Synthesis of BODIPY Derivatives Substituted with Various Bioconjugatable Linker Groups: A Construction Kit for Fluorescent Labeling of Receptor Ligands

The goal of the present study was to design small, functionalized green-emitting BODIPY dyes, which can readily be coupled to target molecules such as receptor ligands, or even be integrated into their pharmacophores. A simple two-step one-pot procedure starting from 2,4-dimethylpyrrole and ω-bromoalkylcarboxylic acid chlorides was used to obtain new ω-bromoalkyl-substituted BODIPY fluorophores (1a–1f) connected via alkyl spacers of different length to the 8-position of the fluorescent dye. The addition of radical inhibitors reduced the amount of side products. The ω-bromoalkyl-substituted BODIPYs were further converted to introduce various functional groups: iodo-substituted dyes were obtained by Finkelstein reaction in excellent yields; microwave-assisted reaction with methanolic ammonia led to fast and clean conversion to the amino-substituted dyes; a hydroxyl-substituted derivative was prepared by reaction with sodium ethylate, and thiol-substituted BODIPYs were obtained by reaction of 1a–1f with potassium thioacetate followed by alkaline cleavage of the thioesters. Water-soluble derivatives were prepared by introducing sulfonate groups into the 2- and 6-position of the BODIPY core. The synthesized BODIPY derivatives showed high fluorescent yields and appeared to be stable under basic, reducing and oxidative conditions. As a proof of concept, 2-thioadenosine was alkylated with bromoethyl-BODIPY 1b. The resulting fluorescent 2-substituted adenosine derivative 15 displayed selectivity for the A₃ adenosine receptor (ARs) over the other AR subtypes, showed agonistic activity, and may thus become a useful tool for studying A₃ARs, or a lead structure for further optimization. The new functionalized dyes may be widely used for fluorescent labeling allowing the investigation of biological targets and processes.     

Low-frequency variable charge solitary waves in a collisionless dusty plasma with a Cairns-Gurevich ion velocity distribution

In this paper, the problem of large amplitude dust acoustic (DA) solitons has been addressed in a charge varying dusty plasma with ions following a Cairns-Gurevich distribution. Based on the orbit motion limited approach, the correct Cairns-Gurevich ion charging current is presented for the first time. The expression relating the variable dust charge to the plasma potential is given in terms of the Lambert function and we take advantage of this transcendental function to, carefully, analyse DA solitons in a charge varying dusty plasma with trapped nonthermal ions. Our results show that the spatial patterns of the variable charge solitary wave are significantly changed due to the presence of ion population modelled by the Cairns-Gurevich distribution. An addition of a small concentration of trapped nonthermal ions makes the solitary structure less spiky, grows the net negative charge residing on the dust grain surface, and contributes to the electron depletion. Finally, our investigation is extended to highlight the effect of the grain dust charge variation. We have shown that under certain conditions, the impact of dust charge fluctuation may furnish an alternate physical mechanism rasing anomalous dissipation, which becomes more strong and may predominate over the dispersion as the nonthermal character of ions following the Cairns-Gurevich distribution increases.     

Sedimentary process inferences from Humic substances analysis and deposition rates (Western Ross Sea,Antarctica)

The first 40?cm of sediment of three basins in the Ross Sea were sampled using a box corer. Site Y1 was located close to the coast in Terra Nova Bay; the sediment of site Y3 was collected in a more distal basin in the central sector of the Ross Sea; finally site Y5 was sampled in the deepest zone of the Joides Basin.

Sediment cores were sliced and analysed with a depth resolution of 2–4.5?cm. The distribution of humic substances and their structural features along the cores were determined and related to the pattern of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and sedimentological data. The grain size distribution and the ²¹⁰Pb inventories allow the sediment of the study sites to be characterised.

The humic substance content in the sediment decreases, with a change in slope between 23 and 26?cm at Y1, between 12 and 15?cm at Y3 and constant values with further depth. At Y5 the depth profile of humic substance content shows constant values in the upper 17?cm and values decrease with further depth. The pattern of humic substance yield is similar to that found for TOC. The analysis of the elemental composition of the humic acids extracted from different sediment depths shows an increasing C/N atomic ratio at sites Y1 and Y3 and constant values along the Y5 core. The depth profile of the C/N atomic ratio is confirmed by the changes observed in the structural characterisation and indicates a shift from the freshly deposited organic matter on the sediment surface to more humified material (humin). The results obtained highlight a different sedimentation rate at the three sites as deduced from sedimentological analysis.     

Normal human dermal fibroblasts: proteomic analysis of cell layer and culture medium.

Proteins present within the cell layer and those released in the cell medium from in vitro cultured normal human dermal fibroblasts were separated and characterized in terms of their isoelectric point and molecular weight, by two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis. All spots in the synthetic gel were firstly analyzed by the Melanie 3 software and compared with those of breast cancer cells, colorectal epithelial cells, HL60, lymphoma cells, and platelets, already available on-line. From the identification of 144 spots from both the cell layer and the medium, we were able to recognize 89 different proteins, since a certain number of spots represented different isoforms of the same molecule. Identifications were performed by matching with on-line 2-D databases, and by matrix assisted laser-desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), in order to confirm the identification by matching, or to identify new proteins. The procedure we used allows (i) to design a highly reproducible reference map of the proteome of adult human normal fibroblasts in culture, (ii) to evaluate protein species produced in the cell layer as well as those released in the culture medium, and (iii) to compare data from gel matching with those obtained by MS. This work represents an essential step for a better knowledge of mesenchymal cells, given the widespread use of this cell type in both clinical and experimental investigations.     

Electrophilic cyclization of o-acetoxy- and o-benzyloxyalkynylpyridines: an easy entry into 2,3-disubstituted furopyridines

[reaction: see text] 2,3-Disubstituted furo[3,2-b]pyridines, 2,3-disubstituted furo[2,3-b]pyridines, and 2,3-disubstituted furo[2,3-c]pyridines are readily prepared under mild conditions via the palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of 1-alkynes with o-iodoacetoxy- or o-iodobenzyloxypyridines, followed by electrophilic cyclization by I(2) or by PdCl(2) under a balloon of carbon monoxide.     

Synthesis and conformational analysis of naphth[1′,2′:5,6][1,3]oxazino[3,2-c][1,3]benzoxazine and naphth[1′,2′:5,6][1,3]oxazino[3,4-c][1,3]benzoxazine derivatives

A new functional group, the hydroxy group, was inserted into a Betti base by reaction with salicylaldehyde, and the naphthoxazine derivatives thus obtained were converted by ring-closure reactions with formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde or phosgene to the corresponding naphth[1′2′:5,6][1,3]oxazino[3,2-c][1,3]benzoxazine derivatives. Further, the conformational analysis of these polycyclic compounds by NMR spectroscopy and an accompanying molecular modelling are reported; especially, both quantitative anisotropic ring current effects of the aromatic moieties in these compounds and steric substituent effects were employed to determine the stereochemistry of the naphthoxazinobenzoxazine derivatives.