Evaluation of the antifouling properties of 3-alyklpyridine compounds

One of the most promising alternative technologies to antifouling (AF) biocides based on toxic heavy metals lies in the development of natural eco-friendly biocides. The present study evaluates the AF potential of structurally different compounds containing a 3-alkylpyridine moiety. The products, namely poly 3-alkylpyridinium salts, saraine, and haminols, were either extracted or derived from natural sources (the sponges Haliclona sp. and Reniera sarai and the mollusc Haminoea fusari), or obtained by chemical synthesis. All the molecules tested showed generally good anti-settlement activity against larvae of the barnacle Amphibalanus (=Balanus) amphitrite (EC(50) values between 0.19 and 3.61 μg ml(-1) and low toxicity (LC(50) values ranging from 2.04 to over 100 μg ml(-1)) with non-target organisms. For the first time, the AF potential of a synthetic monomeric 3-alkylpyridine was demonstrated, suggesting that chemical synthesis is as a realistic way to produce large amounts of these compounds for future research and development of environmentally-friendly AF biocides.     

Red porgy (Pagrus pagrus) larval feeding performance and behavior at the onset of exogenous feeding

The feeding performance and behavior at the onset of exogenous feeding, 3 to 4 days after hatching (DAH), were studied in red porgy Pagrus pagrus larvae. Similar feeding efficiency and intensity were achieved for two feeding treatments (live or freeze-dried rotifers) suggesting that prey movement is not decisive for their detection and capture and demonstrating that at first feeding red porgy larvae can ingest inert food. Larvae feeding performance was not affected by a diet shift between treatments. Based on maximum rotifers consumption and gut evacuation time at 18 °C, the daily ration was estimated as 14.035 μg, considering 14 h of feeding and a 25% egg:female rotifer ratio. Larval swimming activity measured by video recording showed a close association with gut fullness and similar swimming patterns for 3 and 4 DAH larvae. However, 20.3% larger mouth gape and 54.6% higher swimming speed of the older larvae should provide a better feeding performance and more energy needed for growth.     

Volatile organic compounds emissions in Norway spruce (Picea abies) in response to temperature changes

Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from Norway spruce ( Picea abies ) saplings were monitored in response to a temperature ramp. Online measurements were made with a proton transfer reaction – mass spectrometer under controlled conditions, together with plant physiological variables. Masses corresponding to acetic acid and acetone were the most emitted VOCs. The emission rates of m137 (monoterpenes), m59 (acetone), m33 (methanol), m83 (hexanal, hexenals), m85 (hexanol) and m153 (methyl salicylate, MeSa) increased exponentially with temperature. The emission of m61 (acetic acid) and m45 (acetaldehyde), however, increased with temperature only until saturation around 30°C, closely following the pattern of transpiration rates. These results indicate that algorithms that use only incident irradiance and leaf temperature as drivers to predict VOC emission rates may be inadequate for VOCs with lower H, and consequently higher sensitivity to stomatal conductance.     

Coupling immunomagnetic separation on magnetic beads with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry for detection of staphylococcal enterotoxin B

The growing importance of mass spectrometry for the identification and characterization of bacterial protein toxins is a consequence of the improved sensitivity and specificity of mass spectrometry-based techniques, especially when these techniques are combined with affinity methods. Here we describe a novel method based on the use of immunoaffinity capture and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry for selective purification and detection of staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). SEB is a potent bacterial protein toxin responsible for food poisoning, as well as a potential biological warfare agent. Unambiguous detection of SEB at low-nanogram levels in complex matrices is thus an important objective. In this work, an affinity molecular probe was prepared by immobilizing anti-SEB antibody on the surface of para-toluene-sulfonyl-functionalized monodisperse magnetic particles and used to selectively isolate SEB. Immobilization and affinity capture procedures were optimized to maximize the density of anti-SEB immunoglobulin G and the amount of captured SEB, respectively, on the surface of magnetic beads. SEB could be detected directly "on beads" by placing the molecular probe on the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization target plate or, alternatively, "off beads" after its acidic elution. Application of this method to complex biological matrices was demonstrated by selective detection of SEB present in different matrices, such as cultivation media of Staphylococcus aureus strains and raw milk samples.     

