A diazirine's central carbon is sp-hybridized, facilitating conjugation to dye molecules.

Diazirines are versatile carbene precursors that are extensively used in biological target identification experiments. However, their photo-activation wavelength ( 365 nm) precludes their use in living organisms. Here we show that a reconceptualization of the diazirine hybridization state leads to conjugation of the diazirine motif to longer-wavelength chromophores.

Enalapril induces muscle epigenetic changes and contributes to prevent a decline in running capacity in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Drugs such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers can improve muscle function and exercise capacity, as well as preventing, attenuating or reversing age-related losses in muscle mass, however, the exact mechanisms by which these drugs affect muscle cells, are not yet fully elucidated. Moreover, the potential epigenetic alterations induced in skeletal muscle tissue are also largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to evaluate if enalapril or losartan can change the physical performance and epigenetic profile of skeletal muscle in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs).

Angiotensin II, blood-brain barrier permeability, and microglia interplay during the transition from pre-to hypertensive phase in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Background: Hypertension is characterized by upregulation of the renin-angiotensin system, increased blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, microglia activation within autonomic nuclei, and an intense sympathoexcitation. There is no information on the interplay of these events during the development of neurogenic hypertension. We sought to identify the interaction and time-course changes of Ang II availability, barrier dysfunction, microglia activation, and autonomic imbalance within autonomic areas during the development of neurogenic hypertension.

Exercise-induced neuroplasticity in autonomic nuclei restores the cardiac vagal tone and baroreflex dysfunction in aged hypertensive rats.

Aging is accompanied by considerable deterioration of homeostatic systems, such as autonomic imbalance characterized by heightened sympathetic activity, lower parasympathetic tone, and depressed heart rate (HR) variability, which are aggravated by hypertension. Here, we hypothesized that these age-related deficits in aged hypertensive rats can be ameliorated by exercise training, with benefits to the cardiovascular system. Therefore, male 22-mo-old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and age-matched Wistar Kyoto (WKY) submitted to moderate-intensity exercise training (T) or kept sedentary (S) for 8 wk were evaluated for hemodynamic/autonomic parameters, baroreflex sensitivity, cardiac sympathetic/parasympathetic tone and analysis of dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH+) and oxytocin (OT+) pathways of autonomic brain nuclei.

Blood-brain barrier lesion - a novel determinant of autonomic imbalance in heart failure and the effects of exercise training.

Heart failure (HF) is characterized by reduced ventricular function, compensatory activation of neurohormonal mechanisms and marked autonomic imbalance. Exercise training (T) is effective to reduce neurohormonal activation but the mechanism underlying the autonomic dysfunction remains elusive. Knowing that blood-brain barrier (BBB) lesion contributes to autonomic imbalance, we sought now to investigate its involvement in HF- and exercise-induced changes of autonomic control.