Novel quinolines carrying pyridine, thienopyridine, isoquinoline, thiazolidine, thiazole and thiophene moieties as potential anticancer agents

As a part of ongoing studies in developing new anticancer agents, a class of structurally novel 1,2-dihydropyridine 4, thienopyridine 5, isoquinolines 6-20, acrylamide 21, thiazolidine 22, thiazoles 23-29 and thiophenes 33-35 bearing a biologically active quinoline nucleus were synthesized. The structure of newly synthesized compounds was confirmed on the basis of elemental analyses and spectral data. All the newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against the breast cancer cell line MCF7. 2,3-Dihydrothiazole-5-carboxamides 27, 25, 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxamide (34), 1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (7), 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-cyclohepta[b]thiophene-3-carboxamide (35), 1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (6), 2-cyano-3-(dimethylamino)-N-quinolin-3-yl)acrylamide (21), 1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitriles (11) and (8) exhibited higher activity (IC50 values of 27-45 μmol L–1), compared to doxorubicin (IC50 47.9 μmol L–1). (Quinolin-3-yl)-1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (12), 2-thioxo-2,3-dihydrothiazole-5-carboxamide (28) and (quinolin-3-yl)-1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (15) show comparable activity to doxorubicin, while (quinolin-3-yl)-1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (9), 2, 3-dihydrothiazole-5-carboxamide (24), thieno [3,4-c] pyridine-4(5H)-one (5), cyclopenta[b]thiophene-3-carboxamide (33) and (quinolin-3-yl)-6-stryl-1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (10) exhibited moderate activity, lower than doxorubicin

Parents' perceptions about child abuse and their impact on physical and emotional child abuse: A study from primary health care centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: To determine perceptions of parents about child abuse, and their impact on physical and emotional child abuse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred parents attending three primary health care centers (PHCCs) in Riyadh serving National Guard employes and their families, were requested to participate in this survey. Data was collected by self administered questionnaire. Five main risk factors areas/domains were explored; three were parent related (personal factors, history of parents' childhood abuse, and parental attitude toward punishment), and two were family/community effects and factors specific to the child. SPSS was used for data entry and analysis. Descriptive analysis included computation of mean, median, mode, frequencies, and percentages; Chi-square test and t-test were used to test for statistical significance, and regression analysis performed to explore relationships between child abuse and various risk factors. RESULTS: Thirty-four percent of the parents reported a childhood history of physical abuse. Almost 18% of the parents used physical punishment. The risk factors associated significantly with child abuse were parents' history of physical abuse, young parent, witness to domestic violence, and poor self-control. Child-related factors included a child who is difficult to control or has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Parents who did not own a house were more likely to use physical punishment. Abusive beliefs of parent as risk factors were: physical punishment as an effective educational tool for a noisy child; parents' assent to physical punishment for children; it is difficult to differentiate between physical punishment and child abuse; parents have the right to discipline their child as they deem necessary; and there is no need for a system for the prevention of child abuse. CONCLUSION: The causes of child abuse and neglect are complex. Though detecting child abuse may be difficult in primary care practice, many risk factors can be identified early. Parents' attitudes can be measured, and prevention initiatives, such as screening and counseling for parents of children at risk, can be developed and incorporated into primary care practice

Novel quinolines carrying pyridine, thienopyridine, isoquinoline, thiazolidine, thiazole and thiophene moieties as potential anticancer agents

As a part of ongoing studies in developing new anticancer agents, novel 1,2-dihydropyridine 4, thienopyridine 5, isoquinolines 6–20, acrylamide 21, thiazolidine 22, thiazoles 23–29 and thiophenes 33–35 bearing a biologically active quinoline nucleus were synthesized. The structure of newly synthesized compounds was confirmed on the basis of elemental analyses and spectral data. All the newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity against the breast cancer cell line MCF7. 2,3-Dihydrothiazole-5-carboxamides 27, 25, 4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxamide (34), 1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (7), 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-cyclohepta[b]thiophene-3-carboxamide (35), 1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (6), 2-cyano-3-(dimethylamino)-N-(quinolin-3-yl)acrylamide (21), 1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitriles (11) and (8) exhibited higher activity (IC50 values of 27–45 μmol L–1) compared to doxorubicin (IC50 47.9 μmol L–1). LQ quinolin-3-yl)-1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (12), 2-thioxo-2,3-dihydrothiazole-5-carboxamide (28) and quinolin-3-yl)-1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (15) show activity comparable to doxorubicin, while (quinolin-3-yl)-1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (9), 2,3-dihydrothiazole-5-carboxamide (24), thieno [3,4-c] pyridine-4(5H)-one (5), cyclopenta[b]thiophene-3-carboxamide (33) and (quinolin-3-yl)-6-stryl-1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-7-carbonitrile (10) exhibited moderate activity, lower than doxorubicin

