Synthesis and self-assembly properties of fulleropyrrolidine prepared by Prato reaction

International audienceMolecular self-assembly is considered as a promising way to control the manufacture of new materials and their integration into hybrid devices with novel properties. In this work we have synthesized a fulleropyrrolidine bearing a phenylacetylene moiety via the Prato reaction. The characterization of the fulleropyrrolidine by nuclear magnetic resonance and optical spectroscopy is reported, and its self-assembly by crystallization study has been investigated according to the used solvents. If the solvent that effectively solubilizes fullerene derivative is tetrahydrofurane, the nano-square plates with 1–3 μ m in length and 50–100 nm in thickness are formed, while if the solvent is toluene, 5 μ m diameter ‘nano-flowers’ are obtained

PURIFICATION AND PROPERTIES OF AN AZO-REDUCTASE FROM BACILLUS SP.

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

Molecular cloning gene and nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding an endo-1,4-β-glucanase from Bacillus sp VLSH08 strain applying to biomass hydrolysis: Research article

Bacillus sp VLSH08 screened from sea wetland in Nam Dinh province produces an extracellular endo-1,4-beta-glucanase. According to the results of the classified Kit API 50/CHB as well as sequence of 1500 bp fragment coding for 16S rRNA gene of the Bacillus sp VLSH 08 strain showed that the taxonomical characteristics between the strain VLSH 08 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciene JN999857 are similar of 98%. Culture supernatant of this strain showed optimal cellulase activity at pH 5.8 and 60 Celsius degree and that was enhanced 2.03 times in the presence of 5 mM Co2+. Moreover, the gene encoding endo-1,4-beta-glucanase from this strain was cloned in Escherichia coli using pCR2.1 vector. The entire gene for the enzyme contained a 1500-bp single open reading frame encoding 500 amino acids, including a 29-amino acid signal peptide. The amino acid sequence of this enzyme is very close to that of an EG of Bacillus subtilis (EU022560.1) and an EG of Bacillus amyloliquefaciene (EU022559.1) which all belong to the cellulase family E2. A cocktail of enzyme containing this endo-1,4-beta-glucanase used for biomass hydrolysis indicated that the cellulose conversion attained to 72.76% cellulose after 48 hours.Chủng vi khuẩn Bacillus sp VLSH08 được tuyển chọn từ tập hợp chủng vi khuẩn phân lập ở vùng ngập mặn tỉnh Nam Định có khả năng sinh tổng hợp enzyme endo-1,4-beta-glucanase ngoại bào. Kết quả phân loại chủng vi khuẩn Bacillus sp VLSH08 bằng Kit hóa sinh API 50/CHB cũng như trình tự gen mã hóa 16S rRNA cho thấy độ tương đồng của chủng Bacillus sp VLSH08 và chủng Bacillus amyloliquefaciene JN999857 đạt 98%. Dịch lên men của chủng được sử dụng làm nguồn enzyme thô để nghiên cứu hoạt độ tối ưu của enzyme ở pH 5,8 và nhiệt đô 60oC. Hoạt tính enzyme tăng 2,03 lần khi có mặt 5 mM ion Co2+. Đồng thời, gen mã hóa cho enzyme endo-1,4-betaglucanase cũng được tách dòng trong tế bào Escherichia coli sử dụng vector pCR 2.1. Gen mã hóa cho enzyme này có chiều dài 1500 bp, mã hóa cho 500 axit amin, bao gồm 29 axit amin của chuỗi peptid tín hiệu. So sánh cho thấy trình tự gen endo-1,4-beta-glucanase của chủng Bacillus sp VLSH08 có độ tương đồng cao với enzyme này của chủng Bacillus subtilis (EU022560.1) và của chủng Bacillus amyloliquefaciene (EU022559.1). Tất cả các enzyme nhóm này đều thuộc họ cellulase E2. Enzyme của chủng này cũng đã được phối trộn với các enzyme khác tạo thành cocktail để thủy phân sinh khối cho kết quả cellulose bị thủy phân 72,76% sau 48 giờ

Paradoxical Impact of Two Folate Receptors, FRα and RFC, in Ovarian Cancer: Effect on Cell Proliferation, Invasion and Clinical Outcome

