Tumor acidosis enhances cytotoxic effects and autophagy inhibition by salinomycin on cancer cell lines and cancer stem cells.

Sustained autophagy contributes to the metabolic adaptation of cancer cells to hypoxic and acidic microenvironments. Since cells in such environments are resistant to conventional cytotoxic drugs, inhibition of autophagy represents a promising therapeutic strategy in clinical oncology. We previously reported that the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), an autophagy inhibitor under clinical investigation is strongly impaired in acidic tumor environments, due to poor uptake of the drug, a phenomenon widely associated with drug resistance towards many weak bases.

Distribution and Molecular Characterization of Human Adenovirus and Epstein-Barr Virus Infections in Tonsillar Lymphocytes Isolated from Patients Diagnosed with Tonsillar Diseases.

Surgically removed palatine tonsils provide a conveniently accessible source of T and B lymphocytes to study the interplay between foreign pathogens and the host immune system. In this study we have characterised the distribution of human adenovirus (HAdV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in purified tonsillar T and B cell-enriched fractions isolated from three patient age groups diagnosed with tonsillar hypertrophy and chronic/recurrent tonsillitis. HAdV DNA was detected in 93 out of 111 patients (84%), while EBV DNA was detected in 58 patients (52%).

Selection of optimal chelator improves the contrast of GRPR imaging using bombesin analogue RM26.

Bombesin (BN) analogs bind with high affinity to gastrin-releasing peptide receptors (GRPRs) that are up-regulated in prostate cancer and can be used for the visualization of prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of radionuclide-chelator complexes on the biodistribution pattern of the 111In-labeled bombesin antagonist PEG2-D-Phe-Gln-Trp-Ala-Val-Gly-His-Sta-Leu-NH2 (PEG2-RM26) and to identify an optimal construct for SPECT imaging. A series of RM26 analogs N-terminally conjugated with NOTA, NODAGA, DOTA and DOTAGA via a PEG2 spacer were radiolabeled with 111In and evaluated both in vitro and in vivo.

Lipoprotein binding to anionic biopolyelectrolytes and the effect of glucose on nanoplaque formation in arteriosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease.

Arteriosclerosis with its clinical sequelae (cardiac infarction, stroke, peripheral arterial occlusive disease) and vascular/Alzheimer dementia not only result in far more than half of all deaths but also represent dramatic economic problems. The reason is, among others, that diabetes mellitus is an independent risk factor for both disorders, and the number of diabetics strongly increases worldwide. More than one-half of infants in the first 6months of life have already small collections of macrophages and macrophages filled with lipid droplets in susceptible segments of the coronary arteries.

Sulfonyl Azides as Precursors in Ligand-Free Palladium-Catalyzed Synthesis of Sulfonyl Carbamates and Sulfonyl Ureas and Synthesis of Sulfonamides.

An efficient synthesis of sulfonyl carbamates and sulfonyl ureas from sulfonyl azides employing a palladium-catalyzed carbonylation protocol has been developed. Using a two-chamber system, sulfonyl azides, PdCl2, and CO gas, released ex situ from Mo(CO)6, were assembled to generate sulfonyl isocyanates in situ, and alcohols and aryl amines were exploited as nucleophiles to afford a broad range of sulfonyl carbamates and sulfonyl ureas. A protocol for the direct formation of substituted sulfonamides from sulfonyl azides and amines via nucleophilic substitution was also developed.

Computational prediction of formulation strategies for beyond-rule-of-5 compounds.

The physicochemical properties of some contemporary drug candidates are moving towards higher molecular weight, and coincidentally also higher lipophilicity in the quest for biological selectivity and specificity. These physicochemical properties move the compounds towards beyond rule-of-5 (B-r-o-5) chemical space and often result in lower water solubility. For such B-r-o-5 compounds non-traditional delivery strategies (i.

Efficient Isolation Protocol for B and T Lymphocytes from Human Palatine Tonsils.

Tonsils form a part of the immune system providing the first line of defense against inhaled pathogens. Usually the term "tonsils" refers to the palatine tonsils situated at the lateral walls of the oral part of the pharynx. Surgically removed palatine tonsils provide a convenient accessible source of B and T lymphocytes to study the interplay between foreign pathogens and the host immune system.

Models for Predicting Drug Absorption From Oral Lipid-Based Formulations.

