Novel substituted 4-phenyl-[1,3]dioxanes: potent and selective orexin receptor 2 (OX(2)R) antagonists

Orexins, also termed hypocretins, consist of two neuropeptide agonists (orexin A and B) interacting with two known G-protein coupled receptors (OX(1)R and OX(2)R). In addition to other biological functions, the orexin-2 receptor is thought to be an important modulator of sleep and wakefulness. Herein we describe a series of novel, selective OX(2)R antagonists consisting of substituted 4-phenyl-[1,3]dioxanes. One such antagonist is compound 9, 1-(2,4-dibromo-phenyl)-3-((4S,5S)-2,2-dimethyl-4-phenyl-[1,3]dioxan-5-yl)-urea, which is bound by the OX(2)R with a pK(i) of 8.3, has a pK(b) of 7.9, and is 600-fold selective for the OX(2)R over the OX(1)R.     

Binding of phlorizin to the isolated C-terminal extramembranous loop of the Na+/glucose cotransporter assessed by intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence

Phlorizin, a phloretin 2'-glucoside, is a potent inhibitor of the Na(+)/glucose cotransporter (SGLT1). On the basis of transport studies in intact cells, a binding site for phlorizin was suggested in the region between amino acids 604-610 of the C-terminal loop 13. To further investigate phlorizin binding titration experiments of the intrinsic Trp fluorescence of isolated wild-type loop 13 and two mutated loops (Y604K and G609K) were carried out. Phlorizin (135 microM) produced approximately 40% quenching of the fluorescence of wild-type loop 13; quenching could also be observed with the two mutated loops. The apparent K(d) was lowest for the wild-type loop 13 (K(d) approximately 23 microM), followed by mutant G609K (57 microM) and mutant Y604K (70 microM). Binding of phlorizin was further confirmed by a decrease of the accessibility of loop 13 to the collisional quencher acrylamide. The interaction involves the aromatic moiety of the aglucone since phloretin (the aglucone of phlorizin) showed almost the same effects as phlorizin, while d-glucose did not. MALDI-TOF experiments revealed that loop 13 contained a disulfide bond between Cys 560 and Cys 608 that is very important for phlorizin-dependent fluorescence quenching. These studies provide direct evidence that loop 13 is a site (important amino acids including 604-609) for the molecular interaction between SGLT1 and phlorizin. They confirm that the aglucone part of the glucoside is responsible for this interaction.     

Lipopolysaccharide down-regulates inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in swine heart in vivo

Studies of the regulation of iNOS expression have provided many contradictory results. Comparing iNOS expression profile between cell types or organs of the same animal under the same experimental conditions may provide an explanation for these conflicting results. We have examined iNOS mRNA and protein expression in heart and liver of the same group of pigs. We found that there is a sharp difference in iNOS expression between heart and liver. The iNOS mRNA and protein was constitutively expressed in the heart at high level, but was not detectable in the liver of the same control animal. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 100 microg/kg, i.v.) caused a marked iNOS induction in the liver, but significantly down-regulated iNOS expression in the heart. This differential iNOS expression appears to be physiologically relevant, since LPS and the iNOS inhibitor, S-methylisothiourea, exerted different effects on hepatic and myocardial blood flow. Our data demonstrate a fundamental difference in iNOS regulation in the heart and liver of swine, and may explain the contradictory data on the regulation of iNOS expression.     

Gene therapy for hemophilia B mediated by recombinant adeno-associated viral vector with hFIXR338A, a high catalytic activity mutation of human coagulation factor IX

A mutant human factor IX with arginine at 338 residual changed to alanine (hFIXR338A) by site-directed mutagenesis was introduced into AAV vectors, and a recombinant adeno-associ-ated viral vector containing hFIXR338A, prepared by rHSV/AAV hybrid helper virus system, was directly introduced to the hind leg muscle of factor IX knock out mice. The expression and the biological activity of human factor IX mutant, hFIXR338A, and the immune response against it in the treated mice were assayed and detected. The results showed that (i) the high-level expression of human factor IX mutant protein, hFIXR338A, has been detected in rAAV-hFIXR338A treated hemophilia B mice and lasted more than 15 weeks; (ii) the clotting activity of hFIXR338A in plasma is 34.2%± 5.23%, which is remarkably higher than that of (14.27%±3.4%) of wild type hFIX treated mice in the activated partial thromboplastin assay; (iii) immune response against factor IX R338A was absent, with no factor IX mutant protein (hFIXR338A) inhibitors deve     

Exploring the stereochemistry of CXCR4-peptide recognition and inhibiting HIV-1 entry with D-peptides derived from chemokines

