1,3-Diallyl-1H-anthra[1,2-d]imidazole-2,6,11(3H)-trione

In the title compound, C21H16N2O3, the fused-ring system (r.m.s. deviation = 0.067 Å) is slightly buckled at the carbonyl C atom of the anthracenyl ring system [deviation = 0.177 (1) Å] that is closer to an allyl substituent. The two allyl units lie on the same side of the fused-ring plane but are oriented in opposite directions, with N—C—C—C torsion angles of 126.9 (2) and 116.7 (2)°. In the crystal, the mol­ecules are linked into chains propagating along the b axis by C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Inhibition of CXCR2 Plays a Pivotal Role in Re-Sensitizing Ovarian Cancer to Cisplatin Treatment

cDNA microarray data conducted by our group revealed overexpression of CXCL2 and CXCL8 in ovarian cancer (OC) microenvironment. Herein, we have proven that the chemokine receptor, CXCR2, is a pivotal molecule in re-sensitizing OC to cisplatin, and its inhibition decreases cell proliferation, viability, tumor size in cisplatinresistant cells, as well as reversed the overexpression of mesenchymal epithelium transition markers. Altogether, our study indicates a central effect of CXCR2 in preventing tumor progression, due to acquisition of cisplatin chemoresistant phenotype by tumor cells, and patients’ high lethality rate. We found that the overexpression of CXCR2 by OC cells is persistent and anomalously confined to the cellular nuclei, thus pointing to an urge in developing highly lipophilic molecules that promptly permeate cells, bind to and inhibit nuclear CXCR2 to fight OC, instead of relying on the high-cost genetic engineered cells.acknowledge financial support from CAPES, FAPES and CNPq, as well as the Biotechnology Program/ RENORBIO from the Federal University of Espirito Santo, Espirito Santo, Brazil; Institute of Pathology and Molecular Immunology (IPATIMUP) and the Institute of Innovation and Health Research (I3s), Porto, Portugal

The powerful in vitro bioactivity of Euterpe oleracea Mart. seeds and related phenolic compounds

The Euterpe oleracea Mart. (açaí) is a plant from the Amazon region, classified as "super fruit" because of its various functional properties. However, limited investigation has been performed on açaí by-products, such as seeds. Therefore, the aim of this work was to characterized the phenolic compounds of the aqueous extract of açaí seeds and further evaluate its bioactivity (antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Only proanthocyanidins were detected, being a B-type (epi)catechin tetramer the most abundant; however, procyanidin trimmers were the most predominant form. Açaí seeds extract revealed a high antioxidant (EC50 ranging from 3.6 to 19.4 μg/mL) and cytotoxic activity, being more effective in the cervical carcinoma cell line (HeLa; GI50 = 18 μg/mL); it did not show toxicity for non-tumor cells. Açaí seeds are considered a waste and could have an added economic benefit, through the extraction of natural antioxidants, particularly proanthocyanidins, that could find applications in food and pharmaceutical industries.The authors are grateful to Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support to the research centre CIMO (strategic project PEst OE/AGR/UI0690/2011) and L. Barros researcher contract under “Programa Compromisso com Ciência - 2008”. The authors are also grateful to Jamil S. Oliveira by the initial discussions on the preparation of samples

K/pi Fluctuations at Relativistic Energies

We report results for $K/\pi$ fluctuations from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 19.6, 62.4, 130, and 200 GeV using the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Our results for $K/\pi$ fluctuations in central collisions show little dependence on the incident energies studied and are on the same order as results observed by NA49 at the Super Proton Synchrotron in central Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 12.3 and 17.3 GeV. We also report results for the collision centrality dependence of $K/\pi$ fluctuations as well as results for $K^{+}/\pi^{+}$, $K^{-}/\pi^{-}$, $K^{+}/\pi^{-}$, and $K^{-}/\pi^{+}$ fluctuations. We observe that the $K/\pi$ fluctuations scale with the multiplicity density, $dN/d\eta$, rather than the number of participating nucleons.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Growth of Long Range Forward-Backward Multiplicity Correlations with Centrality in Au+Au Collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

Forward-backward multiplicity correlation strengths have been measured with the STAR detector for Au+Au and $\textit{p+p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. Strong short and long range correlations (LRC) are seen in central Au+Au collisions. The magnitude of these correlations decrease with decreasing centrality until only short range correlations are observed in peripheral Au+Au collisions. Both the Dual Parton Model (DPM) and the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) predict the existence of the long range correlations. In the DPM the fluctuation in the number of elementary (parton) inelastic collisions produces the LRC. In the CGC longitudinal color flux tubes generate the LRC. The data is in qualitative agreement with the predictions from the DPM and indicates the presence of multiple parton interactions.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures The abstract has been slightly modifie

Differential effects of antigens from L. braziliensis isolates from disseminated and cutaneous leishmaniasis on in vitro cytokine production

BACKGROUND: Disseminated leishmaniasis is an emerging infectious disease, mostly due to L. braziliensis, which has clinical and histopathological features distinct from cutaneous leishmaniasis. METHODS: In the current study we evaluated the in vitro production of the cytokines IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-5 and IL-10 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 15 disseminated leishmaniasis and 24 cutaneous leishmaniasis patients upon stimulation with L. braziliensis antigens genotyped as disseminated leishmaniasis or cutaneous leishmaniasis isolates. RESULTS: Regardless of the source of L. braziliensis antigens, PBMC from cutaneous leishmaniasis patients produced significantly higher IFN-γ than PBMC from disseminated leishmaniasis patients. Levels of TNF-α by PBMC from cutaneous leishmaniasis patients were significantly higher than disseminated leishmaniasis patients only when stimulated by genotyped cutaneous leishmaniasis antigens. The levels of IL-5 and IL-10 production by PBMC were very low and similar in PBMCs from both disseminated leishmaniasis and cutaneous leishmaniasis patients. The immune response of each patient evaluated by the two L. braziliensis antigens was assessed in a paired analysis in which we showed that L. braziliensis genotyped as disseminated leishmaniasis isolate was more potent than L. braziliensis genotyped as cutaneous leishmaniasis isolate in triggering IFN-γ and TNF-α production in both diseases and IL-5 only in cutaneous leishmaniasis patients. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that antigens prepared from genotypically distinct strains of L. braziliensis induce different degrees of immune response. It also indicates that both parasite and host play a role in the outcome of L. braziliensis infection

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13