Erythromycin is a macrolide antibiotic with a spectrum similar to penicillin and is used mainly in the treatment of infections caused by gram-positive organisms. Since its discovery in 1952, erythromycin has achieved wide-spread clinical use. Susceptibility of erythromycin base to inactivation by acid results in decreased availability following exposure to acidic gastric fluids. Formulation of acid resistant dosage forms and the preparation of acid stable chemical derivatives have been attempted to improve absorption and subsequent clinical efficacy . Two of the most commonly used erythromycin derivatives are the stearic acid salt (erythromycin stearate) and the lauryl sulphate salt of the propionyl ester (erythromycin estolate). Although it has been known for many years that erythromycin is susceptible to acid degradation, very few reports on the stability of erythromycin in aqueous solutions appear in the literature. In this study, a high-performance liquid chromatographic system using electrochemical detection was employed for a kinetic study of erythromycin degradation. The effect of varying acid pH on the degradation rate of both erythromycin base and erythromycin stearate, and the effect on the hydrolysis rate of erythromycin estolate is presented. In addition, the effect of temperature on erythromycin degradation was also investigated. Until recently, the majority of pharmacokinetic and bioavailability studies have utilized relatively non-specific microbiological assay procedures. However, in this study a solid phase extraction, followed by the use of a high-performance liquid chromatographic system using electrochemical coulometric detection was employed for the determination of erythromycin in biological fluids. Human volunteers each received enteric coated erythromycin base pellets in capsule dosage form and also film coated erythromycin stearate tablets on separate occasions. Results from the clinical trials revealed the enteric coated erythromycin base pellets had a greater bioavailability than the film coated erythromycin stearate tablets. Computer fitting of data revealed no intra-volunteer variability in elimination rate constants, suggesting differences in serum levels following administration of both dosage forms are due to variation in absorption. Results from the clinical trials were also compared with those obtained from a further trial, during which the same volunteers received erythromycin estolate

Nitrile biocatalysts are of use in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries for the synthesis of carboxyamides and carboxylic acids. In particular, the application of biocatalysts in the synthesis of single enantiomer compounds is of increasing interest, but requires novel substrate specific highly stereoselective biocatalysts. Addition to the limited toolbox of known nitrile biocatalysts requires definitive characterisation of the biocatalysts through accurate determination of the substrate profiles and quantification of activity. The accurate quantification of stereoisomers chiral mixtures to determine biocatalyst stereoselectivity remains a significant challenge due to the difficulty in separating stereoisomers by physical methods. The known nitrile metabolising organism, Rhodococcus rhodochrous ATCC BAA-870, was grown in a defined medium and harvested, providing whole cell biocatalyst. Additional biomass was disrupted to provide a cell free enzyme extract, which was put through an enzyme purification protocol to provide a solution with specific activity of 351 U.mg⁻¹. A portion of the enzyme was self immobilised using the SphereZyme™ technique. The nitrile hydratase SphereZymes™ (1.2 U.mg⁻¹ initial activity) that were prepared had pH and temperature optima of 6 and 30°C respectively, and could be recovered by repeated washing. The particles retained activity in the presence of the organic solvents isooctane and n-hexadecane saturated with 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.5). An initial analytical system was devised for quantification of the nitrile hydratase activity using the non-chiral substrate benzonitrile. An improved reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography method was developed to separate and quantify benzamide, benzoic acid and benzonitrile. The mobile phase consisting of 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid in H₂O and acetonitrile (70:30, %v/v), at a flow rate of 0.5 ml.ml⁻¹, 25°C, resolved all three analytes in 3.5 minutes on a Waters X-Terra MS C18 3.5μm column. UV detection was carried out at 210 nm. Analytical methods to determine activity and enantioselectivity of the whole cell biocatalyst were subsequently developed for both β-amino nitriles and β-hydroxy nitrile substrates and hydrolysis products.

