Obtusilobinin and obtusilobin,two new triterpene saponins from Anemone obtusiloba

Obtusilobinin and obtusilobin, two new saponins, have been isolated from the ethanolic extract of Anemone obtusiloba (Ranunculaceae). The structural elucidation of obtusilobinin and obtusilobin have showed them to be olean-12-ene-28-oic-3-O-(α-l-arabinofuranosyl 1→2) (α-l-rhamnopyranosyl 1→4)-β-d-glucopyranoside and olean-12-ene-28-oic-3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl 2→1-O-α-l-arabinofuranoside, respectively.     

Side chain effect on ion channel characters of Aib rich peptides.

As models of ion channel proteins and naturally occurring pore-forming peptides, we designed a series of Aib rich peptides [Ac-(Aib-Xxx-Aib-Ala)(5)-NH(2) (Xxx = Lys, Glu, Ser, and Gly: BXBA-20)] to investigate the effects of the side chains of the amino acid residues Lys, Glu, Ser, and Gly on the conformation and electrophysiological properties of ion channels. The conformation of peptides and their affinity for phospholipid membranes were evaluated by CD spectroscopy. Patch-clamp experiments revealed that all BXBA-20 peptides form ion channels in DPhPC bilayers exhibiting clearly resolved transitions between the open and closed states. The channel forming frequency was in the order BKBA-20>BEBA-20>BSBA-20>BGBA-20. In the case of BKBA-20 and BEBA-20, the self-assembled conductive oligomers expressed homogeneous and voltage-independent single channel conductances. In contrast, heterogeneous conductance was observed in BSBA-20 and BGBA-20 ion channels under similar experimental conditions. From these results, we conclude that peptides with a high degree of helical conformation, high amphipathicity, high affinity for lipid membranes, and self-associating characters in vesicles are most suitable for inducing ion channels with a high frequency of occurrence. Moreover, BEBA-20, BSBA-20, and BGBA-20 channels were cation-selective, whereas the BKBA-20 channel was non-selective.     

ROS-Mediated Antitumor Activity,Apoptosis, and Molecular Docking Studies of Platinum(II) Coordination Complexes Bearing 2-(Diphenylphosphino)pyridine Ligands

Platinum-based drugs have been widely used in cancer treatment. However, their severe side effects have limited their use. So, researchers have been striving to find compounds with fewer side effects and greater efficacy, to overcome these drawbacks. Here, the cytotoxicity of platinum(II) complexes containing 2-(diphenylphosphino)pyridine ligands have been studied on human lung (A549), ovarian (SKOV3), breast (MCF-7) cancer, and normal breast (MCF-10A) cell lines. The most potent compound exhibits a marked cell growth-inhibitory effect against ovarian and lung cancer cells with IC₅₀ values of 9.41 and 5.58 μM, respectively, which were significantly better than that observed for cisplatin (19.02, and 8.64 μM). Additionally, all complexes achieved significantly lower cytotoxicity towards MCF-10A. To investigate the interaction of complexes with DNA, an electrophoresis mobility shift assay was conducted, which indicated that complexes bind to DNA and affect its electrophoretic mobility. An analysis of apoptosis in A549 cells supported the conclusion that they inhibits cell proliferation via induction of apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Molecular docking was also used to investigate the interactions of compounds with different DNA structures. These compounds have the ability to be a suitable pharmaceutical compound with further investigations in the field of cancer research.     

Effect of feeding frequency as a rearing system on biological performance,survival, body chemical composition and economic efficiency of Asian seabass Lates calcarifer (Bloch, 1790) reared under controlled environmental conditions

