Molecules, Volume 16, Issue 1

Ligands selected from phage-displayed random peptide libraries tend to be directed to biologically relevant sites on the surface of the target protein. Consequently, peptides derived from library screenings often modulate the target protein’s activit...

Dinophysis spp. blooms and related shellfish toxicity events of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) have been the most reported toxicity event through the Croatian National monitoring program. With the aim to characterize the DSP toxin profile in sh...

We developed a screening procedure to identify ligands from a phage display random peptide library that are selective for circulating bone marrow derived cells homing to angiogenic tumors. Panning the library on blood outgrowth endothelial cell suspe...

The molecular structures of nine 3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-chromeno[4,3-c]pyrazol-4-one isomers, obtained by the oxidative cyclization of the corresponding 1-phenylhydrazono chromen-2-ones with copper acetate as catalyst, are reported. The molecular and s...

Bacterial biofilms constitute an extremely resistant form of bacterial colonization with dire health and economical implications. Towards achieving polymeric composites capable of resisting bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation, we prepared five 2...

The atom-efficiency of one of the most widely used catalytic reactions for forging C-C bonds, the Tsuji-Trost reaction, is limited by the need of preoxidized reagents. This limitation can be overcome by utilization of the recently discovered palladiu...

One of the most powerful approaches for the formation of simple and complex chiral molecules is the metal-catalysed asymmetric allylic alkylation. This reaction has been broadly studied with a great variety of substrates and nucleophiles under differ...

Using peptides to achieve the functional and structural mimicry of small-molecules, especially those with biological activity or clear biotechnological applications, has great potential in overcoming difficulties associated with synthesis, or unfavor...

An increasing number of peptides with specific binding affinity to various protein and even non-protein targets are being discovered from phage display libraries. The power of this method lies in its ability to efficiently and rapidly identify ligand...

The conventional reaction yield evaluation for radioisotope production is not sufficient to set up the optimal conditions for producing radionuclide products of the desired radiochemical quality. Alternatively, the specific radioactivity (SA) assessm...

This study was to examine the effects of yeast extract (YE) and its fractions (YE1 and YE2) on the growth and diepoxin ζ (a spirobisnaphthalene with a diversity of bioactivities) production in liquid culture of Berkleasmium-like endophytic fungus Dzf...

Strain DCS523 was isolated from the branch tissue of Daphniphyllum longeracemosum and determined to be a Penicillium sp. according to the ITS sequence analysis. The extracts from the PDA solid fermentation media of Penicillium sp. DCS523 were purifie...

Databases and computational tools for mimotopes have been an important part of phage display study. Five special databases and eighteen algorithms, programs and web servers and their applications are reviewed in this paper. Although these bioinformat...

Lignin is the second most abundant terrestrial biopolymer after cellulose. It is essential for the viability of vascular plants. Lignin precursors, the monolignols, are synthesized within the cytosol of the cell. Thereafter, these monomeric precursor...

Polygonum amplexicaule D. Don var. sinense Forb. (Polygonaceae) (PAF) is a famous traditional herb used to treat fractures, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle injury and pain. The present study was designed to investigate a PAF derived-chemical compound em...

In this work we have characterized the action of the naringin, a flavonoid found in grapefruit and known for its various pharmacological effects, which include antioxidant blood lipid lowering and anticancer activity, on the structure and biochemical...

The in vitro schistosomicidal effects of the essential oil of Ageratum conyzoides L. (Ac-EO) against adult worms of Schistosoma mansoni is reported in this paper. Concerning this activity, Ac-EO was considered to be active, but less effective than th...

The presence of aryl sulfides in biologically active compounds has resulted in the development of new methods to form carbon-sulfur bonds. The synthesis of aryl sulfides via metal catalysis has significantly increased in recent years. Historically, t...

Enaminone 1 was reacted with hydrazonoyl halides 2a-d to yield 3,4-disubstituted pyrazoles 6a-d. Coupling with arenediazonium chlorides afforded the 2-(arylhydrazono)-3-(1-naphthalenyl)-3-oxopropionaldehydes 13a-c. Compounds 13 could be utilized for...

Carotenoids in the peel and the flesh of persimmon fruit were identified, and the contents of carotenoids in the fleshes of 46 different persimmon cultivars were analyzed. The results indicated that 31 specific carotenoids were detected in both culti...

The novel glycosphingolipid, b-D-GalNAcp(1®4)[a-D-Fucp(1®3)]-b-D-GlcNAcp(1®)Cer (A), isolated from the marine sponge Aplysinella rhax has a unique structure, with D-fucose and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine moieties attached to a reducing-end N-acetyl-D-gl...

The D-, L-enantiomeric pairs of common monosaccharides (xylose, ribose, rhamnose, arabinose, fucose, glucose, mannose, galactose, N-acetylgalactosamine, glucuronic acid and galacturonic acid) were derivatized with 2,3-naphthalenediamine to form the c...

Tithonia diversifolia is a medicinal plant from the Municipality of Suchiapa, Chiapas, Mexico, that according to local folk medicine is considered useful in the treatment of gastric ulcers. The aim of the present study was to investigate the gastropr...

The review summarizes data evaluating the role of adenosine receptor signaling in murine hematopoietic functions. The studies carried out utilized either non-selective activation of adenosine receptors induced by elevation of extracellular adenosine...

Thymidine 5´-bis[3-acetyloxy-2-cyano-2-(2-phenylethylcarbamoyl)propyl]phosphate (1) has been prepared and the removal of phosphate protecting groups by hog liver carboxyesterase (HLE) at pH 7.5 and 37 °C has been followed by HPLC. The first detectabl...