The aims of this thesis were two-fold: A) To use high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) templated materials to produce a chromatographic stationary phase for the size separation of engendered nanoparticles (NPs). B) To produce well characterised lanthanide doped polymer NPs with a potential use as analytical standards. Initially, silica materials were prepared from oil-in-water HIPEs by a two stage acid/base catalysed sol gel process. As well as presenting the expected macroporosity typical of HIPE templated materials, it was also found that micro- and meso-porosity could be influenced by surfactant choice and reaction with iron (III) chloride or copper (I) chloride which had been included in the HIPE. However, the resulting silica materials were deemed inappropriate for the desired chromatography. Monolithic columns were prepared from HIPE templated polymers (polyHIPEs) and incorporated into a HPLC system. Poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) and poly(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) polyHIPE columns were able to separate sub-micron polystyrene latexes, detected by UV absorption, and dysprosium doped polystyrene latex particles and gold nanoparticles detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).Dysprosium, gadolinium and neodymium doped polystyrene NPs were prepared by micro-emulsion polymerisation. Particle size was controlled (over a 40 – 160 nm range) by tailoring of surfactant and initiator concentrations. Particles were characterised by dynamic light scattering, differential centrifugal sedimentation, transition electron microscopy and hydrodynamic chromatography (HDC)-ICP-MS. Also, particle surface change, lanthanide content and solids content were analysed. The latter two appear related to particle size. As far as the author is aware there are no cases of the use of polyHIPE columns size separation in the literature. Nor are there any cases of encapsulation of metals within polymer nanoparticles by micro-emulsion polymerisation reported.

See Abstract on Page 2 / Dissertation (MSc. (Chemistry))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Chemistry / unrestricted

Essential oils are amongst the most complex samples an analyst can face in terms of the number of compounds involved. In many cases, minor components are of interest as they can impart a distinctive fragrance character to the oil. Because of the closely related structures and molecular weights among terpenes, positive identification of individual compounds is very difficult with a single chromatographic technique. Further, most of the analytical information is lost when a single technique is used because of the limited peak capacity and the resulting peak overlap. For many years, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been the benchmark technique for qualitative and quantitative analysis of essential oils. Retention indices and mass spectra have to be used in combination for confirmation of the identity of components in an essential oil. Other multidimensional or hyphenated techniques also offer advantages that aid in the identification of essential oil components. This thesis demonstrates the application of a comprehensively coupled supercritical fluid and fast temperature programmed gas chromatograph (SFCxGC) to the analysis of essential oils. An SFCxGC instrument was used to analyse the essential oils of Cymbopogon (lemongrass), Artemisia afra (wilde als), Tagetes minuta (kakiebos) and Pelargonium (geranium) species. The unique application of a porous layer open-tubular (PLOT) column, used in conjunction with supercritical carbon dioxide is demonstrated to effect group separation of polar, oxygenated compounds. This separation and elution of very polar compounds from a silica gel column is believed to occur due to the reduced phase ratio (ƒÒ) of the system obtained by increasing the volume available to the mobile phase compared to that of a packed column. This separation obtained in the SFC is used to separate essential oils into different chemical classes such as non-polars, ethers, alcohols. Separated chemical classes are re-injected on-line by use of a modulator into a fast, second dimension, temperature programmed GC to effect separation of individual compounds based on their volatility. The entire sample is analysed by both the SFC and GC in such a way that the resolution obtained in the first dimension is conserved by the GC analyses. By using a range of standards, some of the peaks in these oils could be assigned. The identification of compounds was greatly aided by the combination of the two separation dimensions. The comprehensive two-dimensional technique arranges component peaks in a plane from which chemical class and volatility information of each component is readily obtained. The elution pattern within the two-dimensional chromatograms may also be used for direct comparison of oils without identification of the components in the essential oils. / Dissertation (MSc (Chemistry))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Chemistry / unrestricted

