Flow injection chemiluminescence determination of naphazoline hydrochloride in pharmaceuticals

A simple and sensitive flow injection chemiluminescence (FI‐CL) method was developed for the determination of naphazoline hydrochloride (NPZ). The method is based on the enhancing effect of NPZ on the weak CL signal from the reaction of KIO₄ with H₂O₂. Experimental parameters that affected the CL signal, including the pH of the KIO₄ solution, concentrations of KIO₄, H₂O₂ and disodium‐EDTA and flow rate were optimized. Under the optimum conditions, the increment of CL intensity was linearly proportional to the concentration of NPZ in the range 5.0 × 10^?6 to 70 × 10^?6 mol/L. The detection limit was 1.0 × 10^?6 mol/L and the relative standard deviation for 50 × 10^?6 mol/L NPZ solution was 2.8% (n = 11). In addition, a high throughput of 120 samples/h was achieved. The utility of this method was demonstrated by determining NPZ in pharmaceuticals. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanism of Assembly of the Non-Covalent Spectrin Tetramerization Domain from Intrinsically Disordered Partners

Interdomain interactions of spectrin are critical for maintenance of the erythrocyte cytoskeleton. In particular, “head-to-head” dimerization occurs when the intrinsically disordered C-terminal tail of β-spectrin binds the N-terminal tail of α-spectrin, folding to form the “spectrin tetramer domain”. This non-covalent three-helix bundle domain is homologous in structure and sequence to previously studied spectrin domains. We find that this tetramer domain is surprisingly kinetically stable. Using a protein engineering Φ-value analysis to probe the mechanism of formation of this tetramer domain, we infer that the domain folds by the docking of the intrinsically disordered β-spectrin tail onto the more structured α-spectrin tail.     

Constitutive Nuclear Localization of an Alternatively Spliced Sirtuin-2 Isoform

Sirtuin-2 (SIRT2), the cytoplasmic member of the sirtuin family, has been implicated in the deacetylation of nuclear proteins. Although the enzyme has been reported to be located to the nucleus during G₂/M phase, its spectrum of targets suggests functions in the nucleus throughout the cell cycle. While a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling mechanism has been proposed for SIRT2, recent studies have indicated the presence of a constitutively nuclear isoform. Here we report the identification of a novel splice variant (isoform 5) of SIRT2 that lacks a nuclear export signal and encodes a predominantly nuclear isoform. This novel isoform 5 fails to show deacetylase activity using several assays, both in vitro and in vivo, and we are led to conclude that this isoform is catalytically inactive. Nevertheless, it retains the ability to interact with p300, a known interaction partner. Moreover, changes in intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence upon denaturation indicate that the protein is properly folded. These data, together with computational analyses, confirm the structural integrity of the catalytic domain. Our results suggest an activity-independent nuclear function of the novel isoform.     

N-乙酰-L-半胱氨酸合成新工艺

研究了一步合成法生产 N-乙酰 -L-半胱氨酸的工艺 ,介绍了工艺过程并讨论了主要影响因素。该方法简单 ,操作方便 ,生产周期短 ,反应选择性好 ,产品得率及纯度很高 ,是一种具有应用价值的新方法     

Reversible unfolding of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus main protease in guanidinium chloride

Chemical denaturant sensitivity of the dimeric main protease from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus to guanidinium chloride was examined in terms of fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism, analytical ultracentrifuge, and enzyme activity change. The dimeric enzyme dissociated at guanidinium chloride concentration of <0.4 M, at which the enzymatic activity loss showed close correlation with the subunit dissociation. Further increase in guanidinium chloride induced a reversible biphasic unfolding of the enzyme. The unfolding of the C-terminal domain-truncated enzyme, on the other hand, followed a monophasic unfolding curve. Different mutants of the full-length protease (W31 and W207/W218), with tryptophanyl residue(s) mutated to phenylalanine at the C-terminal or N-terminal domain, respectively, were constructed. Unfolding curves of these mutants were monophasic but corresponded to the first and second phases of the protease, respectively. The unfolding intermediate of the protease thus represented a folded C-terminal domain but an unfolded N-terminal domain, which is enzymatically inactive due to loss of regulatory properties. The various enzyme forms were characterized in terms of hydrophobicity and size-and-shape distributions. We provide direct evidence for the functional role of C-terminal domain in stabilization of the catalytic N-terminal domain of SARS coronavirus main protease.     

A common mechanism for recombinant human NGF, BDNF, NT-3, and murine NGF slow unfolding

The recombinant human nerve growth factor (hNGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), neurotrophin 4/5 (NT4/5), and murine NGF (mNGF) dimers all undergo rapid unfolding and dissociation to monomer in GdnHCl. Fluorescence spectroscopy, reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, and size-exclusion chromatography were used to show that this monomer M1 converts slowly to a more fully unfolded monomer, M2, by a first order process with half-lives of 22, 2.5, 1.6, and 0.73 h for hNGF, mNGF, NT-3, and BDNF, respectively, at 25 degrees C. Linear Arrhenius plots for the conversion of M1 to M2 yielded activation energies of 27, 22, 24, and 24 kcal/mol for hNGF, mNGF, NT-3, and BDNF, respectively. The refolding of these neurotrophins from 5 M GdnHCl was also first order with NT-3 the slowest to refold and BDNF the fastest. Threading of the N-terminus out through the cystine-knot loop present in each of these proteins is proposed as the slow step in unfolding. The number of amino acids in the cystine-knot loop (14 for hNGF, mNGF, NT-3, and BDNF; 21 for NT4/5), and the number and position of the proline residues in this loop (2 for hNGF; 1 for mNGF, NT-3, BDNF, and NT4/5) correlate with the relative rates of unfolding. The smaller the loop and the greater the number of prolines, the more hindered and slower the unfolding.     

