Modification of chitosan to improve its hypocholesterolemic capacity.
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Cholestyramine is the most widely used bile acid sequestrant in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. However, cholestyramine has unpleasant side effects as a consequence of its hydrophobic backbone. Therefore, high-capacity bile acid sequestering biopolymers with cationic chitosan derivatives were developed, because electrostatic interactions are important for binding with bile acid anions. Dialkylaminoalkylation and reductive amination of chitosan were done to add dialkylaminoalkyl and an additional free amino group at a hydroxyl site in the chitosan backbone respectively and the amino-derivatized chitosan derivatives were quaternized with methyl iodide to produce a cationic polyelectrolyte. The in vitro bile acid binding capacity of the chitosan derivatives in aqueous NaCl was measured by reversed-phase HPLC. The binding capacities of sodium glycocholate (a major bile acid) to chitosan, DEAE-chitosan, quaternized DEAE-chitosan, and cholestyramine were 1.42, 3.12, 4.06, and 2.78 mmol/g resin, respectively. With quaternized DEAE-chitosan, the bile acid binding capacity increased approximately 50% over that of cholestyramine. The bile acid binding capacity of dialkylaminoalkyl chitosan derivatives increased with the number of carbons in the alkyl groups, indicating that hydrophobic interaction is a secondary factor for the sequestration of bile acids. (+info)
Combined biochemical and electron microscopic analyses reveal the architecture of the mammalian U2 snRNP.
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The 17S U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP) represents the active form of U2 snRNP that binds to the pre-mRNA during spliceosome assembly. This particle forms by sequential interactions of splicing factors SF3b and SF3a with the 12S U2 snRNP. We have purified SF3b and the 15S U2 snRNP, an intermediate in the assembly pathway, from HeLa cell nuclear extracts and show that SF3b consists of four subunits of 49, 130, 145, and 155 kD. Biochemical analysis indicates that both SF3b and the 12S U2 snRNP are required for the incorporation of SF3a into the 17S U2 snRNP. Nuclease protection studies demonstrate interactions of SF3b with the 5' half of U2 small nuclear RNA, whereas SF3a associates with the 3' portion of the U2 snRNP and possibly also interacts with SF3b. Electron microscopy of the 15S U2 snRNP shows that it consists of two domains in which the characteristic features of isolated SF3b and the 12S U2 snRNP are conserved. Comparison to the two-domain structure of the 17S U2 snRNP corroborates the biochemical results in that binding of SF3a contributes to an increase in size of the 12S U2 domain and possibly induces a structural change in the SF3b domain. (+info)
Separation of nucleotide oligomers by unitary anion-exchange.
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This paper is the first report on the retention behavior of synthetic oligonucleotides and nucleotide oligomers on a continuous-bedmatrix, strong-anion-exchange column. The separation mechanism is predominantly an anion-exchange process, but hydrophobic interaction plays a role as well. The separation is based on the chain length of the oligonucleotide. Both the addition of organic mobile phase modifiers and changes in column temperature affect the retention of oligomers significantly. A volatile buffer system (e.g., triethylamine acetate) could be employed to purify oligonucleotides, and no desalting procedure would be required after the column separation step. The recoveries from the separation are 70% or higher. The maximum loading capacity of an analytical column (35 x 7-mm i.d.) was found to be more than 366 micrograms. (+info)
Quantitation of intracellular triphosphate of emtricitabine in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients.
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An analytical methodology combining solid-phase extraction (SPE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed to quantitate the intracellular active 5'-triphosphate (TP) of beta-L-2',3'-dideoxy-5-fluoro-3'-thiacytidine (emtricitabine) (FTC) in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The FTC nucleotides, including 5'-mono-, di-, and triphosphates, were successively resolved on an anion-exchange SPE cartridge by applying a gradient of potassium chloride. The FTC-TP was subsequently digested to release the parent nucleoside that was finally analyzed by HPLC with UV detection (HPLC-UV). Validation of the methodology was performed by using PBMCs from healthy donors exposed to an isotopic solution of [(3)H]FTC with known specific activity, leading to the formation of intracellular FTC-TP that was quantitated by an anion-exchange HPLC method with radioactive detection. These levels of FTC-TP served as reference values and were used to validate the data obtained by HPLC-UV. The assay had a limit of quantitation of 4. 0 pmol of FTC-TP (amount on column from approximately 10(7) cells). Intra-assay precision (coefficient of variation percentage of repeated measurement) and accuracy (percentage deviation of the nominal reference value), estimated by using quality control samples at 16.2, 60.7, and 121.5 pmol, ranged from 1.3 to 3.3% and -1.0 to 4. 8%, respectively. Interassay precision and accuracy varied from 3.0 to 10.2% and from 2.5 to 6.7%, respectively. This methodology was successfully applied to the determination of FTC-TP in PBMCs of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus after oral administration of various dosing regimens of FTC monotherapy. (+info)
The use of histological techniques for the demonstration of ion exchange resins.
