Mechanisms of Phototoxic Effects of Cationic Porphyrins on Human Cells In Vitro.

The toxic effects of four cationic porphyrins on various human cells were studied in vitro. It was found that, under dark conditions, porphyrins are almost nontoxic, while, under the action of light, the toxic effect was observed starting from nanomolar concentrations. At a concentration of 100 nM, porphyrins caused inhibition of metabolism in the MTT test in normal and cancer cells. Furthermore, low concentrations of porphyrins inhibited colony formation. The toxic effect was nonlinear; with increasing concentrations of various porphyrins, up to about 1 µM, the effect reached a plateau. In addition to the MTT test, this was repeated in experiments examining cell permeability to trypan blue, as well as survival after 24 h. The first visible manifestation of the toxic action of porphyrins is blebbing and swelling of cells. Against the background of this process, permeability to porphyrins and trypan blue appears. Subsequently, most cells (even mitotic cells) freeze in this swollen state for a long time (24 and even 48 h), remaining attached. Cellular morphology is mostly preserved. Thus, it is clear that the cells undergo mainly necrotic death. The hypothesis proposed is that the concentration dependence of membrane damage indicates a limited number of porphyrin targets on the membrane. These targets may be any ion channels, which should be considered in photodynamic therapy.

Initial Stages of the Pyrolysis of Polyethylene.

An experimental study of the kinetics of the initial stages of the pyrolysis of high-density polyethylene (PE) was performed. Quantitative yields of gas-phase products (C1-C8 alkanes and alkenes) and functional groups within the remaining polyethylene melt (methyl, vinyl, vinylene, vinylidene, and branching sites) were obtained as a function of time (0-20 min) at five temperatures in the 400-440 °C range. Gas chromatography and NMR ((1)H and (13)C) were used to detect the gas- and condensed-phase products, respectively. Modeling of polyethylene pyrolysis was performed, with the primary purpose of determining the rate constants of several critical reaction types important at the initial pyrolysis stages. Detailed chemical mechanisms were created (short and extended mechanisms) and used with both the steady-state approximation and numerical integration of the differential kinetic equations. Rate constants of critical elementary reactions (C-C backbone scission, two kinds of H-atom transfer, radical addition to the double bond, and beta-scission of tertiary alkyl radicals) were adjusted, resulting in an agreement between the model and the experiment. The values of adjusted rate constants are in general agreement with those of cognate reactions of small molecules in the gas phase, with the exception of the rate constants of the backbone C-C scission, which is found to be approximately 1-2 orders of magnitude lower. This observation provides tentative support to the hypothesis that congested PE melt molecular environment impedes the tumbling motions of separating fragments in C-C bond scission, thus resulting in less "loose" transition state and lower rate constant values. Sensitivity of the calculations to selected uncertainties in model properties was studied. Values and estimated uncertainties of four combinations of rate constants are reported as derived from the experimental results via modeling. The dependence of the diffusion-limited rate constant for radical recombination on the changing molecular mass of polyethylene was explicitly quantified and included in the extended kinetic mechanism, which appears critical for the agreement between modeling and experiment, particularly the agreement between the experimental and the calculated activation energies for product formation rates. Calculations were performed to estimate the contribution to the overall rate of radical recombination of the "reaction diffusion" phenomenon, where recombination is driven not by the actual motion of the recombining radical sites but rather by the migration of the radical site through PE melt due to rapid hydrogen transfer; this contribution was shown to be negligible for the conditions of the current work.

Kinetics of the Self Reaction of Cyclopentadienyl Radicals.

