Intracellular diagnostics

Weiss and co-workersprepared a series of oxazohnylidene steroids 343 as luminescence dyes for application as potential intracellular diagnostic agents (Scheme 6.72). The key intermediate 2-aryl-5,5-dimethyl-4(57/)-thiooxazolones 341 were readily available from the corresponding 4(57/)-oxazolones 339. Reaction of 341 with 342, generated in situ from the hydrazone 340, gave 343 as expected. It was not possible to prepare 343 from 3-thio-androsta-l,4-dien-17-one since the requisite corresponding heterocyclic diazo compounds could not be prepared. 

Abrams DB, Monti PM, Carey KB, Pinto RP, Jacobus SI (1988) Reactivity to smoking cues and relapse two studies of discriminant validity. Behav Res Ther 26(3) 225-233 American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn (DSM-IV). American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC Asghari V, Sanyal S, Buchwaldt S, Paterson A, Jovanovic V, Van Tol HH (1995) Modulation of intracellular cyclic AMP levels by different human dopamine D4 receptor variants. J Neurochem 65(3) 1157-1165... 

Many diseases that cause tissue damage result in an increased release of intracellular enzymes into the plasma. The activities of many of these enzymes are routinely determined for diagnostic purposes in diseases of the heart, liver, skeletal muscle, and other tissues. The level of specific enzyme activity in the plasma frequently correlates with the extent of tissue damage. Thus, determining the degree of elevation of a particular enzyme activity in the plasma is often useful in evaluating the prognosis for the patient. 

Diagnostic value of plasma aminotransferases Aminotrans ferases are normally intracellular enzymes, with the low levels found in the plasma representing the release of cellular contents during normal cell turnover. The presence of elevated plasma levels of aminotransferases indicates damage to cells rich in these enzymes. For example, physical trauma or a disease pro cess can cause cell lysis, resulting in release of intracellular enzymes into the blood. Two aminotransferases—ASTand ALT—are of particular diagnostic value when they are found in the plasma. 

The multivalency of peptide dendrimers has also been used to increase the binding avidity of antigens to antibodies in various immunological assays and diagnostic tests. 27,43,47,48,55-59 Examples in the literature have been reported where the MAP format increases the binding avidity and sensitivity, in some cases >100000 fold. In addition to immunology, MAP types of dendrimers have found applications in areas such as inhibitors, 44,45,51,60,61 artificial proteins, 62 affinity purification, 63 and intracellular transportation, 41 as well as in drug discovery. 53 ... 

The EPR technique has been used extensively to identify and characterize oxo-vanadium(IV) (i.e., vanadyl) in tunicate blood cells. Although EPR spectra are clearly diagnostic of vanadyl, different species yield different values of vanadyl EPR parameters (A and g values). Different values of EPR parameters have been reported for species such as A. ceratodes 144, 145), Leptoclinides lissus and Phallusia julinea 143). Vanadyl EPR Aq values of the blood cells of A. ahodori collected from different locations in the waters off Japan have been reported to differ from one another by approximately 10% (1.06 x 10 cm vs. 0.95 X 10 cm ), an amount about as much as interspecies differences 146). This result has been questioned, however, in the context of an extensive study of both Aplousobranch and Phlebobranch species utilizing several different methods to detect intracellular vanadium 147). 

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