The Therapeutic Potential and Molecular Mechanism of Isoflavone Extract against Psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a common inflammatory disease. It affects 1-3% of the population worldwide and is associated with increasing medical costs every year. Typical psoriatic skin lesions are reddish, thick, scaly plaques that can occur on multiple skin sites all over the body.

Lutein Induces Autophagy via Beclin-1 Upregulation in IEC-6 Rat Intestinal Epithelial Cells.

Lutein is a carotenoid with anti-oxidant properties. Autophagy, an evolutionarily conserved catabolic cellular pathway for coping with stress conditions, is responsive to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and degrades damaged organelles. We previously demonstrated that lutein can induce anti-oxidant enzymes to relieve methotrexate-induced ROS stress.

Iron carbonyl cluster-incorporated Cu(I) NHC complexes in homocoupling of arylboronic acids: an effective [TeFe3(CO)9](2-) ligand.

A new type of TeFe3(CO)9-incorporated dicopper NHC complex was obtained directly from one-pot reactions. By the introduction of the cluster anion [TeFe3(CO)9](2-) and NHCs as the ligands, these di-Cu(i)-based complexes exhibited pronounced catalytic activities toward the homocoupling of arylboronic acids with low Cu loadings and high yields (up to 98%).

The differential effects of a selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist, U50488, in guinea pig heart tissues.

The differential effects of a selective kappa- (κ-) opioid receptor agonist, U50488, were elucidated by monitoring the contraction of isolated guinea pig atrial and ventricular muscles. In electrically driven left atria, U50488 in nanomolar concentration range decreased the contractile force. Norbinaltorphimine (norBNI), a selective κ-receptor antagonist, and pertussis toxin (PTX) abolished the negative inotropic effect of U50488.

Synthesis of an anti-Bredt compound, bicyclo[3.2.2]nona-1,6,8-triene, via the isomerization of tricyclo[3.2.2.0(2,4)]nona-2,6-diene.

A highly strained 1,3-fused tricyclic cyclopropene, tricyclo[3.2.2.

Lutein protects against methotrexate-induced and reactive oxygen species-mediated apoptotic cell injury of IEC-6 cells.

Purpose: High-dose chemotherapy using methotrexate (MTX) frequently induces side effects such as mucositis that leads to intestinal damage and diarrhea. Several natural compounds have been demonstrated of their effectiveness in protecting intestinal epithelial cells from these adverse effects. In this paper, we investigated the protection mechanism of lutein against MTX-induced damage in IEC-6 cells originating from the rat jejunum crypt.

A novel synthesis of calix[4]thiophenes and calix[4]furans.

The addition of heteroaryllithium to various ketones followed by dehydration gave 1-(2-heteroaryl)cycloalkenes and (2-hetero- aryl)alkenes. When alkenes were treated with 10 mol% NIS, calix[4]thiophenes and calix[4]furans were obtained in good yields.

The crossed [2+2] cycloaddition of 1-phenylcyclopropene and 1-bromo-2-phenylcyclopropene.

1-Bromo-2-phenylcyclopropene (2) underwent [2+2] dimerization to generate 1,2-dibromo-4,5-diphenyltricyclo[3.1.0.

The general synthesis and trapping of 3-substituted 1-chlorocyclopropenes.

Treatment of 1-bromo-2,2-dichloro-3-trimethylsilylcyclopropane with CsF in THF refluxing temperature gave chlorocyclopropenyl cation (1), which reacted with various nucleophiles to generate 3-monosubstituted 1-chlorocyclopropenes. The Diels-Alder reactions of 3-monosubstituted 1-chlorocyclopropenes with 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPIBF) yielded only the exo-anti adducts in excellent yield. When cation 1 was treated with water and trapped with DPIBF, an aldehyde, 12, was isolated.

Novel ene trimerization of 1-phenylcyclopropene.

1-Phenylcyclopropene (1) was synthesized by treatment of 1,1,2-tribromo-2-phenylcyclopropane (2) with 2.5 equiv of methyllithium followed by protonation. Compound 1 underwent ene dimerization to form ene dimer 5 followed by ene reaction with monomer 1 (enophile) to give an ene trimer 6.

1,2-Bridged Tricyclic Cyclopropenes: Tricyclo[3.2.1.0(2,4)]octa-2(4),6-diene and Tricyclo[3.2.1.0(2,4)]oct-2(4)-ene.

Two 1,2-bridged tricyclic cyclopropenes, tricyclo[3.2.1.

Synthesis and Chemistry of Bicyclo[4.1.0]hept-1,6-ene.

Bicyclo[4.1.0]hept-1,6-ene has been generated by elimination of 1-chloro-2-(trimethysilyl)bicyclo[4.