Anti-Psoriatic Effects of Antimony Compounds In Vitro

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by hyperproliferation of keratinocytes and a pro-inflammatory milieu in the skin. While patients with moderate to severe psoriasis are treated using targeted therapies (small molecules and monoclonal antibodies), patients suffering from milder forms are still in need of effective topical products without adverse effects. Antimony compounds (ACs) are regularly used as anti-inflammatory compounds in traditional and anthroposophic medicine and as antiprotozoan drugs. Here, we examined the effect of metallic antimony, natural antimony(III) sulfide and potassium antimonyl(III) tartrate in vitro on psoriasis-like keratinocytes and the human dendritic cell line THP-1 using qPCR, immunocytochemistry, ELISA and flow cytometry. In psoriatic keratinocytes, ACs inhibited the overexpression of the antimicrobial peptide β-defensin 2 and glucose transporter 1, as well as the hyperproliferation marker keratin 17. Furthermore, ACs mediated anti-inflammatory effects by reducing nuclear translocation of the p65 subunit of NF-κB and pSTAT3 and inhibited pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion by keratinocytes. In addition, ACs displayed anti-psoriatic effects by reducing the activation of IFN-α-treated THP-1 cells as well as the expression of the psoriasis-promoting master cytokine IL-23 by these cells. While all ACs showed anti-psoriatic effects, the most prominent results were seen with potassium antimonyl(III) tartrate. In summary, ACs display numerous anti-psoriatic effects in vitro at subtoxic concentrations. We conclude that ACs are interesting compounds for the topical treatment of psoriasis that warrant further investigation in clinical studies.     

Synthese und Charakterisierung neuer cyclischer und käfigartiger Indium‐Phosphor‐ und Indium‐Arsen‐Verbindungen

Synthesis and Characterization of New Cyclic and Cage‐like Indium — Phosphorus and Indium — Arsenic Compounds The reaction of InEt₃ with H₂ESiiPr₃ initially yields the cyclic compound [Et₂InP(H)SiiPr₃]₂ ( 2 ). 2 appears as a mixture of cis and trans isomers and has been characterized by ³¹P‐NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. 2 decomposes in solution under elimination of ethane during a few days to form [EtInPSiiPr₃]₄ ( 3 ) with a cage‐like structure. The analogous arsenic compound [EtInAsSiiPr₃]₄ ( 4 ) can be prepared by reaction of InEt₃ with H₂AsSiiPr₃. Central structural motif of 3 and 4 is an In₄E₄ heterocubane like structure (E = P, As), whereas the reaction of InEt₃ with H₂PSiMe₂Thex (Thex = CMe₂iPr) yields [EtInPSiMe₂Thex]₆ ( 5 ) with a hexagonal prismatic structure.     

Ternary Rare Earth Metal Palladium and Platinum Aluminides R4Pd9Al24 and R4Pt9Al24

The fifteen intermetallic compounds R₄Pd₉Al₂₄ (R = Gd–Tm) and R₄Pt₉Al₂₄ (R = Y, Gd–Lu) were prepared by reaction of the elemental components. Their crystal structure was determined from single-crystal X-ray data of Er₄Pt₉Al₂₄. It is pseudo-trigonal with triclinic symmetry: P 1, a = b = 747.5(2) pm, c = 1306.7(4) pm, α = 100.99(2)°, β = 95.47(2)°, γ = 60.00(3)°, Z = 1, R = 0.052 for 2593 structure factors and 110 variable parameters. The structure is closely related to that of Y₂Co₃Ga₉. Both may be described as stacking variants of each other. They consist of layers of the compositions PtAl₂ (CoGa₂), and Er₂Al₃ (Y₂Ga₃), designated A and B, respectively. These layers are stacked in the five- and four-layer sequences ABAAB (Er₄Pt₉Al₂₄) and ABAB (Y₂Co₃Ga₉). The layers PtAl₂ and CoGa₂ are similar to the hexagonal close packed layers in the TiSi₂-, CrSi₂-, and MoSi₂-type structures. The structure of Er₄Pt₉Al₂₄ contains a monoclinic subcell, where the layers Er₂Al₃ are disordered. A partial disorder of this kind, which could be ascribed to twinning or to the intergrowth with another stacking variant, was found during the structure refinement of the isotypic compound Y₄Pt₉Al₂₄: a = b = 749.0(2) pm. c = 1309.3(4) pm, α = 100.99(2)°, β = 95.48(2)°, γ = 60.00(3)°, R = 0.031 for 1435 structure factors and 128 variable parameters.     

