Detection of a bibenzyl core scaffold in 28 common mangrove and associate species of the Indian Sundarbans: potential signature molecule for mangrove salinity stress acclimation.

Bibenzyl derivatives comprising two benzene rings are secondary plant metabolites with significant therapeutic value. To date, bibenzyl derivatives in the Plant kingdom have been primarily identified in bryophytes, orchids, and Cannabis sativa. The metabolic cost investment by plant species for the synthesis of these bioactive secondary metabolites is rationalized as a mechanism of plant defense in response to oxidative stress induced by biotic/abiotic factors. Bibenzyl derivatives are synthesized from core phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway offshoots in plant species. Mangrove and mangrove associate species thrive under extreme ecological niches such as a hypersaline intertidal environment through unique adaptive and acclimative characteristics, primarily involving osmotic adjustments followed by oxidative stress abatement. Several primary/secondary bioactive metabolites in mangrove species have been identified as components of salinity stress adaptation/acclimation/mitigation; however, the existence of a bibenzyl scaffold in mangrove species functioning in this context remains unknown. We here report the confirmed detection of a core bibenzyl scaffold from extensive gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection analyses of 28 mangrove and mangrove associate species from the Indian Sundarbans. We speculate that the common presence of this bibenzyl core molecule in 28 mangrove and associate species may be related to its synthesis via branches of the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway induced under high salinity, which functions to detoxify reactive oxygen species as a protection for the maintenance of plant metabolic processes. This finding reveals a new eco-physiological functional role of bibenzyls in unique mangrove ecosystem.

Host assisted molecular recognition by human serum albumin: Study of molecular recognition controlled protein/drug mimic binding in a microfluidic channel.

Human serum albumin (HSA) plays a pivotal role in drug release from its delivery vehicles such as cyclodextrins (CDs) by binding to the drugs. Here molecular recognition and binding of a drug mimic (CD1) to HSA have been explored in a microfluidic channel when CD1 is encapsulated in ß-cyclodextrin (ßCD) and heptakis(2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-ß-cyclodextrin (TRIMEB), respectively, to investigate whether change of the host vehicle modulate the rate of drug binding to the serum protein. Molecular recognition of ßCD encapsulated CD1 by HSA occurs by the conformational selection fit mechanism leading to rapid binding of CD1 to HSA (k1 ~ 700 s-11) when the ßCD/CD1 complex interacts with HSA. In contrary, HSA recognizes CD1 encapsulated in TRIMEB by an induced fit mechanism leading to a significantly slower binding rate (k1 ~ 20.8 s-1) of the drug mimic to the protein. Thus molecular recognition controls the rate of HSA binding by CD1 which in turn modulates the rate of delivery of the drug mimic from its macrocyclic hosts. The remarkable change in the molecular recognition pathway of CD1 by HSA, upon change of the host from ßCD to TRIMEB, originates from significantly different conformational flexibility of the host/drug mimic complexes.

Deciphering the response of asymmetry in the hydrophobic chains of novel cationic lipids towards biological function.

Cationic liposomes, a type of non-viral vectors, often play the important biological function of delivering nucleic acids during cell transfection. Variations in the molecular architecture of di-alkyl dihydroxy ethyl ammonium chloride-based cationic lipids involving hydrophobic tails have been found to influence their biological function in terms of cell transfection efficiency. For example, liposomes based on a cationic lipid (Lip1814) with asymmetry in the hydrophobic chains were found to display higher transfection efficacy in cultured mammalian cell lines than those comprising of symmetric Lip1818 or asymmetric Lip1810. The effect of variations in the molecular architecture of the cationic lipids on the biological activity of liposomes has been explored here via the photophysical studies of 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulphonate (ANS) and Nile Red (NR) in three cationic liposomes, namely Lip1810, Lip1814 and Lip1818. Time-resolved fluorescence of ANS revealed reduced hydration at the lipid-water interface and enhanced relaxation dynamics of surface water (lipid headgroup bound water molecules) in Lip1810- and Lip1814-based liposomes in the presence of cholesterol. As the probe ANS failed to be incorporated into the lipid-water interface of Lip1818 due to the significantly high rigidity of these liposomes, no information concerning the extent of hydration of the lipid-water interface or the interfacial water dynamics could be obtained. Time-resolved polarization-gated anisotropy measurements of NR in the presence of cholesterol revealed the rigidity of the cationic liposomes to be increasing in the order of Lip1810 < Lip1814 < Lip1818. In the presence of cholesterol, moderately higher rigidity, reduced membrane hydration and enhanced relaxation dynamics of the interfacial water molecules gave rise to the superior cell transfection efficacy of Lip1814-based cationic liposomes than those of the highly flexible Lip1810 or the highly rigid Lip1818.