In this review, we describe the in vitro tools currently used to identify when a lipid-based formulation has the potential to deliver a poorly water-soluble drug via the oral route. We describe the extent to which these tools reflect the in vivo performance of the formulation and, more importantly, we present strategies that we foresee will improve the in vitro-in vivo correlations. We also present emerging computational methods that are likely to allow large parts of the formulation development to be carried out in the computer rather than in the test tube.

Tools for Early Prediction of Drug Loading in Lipid-Based Formulations.

Identification of the usefulness of lipid-based formulations (LBFs) for delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs is at date mainly experimentally based. In this work we used a diverse drug data set, and more than 2,000 solubility measurements to develop experimental and computational tools to predict the loading capacity of LBFs. Computational models were developed to enable in silico prediction of solubility, and hence drug loading capacity, in the LBFs.

A suppressive effect of Sp1 recruitment to the first leader 5' splice site region on L4-22K-mediated activation of the adenovirus major late promoter.

Transcription from the adenovirus major late promoter (MLP) requires binding of late phase-specific factors to the so-called DE element located approximately 100 base pairs downstream of the MLP transcriptional start site. The adenovirus L4-22K protein binds to the DE element and stimulates transcription from the MLP via a DE sequence-dependent mechanism. Here we use a transient expression approach to show that L4-22K binds to an additional site downstream of the MLP start site, the so-called R1 region, which includes the major late first leader 5' splice site.

Molecular blueprint of allosteric binding sites in a homologue of the agonist-binding domain of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

The α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) belongs to the family of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels and is involved in fast synaptic signaling. In this study, we take advantage of a recently identified chimera of the extracellular domain of the native α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and acetylcholine binding protein, termed α7-AChBP. This chimeric receptor was used to conduct an innovative fragment-library screening in combination with X-ray crystallography to identify allosteric binding sites.

CCL2 and CCL5 Are Novel Therapeutic Targets for Estrogen-Dependent Breast Cancer.

Purpose: Novel therapeutic targets of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancers are urgently needed because current antiestrogen therapy causes severe adverse effects, nearly 50% of patients are intrinsically resistant, and the majority of recurrences have maintained ER expression. We investigated the role of estrogen-dependent chemokine expression and subsequent cancer growth in human tissues and experimental breast cancer models.

Experimental Design: For in vivo sampling of human chemokines, microdialysis was used in breast cancers of women or normal human breast tissue before and after tamoxifen therapy.

Molecular and Biochemical Analysis of Chalcone Synthase from Freesia hybrid in flavonoid biosynthetic pathway.

Chalcone synthase (CHS) catalyzes the first committed step in the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. In this study, the cDNA (FhCHS1) encoding CHS from Freesia hybrida was successfully isolated and analyzed. Multiple sequence alignments showed that both the conserved CHS active site residues and CHS signature sequence were found in the deduced amino acid sequence of FhCHS1.

Parallel protein detection by solid-phase proximity ligation assay with real-time PCR or sequencing.

Proximity ligation assays are a group of protein detection techniques in which reagents with affinity for target proteins, typically antibodies, are coupled to short strands of DNA. DNA-modified affinity reagents are combined in assays constructed such that the coordinated binding of individual target molecules or complexes of interacting proteins by two or more of the reagents, followed by DNA ligation and/or polymerization reactions, gives rise to amplifiable DNA reporter strands. Proximity ligation assays have been shown to exhibit excellent sensitivity in single and multiplexed protein assays for individual or interacting proteins, both in solution and in situ.

A microwave-assisted multicomponent synthesis of substituted 3,4-dihydroquinazolinones.

A microwave-assisted, multicomponent protocol for the synthesis of substituted 3,4-dihydroquinazolinones via a novel cascade imine/cyclization/aza-Henry reaction sequence is reported. Starting from o-formyl carbamates, a series of structurally diverse 3,4-dihydroquinazolinones was synthesized via a cyclic iminium ion intermediate in moderate to excellent yields. Notably, the reaction is fast, flexible, simple to perform and tolerates a variety of functional groups.

Combined lowering of low grade systemic inflammation and insulin resistance in metabolic syndrome patients treated with Ginkgo biloba.

In a clinical pilot study with eleven metabolic syndrome patients, a simultaneous decrease in hs-CRP from 8.85 ± 4.09 to 4.

Concomitant intake of alcohol may increase the absorption of poorly soluble drugs.

