Daunomycin binding to detergent micelles: A model system for evaluating the hydrophobic contribution to drug-DNA interactions

The interaction of daunomycin with sodium dodecyl sulfate and Triton X-100 micelles was investigated as a model for the hydrophobic contribution to the free energy of DNA intercalation reactions. Measurements of visible absorbance, fluorescence lifetime, steady-state fluorescence emission intensity, and fluorescence anisotropy indicate that the anthraquinone ring partitions into the hydrophobic micelle interior. Fluorescence quenching experiments using both steady-state and lifetime measurements demonstrate reduced accessibility of daunomycin in sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles to the anionic quencher iodide and to the neutral quencher acrylamide. Quenching of daunomycin fluorescence by iodide in Triton X-100 micelles was similar to that seen with free daunomycin. Studies of the energetics of the interaction of daunomycin with micelles by fluorescence and absorbance titration methods and by isothermal titration calorimetry in the presence of excess micelles revealed that association with sodium dodecyl sulfate and Triton X-100 micelles is driven by a large negative enthalpy. Association of the drug with both types of micelles also has a favorable entropic contribution, which is larger in magnitude for Triton X-100 micelles than for sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles.

Effect of antibiotics on development in vitro of hamster pronucleate ova

Antibiotics are commonly added to embryo culture media, but effects on embryo development have not been examined thoroughly. Hamster ova were used to investigate whether penicillin, streptomycin or gentamicin affect embryo development in vitro. Ova were collected 10 h post activation by spermatozoa in vivo and cultured in five treatments: 1) Control: chemically-defined medium HECM-9 with no antibiotics; 2) HECM-9 with 100 IU/mL, penicillin; 3) HECM-9 with 50 mug/mL streptomycin; 4) HECM-9 with 10 mug/mL,gentamicin and 5) HECM-9 with both 100 IU/mL penicillin and 50 mug/mL streptomycin. Individually, penicillin, streptomycin and gentamicin did not affect embryo development to the 8-cell stage at 58 h post oocyte activation, or morula/blastocyst stages, or blastocysts alone at 82 h post activation. However, when penicillin and streptomycin were both present in the culture medium the percentages of 8-cell embryos at 58 h and blastocysts at 82 h were significantly lower than the control. No antibiotic treatment improved hamster embryo development in vitro. We caution against the use of penicillin and streptomycin together for hamster embryo culture, and show that it is not necessary to include any antibiotics in embryo culture media for up to 72 h if proper sterile technique is used with an oil overlay. (C) 2000 by Elsevier Science Inc.

Hydration of drug-DNA complexes: Greater water uptake for adriamycin compared to daunomycin

Water is an integral part of DNA, and the conserved water molecules at the binding sites can modulate drug binding to DNA or protein. We report here that anthracycline antitumor antibiotics, adriamycin (AM) and daunomycin (DM), binding to DNA is accompanied by different hydration changes, with AM binding resulting in the uptake of about twice as many water molecules as DM. These results indicate that water is playing an important role in drug binding to DNA.

Physical and spectral characterization of the human cyclin A gene and its interactions with anthracycline anticancer drugs

Over expression of cyclin A in human tumors has been linked to cancer by various experimental lines of evidence. However, physical and spectral characterization of the human cyclin A gene and its interactions with anticancer drugs have not been reported. Our gene sequence analysis, singular value decomposition method and melting studies in the presence of antitumor agents, daunomycin, doxorubicin and Hoechst 33258 showed that cyclin A gene had both AT-rich and GC-rich domains. For a ligand with unknown DNA binding specificity, this gene sequence can be used to differentiate its DNA binding preference.

Chinikomycins A and B: Isolation, structure elucidation, and biological activity of novel antibiotics from a marine Streptomyces sp isolate M045

In our screening of marine Streptomycetes for bioactive principles, two novel antitumor antibiotics designated as chinikomycins A (2a) and B (2b) were isolated together with manumycin A (1), and their structures were elucidated by a detailed interpretation of their spectra. Chinikomycins A (2a) and B (2b) are chlorine-containing aromatized manumycin derivatives of the type 64-pABA-2 with an unusual para orientation of the side chains. They exhibited antitumor activity against different human cancer cell lines, but were inactive in antiviral, antimicrobial, and phytotoxicity tests.

