The enzyme kinetics study proved that n-hexadecanoic acid inhibits phospholipase A2 in a competitive manner. It was identified from the crystal structure at 2.5 angstrom resolution that the position of n-hexadecanoic acid is in the active site of the phospholipase A2. The binding constant and binding energy have also been calculated using Isothermal Titration Calorimetry. Also, the binding energy of n-hexadecanoic acid to phospholipase A2 was calculated by in silico method and selleck chemicals compared with known inhibitors. It may be concluded from the structural and kinetics studies that the fatty acid, n-hexadecanoic acid, is an inhibitor of phospholipase A2, hence, an anti-inflammatory compound.

The inferences from the present study validate the rigorous use of medicated oils rich in n-hexadecanoic

acid for the treatment of rheumatic symptoms in the traditional medical system of India, Ayurveda.”
“Para-aminosalicylic acid (PAS), an approved drug for treatment of tuberculosis, is a promising therapeutic agent for treatment of manganese (Mn)-induced parkinsonian syndromes. Lack of a quantifying method, however, has hindered the clinical evaluation of its efficacy and there upon new drug development. This study was aimed at developing a simple and effective method to quantify PAS and its major metabolite, N-acetyl-para-aminosalicylic acid (AcPAS), in plasma, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) VX-680 and tissues. Biological samples underwent one-step protein precipitation. The supernatant was fractionated on a reversed-phase C18

column with a gradient mobile system, followed by on-line fluorescence detection. The lower limits of quantification for both PAS and AcPAS were 50 ng/ml of plasma and 17 ng/g of tissues. The intra-day and inter-day precision values did not exceed 5% and 8%, respectively, in all three matrices. The method was used to quantify PAS and AcPAS in rat plasma and brain following a single iv injection of PAS. Data showed a greater amount of PAS than AcPAS in plasma, while a greater amount of BVD-523 AcPAS than PAS was found in brain tissues. The method has been proven to be sensitive, reproducible, and practically useful for laboratory and clinical investigations of PAS in treatment of Mn Parkinsonism. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“In the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp PCC 6803, early steps in thylakoid membrane (TM) biogenesis are considered to take place in specialized membrane fractions resembling an interface between the plasma membrane (PM) and TM. This region (the PratA-defined membrane) is defined by the presence of the photosystem II (PSII) assembly factor PratA (for processing-associated TPR protein) and the precursor of the D1 protein (pD1). Here, we show that PratA is a Mn2+ binding protein that contains a high affinity Mn2+ binding site (K-d = 73 mu M) and that PratA is required for efficient delivery of Mn2+ to PSII in vivo, as Mn2+ transport is retarded in pratA(-).