Solid-phase extraction for selective determination of bisphenol A in drinks and fruits by dummy surface molecularly imprinted polymer with direct synthetic method.

A reliable and selective method was developed for the determination of bisphenol A (BPA) in drinks and fruit using dummy surface molecularly imprinted polymer (DSMIP) as a solid-phase extraction (SPE)-enrichment and separation sorbent coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), whose structure is similar to BPA, was selected as a dummy template molecule. DSMIP has a higher selectivity for BPA than surface non-imprinted polymer (SNIP) when used as sorbents for SPE.

Cellular membrane disruption by amyloid fibrils involved intermolecular disulfide cross-linking.

Accumulating evidence has strongly suggested that amyloid fibrils of protein or peptide are cytotoxic. Fibrillar species appear to lead to disruption of cell membrane structures and thereby cause cell death. In this study, human erythrocytes were used as an in vitro model to examine the disruptive effect of lysozyme fibrils on the plasma membrane.

Molecular basis of Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and remains incurable. Considerable progress has been made in understanding the molecular mechanisms of this disease, in particular, a distinct set of genes have emerged, whose dysfunctional regulation is strongly associated with the condition. These genes include alpha-synuclein, parkin, PTEN induced Putative Kinase 1 (PINK1), DJ-1, Leucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) and ATP13A2.

Nurr1 transcriptionally regulates the expression of alpha-synuclein.

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders and still remains incurable. The condition is linked to mutations and alterations in expression in several genes, in particular that encoding alpha-synuclein. Mutations in Nurr1 leading to a reduction in expression were also found to lead to Parkinson's disease.

[Study on the interaction between BSA and nicotine].

The interaction of BSA and NIC was investigated by absorption spectra, fluorescence spectroscopy and synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy. In the system of sodium phosphate dibasic-citric acid of 0.1 mol(-1) x L(-1), fluorescence titration showed that the fluorescence intensity of BSA at 342 nm was quenched when NIC was added, NIC was capable of binding with BSA to form a 1:1 complex and the quenching mechanism of BSA affected by NIC was shown to be a static quenching procedure by calculating the binding number n and binding constant K.

Induction of parkin expression in the presence of oxidative stress.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders. Gene mutations have been found in rare familial forms of PD, with mutations in parkin being the most common cause. Oxidative stresses have also been implicated as an important contributing factor in the pathogenesis of PD.

A heterozygous effect for PINK1 mutations in Parkinson's disease?

Objective: To investigate the significance of PINK1 mutations in sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods: We determined the frequency of PINK1 mutations by direct sequencing in a large series of PD patients with apparently sporadic disease (n = 768).

Results: Twelve heterozygous mutations were identified, nine in PD patients and three in control subjects.