In Vitro Effects of Sulforaphane on Interferon-Driven Inflammation and Exploratory Evaluation in Two Healthy Volunteers

Interferonopathies are rare genetic conditions defined by systemic inflammatory episodes caused by innate immune system activation in the absence of pathogens. Currently, no targeted drugs are authorized for clinical use in these diseases. In this work, we studied the contribution of sulforaphane (SFN), a cruciferous-derived bioactive molecule, in the modulation of interferon-driven inflammation in an immortalized human hepatocytes (IHH) line and in two healthy volunteers, focusing on STING, a key-component player in interferon pathway, interferon signature modulation, and GSTM1 expression and genotype, which contributes to SFN metabolism and excretion. In vitro, SFN exposure reduced STING expression as well as interferon signature in the presence of the pro-inflammatory stimulus cGAMP (cGAMP 3 h vs. SFN+cGAMP 3 h p value < 0.0001; cGAMP 6 h vs. SFN+cGAMP 6 h p < 0.001, one way ANOVA), restoring STING expression to the level of unstimulated cells. In preliminary experiments on healthy volunteers, no appreciable variations in interferon signature were identified after SFN assumption, while only in one of them, presenting the GSTM1 wild type genotype related to reduced SFN excretion, could a downregulation of STING be recorded. This study confirmed that SFN inhibits STING-mediated inflammation and interferon-stimulated genes expression in vitro. However, only a trend towards the downregulation of STING could be reproduced in vivo. Results obtained have to be confirmed in a larger group of healthy individuals and in patients with type I interferonopathies to define if the assumption of SFN could be useful as supportive therapy.     

Current status of the TwinMic beamline at Elettra: a soft X‐ray transmission and emission microscopy station

The current status of the TwinMic beamline at Elettra synchrotron light source, that hosts the European twin X‐ray microscopy station, is reported. The X‐ray source, provided by a short hybrid undulator with source size and divergence intermediate between bending magnets and conventional undulators, is energy‐tailored using a collimated plane‐grating monochromator. The TwinMic spectromicroscopy experimental station combines scanning and full‐field imaging in a single instrument, with contrast modes such as absorption, differential phase, interference and darkfield. The implementation of coherent diffractive imaging modalities and ptychography is ongoing. Typically, scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy images are simultaneously collected in transmission and differential phase contrast and can be complemented by chemical and elemental analysis using across‐absorption‐edge imaging, X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure or low‐energy X‐ray fluorescence. The lateral resolutions depend on the particular imaging and contrast mode chosen. The TwinMic range of applications covers diverse research fields such as biology, biochemistry, medicine, pharmacology, environment, geochemistry, food, agriculture and materials science. They will be illustrated in the paper with representative results.     

Smooth solutions to a class of free boundary parabolic problems

We establish existence, uniqueness, and regularity results for solutions to a class of free boundary parabolic problems, including the free boundary heat equation which arises in the so-called ``focusing problem' in the mathematical theory of combustion. Such solutions are proved to be smooth with respect to time for positive , if the data are smooth.

     

Formation of a nanostructured layer on bioglass particles of different sizes immersed in tris-buffered solution. N2 adsorption and HR-TEM/EDS analysis

Morphological and structural variations of particles of Bioglass with two different grain sizes reacted in Tris-buffered solution were analyzed by means of N(2) adsorption/desorption at 77 K and HR-TEM/EDS. A remarkable increase in specific surface area (ssa) was observed after the first hour of dissolution. A plateau value corresponding to an increase of at least 2 orders of magnitude was reached after 2 days of dissolution. The ssa increase was faster for the smaller particle size sample, and the ratio between the ssa of the starting samples was not maintained during dissolution. Both micro- and mesopores were formed at different stages of the reaction for the two samples. Increasing ssa was also connected to the formation of a microcrystalline structure rich in Ca and P, as shown by TEM images. The segregation of both a SiO(2)-rich amorphous phase and a Ca/P-rich crystalline phase was observed after the first hour of dissolution. After 2 days of reaction, Ca/P-rich particles made of fine aciculate crystals were found either in close contact with SiO(2) particles or deposited on a small SiO(2)-rich core. A preliminary analysis of TEM data showed the formation, together with hydroxy carbonate apatite, of different types of calcium phosphates not detectable by powder X-ray diffraction.     