Chemokine receptor CXCR4 plays an important role in the immune system and the cellular entry of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). To probe the stereospecificity of the CXCR4-ligand interface, d-amino acid peptides derived from natural chemokines, viral macrophage inflammatory protein II (vMIP-II) and stromal cell-derived factor-1alpha (SDF-1alpha), were synthesized and found to compete with (125)I-SDF-1alpha and monoclonal antibody 12G5 binding to CXCR4 with potency and selectivity comparable with or higher than their l-peptide counterparts. This was surprising because of the profoundly different side chain topologies between d- and l-enantiomers, which circular dichroism spectroscopy showed adopt mirror image conformations. Further direct binding experiments using d-peptide labeled with fluorescein (designated as FAM-DV1) demonstrated that d- and l-peptides shared similar or at least overlapping binding site(s) on the CXCR4 receptor. Structure-activity analyses of related peptide analogs of mixed chiralities or containing alanine replacements revealed specific residues at the N-terminal half of the peptides as key binding determinants. Acting as CXCR4 antagonists and with much higher biological stability than l-counterparts, the d-peptides showed significant activity in inhibiting the replication of CXCR4-dependent HIV-1 strains. These results show the remarkable stereochemical flexibility of the CXCR4-peptide interface. Further studies to understand the mechanism of this unusual feature of the CXCR4 binding surface might aid the development of novel CXCR4-binding molecules like the d-peptides that have high affinity and stability.     

A novel and highly efficient production system for recombinant adeno-associated virus vector

Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) has proven to be a promising gene delivery vector for human gene therapy. However, its application has been limited by difficulty in obtaining enough quantities of high-titer vector stocks. In this paper, a novel and highly efficient production system for rAAV is described. A recombinant herpes simplex virus type 1 (rHSV-1) designated HSV1-rc/AUL2, which expressed adeno-associated virus type2 (AAV-2) Rep and Cap proteins, was constructed previously. The data confirmed that its functions were to support rAAV replication and packaging, and the generated rAAV was infectious. Meanwhile, an rAAV proviral cell line designated BHK/SG2, which carried the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene expression cassette, was established by transfecting BHK-21 cells with rAAV vector plasmid pSNAV-2-GFP. Infecting BHK/SG2 with HSV1-rc/AUL2 at an MOI of 0.1 resulted in the optimal yields of rAAV, reaching 250 transducing unit (TU) or 4.28×104 particles per cell. Therefore, compared     

Non-imidazole heterocyclic histamine H3 receptor antagonists

Continued exploration of the SAR around the lead imidazopyridine histamine H(3) antagonist 1 has led to the discovery of several related series of heterocyclic histamine H(3) antagonists. The synthesis and SAR of indolizine, indole and pyrazolopyridine based compounds are now described.     

奥得福尔制剂的药效学研究与临床

对奥得福尔制剂的药效学定量杀菌试验、抗病毒试验及临床应用的结果表明： 得福尔制剂原液,１：１稀释液及１：５稀释液对大肠杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌和白色念珠菌作用１０ｍｉｎ,杀灭率均可达９９．９％以上;消毒液放置室温下稳定,有机物的存在对杀灭作用有轻度影响,但杀灭率仍可达９９．９％以上;体外抗病毒试验结果表明,该制剂的主要抗病毒功效成分－黄精多糖,对单纯疱疹病毒的空斑抑制率达到１００％;稳定性试验表明,该     

细胞周期调控因子在非小细胞肺癌作用的研究

目前研究认为P16、视网膜母细胞瘤基因（Rb）、细胞周期蛋白（CylinD1）及细胞周期蛋白依赖性激酶（CDK4）几种细胞周期调控因子相互作用构成一条重要的细胞周期调节通路,为了解P16、PRb、CyclinD1种调控因子在非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）中的作用,本实验采用免疫组织化学方法对38例原发性NSCLC中上述三种因子的表达进行了研究。结果,其中54％的肺癌组织出现CyclinD1的过度表达,P16、Rb的阳性表达率分别为47．4％和76．3％。我们发现,在50％Rb阳性病例中,P16蛋白不表达或表达水平很低,在21％PRb阴性病例中,P16蛋白具有较高的表达水平,本研究结果提示：1．PRb与P16蛋白在NSCLC中的表达呈负相关,P16的表达可能受PRb负调控,2．PRb的失活与CyclinD1过度表达共同存在于NSCLC中;3．NSCLC的发生涉及P16－Rb－CyclinD1／CDK4调节通路多个调控因子的异常。     

rIL-2工程菌诱导阶段细胞再循环培养的研究

为了减少rIL-2工程菌高密度培养时乙酸的积累,在诱导阶段对该工程菌进行细胞再循环培养的研究,比较了细胞再循环补料液、pH、细胞循环培养时间段对工程菌的生长及rIL-2表达的影响。结果表明在菌密度D_(600)为50时,细胞再循环补料液中酵母抽提物与胰蛋白胨浓度为发酵培养基的5倍就能满足rIL-2表达的需求,同时选择诱导后4～6h之间的细胞再循环培养能有效地防止乙酸的过高积累并减少营养物质的损失,有利于rIL-2的表达。根据以上研究结果得到了rIL-2工程菌诱导阶段细胞再循环培养方法,使得在诱导前菌密度D_(600)为50左右时rIL-2的表达水平约为40％。