Exploring chemical diversity of epoxyquinoid natural products: synthesis and biological activity of (-)-jesterone and related molecules.

Enantioselective syntheses of the potent antifungal agent (-)-jesterone, its hydroxy epimer, and a dimeric quinone epoxide derivative are reported. The synthesis involves diastereoselective epoxidation of a chiral quinone monoketal derivative and regio- and stereoselective reduction of a quinone epoxide intermediate.

Human cytokines, tumor necrosis factor, and interferons: gene cloning, animal studies, and clinical trials.

Presented is a comprehensive program designed to isolate human cytokine genes and investigate their relative induction, and to analyze cytokine activities in cell culture, animal tumor models, and human clinical trials. Human cytokine cDNAs have been isolated from a cDNA library made from normal human peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) treated with Sendai virus and the relative induction of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), alpha and gamma interferons (IFN-alpha, IFN-gamma), and interleukin-1 beta IL-1 beta) genes has been analyzed. In the Sendai virus-induced PBL system, IL-1 beta mRNA was shown to be approximately twofold higher than TNF or IFN-alpha mRNA whereas IFN-gamma mRNA was 50-100-fold lower than TNF or IFN-alpha mRNA.

Sendai virus induces high levels of tumor necrosis factor mRNA in human peripheral blood leukocytes.

Sendai virus induces human peripheral blood leukocytes to produce high levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) mRNA. TNF mRNA can represent as much as 0.6% of the total mRNA.

Cloning and sequencing of a human 18S ribosomal RNA gene.

A clone containing an 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene has been isolated from a human genomic library constructed in lambda Charon 4A. This gene was sequenced and found to be 1868 bp long. The sequence divergencies in the human 18S rRNA gene and the previously sequenced mouse and rat genes are found in one G + C-rich region of 110 bp located in the 5' domain of the molecule.

Human genomic library screened with 17-base oligonucleotide probes yields a novel interferon gene.

A method is presented that has permitted a human genomic library to be screened for low-copy genes using 17-base synthetic oligonucleotides as probes. Parallel screening with two different 17-base probes permitted the unambiguous identification of clones containing interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) genes. The isolated human IFN-alpha genes were sequenced, and one appears to be IFN-alpha L; the other is one not previously described, which we have designated IFN-alpha WA.

The complete nucleotide sequence of the rat 18S ribosomal RNA gene and comparison with the respective yeast and frog genes.

The complete nucleotide sequence of the rat 18S ribosomal RNA gene has been determined. A comparison of the rat 18S ribosomal RNA gene sequence with the known sequences of yeast and frog revealed three conserved (stable) regions, two unstable regions, and three large inserts. (A,T) leads to (G,C) changes were more frequent than (G,C) leads to (A,T) changes for three comparisons (yeast leads to frog, frog leads to rat, and yeast leads to rat).

Nucleotide sequence of the 5'-terminal region of rat 18S ribosomal DNA.

The 5'-terminal 597 base-pairs (bp) of the Sprague-Dawley rat 18S ribosomal RNA gee and 10 bp of the adjoining transcribed spacer have been sequenced. Previously sequenced 10 large oligonucleotides of rat 18S RNA were located in this region. This mammalian sequence has been compared with the known sequences of yeast and frog 18S rDNA's.

Nucleotide sequence of the 3'-terminal region of rat 18S ribosomal DNA.

The 3'-terminal 230 base-pairs (bp) of the gene for 18S rRNA and 40 bp of the adjoining spacer have been sequenced for the Sprague-Dawley rat. This mammalian sequence has been compared with the known sequences of yeast, fruit fly, silkworm, and frog. This study has shown that the nucleotide-sequence differences between rat and frog are the smallest among and longer species, probably reflecting their evolutionary closeness and longer maturation time compared to the others.