3-Hydroxykynurenic acid: Physicochemical properties and fluorescence labeling

Quinoline is one of the most important heterocyclic systems in life sciences. Some derivatives are normal metabolites, and others are used as antibacterial, antimalarial, and anticancer agents. In this work, we describe the synthesis, physicochemical properties, and fluorescence features of a new 4-quinolinone fluorophore, 3-hydroxykynurenic acid (3-HOKA). 3-HOKA was obtained by alkoxide-induced rearrangement of ethyl isatinacetate followed by acidification and then alkaline hydrolysis. The fluorescent compound was characterized by NMR, MS, IR, and UV–Vis spectra. 3-HOKA can exist under a keto-enol equilibrium, but the 4-quinolinone form is the predominant tautomer. In PBS (pH = 7.4), the anionic keto form of 3-HOKA showed a maximum absorption at 368 nm, a fluorescence peak at 474 nm, and a fluorescence quantum yield (ΦF): 0.73. 3-HOKA is photostable and is a moderately weak oxygen generator. Viability assays on HeLa cells indicated that 3-HOKA did not induce significative cytotoxic effects. Under UV excitation, a bright blue fluorescence was selectively found in a singular body within the cytoplasm, a labeling pattern that suggests the possible localization of the probe in the centriole or related structures. Therefore, this novel fluorophore represents a promising prototype compound owing to its biocompatibility and potential biological applications.Fil: Shmidt, María Sol. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Garcia Vior, María Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Ezquerra Riega, Sergio Dario. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Lazaro Martinez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Abasolo, María I.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Lazaro Carrillo, Ana. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Tabero, Andrea. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Villanueva, Angeles. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; España. Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia; EspañaFil: Moglioni, Albertina Gladys. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: del Blanco, María Mercedes. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Stockert Cossu, Juan Carlos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Oncología "Ángel H. Roffo"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Investigacion y Tecnología en Reproducción Animal; Argentin

Guidelines for diagnosis and management of the cobalamin-related remethylation disorders cblC, cblD, cblE, cblF, cblG, cblJ and MTHFR deficiency

BACKGROUND: Remethylation defects are rare inherited disorders in which impaired remethylation of homocysteine to methionine leads to accumulation of homocysteine and perturbation of numerous methylation reactions. OBJECTIVE: To summarise clinical and biochemical characteristics of these severe disorders and to provide guidelines on diagnosis and management. DATA SOURCES: Review, evaluation and discussion of the medical literature (Medline, Cochrane databases) by a panel of experts on these rare diseases following the GRADE approach. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS: We strongly recommend measuring plasma total homocysteine in any patient presenting with the combination of neurological and/or visual and/or haematological symptoms, subacute spinal cord degeneration, atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome or unexplained vascular thrombosis. We strongly recommend to initiate treatment with parenteral hydroxocobalamin without delay in any suspected remethylation disorder; it significantly improves survival and incidence of severe complications. We strongly recommend betaine treatment in individuals with MTHFR deficiency; it improves the outcome and prevents disease when given early

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Comissioning of the decelerator test beam line in CTF3

The CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) at CERN was constructed by the CTF3 collaboration to study the feasibility of the concepts for a compact linear collider. The test beam line (TBL) recently added to the CTF3 machine was designed to study the CLIC decelerator beam dynamics and 12 GHz power production. The beam line consists of a FODO lattice with high precision BPM’s and quadrupoles on movers for precise beam alignment. A total of 16 Power Extraction and Transfer Structures (PETS) will be installed in between the quadrupoles to extract 12 GHz power from the drive beam provided by the CTF3 machine. The CTF3 drive beam with a bunchtrain length of 140 ns, 12 GHz bunch repetition frequency and an average current over the train of up to 28 A will be injected into the test beam line. Each PETS structure will produce 135 MW of 12 GHz power at nominal current. The beam will have lost more than 50 % of its initial energy of 150 MeV at the end of the beam line and will contain particles with energies between 65 MeV and 150 MeV. The beam line is completely installed and the PETS structures will be successively added until the end of 2011. The paper will describe the first results obtained during commissioning of the beam line and the first PETS prototype

Comissioning of the decelerator test beam line in CTF3

The CLIC Test Facility (CTF3) at CERN was constructed by the CTF3 collaboration to study the feasibility of the concepts for a compact linear collider. The test beam line (TBL) recently added to the CTF3 machine was designed to study the CLIC decelerator beam dynamics and 12 GHz power production. The beam line consists of a FODO lattice with high precision BPM’s and quadrupoles on movers for precise beam alignment. A total of 16 Power Extraction and Transfer Structures (PETS) will be installed in between the quadrupoles to extract 12 GHz power from the drive beam provided by the CTF3 machine. The CTF3 drive beam with a bunchtrain length of 140 ns, 12 GHz bunch repetition frequency and an average current over the train of up to 28 A will be injected into the test beam line. Each PETS structure will produce 135 MW of 12 GHz power at nominal current. The beam will have lost more than 50 % of its initial energy of 150 MeV at the end of the beam line and will contain particles with energies between 65 MeV and 150 MeV. The beam line is completely installed and the PETS structures will be successively added until the end of 2011. The paper will describe the first results obtained during commissioning of the beam line and the first PETS prototype