Protective effects of lipoic acid-niacin dimers against blue light-induced oxidative damage to retinal pigment epithelium cells

AIM: To evaluate the protective effects of lipoic acid-niacin(N2 L) dimers against blue light(BL)-induced oxidative damage to human retinal pigment epithelium(hRPE) cells in vitro.METHODS: h RPE cells were divided into a control group(CG), a BL group, an N2 L plus BL irradiation group, an α-lipoic acid(ALA) plus BL group, an ALA-only group, and an N2 L-only group. hRPE cellular viability was detected by performing 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium(MTT) bromide assays, and apoptosis was evaluated by annexin-V-PE/7-AAD staining followed by flow cytometry. Ultrastructural changes in subcellular organelles were observed by transmission electron microscopy. Reactive oxygen species formation was assayed by flow cytometry. The expression levels of the apoptosis-related proteins BCL-2 associated X protein(BAX), B-cell leukmia/lymphoma 2(BCL-2), and caspase-3 were quantified by Western blot analysis.RESULTS: BL exposure with a light density of 4±0.5 mW/cm2 exceeding 6 h caused hRPE toxicity, whereas treatment with a high dose of N2 L(100 mol/L) or ALA(150 mol/L) maintained cell viability at control levels. BL exposure caused vacuole-like degeneration, mitochondrial swelling, and reduced microvillus formation;however, a high dose of N2 L or ALA maintained the ultrastructure of hRPE cells and their organelles. High doses of N2 L and ALA also protected hRPE cells from BL-induced apoptosis, which was confirmed by Western blot analysis: BCL-2 expression significantly increased, while BAX and caspase-3 expression slightly decreased compared to the CG.CONCLUSION: High-dose N2 L treatment(>100 mol/L) can reduce oxidative damage in degenerating hRPE cells exposed to BL with an efficacy similar to ALA.

Synthesis of Alkylene-linked Dimers of (-)-Huperzine A

Six alkylene-linked dimers of (-)-huperzineA (6) were prepared. All these dimers are less potent than (-)-Hup A in inhibition of AChE.

Modified RNA with a Phosphate-Methylated Backbone. A Serious Omission in Our (Retracted) Study at HIV-1 RNA Loops and Integrated DNA. Specific Properties of the (Modified) RNA and DNA Dimers

After the recent publication in the Journal of Biophysical Chemistry entitled “Retracted HIV Study Provides New Information about the Status of the in Vitro Inhibition of DNA Replication by Back-bone Methylation”, it is of importance to review the results of Buck’s group on the synthesis and conformation analyses of phosphate-methylated RNAs in order to afford information on the absence of a further investigation with regard to this de facto acceptable approach. In fact these compounds belong to the very first group of RNAs with a modified neutral backbone by phosphatemethylation. In contrast to the corresponding phosphate-methylated DNAs with a frozen B-conformation, the phosphate-methylated RNAs show an A-conformation. The latter is a prerequisite for duplex formation with (complementary) (natural) RNA. A number of experiments support this fundamental statement. After the HIV study was retracted, the overall results concerning the phosphate-methylated RNAs were published without mentioning Buck’s initial proof of concept and his contributions. Generally, the (modified) dimer RNAs and DNAs possess a number of specific biophysical properties. A novel explanation is given for conflicting structural determinations.

Antimalarial activity of a novel series of artemisinin-derived 1, 2, 3-triazole dimers