A 70-day rearing trial was done to determine the optimal frequency of feeding on growth performance (GP), feed conversion rate (FCR), cannibalism, survival rate (SR), body chemical composition and economic efficiency of the Asian sea bass. This study tested four different treatments of feeding frequencies (FF), once (T1), twice (T2), three times (T3), and four times (T4) per day. An average initial weight of Asian sea bass fry was 0.2 g (SD = ±0.12) were stocked 10 individuals per m³ (9.14 m × 1.82 m × 1.22 m, L × W × H; water depth 0.61 m) with two replicates per treatment (4 × 2 = 8). Fry were fed a mixture of larval commercial feed and shrimp with a pellet diet containing (46% CP). Initially, the feeding rate of 8% biomass per day was further adjusted according to fish biomass on a weekly basis. Results showed that, the FF significantly affected (p < 0.05) on growth indictors and survival rate (SR). Specifically fry fed three times a day (T3) had the best FBW, FL, SGR, ADWG and FCR followed by T4 and T2 while fry fed one time a day was the lowest in these parameters. Also, VSI, HSI and CF (k) significantly differed among the treatments. The fish whole body content of protein, moisture and ash did not significantly (p < 0.05) be affected by feeding frequency, but lipid content differed and both T3, T4 were the highest. It could be concluded that, increasing FF up to three times a day had a positive effect on weight gain, survival rate and feed utilization of Lates calcarifer. The second degree polynomial regression indicates that fed three times a day is optimum for best growth performance and survival for Asian sea bass.     

Catalytic transformations with copper-metalated diglycine conjugates

A series of copper-metalated, water-soluble bis-diglycine conjugates were synthesized and characterized through spectroscopic methods. These conjugates were evaluated for the cleavage of phosphodiester substrates, supercoiled plasmid relaxation in the presence of co-oxidants, and for the oxidation of a diphenolic substrate, 2,6-dimethoxyphenol. Appreciable rate enhancements were observed for these reactions and the oxidative nucleolytic cleavage activity and phenol oxidative coupling was presumably manifested via formation of reactive oxygen species.     

Structure-activity relationships of diastereomeric lysine ring size analogs of the antimicrobial peptide gramicidin S: mechanism of action and discrimination between bacterial and animal cell membranes

Structure-activity relationships were examined in seven gramicidin S analogs in which the ring-expanded analog GS14 [cyclo-(VKLKVdYPLKVKLdYP)] is modified by enantiomeric inversions of its lysine residues. The conformation, amphiphilicity, and self-association propensity of these peptides were investigated by circular dichroism spectroscopy and reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography. (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic and dye leakage experiments were performed to evaluate the capacity of these peptides to induce inverse nonlamellar phases in, and to permeabilize phospholipid bilayers; their growth inhibitory activity against the cell wall-less mollicute Acholeplasma laidlawii B was also examined. The amount and stability of beta-sheet structure, effective hydrophobicity, propensity for self-association in water, ability to disrupt the organization of phospholipid bilayers, and ability to inhibit A. laidlawii B growth are strongly correlated with the facial amphiphilicity of these GS14 analogs. Also, the magnitude of the parameters segregate these peptides into three groups, consisting of GS14, the four single inversion analogs, and the two multiple inversion analogs. The capacity of these peptides to differentiate between bacterial and animal cell membranes exhibits a biphasic relationship with peptide amphiphilicity, suggesting that there may only be a narrow range of peptide amphiphilicity within which it is possible to achieve the dual therapeutic requirements of high antibiotic effectiveness and low hemolytic activity. These results were rationalized by considering how the physiochemical properties of these GS14 analogs are likely to be reflected in their partitioning into lipid bilayer membranes.     

Virus-induced inhibition of CD1d1-mediated antigen presentation: reciprocal regulation by p38 and ERK

A critical component of the host's innate immune response involves lipid Ag presentation by CD1d molecules to NK T cells. In this study we used murine CD1d1-transfected L (L-CD1) cells to study the effect of viruses on CD1d-mediated Ag presentation to NKT cells and found that an infection with vesicular stomatitis and vaccinia (but not lymphocytic choriomeningitis) virus inhibited murine CD1d1-mediated Ag presentation. This was under the reciprocal control of the MAPKs, p38 and ERK, and was due to changes in the intracellular trafficking of CD1d1. The reciprocal regulation of CD1d1-mediated Ag presentation by MAPK suggests that the targeting of these pathways is a novel means of immune evasion by viruses.