Photochemical Expulsion of Leaving Groups from a Naphthothiophene-2-Carboxamide Linked to a Chromophore

Two bichromophoric systems were synthesized which have thioxanthone as the chromophore that absorbs the incident light and a naphthothiophene-2-carboxanilide, which serves as a triplet excited state energy acceptor. Upon excitation the triplet excited state of the thioxanthone is populated via intersystem crossing, which is efficient with isc = 0.68. Based on the relative energies of the triplet excited states of thioxanthone (ET = 65 kcal mol-1) and naphthothiophene (ET = 51 kcal mol-1), the subsequent triplet excited state energy transfer to generate the triplet excited state of the naphthothiophene-2-carboxamide should be a very rapid process that is 14 kcal mol1 exothermic. Computational studies have shown that the triplet excited state of the naphthothiophene-2-carboxanilide undergoes an electrocyclic ring closure to ultimately generate an intermediate with zwitterionic character. This intermediate is thought to be responsible for the elimination of a leaving group that is attached to the C-3 position of the thiophene ring. When the thioxanthone chromophore is linked to naphthothiophene-2-carboxanilide via a trimethylene linkage, the release of a leaving group originally attached to the C-3 position of the thiophene ring occurs with = 0.13 – 0.15. These efficiencies can be compared to the thioxanthone sensitized photolysis, in which the triplet energy transfer is intermolecular. The triplet sensitized quantum yield is = 0.13. The close similarity in efficiencies for the linked and unlinked systems indicates that the triplet energy transfer is as efficient when it occurs by a through – bond mechanism involving the trimethylene linker as when it is intermolecular and occurs collisionally between donor and acceptor, which instead requires overlap of the donor and acceptor orbitals. In both cases the energy transfer efficiency is et = 1, given that = iscetr. On the other hand, when the thioxanthone directly replaces the phenyl group of the naphthothiophene-2-carboxanilide the quantum yield is two-fold less than the trimethylene – linked system. Either et \u3c 1 or r \u3c 0.19 due to an unfavorable substituent effect that discourages electrocyclization with the thioxanthone ring

(E)-3-(2-Bromo­phen­yl)-1-(3,4-dimeth­oxy­phen­yl)prop-2-en-1-one

The crystal structure of the title compound, C17H15BrO3, a chalcone derivative, exhibits two crystallographically independent mol­ecules per asymmetric unit showing an E conformation about the ethyl­ene double bond. In each mol­ecule, the two phenyl rings are almost coplanar: the mean planes make dihedral angles of 9.3 (2) and 19.4 (2)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked through weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

Pathogenic invasive microbes Trichoderma pleuroticola transform bacterial and fungal community diversity in Auricularia cornea crop production system

Pathogenic invasion of Trichoderma pleuroticola profoundly altered microflora in the Auricularia cornea crop production system, impacting diversity and composition in both artificial bed-log and fruiting bodies. A more complex ecological network between the diseased and healthy bodies. Researchers still have poor knowledge about how the important agricultural relationship between the composition of the microbiome of the artificial bed-log and the fruiting bodies is infected by the pathogenic invasive microbes T. pleuroticola, but this knowledge is crucial if we want to use or improve it. Here, we investigated 8 groups (48 biological samples) across 5 growth stages of the A. cornea production system using metagenomic technology. Diseased and healthy fruiting bodies exhibited distinct microbial compositions, while core members in artificial bed-logs remained stable. Core microbiota analysis highlighted Pseudomonas and Pandoraea bacterial genera, as well as Sarocladium, Cephalotrichum, Aspergillus, and Mortierella fungal genera as biomarker species after the bodies were treated with the pathogenic invasive microbes T. pleuroticola. In diseased bodies, these core members upregulated pathways including polymyxin resistance, L-arginine degradation II, superpathway of L-arginine and L-ornithine degradation, glucose degradation (oxidative), glucose and glucose-1-phosphate degradation, promoting fruit spoilage. Our data confirm that T. pleuroticola plays an important role in the early stages of disease development in the A. cornea crop generation system. The exposed volatile core microbiome may play an important role in accelerating T. pleuroticola-induced decay of fruiting bodies

