Comparative Study of the Anxiolytic Activity of Songorine in Elevated Plus Maze Test and by Recording Ultrasonic Vocalizations.

It was found that the diterpene alkaloid songorine administered per os to mice at a dose of 25 μg/kg provides a pronounced anxiolytic effect during elevated plus maze testing comparable to the effect of the benzodiazepine anxiolytic phenazepam. Recording of ultrasonic vocalizations of animals revealed an increase in the number of short high-frequency (50 kHz) signals under the action of songorine and the reference drug, which confirms their anti-anxiety properties.

Features of Intracellular Signal Transduction in Neural Stem Cells under the Influence of Alkaloid Songorine, an Agonist of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors.

We performed a comparative in vitro study of the involvement of NF-κB, PI3K, cAMP, ERK1/2, p38, JAKs, STAT3, JNK, and p53-dependent intracellular signaling in the functioning of neural stem cells (NSC) under the influence of basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and FGF receptor agonist, diterpene alkaloid songorine. The significant differences in FGFR-mediated intracellular signaling in NSC were revealed for these ligands. In both cases, stimulation of progenitor cell proliferation occurs with the participation of NF-κB, PI3K, ERK1/2, JAKs, and STAT3, while JNK and p53, on the contrary, inhibit cell cycle progression.

Flat-Band Potential Determination and Catalytical Properties of SnO/SnO Heterostructures in the Photo-Electrooxidation of Small Organic Molecules under Ultraviolet (370 nm) and Blue (450 nm) Light.

SnO are promising semiconductor materials due to their visible light absorption ability. In this work, a series of materials, such as SnO, SnO and SnO/SnO heterostructures, with different phase ratios were prepared using hydrothermal synthesis. The materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), nitrogen adsorption (BET).

Completing the picture of tolazamide polymorphism under extreme conditions: a low-temperature study.

We present the results of an experimental and computational study of structural changes in two polymorphs of tolazamide {systematic name: 1-[(azepan-1-ylamino)carbonyl]-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide}, CHNOS, on cooling to 100 K and reverse heating. No phase transitions occurred in this temperature range. The anisotropy of the thermal expansion was different for the two polymorphs and differed from that reported previously for the hydrostatic compression.

A large anisotropic plasticity of L-leucinium hydrogen maleate preserved at cryogenic temperatures.

L-Leucinium hydrogen maleate crystals are very plastic at ambient conditions. Here it is shown that this plasticity is preserved at least down to 77 K. The structural changes in the temperature range 293-100 K were followed in order to rationalize the large anisotropic plasticity in this compound.

Concomitant cocrystal and salt: no interconversion in the solid state.

A cocrystal and a molecular salt of β-alanine and DL-tartaric acid, CHNO·CHO, of the same chemical composition, were studied over a wide temperature range by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. Neither the interconversion between the two phases nor any polymorphic transitions were observed in the temperature range from 100 K to the melting points. This contrasts with the solvent-mediated phase transition from the salt to the cocrystal in a slurry that has been documented earlier.

The effect of amino acid backbone length on molecular packing: crystalline tartrates of glycine, β-alanine, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and DL-α-aminobutyric acid (AABA).

We report a novel 1:1 cocrystal of β-alanine with DL-tartaric acid, CHNO·CHO, (II), and three new molecular salts of DL-tartaric acid with β-alanine {3-azaniumylpropanoic acid-3-azaniumylpropanoate DL-tartaric acid-DL-tartrate, [H(CHNO)]·[H(CHO)], (III)}, γ-aminobutyric acid [3-carboxypropanaminium DL-tartrate, CHNO·CHO, (IV)] and DL-α-aminobutyric acid {DL-2-azaniumylbutanoic acid-DL-2-azaniumylbutanoate DL-tartaric acid-DL-tartrate, [H(CHNO)]·[H(CHO)], (V)}. The crystal structures of binary crystals of DL-tartaric acid with glycine, (I), β-alanine, (II) and (III), GABA, (IV), and DL-AABA, (V), have similar molecular packing and crystallographic motifs. The shortest amino acid (i.