Despite being an essential vitamin, folate has been implicated to enhance tumor growth, as evidenced by reports on overexpression of folate receptor alpha (FRα) in carcinomas. The role of another folate transporter, reduced folate carrier (RFC), is largely unknown. This study investigated the roles of folate, FRα and RFC in ovarian cancers. We demonstrated FRα mRNA and protein overexpression and reduced RFC expression in association with FRα gene amplification and RFC promoter hypermethylation, respectively. FRα overexpression was associated with tumor progression while RFC expression incurred a favorable clinical outcome. Such reciprocal expression pattern was also observed in ovarian cancer cell lines. Folate was shown to promote cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro, and down-regulate E-cadherin expression. This effect was blocked after either stable knockdown of FRα or ectopic overexpression of RFC. This hitherto unreported phenomenon suggests that, RFC can serve as a balancing partner of FRα and confer a protective effect in patients with high FRα-expressing ovarian carcinomas, as evidenced by their prolonged overall and disease-free survivals. In conclusion, we report on the paradoxical impact of FRα (putative oncogenic) and RFC (putative tumor suppressive) in human malignancies. FRα and RFC may potentially be explored as therapeutic target or prognostic marker respectively. We recommend caution and additional research on folate supplements in cancer patients. © 2012 Siu et al.published_or_final_versio

Renal MRI diffusion: experimental protocol

Renal diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can be used to obtain information on the microstructure of kidney tissue, and has the potential to provide MR-biomarkers for functional renal imaging. Here we describe in a step-by-step experimental protocol the MRI method for measuring renal diffusion coefficients in rodents using ADC or IVIM models. Both methods provide quantification of renal diffusion coefficients; however, IVIM, a more complex model, allows for the calculation of the pseudodiffusion and fraction introduced by tissue vascular and tubular components. DWI provides information of renal microstructure contributing to the understanding of the physiology and the underlying processes that precede the beginning of pathologies.This chapter is based upon work from the COST Action PARENCHIMA, a community-driven network funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program of the European Union, which aims to improve the reproducibility and standardization of renal MRI biomarkers. This experimental protocol chapter is complemented by two separate chapters describing the basic concept and data analysis

Review of multi-scale electromagnetic modeling

This paper reviews various methods to solve multiscale problems ranging from low-frequency methods to very high-frequency methods. ©2010 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe 2010 International Conference on Electromagnetics in Advanced Applications (ICEAA), Sydney, N.S.W., 20-24 September 2010. In Proceedings of ICEAA'10, 2010, p. 641-64

Genome maps across 26 human populations reveal population-specific patterns of structural variation.

Large structural variants (SVs) in the human genome are difficult to detect and study by conventional sequencing technologies. With long-range genome analysis platforms, such as optical mapping, one can identify large SVs (>2 kb) across the genome in one experiment. Analyzing optical genome maps of 154 individuals from the 26 populations sequenced in the 1000 Genomes Project, we find that phylogenetic population patterns of large SVs are similar to those of single nucleotide variations in 86% of the human genome, while ~2% of the genome has high structural complexity. We are able to characterize SVs in many intractable regions of the genome, including segmental duplications and subtelomeric, pericentromeric, and acrocentric areas. In addition, we discover ~60 Mb of non-redundant genome content missing in the reference genome sequence assembly. Our results highlight the need for a comprehensive set of alternate haplotypes from different populations to represent SV patterns in the genome

Combined acoustic radiation force impulse, aminotransferase to platelet ratio index and Forns index assessment for hepatic fibrosis grading in hepatitis B

published_or_final_versio

An Emerging Role for Epigenetic Dysregulation in Arsenic Toxicity and Carcinogenesis

Competing Interests Declaration: The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Abbreviations: AHCY, S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase; APL, acute promyelocytic leukemias; As, inorganic arsenic; AS3MT, arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase; ChIP-on-chip, chromatin immunoprecipitation-on-chip; ChIP-seq, chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing; DEFB1, defensin, beta 1; DNMTs, DNA methyltransferases; H3K4me3, H3K4 tri-methylation; H3K9me2, H3K9 di-methylation; H3K27me3, H3K27 tri-methylation; HATs, histone acetyltransferases; HDACs, histon