CHIP-mediated hyperubiquitylation of tau promotes its self-assembly into the insoluble tau filaments

The tau protein is a highly soluble and natively unfolded protein. Under pathological conditions, tau undergoes multiple post-translational modifications (PTMs) and conformational changes to form insoluble filaments, which are the proteinaceous signatures of tauopathies. To dissect the crosstalk among tau PTMs during the aggregation process, we phosphorylated and ubiquitylated recombinant tau in vitro using GSK3β and CHIP, respectively. The resulting phospho–ub-tau contained conventional polyubiquitin chains with lysine 48 linkages, sufficient for proteasomal degradation, whereas unphosphorylated ub-tau species retained only one–three ubiquitin moieties. Mass-spectrometric analysis of in vitro reconstituted phospho–ub-tau revealed seven additional ubiquitylation sites, some of which are known to stabilize tau protofilament stacking in the human brain with tauopathy. When the ubiquitylation reaction was prolonged, phospho–ub-tau transformed into insoluble hyperubiquitylated tau species featuring fibrillar morphology and in vitro seeding activity. We developed a small-molecule inhibitor of CHIP through biophysical screening; this effectively suppressed tau ubiquitylation in vitro and delayed its aggregation in cultured cells including primary cultured neurons. Our biochemical findings point to a “multiple-hit model,” where sequential events of tau phosphorylation and hyperubiquitylation function as a key driver of the fibrillization process, thus indicating that targeting tau ubiquitylation may be an effective strategy to alleviate the course of tauopathies.

Multiple-hit model for tau aggregation, where sequential events of tau phosphorylation and hyperubiquitylation function as a key driver of the fibrillization process.     

Flocking Dynamics of the Inertial Spin Model with a Multiplicative Communication Weight

In this paper, we study a flocking dynamics of the deterministic inertial spin (IS) model. The IS model was introduced for the collective dynamics of active particles with an internal angular momentum, or spin. When the generalized moment of inertia becomes negligible compared to spin dissipation (overdamped limit) and mutual communication weight is a function of a relative distance between interacting particles, the deterministic inertial spin model formally reduces to the Cucker–Smale (CS) model with constant speed constraint whose emergent dynamics has been extensively studied in the previous literature. We present several sufficient frameworks leading to the asymptotic mono-cluster flocking, in which spins and relative velocities tend to zero asymptotically. We also provide several numerical simulations for the decoupled and coupled inertial spin models to see the effect of the C–S velocity flocking and compare them with our analytical results.

     

Three‐Component Self‐Assembly of a Series of Triply Interlocked Pd12 Coordination Prisms and Their Non‐Interlocked Pd6 Analogues

Template‐assisted formation of multicomponent Pd₆ coordination prisms and formation of their self‐templated triply interlocked Pd₁₂ analogues in the absence of an external template have been established in a single step through Pd? N/Pd? O coordination. Treatment of cis‐[Pd(en)(NO₃)₂] with K₃tma and linear pillar 4,4′‐bpy (en=ethylenediamine, H₃tma=benzene‐1,3,5‐tricarboxylic acid, 4,4′‐bpy=4,4′‐bipyridine) gave intercalated coordination cage [{Pd(en)}₆(bpy)₃(tma)₂]₂[NO₃]₁₂ ( 1 ) exclusively, whereas the same reaction in the presence of H₃tma as an aromatic guest gave a H₃tma‐encapsulating non‐interlocked discrete Pd₆ molecular prism [{Pd(en)}₆(bpy)₃(tma)₂(H₃tma)₂][NO₃]₆ ( 2 ). Though the same reaction using cis‐[Pd(NO₃)₂(pn)] (pn=propane‐1,2‐diamine) instead of cis‐[Pd(en)(NO₃)₂] gave triply interlocked coordination cage [{Pd(pn)}₆(bpy)₃(tma)₂]₂[NO₃]₁₂ ( 3 ) along with non‐interlocked Pd₆ analogue [{Pd(pn)}₆(bpy)₃(tma)₂](NO₃)₆ ( 3′ ), and the presence of H₃tma as a guest gave H₃tma‐encapsulating molecular prism [{Pd(pn)}₆(bpy)₃(tma)₂(H₃tma)₂][NO₃]₆ ( 4 ) exclusively. In solution, the amount of 3′ decreases as the temperature is decreased, and in the solid state 3 is the sole product. Notably, an analogous reaction using the relatively short pillar pz (pz=pyrazine) instead of 4,4′‐bpy gave triply interlocked coordination cage [{Pd(pn)}₆(pz)₃(tma)₂]₂[NO₃]₁₂ ( 5 ) as the single product. Interestingly, the same reaction using slightly more bulky cis‐[Pd(NO₃)₂(tmen)] (tmen=N,N,N′,N′‐tetramethylethylene diamine) instead of cis‐[Pd(NO₃)₂(pn)] gave non‐interlocked [{Pd(tmen)}₆(pz)₃(tma)₂][NO₃]₆ ( 6 ) exclusively. Complexes 1 , 3 , and 5 represent the first examples of template‐free triply interlocked molecular prisms obtained through multicomponent self‐assembly. Formation of the complexes was supported by IR and multinuclear NMR (¹H and ¹³C) spectroscopy. Formation of guest‐encapsulating complexes ( 2 and 4 ) was confirmed by 2D DOSY and ROESY NMR spectroscopic analyses, whereas for complexes 1 , 3 , 5 , and 6 single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction techniques unambiguously confirmed their formation. The gross geometries of H₃tma‐encapsulating complexes 2 and 4 were obtained by universal force field (UFF) simulations.     

