This work consisted in the preparation of platinum-based catalysts supported on carbon (Vulcan XC-72) and investigation of their physicochemical and electrochemical properties. Catalysts of the C/Pt-Ni-Sn-Me (Me = Ru or Ir) type were prepared by the Pechini method at temperature of 350°C. Four different compositions were homemade: C/Pt(60)Sn(10)Ni(30), C/Pt(60)Sn(10)Ni(20)Ru(10), C/Pt(60)Sn(10)...

The recent discovery of neutral active choline and ethanolamine glycerophospholipid specific phospholipase C in myocardium (Wolf RA, Gross RW. J Biol Chem 1985;260:7295) has demonstrated a novel catabolic pathway that potentially contributes to the accumulation of amphiphilic metabolites during myocardial ischemia. To assess the potential importance of this pathway, we quantified the temporal c...

Rickettsia prowazekii is an obligate intracytosolic pathogen and the causative agent of epidemic typhus fever in humans. As an evolutionary model of intracellular pathogenesis, rickettsiae are notorious for their use of transport systems that parasitize eukaryotic host cell biochemical pathways. Rickettsial transport systems for substrates found only in eukaryotic cell cytoplasm are uncommon am...

Plasma-membrane fractions were prepared from the livers of rats injected with 0.15 M-NaCl (controls) or vasopressin (1 nmol/kg body wt.). When assayed in the presence of deoxycholate, vasopressin increased the Vmax. of plasma-membrane diacylglycerol kinase 2-4-fold, and the apparent Km of the enzyme for 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycerol was doubled. The effect of vasopressin on the Vmax. of plasma-membr...

Lipogenesis and the metabolism of sn-glycerol-3-phosphate were studied in 23 fat biopsies from eight grossly obese patients. The first biopsy was obtained after a minimum of 12 days on a 3500 cal diet, the second biopsy after 2 wk on a 900 cal diet, and the third biopsy after an additional 2 wk on 900 cal supplemented with thiiodothyronine, 250 mug/day.Oxygen consumption and respiratory quotien...

This paper presents new NMR constraints on the conformation of the headgroup, glycerol backbone, and sn-2 chain of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) in the liquid-crystalline bilayer. Using two-dimensional 13C-1H chemical shift correlation spectroscopy, we find significant dipolar couplings between the carboxyl carbon CO2 and the headgroup protons. This indicates that a co...

Electrophysiological responses of olfactory receptor neurons in both male and female silkmoths (Bombyx mori) were investigated. In both sexes, the G-protein activator sodium fluoride and 1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol, a membrane-permeable analog of the protein kinase C activator diacylglycerol, elicited nerve impulse responses similar to those elicited by weak continuous stimulation with odorants....

The development of new methods for prevention of sexually transmitted Chlamydia trachomatis infection is a top public health priority. Topical self-administered vaginal microbicides represent one such approach in which the organism is eradicated at the time of initial exposure. To this end, we examined the activity of five synthetic lipids adapted from naturally occurring compounds found in hum...

1,3-Diacylglycerol is known to reduce body weight and fat deposits in humans. α-Lipoic acid is a potent antioxidant and effective against many pathological conditions, including obesity and related metabolic syndromes. The present work is based on the hypothesis that the hybrid molecules of 1,3-diacylglycerol and lipoic acid possess synergistic and/or additive effects compared with the parent c...

Based on 1,2-O-isopropylidene-sn-glycerol five chiral building blocks containing differently modified glycerol residues were required for the synthesis of the target molecule 2. One of these building blocks is diacylglyceryl beta-gentiobioside carrying a phosphite residue at 6b-O position. Ligation of these five building blocks led to the desired glycerol phosphate backbone to which d-alanyl re...