In the last decades, a series of compounds, including quinones and polyphenols, has been described as having anti-fibrillogenic action on α-synuclein (α-syn) whose aggregation is associated to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Most of these molecules act as promiscuous anti-amyloidogenic agents, interacting with the diverse amyloidogenic proteins (mostly unfolded) through non-specif...

NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), an obligatory two-electron reductase, is a ubiquitous cytosolic enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of quinone substrates. The NQO1- mediated two-electron reduction of quinones can be either chemoprotection/detoxification or a chemotherapeutic response, depending on the target quinones. When toxic quinones are reduced by NQO1, they are conjugated with glut...

Spectacular advances have been made in recent years in our understanding of the structure and function of the membrane-bound protein complexes in respiratory and photosynthetic electron-transport chains. Perhaps as a result of this focus of attention, there is a temptation to regard quinones as a passive pool of redox carriers whose only function is to shuttle reducing equivalents between more ...

Allelopathic chemicals released by plants into the rhizosphere have effects on neighboring plants ranging from phytoxicity to inducing organogenesis. The allelopathic activity of naturally occurring quinones and phenols is primarily a function of reactive radicals generated during redox cycling between quinone and hydroquinone states. We isolated cDNAs encoding two distinct quinone oxidoreducta...

Natural organic matter (NOM) enhancement of the biological reduction of hematite (alpha-Fe2O3) by the dissimilatory iron-reducing bacterium Shewanella putrefaciens strain CN32 was investigated under nongrowth conditions designed to minimize precipitation of biogenic Fe(II). Hydrogen served as the electron donor. Anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS), methyl viologen, and methylene blue [quinones...

Fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass and MS/MS spectra of a novel quinone antibiotic are presented. Their interpretation is based upon the examination of reductive behavior of model quinones in FAB solvents.

New anthraquinone derivatives were prepared and used as active layers of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs); these devices showed good n-type characteristics and the quinones were found to be useful for organic semiconductors in OFETs.