FoxO and Stress Responses in the Cnidarian Hydra vulgaris

Background: In the face of changing environmental conditions, the mechanisms underlying stress responses in diverse organisms are of increasing interest. In vertebrates, Drosophila, and Caenorhabditis elegans, FoxO transcription factors mediate cellular responses to stress, including oxidative stress and dietary restriction. Although FoxO genes have been identified in early-arising animal lineages including sponges and cnidarians, little is known about their roles in these organisms. Methods/Principal Findings: We have examined the regulation of FoxO activity in members of the well-studied cnidarian genus Hydra. We find that Hydra FoxO is expressed at high levels in cells of the interstitial lineage, a cell lineage that includes multipotent stem cells that give rise to neurons, stinging cells, secretory cells and gametes. Using transgenic Hydra that express a FoxO-GFP fusion protein in cells of the interstitial lineage, we have determined that heat shock causes localization of the fusion protein to the nucleus. Our results also provide evidence that, as in bilaterian animals, Hydra FoxO activity is regulated by both Akt and JNK kinases. Conclusions: These findings imply that basic mechanisms of FoxO regulation arose before the evolution of bilaterians an

Formaldehyde-1,1″-(phenylphosphinidenesulfide)bis[(2S)-2-[(1R)-1-(methylamino)-ethyl]]ferrocene-aminal

In the course of an ongoing synthetic project, we observed an unprecedented reactivity of N-methyl groups in bis(N,N-dimethylaminoethylferrocenyl)phenylphosphinesulfide upon treatment with manganese dioxide (MnO2). The intramolecular course of this reaction resulted in the formation of an unexpected homochiral diaza macrocycle. The target structure was accessible in two steps from known N,N-dimethylaminoethylferrocene

An Unexpected Oxidative C-O Bond Formation: 11,17a-Dihydrobenzo[4,5]oxazolo[3,2-A]dinaphtho[2,1- C:1\u27,2\u27-E]azepine

Phosphoric acids bound to 3,3’-subsituted 1,1’-binaphthalene-2,2’-diol (BINOL) have found wide application as effective asymmetric catalysts. In this work, we describe our attempt to construct a new binaphthalene-based phosphoric acid 6. We found that both the key precursor 2 and the desired product 6 decay rapidly and quantitatively to a stable dihydrooxazole 3 via an O2-driven oxidative C-O bond formation

Planar-Chiral P and N-bridged Diferrocenes

We describe the synthesis of planar-chiral diferrocene compounds 4, 7 and 12, intended as key precursors for a new family of asymmetric catalyst ligands with less complex structures than their popular equivalents. In contrast to conventional 1,2-disubstituted ferrocenes containing center-chiral and planar-chiral elements, these compounds are purely planar-chiral due to the absence of α-substiuted ethyl groups. The title compounds 4, 7 and 12 were obtained from known precursors in 87%, 59% and 60% yields, respectively