InGaAs/InAlAs Five Layer Asymmetric Coupled Quantum Well (FACQW) for Ultra-Wideband Ultrafast Optical Modulators

An InGaAs/InAlAs five-layer asymmetric coupled quantum well (FACQW) is expected to show very large electrorefractive index change. n in a wideband transparency region. Band structures of the FACQW are analyzed with Luttinger-Kohn Hamiltonian. The electrorefractive characteristics of the FACQW are discussed.     

Syntheses and antitumor activities of N6,N6-dimethyladenosine carboxylate analogues

Several analogues substituted with fatty acid at the 2'-, 3'-, or 5'-position of the ribose moiety of N6,N6-dimethyladenosine were synthesized and tested for antitumor activity against cultured cells of L1210 leukemia and/or Ehrlich ascites. The cytotoxicity and increase of life span obtained with congeners in the N6,N6-dimethyladenosine 3'- or 5'-substituted series were comparable to in vitro or several times better in vivo than those of the mother compound.     

Synthetic study of optically active 3-azabicyclo[3.3.0]octane-2,6,8-tricarboxylic acid

Synthesis of (1R,2S,5S,6R,8S)-3-azabicyclo[3.3.0]octane-2,6,8-tricarboxylic acid (2) from trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline (5) was attempted. A Diels-Alder reaction of 3,4-dehydroproline derivative 9 and cyclopentadiene afforded a single stereoisomer 11. The Diels-Alder adduct was smoothly converted to the hydrochloride of 2 (24) via RuO(4) oxidation. Although some racemization of the material or product was observed during the synthetic processes, the amino acid 24 proved to be optically pure.     

Analysis of oxidized epigallocatechin gallate by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

(-)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) of catechins changes from non-colored at around neutral pH to yellow at higher pH region in aqueous solution. The pH-dependent oxidation of EGCG was analyzed by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). LC/MS/MS analysis of EGCG and its related compounds, (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG) and (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), successfully elucidated the structure relationship of EGCG solution involving the color change reaction at different pH conditions. The oxidation species produced at alkaline pH was detected at a different retention time from EGCG in the chromatograms of the EGCG sample. The oxidation species was found to correspond to M+14 (where M is the molecular weight of EGCG), which has two hydrogen atoms removed and addition of one oxygen atom to the gallyl moiety in the B-ring of EGCG.     

Site-directed 13C solid-state NMR studies on membrane proteins: strategy and goals toward revealing conformation and dynamics as illustrated for bacteriorhodopsin labeled with [1-13C]amino acid residues

We have so far demonstrated that well-resolved and site-specifically assigned (13)C peaks as recorded by site-directed NMR study on (13)C-labeled membrane proteins can serve as a convenient probe to reveal their local conformation and dynamics. We attempted here to clarify the extent to which (13)C NMR spectra of (13)C-labeled fully hydrated bacteriorhodopsin (bR) as a typical membrane protein are visible or well resolved in the presence of inherent fluctuation motions with frequency of 10(2)-10(8) Hz, especially at the membrane surfaces. Accordingly, we estimated the relative proportion of (13)C NMR signals from the surface areas with and without peak suppression by the accelerated transverse relaxation effect by surface-bound Mn(2+) ions, which could be effective for residues within 8.7 angstroms of the membrane surface. It turned out that the experimental findings are consistent with the predicted amount of amino acid residues under consideration located within 8.7 angstroms of the surface for [1-(13)C]Val- and Ile-labeled bR and also [3-(13)C]Ala-bR. In contrast, (13)C NMR peaks from such surfaces area are almost completely or partially suppressed for [1-(13)C]Gly-, Ala-, Leu-, Phe- and Trp-labeled bR, as a result of plausible interference of the fluctuation frequency with frequency of magic angle spinning (10(4) Hz). We further assigned several (13)C NMR signals of [1-(13)C] Val-, Trp- and Ile-labeled bR on the basis of a variety of site-directed mutants with reference to those of the wild type. Further, we recorded the (13)C NMR of bR in lipid bilayers to search for the optimal conditions to be able to obtain signals with the highest peak intensities and spectral resolution. Backbone dynamics turn out to be essential for recording (13)C NMR spectra so as to escape from motional frequencies of the order of 10(4)-10(5) Hz, either in the direction of accelerated fluctuation or slowed motions in the direction of forming the 2D array.     

Novel alignment method of small molecules using the Hopfield Neural Network

Molecular alignment is an important step in three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) such as comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA). A reasonable molecular alignment is necessary for building a 3D-QSAR model. In this paper, a novel method for molecular alignment using the Hopfield Neural Network (HNN) is introduced. Four kinds of chemical properties are assigned to each atom of a molecule. Then, those properties between two molecules correspond to each other using HNN. To validate our method, HNN was applied to 12 pairs of enzyme inhibitors cited from the Protein Data Bank (PDB). As a result, our method could successfully reproduce the real molecular alignments obtained from X-ray crystallography.     

Constituents of Crinoidea, 4. Isolation and structure of ceramides and glucocerebrosides from the feather star Comanthus japonica

Five ceramides, JC-1-JC-5, and four glucocerebrosides, JCer-1-JCer-4, have been isolated from their parent ceramide and glucocerebroside molecular species JC and JCer obtained from the less polar lipid fraction of the chloroform/methanol extract of the feather star Comanthus japonica. The structures of these sphingolipids have been determined on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidence. Reversed-phase HPLC was effective at isolating these sphingolipids, revealing very close resemblance in their structures. JC-1, JC-3, JC-4, JC-5 and JCer-2, JCer-4 are newly found ceramides and glucocerebrosides, respectively.     

Isolation and structure determination of six glucocerebrosides from the starfish Luidia maculata

Two new glucocerebrosides, luidiacerebroside A (2) and B (6), were isolated from the cerebroside molecular species obtained from the less polar fraction of the CHCl3/MeOH extract of the starfish Luidia maculata using HPLC. Four known cerebrosides, CE-2b (1), astrocerebroside B (3), acanthacerebroside B (4), and CE-3-2 (5) have also been isolated and characterized. The structures of these cerebrosides were determined on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidence. Mass spectrometry of dimethyl disulfide derivatives was useful for the determination of the double-bond position in the long-chain base.