROS 50HS method presented in this article is helpful for designing other CEX methods for the same purpose and not much difference would be expected for similar product intermediates and same process parameters. While the effectiveness needs to be confirmed for specific applications, the results demonstrate that both low pH (pH 1.7) and CEX methods were successful in eliminating PCV1 and thus either can be considered as an effective virus barrier.     

Regulation of the 5‐HT3A Receptor‐Mediated Current by Alkyl 4‐Hydroxybenzoates Isolated from the Seeds of Nelumbo nucifera

Four known alkyl 4‐hydroxybenzoates, i.e., methyl 4‐hydroxybenzoate ( 1 ), ethyl 4‐hydroxybenzoate ( 2 ), propyl 4‐hydroxybenzoate ( 3 ), and butyl 4‐hydroxybenzoate ( 4 ), were isolated from the seeds of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner (Nymphaeaceae) for the first time. The structures of the isolates were identified by 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR spectroscopy and comparison with published values. The compounds were evaluated for their effects on the 5‐HT‐stimulated inward current (I_5‐HT) mediated by the human 5‐HT₃A receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Compounds 1 and 2 enhanced the I_5‐HT, but 4 reduced it. These results indicate that 4 is an inhibitor of the 5‐HT₃A receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes.     

Nepem‐211 ion exchange conductive membrane immobilized tris(2,2´‐bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) electrogenerated chemiluminescence flow sensor for high‐performance liquid chromatography and its application

We developed a sensitive and robust electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) flow sensor based on Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ immobilized with a Nepem‐211 perfluorinated ion exchange conductance membrane, which has robustness and stability under a wide range of chemical and physical conditions, good electrical conductivity, isotropy and a high exchange capacity for immobilization of Ru(bpy)₃²⁺. The flow sensor has been used as a post‐column detector in high‐performance liquid chromatography for determination of erythromycin and clarithromycin in honey and pork, and tricyclic antidepressant drugs in human urine. Under optimal conditions, the linear ranges were 0.03–26 ng/μL and 0.01–1 ng/μL for macrolides and tricyclic antidepressant drugs, respectively. The detection limits were 0.02, 0.01, 0.01, 0.06 and 0.003 ng/μL for erythromycin, clarithromycin, doxepin, amitriptyline and clomipramine, respectively. There is no post‐column reagent addition. In addition to the conservation expensive reagents, the experimental setup was simplified. The flow sensor was used for 2 years with high sensitivity and stability. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sesquiterpenoids from the endophytic fungus Trichoderma sp. PR-35 of Paeonia delavayi

A new bisabolane-type sesquiterpene, trichoderic acid (1), and a new acorane-type sesquiterpene, 2β-hydroxytrichoacorenol (2), along with three known compounds, cyclonerodiol (3), cyclonerodiol oxide (4), and sorbicillin (5), were isolated from the culture broth of Trichoderma sp. PR-35, an endophytic fungus isolated from Paeonia delavayi. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of their IR, MS, and 1D- and 2D-NMR analyses. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of 1-5 towards various types of bacteria and fungi were tested. Most of the compounds showed moderate or weak antimicrobial activities in an agar-diffusion assay.     

Determination of carbamazepine in human urine and serum samples by high‐performance liquid chromatography with post‐column Ru(bipy)‐Ce(SO4)2 chemiluminescence detection

A novel, sensitive and rapid CL method coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography separation for the determination of carbamazepine is described. The method was based on the fact that carbamazepine could significantly enhance the chemiluminescence of the reaction of cerium sulfate and tris(2,2‐bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) in the presence of acid. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Kromasil® (Sigma‐Aldrich) TM RP‐C18 column (id: 150 mm × 4.6 mm, particle size: 5 µm, pore size: 100 Å) with a mobile phase consisting of methanol–water‐glacial acetic acid (70:29:1, v/v/v) at a flowrate of 1.0 mL/min, the total analysis time was within 650 s. Under optimal conditions, CL intensity was linear for carbamazepine in the range 2.0 × 10^?8 ~ 4.0 × 10^?5 g/mL, with a detection limit of 6.0 × 10^?9 g/mL (S/N = 3) and the relative standard detection was 2.5% for 2.0 × 10^?6 g/mL (n = 11). This method was successfully applied to the analysis of carbamazepine in human urine and serum samples. The possible mechanism of the CL reaction is also discussed briefly. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

一株细菌儿茶酚型铁载体分泌的影响因素研究

采用两种新的高分辨率的薄层层析（TLC）方法对一株土壤细菌S1在3种不同培养基上产生的儿茶酚型铁载体进行了分析。结果表明：不同培养基对铁载体的产生影响较大,在3种不同的培养基上菌株S1产生不同的儿茶酚铁载体,其中仅在1种培养基上S1能够分泌2,3-二羟基苯甲酸（2,3-DHBA）。同时,还分析了Al^3＋对S1分泌的儿茶酚型铁载体总量的影响,结果表明：Al^3＋能显著刺激铁载体的分泌,并且能抵消一定浓度范围内的Fe^2＋对铁载体分泌的抑制作用,KMB培养液中产生的4种儿茶酚铁载体中有3种和Al^3＋有较强的螯合力．     

