Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Reversible Reduction (reversible + reduction)
Selected AbstractsOrigin and evolution of the protein-repairing enzymes methionine sulphoxide reductasesBIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, Issue 3 2008Xing-Hai Zhang Abstract The majority of extant life forms thrive in an O2 -rich environment, which unavoidably induces the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during cellular activities. ROS readily oxidize methionine (Met) residues in proteins/peptides to form methionine sulphoxide [Met(O)] that can lead to impaired protein function. Two methionine sulphoxide reductases, MsrA and MsrB, catalyse the reduction of the S and R epimers, respectively, of Met(O) in proteins to Met. The Msr system has two known functions in protecting cells against oxidative damage. The first is to repair proteins that have lost activity due to Met oxidation and the second is to function as part of a scavenger system to remove ROS through the reversible oxidation/reduction of Met residues in proteins. Bacterial, plant and animal cells lacking MsrA are known to be more sensitive to oxidative stress. The Msr system is considered an important cellular defence mechanism to protect against oxidative stress and may be involved in ageing/senescence. MsrA is present in all known eukaryotes and eubacteria and a majority of archaea, reflecting its essential role in cellular life. MsrB is found in all eukaryotes and the majority of eubacteria and archaea but is absent in some eubacteria and archaea, which may imply a less important role of MsrB compared to MsrA. MsrA and MsrB share no sequence or structure homology, and therefore probably emerged as a result of independent evolutionary events. The fact that some archaea lack msr genes raises the question of how these archaea cope with oxidative damage to proteins and consequently of the significance of msr evolution in oxic eukaryotes dealing with oxidative stress. Our best hypothesis is that the presence of ROS-destroying enzymes such as peroxiredoxins and a lower dissolved O2 concentration in those msr -lacking organisms grown at high temperatures might account for the successful survival of these organisms under oxidative stress. [source] Inhibitory Effect of Lamotrigine on A-type Potassium Current in Hippocampal Neuron,Derived H19-7 CellsEPILEPSIA, Issue 7 2004Chin-Wei Huang Summary:,Purpose: We investigated the effects of lamotrigine (LTG) on the rapidly inactivating A-type K+ current (IA) in embryonal hippocampal neurons. Methods: The whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique was applied to investigate the ion currents in cultured hippocampal neuron,derived H19-7 cells in the presence of LTG. Effects of various related compounds on IA in H19-7 cells were compared. Results: LTG (30 ,M,3 mM) caused a reversible reduction in the amplitude of IA. The median inhibitory concentration (IC50) value required for the inhibition of IA by LTG was 160 ,M. 4-Aminopyridine (1 mM), quinidine (30 ,M), and capsaicin (30 ,M) were effective in suppressing the amplitude of IA, whereas tetraethylammonium chloride (1 mM) and gabapentin (100 ,M) had no effect on it. The time course for the inactivation of IA was changed to the biexponential process during cell exposure to LTG (100 ,M). LTG (300 ,M) could shift the steady-state inactivation of IA to a more negative membrane potential by approximately ,10 mV, although it had no effect on the slope of the inactivation curve. Moreover, LTG (100 ,M) produced a significant prolongation in the recovery of IA inactivation. Therefore in addition to the inhibition of voltage-dependent Na+ channels, LTG could interact with the A-type K+ channels to suppress the amplitude of IA. The blockade of IA by LTG does not simply reduce current magnitude, but alters current kinetics, suggesting a state-dependent blockade. LTG might have a higher affinity to the inactivated state than to the resting state of the IA channel. Conclusions: This study suggests that in hippocampal neurons, during exposure to LTG, the LTG-mediated inhibition of these K+ channels could be one of the ionic mechanisms underlying the increased neuronal excitability. [source] PACAP inhibits delayed rectifier potassium current via a cAMP/PKA transduction pathway: evidence for the involvement of IK in the anti-apoptotic action of PACAPEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 6 2004Y. A. Mei Abstract Activation of potassium (K+) currents plays a critical role in the control of programmed cell death. Because pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) has been shown to inhibit the apoptotic cascade in the cerebellar cortex during development, we have investigated the effect of PACAP on K+ currents in cultured cerebellar granule cells