Direct (het)arylation of fluorinated benzothiadiazoles and benzotriazole with (het)aryl iodides.

A new and controllable method for the preparation of unsymmetrical and symmetrical fluorinated benzothiadiazole (FBT)-arene structures that can be applied in organic optoelectronic materials has been developed. The reaction proceeds under mild reaction conditions with high efficiency and shows excellent functional group compatibility, even toward bromide. Fluorinated benzotriazoles also take part in the reaction.

Thioether-promoted direct olefination of polyfluoroarenes catalyzed by palladium.

A methyl(phenyl)sulfane-promoted direct olefination of polyfluoroarenes catalyzed by palladium has been reported. With use of this new thioether ligand, a high reaction efficiency and excellent E/Z ratio of desired olefinated polyfluoroarenes were obtained. This represents a first example of thioether promoted oxidative Heck reaction.

Activity-dependent PSA expression regulates inhibitory maturation and onset of critical period plasticity.

Functional maturation of GABAergic innervation in the developing visual cortex is regulated by neural activity and sensory inputs and in turn influences the critical period of ocular dominance plasticity. Here we show that polysialic acid (PSA), presented by the neural cell adhesion molecule, has a role in the maturation of GABAergic innervation and ocular dominance plasticity. Concentrations of PSA significantly decline shortly after eye opening in the adolescent mouse visual cortex; this decline is hindered by visual deprivation.

GAD67-mediated GABA synthesis and signaling regulate inhibitory synaptic innervation in the visual cortex.

The development of GABAergic inhibitory circuits is shaped by neural activity, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we demonstrate a novel function of GABA in regulating GABAergic innervation in the adolescent brain, when GABA is mainly known as an inhibitory transmitter. Conditional knockdown of the rate-limiting synthetic enzyme GAD67 in basket interneurons in adolescent visual cortex resulted in cell autonomous deficits in axon branching, perisomatic synapse formation around pyramidal neurons, and complexity of the innervation fields; the same manipulation had little influence on the subsequent maintenance of perisomatic synapses.

Anatomical, physiological, molecular and circuit properties of nest basket cells in the developing somatosensory cortex.

Anatomical, electrophysiological and molecular diversity of basket cell-like interneurons in layers II-IV of rat somatosensory cortex were studied using patch-clamp electrodes filled with biocytin. This multiparametric study shows that neocortical basket cells (BCs) are composed of three distinct subclasses: classical large (LBC) and small (SBC) basket cells and a third subclass, the nest basket cell (NBC). Anatomically, NBCs were distinct from LBCs and SBCs in that they formed simpler dendritic arbors and an axonal plexus of inter-mediate density, composed of a few long, smooth axonal branches.