An atmospheric pressure radio frequency capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) has been developed and characterized for applications in atomic emission spectrometry (AES), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and gas chromatography (GC). The CCP torch was initially designed as an atom reservoir for carrying out elemental analysis using atomic absorption. Functionally, the device consists of two parts, the CCP discharge tube and the tantalum strip electrothermal vaporization sample introduction system. The torch design provides for very effective energy transfer from the power supply to the plasma by capacitive coupling. Therefore, the plasma can be generated at atmospheric pressure with a flexible geometry. The plasma can be operated at very low rf input powers (30-600 W) enabling optimal conditions for atom resonance line absorption measurements. Absorption by the analyte takes place within the plasma discharge which is characterized by a long path length (20 cm) and low support gas flow rate (0.2 L/Min). Both of these characteristics ensure a relatively long residence time. The device exhibits linear calibration plots and provides sensitivities in the range of 3.5-40 pg. A preliminary measurement gave a Fe I excitation temperature of approximately 4000 K for the discharge. At this temperature, potential chemical interferences are likely to be minimal. Chemical interferences for Fe, Al, As, Ca, Co, Cd, Li, Mo and Sr were negligible in the determination of silver. Chloride interference, which is prevalent in GF-AAS, was not found. The amount of Ag found in a SMR#1643b (NIST) water sample was 9.5 ± 0.5 ng/g which fell in the certified range of 9.8 ± 0.8 ng/g. Spikes of 30 ng/g and 60 ng/g of silver were added to the SRM and recoveries were found to be in a range from 105 % to 96.2 %. The RSD obtained for 7 replicates of 270 pg silver was 4.6 %. The results for the CCP AES are even more promising. The interferences of thirteen elements are negligible in the determination of silver. The chloride interference was not found. The detection limits for Ag, Cd, Li, Sb and B are 0.7, 0.7, 2, 80 and 400 pg respectively. The amount of silver found in a SRM#1643b (NIST) water sample was 9.3 ± 0.5 ng/g which also fell in the certified range of 9.8 ±0.8 ng/g. Spikes of 30 ng/g and 60 ng/g of silver were added into the SRM#1643b (NIST) samples; the recoveries were found to range from 97 % to 104 %. The RSD obtained for 7 analyses of 270 pg silver were 1.5 % for CCP-AES. It was also found that the signal to noise ratios (S/N) are higher in the AES mode than those in the AAS mode in the same CCP atomizer. In order to exploit advantages inherent in both GF-AAS and I CP-AES, an atmospheric pressure capacitively coupled plasma sustained inside a graphite furnace was developed. This source combines the high efficiency of atomization in furnaces and the high efficiency of the excitation in atmospheric pressure plasmas. In general, plasma sources are able to effectively excite high-lying excited states for most metals and non-metals and can also ionize vaporized elements. Therefore the possibility exists of using non-resonance lines to avoid the effects of self-absorption at high analyte concentrations. Ion lines may also be used in cases where they provide better sensitivity or freedom from spectral interferences. This source also offers the ability to independently optimize vaporization and excitation. However, the most important aspect of this new source is that it can be used for simultaneous, multielement determinations of small sized samples in a graphite furnace atomizer, a design which has been proven to be effective over many years of use. Preliminary quantitative characteristics of this new atmospheric pressure plasma emission source have been studied. The detection limit for Ag of 0.3 pg is lower than the value of 0.4 pg reported for GF-AAS. Variants of the CCP, including a gas chromatography (GC) detector, combinations of laser ablation - CCP, rf sputtering - CCP direct solid analysis, and its application as an intense spectral lamp have been developed and are reported in this dissertation. / Science, Faculty of / Chemistry, Department of / Graduate

Conversion of 1-Methylpentacyclo[5.4.0.0²⋅⁶.0³⋅¹⁰.0⁵⋅⁹]undecane- 8,11-dione into the corresponding mono(ethylene ketal) followed by Wolff-Kishner reduction resulted in a mixture of two isomers (i.e., 1- and 7-methyl-8-[2',-(1',3',dioxolano)]pentacyclo[5.4.0.0²⋅⁶.0³⋅¹⁰.0⁵⋅⁹] undecane. Hydrolysis of each isomer in turn resulted in 1- and 7- methyl pentacyclo[5.4.0.0²⋅⁶.0³⋅¹⁰.0⁵⋅⁹ ]undecan-8-ones (i.e.,"methylated PCU-8-ones"), respectively. "Titanium-promoted reductive dimerization of each of the methylated pentacycloundecane (PCU)-8-ones afforded mixtures of "methylated PCU alkene dimers". Individual isomers have been isolated from these mixtures via column chromatography by using silver nitrate impregnated silica gel as adsorbent followed by fractional recrystallizations of individual chromatography fractions. Structures of three isomerically pure methylated PCU alkene dimers (C₂₄H₂₈) have been established unequivocally by application of single crystal X-ray crystallographic methods.

