Bazzanene,a sesquiterpene hydrocarbon of a new carbon skeleton fromBazzania pompeana (Lac.) Mitt.

Zusammenfassung Aus dem essentiellen öl vonBazzania pompeana (Lac.) Mitt. wurde Bazzanen, ein Sesquiterpen-Kohlenwasserstoff mit einem neuartigen Kohlenstoffgerüst, isoliert. Bazzanen besitzt die Struktur des 2,6,6-Trimethyl-8-methylen bicyclo[5.3.1.]undec-2-ens.     

高取向聚合物分子取向度与结晶度的各向异性

聚合物分子具有内部各向异性的物理特性,从而导致聚合物整体在大分子取向时呈现各向异性.为克服形态学超分子结构在评价这一特性时带来的误差,作者通过胶凝/结晶作用,制取超拉伸聚乙烯和聚丙烯薄膜,使之具有近乎完美的分子取向度及结晶度的形态,可以使得测量结果更为精确。利用广角X射线衍射(WAXD),直接测定了高取向聚乙烯和聚丙烯的结晶格子模量。在此基础上,测量并讨论了高取向聚合物结晶格子模量与杨氏模量、取向度、结晶度、温度之间的相互关系,以及在晶体色散研究中的一些现象与机理,从而澄清了聚乙烯与聚烯内部各向异性的几个特征。同时还研究了超拉伸聚乙烯的动态弹性模量、动态损耗模量和凝胶薄膜的力学性能。     

Mutation of ARX causes abnormal development of forebrain and testes in mice and X-linked lissencephaly with abnormal genitalia in humans

Male embryonic mice with mutations in the X-linked aristaless-related homeobox gene (Arx) developed with small brains due to suppressed proliferation and regional deficiencies in the forebrain. These mice also showed aberrant migration and differentiation of interneurons containing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAergic interneurons) in the ganglionic eminence and neocortex as well as abnormal testicular differentiation. These characteristics recapitulate some of the clinical features of X-linked lissencephaly with abnormal genitalia (XLAG) in humans. We found multiple loss-of-function mutations in ARX in individuals affected with XLAG and in some female relatives, and conclude that mutation of ARX causes XLAG. The present report is, to our knowledge, the first to use phenotypic analysis of a knockout mouse to identify a gene associated with an X-linked human brain malformation.     

Molecular identification of a renal urate anion exchanger that regulates blood urate levels

Urate, a naturally occurring product of purine metabolism, is a scavenger of biological oxidants implicated in numerous disease processes, as demonstrated by its capacity of neuroprotection. It is present at higher levels in human blood (200 500 microM) than in other mammals, because humans have an effective renal urate reabsorption system, despite their evolutionary loss of hepatic uricase by mutational silencing. The molecular basis for urate handling in the human kidney remains unclear because of difficulties in understanding diverse urate transport systems and species differences. Here we identify the long-hypothesized urate transporter in the human kidney (URAT1, encoded by SLC22A12), a urate anion exchanger regulating blood urate levels and targeted by uricosuric and antiuricosuric agents (which affect excretion of uric acid). Moreover, we provide evidence that patients with idiopathic renal hypouricaemia (lack of blood uric acid) have defects in SLC22A12. Identification of URAT1 should provide insights into the nature of urate homeostasis, as well as lead to the development of better agents against hyperuricaemia, a disadvantage concomitant with human evolution.     

Stacking of conical molecules with a fullerene apex into polar columns in crystals and liquid crystals

Polar liquid crystalline materials can be used in optical and electronic applications, and recent interest has turned to formation strategies that exploit the shape of polar molecules and their interactions to direct molecular alignment. For example, banana-shaped molecules align their molecular bent within smectic layers, whereas conical molecules should form polar columnar assemblies. However, the flatness of the conical molecules used until now and their ability to flip have limited the success of this approach to making polar liquid crystalline materials. Here we show that the attachment of five aromatic groups to one pentagon of a C(60) fullerene molecule yields deeply conical molecules that stack into polar columnar assemblies. The stacking is driven by attractive interactions between the spherical fullerene moiety and the hollow cone formed by the five aromatic side groups of a neighbouring molecule in the same column. This packing pattern is maintained when we extend the aromatic groups by attaching flexible aliphatic chains, which yields compounds with thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystalline properties. In contrast, the previously reported fullerene-containing liquid crystals all exhibit thermotropic properties only, and none of them contains the fullerene moiety as a functional part of its mesogen units. Our design strategy should be applicable to other molecules and yield a range of new polar liquid crystalline materials.     

Unusually large earthquakes inferred from tsunami deposits along the Kuril trench

The Pacific plate converges with northeastern Eurasia at a rate of 8-9 m per century along the Kamchatka, Kuril and Japan trenches. Along the southern Kuril trench, which faces the Japanese island of Hokkaido, this fast subduction has recurrently generated earthquakes with magnitudes of up to approximately 8 over the past two centuries. These historical events, on rupture segments 100-200 km long, have been considered characteristic of Hokkaido's plate-boundary earthquakes. But here we use deposits of prehistoric tsunamis to infer the infrequent occurrence of larger earthquakes generated from longer ruptures. Many of these tsunami deposits form sheets of sand that extend kilometres inland from the deposits of historical tsunamis. Stratigraphic series of extensive sand sheets, intercalated with dated volcanic-ash layers, show that such unusually large tsunamis occurred about every 500 years on average over the past 2,000-7,000 years, most recently approximately 350 years ago. Numerical simulations of these tsunamis are best explained by earthquakes that individually rupture multiple segments along the southern Kuril trench. We infer that such multi-segment earthquakes persistently recur among a larger number of single-segment events.     

Novel C-terminally amidated opioid peptide in human phaeochromocytoma tumour

As has often been observed in hypothalamic releasing factors and gastrointestinal hormones, the carboxy-terminal amide structure is a unique feature of peptides exhibiting hormonal or physiological activities. Although a variety of opioid peptides have hitherto been identified, such a C-terminal amidated species has never before been discovered in mammals. Here we present the first identification of a novel opioid octapeptide with a C-terminal amide structure, henceforth designated as 'adrenorphin', in human phaeochromocytoma tumour derived from adrenal medulla. The complete amino acid sequence of adrenorphin was determined by microsequencing and corresponds to the sequence of the first eight amino acids of peptide E which is derived from proenkephalin A. Adrenorphin has also been identified chromatographically in normal human and bovine adrenal medulla. Adrenorphin exhibits potent opioid activity in guinea pig ileum assay, suggesting a specialized physiological function.