Application of a chemometric method for simultaneous determination of acetaminophen and diclofenac in content-uniformity and drug-dissolution studies.

A new, repeatable, and rapid method has been developed for resolution of binary mixtures of acetaminophen and diclofenac with minimum sample pretreatment and without separation of the analytes. The method, based on the PLS1 processing of absorbance data in the UV region, was successfully used for quantification of the drug content of three tablet preparations. The results obtained were in good agreement with HPLC recovery data.

Functional analyses in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus (Hemiptera) support a role for Wnt signaling in body segmentation but not appendage development.

Specification of the proximal-distal (PD) axis of insect appendages is best understood in Drosophila melanogaster, where conserved signaling molecules encoded by the genes decapentaplegic (dpp) and wingless (wg) play key roles. However, the development of appendages from imaginal discs as in Drosophila is a derived state, while more basal insects produce appendages from embryonic limb buds. Therefore, the universality of the Drosophila limb PD axis specification mechanism has been debated since dpp expression in more basal insect species differs dramatically from Drosophila.

Synthesis of tricyclic analogs of stephaoxocanidine and their evaluation as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.

The synthesis of simplified analogs of the novel isoquinoline alkaloid stephaoxocanidine, carrying the oxazaphenalene ABC-ring system of the natural product, and their activity as inhibitors of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, are reported. 5,6-Dimethoxy-7H -8-oxa-1-aza-phenalen-9-one (5) was as active as a Narcissus extract enriched in galantamine.

even-skipped is not a pair-rule gene but has segmental and gap-like functions in Oncopeltus fasciatus, an intermediate germband insect.

The pair-rule gene even-skipped is required for the initiation of metameric pattern in Drosophila. But Drosophila segmentation is evolutionarily derived and is not representative of most insects. Therefore, in order to shed light on the evolution of insect segmentation, homologs of the pair-rule gene even-skipped have been studied in several insect taxa.

Research resources for Drosophila: the expanding universe.

Drosophila melanogaster has been the subject of research into central questions about biological mechanisms for almost a century. The experimental tools and resources that are available or under development for D. melanogaster and its related species, particularly those for genomic analysis, are truly outstanding.

The quest for quinine: those who won the battles and those who won the war.

For a long time, the synthesis of quinine constituted an elusive target. In 2004, which marked the 60th anniversary of the publication of the approach used by Woodward and Doering to synthesize quinine, two new stereocontrolled total syntheses of the natural product were accomplished. Together with the well-publicized first stereocontrolled total synthesis of quinine by Stork in 2001, these publications evidence the revival of interest of organic chemists in the synthesis of this compound, once considered a miracle drug.

Abd-B expression in Porcellio scaber Latreille, 1804 (Isopoda: Crustacea): conserved pattern versus novel roles in development and evolution.

The Hox genes are intimately involved in patterning the animal body during development and are considered to have had a pivotal role in the evolution of different body plans among the metazoans. From this perspective, crustaceans, a group that has evolved an extreme diversity of body structures, represent a choice group in which to study the evolution of these genes and their expression. The expression of one of these genes, Abdominal-B (Abd-B), has only been studied in two distantly related crustaceans, Artemia and Sacculina, where it shows dissimilar patterns, highly differentiated from the one described in other arthropods.

Development of a long-acting insulin analog using albumin fusion technology.

The primary therapeutic goal for the treatment of diabetes is maintenance of a long-term, near-normoglycemic condition and prevention of the onset or progression of the complications associated with the disease. Although several analogs of human insulin have been developed, the currently prescribed long-acting insulin analogs do not provide a stable basal glycemia for more than a few hours. Here, we report the development of Albulin, a long-acting insulin analog obtained by direct gene fusion of a single-chain human insulin to human serum albumin.

Expression patterns of the rogue Hox genes Hox3/zen and fushi tarazu in the apterygote insect Thermobia domestica.

Many embryonic patterning genes are remarkably conserved between vertebrates and invertebrates, and the Hox genes are paradigmatic examples of this conservation. Yet even Hox genes can change dramatically in evolution. Two genes in particular--Hox3 and fushi tarazu--lost their ancestral roles as homeotic genes and play very different developmental roles in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

Kruppel is a gap gene in the intermediate germband insect Oncopeltus fasciatus and is required for development of both blastoderm and germband-derived segments.