Chandrananimycins A-C: Production of novel anticancer antibiotics from a marine Actinomadura sp isolate M048 by variation of medium composition and growth conditions

In our screening of marine actinomycetes for bioactive principles, three novel antibiotics designated as chandrananimycin A (3c), B (3d) and C (4) were isolated from the culture broth of a marine Actinomadura sp. isolate M045. The structures of the new antibiotics were determined by detailed interpretation of mass, 1 D and 2 D NMR spectra.

Novel cathelicidin-derived antimicrobial peptides from Equus asinus

In the present study, EA-CATH1 and EA-CATH2 were identified from a constructed lung cDNA library of donkey (Equus asinus) as members of cathelicidin-derived antimicrobial peptides, using a nested PCR-based cloning strategy. Composed of 25 and 26 residues, respectively, EA-CATH1 and EA-CATH2 are smaller than most other cathelicidins and have no sequence homology to other cathelicidins identified to date. Chemically synthesized EA-CATH1 exerted potent antimicrobial activity against most of the 32 strains of bacteria and fungi tested, especially the clinically isolated drug-resistant strains, and minimal inhibitory concentration values against Gram-positive bacteria were mostly in the range of 0.3-2.4 mu g center dot mL-1. EA-CATH1 showed an extraordinary serum stability and no haemolytic activity against human erythrocytes in a dose up to 20 mu g center dot mL-1. CD spectra showed that EA-CATH1 mainly adopts an alpha-helical conformation in a 50% trifluoroethanol/water solution, but a random coil in aqueous solution. Scanning electron microscope observations of Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC2592) treated with EA-CATH1 demonstrated that EA-CATH could cause rapid disruption of the bacterial membrane, and in turn lead to cell lysis. This might explain the much faster killing kinetics of EA-CATH1 than conventional antibiotics revealed by killing kinetics data. In the presence of CaCl2, EA-CATH1 exerted haemagglutination activity, which might potentiate an inhibition against the bacterial polyprotein interaction with the host erythrocyte surface, thereby possibly restricting bacterial colonization and spread.

Identification of a novel cathelicidin gene in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

We report the cloning of a novel antimicrobial peptide gene, termed rtCATH_1, found in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. The predicted 216-residue rtCATH_1 prepropeptide consists of three domains: a 22-residue signal peptide, a 128-residue cathelin-like region containing two identifiable cathelicidin family signatures, and a predicted 66-residue C-terminal cationic antimicrobial peptide. This predicted mature peptide was unique in possessing features of different known (mammalian) cathelicidin subgroups, such as the cysteine-bridged family and the specific amino-acid-rich family. The rtCATH_1 gene comprises four exons, as seen in all known mammalian cathelicidin genes, and several transcription factor binding sites known to be of relevance to host defenses were identified in the 5' flanking region. By Northern blot analysis, the expression of rtCATH_1 was detected in gill, head kidney, and spleen of bacterially challenged fish. Primary cultures of head kidney leukocytes from rainbow trout stimulated with lipopolysaccharide or poly(I (.) C) also expressed riCATH_1. A 36-residue peptide corresponding to the core part of the fish cathelicidin was chemically synthesized and shown to exhibit potent antimicrobial activity and a low hemolytic effect. Thus, rtCATH_1 represents a novel antimicrobial peptide gene belonging to the cathelicidin family and may play an important role in the innate immunity of rainbow trout.

