Microscopic observation of magnetic bacteria in the magnetic field of a rotating permanent magnet.

Magnetotactic bacteria are ubiquitous and can be found in both freshwater and marine environments. Due to intracellular chains of magnetic single domain particles, they behave like swimming compass needles. In external magnetic fields like the Earth's magnetic field, a torque is acting on the chain.

Structure-activity relationships of phenylalkylamines as agonist ligands for 5-HT(2A) receptors.

Agonist activation of central 5-HT(2A) receptors results in diverse effects, such as hallucinations and changes of consciousness. Recent findings indicate that activation of the 5-HT(2A) receptor also leads to interesting physiological responses, possibly holding therapeutic value. Selective agonists are needed to study the full therapeutic potential of this receptor.

Synthesis, structure-activity relationships, and biological properties of 1-heteroaryl-4-[omega-(1H-indol-3-yl)alkyl]piperazines, novel potential antipsychotics combining potent dopamine D2 receptor antagonism with potent serotonin reuptake inhibition.

A series of novel bicyclic 1-heteroaryl-4-[omega-(1H-indol-3-yl)alkyl]piperazines was synthesized and evaluated on binding to dopamine D(2) receptors and serotonin reuptake sites. This class of compounds proved to be potent in vitro dopamine D(2) receptor antagonists and in addition were highly active as serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Some key representatives showed potent pharmacological in vivo activities after oral dosing in both the antagonism of apomorphine-induced climbing and the potentiation of 5-HTP-induced behavior in mice.

SLV310, a novel, potential antipsychotic, combining potent dopamine D2 receptor antagonism with serotonin reuptake inhibition.

In this paper, SLV310 is presented as a novel, potential antipsychotic displaying the interesting combination of potent dopamine D(2) receptor antagonism and serotonin reuptake receptor inhibition in one molecule. As such, SLV310 could be useful in treating a broad range of symptoms in schizophrenia. This paper describes the structure-activity relationship in a series of compounds leading to SLV310 (6b, 2-[4-[4-(5-fluoro-1H-indol-3-yl)-3,6-dihydro-2H-pyridin-1-yl]-butyl]-phthalimide) together with pharmacological data showing the unique profile of this compound.