Segmentation in long germband insects such as Drosophila occurs essentially simultaneously across the entire body. A cascade of segmentation genes patterns the embryo along its anterior-posterior axis via subdivision of the blastoderm. This is in contrast to short and intermediate germband modes of segmentation where the anterior segments are formed during the blastoderm stage and the remaining posterior segments arise at later stages from a posterior growth zone.

Functional analyses in the hemipteran Oncopeltus fasciatus reveal conserved and derived aspects of appendage patterning in insects.

The conservation of expression of appendage patterning genes, particularly Distal-less, has been shown in a wide taxonomic sampling of animals. However, the functional significance of this expression has been tested in only a few organisms. Here we report functional analyses of orthologues of the genes Distal-less, dachshund, and homothorax in the appendages of the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus (Hemiptera).

Hox gene cross-regulatory interactions in the embryonic brain of Drosophila.

During embryonic development of the Drosophila brain, the Hox gene labial is required for the regionalized specification of the tritocerebral neuromere. In order to gain further insight into the mechanisms of Hox gene action in the CNS, we have studied the molecular and genetic basis of cross-regulatory interactions between labial and other more posterior Hox genes using the GAL4/UAS system for targeted misexpression. Misexpression of posterior Hox genes in the embryonic neuroectoderm results in a labial loss-of function phenotype and a corresponding lack of Labial protein expression in the tritocerebrum.

Synthesis of 4-hydroxy-7,8-dimethoxyisochroman-3-one and its plant growth-regulating properties on tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Petit Havana).

The synthesis of 6,7-dimethoxy-4-hydroxyisochroman-3-one 10 from 2,3-dimethoxytoluene (11) via glyoxylate 12 is reported. Compound 10 strongly inhibited vegetative growth of tobacco plants, whereas developmental patterns (protein levels, protein profile, pigments, and chlorophylls) were not affected. Morphological changes were observed in the leaves of the treated plants.

Chemometric determination of amiloride hydrochloride, atenolol, hydrochlorothiazide and timolol maleate in synthetic mixtures and pharmaceutical formulations.

Different chemometric methods such as classical least squares (CLS), principal components regression (PCR) and partial least squares with one dependent variable (PLS-1) applied on UV spectral data (0 D) and on their first derivatives (1 D) were evaluated for the simultaneous quantification of samples containing mixtures of amiloride hydrochloride, atenolol, hydrochlorothiazide and timolol maleate. Their performances were compared by means of ANOVA tests, which evidenced that 0 D-PCR, 0D-PLS-1, 1D-PCR, 1D-PLS-1, were reproducible and gave statistically similar results, while 0 D-CLS and 1D-CLS displayed higher variances than the former and failed to comply with the Levene's variance homogeneity test at different stages of the method comparison and validation process. The four statistically equivalent procedures were successfully applied to the analysis of synthetic samples with two to four analytes and to commercial tablet preparations containing amiloride hydrochloride and hydrochlorothiazide alone or in association with atenolol or timolol maleate.

hunchback is required for suppression of abdominal identity, and for proper germband growth and segmentation in the intermediate germband insect Oncopeltus fasciatus.

Insects such as Drosophila melanogaster undergo a derived form of segmentation termed long germband segmentation. In long germband insects, all of the body regions are specified by the blastoderm stage. Thus, the entire body plan is proportionally represented on the blastoderm.

Systematic generation of high-resolution deletion coverage of the Drosophila melanogaster genome.

In fruit fly research, chromosomal deletions are indispensable tools for mapping mutations, characterizing alleles and identifying interacting loci. Most widely used deletions were generated by irradiation or chemical mutagenesis. These methods are labor-intensive, generate random breakpoints and result in unwanted secondary mutations that can confound phenotypic analyses.

Synthesis and antibiotic activity of the tricyclic furo[3,2-c] isochromen-2-trione unit of the pyranonaphthoquinones.

The elaboration and biological activity of 15, containing the proposed pharmacophore for the antibiotic activity of the pyranonaphthoquinones, are reported. The synthetic strategy involved acid-catalyzed lactonization of mandelate 17 for isochroman ring formation, in combination with a Wittig-oxa-Michael functionalization of isochroman-3-ol derivative 20, a lactonization involving configurational inversion of a benzylic alcohol and a final AgO oxidation. Compound 15 showed activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis with MIC of 64 and 32 microg/mL, respectively.