MicroRNA-1224 Inhibits Tumor Metastasis in Intestinal-Type Gastric Cancer by Directly Targeting FAK

Intestinal-type gastric cancer (GC) of the Lauren classification system has specific epidemiological characteristics and carcinogenesis patterns. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have prognostic significance, and some can be used as prognostic biomarkers in GC. In this study, we identified miR-1224 as a potential survival-related miRNA in intestinal-type GC patients by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) analysis. Using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), we showed that the relative expression of miR-1224 was significantly decreased in intestinal-type GC tissues compared to matched adjacent normal mucosa tissues (p < 0.01). We found that high miR-1224 expression was associated with no lymph-node metastasis (p < 0.05) and good prognosis (p = 0.028) in 90 intestinal-type GC tissues. Transfection of intestinal-type GC cells with miR-1224 mimics showed that miR-1224 suppressed cell migration in vitro (wound healing assay and Transwell migration assay), whereas the transfection of cells with miR-1224 inhibitor promoted cell migration in vitro. miR-1224 also suppressed intestinal-type GC cell metastasis in a xenograft mouse model. Furthermore, bioinformatics, luciferase reporter, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) studies demonstrated that miR-1224 directly bound to the focal adhesion kinase (FAK) gene, and downregulated its expression, which decreased STAT3 and NF-κB signaling and subsequent the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Repression of FAK is required for the miR-1224-mediated inhibition of cell migration in intestinal-type GC. The present study demonstrated that miR-1224 is downregulated in intestinal-type GC. miR-1224 inhibits the metastasis of intestinal-type GC by suppressing FAK-mediated activation of the STAT3 and NF-κB pathways, and subsequent EMT. miR-1224 could represent an important prognostic factor in intestinal-type GC

Hydrated lime promoted the polysaccharide content and affected the transcriptomes of Lentinula edodes during brown film formation

Brown film formation, a unique developmental stage in the life cycle of Lentinula edodes, is essential for the subsequent development of fruiting bodies in L. edodes cultivation. The pH of mushroom growth substrates are usually adjusted with hydrated lime, yet the effects of hydrated lime on cultivating L. edodes and the molecular mechanisms associated with the effects have not been studied systemically. We cultivated L. edodes on substrates supplemented with 0% (CK), 1% (T1), 3% (T2), and 5% (T3) hydrated lime (Ca (OH)2), and applied transcriptomics and qRT-PCR to study gene expression on the brown film formation stage. Hydrated lime increased polysaccharide contents in L. edodes, especially in T2, where the 5.3% polysaccharide content was approximately 1.5 times higher than in the CK. The addition of hydrated lime in the substrate promoted laccase, lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase activities, implying that hydrated lime improved the ability of L. edodes to decompose lignin and provide nutrition for its growth and development. Among the annotated 9,913 genes, compared to the control, 47 genes were up-regulated and 52 genes down-regulated in T1; 73 genes were up-regulated and 44 were down-regulated in T2; and 125 genes were up-regulated and 65 genes were down-regulated in T3. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were enriched in the amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism related pathways. The carbohydrate-active enzyme genes up-regulated in the hydrated lime treatments were mostly glycosyl hydrolase genes. The results will facilitate future optimization of L. edodes cultivation techniques and possibly shortening the production cycle

Transcriptomic profiling revealed important roles of amino acid metabolism in fruiting body formation at different ripening times in Hypsizygus marmoreus

