Characterization of Lignins Isolated with Alkaline Ethanol from the Hydrothermal Pretreated Tamarix ramosissima

The objective of this study was to characterize the changes in lignin structure during hydrothermal pretreatment of shrub Tamarix ramosissima. Lignins in residual wood meal were isolated with alkaline ethanol solution and recovered with acid precipitation. A comparison between the recovered lignin fractions with milled wood lignin has been made in terms of yield, purity, gel permeation chromatography, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), 1D ¹³C and 2D heteronuclear single quantum coherence nuclear magnetic resonance (HSQC NMR) spectroscopic techniques. Semiquantitative HSQC NMR showed that the relative amounts of β-O-4′ (around 76 % side chains) and resinol type substructures (16 %) of lignins were significantly modified during hydrothermal pretreatment. Py-GC/MS analyses brought direct evidences of these lignin samples with high S/G ratios ranging from 1.7 to 2.6. Moreover, the results indicated that an increase in the severity of the hydrothermal pretreatment enhanced the degradation of lignin unit side chains and the condensation of lignin and decreased the molecular weight of the recovered lignin fractions. This study demonstrated that the combination of autohydrolysis and alkaline ethanol process could potentially turn the recovered lignin fractions into value added products being in accordance with the “biorefinery” concept.     

Protein tyrosine phosphatase controls breast cancer invasion through the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9

The expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) produced by cancer cells has been associated with the high potential of metastasis in several human carcinomas, including breast cancer. Several pieces of evidence demonstrate that protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTP) have functions that promote cell migration and metastasis in breast cancer. We analyzed whether PTP inhibitor might control breast cancer invasion through MMP expression. Herein, we investigate the effect of 4-hydroxy-3,3-dimethyl-2H benzo[g]indole-2,5(3H)-dione (BVT948), a novel PTP inhibitor, on 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced MMP-9 expression and cell invasion in MCF-7 cells. The expression of MMP-9 and cell invasion increased after TPA treatment, whereas TPA-induced MMP-9 expression and cell invasion were decreased by BVT948 pretreatment. Also, BVT948 suppressed NF-κB activation in TPA-treated MCF-7 cells. However, BVT948 didn’t block TPA-induced AP-1 activation in MCF-7 cells. Our results suggest that the PTP inhibitor blocks breast cancer invasion via suppression of the expression of MMP-9. [BMB Reports 2013; 46(11): 533-538]     

Binding model for eriodictyol to Jun-N terminal kinase and its anti-inflammatory signaling pathway

The anti-inflammatory activity of eriodictyol and its mode of action were investigated. Eriodictyol suppressed tumor necrosis factor (mTNF)-α, inducible nitric oxide synthase (miNOS), interleukin (mIL)-6, macrophage inflammatory protein (mMIP)-1, and mMIP-2 cytokine release in LPS-stimulated macrophages. We found that the anti-inflammatory cascade of eriodictyol is mediated through the Toll-like Receptor (TLR)4/CD14, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), extracellular-signalregulated kinase (ERK), Jun-N terminal kinase (JNK), and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 pathway. Fluorescence quenching and saturation-transfer difference (STD) NMR experiments showed that eriodictyol exhibits good binding affinity to JNK, 8.79 × 10⁵ M^-1. Based on a docking study, we propose a model of eriodictyol and JNK binding, in which eriodictyol forms 3 hydrogen bonds with the side chains of Lys55, Met111, and Asp169 in JNK, and in which the hydroxyl groups of the B ring play key roles in binding interactions with JNK. Therefore, eriodictyol may be a potent anti-inflammatory inhibitor of JNK. [BMB Reports 2013; 46(12): 594-599]     

Distribution of 2-kb miniplasmid pBMB2062 from Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki YBT-1520 strain in Bacillus species

