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Takeshi Akasaka

Publications and source records attributed to Takeshi Akasaka.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Age-related cardiac disease model of Drosophila.

We have begun to study the genetic basis of deterioration of cardiac function in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as an age-related cardiac disease model. For this purpose we have developed heart function assays in Drosophila and found that the fly's cardiac performance, as that of the human heart, deteriorates with age: aging fruit flies exhibit a progressive increase in electrical pacing-induced heart failure as well as in arrhythmias. The insulin receptor and associated pathways have a dramatic and heart-autonomous influence on age-related cardiac performance in flies, suggestive of potentially similar mechanisms in regulating cardiac aging in vertebrates. Compromised KCNQ and K(ATP) ion channel functions also seem to contribute to the decline in heart performance in aging flies, suggesting that the corresponding vertebrate gene functions may similarly decline with age, in addition to their conserved role in protecting against arrhythmias and hypoxia/ischemia, respectively. The fly heart is thus emerging as a promising genetic model for studying the age-dependent decline in organ function.

Aging↗
PubMed2006

Selective extraction and purification of endohedral metallofullerene from carbon soot.

A preferential extraction of endohedral metallofullerenes (EMFs) from carbon soot through the use of reduction in the extraction process and a convenient isolation of endohedral metallofullerene anions (EMFs(-)) and empty fullerenes utilizing their difference in solubility are accomplished. EMFs are easily isolated by one-stage high-performance liquid chromatography after chemical oxidation of the extracted endohedral EMFs(-).

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

La@C72 having a non-IPR carbon cage.

We show here that La@C72 has a non-IPR cage, unique electronic properties, and high reactivity by the spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic analysis and the theoretical study. The isolation of La@C72 as a stable derivative might constitute an important stepping-stone on the way to isolation of these unknown metallofullerenes and open new material science of metallofullerenes.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Dispersion and separation of small-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes.

The dispersion of small-diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) produced by the CoMoCAT method in tetrahydrofuran (THF) with the use of amine was studied. The absorption, photoluminescence, and Raman spectroscopies showed that the dispersion and centrifugation process leads to an effective separation of metallic SWNTs from semiconducting SWNTs. Since this method is simple and convenient, it is highly applicable to an industrial utilization for widespread applications of SWNTs.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Characterization of the bis-silylated endofullerene Sc3N@C80.

The photochemical reaction of Sc(3)N@C(80) with 1,1,2,2-tetramesityl-1,2-disilirane affords the adduct as a bis-silylated product. The adduct was characterized by NMR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray structure analysis. The dynamic behavior of the disilirane moiety and the encapsulated Sc(3)N cluster were also investigated. The unique redox property of the adduct is reported by means of CV and DPV. Experimental results were confirmed by density functional calculations.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

The ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel-encoded dSUR gene is required for Drosophila heart function and is regulated by tinman.

The homeobox transcription factor Tinman plays an important role in the initiation of heart development. Later functions of Tinman, including the target genes involved in cardiac physiology, are less well studied. We focused on the dSUR gene, which encodes an ATP-binding cassette transmembrane protein that is expressed in the heart. Mammalian SUR genes are associated with K(ATP) (ATP-sensitive potassium) channels, which are involved in metabolic homeostasis. We provide experimental evidence that Tinman directly regulates dSUR expression in the developing heart. We identified a cis-regulatory element in the first intron of dSUR, which contains Tinman consensus binding sites and is sufficient for faithful dSUR expression in the fly's myocardium. Site-directed mutagenesis of this element shows that these Tinman sites are critical to dSUR expression, and further genetic manipulations suggest that the GATA transcription factor Pannier is synergistically involved in cardiac-restricted dSUR expression in vivo. Physiological analysis of dSUR knock-down flies supports the idea that dSUR plays a protective role against hypoxic stress and pacing-induced heart failure. Because dSUR expression dramatically decreases with age, it is likely to be a factor involved in the cardiac aging phenotype of Drosophila. dSUR provides a model for addressing how embryonic regulators of myocardial cell commitment can contribute to the establishment and maintenance of cardiac performance.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗
PubMed2006

The Bingel monoadducts of La@C82: synthesis, characterization, and electrochemistry.

