Flavonoids and tyrosine nitration: structure-activity relationship correlation with enthalpy of formation.

The ability of 11 flavonoids, naturally occurring polyphenols, and their related structure-activity relationships (SAR's) for inhibiting peroxynitrite-induced nitration of tyrosine was investigated. The flavonoids under study could be classified into four groups having very distinct in vitro inhibition effects. We also calculated the heat of formation (DeltaH(f)) of the corresponding flavonoids radicals which supported this finding.

Cellular sublocalization of Cx43 and the establishment of functional coupling in IMR-32 neuroblastoma cells.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common solid pediatric tumor. IMR-32 cells are a highly malignant human NB cell line with uncontrolled proliferation but with the potential to be differentiated under specific conditions. Preliminary research indicated that connexin 43 (Cx43), the most widespread of the Cx family, is aberrantly located in IMR-32 cells, which renders these cells incapable of gap junction (GJ) intercellular communication.

Recombinant protein expression plasmids optimized for industrial E. coli fermentation and plant systems produce biologically active human insulin-like growth factor-1 in transgenic rice and tobacco plants.

Human insulin-like growth factor-1 (hIGF-1) is a growth factor with clinical significance in medicine. The therapeutic potential of recombinant hIGF-1 (rthIGF-1) stems from the fact that hIGF-1 resembles insulin in many aspects of physiology. The expression of hIGF-1 in transgenic tobacco and rice plants using different expression cassettes is reported here.