A multi-copy and small plasmid pBMB2062 from Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki YBT-1520 strain was cloned and characterized and its distribution was analyzed using dot-blot analysis with the ORF1 fragment as a probe. Bacillus species of 84 serotypes were evaluated. The pBMB2062 plasmid was found to be present in commercial B. thuringiensis kurstaki (H3abc) and aizawai (H7) insecticides of various serotypes, and one Bacillus cereus UW85 strain (produced Zwittermicin fungicide and Cry toxin synergist). The sequences of 7 pBMB2062-like plasmids from randomly selected Bacillus species (positive signal in the dot-blot analysis) were highly conserved. Two open reading frames (ORFs), ORF1 and ORF2, were present in this plasmid. ORF1 was found to be necessary for plasmid replication, whereas ORF2 did not play a role in replication or stability. Based on its sequence homology, ORF2 was a putative solitary antitoxin. Furthermore, the copy number of the replicon of pBMB2062 was higher than those of ori1030 and ori44 based on the thermogenic data, and ori2062 could drive the stable replication of a recombinant plasmid (11 kb total size) in B. thuringiensis.     

Tunable differential conductance of single wall C/BN nanotube heterostructure

The transport properties and differential conductance of the heterostructures constructed by (5,5) single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and (5,5) single wall boron nitride nanotube (SWBNNT) are investigated using density functional theory in combination with non-equilibrium Green’s functions. We find that the transmission conductance of (5,5) BN/C nanotube heterostructure is not only continually depressed as the BNNT region increases but also the drop of the conductance is uniform in the energy window (?1.43 eV, 1 eV), which leads to linear I–V dependence for the systems when the bias is within this energy range. Moreover, the differential conductance linearly decreases when n?≤?3 but exponentially decreases when n?≥?3 for (5,5)(BN) _n /C heterostructure. Such tunable differential conductance of (5,5) BN/C nanotube heterostructure mainly derives from the blockage of the transport channels induced by the semiconductive BN segment.

Looking for high energy density compounds among polynitraminepurines

A series of purine derivatives with nitramine groups are calculated by using density functional theory (DFT). The molecular theory density, heats of formation, bond dissociation energies and detonation performance are investigated at DFT-B3LYP/6-311G** level. The isodesmic reaction method is employed to calculate the HOFs of the energies obtained from electronic structure calculations. Results show that the position of nitramine groups can influence the values of HOFs. The bond dissociation energies and the impact sensitivity are analyzed to investigate the thermal stability of the purine derivatives. The calculated bond dissociation energies of ring-NHNO₂ and NH-NO₂ bond show that the NH-NO₂ bond should be the trigger bond in pyrolysis processes. The H₅₀ of most compounds are larger than that of CL-20 and RDX.     

Overexpression of sema3a in myocardial infarction border zone decreases vulnerability of ventricular tachycardia post‐myocardial infarction in rats

The expression of the chemorepellent Sema3a is inversely related to sympathetic innervation. We investigated whether overexpression of Sema3a in the myocardial infarction (MI) border zone could attenuate sympathetic hyper‐innervation and decrease the vulnerability to malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmia (VT) in rats. Survived MI rats were randomized to phosphate buffered saline (PBS, n = 12); mock lentivirus (MLV, n = 13) and lentivirus‐mediated overexpression of Sema3a (SLV, n = 13) groups. Sham‐operated rats served as control group (CON, n = 20). Cardiac function and electrophysiological study (PES) were performed at 1 week later. Blood and tissue samples were collected for histological analysis, epinephrine (EPI), growth‐associated factor 43 (GAP43) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) measurements. QTc intervals were significantly shorter in SLV group than in PBS and MLV groups (168.6 ± 7.8 vs. 178.1 ± 9.5 and 180.9 ± 8.2 ms, all P < 0.01). Inducibility of VT by PES was significantly lower in the SLV group [30.8% (4/13)] than in PBS [66.7% (8/12)] and MLV [61.5% (8/13)] groups (P < 0.05). mRNA and protein expressions of Sema3a were significantly higher and the protein expression of GAP43 and TH was significantly lower at 7 days after transduction in SLV group compared with PBS, MLV and CON groups. Myocardial EPI in the border zone was also significantly lower in SLV group than in PBS and MLV group (8.73 ± 1.30 vs. 11.94 ± 1.71 and 12.24 ± 1.54 μg/g protein, P < 0.001). Overexpression of Sema3a in MI border zone could reduce the inducibility of ventricular arrhythmias by reducing sympathetic hyper‐reinnervation after infarction.