The reaction of La@C82 with diethyl bromomalonate in the presence of base (the Bingel reaction) generated five monoadducts which have been fully characterized. It was found that four of them (mono-A, -B, -C, and -D) are ESR-inactive, suggesting singly bonded regioisomers. In contrast, the fifth product (mono-E) is ESR-active, indicating that it possesses a cyclic moiety between the appended malonate group and the fullerene cage, analogous to conventional Bingel adducts. The differences in the molecular structures of mono-A, -B, -C, and -E result in varying thermal stabilities and electrochemical behavior. In particular, the singly bonded monoadducts undergo the retro-Bingel reaction either under thermal treatment or during electron transfer on the cyclic voltammetric timescale. However, mono-E shows remarkable thermal stability and perfect reversibility under the same experimental conditions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Host-guest complexation of endohedral metallofullerene with azacrown ether and its application.

Complexation of endohedral metallofullerene La@C(82)-A (1) with macrocyclic compounds, such as 1,4,7,10,13,16-hexaazacyclooctadecane (2), 1,4,7,10,13,16-hexamethyl-1,4,7,10,13,16-hexaazacyclooctadecane (3), mono-aza-18-crown-6 ether (4), 18-crown-6 ether (5), and p-tert-butylcalix[n]arenes (n = 4-8, 6-10), for the first time is examined. Among them, 1 forms a complex with azacrown ethers 2-4 while accompanying the electron transfer between them. This is characteristic of endohedral metallofullerene and caused by its low reduction potential. Activation energies, DeltaG(et), for the electron transfer from 2-4 to 1 are 4.6, 2.8, and 11 kcal/mol, respectively. These small DeltaG(et) values indicate that the electron transfer from the azacrown ethers to 1 is facile in the ground state. Furthermore, the selective isolation of lanthanum endohedral metallofullerenes from the extracts of soot is accomplished by utilizing the complexation of 1 with 2.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Synthesis and characterization of a bisadduct of La@C82.

A bisadduct of La@C82 has been synthesized in a good yield by a Bingel-Hirsch reaction. Its structure has been well-defined by X-ray crystallographic analysis. A pair of enantiomers of the adduct form a dimer in the single crystal.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Selective interaction of large or charge-transfer aromatic molecules with metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes: critical role of the molecular size and orientation.

Using first principles calculations, we report for the first time that large nearly neutral aromatic molecules, such as naphthalene and anthracene, and small charge-transfer aromatic molecules, such as TCNQ and DDQ, interact more strongly with metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) versus their semiconducting counterparts as the molecular orientation of DDQ is taken into account. Hence two new mechanisms for separating metallic and semiconducting SWNTs via noncovalent pi-pi stacking or charge-transfer interaction are suggested.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Evolution of the electronic properties of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes with the degree of CCl2 covalent functionalization.

The changes in energetic, structural, and electronic properties of the metallic (5,5) single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) with the degree of sidewall covalent functionalization of CCl(2) are investigated extensively by using density functional theory calculations. The saturation concentration of CCl(2) covalent functionalization is predicted to be 33.3%. The cycloadducts always adopt an open structure. A band gap opens as the functionalization concentration reaches 11% and then basically increases with increasing functionalization concentration. These results are in agreement with available experiments and can be applied to accurately predict the band gap of metallic SWNTs produced by the HiPco method at a given CCl(2) functionalization concentration.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Analysis of lanthanide-induced NMR shifts of the Ce@C82 anion.

The mapping of bond connectivity in the carbon cage of [Ce@C82]- and full assignment of the NMR lines were successfully achieved by means of 2D INADEQUATE NMR measurement. Paramagnetic NMR analysis shows that the Ce atom in [Ce@C82]- is located at an off-centered position adjacent to a hexagonal ring along the C2 axis of the C2v-C82 cage.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Synthesis and structural characterization of endohedral pyrrolidinodimetallofullerene: La2@C80(CH2)2NTrt.

The endohedral pyrrolidinodimetallofullerene, La2@C80(CH2)2NTrt (Trt = triphenylmethyl), was successfully synthesized and characterized. X-ray crystallographic and NMR spectroscopic analyses reveal that two La atoms in the 6,6-adduct are localized at the stable site on the mirror plane. Theoretical calculation also suggests the localization of two La atoms in the 6,6-adduct.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

A singly bonded derivative of endohedral metallofullerene: La@C82CBr(COOC2H5).

A novel Bingel monoadduct of La@C82 (mono-A) has been synthesized by the reaction with diethyl bromomalonate in the presence of DBU (Bingel-Hirsch reaction). Its structure has been fully determined by NMR spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic analyses. The most distinct feature of mono-A is the single bond moiety between the functional group and fullerene cage, which is very different from the cyclopropane moiety in a conventional Bingel adduct of empty fullerenes. Further spectroscopic characterizations and calculations revealed the closed-shell structure of mono-A. Its formation mechanism was discussed according to calculation results.

Journal Article↗