The experiment successfully established the mathematical correlations between the logarithm of retention time of illegal drugs with GC system and the solute descriptor L from the Abraham model. the experiment used the method of Gas Chromatography to analyze the samples of illegal drugs and obtain the retention time of each one. Using the Abraham model to calculate and analyze the sorption coefficient of illegal drugs is an effective way to estimate the drugs. Comparison of the experimental data and calculated data shows that the Abraham linear free energy relationship (LFER) model predicts retention behavior reasonably well for most compounds. It can calculate the solute descriptors of illegal drugs from the retention time of GC system. However, the illegal drugs chosen for this experiment were not all ideal for GC analysis. HPLC is the optimal instrument and will be used for future work. HPLC analysis of the illegal drug compounds will allow for the determination of all the solute descriptors allowing one to predict the illegal drugs behavior in various Abraham biological and medical equations. the results can be applied to predict the properties in biological and medical research which the data is difficult to measure. the Abraham model will predict more accurate results by increasing the samples with effective functional groups.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Retinoblastoma Binding Protein 6 (RBBP6) is a 200 kDa RING finger-containing protein that plays a role in 3'-end poly-adenylation of mRNA transcripts as well as acting as an E3 ubiquitin ligase against a number of proteins involved in tumourigenesis, including p53. Since the human protein is too large and poorly structured for heterologous expression in bacteria, it would be advantageous to identify smaller fragments suitable for expression in bacteria. Many E3 ubiquitin ligases form homo-dimers and dimerisation is important for their activity; structural studies of the isolated RING finger of RBBP6 showed that it forms a weak homo-dimer. This poses the question of whether the complete RBBP6 protein forms homo-dimers in vivo, and, if so, whether a fragment of RBBP6 containing the RING finger could be identified which would be suitable for structural as well as functional studies. Such a construct would allow detailed investigation of the homo-dimeric state of the fragment, the relationship between dimerisation and ubiquitination activity, and the role of domains such as the DWNN domain and zinc finger in ubiquitination. A fragment consisting of the first 335 residues of RBBP6, dubbed R3 because it contained the first three domains of the protein, was expressed, along with three variants expressing mutations known to disrupt the dimerisation of the isolated RING finger. Size exclusion chromatography showed that R3 forms a strong homo-dimer that was not disrupted by the mutations, suggesting that additional parts of R3 outside of the isolated RING finger form part of the interface. To identify whether this included the DWNN domain or the zinc finger, a shorter fragment dubbed R2, excluding the N-terminal DWNN domain, was cloned and expressed. This was also found to form a strong homo-dimer, suggesting that the DWNN domain may not form an essential part of the dimer interface. Availability of the RING finger samples and monomerising mutations allowed investigation of whether the RING finger from RBBP6 was able to auto-ubiquitinate itself. Using a fully in vitro ubiquitination assay supplemented with intact proteasomes purified from human cell lysates, we found that wild type RING auto-ubiquitinates itself very efficiently, catalysing its own destruction in the proteasome. This provides an answer to the question of why RBBP6 is so difficult to detect in mammalian cells. Surprisingly, monomeric mutant RING fingers were also able to auto-ubiquitinate and catalyse their own destruction, although perhaps not as efficiently as wild type. This result would appear to rule out the hypothesis that dimerisation of RBBP6 is required for ubiquitination activity. Finally, samples of the RING finger from human MDM2 were expressed in bacteria and used to investigate whether the RING fingers of RBBP6 and MDM2 interact directly with each other. If so, this may provide a mechanism whereby RBBP6 and MDM2 cooperate in ubiquitination of p53. The results of a GST pull down assay using GST-MDM2-RING as ''bait'' and RBBP6-RING as ''prey'' provides evidence that such an interaction between the RING does exist. This work lays the foundation for future structural studies of the RING-RING hetero-dimer using protein Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