Quantification and modeling of nanomechanical properties of chlorpropamide α, β, and γ conformational polymorphs.

The nanomechanical properties of the α-, β-, and γ- conformational polymorphs of chlorpropamide were determined by the dynamic contact module continuous stiffness measurement at nanoindenter. The mechanical anisotropy of the α-polymorph was confirmed by indenting different faces, and its deformational behavior was assigned as ductile. Based on the nanoindentation results, the β and γ forms are moderately hard with plastic flow at contact points.

New 1:1 and 2:1 salts in the `DL-norvaline-maleic acid' system as an example of assembling various crystal structures from similar supramolecular building blocks.

Molecular salts and cocrystals of amino acids have potential applications as molecular materials with nonlinear optical, ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and other various target physical properties. The wide choice of amino acids and coformers makes it possible to design various crystal structures. The amino acid-maleic acid system provides a perfect example of a rich variety of crystal structures with different stoichiometries, symmetries and packing motifs built from the molecular building blocks, which are either exactly the same, or differ merely by protonation or as optical isomers.

Psychopharmacological Effects of Alkaloid Z77 under Conditions of Posthypoxic Encephalopathy and Mechanisms of Their Development.

Psychopharmacological effects of atisine-type diterpene alkaloid Z77 were studied under conditions of experimental posthypoxic encephalopathy. The preparation had a pronounced cerebroprotective effect consisting in normalization of orientation and exploratory behavior and conditioned activity in experimental animals. These changes were accompanied by significant increase in the number of neural stem cells in the paraventricular region of the brain and markedly enhanced production of neurotrophic growth factors by neural tissue microenvironment cells.

Crystallographic education in the 21st century.

There are many methods that can be used to incorporate concepts of crystallography into the learning experiences of students, whether they are in elementary school, at university or part of the public at large. It is not always critical that those who teach crystallography have immediate access to diffraction equipment to be able to introduce the concepts of symmetry, packing or molecular structure in an age- and audience-appropriate manner. Crystallography can be used as a tool for teaching general chemistry concepts as well as general research techniques without ever having a student determine a crystal structure.

Isoenergetic Polymorphism: The Puzzle of Tolazamide as a Case Study.

In the present case study of tolazamide we illustrate how many seemingly contradictory results that have been obtained from experimental observations and theoretical calculations can finally start forming a consistent picture: a "puzzle put together". For many years, tolazamide was considered to have no polymorphs. This made this drug substance unique among the large family of sulfonylureas, which was known to be significantly more prone to polymorphism than many other organic compounds.

Mechanisms of psychopharmacological effects of alkaloid Z77 under conditions of brain ischemia.

We studied the psychopharmacological effects of atisine-type diterpene alkaloid Z77 in a rat model of brain ischemia in the morning and at night. The type of developing locomotor disorders in animals was shown to depend on circadian rhythms. Administration of Z77 substantially corrected manifestations of psychoneurological symptoms.

Cerebroprotective and regenerative effects of alkaloid Z77 under conditions of brain ischemia.

We studied the psychopharmacological effects of atisine-type diterpene alkaloid Z77 in a rat model of cerebral ischemia. Pronounced cerebroprotective effect was found consisting in normalization of the orienting and exploratory activity and conditioned behavior associated with significant correction of morphological changes in the brain. The direct stimulatory effect of Z77 on neural stem cells was shown in vitro.

Role of NF-κB-dependent signaling in the growth capacity of mesenchymal progenitor cells under the influence of basic fibroblast growth factor.

We studied the in vitro role of NF-κB-dependent signaling in the growth capacity of mesenchymal progenitor cells upon stimulation by basic fibroblast growth factor. Proliferative activity of progenitor cells was suppressed by specifi c inhibitors of this transcription factor (NF-κB), oridonin and aurothiomalate. These inhibitors had no effect on differentiation of fibroblast CFU.

Role of receptors to fibroblast growth factor (FGF) on mesenchymal precursor cells in the realization of regenerative effects of alkaloid songorine.