Chemometrics-assisted simultaneous determination of atenolol and chlorthalidone in synthetic binary mixtures and pharmaceutical dosage forms.

Resolution of binary mixtures of atenolol (ATE) and chlorthalidone (CTD) with minimum sample pre-treatment and without analyte separation has been successfully achieved, using a new and rapid method based on partial least squares (PLS1) analysis of UV spectral data. The simultaneous determination of both analytes was possible by PLS1 processing of sample absorbances between 255 and 300 nm for ATE and evaluation of absorbances in the 253-268 nm region for CTD. The mean recoveries for synthetic samples were 100.

Synthesis and complement inhibitory activity of B/C/D-ring analogues of the fungal metabolite 6,7-diformyl-3',4',4a',5',6',7',8',8a'-octahydro-4,6',7'-trihydroxy- 2',5',5',8a'-tetramethylspiro[1'(2'H)-naphthalene-2(3H)-benzofuran].

This paper reports the synthesis and the bioassay of 4-methoxy- and 4-hydroxyspiro[benzofuran-2(3H)-cyclohexane] partial analogues (5) of the complement inhibitory sesquiterpene fungal metabolite 6,7-diformyl-3',4',4a',5',6',7',8',8a'-octahydro-4,6',7'-trihydroxy-2',5',5',8a'-tetramethylspiro[1'(2'H)-naphthalene-2(3H)-benzofuran] (1a, K-76) and its silver oxide oxidized product (1b, K-76COOH). The described target compounds represent spirobenzofuran B/C/D-ring analogues lacking the A-ring component of the prototype structure. The target compounds were evaluated by the inhibition of total hemolytic complement activity in human serum.

Hox genes and the evolution of the arthropod body plan.

In recent years researchers have analyzed the expression patterns of the Hox genes in a multitude of arthropod species, with the hope of understanding the mechanisms at work in the evolution of the arthropod body plan. Now, with Hox expression data representing all four major groups of arthropods (chelicerates, myriapods, crustaceans, and insects), it seems appropriate to summarize the results and take stock of what has been learned. In this review we summarize the expression and functional data regarding the 10 arthropod Hox genes: labial proboscipedia, Hox3/zen, Deformed, Sex combs reduced, fushi tarazu, Antennapedia, Ultrabithorax, abdominal-A, and Abdominal-B.

The centrosome is a dynamic structure that ejects PCM flares.

The Drosophila Centrosomin (Cnn) protein is an essential core component of centrosomes in the early embryo. We have expressed a Cnn-GFP fusion construct in cleavage stage embryos, which rescues the maternal effect lethality of cnn mutant animals. The localization patterns seen with GFP-Cnn are identical to the patterns we see by immunofluorescent staining with anti-Cnn antibodies.

Simultaneous determination of amiloride hydrochloride and hydrochlorothiazide in synthetic samples and pharmaceutical formulations by multivariate analysis of spectrophotometric data.

The use of multivariate spectrophotometric calibration for the simultaneous analysis of synthetic samples and commercial tablet preparations containing hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) and amiloride hydrochloride (AMH) is reported. Partial least squares (PLS-1) analysis of electronic absorption spectral data allowed the rapid and accurate resolution of mixtures in which the analyte ratios were approximately 10:1, without the need of a previous separation step and without interference from other sample constituents. The method, validated by the analysis of synthetic mixtures of both drugs, where accuracy over the linear working range as well as inter- and intra-assay precision were determined, was used in the concentration ranges of 21.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected human macrophages exhibit enhanced cellular adhesion with increased expression of LFA-1 and ICAM-1 and reduced expression and/or function of complement receptors, FcgammaRII and the mannose receptor.

The entry of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) into the host macrophage and its survival in this environment are key components of tuberculosis pathogenesis. Following intracellular replication of the bacterium within alveolar macrophages, there is spread of bacilli to regional lymph nodes in the lungs and subsequent presentation of antigens to the host immune system. How this process occurs remains poorly understood, but one mechanism may involve the migration of macrophages containing Mtb across the alveoli to lymph nodes, where there is development of a protective host response with formation of granulomas composed in part of aggregated and fused, apoptotic, infected macrophages.