Enhancement of immune response and protection in BALB/c mice immunized with liposomal recombinant major surface glycoprotein of Leishmania (rgp63): The role of bilayer composition

Development of new generation vaccines requires adjuvants to elicit the type and intensity of immune response needed for protection. Liposomes have been shown to be an effective adjuvant formulation. In this study, the role of liposome bilayer composition with different phase transition temperature (T_c) to induce a T helper 1 (Th1) type of immune response and protection against leishmaniasis in BALB/c mice was assessed. Liposome formulations with different bilayer compositions consisting of egg phosphatidylcholine (EPC, T_c < 0 °C), dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC, T_c 41 °C), or distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DSPC, T_c 54 °C) were prepared. All liposomes were contained rgp63 as a recombinant antigen and used to immunize mice subcutaneously 3 times in 3-week intervals. Evaluation of lesion development and splenic parasite burden after challenge with L. major, evaluation of Th1 cytokine (IFN-γ) and Th2 cytokine (IL-4), and titration of IgG isotypes were carried out to assess the type of generated immune response and extent of protection. The results indicated the generated immune response in mice was influenced by the bilayer composition of liposomes, so that mice immunized with liposomes consisting of EPC induced a Th2 type of immune response while liposome consisting of DPPC or DSPC induced Th1 type of immune response. It seems that liposomes prepared with higher Tm phospholipids are suitable formulation to induce Th1 type of immune response and protection, and so might be used for further investigations to develop an effective vaccine against leishmaniasis.     

Synthesis of highly stable unusual charge-separated pyridinium-, isoquinolinium-, quinolinium-, and N-methylimidazolium-tetronic acid zwitterions

A unique strategy for the synthesis of highly stable unusual charge-separated pyridinium-, isoquinolinium-, quinolinium-, and N-methylimidazolium-tetronic acid zwitterions from the reaction of pyridine, isoquinoline, quinoline, and N-methylimidazole with dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates and 3-chlorotetronic acid in EtOH at room temperature is described.     

Lamb wave extraction of dispersion curves in micro/nano-plates using couple stress theories

In this paper, Lamb wave propagation in a homogeneous and isotropic non-classical micro/nano-plates is investigated. To consider the effect of material microstructure on the wave propagation, three size-dependent models namely indeterminate-, modified- and consistent couple stress theories are used to extract the dispersion equations. In the mentioned theories, a parameter called ‘characteristic length’ is used to consider the size of material microstructure in the governing equations. To generalize the parametric studies and examine the effect of thickness, propagation wavelength, and characteristic length on the behavior of miniature plate structures, the governing equations are nondimensionalized by defining appropriate dimensionless parameters. Then the dispersion curves for phase and group velocities are plotted in terms of a wide frequency-thickness range to study the lamb waves propagation considering microstructure effects in very high frequencies. According to the illustrated results, it was observed that the couple stress theories in the Cosserat type material predict more rigidity than the classical theory; so that in a plate with constant thickness, by increasing the thickness to characteristic length ratio, the results approach to the classical theory, and by reducing this ratio, wave propagation speed in the plate is significantly increased. In addition, it is demonstrated that for high-frequency Lamb waves, it converges to dispersive Rayleigh wave velocity.     

A novel one-pot pseudo-five-component condensation reaction towards bifunctional diazepine-tetrazole containing compounds: synthesis of 1H-tetrazolyl-1H-1,4-diazepine-2,3-dicarbonitriles and 1H-tetrazolyl-benzo[b][1,4]diazepines

A novel and efficient method has been developed for the one-pot synthesis of bifunctional diazepine-tetrazole containing compounds. 1H-Tetrazolyl-1H-1,4-diazepine-2, 3-dicarbonitrile and 1H-tetrazolyl-benzo[b][1,4]diazepine derivatives were synthesized in good yields using 2,3-diaminomaleonitrile or an aromatic diamine, ketones, trimethylsilyl azide, and an isocyanide in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid as a catalyst in methanol at room temperature.     

A novel one-pot isocyanide-based four-component reaction: synthesis of highly functionalized 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-b]phthalazine-1,2-dicarboxylates and 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-a]pyridazine-1,2-dicarboxylates

A new protocol has been developed for the efficient synthesis of structurally diverse 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-b]phthalazine-1,2-dicarboxylates and 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-a]pyridazine-1,2-dicarboxylates via a four-component reaction of hydrazine hydrate, dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates, isocyanides and various cyclic anhydrides such as succinic anhydride, maleic anhydride and phthalic anhydride in ethanol/acetone (1:1) at room temperature in good to moderate yields.     

Shellable quasi-forests and their h-triangles

In this paper we show that a quasi-forest is shellable if and only if its h-triangle satisfies ${h_{i,j}(\Delta)=0 \quad \forall i, \forall j >1 }$ . In addition, it will be shown that a quasi-forest is sequentially Cohen-Macaulay if and only if it is shellable.     

Direct Synthesis of PbO Nanoparticles From a Lead(II) Nano Coordination Polymer Precursor: Synthesis,Crystal Structure,and DFT Calculations of [Pb2(dmp)2(μ‐N3)2(μ‐ClO4)2]n with the First Pb2‐(μ‐ClO4)2 Unit

Nanostructures of a new coordination polymer of divalent lead with the ligand 2, 9‐dimethyl‐1, 10‐phenanthroline (dmp) containing the first Pb₂‐(μ‐ClO₄)₂ motif, [Pb₂(dmp)₂(μ‐N₃)₂(μ‐ClO₄)₂]_n ( 1 ), was synthesized by a sonochemical method that produces the coordination polymers at nano size. The new nanostructure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray powder diffraction, IR, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Compound 1 was structurally characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction and the single‐crystal X‐ray data shows that the coordination number of Pb^II ions is six, (PbN₄O₂), with two N‐donor atoms from aza‐aromatic base ligands and four O‐donors from two perchlorate anions and two N‐donors from two azide anions. It has a “stereo‐chemically active” electron lone pair, and the coordination sphere is hemidirected. The supramolecular features in these complexes are guided and controlled by weak directional intermolecular interactions. The chains interact with each other through π–π stacking interactions creating a 3D framework. The structure of the title complex was optimized by density functional theory calculations. Calculated structural parameters and IR spectra for the title complex are in agreement with the crystal structure. The PbO nanoparticles were obtained by thermolysis of 1 at 180 °C with oleic acid as a surfactant. The average diameter of the nanoparticles was estimated by the Scherrer equation to be 23 nm. The morphology and size of the prepared PbO samples were further observed using SEM.     

On magnetophoretic separation of blood cells using Halbach array of magnets

Meccanica - Magnetophoretic separation has gained much attention in recent years due to its easy application and low-cost fabrication compared to other active particle separation techniques. Due to...     

Synthesis,Cytotoxicity, and Structure-Activity Relationships of New Oxaliplatin Derivatives

Summary. In order to setup structure-activity relationships and to explore the possibilities of improving the anticancer activity of oxaliplatin, which was recently approved for combination chemotherapy of metastatic colorectal cancer, new oxaliplatin analogues have been synthesized. The cytotoxicity was determined in nine human tumor cell lines and revealed a comparable or even higher cytotoxic potency in leukemia, ovarian and colon cancer cell lines in the case of small substituents at position 4 of the cyclohexane-1,2-diamine ligand. Introduction of bigger substituents at this position and thereby increasing the steric demand of the diamine ligands and the lipophilicity of the oxaliplatin derivatives resulted in platinum complexes with reduced cytotoxic properties.