应用高效体积排阻色谱偶联多角度激光散射鉴定猪圆环病毒2型灭活疫苗及病毒样颗粒疫苗抗原

本文旨在建立基于高效体积排阻色谱(high-performance size-exclusion chromatography,HPSEC)偶联多角度激光散射仪(multi-angle laser light scattering,MALLS)的猪圆环病毒2型(porcine circovirus type 2,PCV2)疫苗抗原检测方法。以纯化的PCV2灭活病毒及病毒样颗粒(virus-like particles,VLP)为参照,对4家生产企业的2种PCV2灭活病毒疫苗(a、b)及VLP疫苗(c、d)破乳后进行HPSEC-MALLS检测及分子量分析;结合PCV2抗原检测卡、Western blotting和透射电子显微镜(transmission electron microscope,TEM),鉴定了特征色谱峰;考察了方法的重复性和检测线性。结果表明,两家企业生产的PCV2灭活病毒疫苗破乳液水相经HPSEC分离,在保留时间约13.3 min处出现抗原特征峰;MALLS计算该色谱峰分子量分别为2.61×10⁶(±4.34%) Da和2.40×10⁶(±2.51%) Da。两种VLP疫苗也在13.3 min处出现抗原特征峰,分子量分别为2.09×10⁶(±2.94%) Da和2.88×10⁶(±11.85%) Da,接近PCV2的理论分子量;同时在保留时间约11.4 min处也出现色谱峰,经检测分子量为4.37×10⁶(±0.42%) Da,TEM表征显示为VLP二聚体。取疫苗d和PCV2 VLP纯品进行重复检测,抗原色谱峰面积的RSD(n=3)均小于1.5%,重复性好;将PCV2 VLP纯品梯度稀释检测,VLP及其多聚体的色谱峰面积与浓度均呈良好的线性关系,R²分别为0.999及0.997,能够满足定量及多聚体含量分析。该方法有望成为一种准确、高效的PCV2疫苗的体外评价方法,用于质量评价与提升。     

Enantioselective analysis of ibuprofen enantiomers in mice plasma and tissues by high‐performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection: Application to a pharmacokinetic study

A direct fluorometric high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed and validated for the analysis of ibuprofen enantiomers in mouse plasma (100 μl) and tissues (brain, liver, kidneys) using liquid–liquid extraction and 4‐tertbutylphenoxyacetic acid as an internal standard. Separation of enantiomers was accomplished in a Chiracel OJ‐H chiral column based on cellulose tris(4‐methylbenzoate) coated on 5 μm silica‐gel, 250 x 4.6 mm at 22 °C with a mobile phase composed of n‐hexane, 2‐propanol, and trifluoroacetic acid that were delivered in gradient elution at a flow rate of 1 ml min⁻¹. A fluorometric detector was set at: λ_excit. = 220 nm and λ_emis. = 290 nm. Method validation included the evaluation of the selectivity, linearity, lower limit of quantification (LLOQ), within‐run and between‐run precision and accuracy. The LLOQ for the two enantiomers was 0.125 μg ml⁻¹ in plasma, 0.09 μg g⁻¹ in brain, and 0.25 μg g⁻¹ in for liver and kidney homogenates. The calibration curves showed good linearity in the ranges of each enantiomers: from 0.125 to 35 μg ml⁻¹ for plasma, 0.09–1.44 μg g⁻¹ for brain, and 0.25–20 μg g⁻¹ for liver and kidney homogenates. The method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of ibuprofen enantiomers in mice treated i.v. with 10 mg kg⁻¹ of racemate.     

Larvicidal activity of bis(2-ethylhexyl) benzene-1,2-dicarboxylate from Sterculia guttata seeds against two mosquito species

The larvicidal activities of various fractions of the hexane extract of the seeds of Sterculia guttata against larvae of Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus were determined. Bis(2-ethylhexyl) benzene-1,2-dicarboxylate (1) was identified as one of the active principles, displaying chronic toxicity against both types of larvae, with LD50 values of 79 and 64 ppm, respectively.     

Studies on the mobilization of iron from ferritin by isolated rat liver mitochondria

Rat liver mitochondria and rat liver mitoplasts mobilize iron from ferritin by a mechanism which depends on a respiratory substrate (preferentially succinate), a small molecular weight electron mediator (FMN, phenazine methosulphate or methylene blue) and (near) anaerobic conditions.The release process under optimized conditions (approx. 50 μmol/l FMN, 1 mmol/l succinate, 0.35 mmol/l Fe(III) (as ferritin iron), 37°C and pH 7.40) amounts to 0.9–1.2 nmol iron/mg protein per min.The results suggest that ferritin might function as an intermediate in the cytosolic transport of iron to the mitochondria.     

Capture of an activated receptor complex from the surface of live cells by affinity receptor chromatography

Cell surface receptors and their associated signaling pathways on the plasma membrane are key targets in understanding cellular responses. However, the isolation and identification of receptor complexes has been elusive. The Fc receptor was captured from the surface of live cells using microbeads coated with the receptor’s cognate ligand, gamma globulin (IgG), and analyzed by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) alongside several controls. Live-cell affinity receptor chromatography (LARC) resulted in a partially nonredundant list of 288 proteins that were specific to the Fc receptor complex. The proteins identified were in close agreement with previously determined factors in the Fc receptor complex as demonstrated by genetic and biochemical methods and revealed novel complex members. Confocal microscopy was used to confirm recruitment of SRC, SYK, PLC, PKC, PI3K, SHIP, TEC, CDC42, RAP, PAK, GAP, GEF, GRP, and CRK to the receptor complex upon activation by the same ligand microbeads. The expression of mutants and silencing RNA against specific isoforms were used to demonstrate a functional role for novel members of the Fc receptor complex, including RHOG (RAS homologue member G), p115 RhoGEF (protein of 115-kDa RAS homologue guanine exchange factor), and CRKL (CRK-like). The recruitment of AKT pleckstrin homology (PH) domain green fluorescent protein (GFP) was used to quantify the production of phosphorylated inositol at the activated receptor complex. We conclude that it is feasible to capture an activated receptor complex from the surface of live cells using ligand-coated microbeads for identification of members of a receptor complex or pathway by LC–MS/MS.