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Kentucky bluegrass

Embryogenic calli of Kentucky bluegrass, named Md, were induced from mature seeds and embryos, and proliferated on medium K3 containing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D, 10.0 mumol/L), 6-benzylaminopurine (BAR, 0.5 mumol/L) and K5 which was the K3 medium supplemented with cupric sulfa (0.5 mumol/L) under dim-light condition (20-30 mumol.m(-2).s-1, 16 h light) at 24 degreesC. Embryogenic calli were transformed with plasmids pDM805 Carring bar and gus genes, Which was mediated by an Agrobacterium strain AGL1, four transgenic lines were obtained. The important factors that affect the transformation efficiency and obtain desirable number of transgenic plants included: (1) the quality of embryogenic calli; (2) light condition and time of co-cultivation; (3) concentration of antibiotics used for suppressing the overgrowth of Agrobacterium in the course of transformed plant regeneration; (4) selection pressure, etc. The micro nutrient of cupric had significant influence on the quality of embryogenic calli. This presentation is the first successful protocol of Kentucky bluegrass transformation mediated by Agrobacterium.

吸水链霉菌、放线菌Sp.253和金色毛壳菌的次生代谢产物研究

链霉菌是十分重要的一类放线菌，绝大多数的抗生素都由该类细菌产生。毛壳属真菌是一类重要的丝状真菌，从中也发现有很多结构新颖、活性独特的活性物质。因此本论文对两株链霉菌的活性成分及一株金毛壳菌的次生代谢产物进行了研究。 1．从吸水链霉菌（Streptomyces hygroscopicus 1.358）液态发酵产物（乙酸乙酯提取物）中分离得到3个化合物，通过波谱方法鉴定为RK955A (1)、Nigericin（2）、Elaiophylin（3）。以青霉素耐药-金黄色葡萄球菌作为指示菌的抗菌活性测定表明，三者均具有较强抗菌活性。 2．通过抗肿瘤体外活性筛选模型筛选得到得到一株链霉属土壤放线菌，从中分离得到六个化合物：苯乙酰胺（4）、苯丙酰胺（5）、肉桂酰胺（6）、3-（N-（甲酰胺基）乙酰基）吲哚（7）、鸟苷磷酸（8）、鸟苷（9）。 3．从金色毛壳菌（Chaetomium aureus）的固态培养物中分离得到13个化合物，利用波谱方法将其鉴定为：金毛壳菌素A（10）、金毛壳菌素B（11）、Eugenetin（12）、Eugenitol（13）、Chaetoquadrin A（14）、Chaetoquadrin B（15）、Chaetoquadrin G（16）、Chaetoquadrin H（17）、Chaetochromin A（18）、Sterigmatocystin（19）、O-methylsterigmatocystin（20）、3β-羟基-麦角甾-5，7，22-三烯（21）和过氧麦角甾醇（22）。 4．综述了聚醚类抗生素的结构、生物合成、生物活性及作用机理。 The genus Streptomyces (Actinomycetes) is an important group of microbe. Most antibiotics known nowdays are discovered from species of Streptomyces. The fungi of the genus Chaetomium have attracted much attention because various kinds of secondary metabolites with diverse bioactivities have been found from them. Thus, the bioactive compounds from two strains of Streptomyces and the secondary metabolites of Chaetomium aureus were investigated. 1. Three compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the fermentation broth of Streptomyces hygroscopicus. They are identified to be elaiophylin (1), nigericin (2), and antibiotic RK955A (3) on the basis of their spectroscopic data. Compounds 1-3 possess antibacterial activities against Staphyloccocus aureus. 2. It was found that the extract of the fermented broth of a strain of Actinomycetes could inhibit some tumor cel lines. Separation of the bioactive fraction led to the isolation of six compounds. They were characterized to be phenylacetamide (4), phenylpropylamide (5), trans-cinnamamide (6), 3- (N- (formylmethyl) acetamide) indole (7), guanylicacid (8), and guanosine (9). 3. From the fermented broth of Chaetomium aureus, 13 compounds were isolated for the first time. They were determined to be chaetomiumycin A (10), chaetomiumycin B (11), eugenetin (12), eugenitol (13), chaetoquadrin A (14), chaetoquadrin B (15), chaetoquadrin G (16), chaetoquadrin H (17), chaetochromin A (18), sterigmatocystin (19), O-methylsterigmatocystin (20), 3β-hydroxyergosta-5, 7, 22-triene (21) and peroxy-ergosterol (22). Compounds 10 and 11 are new ones. 4. Structure, biosynthesis, biological activity, and mechanisms of polyether antibiotics were reviewed.