Target-Specific Ligands and Gadolinium-Based Complexes for Imaging of Dopamine Receptors: Synthesis, Binding Affinity, and Relaxivity

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) are two extremely important imaging modalities with unlimited tissue penetration. Molecular imaging is a field by which specific targets or biological processes are imaged. MRI, which is used for functional imaging and for the diagnosis of a broad range of pathologic conditions, suffers from limited specificity and intrinsically low sensitivity. One possibility to alleviate partially these limitations is to use contrast agents (CAs) and more importantly target-specific CAs. We have developed a modular synthesis of novel ligands and gadolinium­(III)-based target-specific MRI CAs with high relaxivity and high binding affinity toward the dopamine receptors. The prepared ligands and MRI CAs are based on spiperone as targeting moiety. The prepared target-specific CAs can potentially be used for <i>in vitro</i> and possibly <i>in vivo</i> MR imaging of dopaminergic receptors. Importantly the ligands prepared using the modular approach presented in this paper may also be useful for other imaging modalities such as PET (or SPECT) by just replacing, at the last stage of the synthesis, the gadolinium cation by other metal cations having relatively long half-lives, such as ⁶⁴Cu, ⁸⁹Zr, ¹¹In, and more

Alternate bearing in citrus: changes in the expression of flowering control genes and in global gene expression in ON- versus OFF-crop trees.

Alternate bearing (AB) is the process in fruit trees by which cycles of heavy yield (ON crop) one year are followed by a light yield (OFF crop) the next. Heavy yield usually reduces flowering intensity the following year. Despite its agricultural importance, how the developing crop influences the following year's return bloom and yield is not fully understood. It might be assumed that an 'AB signal' is generated in the fruit, or in another organ that senses fruit presence, and moves into the bud to determine its fate-flowering or vegetative growth. The bud then responds to fruit presence by altering regulatory and metabolic pathways. Determining these pathways, and when they are altered, might indicate the nature of this putative AB signal. We studied bud morphology, the expression of flowering control genes, and global gene expression in ON- and OFF-crop buds. In May, shortly after flowering and fruit set, OFF-crop buds were already significantly longer than ON-crop buds. The number of differentially expressed genes was higher in May than at the other tested time points. Processes differentially expressed between ON- and OFF-crop trees included key metabolic and regulatory pathways, such as photosynthesis and secondary metabolism. The expression of genes of trehalose metabolism and flavonoid metabolism was validated by nCounter technology, and the latter was confirmed by metabolomic analysis. Among genes induced in OFF-crop trees was one homologous to SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING-LIKE (SPL), which controls juvenile-to-adult and annual phase transitions, regulated by miR156. The expression pattern of SPL-like, miR156 and other flowering control genes suggested that fruit load affects bud fate, and therefore development and metabolism, a relatively long time before the flowering induction period. Results shed light on some of the metabolic and regulatory processes that are altered in ON and OFF buds

Development and Validation of an Innovative Analytical Approach for the Quantitation of Tris(Hydroxymethyl)Aminomethane (TRIS) in Pharmaceutical Formulations by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A novel COVID-19 vaccine (BriLife&reg;) has been developed by the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus throughout the population in Israel. One of the components in the vaccine formulation is tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (tromethamine, TRIS), a buffering agent. TRIS is a commonly used excipient in various approved parenteral medicinal products, including the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna. TRIS is a hydrophilic basic compound that does not contain any chromophores/fluorophores and hence cannot be retained and detected by reverse-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC)-ultraviolet (UV)/fluorescence methods. Among the few extant methods for TRIS determination, all exhibit a lack of selectivity and/or sensitivity and require laborious sample treatment. In this study, LC&ndash;mass spectrometry (MS) with its inherent selectivity and sensitivity in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode was utilized, for the first time, as an alternative method for TRIS quantitation. Extensive validation of the developed method demonstrated suitable specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness over the investigated concentration range (1.2&ndash;4.8 mg/mL). Specifically, the R2 of the standard curve was &gt;0.999, the recovery was &gt;92%, and the coefficient of variance (%CV) was &lt;12% and &lt;6% for repeatability and intermediate precision, respectively. Moreover, the method was validated in accordance with strict Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines. The developed method provides valuable tools that pharmaceutical companies can use for TRIS quantitation in vaccines and other pharmaceutical products

Gene ontology (GO) categorization of genes induced in OFF buds.

<p>BG, background; Ref, reference; FDR, false discovery rate.</p

Expression of <i>SPL</i>-like and <i>miR156</i> in ON and OFF buds.

<p>Fold change (FC) between OFF and ON buds and leaves+stems (LS) of microarray probe Cit corresponding to <i>SPL</i>-like (A) in the indicated months. mRNA of <i>SPL</i>-like (B) and <i>miR156</i> (C) was analyzed in ON and OFF buds during the indicated months. Mean number of three biological replicates ± SE. Stars denote a significant difference between the expression of the gene in ON and OFF buds during the same time point (P<0.05).</p