Katanin p80 Regulates Human Cortical Development by Limiting Centriole and Cilia Number

Katanin is a microtubule-severing complex whose catalytic activities are well characterized, but whose in vivo functions are incompletely understood. Human mutations in KATNB1, which encodes the noncatalytic regulatory p80 subunit of katanin, cause severe microlissencephaly. Loss of Katnb1 in mice confirms essential roles in neurogenesis and cell survival, while loss of zebrafish katnb1 reveals specific roles for katnin p80 in early and late developmental stages. Surprisingly, Katnb1 null mutant mouse embryos display hallmarks of aberrant Sonic hedgehog signaling, including holoprosencephaly. KATNB1-deficient human cells show defective proliferation and spindle structure, while Katnb1 null fibroblasts also demonstrate a remarkable excess of centrioles, with supernumerary cilia but deficient Hedgehog signaling. Our results reveal unexpected functions for KATNB1 in regulating overall centriole, mother centriole, and cilia number, and as an essential gene for normal Hedgehog signaling during neocortical developmen

Accelerating Novel Candidate Gene Discovery in Neurogenetic Disorders via Whole-Exome Sequencing of Prescreened Multiplex Consanguineous Families

Our knowledge of disease genes in neurological disorders is incomplete. With the aim of closing this gap, we performed whole-exome sequencing on 143 multiplex consanguineous families in whom known disease genes had been excluded by autozygosity mapping and candidate gene analysis. This prescreening step led to the identification of 69 recessive genes not previously associated with disease, of which 33 are here described (SPDL1, TUBA3E, INO80, NID1, TSEN15, DMBX1, CLHC1, C12orf4, WDR93, ST7, MATN4, SEC24D, PCDHB4, PTPN23, TAF6, TBCK, FAM177A1, KIAA1109, MTSS1L, XIRP1, KCTD3, CHAF1B, ARV1, ISCA2, PTRH2, GEMIN4, MYOCD, PDPR, DPH1, NUP107, TMEM92, EPB41L4A, and FAM120AOS). We also encountered instances in which the phenotype departed significantly from the established clinical presentation of a known disease gene. Overall, a likely causal mutation was identified in >73% of our cases. This study contributes to the global effort toward a full compendium of disease genes affecting brain function

Human Mutations in NDE1 Cause Extreme Microcephaly with Lissencephaly

Genes disrupted in human microcephaly (meaning “small brain”) define key regulators of neural progenitor proliferation and cell-fate specification. In comparison, genes mutated in human lissencephaly (lissos means smooth and cephalos means brain) highlight critical regulators of neuronal migration. Here, we report two families with extreme microcephaly and grossly simplified cortical gyral structure, a condition referred to as microlissencephaly, and show that they carry homozygous frameshift mutations in NDE1, which encodes a multidomain protein that localizes to the centrosome and mitotic spindle poles. Both human mutations in NDE1 truncate the C-terminal NDE1domains, which are essential for interactions with cytoplasmic dynein and thus for regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics in mitosis and for cell-cycle-dependent phosphorylation of NDE1 by Cdk1. We show that the patient NDE1 proteins are unstable, cannot bind cytoplasmic dynein, and do not localize properly to the centrosome. Additionally, we show that CDK1 phosphorylation at T246, which is within the C-terminal region disrupted by the mutations, is required for cell-cycle progression from the G2 to the M phase. The role of NDE1 in cell-cycle progression probably contributes to the profound neuronal proliferation defects evident in Nde1-null mice and patients with NDE1 mutations, demonstrating the essential role of NDE1 in human cerebral cortical neurogenesis