using the patch-clamp technique in the whole-cell configuration. Two types of outward K+ currents, a transient K+ current (IA) and a delayed rectifier K+ current (IK) were characterized using two different voltage protocols and specific inhibitors of K+ channels. Application of PACAP induced a reversible reduction of the IK amplitude, but did not affect IA, while the PACAP-related peptide vasoactive intestinal polypeptide had no effect on either types of K+ currents. Repeated applications of PACAP induced gradual attenuation of the electrophysiological response. In the presence of guanosine 5,-[,thio]triphosphate (GTP,S), PACAP provoked a marked and irreversible IK depression, whereas cell dialysis with guanosine 5,-[,thio]diphosphate GDP,S totally abolished the effect of PACAP. Pre-treatment of the cells with pertussis toxin did not modify the effect of PACAP on IK. In contrast, cholera toxin suppressed the PACAP-induced inhibition of IK. Exposure of granule cells to dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate (dbcAMP) mimicked the inhibitory effect of PACAP on IK. Addition of the specific protein kinase A inhibitor H89 in the patch pipette solution prevented the reduction of IK induced by both PACAP and dbcAMP. PACAP provoked a sustained increase of the resting membrane potential in cerebellar granule cells cultured either in high or low KCl-containing medium, and this long-term depolarizing effect of PACAP was mimicked by the IK specific blocker tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA). In addition, pre-incubation of granule cells with TEA suppressed the effect of PACAP on resting membrane potential. TEA mimicked the neuroprotective effect of PACAP against ethanol-induced apoptotic cell death, and the increase of caspase-3 activity observed after exposure of granule cells to ethanol was also significantly inhibited by TEA. Taken together, the present results demonstrate that, in rat cerebellar granule cells, PACAP reduces the delayed outward rectifier K+ current by activating a type 1 PACAP (PAC1) receptor coupled to the adenylyl cyclase/protein kinase A pathway through a cholera toxin-sensitive Gs protein. Our data also show that PACAP and TEA induce long-term depolarization of the resting membrane potential, promote cell survival and inhibit caspase-3 activity, suggesting that PACAP-evoked inhibition of IK contributes to the anti-apoptotic effect of the peptide on cerebellar granule cells. [source] Effective inhibition of melanosome transfer to keratinocytes by lectins and niacinamide is reversibleEXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 7 2005Amanda Greatens Abstract:, Skin pigmentation results in part from the transfer of melanized melanosomes synthesized by melanocytes to neighboring keratinocytes. Plasma membrane lectins and their glycoconjugates expressed by these epidermal cells are critical molecules involved in this transfer process. In addition, the derivative of vitamin B3, niacinamide, can inhibit melanosome transfer and induce skin lightening. We investigated the effects of these molecules on the viability of melanocytes and keratinocytes and on the reversibility of melanosome-transfer inhibition induced by these agents using an in vitro melanocyte,keratinocyte coculture model system. While lectins and neoglycoproteins could induce apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner to melanocytes or keratinocytes in monoculture, similar dosages of the lectins, as opposed to neoglycoproteins, did not induce apoptosis to either cell type when treated in coculture. The dosages of lectins and niacinamide not affecting cell viability produced an inhibitory effect on melanosome transfer, when used either alone or together in cocultures of melanocytes,keratinocytes. Cocultures treated with lectins or niacinamide resumed normal melanosome transfer in 3 days after removal of the inhibitor, while cocultures treated with a combination of lectins and niacinamide demonstrated a lag in this recovery. Subsequently, we assessed the effect of niacinamide on facial hyperpigmented spots using a vehicle-controlled, split-faced design human clinical trial. Topical application of niacinamide resulted in a dose-dependent and reversible reduction in hyperpigmented lesions. These results suggest that lectins and niacinamide at concentrations that do not affect cell viability are reversible inhibitors of melanosome transfer. [source] Electroactive Films of Multicomponent Building Blocks,ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 5 2007I. Yildiz Abstract A ligand consisting of a 2,2,-bipyridine core and two 4,4,-bipyridinium arms terminated by a thiol group is prepared following a multistep synthetic procedure. Two of these ligands assemble around a single CuI center as a result of the tetrahedral