A sensitive fluorescent probe for the polar solvation dynamics at protein-surfactant interfaces.

Relaxation dynamics at the surface of biologically important macromolecules is important taking into account their functionality in molecular recognition. Over the years it has been shown that the solvation dynamics of a fluorescent probe at biomolecular surfaces and interfaces account for the relaxation dynamics of polar residues and associated water molecules. However, the sensitivity of the dynamics depends largely on the localization and exposure of the probe. For noncovalent fluorescent probes, localization at the region of interest in addition to surface exposure is an added challenge compared to the covalently attached probes at the biological interfaces. Here we have used a synthesized donor-acceptor type dipolar fluorophore, 6-acetyl-(2-((4-hydroxycyclohexyl)(methyl)amino)naphthalene) (ACYMAN), for the investigation of the solvation dynamics of a model protein-surfactant interface. A significant structural rearrangement of a model histone protein (H1) upon interaction with anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) as revealed from the circular dichroism (CD) studies is nicely corroborated in the solvation dynamics of the probe at the interface. The polarization gated fluorescence anisotropy of the probe compared to that at the SDS micellar surface clearly reveals the localization of the probe at the protein-surfactant interface. We have also compared the sensitivity of ACYMAN with other solvation probes including coumarin 500 (C500) and 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(p-dimethylamino-styryl)-4H-pyran (DCM). In comparison to ACYMAN, both C500 and DCM fail to probe the interfacial solvation dynamics of a model protein-surfactant interface. While C500 is found to be delocalized from the protein-surfactant interface, DCM becomes destabilized upon the formation of the interface (protein-surfactant complex). The timescales obtained from this novel probe have also been compared with other femtosecond resolved studies and molecular dynamics simulations.

Fluorescent pigment and phenol glucosides from the heartwood of Pterocarpus marsupium.

The fluorescence shown by extracts of the heartwood of Pterocarpus marsupium is attributed to salts of the new compound 1, whose structure was elaborated using detailed spectroscopic/spectrometric studies. The plant material also contains the nonfluorescent compounds 2 and 3. The absolute configuration of 1 was determined by experimental and theoretically calculated electronic CD spectra, while that of 3 was deduced from ECD comparison with reported results in the α-hydroxydihydrochalcone series.

Synthesis of ether-linked oligoribo- and xylonucleosides from 3,5'-ether-linked pseudosaccharides.

First examples of di- and trinucleosides with ribose and xylose stereochemistry having internucleoside ether linkage were synthesized from 3,5'-ether-linked pseudosaccharides. The synthetic protocol involved removal of 1,2-isopropylidene protecting groups from the pseudosaccharides followed by acetylation and a subsequent Vorbruggen transglycosylation with uracil and N-benzoylaminopurine. The synthetic strategy is potentially important for the development of RNA analogues with internucleoside ether linkage.

Bis- and trisuracil nucleosides with nucleobases anchored to 11-, 12-, and 16-membered macrocyclic scaffolds: synthesis and aggregation study.

Bis- and trisuracil nucleosides, in which the nucleobases are anchored to isoxazoline ring-fused 11-, 12-, and 16-membered macrooxacycles, were synthesized by nucleosidation of 1,2-isopropylidenefuranose ring-fused macrocycles. The nucleosides exhibited spherical and fiber-like morphologies in water. In one case, the morphology was significantly altered by complexation with an adenine nucleoside via complementary base pairing.

Synthesis and intramolecular nitrile oxide cycloaddition of 3,5'-ether-linked pseudooligosaccharide derivatives: an approach to chiral macrooxacycles.

3,5'-ether-linked pseudooligopentose derivatives were synthesized for the first time from readily available carbohydrate precursors. The 1,2-isopropylidene-protected ether-linked oligopentoses are potentially important as precursors of novel RNA analogues. Intramolecular cycloaddition of the nitrile oxides prepared from these derivatives led to the diastereoselective formation of chiral isoxazolines fused to 10-16-membered oxacycles. The stereochemistry of some of these isoxazolines was established by X-ray diffraction and NOESY analysis.

Expeditious synthesis of enantiopure symmetrical macroheterocycles by ring-closing metathesis of ether and tether-linked 1,2-O-isopropylidenefuranosides.

Bis-olefinic symmetrical carbohydrate derivatives were prepared by joining two 1,2-O-isopropylidenefuranose units either through an ether linkage or by a tether of variable size. The ring-closing metathesis (RCM) of these substrates using Grubbs' first-generation catalyst led to the synthesis of enantiopure symmetrical macroheterocycles containing nine- to twenty-five-membered rings fused to the 1,2-O-isopropylidenefuranose ring.