[reaction: see text] The nitrodecarboxylation of aromatic alpha,beta-unsaturated carboxylic acids and ring-activated benzoic acids can be achieved using nitric acid (3 equiv) and catalytic AIBN (2 mol %) in MeCN. From the effect of various additives, the nitrodecarboxylation is postulated to involve the generation of an acyloxy radical RCO(2)(*) by a NO(3)(*) radical followed by attack of a NO(...

BACKGROUND Burn-induced inflammation leads to impaired immune responses resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. T-cells are central in the immune response and circulating CD4 and CD8 T-cells have been used to evaluate immune status; however, the role of these T-cell subsets in the burn wound is unknown. METHODS Male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to a major 3rd degree scald burn or sham ...

Both antigen recognition and CD28 costimulation are required for the activation of naïve αβ T cells and their subsequent differentiation into cytokine-producing or cytotoxic effectors. Notably, this two-signal paradigm holds true for all αβ T cell subsets, regardless of whether they acquire their effector function in the periphery or the thymus. Because of contradictory results, however, it rem...

INTRODUCTION Nitration of tyrosine and tyrosine-containing proteins and their roles in pathophysiology have just recently been reviewed. Despite low yields of tyrosine modifications, nitration of tyrosine residues may inactivate important proteins. Nitrotyrosine can be formed by various nitrating agents, including peroxynitrite. Thus, the occurrence of nitrotyrosine-containing proteins in vivo ...

Associative olfactory memory in Drosophila has two components called labile anesthesia-sensitive memory and consolidated anesthesia-resistant memory (ARM). Mushroom body (MB) is a brain region critical for the olfactory memory and comprised of 2000 neurons that can be classified into αβ, α'β', and γ neurons. Previously we demonstrated that two parallel pathways mediated ARM consolidation: the s...

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that is characterised by accumulation of pathogenic bacteria, including Porphyromonas gingivalis, in periodontal pockets. The lack of effective treatments has emphasised in an intense search for alternative methods to prevent bacterial colonisation and disease progression. Bacteriocins are bacterially produced antimicrobial peptides gaining increa...

IFNs, which transduce pivotal signals through Stat1 and Stat2, effectively suppress the replication of Legionella pneumophila in primary murine macrophages. Although the ability of IFN-γ to impede L. pneumophila growth is fully dependent on Stat1, IFN-αβ unexpectedly suppresses L. pneumophila growth in both Stat1- and Stat2-deficient macrophages. New studies demonstrating that the robust respon...

T cell commitment and αβ/γδ lineage specification in the thymus involves interactions between many different genes. Characterization of these interactions thus requires a multiparameter analysis of individual thymocytes. We developed two efficient single-cell methods: (i) the quantitative evaluation of the co-expression levels of nine different genes, with a plating efficiency of 99-100% and a ...

CD4(-) CD8(-) (double-negative [DN]) T cells have recently been shown to display important immunological functions in human diseases. They express γδ or αβ T-cell receptors that recognize lipid/glycolipid antigens presented via the nonclassical major histocompatibility complex molecules of the CD1 family. We recently demonstrated that while αβ DN T cells serve primarily to express inflammatory ...

Neurexins are cell adhesion molecules involved in synaptic formation and synaptic transmission. Mutations in neurexin genes are linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), which are frequently associated with sleep problems. However, the role of neurexin-mediated synaptic transmission in sleep regulation is unclear. Here, we show that lack of the Drosophila α-neurexin homolog significantly redu...