A novel nano-initiator containing kojic acid moiety, [5-(benzyloxy)-4-oxo-4H-pyran-2-yl)methyl-2-bromo-2-methylpropanoate was synthesized by the reaction of 5-(benzyloxy)-2-(hydroxymethyl)-4H-pyran-4-one with 2-bromoisobutyryl bromide in triethylamine and used as initiator in the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene and methyl methacrylate in the presence of Cu(0)/CuCl2and N,N...

Fibrous properties of rayon has been modified through synthesis of graft copolymers of rayon with acrylonitrile (AN) by chemical method using ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN/HNO3) as a redox initiator and gamma radiation mutual method. Percentage of grafting (Pg) was determined as a function of initiator concentration, monomer concentration, irradiation dose, temperature, time of reaction and the a...

In all organisms, translational initiation takes place on the small ribosomal subunit and two classes of methionine tRNA are present. The initiator is used exclusively for initiation of protein synthesis while the elongator is used for inserting methionine internally in the nascent polypeptide chain. The crystal structure of Escherichia coli initiator tRNA(f)(Met) has been solved at 3.1 A resol...

Polylactic acid-g-polyvinyl acetate (PLLA-g-PVAc) was used as a compatibilizer for 50/50 starch/PLLA blend. PLLA-gPVAc with different mol% of PVAc contents were prepared by grafting PVAc onto PLLA backbone via free radical polymerization in solution process. Various conditions such as type and the amount of initiator, monomer concentration, polymerization time and temperature were studied. Resu...

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) or nanowhiskers produced from sulfuric acid hydrolysis of ramie fibers were used as substrates for surface chemical functionalization with thermoresponsive macromolecules. The CNCs were grafted with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) brushes via surface-initiated single-electron transfer living radical polymerization (SI-SET-LRP) under various conditions at room temperatu...

Constitutive activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) has been found in a wide spectrum of human malignancies. Here, we have assessed the effect of Stat3 deficiency on skin tumor development using the 2-stage chemical carcinogenesis model. The epidermis of Stat3-deficient mice showed a significantly reduced proliferative response following treatment with the tumo...

Polyisobutylenes (PIBs) with different end-groups including chlorine, exo-olefin, hydroxyl and methyl initiated from aliphatic and aromatic initiator were studied by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Independently of the end-groups, presence or absence of aromatic initiator moiety, these PIB derivatives were capable of forming adduct ions with NO3 and Cl ions, and thus allowin...

Abstract Materials based on hyaluronic acid (HA) are extensively used in tissue engineering as scaffolds. Photoinduced crosslinking is one way to prepare them, and, for this, HA must be modified with vinyl groups, which capable of participating free-radical reactions upon exposure light. The quantity grafted represented the degree substitution (DS), an important parameter (mHA) that related mec...

Caspases play a critical role in the execution of metazoan apoptosis and are thus attractive therapeutic targets for apoptosis-associated diseases. Here we report that baculovirus P49, a homolog of pancaspase inhibitor P35, prevents apoptosis in invertebrates by inhibiting an initiator caspase that is P35 insensitive. Consequently P49 blocked proteolytic activation of effector caspases at a uni...

Activation of an initiator caspase is essential to the execution of apoptosis. The molecular mechanisms by which initiator caspases are activated remain poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that the autocatalytic cleavage of Dronc, an important initiator caspase in Drosophila, results in a drastic enhancement of its catalytic activity in vitro. The autocleaved Dronc forms a homodimer, whereas...