Membrane-active antimicrobial poly(amino-modified alkyl) ß-cyclodextrins synthesized via click reactions.

The emergence of drug-resistant bacteria has led to the high demand for new antibiotics. In this report, we investigated membrane-active antimicrobial ß-cyclodextrins. These contain seven amino-modified alkyl groups on a molecule, which act as functional moieties to permeabilize bacterial cell membranes. The polyfunctionalization of cyclodextrins was achieved through a click reaction assisted by microwave irradiation. A survey using derivatives with systematically varied functionalities clarified the unique correlation of the antimicrobial activity of these compounds with their molecular structure and hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity balances. The optimum hydrophobicity for the compounds being membrane-active was specific to bacterial strains and animal cells; this led to specific compounds having selective toxicity against bacteria including multidrug-resistant pathogens. The results demonstrate that cyclodextrin is a versatile molecular scaffold for rationally designed structures and can be used for the development of new antibiotics.

Riboflavin-binding protein is a novel bitter inhibitor.

Riboflavin-binding protein (RBP) from chicken egg, which was recently reported to be a selective sweet inhibitor for protein sweeteners, was also found to be a bitter inhibitor. RBP elicited broadly tuned inhibition of various bitter substances including quinine-HCl, naringin, theobromine, caffeine, glycyl-L-phenylalanine (Gly-Phe), and denatonium benzoate, whereas several other proteins, such as ovalbumin (OVA) and beta-lactoglobulin, were ineffective in reducing bitterness of these same compounds. Both the bitter tastes of quinine and caffeine were reduced following an oral prerinse with RBP. It was found that RBP binds to quinine but not to caffeine, theobromine, naringin, and Gly-Phe. However, the binding of RBP to quinine was probably not responsible for the bitter inhibition because OVA bound to quinine as well as RBP. Based on these results, it is suggested that the bitter inhibitory effect of RBP is the consequence of its ability to interact with taste receptors rather than because it interacts with the bitter tastants themselves. RBP may have practical uses in reducing bitterness of foods and pharmaceuticals. It may also prove a useful tool in studies of mechanisms of bitter taste.

Textural evaluation of rice cake by chewing and swallowing measurements on human subjects.

The difficulty in masticating and swallowing rice cake was quantified. Healthy subjects ate pieces of rice cake (9 g and 3 g) and a modified product (9 g). We used electromyography to measure the activity of the jaw-closing and -opening muscles during chewing, as well as the suprahyoid muscle activity, laryngeal movement, and sound during swallowing. The smaller the rice cake, the shorter the mastication time, the fewer the number of chews, and the less the jaw-closing muscle activity. A modified rice cake product (9 g) was consumed with less mastication effort than the standard rice cake (9 g) and with the same effort as the standard (3 g). Both the sample amount and texture influenced mastication, although neither factor caused a significant difference in swallowing characteristics. These observations suggest that swallowing was induced when the bolus properties became suitable for swallowing, as healthy subjects could adjust their mastication technique according to the food amount and texture.