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AIM: To establish the staining characteristics of certain ion exchange resins in histological material, with a view to enabling confident differential identification. METHODS: Various histological staining procedures were applied to selected pathological material and prepared agar blocks containing the cation exchange resin calcium polystyrene sulphonate and the anion exchange resin cholestyramine. RESULTS: Calcium polystyrene sulphonate uniquely stained strongly by a direct Schiff's reagent procedure without any preoxidation and by the Ziehl-Neelsen method. Cholestyramine was negative by the former method but stained strongly with a standard Congo red technique. CONCLUSIONS: These staining results are consistent with the known structure and properties of polystyrene sulphonate and cholestyramine resins. Polystyrene sulphonate resins have the virtually pathognomonic feature of direct Schiff positivity, while morphology, location, and strong non-birefringent Congo red positivity facilitate the identification of cholestyramine. It is possible that the intrinsic staining characteristics of cholestyramine may be lost once it has bound to its target. (+info)
An analytical system for rapid separation of tissue nucleotides at low pressures on conventional anion exchangers.
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An analytical anion-exchange procedure has been developed for the rapid separation of acid-soluble nucleotides (the so-called "free" or tissue nucleotides). It permits assay at low pressures (275-415 kPa; 40-60 psi) in less than 1 h on 10-cm columns of Aminex resins (conventional styrene-type anion exchangers) with alkaline citrate solutions as the eluent. Separation variables have been investigated, to determine optimum conditions for the routine analysis of samples containing tissue nucleotides. Also described here is a simple solvent-extraction procedure for removing HCIO4 or CCI3CO2H quantitatively from cell extracts that contain acid-soluble nucleotides: they are removed from aqueous acid solutions with a water-insoluble amine dissolved in a water-immiscible solvent. (+info)
Analysis of the physicochemical interactions between Clostridium difficile toxins and cholestyramine using liquid chromatography with post-column derivatization.
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A potential therapy for antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis is to bind Clostridium difficile toxins A and B using cholestyramine, a hydrophobic anion exchange medium. Frontal analysis in isotonic phosphate buffer was studied using post-column derivatization with o-phthalaldehyde, which gave a highly sensitive (> or =30 ng) flow-through analysis. Following load (1.5-3.0 microg toxin/3.6 mg), toxin A was bound at a slightly higher capacity than B, due to slower kinetics. A salt gradient eluted roughly 20% of bound toxin A with 0.6 M NaCl and toxin B with 1.1 M NaCl, hence toxin A showed weaker electrostatic affinity. The remainder of toxin A (65%) and some of toxin B (10% out of 50%) were eluted using a subsequent gradient to 60% acetonitrile in normal saline, which measured predominantly hydrophobic binding. Low and high affinity populations of both toxins were observed. Glycocholic acid or amino acids were competitive binders, although these components had little effect on the toxin A population bound primarily through ionic interactions. Competitive protein constituents in hamster cecal contents were also profiled. These results help to explain the variable clinical response in using cholestyramine to treat colitis. Using quaternary amine-polyhydroxymethacrylate (PHM) ion exchange chromatography, a trend for increased binding at higher pH was observed, especially for toxin A. Binding to strong cation exchange resins (sulfonate-PHM) was not observed. A range of reversed phase media retained both toxins, although recovery was very poor relative to protein standards. Size exclusion chromatography with light scattering detection showed that toxin B exists in different aggregation states, while toxin A remains monomeric. (+info)
Liquid-chromatographic analysis for neutral carbohydrates in serum glycoproteins.
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We describe a sensitive, reproducible procedure of analysis for the six neutral carbohydrates in glycoproteins, by high-resolution anion-exchange chromatography. As many as 16 neutral carbohydrates can be separated by elution with a concentration gradient of boric acid (pH 7, 67 to 672 mmol/liter). The carbohydrates are detected with a cerate oxidimetric detector system, which monitors the fluorescence of Ce3+ produced by the reaction of the eluted constituents with Ce4+. Sensitivity to 1 nmol of fucose is demonstrated. Analytical methods and results are presented for mannose, fucose, and galactose in serum glycoproteins for both normal women and those with metastatic breast cancer. We briefly discuss the possibility of separating and analyzing for the three neutral carbohydrates in serum glycoproteins in 4 h by isocratic (constant eluent concentration) elution from a chromatographic column. (+info)