coordination of their 2,2,-bipyridine cores by the metal. Both the ligand and the complex adsorb spontaneously on the surface of polycrystalline-gold electrodes. The surface coverage of the films prepared by immersing a gold substrate into a solution of the ligand increases from monolayer to multilayer values with immersion time. Instead, the complex can only form monolayers. The cyclic voltammograms of the resulting films show the characteristic response for the reversible reduction of the 4,4,-bipyridinium dications to their radical cations. In the case of the complex, a wave for the monoelectronic oxidation of the metal center can also be observed. The back reduction wave, however, is markedly broader and appears at significantly lower potentials. Model studies in solution indicate that this response is a result of the presence of free thiol groups and is consistent with a change in the coordination geometry of the metal. Specifically, the oxidation of the CuI center to a CuII ion is, presumably, accompanied by the folding of one of the thiol groups back to interact with the metal. Thus, oxidation/reduction cycles of the metal center can, in principle, be exploited to control reversibly large amplitude molecular motions at the electrode/solution interface in the shape of the folding/unfolding of oligomethylene chains. [source] Nitrobenzene toxicity: QSAR correlations and mechanistic interpretations,JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 10 2003Alan R. Katritzky Abstract The overall five-parameter QSAR correlation [ in terms of log(IGC50,1)] based on CODESSA-PRO methodology for the aquatic toxicity of 97 substituted nitrobenzenes to the ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis supports previous conclusions that hydrophobicity and electrophilic reactivity control nitrobenzene toxicity. Correcting for the ionization of acidic species (picric and nitrobenzoic acids) improves the results: . Consideration of the total set of 97 compounds suggests two mechanisms of toxic action. A subset containing 43 compounds favorably disposed to reversible reduction of nitro group with respect to the single occupied molecular orbital energy, ESOMO correlated well with just four theoretically derived descriptors: . Another set of 49 substances predisposed to aromatic nucleophilic substitution modeled well () with five descriptors. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Photophysical and electrochemical characterization of new poly(arylene vinylene) copolymers containing quinoline or bisquinoline segmentsJOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE (IN TWO SECTIONS), Issue 13 2009John A. Mikroyannidis Abstract Four new fluorescent conjugated vinylene-copolymers incorporating quinoline or bisquinoline segments along the backbone were synthesized by Heck coupling. Three of them were fluorenevinylene-copolymers and contained quinoline (PQFV, PQFVT) or bisquinoline segments (PBQFV). One of them (PBQPV) was phenylenevinylene-copolymer and contained bisquinoline segments. All the copolymers were soluble in common organic solvents and had relatively low glass transition temperature (Tg = 50,56 °C for fluorenevinylenes and Tg < 25 °C for phenylenevinylene). In THF solutions, the quinoline-containing copolymers showed absorption maxima at 411,420 nm while the bisquinoline-containing ones exhibited maxima at 357,361 nm. The emission maxima of solutions were 465,490 nm. The copolymers showed high quantum yields up to 64%. The films exhibited absorption and emission maxima in the range of 371,437 nm and 480,521 nm, respectively. All copolymers revealed reversible reduction with electron affinity of 2.66,3.53 eV and irreversible oxidation scans with ionization potential of 5.39,5.53 eV. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 3370,3379, 2009 [source] Synthesis and Crystal Structure of the Copper Complex of 7,16-Bis(2-hydroxy-5-methylbenzyl)-1,4,10,13-tetraoxa-7,16-diazacyclooctadecaneCHINESE JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY, Issue 1 2004Shu-Lan Ma Abstract A lariat crown ether ligand 7.16-bis (2-hydroxy-5-methylbenzyl)-1,4,10,13-tetraoxa-7,16-diazacyclooctadecane (Ll) has been prepared via one-pot Mannich reaction. Its copper(II) complex Cu-Ll was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and UV-visible spectroscopy. The crystal structure of the complex has been determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The result shows that the copper(II) ion is six-coordinated by two nitrogen and four oxygen atoms, two from the crown ether and the other two from the deprotonated phenolate anions, forming an elongated octahedral complex. Electrochemical study indicates that the complex undergoes reversible reduction in DMF solution. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||