Ethanol can increase the solubility of poorly soluble and hence present a higher drug concentration in the gastrointestinal tract. This may produce a faster and more effective absorption resulting in variable and/or high drug plasma concentrations, both of which can lead to adverse drug reactions. In this work we therefore studied the solubility and absorption effects of nine diverse compounds when ethanol was present.

Investigation of the prerequisites for the optimization of specific plasma protein binding as a strategy for the reduction of first-pass hepatic metabolism.

1. It is hypothesized that the deliberate structural tailoring of compounds designed for drug use to increase the specific plasma protein binding can be used to reduce first-pass hepatic metabolism. To test the feasibility of this hypothesis, a dataset of drugs with plasma protein binding of 90% or above divided into three classes including 50 acids, 44 bases and 69 neutrals was analyzed.

Chiral phase-HPLC separation of hydroperoxyoctadecenoic acids and their biosynthesis by fatty acid dioxygenases.

Fatty acid oxygenases are often characterized by steric analysis of their hydroxy or hydroperoxy metabolites. Chiral phase-HPLC (CP-HPLC) can be used to separate enantiomeric hydroperoxyoctadecenoic acids. This method is based on analysis of seven octadecenoic fatty acids with double bonds at positions 6Z to 13Z, which were oxidized to hydroperoxides by photooxidation.

Palladium(II)-catalyzed desulfitative synthesis of aryl ketones from sodium arylsulfinates and nitriles: scope, limitations, and mechanistic studies.

A fast and efficient protocol for the palladium(II)-catalyzed production of aryl ketones from sodium arylsulfinates and various organic nitriles under controlled microwave irradiation has been developed. The wide scope of the reaction has been demonstrated by combining 14 sodium arylsulfinates and 21 nitriles to give 55 examples of aryl ketones. One additional example illustrated that, through the choice of the nitrile reactant, benzofurans are also accessible.

Small RNA sequence analysis of adenovirus VA RNA-derived miRNAs reveals an unexpected serotype-specific difference in structure and abundance.

Human adenoviruses (HAds) encode for one or two highly abundant virus-associated RNAs, designated VA RNAI and VA RNAII, which fold into stable hairpin structures resembling miRNA precursors. Here we show that the terminal stem of the VA RNAs originating from Ad4, Ad5, Ad11 and Ad37, all undergo Dicer dependent processing into virus-specific miRNAs (so-called mivaRNAs). We further show that the mivaRNA duplex is subjected to a highly asymmetric RISC loading with the 3'-strand from all VA RNAs being the favored strand, except for the Ad37 VA RNAII, where the 5'-mivaRNAII strand was preferentially assembled into RISC.

Epoxy alcohol synthase of the rice blast fungus represents a novel subfamily of dioxygenase-cytochrome P450 fusion enzymes.

The genome of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae codes for two proteins with N-terminal dioxygenase (DOX) and C-terminal cytochrome P450 (CYP) domains, respectively. One of them, MGG_13239, was confirmed as 7,8-linoleate diol synthase by prokaryotic expression. The other recombinant protein (MGG_10859) possessed prominent 10R-DOX and epoxy alcohol synthase (EAS) activities.

Synthesis of sulfonyl azides via diazotransfer using an imidazole-1-sulfonyl azide salt: scope and ¹⁵N NMR labeling experiments.

Imidazole-1-sulfonyl azide hydrogen sulfate is presented as an efficient reagent for the synthesis of sulfonyl azides from primary sulfonamides. The described method is experimentally simple and high-yielding and does not require the addition of Cu salts. Furthermore, (15)N NMR mechanistic studies show the reaction proceeds via a diazo transfer mechanism.

The Escherichia coli CysZ is a pH dependent sulfate transporter that can be inhibited by sulfite.

The Escherichia coli inner membrane protein CysZ mediates the sulfate uptake subsequently utilized for the synthesis of sulfur-containing compounds in cells. Here we report the purification and functional characterization of CysZ. Using Isothermal Titration Calorimetry, we have observed interactions between CysZ and its putative substrate sulfate.

Overfeeding polyunsaturated and saturated fat causes distinct effects on liver and visceral fat accumulation in humans.

Excess ectopic fat storage is linked to type 2 diabetes. The importance of dietary fat composition for ectopic fat storage in humans is unknown. We investigated liver fat accumulation and body composition during overfeeding saturated fatty acids (SFAs) or polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).