The propensity of a half-sandwich (η5-tetramethylcyclopentadienyl) dimethylsilylamido Ti^IV-based catalyst bearing an auxiliary diethylboryl-protected pyridyl moiety (Ti-8), activated by methylaluminoxane (MAO) to homopolymerize α-olefins such as ethy...

The methanol and fractionated extracts (hexane, ethyl acetate and water) of Alpinia mutica (Zingiberaceae) rhizomes were investigated for their cytotoxic effect against six human carcinoma cell lines, namely KB, MCF7, A549, Caski, HCT116, HT29 and no...

Six pimarane-type diterpenes isolated from Viguiera arenaria Baker and two semi-synthetic derivatives were evaluated in vitro against a panel of representative microorganisms responsible for dental root canal infections. The microdilution method was...

A chalcone was prepared by the reaction of terephthalaldehyde with 3-acetyl-2,5-dimethylthiophene. Treatment of this chalcone with thiosemicarbazide/phenyl hydrazine/guanidine hydrochloride/thiourea afforded the corresponding pyrazoline, pyrazole, a...

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is the causative agent of white spot syndrome, one of the most devastating diseases in shrimp aquaculture. The genome of WSSV includes a gene that encodes a putative family B DNA polymerase (ORF514), which is 16% iden...

Plant polyphenol oxidases (PPOs) are ubiquitous plastid-localized enzymes. A precise analysis of PPO function in plants has been complicated by the presence of several family members with immunological cross reactivity. Previously we reported the iso...

A new guaiane-type sesquiterpene, 4α,7β-dihydroxy-10βH-guai-5-en-1β,8β-endoxide (1), was isolated from Heteropappus altaicus (Compositea). The structure of compound 1, which contains exhibited a rare 1,8-oxide bridge, was established on the basis of...

The essential oil composition of Peumus boldus and Drimys winterii was analyzed by means of capillary GC-FID and GC-MS. More than 96% of the total oil components (43 and 54 compounds, respectively) were identified, with ascaridole (51.17 ± 9.51), p-c...

Twenty years after its development, antibody phage display using filamentous bacteriophage represents the most successful in vitro antibody selection technology. Initially, its development was encouraged by the unique possibility of directly generati...

PAMAM dendrimers of generations G2–G3 as well as a partially substituted derivative of generation G4 and a low-molecular-weight tricyclic ligand 4 were used to bind Pd(0) nanoparticles. The obtained adducts were tested as catalysts for C–C cross-coup...

The conversion of molecular nitrogen to ammonia is a key biological and chemical process and represents one of the most challenging topics in chemistry and biology. In Nature the Mo-containing nitrogenase enzymes perform nitrogen ‘fixation’ via an ir...

The screening of several Chinese medicinal herbs for insecticidal principles showed that Euphorbia fischeriana roots possessed significant feeding deterrent activity against two stored-product insects (Tribolium castaneum and Sitophilus zeamais). Fro...

A Panax ginseng extract (PGE) with a quantified amount of ginsenosides was utilized to investigate its potential to inhibit proliferation, influence lipid acquisition and adiponectin expression in 3T3-L1 cells. Seven fingerprint ginsenosides were qua...

Honey is rich in different secondary plant metabolites acting as natural antioxidants and contributing to human health. Radical scavenging activity (RSA) is related to antioxidant activity, while the correlation between the phenolic content and RSA i...

In the present work, a microchannel reactor for autothermal reforming of methanol using a synthesized catalyst porous alumina support-CuO/ZnO mixed with ZrO₂ sol washcoat has been developed and its fine structure and inner surface characterized. Expe...

A recyclable catalyst, Ni(0)-CMC-Na, composed of nickel colloids dispersed in a water soluble bioorganic polymer, sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC-Na), was synthesized by a simple procedure from readily available reagents. The catalyst thus obtaine...

This research aimed to investigate the copolymerization of ethylene and various 1-olefins. The comonomer lengths were varied from 1-hexene (1-C₆) up to 1-octadecene (1-C₁₈) in order to study the effect of comonomer chain length on the activity and pr...

A novel short-step methodology for the synthesis in good yields of functionalized coumarins has been developed starting from an activated precursor, the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of O-acetylsalicylic acid. The procedure is based on a tandem C-acylat...

Vilsmeier formylation of 2-(1-phenylhydrazonoethyl)naphtho[2,1-b]furan (2) gave 3-naphtho[2,1-b]furan-2-yl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde (3), which was reacted with C- and N-nucleophiles to afford naphthofuranpyrazol derivatives 4-8. Treatment...

Hexamethylene-1,6-bis-(N,N-dimethyl-N-dodecylammonium bromide) (1), pentamethylene-1,5-bis(N,N-dimethyl-N-dodecylammonium bromide) (2), tetramethylene-1,4-bis(N,N-dimethyl-N-dodecylammonium bromide) (3), trimethylene-1,3-bis(N,N-dimethyl-N-dodecylamm...

The conditions of the reaction of malononitrile dimer with enaminones and arylidenemalononitrile could be adapted to yield either pyridines or benzene derivatives. A new synthesis of pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidines from the reaction of malononitrile dimer 1...

Croton nepetaefolius is a native plant from northeastern Brazil that belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. The biological action of this plant has been extensively explored, being the secondary metabolites responsible for its properties alkaloids, dit...

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are the most potent of known toxins and are listed as category A biothreat agents by the U.S. CDC. The BoNT-mediated proteolysis of SNARE proteins inhibits the exocytosis of acetylcholine into neuromuscular junctions, le...

The entry of enveloped viruses into their host cells involves several successive steps, each one being amenable to therapeutic intervention. Entry inhibitors act by targeting viral and/or cellular components, through either the inhibition of protein-...

Phenolic compounds are a large group of phytochemicals widespread in the plant kingdom. Depending on their structure they can be classified into simple phenols, phenolic acids, hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives and flavonoids. Phenolic compounds have...