Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Tetrahydrocurcumin Improves Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Myocardial Dysfunction By Inhibiting Oxidative Stress And Inflammation Via Jnk/Erk Signaling Pathway Regulation, Hanzhao Zhu, Liyun Zhang, Hao Jia, Lu Xu, Yu Cao, Mengen Zhai, Kaifeng Li, Lin Xia, Liqing Jiang, Xiang Li, Yenong Zhou, Jincheng Liu, Shiqiang Yu, Weixun Duan

Chemistry Undergraduate Publications

Background

Acute myocardial dysfunction in patients with sepsis is attributed to oxidative stress, inflammation, and cardiomyocyte loss; however, specific drugs for its prevention are still lacking. Tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) has been proven to contribute to the prevention of various cardiovascular diseases by decreasing oxidative stress and inflammation. This study was performed to investigate the functions and mechanism of action of THC in septic cardiomyopathy.

Methods

After the oral administration of THC (120 mg/kg) for 5 consecutive days, a mouse model of sepsis was established via intraperitoneal lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 10 mg/kg) injection. Following this, cardiac function was assessed, pathological section staining was …

Rigorous Computational And Experimental Investigations On Mdm2/Mdmx-Targeted Linear And Macrocyclic Peptides, David J. Diller, Jon Swanson, Alexander S. Bayden, Chris J. Brown, Dawn Thean, David P. Lane, Anthony W. Patridge, Tomi K. Sawyer, Joseph Audie

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

There is interest in peptide drug design, especially for targeting intracellular protein–protein interactions. Therefore, the experimental validation of a computational platform for enabling peptide drug design is of interest. Here, we describe our peptide drug design platform (CMDInventus) and demonstrate its use in modeling and predicting the structural and binding aspects of diverse peptides that interact with oncology targets MDM2/MDMX in comparison to both retrospective (pre-prediction) and prospective (post-prediction) data. In the retrospective study, CMDInventus modules (CMDpeptide, CMDboltzmann, CMDescore and CMDyscore) were used to accurately reproduce structural and binding data across multiple MDM2/MDMX data sets. In the prospective study, CMDescore, …

Electrochemical Amperometric Biosensor Applications Of Nanostructured Metal Oxides: A Review, Bünyamin Sahin, Tolga Kaya

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

Biological sensors have been extensively investigated during the last few decades. Among the diverse facets of biosensing research, nanostructured metal oxides (NMOs) offer a plethora of potential benefits. In this article, we provide a thorough review on the sensor applications of NMOs such as glucose, cholesterol, urea, and uric acid. A detailed analysis of the literature is presented with organized tables elaborating the fundamental characteristics of sensors including the sensitivity, limit of detection, detection range, and stability parameters such as duration, relative standard deviation, and retention. Further analysis was provided through an innovative way of displaying the sensitivity and linear …

Molecular Determinants Of Substrate Specificity In Human Insulin-Degrading Enzyme, Lazaros Stefanidis, Nicholas D. Fusco, Samantha E. Cooper, Jilian E. Smith-Carpenter, Benjamin J. Alper

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is a 110 kDa chambered zinc metalloendopeptidase that degrades insulin, amyloid beta, and other intermediate-sized aggregation prone peptides that adopt β-structures. Structural studies of IDE in complex with multiple physiological substrates have suggested a role for hydrophobic and aromatic residues of the IDE active site in substrate binding and catalysis. Here, we examine functional requirements for conserved hydrophobic and aromatic IDE active site residues that are positioned within 4.5 Angstroms of IDE bound insulin B chain and amyloid beta peptides in the reported crystal structures for the respective enzyme-substrate complexes. Charge, size, hydrophobicity, aromaticity, and other functional …

Functional Requirement For Human Pitrilysin Metallopeptidase 1 Arginine 183, Mutated In Amyloidogenic Neuropathy, Jilian E. Smith-Carpenter, Benjamin Alper

