Chemical Screening Approaches Enabling Drug Discovery of Autophagy Modulators for Biomedical Applications in Human Diseases

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation pathway for malfunctioning aggregation-prone proteins, damaged organelles, unwanted macromolecules and invading pathogens. This process is essential for maintaining cellular and tissue homeostasis that contribute to organismal survival. Autophagy dysfunction has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diverse human diseases, and therefore, therapeutic exploitation of autophagy is of potential biomedical relevance. A number of chemical screening approaches have been established for the drug discovery of autophagy modulators based on the perturbations of autophagy reporters or the clearance of autophagy substrates. These readouts can be detected by fluorescence and high-content microscopy, flow cytometry, microplate reader and immunoblotting, and the assays have evolved to enable high-throughput screening and measurement of autophagic flux. Several pharmacological modulators of autophagy have been identified that act either via the classical mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway or independently of mTOR. Many of these autophagy modulators have been demonstrated to exert beneficial effects in transgenic models of neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, infectious diseases, liver diseases, myopathies as well as in lifespan extension. This review describes the commonly used chemical screening approaches in mammalian cells and the key autophagy modulators identified through these methods, and highlights the therapeutic benefits of these compounds in specific disease contexts

Upgrading of diols by gas-phase dehydrogenation and dehydration reactions on bifunctional Cu-based oxides

Biomass-derived short chain polyols can be transformed in valuable oxygenates used as building blocks. The gas phase conversion of a model molecule of 1,3-diols (1,3-butanediol) was studied on bifunctional Cu-Mg, Cu-Al and Cu-Mg-Al mixed oxide catalysts that combine surface Cu0 particles and acid-base properties. A series of ZCuMgAl catalysts (Z=0.3-61.2 wt.% Cu, Mg/Al=1.5 molar ratio) was prepared by coprecipitation and thoroughly characterized by several techniques such as BET surface area, TPR-N2O chemisorption, XRD and TPD of CO2. The ZCuMgAl catalysts promote the upgrading of the diol by a series of dehydrogenation and/or dehydration reactions proceeding at reaction rates that depend on the copper content (Z). The overall activity increases linearly with the amount of surface Cu0 species thereby confirming participation of metallic sites in rate-limiting steps. Besides, surface Cu0 sites favor the reaction pathway toward 1,3-butanediol dehydrogenation. Thus, the dehydrogenation/dehydration selectivity ratio increases with Z as a result of the enhanced amount of exposed Cu0 particles. ZCuMgAl catalysts with Z 8wt.% are more active and yield valuable multifunctional C4 oxygenates such as hydroxyketones and to a lesser extent, unsaturated alcohols and ketones. A strongly basic Cu-Mg catalyst promotes the C-C bond cleavage reaction giving short carbon chain oxygenates at low rates; an acidic Cu-Al catalyst converts the diol into the C4 saturated ketone and olefins.Fil: Torresi, Pablo Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica ; ArgentinaFil: Diez, Veronica Karina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica ; ArgentinaFil: Luggren, Pablo Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica ; ArgentinaFil: Di Cosimo, Juana Isabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica ; Argentin

Generalized hopf bifurcation in a frequency domain formulation

The multiplicity problem of limit cycles arising from a weak focus is addressed. The proposed methodology is a combination of the frequency domain method to handle some degenerate Hopf bifurcations with the powerful tools of the singularity theory. The frequency domain approach uses the harmonic balance method to study the existence of periodic solutions. On the other hand, the singularity theory provides the conditions and formulas for the classification problem of the unfolding of the singularity in terms of the distinguished and auxiliary parameters. A classical example introduced by Bautin is shown in which the multiplicity of limit cycles is recovered by using this type of hybrid methodology and standard software in the continuation of periodic solutions (LOCBIF and XPPAUT). For small amplitude limit cycles, the proposed methodology gives accurate results. © 2012 World Scientific Publishing Company.Fil: Torresi, Ana María Luján. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática; ArgentinaFil: Calandrini, Guillermo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Eléctrica "Alfredo Desages". Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Eléctrica "Alfredo Desages"; ArgentinaFil: Bonfili, Paola Andrea. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Matemática; ArgentinaFil: Moiola, Jorge Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Eléctrica "Alfredo Desages". Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Eléctrica "Alfredo Desages"; Argentin

Conversion of diols by dehydrogenation and dehydration reactions on silica-supported copper catalysts

