A novel,practical synthesis of 18-norsteroids

Zusammenfassung Eine einfache Synthese von 18-Nor-Pregnan-Derivaten durch die Decarboxylierung eines 12-Keto-18-Säure-Lactons (-20) wird beschrieben.     

Familial Parkinson disease gene product, parkin, is a ubiquitin-protein ligase

Autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism (AR-JP), one of the most common familial forms of Parkinson disease, is characterized by selective dopaminergic neural cell death and the absence of the Lewy body, a cytoplasmic inclusion body consisting of aggregates of abnormally accumulated proteins. We previously cloned PARK2, mutations of which cause AR-JP (ref. 2), but the function of the gene product, parkin, remains unknown. We report here that parkin is involved in protein degradation as a ubiquitin-protein ligase collaborating with the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme UbcH7, and that mutant parkins from AR-JP patients show loss of the ubiquitin-protein ligase activity. Our findings indicate that accumulation of proteins that have yet to be identified causes a selective neural cell death without formation of Lewy bodies. Our findings should enhance the exploration of the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration in Parkinson disease as well as in other neurodegenerative diseases that are characterized by involvement of abnormal protein ubiquitination, including Alzheimer disease, other tauopathies, CAG triplet repeat disorders and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.     

The characteristic appearance of label in the urinary bladder epithelium following injection ofd,l-tryptophan-H3 in mice

Zusammenfassung Nach subkutaner oder intraperitonealer Injektion vond,l-Tryptophan-H³ wurde radioautographisch eine charakteristische, starke Radioaktivität in den oberflächlichen Epithelzellen der Mausharnblase gefunden. Nach Unterbindung der beiden Ureter vor der Injektion unterblieb die meiste Radioaktivität. Die Resultate scheinen darauf hinzuweisen, dass die Radioaktivität auf dem im Harn ausgeschiedenen markierten Tryptophan oder auf seinen Abbauprodukten, die während einiger Zeit in oberflächlichen Epithelzellen adsorbiert und gespeichert wurden, beruht.     

Release of 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine, thyroxine and thyroglobulin from TSH-stimulated mouse thyroids in the perifusion system

We established a perifusion system using mouse thyroid glands. In this system, TSH increased the release of T3 and T4 significantly, and the response of thyroglobulin to TSH was delayed in comparison with that of T3 and T4.     

Isolation and characterization of fukujusonorone,a 18-norpregnane derivative fromAdonis amurensis Regel et Radd

Zusammenfassung Aus den Wurzeln des japanischen Adonisröschens (Adonis amurensis Regel et Radd) wurde Fukujusonoron, ein neues Aglykon, das sich von 18-nor-Pregnan ableitet, isoliert.

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Abstracted from the Symposium Papers of the 12th Symposium on the Chemistry of Natural Products, Sendai 1968, p. 174. Y.Shimizu, Y.Sato and H.Mitsuhashi, Chem. pharm. Bull., Tokyo15, 2005 (1967); Chem. pharm. Bull., Tokyo, submitted for publication.     

Hydroxyproline concentration in soluble and insoluble material from serum treated with trichloroacetic acid in postpartum mice

Summary The hydroxyproline concentration in both the soluble and insoluble material from trichloroacetic acid-treated serum from postpartum mice was determined. The hydroxyproline concentration in the insoluble material increased, but that in the soluble material did not increase during the uterine involuting period.     

Self-assembly of amphiphilic dendritic dipeptides into helical pores

Natural pore-forming proteins act as viral helical coats and transmembrane channels, exhibit antibacterial activity and are used in synthetic systems, such as for reversible encapsulation or stochastic sensing. These diverse functions are intimately linked to protein structure. The close link between protein structure and protein function makes the design of synthetic mimics a formidable challenge, given that structure formation needs to be carefully controlled on all hierarchy levels, in solution and in the bulk. In fact, with few exceptions, synthetic pore structures capable of assembling into periodically ordered assemblies that are stable in solution and in the solid state have not yet been realized. In the case of dendrimers, covalent and non-covalent coating and assembly of a range of different structures has only yielded closed columns. Here we describe a library of amphiphilic dendritic dipeptides that self-assemble in solution and in bulk through a complex recognition process into helical pores. We find that the molecular recognition and self-assembly process is sufficiently robust to tolerate a range of modifications to the amphiphile structure, while preliminary proton transport measurements establish that the pores are functional. We expect that this class of self-assembling dendrimers will allow the design of a variety of biologically inspired systems with functional properties arising from their porous structure.     

Experimental investigation of geologically produced antineutrinos with KamLAND

The detection of electron antineutrinos produced by natural radioactivity in the Earth could yield important geophysical information. The Kamioka liquid scintillator antineutrino detector (KamLAND) has the sensitivity to detect electron antineutrinos produced by the decay of 238U and 232Th within the Earth. Earth composition models suggest that the radiogenic power from these isotope decays is 16 TW, approximately half of the total measured heat dissipation rate from the Earth. Here we present results from a search for geoneutrinos with KamLAND. Assuming a Th/U mass concentration ratio of 3.9, the 90 per cent confidence interval for the total number of geoneutrinos detected is 4.5 to 54.2. This result is consistent with the central value of 19 predicted by geophysical models. Although our present data have limited statistical power, they nevertheless provide by direct means an upper limit (60 TW) for the radiogenic power of U and Th in the Earth, a quantity that is currently poorly constrained.