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Here we report the enzymologic characterization of recombinant human pitrilysin metallopeptidase 1 (Pitrm1) and derivative mutants including the arginine-to-glutamine substitution mutant Pitrm1 R183Q, which has been implicated in inherited amyloidogenic neuropathy. Recombinant Pitrm1 R183Q was readily expressed in and purified from E. coli, but was less active than the recombinant wild-type enzyme against recombinant amyloid beta peptide (Aβ 1-40). A novel fluorogenic substrate derived from the reported Aβ 1-40 core peptide cleavage sequence, Mca-KLVFFAEDK-(Dnp)-OH, was synthesized and applied to real-time kinetic study of Pitrm1 and derivative mutants including Pitrm1 R183Q. The Pitrm1 R183Q mutant exhibited significantly decreased rate of fluorogenic …

Application Of Factorial Design In The Analysis Of Factors Influencing Textile Dye Adsorption On Activated Carbon, Eid A. Alkhatib, Penny A. Snetsinger, Ahmad Alanazi, Sarah Aanonsen

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

In this study, the use of factorial design software is applied to evaluate efficiently factors influencing the adsorption capacity of activated carbon in treating textile dyes. Activated carbon is usually used to treat wastewater effluents from textile industries in order to remove textile dyes before discharge into the environment. Most treatment facilities, particularly large industrial or wastewater treatment facilities use continuous flow reactors or packed columns to treat the dye. Due to the limited residence time in these types of reactors, adsorption equilibrium is not necessarily reached, and the absorption rate becomes an important factor in this treatment process. Other …

A Pes Study Of Factors Influencing Metal Partitioning In Aquatic Systems: “Design Of Experiment As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, And Zn”, Eid A. Alkhatib, John Rapaglia, Leon Theim

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Mobility and bioavailability of heavy metals are related to their partitioning amongst suspended sediment and water. A Particle Entrainment Simulator (PES) is used to simulate sediment resuspention in natural surface water systems. The simulations were carried out under various conditions of water/suspended solids conditions. Five factors, each at various levels, are tested collectively: the pH of water at two levels (4 and 8), shear stress on bottom sediment at three levels (0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 N/m2 ) salinity of water at two levels (0.01 and 14.0 ppt), organic matter in sediment at three levels (0.50, 1.93, and 3.80%) and temperature …

Multi-Regression Prediction Of Metal Partition Coefficients Under Various Physical/Chemical Conditions Design Of Experiments As, Cr, Cu, Ni And Zn, Eid A. Alkhatib, Danielle Grunzke, Trey Chabot

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

The behavior of metals in surface water is complex and their partition coefficients can be impacted by many factors. Organic matter (OM) content in sediments, pH and salinity, are factors that may influence speciation and partitioning of metals. The difficulty in describing the impacts and relationships are that these processes are interconnected with no dominant associations among all. In this study, the partitioning of five metals (As, Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn) under different levels of salinity, pH, and OM content were investigated. A series of factorial design experiments are evaluated in which three levels of OM are tested each …

Prediction Of Metal Remobilization From Sediments Under Various Physical/ Chemical Conditions “Design Of Experiments Cd, Co And Pb”, Eid A. Alkhatib, Trey Chabot, Danielle Grunzke

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

The metal partition coefficient Kd (L/kg) is the ratio of sorbed metal concentration on the solid phase m (mg/kg) to the dissolved metal concentration at equilibrium. The behavior of metals in surface water is complex and their partition coefficients can be impacted by many factors. Organic matter (OM) content in sediments, pH and salinity, are factors that may influence speciation and partitioning of metals. In this study, the partitioning coefficient of three metals (Cd, Co and Pb) under different levels of salinity, pH, and OM content were examined. A series of factorial experiments were evaluated in which three levels of …

A New Synthesis Of Bis (4-Tert-Butylphenyl) Iodonium Hexafluoroantimonate; A Known Catalyst For Photopolymerization, Matthew C. Salvi

Chemistry Master’s Theses

This thesis describes a novel reaction protocol for the synthesis of bis (4-tert-butylphenyl) iodonium (BtPhI) hexafluoroantimonate (2) via the formation of diacetoxy (t-butylphenyl)-λ3-iodane (1). It is also important to provide a safe and robust reaction procedure for future scaled-up production.

Comprehensive Organic Synthesis Ii (Book Review), Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Jeffrey Glans' review focuses on the online version available through ScienceDirect.