Ionization and Partitioning Profiles of Zwitterions: The case of the anti-inflammatory drug azapropazone

Azapropazone ( 1 ) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) whose chemical structure is markedly different from that of other agents in this class and challenges our understanding of structure-activity and structure-permeation relationships. Using a variety of experimental and computational techniques, we studied 1 for its molecular structure in the gas phase and non-protic polar solvents, protonation/deprotonation equilibra, tautomerism, and pH-lipophilicity profiles (octan-1-ol/H₂O and dodecane/H₂O). Other NSAIDs and model compounds were also examined for comparison. Due to its very low acidic pK_a1, 1 exists in the physiological pH range as a zwitterion and as an anion. Some pharmacological implications of these findings are discussed.     

A comparison between different techniques for the isolation of rosemary essential oil

Traditional hydrodistillation (HD), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), organic solvent extraction (SE), and water microwave assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) techniques were compared and evaluated for their effectiveness in the isolation of rosemary essential oil. The microwave assisted hydrodistillation technique was optimized in terms of both delivered power and time duration. The extracts/distillates were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Microwave distillation, which exploits the physical action of microwaves on plants, showed a series of advantages over the other approaches: low cost, use of water in sample pre-treatment step, greatly reduced isolation time, and attainment of high quality essential oil distillate. Moreover, the absence of environmental impact of this innovative technique was also emphasized.     

Principi variazionali nella teoria lineare delle miscele di due solidi elastici

Riassunto In questa nota gli Autori stabiliscono dei principi variazionali che caratterizzano in maniera completa il più generale problema ai limiti sia della statica sia della dinamica di una miscela isotropa di due solidi elastici lineari. Questi principi sono del tutto generali poichè non si richiede agli stati o processi ammissibili di soddisfare ad alcuna delle equazioni di campo e delle condizioni iniziali o al contorno. Tale risultato viene ottenuto esprimendo i problemi considerati in forma operazionale.

---

Summary In this paper the Authors establish variational principles which characterize the most general boundary-value problem for statics and dynamics of an isotropic mixture of two linear elastic solids. These principles are completely general because the admissible states or processes are not required to meet any of the field equations, boundary or initial conditions and they are obtained by expressing the problems in operator form.

---

---

Il lavoro è stato eseguito nell’ambito del Gruppo Nazionale per la Fisica Matematica del C.N.R.     

Structural, spectral, electric-field-induced second harmonic, and theoretical study of Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and VO(II) complexes with [N2O2] unsymmetrical schiff bases of S-methylisothiosemicarbazide derivatives

New unsymmetrical [N2O2] tetradentate Schiff base complexes of Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and VO(II) were synthesized by template condensation of the tetradentate precursor 1-phenylbutane-1,3-dione mono-S-methylisothiosemicarbazone with o-hydroxybenzaldehyde or its 5-phenylazo derivative. They were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-vis, electron spin resonance, and NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and magnetic measurements. The crystal structures of five of them have been determined by X-ray diffraction using, in some cases, synchrotron radiation. These compounds are characterized by a large thermal stability; their decomposition temperatures range from 240 up to 310 degrees C. Complexes with the phenylazo substituent were found to possess a large second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) response, as determined both by measurements of solution-phase direct current electric-field-induced second harmonic generation and by theoretical time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations. The molecular hyperpolarizability was found to decrease in the order Zn(II) > Cu(II) > Ni(II) approximately VO(II). The active role of the metal in determining the NLO properties of the complexes was shown through an analysis of their UV-vis spectra, which revealed the presence of metal-to-ligand (in closed-shell complexes) and ligand-to-metal (in open-shell complexes) charge-transfer bands together with intra-ligand charge-transfer transitions. Assignment of the bands was based on the analysis of the TDDFT computed spectra.     

Incorporating the effect of ionic strength in free energy calculations using explicit ions

The incorporation of explicit ions to mimic the effect of ionic strength or to neutralize the overall charge on a system in free energy calculations using molecular dynamics simulations is investigated. The difference in the free energy of hydration between two triosephosphate isomerase inhibitors calculated at five different ion concentrations is used as an example. We show that the free energy difference can be highly sensitive to the presence of explicit ions even in cases where the mutation itself does not involve a change in the overall charge. The effect is most significant if the molecule carries a net charge close to the site mutated. Furthermore, it is shown that the introduction of a small number of ions can lead to very severe sampling problems suggesting that in practical calculations convergence can best be achieved by incorporating either no counterions or by simulating at high ionic strength to ensure sufficient sampling of the ion distribution.