Objective: To obtain suitable artimisinin-based drug candidates with high antimalarial activity.Methods: Three different reaction schemes were used to synthesize a total of 15 artemisininbased compounds.The first synthetic scheme involved the synthesis of diazido aliphatic and aromatic compounds from commercially available dihalides and azido derivatives of artemisinin.The second scheme consisted of the reaction of dibromoaliphatic compounds with sodium azide in dimethylformamide which yielded the desired compounds.Artemisinin-based compounds on treatment with sodium azide and bromotrimethylsilane in dichloromethane produced the most potent compound GB-2.Another potent compound GB-1 was synthesized from artemisinin by treatment with alcohols in the presence of Aberlyst-15 in anhydrous dichloromethane.The third scheme involved the Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between the synthesized aliphatic and aromatic diazides and two alkyne derivatives of artemisinin to obtain the desired artemisinin dimers with average yields.Results: The best in vitro antiplasmodial activity was shown by the compound GB-2 registering IC_(50) value 0.066 μg/mL against chloroquine-sensitive and 0.865 μg/mL against chloroquineresistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum.It suppressed 59.0% parasitaemia in vivo of rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei in Swiss albino model at 50 μg/kg body weight dosage.Molecular docking interactions of Plasmodium falciparum ATP6(PfATP6) protein revealed strong bonding of GB-2 with Thr255 residue which is likely to be the reason for excellent antimalarial activity of this compound.Conclusion: Two compounds GB-1 and GB-2 exhibited excellent in vitro antiplasmodial activity and fair in vivo antimalarial activity.Of the two, GB-2 showed better activity which could be attributed to its strong bonding interactions with Thr255 as evidenced from the molecular docking study.Study helped in identifying artemisinin analogues possessing good antimalarial properties and further research in structural alterations of the selected molecules should be carried out which may result in obtaining potent drug candidates against the malarial parasite.

Deep-ultraviolet surface plasmon resonance of Al and Al_(core)/Al_2O_(3shell) nanosphere dimers for surface-enhanced spectroscopy

The localized surface plasmon resonance properties of Al and Alcore/Al2O3shell nanosphere dimers with Al and Al core nanosphere radii of 20 nm and Al2O3 shell of 2 nm in the deep-ultraviolet region have been studied using the finite difference time domain method. The extinction spectra and the electric field distribution profiles of the two dimers for various gap distances between two individual nanospheres are compared with those of the corresponding monomers to reveal the extent of plasmon coupling. It is found that with the interparticle distance decreasing, a strong plasmon coupling between two Al or Alcore/Al2O3shell nanospheres is observed accompanied by a significant red shift in the extinction spectra at the parallel polarization direction of the incident light related to the dimer axis, while for the case of the perpendicular polarization direction, a weak plasmon coupling arises characterized by a slight blue shift in the extinction spectra. The electric field distribution profiles show that benefiting from the dielectric Al2O3 shell, the gap distance of Alcore/Al2O3shell nanosphere dimers can be tailored to 〈 1 nm scale and results in a very high electric field enhancement. The estimated surface-enhanced Raman scattering enhancement factors suggests that the Alcore/Al2O3shell nanosphere dimers with the gap of 〈 1 nm gave rise to an enhancement as high as 8.1 × 10^7 for interparticle gap = 0.5 nm. Our studies reveal that the Alcore/Al2O3shell nanosphere dimers may be promising substrates for surface-enhanced spectroscopy in the deep-ultraviolet region.

The Stability of Anionic States of Thymine-Glycine Dimers with Excess Electron

It has been demonstrated that low energy electrons(LEEs)can induce serious DNA damages including bases loss and even single and double strand breaks.Experiments also showed that LEE induced DNA damages will be reduced with the presence of amino acids.For understanding of the protection of amino acids to DNA,the stability of 6 kinds of thymine and glycine(T-g)dimers with planar configurations with an excess electron were studied with density functional theory(DFT)method.The results show that,when the excess electron is vertically attached,all the dimers become more active with higher energy.After re-optimization,4 kinds(66.7%)of T-g dimers become more stable than the corresponding neutral states.For the most stable anionic dimer noted as[34-A]-,the excess electron is localized on the thymine,while one proton transfers from glycine to thymine.The proton transformation decreases the activities and prevents further reactions of the excess electron.For other three dimers,there is no chemical topology change.The glycine attracts the excess electron with hydrogen-bonding to the thymine.

Intra-and Intermolecular Rovibrational States of HCl-H_(2)O and DCl-H_(2)O Dimers from Full-Dimensional and Fully Coupled Quantum Calculations

We report full-dimensional and fully coupled quantum bound-state calculations of the J=1 intra-and intermolecular rovibrational states of two isotopologues of the hydrogen chloride-water dimer,HClH_(2)O(HH)and DCl-H_(2)O(DH).The present study complements our recent theoretical investigations of the J=0 nine-dimensional(9D)vibrational level structure of these and two other H/D isotopologues of this noncovalently bound molecular complex,and employs the same accurate 9D permutation invariant polynomial-neural network potential energy surface.The calculations yield all intramolecular vibrational fundamentals of the HH and DH dimers and the low-energy intermolecular rovibrational states in these intramolecular vibrational manifolds.The results are compared with those of the 9D J=0 calculations of the same dimers.The energy differences between the K=1 and K=0 eigenstates exhibit pronounced variations with the intermolecular rovibrational states,for which a qualitative explanation is provided.