The gas-phase conversion of a 1,3-polyol (1,3-butanediol) containing primary and secondary OH functions was studied on a series of copper-silica catalysts, ZCuSiO2 (Z = 1-25 wt.% Cu), and thoroughly characterized by several techniques such as BET surface area, TPR, XRD, N2O chemisorption, and UV-vis-DRS. The physicochemical properties of the ZCuSiO 2 catalysts depended on whether the metal loading was above or below the copper monolayer surface coverage (Z = 13.5 wt.% Cu). Copper species presenting different degrees of interaction with the silica support were detected. At low Z values Cu0 dispersion was high (D ≈ 40%) due to a predominant contribution of nano-sized Cu species (3 nm) which are difficult to reduce, but for Z > 13.5 wt.%, D abruptly dropped to 3-8% because of formation of larger tridimensional Cu clustered species (30 nm) that reduced at lower temperatures because of a decreased copper-silica interaction. On ZCuSiO2 catalysts, dehydrogenation of the 1,3-butanediol secondary OH function prevailed over that of the primary one and therefore valuable ketones were the main reaction products. Consecutively to dehydrogenation, dehydration and hydrogenation reactions also took place. Products of the tandem reaction were the β-hydroxy ketone (4-hydroxy-2-butanone), the α,β- unsaturated ketone (methyl vinyl ketone) and the saturated ketone (methyl ethyl ketone). A direct 1,3-butanediol dehydration pathway toward methyl ethyl ketone was also found. Reaction pathways were strongly dependent on the Cu loading and therefore on the kind of Cu species (isolated or clustered). When compared at similar conversion levels, selectivity to the dehydrogenation product 4-hydroxy-2-butanone increased with Z suggesting that on large Cu0 particles 4-hydroxy-2-butanone was released to the gas phase before being converted in consecutive steps. On the contrary, on highly dispersed Cu 0 crystals of low Cu loading catalysts, 1,3-butanediol was readily dehydrated giving the saturated ketone. Kinetically relevant reaction steps of 1,3-butanediol conversion by dehydrogenation and dehydration were promoted on Cu0 sites. Dehydration of the intermediate 4-hydroxy-2-butanone also occurred on Cu0 sites. Turnover rates were constant on Cu0 nano particles and slightly higher on clustered species.Fil: Torresi, Pablo Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera". Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera"; ArgentinaFil: Diez, Veronica Karina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera". Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera"; ArgentinaFil: Luggren, Pablo Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera". Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera"; ArgentinaFil: Di Cosimo, Juana Isabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera". Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera"; Argentin

Ab initio study of the structure, isotope effects, and vibrational properties in KDP crystals

The lattice dynamics of potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) and its deuterated analog DKDP was studied via first-principles DFT calculations. A thorough assessment of the quality of a wide range of functionals supplemented with the approximate inclusion of quantum nuclear effects indicated that the nonlocal van der Waals functional vdW-DF [M. Dion et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 246401 (2004)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.92.246401; J. Klimeš et al., Phys. Rev. B 83, 195131 (2011)PRBMDO1098-012110.1103/PhysRevB.83.195131] produces the best agreement with structural data for both compounds. This enabled the calculation of full phonon dispersions in the ferroelectric phase, and hence the phonon density of states and specific heat, in very good agreement with experimental data. Phonon bands and especially modes at the Γ point of the Brillouin zone were classified according to their vibrational pattern. This allowed for the assignment of stretching and bending modes of the hydrogen bonds. Internal modes involving the phosphate units were identified at lower frequencies, while the lowest-lying modes were those involving the K+ ion. These assignments were used to interpret infrared and Raman spectra along the c axis and in the perpendicular plane. Phonon modes calculated at the Γ point showed two types of instabilities. One was a normal mode polarized along the c axis of the crystal, while the other corresponded to a twofold-degenerate mode polarized in the perpendicular plane. The former gives rise to a spontaneous polarization in the ferroelectric phase at low temperatures by coupling to an optical K+-H2PO4- stretching mode, consistently with a significant off-diagonal Born effective charge on the hydrogen atoms. A mode describing the opposite rotation of neighboring PO4 tetrahedra was also found to couple strongly to the ferroelectric mode, as this modulates the O-O distance, which determines the barrier for proton transfer. The present study suggests that a minimal model to describe isotope effects in KDP should involve at least three fully coupled vibrational modes.Fil: Menchón, Rodrigo Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Colizzi, G.. The Queens University of Belfast; IrlandaFil: Johnston, C.. The Queens University of Belfast; IrlandaFil: Torresi, Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Lasave, Jorge Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Koval, Sergio Fabian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Kohanoff, Jorge Jose. The Queens University of Belfast; IrlandaFil: Migoni, Ricardo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario; Argentin

Gas-phase conversion of 1,3-butanediol on single acid-base and Cu-promoted oxides