The kinetics of the self-reaction of cyclopentadienyl radicals (c-C5H5) was studied by laser photolysis/photoionization mass spectroscopy. Overall rate constants were obtained in direct real-time experiments in the temperature region 304-600 K and at bath gas densities of (3.00-12.0) × 10(16) molecules cm(-3). The room-temperature value of the rate constant, (3.98 ± 0.41) × 10(-10) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), is significantly higher than the rate constants for most hydrocarbon radical-radical reactions and coincides with the estimated collision rate. The observed overall c-C5H5 + c-C5H5 rate constant demonstrates an unprecedented strong negative temperature dependence: k1 = 2.9 × 10(-12) exp(+1489 K/T) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), with estimated uncertainty increasing with temperature, from 13% at 304 to 32% at 600 K. Formation of C10H10 as the primary product of cyclopentadienyl self-reaction was observed. In additional experiments performed at the temperature of 800 K, formation of C10H10, C10H9, and C10H8 was observed. Final product analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry detected two isomers of C10H8 at 800 K: naphthalene (major) and azulene (minor).

Molecular dynamics simulation of C-C bond scission in polyethylene and linear alkanes: effects of the condensed phase.

The reaction of C-C bond scission in polyethylene chains of various lengths was studied using molecular dynamics under the conditions of vacuum and condensed phase (polymer melt). A method of assigning meaningful rate constant values to condensed-phase bond scission reactions based on a kinetic mechanism accounting for dissociation, reverse recombination, and diffusional separation of fragments was developed. The developed method accounts for such condensed-phase phenomena as cage effects and diffusion of the decay products away from the reaction site. The results of C-C scission simulations indicate that per-bond rate constants decrease by an order of magnitude as the density of the system increases from vacuum to the normal density of a polyethylene melt. Additional calculations were performed to study the dependence of the rate constant on the length of the polymer chain under the conditions of the condensed phase. The calculations demonstrate that the rate constant is independent of the degree of polymerization if polyethylene samples of different lengths are kept at the same pressure. However, if instead molecular systems of different polyethylene chain lengths decompose under the conditions of the same density, shorter chains result in higher pressures and lower rate constants. The observed effect is attributed to a higher degree of molecular crowding (lower fraction of free intermolecular space available for molecular motion) in the case of shorter molecules.

Comparison of genomes of eight species of sections Linum and Adenolinum from the genus Linum based on chromosome banding, molecular markers and RAPD analysis.

Karyotypes of species sects. Linum and Adenolinum have been studied using C/DAPI-banding, Ag-NOR staining, FISH with 5S and 26S rDNA and RAPD analysis. C/DAPI-banding patterns enabled identification of all homologous chromosome pairs in the studied karyotypes. The revealed high similarity between species L. grandiflorum (2n = 16) and L. decumbens by chromosome and molecular markers proved their close genome relationship and identified the chromosome number in L. decumbens as 2n = 16. The similarity found for C/DAPI-banding patterns between species with the same chromosome numbers corresponds with the results obtained by RAPD-analysis, showing clusterization of 16-, 18- and 30-chromosome species into three separate groups. 5S rDNA and 26S rDNA were co-localized in NOR-chromosome 1 in the genomes of all species investigated. In 30-chromosome species, there were three separate 5S rDNA sites in chromosomes 3, 8 and 13. In 16-chromosome species, a separate 5S rDNA site was also located in chromosome 3, whereas in 18-chromosome species it was found in the long arm of NOR-chromosome 1. Thus, the difference in localization of rDNA sites in species with 2n = 16, 2n = 30 and 2n = 18 confirms taxonomists opinion, who attributed these species to different sects. Linum and Adenolinum, respectively. The obtained results suggest that species with 2n = 16, 2n = 18 and 2n = 30 originated from a 16-chromosome ancestor.

Kinetics of the CH2Cl + CH3 and CHCl2 + CH3 radical-radical reactions.

The CH2Cl + CH3 (1) and CHCl2 + CH3 (2) cross-radical reactions were studied by laser photolysis/photoionization mass spectroscopy. Overall rate constants were obtained in direct real-time experiments in the temperature region 301-800 K and bath gas (helium) density (6-12) x 10(16) atom cm(-3). The observed rate constant of reaction 1 can be represented by an Arrhenius expression k1 = 3.93 x 10(-11) exp(91 K/T) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1) (+/-25%) or as an average temperature-independent value of k1= (4.8 +/- 0.7) x 10(-11) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1). The rate constant of reaction 2 can be expressed as k2= 1.66 x 10(-11) exp(359 K/T) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1) (+/-25%). C2H4 and C2H3Cl were detected as the primary products of reactions 1 and 2, respectively. The experimental values of the rate constant are in reasonable agreement with the prediction based on the "geometric mean rule." A separate experimental attempt to determine the rate constants of the high-temperature CH2Cl + O2 (10) and CHCl2 + O2 (11) reaction resulted in an upper limit of 1.2 x 10(-16) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1) for k10 and k11 at 800 K.