Production and fungitoxic activity of Sch 642305, a secondary metabolite of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Penicillium canescens</Emphasis>

Production of fungitoxic extrolites was evaluated in culture filtrates of several isolates belonging to Penicillium canescens and P. janczewskii that showed some extent of inhibitory activity against the plant pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani. In addition to griseofulvin and dechlorogriseofulvin that are already known in these species, curvulinic acid, previously unreported in Penicillium, was produced by all isolates assayed. Another extrolite recently characterized from a P. verrucosum strain by the name of Sch 642305 was detected in 5 isolates of P. canescens only. The purified compound completely inhibited mycelial growth of isolates of Rhizoctonia solani and other plant pathogenic fungi in␣vitro. The role of this extrolite as a possible biochemical determinant of antagonism toward plant pathogenic fungi, and implications concerning chemotaxonomy are discussed.     

Enhanced Tethered-Particle Motion Analysis Reveals Viscous Effects

Tethered-particle motion experiments do not require expensive or technically complex hardware, and increasing numbers of researchers are adopting this methodology to investigate the topological effects of agents that act on the tethering polymer or the characteristics of the polymer itself. These investigations depend on accurate measurement and interpretation of changes in the effective length of the tethering polymer (often DNA). However, the bead size, tether length, and buffer affect the confined diffusion of the bead in this experimental system. To evaluate the effects of these factors, improved measurements to calibrate the two-dimensional range of motion (excursion) versus DNA length were carried out. Microspheres of 160 or 240 nm in radius were tethered by DNA molecules ranging from 225 to 3477 basepairs in length in aqueous buffers containing 100 mM potassium glutamate and 8 mM MgCl₂ or 10 mM Tris-HCl and 200 mM KCl, with or without 0.5% Tween added to the buffer, and the motion was recorded. Different buffers altered the excursion of beads on identical DNA tethers. Buffer with only 10 mM NaCl and >5 mM magnesium greatly reduced excursion. Glycerol added to increase viscosity slowed confined diffusion of the tethered beads but did not change excursion. The confined-diffusion coefficients for all tethered beads were smaller than those expected for freely diffusing beads and decreased for shorter tethers. Tethered-particle motion is a sensitive framework for diffusion experiments in which small beads on long leashes most closely resemble freely diffusing, untethered beads.     

Cross-species Proteomics Reveals Specific Modulation of Signaling in Cancer and Stromal Cells by Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) Inhibitors

