Lancifodilactone G: A unique nortriterpenoid isolated from Schisandra lancifolia and its anti-HIV activity

Lancifodilactone G (1), a novel, highly oxygenated nortriterpenoid featuring a partial enol structure and a spirocyclic moiety, was isolated from the medicinal plant Schisandra lancifolia. Its structure and stereochemistry were determined from extensive one- and two-dimensional NMR and mass spectral data, coupled with single-crystal X-ray analysis. Compound 1 exerted minimal cytotoxicity against C8166 cells (CC50 > 200 mu g/mL) and showed anti-HIV activity with EC50 = 95.47 +/- 14.19 mu g/mL and a selectivity index in the range of 1.82-2.46.

Lancifodilactone F: A novel nortriterpenoid possessing a unique skeleton from Schisandra lancifolia and its anti-HIV activity

Lancifodilactone F (1), possessing an unprecedented rearranged pentanortriterpenoid backbone derived from cycloartane, was isolated from the leaves and stems of Schisandra lancifolia (Rehd. et Wils) A. C. Smith. Its structure was established by comprehensive NMR and MS spectroscopic analysis, coupled with single-crystal X-ray experiment. Compound 1 exerted minimal cytotoxicity against C8166 cells (CC50 > 200 mu g/mL) and showed anti-HIV activity with EC50 = 20.69 +/- 3.31 mu g/mL and a selectivity index > 6.62.

Dichotomains A and B: Two new highly oxygenated phenolic derivatives from Dicranopteris dichotoma

Dichotomains A (1) and B (2), two new highly oxygenated phenolic derivatives that feature a spirodilactone moiety in their structures, were isolated from the fronds of Dicranopteris dichotoma. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of NMR and MS sp

Nortriterpenoids from Schisandra lancifolia

Six new nortriterpenoids, lancifodilactones 1-N (1-6), as well as nine known ones, were isolated from the leaves and stems of Schisandra lancifolia. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic methods including 2D NMR analysis, and the

Sphenadilactones A and B, two novel nortriterpenoids from Schisandra sphenanthera

Two novel nortriterpenoid compounds, sphenadilactones A (1) and B (2), have been isolated from the leaves and stems of Schisandra sphenanthera. The structural elucidation of 1 and 2 was accomplished by extensive NMR analysis. The relative stereochemistry

Triterpenoids from Schisandra lancifolia with anti-HIV-1 activity

A new trinorcycloartane triterpenoid, lancifodilactone H (1), and a new A ring-secocycloartane triterpenoid, lancifoic acid A (2), together with a known compound, nigranoic acid (3), were isolated from the leaves and stems of Schisandra lancifolia. Their

Rubriflordilactones A and B, two novel bisnortriterpenoids from Schisandra rubriflora and their biological activities

Rubriflordilactones A (1) and B (2), two novel highly unsaturated rearranged bisnortriterpenoids possessing a biosynthetically modified aromatic D-ring, were isolated from the leaves and stems of Schisandra rubriflora. Their structures were established on

Concentricolide, an anti-HIV agent from the ascomycete Daldinia concentrica

A novel benzofuran lactone, named concentricolide (=rel-(6R)-6-ethylbenzo[2.1-b:3,4-c']difuran-8(6H)-one; 1), was isolated along with four known compounds (friedelin, cytochalasin L-696.474, armillaramide, and russulamide) from the fruiting bodies of the

Nortriterpenoids and lignans from Schisandra sphenanthera

Nortriterpenoids, sphenadilactone C (1) and sphenasin A (2), together with four known lignans (3-6), were isolated from the leaves and stems of Schisandra sphenanthera. Their structures were elucidated by extensive analysis of 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic

Zebrafish peptidoglycan recognition protein SC (zfPGRP-SC) mediates multiple intracellular signaling pathways

Insect PGRPs can function as bacterial recognition molecules triggering proteolytic and/or signal transduction pathways, with the resultant production of antimicrobial peptides. To explore if zebrafish peptidoglycan recognition protein SC (zfPGRP-SC) has such effects, RNA interference (siRNA) and high-density oligonucleotide microarray analysis were used to identify differentially expressed genes regulated by zfPGRP-SC. The mRNA levels for a set of genes involved in Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, such as TLRs, SARM, MyD88, TRAF6 and nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B2 (p100/p52), were examined by quantitative RT-PCR (QT-PCR). The results from the arrays and QT-PCR showed that the expression of 133 genes was involved in signal transduction pathways, which included Toll-like receptor signaling, Wnt signaling, BMP signaling, insulin receptor signaling, TGF-beta signaling, GPCR signaling, small GTPase signaling, second-messenger-mediated signaling, MAPK signaling, JAK/STAT signaling, apoptosis and anti-apoptosis signaling and other signaling cascades. These signaling pathways may connect with each other to form a complex network to regulate not just immune responses but also other processes such as development and apoptosis. When transiently over-expressed in HEK293T cells, zfPGRP-SC inhibited NF-kappa B activity with and without lipopolysacharide (LPS) stimulation. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification of one intron loss and phylogenetic evolution of Dfak gene in the Drosophila melanogaster species group