Knochel, Paul and Gary A. Molander, eds. Comprehensive Organic Synthesis II. 2nd ed. Amsterdam; Waltham, MA: Elsevier, 2014. Web.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/referenceworks/9780080977430

ISBN: 9780080977430 (e-book)

Peptide Drug Discovery: Innovative Technologies And Transformational Medicines, David J. Diller, Mark Jarosinski, Tomi K. Sawyer, Joseph Audie

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Interest in peptide drug discovery is surging. In the past several years,numerous pharmaceutical and biotech companies have committed considerable resources to peptide-based drug discovery. In part,this is being fueled by an increasing recognition that peptide drugs combine many of the virtues of small molecules and proteins, while minimizing several of their drawbacks, and that peptides can potentially expand the druggable space to include intracellular, extracellular and membrane associated protein–protein interactions. Moreover, powerful new in vitro and in silico technologies and breakthroughs in our understanding of natural peptides have emerged that provide peptide chemists with the toolsand insights they need to …

Drug Screening Target For Alzheimer's Disease And Method Of Screening Potential Drugs, Joseph Audie, Sergei Y. Ponomarev

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Drug screening targets and method of screening for potential drugs for treatment or amelioration of Alzheimer's Disease are provided.

Optimization Of Microwave-Enhanced Williamson Ether Synthesis Of 1-Ethoxydodecane, Kevin Hess, Linda Farber

Chemistry Undergraduate Publications

1-ethoxydodecane is an asymmetrical ether used in production of sunscreen and moisturizing due to its nonpolar properties. One of the standard protocols for synthesizing both asymmetrical and symmetrical ethers is via the Williamson Ether Synthesis. The standard synthesis requires a 60-70 minute reflux time frame to allow for this reaction to run until completion; however, the ability to reduce this reaction time via microwave radiation has become increasingly prominent in organic synthesis. The conventional means of Williamson Ether Synthesis is also not ideal for optimal purity or speed, thus microwave synthesis of this compound was investigated. In order to obtain …

Synthesis And Polymerization Of (E,E)-[6.2]-(2,5)Furanophane-1,5-Diene, Neil D. Doppler, Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

The goal of this research is to polymerize (E,E)-[6.2]-(2,5)furanophane to give a linear polymer. It will be synthesized by a 1,8-Hofmann Elimination using trimethyl-[(E)-3-(5-methyl-2-furyl)allyl] ammonium iodide. This diene will then be polymerized. The resulting polymeric [3.2] furanophane will then be oxidized to form a polymeric macrocycle tetra ketone. This compound will be tested for cation complexation.

Scifinder (Review), Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Overview of SciFinder database, a Chemical Abstracts Service (www.cas.org), a division of the American Chemical Society.

Chemical Reactivity Worksheet, Noaa, Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Website overview by Jeffrey H. Glans.

NOAA. Office of Response and Restoration. "Chemical Reactivity Worksheet, NOAA." http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/crw

Synthesis, Structure And Attempted Polymerization Of A Diepoxide Macrocycle, Paul Yarincik, Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

A novel diepoxide containing paracyclophane was synthesized by peracid oxidation of a known paracyclophane diene. The resulting diepoxide was characterized. It was investigated as a potential monomer for a cyclophane containing polyether by cationic ring opening polymerization. None of the standard catalyst systems for such a polymerization were successful in producing polymer.

Organic Synthesis Based On Name Reaction: A Practical Guide To Over 700 Transformations (Book Review), Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Book review by Jeffrey Glans:

Hassner, Alfred and I. Namboothiri. Organic Synthesis Based on Name Reaction: A Practical Guide to Over 700 Transformations. 3rd ed. Amsterdam; Boston: Elsevier, 2012.

ISBN 9780080966304

Dalton, David R.: Foundations Of Organic Chemistry: Unity And Diversity Of Structures, Pathways & Reactions (Book Review), Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Book review by Jeffrey Glans.

Dalton, David R. Foundations of Organic Chemistry: Unity and Diversity of Structures, Pathways & Reactions. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011.

ISBN 9780470479087

Introduction To Molecular Motion In Polymers (Book Review), Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

A book review by Jeffrey H. Glans.

Pethrick, Richard A., T. Amornsakchai, and A. M. North. Introduction to Molecular Motion in Polymers. Dunbeath, Scotland: Whittles Pub.; Boca Raton, FL: Distributed in North America by CRC, 2011.

ISBN 9781849950084

Joule, John A. Heterocyclic Chemistry (Book Review), Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Book review by Jeffrey H. Glans.