Orientador: Sonia Maria Alves Bueno / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T12:23:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carmignotto_GabrielaPannunzio_M.pdf: 6143089 bytes, checksum: aa61b4762764a38220fc51226e410a80 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: Os fragmentos Fab de imunoglobulina G são utilizados principalmente em testes diagnósticos e terapias. Por apresentarem tamanho reduzido, os fragmentos Fab possuem maior facilidade de penetração em tecidos e maior velocidade de circulação no plasma quando comparados à IgG intacta. A purificação dos fragmentos Fab é realizada geralmente por cromatografia de afinidade utilizando os ligantes bioespecíficos proteína A, proteína G e proteína L. Entretanto, esses ligantes apresentam algumas desvantagens, entre elas seu elevado custo e a necessidade de eluição em condições drásticas. Como alternativa, muitos estudos têm sido realizados empregando ligantes pseudobioespecíficos e de interação mista visando o desenvolvimento de novas estratégias que proporcionem a purificação dos fragmentos Fab. Neste contexto, este trabalho tem por objetivo avaliar a seletividade das poliaminas ?-aminohexil e poli(etilenoimina) imobilizadas em gel de agarose na separação de fragmentos Fab humano a partir de uma solução de IgG humana clivada enzimaticamente, empregando diferentes sistemas tamponantes. A recuperação seletiva dos fragmentos Fab foi avaliada por eletroforese SDS-PAGE, Western blot e imunodifusão radial. Os resultados indicaram que nas cromatografias realizadas em gel ?-aminohexil-agarose em Tris-HCl a pH 8,0, os fragmentos Fab foram recuperados nas frações não retidas, com valores calculados de pureza de 97% e recuperação de 100%. Nas cromatografias realizadas em gel PEI-agarose empregando o tampão Tris-HCl nos valores de pH de 7,5 e 8,0, a pureza obtida foi de 96% e a recuperação foi de 94% e 93%, respectivamente. As curvas de ruptura para os adsorventes foram determinadas e os resultados obtidos indicaram melhor recuperação do fragmento Fab com alta pureza no flowthrough para o ligante ?-aminohexil (2,7 mg) quando comparado ao ligante PEI (0,8 mg). A isoterma de adsorção de fragmentos Fc para o adsorvente ?-aminohexil-agarose foi determinada e os parâmetros capacidade de adsorção de 44,32 mg.mL-1 de gel e constante de dissociação de 1,11.10-5 mol.L-1 foram obtidos por ajuste destes parâmetros segundo o modelo de Langmuir-Freundlich. O valor de n obtido foi igual a 1,68, indicando cooperatividade positiva na adsorção dos fragmentos Fc e IgG não clivada. Os resultados mostraram que as poliaminas ?-aminohexil e PEI apresentaram potencial como ligantes para a purificação de fragmentos Fab / Abstract: Fab fragments from immunoglobulin G are considered an important tool for the therapy and diagnose of diseases. Their reduced molecular size is an advantage over the intact IgG allowing faster tissue penetration and circulation in the plasm. Fab fragments are often purified by affinity chromatography using biospecifics ligands, such as protein A, protein G, and protein L. However, the use of those ligands is hindered by their high costs and elution in drastic conditions. Several studies have been performed for the development of new techniques to improve the chromatographic purification of Fab fragment, e.g., using pseudobiospecifics or mix-mode ligands. In this context, we have evaluated the efficiencies of polyamines ?-aminohexyl and poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) ligands immobilized in agarose gel aiming the purification of human Fab fragments. Our chromatographic studies were conducted feeding cleaved human IgG solution into the aforementioned adsorbents using different adsorption buffers and conditions. The selectivity towards Fab fragments was evaluated using SDS-PAGE, Western blot, and radial immunodiffusion. The chromatography performed with ?-aminohexyl-agarose using Tris-HCl buffer pH 8.0 recovered 100% of the Fab fragments with 97% of purity. Studies done with adsorbent PEI-agarose using Tris-HCl pH 7.5 and 8.0 as adsorption buffers recovered 94% and 93% of Fab fragments, respectively, with 97% of purity. Breakthrough curves experiments showed that the ?-aminohexyl ligand was superior than PEI ligand in terms of recovering Fab fragment with high purity in flowthrough (2.7 mg against 0.8 mg, respectively). The adsorption isotherm of ?-aminohexil-agarose adsorbent was determined adjusted by the Langmuir-Freundlich model as well (Qm: 44.32 mg.mL-1 of gel; Kd: 1.11.10-5 mol.L-1). Additionally, Fc fragments and IgG binding showed positive cooperativity (n=1.68). All these results indicate that ?-aminohexyl and PEI polyamines are potential ligands for the purification of Fab fragments and can possibly improve the existing techniques employed for this purpose / Mestrado / Desenvolvimento de Processos Biotecnologicos / Mestra em Engenharia Química