The interaction of dibenz[a,h]anthracene and its ultimate carcinogenic 3,4-diol-1,2-epoxide with lung surfactant phospholipid bilayers was successfully performed using molecular dynamics. The DPPC/DPPG/cholesterol bilayer (64 : 64 : 2) was used as the lung surfactant phospholipid bilayer model and compared with the DPPC bilayer as a reference. Dibenz[a,h]anthracene and its 3,4-diol-1,2-epoxide ...

Several previously identified inhibitors of angiogenesis have been epoxide-containing fungus-derived metabolites. We therefore hypothesized that novel epoxide-containing low molecular weight compounds structurally resembling known antiangiogenic agents may also exhibit antiangiogenic activity. Cytochalasin E was found to be a potent and selective inhibitor of bovine capillary endothelial (BCE) ...

In the present study, xanthophyll composition of eight parasitic Cuscuta species under different light conditions was investigated. Neoxanthin was not detected in four of the eight species examined, while in others it occurred at the level of several percent of total xanthophylls. In C. gronovii and C. lupuliformis it was additionally found that the neoxanthin content was considerably stimulate...

Trichloroethylene (TCE), a structural analog of vinyl chloride, is known to induce hepatocellular carcinoma and other tumors in C57BL/6 X C3H/He F1 (hereafter known as B6C3F1) hybrid mice. TCE epoxide, a possible metabolite, is expected to be highly reactive toward cellular nucleophiles, e.g., proteins and nucleic acids. Hence, the microsomal metabolism of TCE and its covalent binding to micros...

4-Vinylcyclohexene (VCH) is present in gases discharged during synthetic rubber production. Chronic treatment of B6C3F1 mice and F-344 rats with VCH by gavage has been shown to induce ovarian tumors in mice but not in rats. Our objective was to understand the mechanism of the species difference in VCH-induced ovarian tumors. Since a critical step in the induction of ovarian tumors is destructio...

A highly purified and reconstituted hepatic microsomal monooxygenase system, completely free of epoxide hydrase and consisting of cytochrome P-448 from 3-methylcholanthrene-treated rats, NADPH-cytochrome c reductase, phosphatidylcholine, and NADPH, metabolizes benzo (a)pyrene to products highly mutagenic in strains TA 98 and TA 1538 of Salmonella typhimurium. The formation of mutagenic metaboli...

Epoxide hydrolases are vital to many organisms by virtue of their roles in detoxification, metabolism and processing of signaling molecules. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome encodes an unusually large number of epoxide hydrolases, suggesting that they might be of particular importance to these bacteria. We report here the first structure of an epoxide hydrolase from M.tuberculosis, solved ...

A series of acceptor-substituted epoxide derivatives is scrutinized by means of experimental and theoretical electron-density investigations. Due to the possibility of nucleophilic ring-opening, the epoxide ring is not only a very useful functional group in organic synthesis, but acceptor-substituted epoxides are valuable building blocks for the design of protease inhibitors. Therefore, the ele...

A highly purified and reconstituted hepatic microsomal monooxygenase system, completely free of epoxide hydrase and consisting of cytochrome P-448 from 3-methylcholanthrene-treated rats, NADPHcytochrome c reductase, phosphatidylcholine, and NADPH, metabolizes benzo [a Jpyrene to products highly mutagenic in strains TA 98 and TA 1538 of Salmonella typhimurium. The formation of mutagenic metaboli...

In their recent article (1), Spillman and colleagues report the two Plasmodium falciparum proteins PfEH1 and PfEH2 to be two novel epoxide hydrolases with an atypical active-site architecture. We strongly believe that this conclusion is wrong for the reasons detailed in the following. Spillman et al. start from the observation that, based on sequence identity, epoxide hydrolases from the / hydr...