[New antithrombotic drugs in cardiovascular disease].

During the past decades, a great bulk of studies have been undertaken to investigate the pathophysiologic mechanisms responsible for thrombus formation. As a consequence, different therapeutic strategies interfering at different levels of the coagulation process have been developed. Many of these compounds did not achieve full development, but others are presently available for the clinician. The present review paper will focus on these new therapeutic strategies developed in the last 10 years

Can a metal nanoparticle based catalyst drive the selective growth of bright SiV color centers in CVD diamonds ?

We propose an efficient catalytic method based on nickel nanoparticles to produce a massive amount of Si color centers in diamonds directly during the CVD growth. A thermodynamic model was firstly developed to describe the mechanism of the Si inclusion in diamonds and a subsequent series of diamond syntheses was carried out to corroborate the model. Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy as well as electron microscopy were used to characterize the diamond samples. All the treatments with Ni nanoparticles were able to produce diamond samples with a Si related fluorescence intensity higher than the one related to the un-treated samples. Finally a critical discussion of our results, in comparison with the ones reported in literature, is presented. 1. Introductio

Can a metal nanoparticle based catalyst drive the selective growth of bright SiV color centers in CVD diamonds ?

We propose an efficient catalytic method based on nickel nanoparticles to produce a massive amount of Si color centers in diamonds directly during the CVD growth. A thermodynamic model was firstly developed to describe the mechanism of the Si inclusion in diamonds and a subsequent series of diamond syntheses was carried out to corroborate the model. Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy as well as electron microscopy were used to characterize the diamond samples. All the treatments with Ni nanoparticles were able to produce diamond samples with a Si related fluorescence intensity higher than the one related to the un-treated samples. Finally a critical discussion of our results, in comparison with the ones reported in literature, is presented. 1. Introductio

Conformational effects on the electron-transfer efficiency in peptide foldamers based on alpha,alpha-disubstituted glycyl residues

Peptide foldamers based on alpha,alpha-disubstituted glycyl residues were synthesized and chemically characterized to investigate the effects of the electric field generated by a 3(10)-helix on the rate of intramolecular photoinduced electron-transfer reactions. To this end, two new octapeptides having identical sequences were suitably side-chain functionalized with the same electron-transfer donor-acceptor pair, but inverting the position of the pair along the main chain. The electron-transfer rate constants, measured by time-resolved spectroscopy techniques (nanosecond transient absorption and time-resolved fluorescence), indicated that, in the case of the 3(10)-helix, the electrostatic effect is significant, but smaller than that obtained for alpha-helical peptides. This finding can be likely ascribed to the distortion of the H-bond network with respect to the helical axis taking place in the former secondary structure. Overall, these results could have implications on electron-transfer phenomena in model and biomembranes facilitated by peptaibiotics

Rational Design of Highly Responsive pH Sensors Based on DNA i-Motif

Availability of strategies for molecular biosensing over a finely adjustable dynamic range is essential for understanding and controlling vital biological processes. Herein we report design principles of highly responsive pH sensors based on a DNA i-motif where both response sensitivity and transition midpoint can be tuned with high precision over the physiologically relevant pH interval. The tuning is accomplished via rational manipulations of an i-motif structure as well as incorporation of allosteric control elements. This strategy delivers molecular sensing systems with a transition midpoint tunable with 0.1 pH units precision and with a total response range as narrow as 0.2 pH units which can be adjusted to a variety of outputs (e.g., fluorescent readout). The potential of the presented approach is not limited by pH sensing but may extend toward manipulation of other quadruplex based structures or the development of ultraresponsive elements for artificial molecular machines and signaling systems