The gas-phase conversion of 1,3-diols was studied on catalysts containing different active sites and using 1,3-butanediol as a model molecule. Transformation of the diol primary and/or secondary OH groups by dehydration and dehydrogenation reactions yields valuable oxygenates combining OH and CC, OH and CO or CC and CO functions, along with other compounds. A series of single oxides with different acid-base properties, copper-silica and copper-single oxide catalysts were prepared by several methods and characterized by TPR, XRD and N2O chemisorption. Acid-base oxides transform 1,3-butanediol at low rates. Oxide electronegativity determines the main reaction pathway: acidic oxides promote 1,3-butanediol dehydration toward unsaturated alcohols and olefins, whereas basic oxides dehydrogenate-dehydrate the diol toward the unsaturated ketone. The effect of Cu0 in monofunctional copper-silica, or bifunctional copper-acid or copper-base catalysts, is to increase the reaction rate and to shift the reaction pathway toward 1,3-butanediol dehydrogenation. The metal dispersion depends on the preparation method by impregnation, ion exchange or co-precipitation. Small Cu0 particles strongly adsorb reactant and products allowing consecutive reactions to take place after initial dehydrogenation. In bifunctional catalysts, the role of the acid or base sites is to promote consecutive dehydration-hydrogenation or CC bond cleavage reactions, respectively.Fil: Diez, Veronica Karina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera". Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera"; ArgentinaFil: Torresi, Pablo Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera". Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera"; ArgentinaFil: Luggren, Pablo Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera". Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera"; ArgentinaFil: Ferretti, Cristián Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera". Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera"; ArgentinaFil: Di Cosimo, Juana Isabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera". Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Investigaciones en Catálisis y Petroquímica "Ing. José Miguel Parera"; Argentin

One-Step synthesis of PtFe/CeO2 catalyst for the Co-Preferential oxidation reaction at low temperatures

Active Pt-based catalysts at low temperature towards the preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide in hydrogen-rich stream reaction (CO-PROX) are of great importance for H-2-fueled fuel cells, but still remain a challenge. Herein, we propose a simple approach to synthesize a highly active Pt20Fe/CeO2 catalyst employing the borohydride reduction process. Transmission electronic microscopy revealed monodispersed 2.8 nm-Pt nanoparticles on CeO2, and the role of Fe species on the activity is discussed. The excellent CO conversion of 99.6% and CO2 selectivity of 92.3% carried out at ambient temperature meet the CO-PROX requirements for an adequate supply of hydrogen in fuel cell device. (C) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

NAD depletion mediates cytotoxicity in human neurons with autophagy deficiency

Summary: Autophagy is a homeostatic process critical for cellular survival, and its malfunction is implicated in human diseases including neurodegeneration. Loss of autophagy contributes to cytotoxicity and tissue degeneration, but the mechanistic understanding of this phenomenon remains elusive. Here, we generated autophagy-deficient (ATG5−/−) human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), from which we established a human neuronal platform to investigate how loss of autophagy affects neuronal survival. ATG5−/− neurons exhibit basal cytotoxicity accompanied by metabolic defects. Depletion of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) due to hyperactivation of NAD-consuming enzymes is found to trigger cell death via mitochondrial depolarization in ATG5−/− neurons. Boosting intracellular NAD levels improves cell viability by restoring mitochondrial bioenergetics and proteostasis in ATG5−/− neurons. Our findings elucidate a mechanistic link between autophagy deficiency and neuronal cell death that can be targeted for therapeutic interventions in neurodegenerative and lysosomal storage diseases associated with autophagic defect

Preparing for introduction of a dengue vaccine: recommendations from the 1st Dengue v2V Asia-Pacific Meeting

Infection with dengue virus is a major public health problem in the Asia-Pacific region and throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Vaccination represents a major opportunity to control dengue and several candidate vaccines are in development. Experts in dengue and in vaccine introduction gathered for a two day meeting during which they examined the challenges inherent to the introduction of a dengue vaccine into the national immunisation programmes of countries of the Asia-Pacific. The aim was to develop a series of recommendations to reduce the delay between vaccine licensure and vaccine introduction. Major recommendations arising from the meeting included: ascertaining and publicising the full burden and cost of dengue; changing the perception of dengue in non-endemic countries to help generate global support for dengue vaccination; ensuring high quality active surveillance systems and diagnostics; and identifying sustainable sources of funding, both to support vaccine introduction and to maintain the vaccination programme. The attendees at the meeting were in agreement that with the introduction of an effective vaccine, dengue is a disease that could be controlled, and that in order to ensure a vaccine is introduced as rapidly as possible, there is a need to start preparing now