Histone deacetylase inhibitors as a potential new treatment for psoriatic disease and other inflammatory conditions.

Collectively known as psoriatic disease, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are immune-mediated inflammatory diseases in which patients present with cutaneous and musculoskeletal inflammation. Affecting roughly 2-3% of the world's total population, there remains unmet therapeutic needs in both psoriasis and PsA despite the availability of current immunomodulatory treatments. As a result, patients with psoriatic disease often experience reduced quality of life.

Sensitive Detection of Broad-Spectrum Bacteria with Small-Molecule Fluorescent Excimer Chemosensors.

Antibiotic resistance is a major problem for world health, triggered by the unnecessary usage of broad-spectrum antibiotics on purportedly infected patients. Current clinical standards require lengthy protocols for the detection of bacterial species in sterile physiological fluids. In this work, a class of small-molecule fluorescent chemosensors termed was shown to be capable of rapid, sensitive, and facile detection of broad-spectrum bacteria.

ProxyPhos sensors for the detection of negatively charged membranes.

Membrane-embedded negatively charged phospholipids (MENCP) can be used as biomarkers for a range of biological processes, including early detection of apoptosis in animal cells, drug-induced phospholipidosis, and selective detection of bacterial over animal cells. Currently, several technologies for the detection of apoptosis and bacterial cells are based on the recognition of MENCPs, including the AnnexinV stain and PSVue™ probes. As probes, these technologies have limitations, the most significant of which is the need for washing the unbound probe away to achieve optimal signal.

Structure-activity relationship study of ProxyPhos chemosensors for the detection of proximal phosphorylation and other phosphate species.

Chemosensors for the detection of phosphate-containing biological species are in high need. Detection of proximally phosphorylated sites of PP and those found in peptides and proteins has been demonstrated using chemosensors containing pyrene, as a fluorescent reporter, and a Zn-chelate, as a phosphate-binding group. Using these sensors, detection of proximal phosphate groups is afforded by binding of at least two of the sensor molecules to the adjacent phosphates, via the Zn centres, leading to excimer formation between the pyrene groups and the corresponding shift in emission from 376 to 476 nm.

Characterization and application studies of ProxyPhos, a chemosensor for the detection of proximally phosphorylated peptides and proteins in aqueous solutions.

Proximal phosphorylation on proteins appears to have functional significance and has been associated with several diseases, including Alzheimer's and cancer. While much remains to be learned about the role of proximal phosphorylation in biological systems, no simple and/or affordable technique is available for its detection. To this end, we have previously developed a ProxyPhos chemosensor, which detects proximally phosphorylated peptides and proteins over mono- and non-phosphorylated motifs in aqueous solutions.