A method is described for measuring cytosolic free Ca2+ and its time-dependent changes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by using the luminescent protein

Four monoterpene hydroperoxides were isolated from aerial parts of Chenopodium ambrosioides along with ascaridole (1), the anthelmintic principle of this plant, as anti-trypanosomal compounds. The structures of these monoterpenes were determined to be (-)-(2S,4S)- and (-)-(2R,4S)-p-mentha-1(7),8-dien-2-hydroperoxide (2a and 3a) and (-)-(1R,4S)- and (-)-(1S,4S)-p-mentha-2,8-dien-1-hydroperoxide (4a and 5a) on the basis of spectroscopic methods and chemical correlations. In vitro trypanocidal activities of ascaridole (1) and these hydroperoxides (2a-5a) against epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi were 23, 1.2, 1.6, 3.1, and 0.8 microM, respectively. Fresh leaves of C. ambrosioides also contained isomeric hydroperoxides 6a and 7a, and the content ratio of 2a-7a suggested that these hydroperoxides were formed through the singlet-oxygen oxidation of limonene.

Caenorhabditis elegans chaperonin CCT is required for the biogenesis of actin and tubulin and is thereby essential for microvillus formation in intestinal cells. Loss of CCT/TRiC had no strong effects on intermediate filament protein IFB-2 or cytoskeletal linker protein ERM-1, suggesting that CCT/TRiC exhibits clear substrate specificity in living animals.

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