Recent conjugation strategies of small organic fluorophores and ligands for cancer-specific bioimaging.

Conjugation between various small fluorophores and specific ligands has become one of the main strategies for bioimaging in disease diagnosis, medicinal chemistry, immunology, and fluorescence-guided surgery, etc. Herein, we present our review of recent studies relating to molecular fluorescent imaging techniques for various cancers in cell-based and animal-based models. Various organic fluorophores, especially near-infrared (NIR) probes, have been employed with specific ligands.

Sodium and Potassium Relating to Parkinson's Disease and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Alkali metals, especially sodium and potassium, are plentiful and vital in biological systems. They take on important roles in health and disease. Such roles include the regulation of homeostasis, osmosis, blood pressure, electrolytic equilibria, and electric current.

H(+)-Assisted fluorescent differentiation of Cu(+) and Cu(2+): effect of Al(3+)-induced acidity on chemical sensing and generation of two novel and independent logic gating pathways.

A novel Schiff base probe exhibited strong 'turn-ON' fluorescence for Cu(2+) at 345 nm, Al(3+) at 445 nm, and Cu(+) at 360 nm in the presence of Al(3+) in organic solvent (acetonitrile), which allowed for construction of molecular logic gates 'INH' and '1:2 DEMULTIPLEXING.' H(+) generated from Al(3+) contributed greatly to Cu(+) chemosensing based on a redox non-innocence mechanism.

Facile "stop codon" method reveals elevated neuronal toxicity by discrete S87p-α-synuclein oligomers.

Herein, a new method for preparing phosphorylated proteins at specific sites has been applied to α-synuclein (α-Syn). Three different α-Syn species phosphorylated at Serine 87 (S87p-α-Syn), Serine 129 (S129p-α-Syn) and Serine 87/129 (S87p,129p-α-Syn) were prepared through the 'stop codon' method and verified by LC/MS/MS and immunoblotting. Each type of phosphorylated α-Syn was tested for oligomerization trends and cellular toxicity with dopamine (DA), Cu(2+) ions and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate.

Dopamine and Cu+/2+ can induce oligomerization of α-synuclein in the absence of oxygen: Two types of oligomerization mechanisms for α-synuclein and related cell toxicity studies.

α-Synuclein oligomers can induce neurotoxicity and are implicated in Parkinson's disease etiology and disease progression. Many studies have reported α-synuclein oligomerization by dopamine (DA) and transition metal ions, but few studies provide insight into joint influences of DA and Cu2+ . In this study, DA and Cu2+ were coadministered aerobically to measure α-synuclein oligomerization under these conditions.

A novel, selective, and extremely responsive thienyl-based dual fluorogenic probe for tandem superoxide and Hg2+ chemosensing.

Novel, high "turn-on" Hg(2+) and O(2)(-) fluorescence behaviour (∼25-fold) with probes bearing [S(thi)N(py)] and [S(thi)N(py)N(py)] binding receptors, joined by oxidizable sulphides, may involve S-bound transient ROS species; such optical O(2)(-) behaviour operates moderately in neuroblastoma.

Labile zinc-assisted biological phosphate chemosensing and related molecular logic gating interpretations.

Herein, molecular fluorescence 'OFF-ON' behavior with aqueous addition of biological phosphate and Zn(2+) is studied with Zn(2)(slys)(2)Cl(2) [H(2)slys = 6-amino-2-{(2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino}hexanoic acid], a fluorescent water-soluble complex, using various spectroscopic tools (e.g., (31)P NMR, UV-vis, emission, and CD spectroscopy) at the micromolar level.

Interplay of salicylaldehyde, lysine, and M2+ ions on α-synuclein aggregation: cancellation of aggregation effects and determination of salicylaldehyde neurotoxicity.

In this study, α-synuclein was treated in vitro with salicylaldehyde (SA), lysine (lys) and M(n+) (Cu(2+) or Zn(2+)) in various ratios. SA induced aggregation of α-syn in the ratio of 1:500 (α-syn:SA) after incubation (pH 7.4, PBS buffer, 16-24h).