The tumor microenvironment plays key roles in cancer biology, but its impact on the regulation of signaling pathway activity in cancer cells has not been systemically investigated. We designed an analytical strategy that allows differential analysis of signaling between cancer and stromal cells present in tumor xenografts. We used this approach to investigate how in vivo growth conditions and PI3K inhibitors regulate pathway activities in both cancer and stromal cell populations. We found that, despite inducing more modest changes in protein expression, in vivo growing conditions extensively rewired protein kinase networks in cancer cells. As a result, different sets of phosphorylation sites were modulated by PI3K inhibitors in cancer cells growing in tumors relative to when these cells were in culture. The p110δ PI3K-selective compound CAL-101 (Idelalisib) did not inhibit markers of PI3K activity in cancer or stromal cells; however, unexpectedly, it induced phosphorylation on SQ motifs in both subpopulations of tumor cells in vivo but not in vitro. Thus, the interaction between cancer cells and the stroma modulated the ability of PI3K inhibitors to induce the activation of apoptosis in solid tumors. Our study provides proof-of-principle of a proteomics workflow for measuring signaling specifically in cancer and stromal cells and for investigating how cancer biochemistry is modulated in vivo.Solid tumors contain a heterogeneous population of cells. Transformed epithelial cells recruit different types of somatic cells to the tumor microenvironment where they influence varying aspects of cancer biology. The role of heterotypic communication between normal stromal cells and transformed cancer cells is well established (1, 2). Different somatic cell types, including fibroblasts, epithelial cells, and cells of the immune system—all of which are found in tumors—promote cancer cell development by means of gap-junction intercellular communication, direct cell-to-cell contacts, and by the release of growth factors, enzymes, and cytokines that act on neighboring malignant cells (3–6).The tumor microenvironment determines the ability of cancer cells to survive in specific organs and their ability to proliferate and metastasize (7–9). Growth factors released from tumor-associated stromal cells also influence how cancer cells respond to drug administration (10). Therefore, the advancement of targeted cancer therapies requires an understanding of how the tumor microenvironment modulates the biochemistry of transformed cancer cells. In addition, targeting the tumor stroma is emerging as an intriguing concept for the development of anti-cancer therapies (11). It is therefore important to investigate specific effects of compounds in clinical development on stromal cells in addition to those exerted toward malignant cancer cells (12).Here we investigated the effects that changes in growing conditions from a two-dimensional cell culture to an in vivo three-dimensional tumor environment had in modulating protein and phosphoprotein expression in human cancer cells. For this, we used mass spectrometry (MS) to specifically measure cancer and stromal proteomes and phosphoproteomes within mouse tumor xenografts.We also investigated the effects that the pharmacological inhibitors of PI3K, namely GDC-0941 or CAL-101, would have on the phosphoproteomes of stromal cells relative to cancer cells in solid tumors. GDC-0941 is an inhibitor with specificity for class I PI3Ks, whereas CAL-101 specificity is restricted to the p110δ isoform of PI3K (13, 14), which in untransformed tissues is mainly found in leukocytes (15). The PI3K signaling pathway is often deregulated in different cancer types (16), including colorectal cancer (17), and both compounds used in this study are in different stages of clinical development (18–20). PI3K signaling has also been implicated in mediating the effects that the microenvironment has on cancer cells (21).We found that in vivo growth conditions had profound effects on phosphoprotein expression, which was reflected on the phosphorylation sites modulated by PI3K inhibitors in vivo relative to in vitro and in their ability to induce apoptotic markers across these two cell culture conditions.     

2,9-disubstituted-N6-(arylcarbamoyl)-8-azaadenines as new selective A3 adenosine receptor antagonists: synthesis, biochemical and molecular modelling studies

A number of N6-(N-arylcarbamoyl)-2-substituted-9-benzyl-8-azaadenines, obtained by a modification of the synthetic scheme used to prepare selective A1 ligands, by only three or two steps, are described. At first we prepared a series of 2-phenyl-9-benzyl-8-azaadenines having as N6 substituent a variously substituted N-phenylcarbamoyl group. Some of these derivatives demonstrated good affinity towards the A3 subtype but low selectivity. Compounds having p-CF3, p-F and p-OCH3, as substituents on the phenylcarbamoyl group were selected as lead compounds for the second part of this study. Without modifying the N6 substituent, which would assure A3 affinity, we varied the 9 and 2 positions on these molecules to enhance selectivity. Some compounds having a p-methyl group on the 2-phenyl substituent showed a very good affinity and selectivity for the A3 subtype, revealing the first class of A3 adenosine receptor selective antagonists with a bicyclic structure strictly correlated to the adenine nucleus. The molecular modelling work, carried out using the DOCK program, supplied two models which may be useful for a better understanding of the binding modes. Both models highlighted the preferred interacting tautomeric forms of the antagonists for human A1 and A3 receptors.     

Beyond DNA origami: the unfolding prospects of nucleic acid nanotechnology

Nucleic acid nanotechnology exploits the programmable molecular recognition properties of natural and synthetic nucleic acids to assemble structures with nanometer-scale precision. In 2006, DNA origami transformed the field by providing a versatile platform for self-assembly of arbitrary shapes from one long DNA strand held in place by hundreds of short, site-specific (spatially addressable) DNA 'staples'. This revolutionary approach has led to the creation of a multitude of two-dimensional and three-dimensional scaffolds that form the basis for functional nanodevices. Not limited to nucleic acids, these nanodevices can incorporate other structural and functional materials, such as proteins and nanoparticles, making them broadly useful for current and future applications in emerging fields such as nanomedicine, nanoelectronics, and alternative energy.