Chemical characterization of an encapsulated red wine powder and its effects on neuronal cells

Red wine polyphenols are known for their implications for human health protection, although they suffer from high instability. For this reason, a red wine powder was prepared by freeze-drying encapsulation in maltodextrin/arabic gum matrix, and its composition was determined by means of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS-QTOF). More than thirty polyphenols, including anthocyanins, flavanols, flavonols, phenolic acids and stilbenoids, were identified. Some of the main quantified polyphenols were: malvidin-3-O-glucoside, malvidin 3-O-(6”-acetyl-glucose), petunidin-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-glucuronide, syringenin-3-O-glucoside, epicatechin, gallic acid and syringic acid. The biological activity of this de-alcoholized and encapsulated red wine on human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells was studied. The results showed that the encapsulated red wine powder has active redox properties, as verified by performing reactive oxygen species (ROS) analysis utilizing a neuronal model. This could help explain its action against the neurotoxicity induced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA).Fil: Rocha Parra, Diego Fernando. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Alimentos y Nutrición; España. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Chirife, Jorge. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires"; ArgentinaFil: Zamora, María Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires"; ArgentinaFil: de Pascual Teresa, Sonia. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Alimentos y Nutrición; Españ

Herencia de negros. Elementos raciales en las configuraciones de los "Escritos políticos" de Simón Bolívar y "El General en su laberinto" de Gabriel García Márquez

El proyecto de investigación Tierras de muchas voces y voces de muchas tierras. Diálogos, monólogos y subversiones de la Literatura Caribeña contemporánea involucra literaturas escritas en distintos idiomas, todas producidas en el ámbito del Caribe.1 Nuestro trabajo, “Literatura caribeña en lengua española”,2 abordó los Escritos políticos, de Simón Bolívar y El General en su laberinto (1989) de Gabriel García Márquez. 3 Uno de los aspectos investigados, en este caso vinculado con el tema del negro, del esclavo en América Latina, conlleva, por los menos, tres ejes de problematización que se refieren a: los elementos raciales que se representan en ambos textos; la contribución que proporciona este conocimiento para afirmar las identidades individuales, sectoriales y colectivas; y la presencia y el reconocimiento de etnias negras, las que revelan la hibridez cultural de nuestra América.Si comparamos los Escritos políticos y sus discursos, proclamas y cartas con El General en su laberinto, podemos afirmar que ambas configuraciones, no difieren mucho: en la primera es el héroe épico; en la segunda el héroe que se enfrenta con el hombre de carne y hueso. Es factible observar cómo se ha construido a lo largo del tiempo (Siglos XIX, XX y comienzos del siglo XXI) la figura de Simón Bolívar en la ficción, pero también en el discurso histórico. Las distintas fuentes investigadas revelan un propósito claro y definido: desentrañar elementos étnicos e ideológicos que posibilitan una configuración del personaje. Su fuerte y fascinante personalidad promovió la creación del mito.</p

El viaje hacia el encuentro del lugar antropológico: La dicotomía lugar-no lugar en Hijo de hombre y Yo, el supremo de Augusto Roa Bastos

El peregrinar del ser humano se vincula con la idea del viaje o del laberinto, mitosde carácter universal, resemantizados por el escritor paraguayo Augusto Roa Bastos enesas dos novelas. Indagando ambas escrituras, observamos distintas dicotomías querevelan el carácter dual del hombre de este continente mestizo: quietud 1 movimiento;agua 1 sed; realidad 1 magia; español/ guaraní; autoridad 1 pueblo; peregrinaje 1 extravío;lugar 1 no lugar. En el marco de este Coloquio seleccionamos la dicotomíalugar-no-Jugar por considerarla la que mejor revela esa búsqueda de la identidad no_constituida. Esta nos sirve para demostrar que quien no se vincula con el lugar desde loidentitario, lo relacional y lo histórico es expulsado de la comunidad a la que pertenece:Miguel Vera y Rodríguez de Francia en Hijo de Hombre y Yo, El Supremo, respectivamente,por no lograr esa vinculación, se extravían y hallan sólo el no lugar

