Two isomorphous crotonatolanthanide complexes: tetra‐μ‐but‐2‐enoato‐bis[diaqua(but‐2‐enoato)Ln]–2,6‐diaminopurine (1/2) (Ln = Dy and Ho)

The title isomorphous compounds, tetra‐μ‐but‐2‐enoato‐bis[diaqua(but‐2‐enoato)dysprosium(III)]–2,6‐diaminopurine (1/2), [Dy₂(C₄H₅O₂)₆(H₂O)₄]·2C₅H₆N₆, and tetra‐μ‐but‐2‐enoato‐bis[diaqua(but‐2‐enoato)holmium(III)]–2,6‐diaminopurine (1/2), [Ho₂(C₄H₅O₂)₆(H₂O)₄]·2C₅H₆N₆, consist of [Ln(crot)₃(H₂O)₂]₂ dimers (crot is crotonate or but‐2‐enoate; Ln is the lanthanide cation), built up around inversion centres and completed by 2,6‐diaminopurine molecules. The lanthanide cation is coordinated by three chelating crotonate units and two water molecules. One of the chelating carboxylate groups acts also in a bridging mode sharing one O atom with both cations and the final result is a pair of DyO₉ tricapped prismatic polyhedra linked to each other through a central (Dy—O)₂ loop. A feature of the structures is the existence of a complex intermolecular interaction scheme involving two sets of tightly interlinked non‐intersecting one‐dimensional structures, one of them formed by the [Dy(crot)₃(H₂O)₂]₂ dimers (running along [100] and linked by O—H...O hydrogen bonds) and the second formed by 2,6‐diaminopurine molecules (evolving along [010] linked by N—H...N hydrogen bonds).     

4′‐[2‐(2‐Ethoxyethoxy)ethoxy]biphenyl‐4‐carboxylic acid: correlation between its crystalline and smectic phases

The crystal structure of the dimeric title compound, C₁₉H₂₂O₅, is dominated by a head‐to‐head hydrogen‐bonding interaction between centrosymmetrically related carboxyl groups in each monomer. The result is a dimeric axis of unusual length (ca 34 Å), but still shorter than what could be expected for a fully extended chain, owing to two turning points in the oligoethoxy ends. This allows for an explanation of the structure of the smectic mesophase exhibited by this compound and at the same time fully validates former geometric estimations based on PM3 calculations.     

White versus gray matter: fMRI hemodynamic responses show similar characteristics, but differ in peak amplitude

Background

The first mammalian protein histidine phosphatase (PHP) was discovered in the late 90s of the last century. One of the known substrates of PHP is ATP-citrate lyase (ACL), which is responsible - amongst other functions - for providing acetyl-CoA for acetylcholine synthesis in neuronal tissues. It has been shown in previous studies that PHP downregulates the activity of ACL by dephosphorylation. According to this our present work focused on the influence of PHP activity on the acetylcholine level in cholinergic neurons.

Results

The amount of PHP in SN56 cholinergic neuroblastoma cells was increased after overexpression of PHP by using pIRES2-AcGFP1-PHP as a vector. We demonstrated that PHP overexpression reduced the acetylcholine level and induced cell death. The acetylcholine content of SN56 cells was measured by fast liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method. Overexpression of the inactive H53A-PHP mutant also induced cell damage, but in a significantly reduced manner. However, this overexpression of the inactive PHP mutant did not change the acetylcholine content of SN56 cells significantly. In contrast, PHP downregulation, performed by RNAi-technique, did not induce cell death, but significantly increased the acetylcholine content in SN56 cells.

Conclusions

We could show for the first time that PHP downregulation increased the acetylcholine level in SN56 cells. This might be a potential therapeutic strategy for diseases involving cholinergic deficits like Alzheimer's disease.     

White versus gray matter: fMRI hemodynamic responses show similar characteristics, but differ in peak amplitude

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence for the idea of fMRI activation in white matter. In the current study, we compared hemodynamic response functions (HRF) in white matter and gray matter using 4 T fMRI. White matter fMRI activation was elicited in the isthmus of the corpus callosum at both the group and individual levels (using an established interhemispheric transfer task). Callosal HRFs were compared to HRFs from cingulate and parietal activation. RESULTS: Examination of the raw HRF revealed similar overall response characteristics. Finite impulse response modeling confirmed that the WM HRF characteristics were comparable to those of the GM HRF, but had significantly decreased peak response amplitudes. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results matched a priori expectations of smaller HRF responses in white matter due to the relative drop in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral blood volume (CBV). Importantly, the findings demonstrate that despite lower CBF and CBV, white matter fMRI activation remained within detectable ranges at 4 T.