Sythesis of 4,5 -Bisaryl-2-(2,5-Dimethylthiophen-3-yl)imidazoles and Their Dimers

t 4,5 -diphenyl, 4,5 - bis(4 - methylphenyl), 4,5 - bis(4 - methoxyphenyl) - 2 -(2,5 - dAnethylthiophen -3 -yl ) imidazoles were synthesized. Oxidation of the obtained Anidazoles with potassium ferricyanide in water - alcohol solution of alkali gave the corresponding dimers. The structtires of imidazoles were characterized by IR, 1H NMR, mass spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The structures of dimers were characterized by IR, elemental analysis and chromatography

d-limonene prevents ultraviolet irradiation:Induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in Skh1 mouse skin

AIM: To establish whether d-limonene can protect against induction of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers(CPDs) and sunburn in ultraviolet irradiation(UVR) irradiated mouse skin. METHODS: The d-limonene was given in 4 daily oral 20 μL aliquots at different concentrations as follows: 100%, 10% or 1% in liponate and 100% liponate as control. One day after the final d-limonene treatment, the mice were anesthetized with i.p. sodium pentobarbital and placed in boxes to allow a rectangular(2 cm × 4 cm) region of dorsal skin to be irradiated with a single, ultraviolet radiation dose of 1.5 kJ /m2. Skin samples from UVR irradiated area were obtained at 5 min after UVR exposure for CPD detection, at 6 d after UVR exposure, skin samples were obtained for in situ analysis for N-myc downstream regulating gene 1(NDRG1)(a stress response gene), proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA)(an S-phase marker) and filaggrin(a barrier integrity gene). Based on immunohistochemistry staining, the number of CPD, NDRG1 and PCNA positive cells, as well as unstained cells was counted in 3 different individually selected areas and percentage of positive cells was established. RESULTS: CPD reduction occurred as follows: liponate only-none; 1% d-limonene-54.3% reduction of CPDs; 10% d-limonene-73.4% reduction of CPDs; 100% d-limonene-86.1% reduction of CPDs, the latter equivalent to a UV dose of only 0.21 k J/m2. Sunburn was also dose-dependently reduced by d-limonene. The NDRG1 protein was strongly induced by UVR(70.0% ± 10.4% positive cells), but 1% d-limonene reduced the response to 64.6% ± 9.2%, 10% d-limonene reduced the response to 16.2% ± 3.4% and 100% d-limonene reduced the response to 6.3% ± 1.7%. Similarly, PCNA was 52.4% ± 9.9% positive in UVR exposed skin, and 1% d-limonene reduced it to 42.9% ± 8.1%, 10% d-limonene reduced it to 36.2% ± 6.7% and 100% d-limonene reduce it to 13.8% ± 3.4%. NDRG1 and PCNA were increased by d-limonene or UVR separately, but combined they produced less than either agent separately owing to the protective effect of pre-exposure to d-limonene. CONCLUSION: Overall d-limonene acted to protect against ultraviolet B-induced DNA photodamage and sunburn in UVR exposed skin.

Photophysical Properties of Perylenetetracarboxylic Diimide Dimers with Slipped “Face-to-Face” Stacked Structure and Different Bay Substitutions

A series of perylenetetracarboxylic diimides (PDIs) dimers with slipped “face-to-face” stacked structure and different substituents at the bay positions have been synthesized and the molecular structures are characterized by 1H NMR, MALDI-TOF and elemental analysis. And different substituents at the bay positions of the PDI ring bring about various steric hindrances. These different steric hindrances have caused significant differences on the absorption and emission spectra. The correlation between the photophysical properties and the molecular structure is discussed.