Funerary colors in Pre-classical Maya culture: the red pigment in the 19th tomb of Rio Azul (Peten, Guatemala)

The pigments were important in the funerary customs of the ancient Maya. They could be introduced as an offering inside the tombs or burials, and were also used to wrap the dead bodies, as if it were a funeral shroud. In the tombs and burials of royalty and high social classes the use of pigments for this purpose is well documented, and physicochemical studies are focused on their identification. This scientific contribution shows the results obtained when analyzing two reddish pigmenting materials from the grave goods of the tomb 19 of the archaeological site of Rio Azul, (Guatemalan Department of Petén), using a multi-technique approach including microscopy, diffraction, spectroscopic, electrochemical and chromatographic techniques. The results have enabled the identification of the inorganic and organic materials composing these pigmenting materials found in a ceramic posthumous offering dish and further discussion mainly has been focused on the geological source of the inorganic materials and the possible origin of the organic matter accompanying these two pigmenting materials

Identification of anthocyanin pigments in strawberry (cv Camarosa) by LC using DAD and ESI-MS detection

New high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) conditions were developed for the separation of strawberry anthocyanins that provided a good resolution of peaks at a low flow rate compatible with the requirements of the mass spectrometry (MS) detector. A strawberry extract was fractionated by column chromatography and simple fractions containing basically anthocyanins were obtained, making their analysis by HPLC possible using on-line photodiode array detection and MS. Information on the identity of the major and some secondary anthocyanins in strawberry was obtained froth their retention characteristics, UV-visible spectra and mass spectra. The presence in strawberry of the previously reported cyanidin 3-glucoside, pelargonidin 3-glucoside, pelargonidin 3-rutinoside and pelargonidin 3-acetylglucoside was confirmed and cyanidin 3-rutinoside was identified in strawberry for the first time. Furthermore, cyanidin 3-malonyldiglucoside, pelargonidin 3-malylglucoside, a pelargonidin bioside and two possible pelargonidin 3-biosides acylated with acetic acid were also tentatively assigned.Comissão Europeia (Fundo Social Europeu) e Governo Português através do Programa PRODEP (III) - ref.ª 5.3/N/199.006/00-Doutoramento

Preparation of imido pentamethylcyclopentadienyl molybdenum(IV) complexes. X-ray molecular structure of cis-[MoCp*CI(η-NtBu)]2·C6H6

The reduction of [MoCp * Cl2(NtBu)] 1 with 1 equiv. of 10% sodium amalgam in the presence of CN(2,6-Me2C6H3) yields the green crystalline compound [MoCp * Cl(NtBuCN(2,6-Me2C6H3)] 2 which can be alkylated by MgClMe to give [MoCp * Me(NtBu)CN(2,6-Me2C6H3)] 3. The same reduction in the absence of ligands leads to an almost equimolar mixture of compounds identified as cis- and trans-[MoCp* (μ-Cl)(NtBu)]24 which are slowly and irreversibly transformed into cis-[MoCp * Cl(μ-NtBu)]25 by heating a toluene solution at 90°C. Compounds (cis + trans)-4 and cis-5 are alkylated by MgClMe leading to the same final methyl derivative [MoCp * Me(μ-NtBu)]26, and react with ethylene to yield the adduct [MoCp * Cl(NtBu)(C2H4)] 7. All new complexes were characterized by their analytical composition, IR and NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, and the structure of the benzene solvate of cis-[MoCp * Cl(μ-NtBu)]25 was determined by X-ray diffraction methods.Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerch

Increased Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Decreased Proteasomal Function in Lafora Disease Models Lacking the Phosphatase Laforin

