We have investigated the expression of diazepam binding inhibitor (DBI) (also called acyl-CoA-binding protein or endozepine) transcripts in different human tissues and tissue culture cell lines by reverse-transcriptase assisted PCR and RNase protection assay. Two different DBI transcripts capable of encoding polypeptides of 86 and 104 amino acids were detected in all the human tissues and cell ...

A novel Congo red (CR) derivatized silica stationary phase was prepared and packed into a fused silica capillary tube for nano-flow HPLC. A variety of analytes including poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, parabens, acids, sulfonamides, bases, and nucleosides were successfully separated using the CR. In comparison with commercial ODS columns, this new stationary phase has a different separation mechani...

Microwave-assisted solvent-free modification of pectin was successfully accomplished, consisting in the esterification of several fatty acids by pectin alcoholic functions. The reaction was performed by simply mixing the reagents with a catalytic amount of the inorganic base (potassium carbonate) and irradiating the obtained mixture with microwaves for a short time (3-6 min). The replacement of...

Parameters for the zinc ion have been developed in the self-consistent charge density functional tight-binding (SCC-DFTB) framework. The approach was tested against B3LYP calculations for a range of systems, including small molecules that contain the typical coordination environment of zinc in biological systems (cysteine, histidine, glutamic/aspartic acids, and water) and active site models fo...

It is demonstrated that tetrahydrofuran (THF) should be used with caution as a solvent in polymer sample preparation for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) analyses. The presence of peroxides in THF may cause the oxidation of chemically active groups. This effect is illustrated in the case of S-containing polystyrene derivatives. The oxidation of the trithiocarbonate group resu...

The use of mechanochemistry to carry out enantioselective reactions has been explored in the last ten years with excellent results. Several chiral organocatalysts and even enzymes have proved to be resistant to milling conditions, which allows for rather efficient enantioselective transformations under ball-milling conditions. The present article reports the first example of a liquid-assisted g...