Intron loss and its evolutionary significance have been noted in Drosophila. The current study provides another example of intron loss within a single-copy Dfak gene in Drosophila. By using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we amplified about 1.3 kb fragment spanning intron 5-10, located in the position of Tyr kinase (TyK) domain of Dfak gene from Drosophila melanogaster species group, and observed size difference among the amplified DNA fragments from different species. Further sequencing analysis revealed that D. melanogaster and D. simulans deleted an about 60 bp of DNA fragment relative to other 7 Drosophila species, such as D. elegans, D. ficusphila, D. biarmipes, D. takahashii, D. jambulina, D. prostipennis and D. pseudoobscura, and the deleted fragment located precisely in the position of one intron. The data suggested that intron loss might have occurred in the Dfak gene evolutionary process of D. melanogaster and D. simulans of Drosophila melanogaster species group. In addition, the constructed phylogenetic tree based on the Dfak TyK domains clearly revealed the evolutionary relationships between subgroups of Drosophila melanogaster species group, and the intron loss identified from D. melanogaster and D. simulans provides a unique diagnostic tool for taxonomic classification of the melanogaster subgroup from other group of genus Drosophila.

QtUCP-A program for determining unit-cell parameters in electron diffraction experiments using double-tilt and rotation-tilt holders

A computer program, QtUCP, has been developed based on several well-established algorithms using GCC 4.0 and Qt (R) 4.0 (Open Source Edition) under Debian GNU/Linux 4.0r0. it can determine the unit-cell parameters from an electron diffraction tilt series obtained from both double-tilt and rotation-tilt holders. In this approach, two or more primitive cells of the reciprocal lattice are determined from experimental data, in the meantime, the measurement errors of the tilt angles are checked and minimized. Subsequently, the derived primitive cells are converted into the reduced form and then transformed into the reduced direct primitive cell. Finally all the patterns are indexed and the least-squares refinement is employed to obtain the optimized results of the lattice parameters. Finally, two examples are given to show the application of the program, one is based on the experiment, the other is from the simulation. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Determination of the absorption for incident light propagating parallel through the guest-host polymer film waveguide

Guest host polymer thin films of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) incorporated with (4'-nitrobenzene)-3-azo-9-ethylcarbazole (NAEC) were fabricated by spin coating and then poled by the method of corona-onset poling at elevated temperature. The absorption mechanism of the polymeric film, which is very important for the optical transmission losses and directly relates to the orientation of chromophore NAEC in polymer PMMA, was investigated in detail. From the UV-visible absorption spectra for NAEC/PMMA film before and after being poled, we determined the change of absorption coefficient kappa with the wavelength and approximately calculated the maximum absorption A(parallel tomax) as 3.46 for incident light propagating parallel through the film, i.e. the ordinary polarized light, which cannot be directly measured in the spectro photometer. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nonlinear optical properties and thermal stability of the poled polymer NTAB/PEK-c

Films of high glass' transition temperature polymer polyetherketone doped with chromophore 2,2'[4-[(5-nitro-2-thiazolyl)azophenyl]-amino]-bisethanol NTAB) were prepared, poled by the corona-onset poling setup which includes a grid voltage making the surface-charge distribution uniform at elevated temperature. The thickness of the films was measured by the Model 2010 Prism Coupler system. Second harmonic generation d(33) was measured by the second harmonic generation method, and the d33 is 38.12 pm/V at 1064 nm under the absorption correction. The nonlinear optical activity maintains is 80% of its initial value. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Optical properties of NAEC-PMMA nonlinear polymeric thin film

Novel guest nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophore molecules (4-nitrobenzene)-3-azo-9-ethylcarbazole (NAEC) were doped in poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) host with a concentration of approximately 15% by weight. For a useful macroscopic electro-optic (EO) effect, these NLO molecules NAEC were arranged in a noncentrosymmetric structure in the host polymer by corona-onset poling at elevated temperature (COPET). For applying NAEC-PMMA polymer in optical devices such as EO switch, its optical properties have been investigated. The UV/Visible absorption spectra for the unpoled and poled polymer film were determined. The refractive index of the film was also determined from measurements of the coupling angles with the reflective intensity at 632.8 nm wavelength. Using the simple reflection technique, the EO coefficient 33 value was measured as 60 pm/V at 632.8 nm wavelength. The second-order nonlinear coefficient d(33) was characterized by the second-harmonic-generation (SHG) experimental setup and the calculated d(33) value reached 18.4 pm/V at 1064 nm wavelength. The relation between the second-order nonlinear coefficients d(33) and d(13) for the poled polymer film was also discussed in detail and the ratio d(33)/d(13) value was obtained as 3.3. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.