IntroductionHypsizygus marmoreus is an industrial mushroom that is widely cultivated in East Asia. Its long postripening stage before fruiting severely limits its industrialized production.MethodsFive different mycelial ripening times (30, 50, 70, 90, and 100 d) were chosen and primordia (30P, 50P, 70P, 90P, and 110P) were collected for comparative transcriptomic analyses. The corresponding substrates (30F, 50F, 70F, 90F, and 110F) were used for nutrient content and enzyme activity determination.ResultsIn pairwise comparisons between 110P and other primordia, a total of 1,194, 977, 773, and 697 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in 30P_110P, 50P_110P, 70P_110P, and 90P_110P, respectively. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes Genomes (KEGG) functional enrichment analyses revealed that the DEGs were mainly associated with amino acid metabolism, and lipid and carbohydrate metabolism pathways. Tyrosine, tryptophan, phenylalanine and histidine metabolism were enriched in all groups. Among the main carbon nutrients, the contents of cellulose and hemicellulose were high, and the lignin content decreased with the extension of the ripening time. Laccase had the highest activity, and acid protease activity decreased with the extension of the ripening time.DiscussionThe highly enrichment for amino acid metabolic pathways in primordia reveals that these pathways are essential for fruiting body formation in H. marmoreus, and these results will provide a basis for the optimization of its cultivation

Eye movements as predictor of cognitive improvement after cognitive remediation therapy in patients with schizophrenia

AimBaseline cognitive functions of patients predicted the efficacy of cognitive remediation therapy (CRT), but results are mixed. Eye movement is a more objective and advanced assessment of cognitive functions than neuropsychological testing. We aimed to investigate the applicability of eye movements in predicting cognitive improvement after patients with schizophrenia were treated with CRT.MethodsWe recruited 79 patients with schizophrenia to complete 8 weeks of CRT and assessed their cognitive improvement outcomes. Eye movements were assessed by prosaccades, antisaccades, and free-viewing tasks at baseline, and neuropsychological tests in four cognitive domains were assessed before and after treatment to calculate treatment outcomes. Predictors of demographic information, clinical characteristics, and eye movement measures at baseline on cognitive improvement outcomes were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. We further compared the predictive performance between eye movement measurements and neuropsychological test regarding the effect of CRT on cognitive improvement, and explored factors that could be affect the treatment outcomes in different cognitive domains.ResultsAs operationally defined, 33 patients showed improved in cognition (improved group) and 46 patients did not (non-improved group) after CRT. Patients with schizophrenia being employed, lower directional error rate in antisaccade task, and lower the gap effect (i.e., the difference in saccadic latency between the gap condition and overlap condition) in prosaccade task at baseline predicted cognitive improvement in CRT. However, performance in the free-viewing task not associated with cognitive improvement in patients in CRT. Our results show that eye-movement prediction model predicted the effect of CRT on cognitive improvement in patients with schizophrenia better than neuropsychological prediction model in CRT. In addition, baseline eye-movements, cognitive reserve, antipsychotic medication dose, anticholinergic cognitive burden change, and number of training sessions were associated with improvements in four cognitive domains.ConclusionEye movements as a non-invasiveness, objective, and sensitive method of evaluating cognitive function, and combined saccadic measurements in pro- and anti-saccades tasks could be more beneficial than free-viewing task in predicting the effect of CRT on cognitive improvement in patients with schizophrenia

Mitochondrial function and morphology in prohibitin 2 deleted ß-cells and hepatocytes

Ce projet se concentre sur une famille de protéines mitochondriales: les prohibitines. Les prohibitines (Phb1 et Phb2) sont situées sur la membrane interne des mitochondries et participent à diverses fonctions cellulaires. La délétion in vitro de Phb2 provoque une augmentation du clivage de la machinerie de fusion mitochondriale GTPase OPA1, conduisant à une fragmentation mitochondriale et une sensibilité accrue à l'apoptose. Nous avons étudié le rôle de Phb2 dans le métabolisme hépatique en utilisant des souris ayant une délétion spécifique de Phb2 dans les hépatocytes (Hep-Phb2-/-). Les souris Hep-Phb2-/- présentent une stéatose, des lésions hépatiques et une production de glucose hépatique déficiente. Par ailleurs, nous avons aussi supprimé Phb2 dans les cellules β du pancréas (β-Phb2-/-) chez des souris. Celles-ci développent un diabète en raison du déclin progressif de la masse fonctionnelles des cellules β