Joule, John A. and Keith Mills. "A Heterocyclic Chemistry. 5th ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.

ISBN 9781405193658 (hardcover); 9781405133005 (pbk.)

Molecular Orbitals And Organic Chemical Reactions (Book Review), Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Book review by Jeffrey Glans.

Fleming, Ian. Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, c2009.

ISBN: 9780470746608; 9780470746592 (pbk.)

Compendium Of Polymer Terminology And Nomenclature: Iupac Recommendations, 2008 (Book Review), Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Book review by Jeffrey Glans.

Polymer Division, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Compendium of Polymer Terminology and Nomenclature: IUPAC Recommendations, 2008. Royal Society of Chemistry, 2009.

Continued Development Of An Empirical Function For Predicting And Rationalizing Protein–Protein Binding Affinities, Joseph Audie

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Here we summarize recent work on the continued development of our fast and simple empirical equation for predicting and structurally rationalizing protein–protein and protein–peptide binding affinities. Our empirical expression consists of six regression-weighted physical descriptors and derives from two key simplifying assumptions: (1) the assumption of rigid-body association and (2) the assumption that all contributions not explicitly considered in the equation make a net contribution to binding of ≈0 kcal. Within the strict framework of rigid-body association, we tested relative binding affinity predictions using our empirical equation against the corresponding experimental binding free energy data for 197 interface alanine mutants. …

Development And Validation Of An Empirical Free Energy Function For Calculating Protein–Protein Binding Free Energy Surfaces, Joseph Audie

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

In a previous paper, we described a novel empirical free energy function that was used to accurately predict experimental binding free energies for a diverse test set of 31 protein–protein complexes to within ≈1.0 kcal. Here, we extend that work and show that an updated version of the function can be used to (1) accurately predict native binding free energies and (2) rank crystallographic, native-like and non-native binding modes in a physically realistic manner. The modified function includes terms designed to capture some of the unfavorable interactions that characterize non-native interfaces. The function was used to calculate one-dimensional binding free …

Arrow Pushing In Organic Chemistry: An Easy Approach To Understanding Reaction Mechanisms (Book Review), Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

A book review by Jeffrey Glans.

Levy, Daniel E. Arrow Pushing in Organic Chemistry: An Easy Approach to Understanding Reaction Mechanisms. New York: Wiley, 2008.

ISBN 9780470171103

Wet Weather Impact On Trihalomethane Formation Potential In Tributaries To Drinking Water Reservoirs, Eid A. Alkhatib, R. Peters

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

During rain storm events, land surface runoff and resuspension of bottom sediments cause an increase in Trihalomethane (THM) precursors in rivers. These precursors, when chlorinated at water treatment facilities will lead to the formation of THMs and hence impact drinking water resources. In order to evaluate the wet weather impact on the potential formation of THMs, river samples were collected before, during and after three rain storms ranging from 15.2 to 24.9 mm precipitation. The samples were tested for THM formation potential and other indicators including UV254 absorbance, turbidity and volatile suspended solid (VSS). Average levels of THMs increased from …

Simulation Of Arsenic Partitioning In Tributaries To Drinking Water Reservoirs, Eid A. Alkhatib

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Arsenic released by bottom sediments was determined by experiments in which the sediments were artificially re-suspended using a particle entrapment simulator (PES) to simulate river conditions. Sediment cores were collected from various tributaries to drinking water reservoirs in Connecticut spiked with arsenic, and run in the PES at simulated bed-flow shear stresses from 0.0 to 0.6 N/m2. Under equilibrium conditions, the dissolved fraction of arsenic was found to range from 8.3 to 22.1 ug/1, which in most cases exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 10 ug/1. Experimental results from these simulations have shown that bed-flow shear stress causes an …

A Novel Empirical Free Energy Function That Explains And Predicts Protein–Protein Binding Affinities, Joseph Audie, Suzanne Scarlata

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

A free energy function can be defined as a mathematical expression that relates macroscopic free energy changes to microscopic or molecular properties. Free energy functions can be used to explain and predict the affinity of a ligand for a protein and to score and discriminate between native and non-native binding modes. However, there is a natural tension between developing a function fast enough to solve the scoring problem but rigorous enough to explain and predict binding affinities. Here, we present a novel, physics-based free energy function that is computationally inexpensive, yet explanatory and predictive. The function results from a derivation …