三七总RNA提取方法的对比研究

比较利用改进的异硫氰酸胍一步法、异硫氰酸胍高盐法、CTAB法和Thomas’RNA提取法等4种方法提取三七根茎2个部位总RNA的可行性。结果表明,改进的异硫氰酸胍一步法和异硫氰酸胍高盐法能有效地抑制酚类物质、多糖及皂苷等次级代谢产物对总RNA的影响,可从三七根茎中获得质量高、完整性好的总RNA。RT—PCR分析显示提取的总RNA具有反转录活性。这2种方法具有快速、简单、有效的特点。     

Kinetics of protein aggregation. Quantitative estimation of the chaperone-like activity in test-systems based on suppression of protein aggregation

The experimental data on the kinetics of irreversible aggregation of proteins caused by exposure to elevated temperatures or the action of denaturing agents (guanidine hydrochloride, urea) have been analyzed. It was shown that the terminal phase of aggregation followed, as a rule, first order kinetics. For the kinetic curves registered by an increase in the apparent absorbance (A) in time (t) the methods of estimation of the corresponding kinetic parameters A _lim and k _I (A _lim is the limiting value of A at t and k _I is the rate constant of the first order) have been proposed. Cases are revealed when the reaction rate constant k _I calculated from the kinetic curve of aggregation of the enzymes coincides with the rate constant for enzyme inactivation. Such a situation is interpreted as a case when the rate of aggregation is limited by the stage of denaturation of the enzyme. A conclusion has been made that, in order to establish the mechanism of protein aggregation, the kinetic investigations of aggregation should be carried out over a wide range of protein concentrations. The refolding experiments after denaturation of proteins by guanidine hydrochloride or urea have been also analyzed. It was shown that aggregation accompanying refolding follows first order kinetics at the final phase of the process. The model of protein refolding explaining such a kinetic regularity has been proposed. When aggregation of protein substrate follows first order kinetics, parameters A _lim and k _I may be used for the quantitative characterization of the chaperone-like activity in the test-systems based on suppression of protein aggregation.     

多囊蛋白2对低频脉冲电磁场促进成骨细胞分化成熟的影响北大核心CSCD

已知低频脉冲电磁场(pulsed electromagnetic fields,PEMFs)可以促进体外培养大鼠颅骨成骨细胞(rat calvarial osteoblasts,ROBs)的分化成熟,但ROBs感知PEMFs物理信号并启动成骨性分化的机制至今不明。本研究探究了0.6 mT 50 Hz PEMFs促进ROBs成骨性分化与位于ROBs表面的初级纤毛上的多囊蛋白2(polycystin2,PC2)的关系。首先用免疫荧光染色法研究了PC2是否位于ROBs初级纤毛内,然后通过Western blotting检测了经PEMFs处理不同时间后,ROBs内PC2蛋白表达的变化情况。接着用PC2阻断剂盐酸阿米洛利(amiloride HCl,AMI)预处理ROBs,检测碱性磷酸酶(alkline phosphatase,ALP)活性和PC2蛋白表达受PEMFs处理的影响情况,以及与骨形成相关的Runx-2、Bmp-2、Col-1、Osx的蛋白及基因表达的变化情况。再用RNA干扰法抑制ROBs内PC2的表达后,检测与骨形成相关基因表达情况。结果发现,PC2被定位于ROBs初级纤毛上,PEMFs处理增加了PC2蛋白表达量。PC2被AMI阻断后,PEMFs不再能提高PC2蛋白表达水平及ALP活性,PEMFs对成骨相关蛋白和基因表达的促进作用也被抵消。使用RNA干扰法抑制PC2的表达后,PEMFs也不再能提高骨形成相关基因的表达。结果表明:存在于成骨细胞初级纤毛表面的PC2在感知并传递PEMFs发出的物理信号中扮演着不可或缺的角色,PEMFs促进ROBs成骨性分化依赖于PC2的存在。本研究为阐明低频脉冲电磁场促进骨形成及治疗骨质疏松的机制研究奠定了基础。     

单甲脒农药对模型池塘生态系统群落结构的影响

在３ｍ×１ｍ×１ｍ（Ｖ＝３ｍ３）含有底泥的模型池塘生态系统中研究单脒农药对水生生物群落结构的影晌。规定实验浓度力０、１．５、３．０、６．０和１２．０ｍｇ／Ｌ,每１５ｄ加入１次２５％单甲脒农药水剂,连续加入４次,实验进行２个多月。在实验浓度范围内,童甲脒农药对水生生物群落产生不同程度的影响。浮游生物比较敏感：加药后头几天内,种类、数量及多样性指数下降,浓度越大,影响越明显;大约１周以后,各处理组浮游生物群落逐步得到恢复,实验后期其数量甚至可超过对照水平,但群落结构发生改变,敏感种类少或消失,耐污种类增加,生物多样性降低。底栖生物比较耐污：处理槽大型水生植物的叶绿素含量有所减少,但其种类和生物量未见明显差异;底栖动物种类、数量也未见明显变化。微生物最耐污,在处理槽水层及沉积物中好氧异养菌数量有所增加,沉积物中厌气菌数量也有增加的趋势。青鱼对单甲脒农药较敏感,在１．５ｍｇ／Ｌ以下浓度尚能正常存活和繁殖。单甲脒农药水剂明显增加水体氮、磷含量,尤其磷酸盐含量高,使水体氮、磷比例失调,可能导致水体富营养化。根据综合指标分析,在规定单甲脒盆酸盐浓度＜１．５ｍｇ／Ｌ的实验条件下,水生生物群落结构未见明显改变．