Three-dimensional helical coordination networks of a hexanuclear manganese metallamacrocycle as a helical tecton

We report on helical coordination networks that were prepared using a hexanuclear manganese metallamacrocycle as a helical tecton. We were able to prepare the three-dimensional helical coordination networks using a hexanuclear manganese metallamacrocycle, [Mn(6)(lshz)(6)], as a helical tecton, where N-lauroyl salicylhydrazide (H(3)lshz) was used as the primary building unit to generate the helical tecton as a secondary building unit. While the 4(1)/4(3) screw symmetry-linked helical coordination network was obtained when the primary building units had an N-acetyl group, both the 3(1)/3(2) screw symmetry-linked and the 4(1)/4(3) screw symmetry-linked helical coordination networks were obtained simultaneously in the same batch when the primary building unit had a long alkyl N-lauroyl group at the N-acetyl site.     

New mechanistic insight into the coupling reactions of CO2 and epoxides in the presence of zinc complexes

Coupling reactions of CO(2) and epoxide to produce cyclic carbonates were performed in the presence of a catalyst [L(2)ZnX(2)] (L=pyridine or substituted pyridine; X=Cl, Br, I), and the effects of pyridine and halide ligands on the catalytic activity were investigated. The catalysts with electron-donating substituents on pyridine ligands exhibit higher activity than those with unsubstituted pyridine ligands. On the other hand, the catalysts with electron-withdrawing substituents at the 2-position of the pyridine ligands show no activity; this demonstrates the importance of the basicity of the pyridine ligands. The catalytic activity of [L(2)ZnX(2)] was found to decrease with increasing electronegativity of the halide ligands. A series of highly active zinc complexes bridged by pyridinium alkoxy ions of the general formula [((mu-OCHRCH(2)L)ZnBr(2))(n)] (n=2 for R=CH(3); n=3 for R=H; L=pyridine or substituted pyridine) were synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystallography. The dinuclear zinc complexes obtained from propylene oxide adopt a square-planar geometry for the Zn(2)O(2) core with two bridging pyridinium propoxy ion ligands. Trinuclear zinc complexes prepared from ethylene oxide adopt a boat geometry for the Zn(3)O(3) core, in which three zinc and three oxygen atoms are arranged in an alternate fashion. These zinc complexes bridged by pyridinium alkoxy ions were also isolated from the coupling reactions of CO(2) and epoxides performed in the presence of [L(2)ZnBr(2)]. Rapid CO(2) insertion into the zincbond;oxygen bond of the zinc complexes bridged by pyridinium alkoxy ions leads to the formation of zinc carbonate species; these which yield cyclic carbonates and zinc complexes bridged by pyridinium alkoxy ions upon interaction with epoxides. The mechanistic pathways for the formation of active species and cyclic carbonates are discussed on the basis of results from structural and spectroscopic analyses.     

Spectroscopic characterization and molecular structure of 3,14‐dimethyl‐2,6,13,17‐tetraazapentacyclo[16.4.0.12,17.16,13.07,12]tetracosane

Constrained cyclam derivatives have been found to exhibit anti‐HIV effects. The strength of binding to the CXCR4 receptor correlates with anti‐HIV activity. The conformation of the macrocyclic compound is very important for co‐receptor recognition. Therefore, knowledge of the conformation and crystal packing of macrocycles has become important in developing new highly effective anti‐HIV drugs. Structural modifications of N‐functionalized polyaza macrocyclic compounds have been achieved using various methods. A new synthesis affording single crystals of the title tetraazapentacyclo[16.4.0.1^2,17.1^6,13.0^7,12]tetracosane macrocycle, C₂₂H₄₀N₄, is reported. Formaldehyde reacts readily at room temperature with the tetraazatricyclo[16.4.0.0^2,17]docosane precursor to yield a macropolycycle containing two five‐membered rings. Characterization by elemental, spectroscopic and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analyses shows that the asymmetric unit contains half of a centrosymmetric molecule. The molecular structure shows a trans conformation for the two methylene bridges owing to molecular symmetry. The crystal structure is stabilized by intramolecular C—H…N hydrogen bonds. NMR and IR spectroscopic properties support the methylene‐bridged macrocyclic structure.     

An unprecedented twofold interpenetrating (3,4)-connected 3-D metal-organic framework

An unprecedented twofold interpenetrating (3,4)-connected topology of the Cu(3)L(4)-type metal-organic framework was prepared using N,N',N'-tris(4-pyridinyl)-1,3,5-benzenetricarboxamide (L) as a trigonal three-connection node and the copper(ii) ion as a square planar four-connection node, where the framework contains remarkably large 1-D solvent channels.