12 pages, 6 figures, 1 table.-- PMID: 19529779 [PubMed].[Background] Lafora progressive myoclonus epilepsy (Lafora disease; LD) is a fatal autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations in either the EPM2A gene, encoding the dual specificity phosphatase laforin, or the EPM2B gene, encoding the E3-ubiquitin ligase malin. Previously, we and others have shown that both proteins form a functional complex that regulates glycogen synthesis by a novel mechanism involving ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of at least two proteins, glycogen synthase and R5/PTG. Since laforin and malin localized at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and their regulatory role likely extend to other proteins unrelated to glycogen metabolism, we postulated that their absence may also affect the ER-unfolded protein response pathway.[Methodology/Principal Findings] Here, we demonstrate that siRNA silencing of laforin in Hek293 and SH-SY5Y cells increases their sensitivity to agents triggering ER-stress, which correlates with impairment of the ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway and increased apoptosis. Consistent with these findings, analysis of tissue samples from a LD patient lacking laforin, and from a laforin knockout (Epm2a-/-) mouse model of LD, demonstrates constitutive high expression levels of ERstress markers BIP/Grp78, CHOP and PDI, among others.[Conclusions/Significance] We demonstrate that, in addition to regulating glycogen synthesis, laforin and malin play a role protecting cells from ER-stress, likely contributing to the elimination of unfolded proteins. These data suggest that proteasomal dysfunction and ER-stress play an important role in the pathogenesis of LD, which may offer novel therapeutic approaches for this fatal neurodegenerative disorder.This work was supported by grants from the Fundación Marató TV3, the Fundación La Caixa, the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (SAF2008-01907) and the European Commission (LSHM-CT-2004-005272).Peer reviewe

The Many Ways to Deal with STING

The stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is an adaptor protein involved in the activation of IFN-β and many other genes associated with the immune response activation in vertebrates. STING induction has gained attention from different angles such as the potential to trigger an early immune response against different signs of infection and cell damage, or to be used as an adjuvant in cancer immune treatments. Pharmacological control of aberrant STING activation can be used to mitigate the pathology of some autoimmune diseases. The STING structure has a well-defined ligand binding site that can harbor natural ligands such as specific purine cyclic di-nucleotides (CDN). In addition to a canonical stimulation by CDNs, other non-canonical stimuli have also been described, whose exact mechanism has not been well defined. Understanding the molecular insights underlying the activation of STING is important to realize the different angles that need to be considered when designing new STING-binding molecules as therapeutic drugs since STING acts as a versatile platform for immune modulators. This review analyzes the different determinants of STING regulation from the structural, molecular, and cell biology points of view.This work was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PID2019-105761RBI00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. J.A-H. was supported by the PFIS fellowship co-funded by the FEDER/FSE and the ISCIII.S

Ofloxacin-like antibiotics inhibit pneumococcal cell wall-degrading virulence factors

The search for new drugs against Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is driven by the 1.5 million deaths it causes annually. Choline-binding proteins attach to the pneumococcal cell wall through domains that recognize choline moieties, and their involvement in pneumococcal virulence makes them potential targets for drug development. We have defined chemical criteria involved in the docking of small molecules from a three-dimensional structural library to the major pneumococcal autolysin (LytA) choline binding domain. These criteria were used to identify compounds that could interfere with the attachment of this protein to the cell wall, and several quinolones that fit this framework were found to inhibit the cell wall-degrading activity of LytA. Furthermore, these compounds produced similar effects on other enzymes with different catalytic activities but that contained a similar choline binding domain; that is, autolysin (LytC) and the phage lytic enzyme (Cpl-1). Finally, we resolved the crystal structure of the complex between the choline binding domain of LytA and ofloxacin at a resolution of 2.6 Å. These data constitute an important launch pad from which effective drugs to combat pneumococcal infections can be developed. © 2005 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.This work was supported in part by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain) Grants BIO2001-1724 and BMC2003-00074. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.Peer Reviewe