Possessing the quinone moiety, ilimaquinone (1), a sponge–derived sesquiterpene quinone, has been hypothesised to express its cytotoxicity through redox cycling process, yielding active product(s) that can cause DNA damage. To determine damaging effects of 1 and examine whether transformation may participate in functions, properties 1, corresponding hydroquinone (2) triacetates (3) their 5-epim...

The structural, functional, and evolutionary relationships between photosystem II and the purple nonsulfur bacterial reaction center have been recognized for several years. These can be classified as "quinone type" (type II) photosystems because the terminal electron acceptor is a mobile quinone molecule. The analogous relationship between photosystem I and the green sulfur bacterial (and helic...

NAD(P)H:(quinone-acceptor) oxidoreductase (EC 1.6.99.2) is a widely distributed dicoumarol-inhibitable FAD-containing protein that catalyzes the obligatory two-electron reduction of quinones. The enzyme plays an important role in protecting animal cells against quinone toxicity and may be involved in the vitamin K-dependent blood coagulation cascade. Cocrystallization of rat liver quinone reduc...

Treatment with 5-azacytidine or dietary methyl-group deficiency effected DNA hypomethylation in mouse liver. With these treatments, NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase (EC 1.6.99.2) and some glutathione S-transferase (EC 2.5.1.18) activities were over-expressed, lactate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.27) activity was unaffected and the level of cytochrome P-450 was decreased. The 5-azacytidine induction o...

We disclose herein a highly enantioselective protocol for the Brønsted acid-catalyzed addition of indoles and phenols to in situ-generated ortho-quinone methides which deliver broadly substituted diarylindolylmethanes and triarylmethanes, respectively, in a one-pot reaction under very mild conditions. A chiral phosphoric acid catalyst has been developed for this process serving to convert the s...

Moniliella tomentosa was investigated for the presence of different quinones that might be involved in the cyanide-sensitive and/or cyanide-insensitive electron-transport pathways. The naturally occurring quinone in Moniliella tomentosa was found to be ubiquinone-45. Other quinone species could not be detected. The concentration of ubiquinone-45 in mitochondria is not related to the presence or...

Oxidative stress, including the reactive oxygen or nitrogen species generated in the enzymatical oxidationor auto-oxidation of an excess amount of dopamine, is thought to play an important role in dopaminergic neurotoxicity. Dopamine and its metabolites containing 2 hydroxyl residues exert cytotoxicityin dopaminergic neuronal cells, primarily due to the generation of highly reactive dopamine an...

We report the synthesis and characterization of a new electroactive surface capable of releasing the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) upon reduction. The GABA was anchored to an alkanethiol via electrochemically active quinone (abbreviation, TM-GABA). The quinone unit, upon reduction to the hydroquinone, cyclizes to release GABA into solution. The half-life is 99 s. The self-asse...

Phloroglucinol and resorcinol are not substrates for clingstone peach (Prunus persica) polyphenol oxidase, but they react with 4-methyl-o-quinone, produced either enzymatically or nonenzymatically, to give an intense red or red-brown color with a maximal absorption at about 470 nanometers. Several colored products were isolated from an ethyl acetate extract of the reaction by two-dimensional th...

Salicortin, a natural product abundant in most members of the Salicaceae family, is a mechanism-based inactivator of Agrobacterium faecalis beta-glucosidase. Inactivation is delayed in the presence of competitive inhibitors, thereby demonstrating the requirement for an enzyme-bound salicortin before inactivation. Product studies suggest that inactivation proceeds via a quinone methide intermedi...