We studied the mechanisms of regenerative (wound healing) effects of songorine associated with functional activation of mesenchymal progenitor cells. The key role of FGF receptors on these progenitor cells in the stimulation of realization of their growth potential under the effect of the alkaloid was demonstrated. Under in vitro conditions, the antibodies to FGF receptor abolished the songorine-induced increase in the number of fibroblast colony-forming units in bone marrow cell culture.

Mechanisms of napelline action stimulating the regeneration of hemopoietic tissue in cytostatic myelosuppression.

Pronounced regenerative effects of alkaloid napelline extracted from Aconitum baicalense on granulocytic hemopoiesis were revealed in the model of cytostatic myelosuppression. Activation of functions of hemopoietic progenitor cells along with increased feeder capacity of the stromal elements in the hemopoiesis inducing microenvironment with decreased levels mesenchymal progenitor cells in the bone marrow are the mechanisms underlying the hemostimulating action of this substance.

[Clonal variability in longevity of the cercariae of Himasthla elongata (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae)].

The study was carried out on Himasthla elongata cercariae shed by infected Littorina littorea snails. The infected periwinkles were collected from the settlement with the low prevalence of H. elongata.

Low-temperature phase transition in glycine-glutaric acid co-crystals studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry.

The occurrence of a first-order reversible phase transition in glycine-glutaric acid co-crystals at 220-230 K has been confirmed by three different techniques - single-crystal X-ray diffraction, polarized Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The most interesting feature of this phase transition is that every second glutaric acid molecule changes its conformation, and this fact results in the space-group symmetry change from P2(1)/c to P1. The topology of the hydrogen-bonded motifs remains almost the same and hydrogen bonds do not switch to other atoms, although the hydrogen bond lengths do change and some of the bonds become inequivalent.

In vitro encystment of Himasthla elongata cercariae (Digenea, Echinostomatidae) in the haemolymph of blue mussels Mytilus edulis as a tool for assessing cercarial infectivity and molluscan susceptibility.

Infectivity of Himasthla elongata cercariae to mussels, their second intermediate hosts, and resistance by these hosts to infection were assessed on the basis of the cercariae's ability to encyst in mussel haemolymph in vitro. A series of experimental in vivo infections of mussels with batches of cercariae, each batch released from a different single infected mollusc and referred to as a clone (due to their shared genotype), demonstrated that the results of the in vitro tests corresponded to the actual indices of infectivity/susceptibility of the parasites and their hosts. Most cercarial clones had high infectivity, with a few clones having very high or, at the other extreme, very low infectivity.

[Clonal variability in expression of geo- and photoorientation in cercariae of Himasthla elongata (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae)].

The study was carried out on Himasthla elongata, a digenean common in the coastal ecosystems of the northern European seas. This species utilises intertidal prosobranchs Littorina spp. as the first intermediate host, bivalves (in the White Sea, Mytilus edulis) as the second intermediate host and gulls as the final host.

Glycinium semi-malonate and a glutaric acid-glycine cocrystal: new structures with short O-H...O hydrogen bonds.

Glycinium semi-malonate, C(2)H(6)NO(2)(+)·C(3)H(3)O(4)(-), (I), and glutaric acid-glycine (1/1), C(2)H(5)NO(2)·C(5)H(8)O(4), (II), are new examples of two-component crystal structures containing glycine and carboxylic acids. (II) is the first example of a glycine cocrystal which cannot be classified as a salt, as glutaric acid remains completely protonated. In the structure of (I), there are chains formed exclusively by glycinium cations, or exclusively by malonate anions, and these chains are linked with each other.

Cdc1p is an endoplasmic reticulum-localized putative lipid phosphatase that affects Golgi inheritance and actin polarization by activating Ca2+ signaling.

In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mutations in the essential gene CDC1 cause defects in Golgi inheritance and actin polarization. However, the biochemical function of Cdc1p is unknown. Previous work showed that cdc1 mutants accumulate intracellular Ca(2+) and display enhanced sensitivity to the extracellular Mn(2+) concentration, suggesting that Cdc1p might regulate divalent cation homeostasis.