Kinetics of the unimolecular decomposition of the 2-chloroallyl radical.

The thermal decomposition of the 2-chloroallyl radical, CH(2)CClCH(2) --> CH(2)CCH(2) + Cl (1), was studied using the laser photolysis/photoionization mass spectrometry technique. Rate constants were determined in time-resolved experiments as a function of temperature (720-840 K) and bath gas density ([He] = (3-12) x 10(16), [N(2)] = 6 x 10(16) molecule cm(-3)). C(3)H(4) was observed as a primary product of reaction 1. The rate constants of reaction 1 are in the falloff, close to the low-pressure limit, under the conditions of the experiments. The potential energy surface (PES) of reaction 1 was studied using a variety of quantum chemical methods. The results of the study indicate that the minimum energy path of the CH(2)CClCH(2) dissociation proceeds through a PES plateau corresponding to a weakly bound Cl-C(3)H(4) complex; a PES saddle point exists between the equilibrium CH(2)CClCH(2) structure and the Cl-C(3)H(4) complex. The results of quantum chemical calculations, the rate constant values obtained in the experimental study, and literature data on the reverse reaction of addition of Cl to allene were used to create a model of reactions 1 and -1. The experimental dependences of the rate constants on temperature and pressure were reproduced in RRKM/master equation calculations. The reaction model provides expressions for the temperature dependences of the high-pressure-limit and the low-pressure-limit rate constants and the falloff broadening factors (at T = 300-1600 K): k(infinity)(1) = 1.45 x 10(20)T(-1.75) exp(-19609 K/T) s(-1), k(infinity)(-)(1) = 8.94 x 10(-10)T(-0.40) exp(481 K/T) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), k(1)(0)(He) = 5.01 x 10(-32)T(-12.02) exp(-22788 K/T) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), k(1)(0)(N(2)) = 2.50 x 10(-32)T(-11.92) exp(-22756 K/T) cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1), F(cent)(He) = 0.46 exp(-T/1001 K) + 0.54 exp(-T/996 K) + exp(-4008 K/T), and F(cent)(N(2)) = 0.37 exp(-T/2017 K) + 0.63 exp(-T/142 K) + exp(-4812 K/T). The experimental data are not sufficient to specify all the parameters of the model; consequently, some of the model parameters were obtained from quantum chemical calculations and from analogy with other reactions of radical decomposition. Thus, the parametrization is most reliable under conditions close to those used in the experiments.

9-Aminoacridine: an efficient reagent to improve human and plant chromosome banding patterns and to standardize chromosome image analysis.

BACKGROUND: Successful automated chromosome analysis requires the development of new techniques to increase and standardize chromosome length and improve banding patterns. METHODS: Human and plant cells were pretreated with the DNA intercalator 9-aminoacridine (9-AMA), and chromosomes were stained with GTG and aceto-orcein banding techniques and investigated by an image analysis system. RESULTS: The human optimal chromosome spreads with the 850 G-band resolution level, suitable for image analysis, were obtained by 9-AMA pretreatment for 1 h at a final concentration of 0.5-1 microg/ml, as compared with 600-700 bands after ethidium bromide treatment and about 400 bands without pretreatment. The best results for plant chromosomes were obtained after pretreatment with 1-2 microg/ml of 9-AMA for 12-24 h. The chromosomes elongated approximately 1.5-fold, and the resolution of chromosome banding patterns increased, reaching approximately 140 bands per haploid set in the case of camomile. CONCLUSIONS: 9-AMA is an efficient reagent for the standardization and increasing the resolution of chromosome banding patterns in human and plant chromosomes. It is extremely important for chromosome investigation in small plants.