Cellular imitations

Synthetic biologists typically construct new pathways within existing cells. While useful, this approach in many ways ignores the undefined but necessary components of life. A growing number of laboratories have begun to try to remove some of the mysteries of cellular life by building life-like systems from non-living component parts. Some of these attempts rely on purely chemical and physical forces alone without the aid of biological molecules, while others try to build artificial cells from the parts of life, such as nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. Both bottom-up strategies suffer from the complication of trying to build something that remains undefined. The result has been the development of research programs that try to build systems that mimic in some way recognized living systems. Since it is difficult to quantify the mimicry of life, success often times is evaluated with a degree of subjectivity. Herein we highlight recent advances in mimicking the organization and behavior of cellular life from the bottom-up

Wild food plants of popular use in Sicily

In the present work the authors report the result of their food ethnobotanical researches, which have been carried out in Sicily during the last thirty years. Data concerning 188 wild species used in the traditional Sicilian cuisine are reported. The authors underline those species that are partially or completely unknown for their culinary use and they illustrate other species that local inhabitants suggested in the prevention or treatment of symptomatologies caused by a refined diet, poor in vegetables. These data want to contribute to avoid the loss of traditional knowledge on uses and recipes concerning wild food botanicals, and to encourage further studies for those species that have not yet been sufficiently researched in their food chemical and nutritional profile. These studies may also suggest new applications for a few botanicals in medico-nutritional fields. The work includes also a short review of the seaweeds and mushrooms traditionally gathered and consumed in Sicily

Ionic Liquids as Reaction Media in Catalytic Oxidations with Manganese and Iron Pyridyl Triazacyclononane Complexes

A family of bioinspired iron and manganese complexes of general formula [MII(CF3SO3)2(Me,XPyTACN)], where Me,XPyTACN = 1-[2’-(6-X-pyridyl)methyl]-4,7-dimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane, and M = Fe, and Mn has been studied as efficient catalytic systems for hydrogen peroxide oxidation reactions. Previous work revealed that the manganese derivative [MnII(CF3SO3)2(Me,HPyTACN)], 1, in acetonitrile exhibits a high catalytic activity in the epoxidation of a wide range of olefins (TON: 810-4500), using acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide as primary oxidant. The analogous iron based complex [FeII(CF3SO3)2(Me,HPyTACN)], 2a and [FeII(CF3SO3)2(Me,MePyTACN)], 2b promote the high added value oxidation reaction of alkanes in mild conditions. In this work sustainability and selectivity of the oxidative system is improved with the use of the ionic liquids (ILs) as reaction medium. The possibility to recycle the catalytic phase without loss of the activity with respect to the original reaction in acetonitrile (MeCN) is reported

Cuantificación de las erosión en un talud de Taganana mediante fotogrametría terrestre (Tenerife)

This paper provides an assessment of the potential of terrestrial photogrammetry to calculate erosion associated with surface runoff on hillsides near roads during recent periods. To do this we choose a road embankment located in a valley with hills which have developed abundant grooves erosion. The accuracy of the surveying tool is evident in the evaluation of small hillsides, but is impractical for the study of large hillsides with significant slopes, in which are unknown initial parameters of the topography

Inhibition of cell proliferation, migration and invasion of B16-F10 melanoma cells by α-mangostin

In this study, we have evaluated the potential antineoplastic effects of α-mangostin (α-M), the most representative xanthone in Garcinia mangostana pericarp, on melanoma cell lines. This xanthone markedly inhibits the proliferation of high-metastatic B16-F10 melanoma cells. Furthermore, by deeply analyzing which steps in the metastatic process are influenced by xanthone it was observed that α-M strongly interferes with homotypic aggregation, adhesion, plasticity and invasion ability of B16-F10 cells, probably by the observed reduction of metalloproteinase-9 activity. The antiproliferative and antimetastatic properties of α-M have been established in human SK-MEL-28 and A375 melanoma cells. In order to identify pathways potentially involved in the antineoplastic properties of α-M, a comparative mass spectrometry proteomic approach was employed. These findings may improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer effects of α-M on melanoma

Unexpected one-pot synthesis of highly conjugated pentacyclic diquinoid compounds

A new class of pentacyclic diquinoid compounds has been synthesized with a facile one-pot reaction of two molecules of 2-hydroxynaphthoquinone and 1-bromoalkanes in the presence of ferrocene. These molecules were isolated as enol tautomers that exhibit intramolecular hydrogen bond and extended electronic conjugation as proved by the intense absorption spectrum with a broad band between 400 and 600 nm. The spectroscopic and electrochemical characterization of this new class of compounds has been performed. One of the synthesized diquinoid derivatives showed a significant cytotoxicity with IC50 values of 25−50 μM against Cisplatin-Resistant SKOV3 and colon carcinoma SW480 cell lines. The results of our study provide a valuable tool to a one-pot synthesis of highly conjugated polyquinones, analogous to important biological systems, with significant antitumoral activity

Implementation of a webGIS service platform for high mountain climate research: the SHARE GeoNetwork project

The implementation of a webGIS service platform dedicated to the management and sharing of climatological data acquired by high elevation stations is the core of the Station at High Altitude for Research on the Environment (SHARE) GeoNetwork project, promoted by the Ev-K2 CNR Committee. The web platform basically will provide three types of services: structured metadata archive, data and results from high-altitude environments research and projects; access to high-altitude Ev-K2 CNR stations and creation of a network of existing stations; dedicated webGIS for geo-referenced data collected during the research. High elevation environmental and territorial data and metadata are catalogued in a single integrated platform to get access to the information heritage of the SHARE project, using open-source tools: Geonetwork for the metadata catalogue and webGIS resources, and the open-source Weather and Water Database (WDB), developed by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, for the database information system implementation. The information system is designed to have a main node, with the possibility to install relocated subsystems based on the same technology, named focal point of SHARE, which will contain metadata and data connected to the main node. In this study, a new structure of metadata for the description of the climatological stations is proposed and WDB adaptation and data preprocessing are described in detail, giving code and script samples

A Geological Itinerary Through the Southern Apennine Thrust-Belt (Basilicata—Southern Italy)

Open access via Springer Compact AgreementPeer reviewedPublisher PD

A small organic compound enhances the religation reaction of human topoisomerase I and identifies crucial elements for the religation mechanism

The different steps of the human Top1 (topoisomerase I) catalytic cycle have been analysed in the presence of a pentacyclic-diquinoid synthetic compound. The experiments indicate that it efficiently inhibits the cleavage step of the enzyme reaction, fitting well into the catalytic site. Surprisingly the compound, when incubated with the binary topoisomerase–DNA cleaved complex, helps the enzyme to remove itself from the cleaved DNA and close the DNA gap, increasing the religation rate. The compound also induces the religation of the stalled enzyme–CPT (camptothecin)– DNA ternary complex. Analysis of the molecule docked over the binary complex, together with its chemical properties, suggests that the religation enhancement is due to the presence on the compound of two oxygen atoms that act as hydrogen acceptors. This property facilitates the deprotonation of the 5 DNA end, suggesting that this is the limiting step in the topoisomerase religation mechanism