A mouse model for ulcerative colitis based on NOD-scid IL2R gamma(null) mice reconstituted with peripheral blood mononuclear cells from affected individuals

Animal models reflective of ulcerative colitis (UC) remain a major challenge, and yet are crucial to understand mechanisms underlying the onset of disease and inflammatory characteristics of relapses and remission. Mouse models in which colitis-like symptoms are induced through challenge with toxins such as oxazolone, dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) or 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) have been instrumental in understanding the inflammatory processes of UC. However, these neither reflect the heterogeneous symptoms observed in theUC-affected population nor can they be used to test the efficacyof inhibitors developed against human targets where high sequence and structural similarity of the respective ligands is lacking. In an attempt to overcome these problems, we have developed a mouse model that relies on NOD-scid IL2R gamma(null) mice reconstituted with peripheral blood mononuclear cells derived from UC-affected individuals. Upon challenge with ethanol, mice developed colitis-like symptoms and changes in the colon architecture, characterized by influx of inflammatory cells, edema, crypt loss, crypt abscesses and epithelial hyperplasia, as previously observed in immune-competent mice. TARC, TGF beta 1 and HGF expression increased in distal parts of the colon. Analysis of human leucocytes isolated from mouse spleen revealed an increase in frequencies of CD1a+, CD64+, CD163+ and TSLPR+ CD14+ monocytes, and antigen-experienced CD44+ CD4+ andCD8+ T-cells in response to ethanol. Analysis of human leucocytes from the colon of challenged mice identified CD14+ monocytes and CD11b+ monocytes as the predominant populations. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-PCR) analysis from distal parts of the colon indicated that IFN gamma might be one of the cytokines driving inflammation. Treatment with infliximab ameliorated symptoms and pathological manifestations, whereas pitrakinra had no therapeutic benefit. Thus, this model is partially reflective of the human disease and might help to increase the translation of animal and clinical studies

Ultrafast Interligand Electron Transfer in cis-[Ru(4,4’-dicarboxylate-2,2’-bipyridine)2(NCS)2]4- and Implications for Electron Injection Limitations in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Interligand electron transfer (ILET) of the lowest metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) state of N712 (cis-[Ru(dcb)2(NCS)2]4−, where dcb = 4,4′-dicarboxylate-2,2′-bipyridine) in a deuterated acetonitrile solution has been studied by means of femtosecond transient absorption anisotropy in the mid-IR. Time-independent B3LYP density functional calculations were performed to assign vibrational bands and determine their respective transition dipole moments. The transient absorption spectral band at 1327 cm−1, assigned to a symmetric carboxylate stretch, showed significant anisotropy. A rapid anisotropy increase (τ1 ≈ 2 ps) was tentatively assigned to vibrational and solvent relaxation, considering the excess energy available after the excited singlet–triplet conversion. Thereafter, the anisotropy decayed to zero with a time constant τ2 ≈ 240 ps, which was assigned to the rotational correlation time of the complex in deuterated acetonitrile. No other distinctive changes to the anisotropy were observed and the amplitude of the slow component at time zero agrees well with that predicted for a random mixture of MLCT localization on either of the two dcb ligands. The results therefore suggest that MLCT randomization over the two dcb ligands occurs on the sub-ps time scale. This is much faster than proposed by previous reports on the related N3 complex [Benkö et al., J. Phys. Chem. B, 2004, 108, 2862, and Waterland et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 2001, 105, 4019], but in agreement with that found by Wallin and co-workers [J. Phys. Chem. A, 2005, 109, 4697] for the [Ru(bpy)3]2+ (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) complex. This suggests that electron injection from the excited dye into TiO2 in dye-sensitized solar cells is not limited by ILET. <img src="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/Image/Get?imageInfo.ImageType=GA&amp;imageInfo.ImageIdentifier.ManuscriptID=C8SC00274F" /