A NIR BODIPY dye bearing 3,4,4a-trihydroxanthene moieties.

A novel 3,4,4a-trihydroxanthene-fused pyrrole 2 was synthesized by the reaction of 2,3,4,4a-tetrahydro-1H-xanthen-1-one with 3-phenyl-2H-azirine in the presence of LDA. Utilizing this pyrrole 2, a NIR BODIPY 1 (λ(abs) = 732 nm, λ(em) = 747 nm) has been prepared. The new BODIPY 1 was stable, non-cytotoxic, and suited to labeling living cells for imaging assay in the NIR region.

Spatio-temporal expression of a novel neuron-derived neurotrophic factor (NDNF) in mouse brains during development.

Background: Neuron-derived neurotrophic factor (NDNF) is evolutionarily well conserved, being present in invertebrate animals such as the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, as well as in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Multiple cysteines are conserved between species and secondary structure prediction shows that NDNF is mainly composed of beta-strands. In this study, we aimed to investigate the function of NDNF.

Expression of the apoptosis-related proteins caspase-3 and NF-kappaB in the hippocampus of Tg2576 mice.

Objective: To investigate the relations between neuroapoptosis and the onset and development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), especially the role of NF-kappaB in the regulation of neuroapoptosis.

Methods: Caspase-3 and NF-kappaB (p50) expressions in the CA3 region of the hippocampus in APPswe Tg2576 transgenic mice were studied from postnatal day 0-180, using Nissl staining, immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR methods.

Results: Both neuronal apoptosis and NF-kappaB activity decreased gradually with the increase of age in wild type and Tg2576 mice.

Identification of the tree shrew ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and its expression in tissues : cDNA sequence and expression of tree shrew ABCA1.

ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) modulates plasma levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL), a cardiovascular protecting factor. Tree shrew was considered to be an animal protected from atherosclerosis characterized by high proportion of HDL in plasma. The cDNA clones and expression of tree shrew ABCA1 was identified using SMART-RACE and Real-Time PCR techniques respectively.