Dimers as Fast Diffusing Species for the Aggregation of Oxygen in Boron-Doped Czochralski Silicon: Formation of New Thermal Donors

The thermal behaviors of oxygen-related complexes in boron doped Czochralski Silicon (Cz-Si) wafers at 450°C and 800°C were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Hall mobility measurements. Activation of thermal donors (TDs) at 450°C leads to a decrease of both mobility and majority carrier concentration using the four point probes configuration of Van Der Pauw. It was found that annealing at 450°C would possibly affect the electronic properties of the Si wafers via the formation of interstitial dioxygen defects (IO2i), which exhibit an IR absorption band positioned at 545 cm–1. A strengthening of the IR bands peaking at around 1595 cm–1, 1667 cm–1, 1720 cm–1 and 1765 cm–1 occurs at 450°C, while they disappear at 800°C. At high temperatures, the precipitation of interstitial oxygen becomes predominant over all other oxygen-related reactions. The dynamic of oxygen-thermal donor generation-annihilation in Cz-Si involving the formation of small oxygen clusters is discussed.

Insight into Medicinal Chemistry Behind Traditional Chinese Medicines: p-Hydroxybenzyl Alcohol-Derived Dimers and Trimers from Gastrodia elata

From an aqueous extract of“tian ma”(the steamed and dried rhizomes of Gastrodia elata),ten new compounds gastrodiben-zins A−D(1−4)and gastrotribenzins A−F(5−10),along with known analogues(11−20),having structure features coupling between two and three p-hydroxybenzyl-derived units via carbon-and/or ether-bonds,were isolated and characterized by spectroscopic data analysis.Meanwhile,the new compounds 5a,6a,8a,22,and 23,as well as the known derivatives 13a,14a,15,17−21,24,25,and p-hydroxybenzyl aldehyde were isolated and identified from a refluxed aqueous solution of p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol.Methylation of 5a and 6a in methanol and ethylation of 6a,8a,13a,and 14a in ethanol produced 5 and 6 and 7,8,13,and 14,respectively.using ultra-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution electrospray ioniza-tion mass spectrometry(UPLC-HRESIMS)analysis of the refluxed solutions of p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol and the refluxed extracts of the fresh G.elata rhizome and“tian ma”extracts indicated consistent production and variation of the dimeric and trimeric derivatives of p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol upon extracting solvents and refluxing time.In various assays,the dimeric and trimeric derivatives showed more potent activities than p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol itself and gastrodin,which are the main known active constituents of“tian ma”.These results revealed for the first time that the more effective dimers and trimers can be produced through condensation of the co-occurring p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol during processing and decocting of the G.elata rhizomes,demonstrating insights into medicinal chemistry behind application protocols of traditional Chinese medicines.

Synthesis of Novel Cyclodextrin Dimers Linked by Multidentate Coordination Units

A new type of cyclodextrin dimers (2a-c) bridged with multidentate coordination units has been synthesized by treatment of 6-deoxy-6-hydroxyethylamino-beta-cyclodextrin 1 with corresponding dibromides in the presence of base.

Fluorescence Properties of Porphyrin Dimers Incorporating an Anhydride Linker

A preliminary study on a novel free base porphyrin dimer and a zinc prophyrin dimer by comparing their fluorescence properties with those of the corresponding monomers is presented. The fluorescence intensity of the free base dimer is five times higher than that of the monomer, but the fluorescence intensity of the zinc porphyrin dimer is nearly similar to that of the zinc porphyrin monomer. The emission spectra show that energy transfer occurs between the two units.

Two Triterpenoid Dimers from Rubus pungens Camb var. oldhamii

Two new triterpenoid saponin dimers, named rubupungenoside A (1) and B (2), have been isolated from the aerial parts of Rubus pungens Camb. var. oldhamii. Their structures have been established on the basis of spectroscopic methods and chemical transformation's.