Synthesis,recovery and possible application of medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates: A short overview

Bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polyesters of 3-hydroxyacids produced as intracellular granules by a large variety of bacteria, currently receiving much attention because of their potential as renewable and biodegradable plastics. The monomer units in these microbial polyesters are all in the R-configuration due to the stereospecificity of biosynthetic enzymes. Pseudomonads synthesise mainly medium-chain-lenght PHAs, formed of monomers of 6 to 14 carbons. The PHA monomer composition is influenced by the substrate added to the growth media and determines the physical properties of the plastic material. The capability of Pseudomonads to incorporate many different functional groups into the PHAs does extend their physical properties and potential applications, and suggests various possibilities to produce tailor-made polymers. The mcl-PHAs are of major interest for specific uses, where chirality and elastomeric property of the polymers are important. In this report we will focus on the biotechnological production, recovery and possible applications of mcl-PHAs.     

Novel Synthetic Strategy for the Production of Fully Bio-Based Binders Using 2,5-Diformylfuran

In this work, resol based binders were prepared with lignin, resorcinol and the bio-based aldehydic platform chemicals 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and 2,5-diformylfuran (DFF). In preliminary studies, the solubility and stability of DFF in aqueous-alkaline conditions was investigated. Various binders were prepared to investigate the influence of the HMF-DFF ratio and the influence of the aldehyde concentration on the molar mass, rheological properties and curing characteristics of the final binders. It is shown that significantly higher molecular weights and viscosities are obtained by using DFF instead of HMF. The properties of the final binder could also be affected by the precise choice of DFF concentration, as this resulted in higher levels of crosslinking. This work offers a novel type of fully bio-based binder that consists of non-toxic components and is therefore less hazardous than some conventional binders.     

Development of a closed-loop control system for production of medium-chain-length poly(3-hydroxyalkanoates) (mcl-PHAs) from bacteria

Large scale availability of bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) is still limited to a few types of short-chain-length PHAs, namely poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and its copolymer Biopol™, consisting of 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyvalerate repeating units. In order to increase the number of available medium-chain-length PHA (mcl-PHA) copolymers a flexible high-cell-density fed-batch process was developed. Continuous process monitoring and substrate control were achieved by coupling on-line gaschromatography (on-line GC) to a software-based Proportional Integral (PI) substrate controller. System development time and continuous system upgrading were considerably shortened by using LABView™, a powerful graphical programming environment. The control of octanoic acid and 10-undecenoic acid at 1.5 and 0.5 gL⁻¹ respectively, enabled the production of high levels of biomass (30 gL⁻¹) and mcl-PHA (10.5 gL⁻¹) by avoiding substrate limitations or toxicities. The resulting mcl-PHA was an amorphous copolyester consisting of 37 mol% unsaturated monomers. The present system represents a valuable tool for the production of tailor-made mcl-PHAs, where the desired monomer composition is determined by the ratio of added cosubstrates.     

Synthesis and properties in solution of rodlike polyelectrolytes

Efficient synthetic strategies are described for the preparation of rodlike polyelectrolytes based on the intrinsically rigid poly(p-phenylene). Uncharged precursors were first prepared via the Suzuki coupling and then characterized by different methods of polymer analysis. Finally, they were transformed into polyelectrolytes using macromolecular substitution reactions. Depending on the substitution pattern, the obtained polyelectrolytes are either soluble or insoluble in water. Using water-soluble derivatives, the Poisson-Boltzmann cell model was tested by osmotic measurements and small-angle X-ray scattering. It is shown that the cell model provides a good first approximation of the distribution of the counterions around the macroion but still underestimates their correlation. Moreover, the PPP polyelectrolytes show a very pronounced polyelectrolyte effect. Since the rodlike PPPs are very rigid in shape, this observation proves that the polyelectrolyte effect is caused by long-range intermolecular electrostatic repulsion of the dissolved macroions rather than due to conformational changes.     

Design of a flexible but robust setup for temperature-dependent electrochemistry down to cryogenic temperatures

Electrochemistry and its analytics are essential in a variety of scientific and technological fields where properties related to reduction-oxidation reactions, so-called redox properties, are to be explored. While methodological standards for experiments are well established at room temperature, this is still untrue at sub-zero/cryogenic temperatures, the conditions required for the survey of (ultra−)rapid processes and their intermediates. Problems due to “hand-waving” temperature regulation/conditioning and common usage of pseudo-reference electrodes renders cryo-electrochemistry a great challenge. Herein, we describe a robust setup for performing reliable cryo-electrochemical experiments down to −80 °C. It combines highly stable but flexible temperature conditioning with gas-tight sealing of the electrochemical cell setup. Modification of a commercial palladium hydride reference electrode (PdH RE) allows for rapid temperature cycling under cryogenic conditions in aprotic organic solvents. Validation of the setup with the well-known Ferrocene|Ferrocenium (Fc|Fc⁺) redox couple gave good compliance with literature data at room temperature in a range of organic solvent-based electrolytes. Evaluation of temperature-dependent diffusion kinetic parameters, such as diffusion coefficients (D) and diffusional activation energies (E_a,D) from CVs at multiple potential scan-rates and temperature levels emphasize the reliability of the presented cryo-electrochemical setup.