Lipid production in the industrial microalga Nannochloropsis gaditana exceeds that of model algal species and can be maximized by nutrient starvation in batch culture. However, starvation halts growth, thereby decreasing productivity. Efforts to engineer N.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBioorg Med Chem
April 2011
The aim of this study was to evaluate cucurbitacins (Cucs) liver protective activity in vitro and conduct QSAR studies against lipophilicity and ab initio descriptors. Nine Cucs were isolated from Cucurbitaceae plants and eight prepared by C2-alkylation or C16-acylation. Ten Cucs demonstrated protective activity on human hepatocyte-derived HepG2 cells exposed to CCl(4) (EC(50)=2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe widely accepted mechanism of formation for carbon-centered radicals in the gas-phase cigarette smoke involves reactions of NO(2) and alkadienes. However, specific examples of such radicals have never been isolated from fresh cigarette smoke or their structure determined. We have identified two previously unrecognized classes of carbon-centered radicals, alkylaminocarbonyl and acyl radicals, that are unrelated to radicals that form by NO(x) chemistry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRadicals in cigarette smoke have been proposed to contribute to the harm caused by cigarette smoking. For the first time, using HPLC and high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis of stable radical adducts, we have identified specific radical species in cigarette smoke: 7 acyl and 11 alkylaminocarbonyl radicals. Their combined abundance measured in fresh whole smoke from a single 2R4F cigarette is approximately 225 nmol (1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci
April 2005
Drug development of cucurbitacins requires derivatives that have lower cytotoxicity. Therefore, the effect of structural modification on in vitro cytotoxicity has been investigated. Lipophilicity or chromatographic hydrophobicity index (CHI) was chosen as molecular property.
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