Theoretical Study on the Intermolecular Interactions of Tetrazole Dimers

Tetrazole monomers （Ⅰ, Ⅱ） and all of their possible stable dimers （1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8） were fully optimized by DFT method at the B3LYP/6-311＋＋G^＊＊ level. Among the eight dimers, there were two 1H-tetrazole dimers, three 2H-tetrazole dimers and three hetero dimers of 1H-tetrazole and 2H-tetrazole. Vibrational frequencies were calculated to ascertain that each structure was stable （no imaginary frequencies）. The basis set superposition errors （BSSE） are 2.78, 2.28, 2.97, 2.75, 2.74, 2.18, 1.23 and 3.10 kJ/mol, and the zero point energy （ZPE） corrections for the interaction energies are 4.88, 4.18, 3.87, 3.65, 3.54, 3.22, 2.87 and 4.34 kJ/mol for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, respectively. After BSSE and ZPE corrections, the greatest corrected intermolecular interaction energy of the dimers is -43.71 kJ/mol. The charge redistribution mainly occurs on the adjacent N-H…N atoms between submolecules. The charge transfer between two subsystems is very small. Natural bond orbital （NBO） analysis was performed to reveal the origin of the interaction. Based on the statistical thermodynamic method, the standard thermodynamic functions, heat capacities （C^0P）, entropies （S^0T） and thermal corrections to enthalpy （H^0T）, and the changes of thermodynamic properties from monomer to dimer in the temperature range of 200.00 K to 700 K have been obtained. 1H-tetrazole monomer can spontaneously turn into two stable dimers at 298.15 K.

Ab initio Studies on Intermolecular Interaction of Formamide and Hydroxyacetonitrile Dimers

The structures,the binding energies and the thermodynamic properties of formamide and hydroxyacetonitrile(HAN) dimers have been studied by means of the self\|consistent \%ab initio\% Hartree\|Fock and the second\|order Mφller\|Plesset correlation energy correction methods. The counterpoise procedure was used to check the basis set superposition error(BSSE) of the binding energies. There exist cyclic structures in a formamide dimer(Ⅰ),a HAN dimer(Ⅱ) and their heterodimer(Ⅲ). The corrected binding energies for dimers Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ are respectively -45.53,-45.83 and -43.89 kJ/mol at the MP2/aug\|cc\|p VDZ//HF/\{aug\|cc\|p VDZ\} level. The change of the Gibbs free energies(Δ\%G\%) in the process of Ⅰ+Ⅱ→2Ⅲ was predicted to be -2.74 kJ/mol at 298.15 K. Dimer Ⅲ can be spontaneously produced in the mixture of formamide and HAN,which is in agreement with the experimental fact that most cyanohydrins are capable of interacting with dipeptide cyclo\|His\|Phe(CHP).

Multireference calculations on low-lying states and the X^3 Π_u -~3 Π_g absorption spectra of indium dimers

Multireference configuration interaction calculations are carried out on 11 Λ–S low-lying electronic states of indium dimers. The states are investigated with spin–orbit pseudopotentials via the state-interacting method, and characterized by fitted spectroscopic constants based on computed potential energy curves. The vibrational structures of the double-potential well 0^＋g （I） （ ^3 Σ g^- ） state are also analyzed. The experimentally observed absorption spectrum centred at ～ 13000cm-1 is simulated and assigned to X 3 Πu （v＇=0）–3Πg transition according to the present ab initio calculations on transition energies and dipole moment functions.

The Purification of Glucose Type Glycosyl Nitrate and the Synthesis of Spacer-armed N-Acetyllactosamines and Their Dimers

di-O-acetyl-4-O-(2, 3, 4, 6-tetra-O-acetyl-b-D-galactopyranosyl)-2-azido-2-deoxy- b-D-glucoppyranosyl nitrate could be separated from its mannose type isomer by glycosylation according to the reactivity difference of these two compounds. The pure glucose type nitrate can be converted to corresponding trichloroacemidate, which reacted with spacer arms in solution of CH2Cl2 with BF3稥t2O as promoters to give desired glycosides and dimers.

Packing Structures of Thiophene Dimers and Their Effects on Excitation Energies of Thiophene Dimers

The packing structures of thiophene dimers and their effects on excitation energies of thiophene dimers were studied by employing MP2/6-31 ＋ G^＊ and TDDFT calculations. Twelve Optimized dimers with different orientations were obtained by means of MP2/6-31 ＋ G ^＊ optimizations. Among them, five T-shaped and three π-stacked thiophene dimers are local minima in energy. The result shows that the preferable conformation of thiophene dimers is the T- shaped packing, which is in agreement with the results in references. All the excitation energies of both T-shaped dimers（5. 34-5. 48 eV） and π-stacked dimers（5. 15-5. 18 eV） are lower than that of the isolated thiophene（5.68 eV）, indicating that inter-ring interactions decrease the excitation energies.