Leukotoxin is clinically associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Recently, we found that leukotoxin-diol, the hydrated product of leukotoxin, is more toxic than the parent leukotoxin in vitro (Moghaddam and colleagues, Nature Med. 1997;3:562-566). To test if this difference in the toxicity of leukotoxin and leukotoxin-diol exists in vivo, Swiss Webster mice were administered...

trans-Diepoxide 1 is well-known to react with aliphatic amines and the azide ion to give exclusively the 1,3-diol products. However, we observed that by judicious choice of conditions, reaction with anilines can give predominantly the 1,3-diol (3) or the heretofore rarely seen C(i)-symmetric 1,4-diol (4). Synthesis of an unsymmetrical 1,4-diol from two different anilines is also demonstrated. T...

A variety of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their dihydrodiol derivatives, arylamines, heterocyclic amines, and nitroarenes, were incubated with cDNA-based recombinant (Escherichia coli or Trichoplusia ni) systems expressing different forms of human cytochrome P450 (P450 or CYP) and NADPH-P450 reductase using Salmonella typhimurium tester strain NM2009, and the resultant DNA damage caused...

Four benzo-ring epoxides of the environmental carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene (BP) were tested for mutagenic and cytotoxic activity in 3 strains of Salmonella typhimurium (TA1538, TA98, and TA100) and in Chinese hamster V79 cells. Although very unstable in aqueous solution, 7beta,8alpha-dihydroxy-0beta,10beta-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo(a)pyrene (diol epoxide 1), with the 7-hydroxyl group on the s...

The aim of this study was to compare pentane-1,5-diol and propane-1,2-diol used as absorption enhancers for cutaneously administered terbinafine. Fresh human skin samples were placed in a continuous flow diffusion cell with a gel containing terbinafine on top of the skin. Receptor fluid samples were analysed using high - performance liquid chromatography. The quantity of gel remaining on the sk...

Intratumoural dihydrotestosterone (DHT) synthesis could be an explanation for castration resistance in prostate cancer (PC). By using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, we evaluated the intratumoral DHT synthesis from 5α-androstane-3β,17β-diol (3β-diol), which is inactive androgen metabolized from DHT. 3β-diol had biochemical potential to be converted to DHT via three metabolic pathways a...

In this research, dried acetone:chloroform extract of aerial parts of E. denticulata as one of the endemic plants to Iran, afforded a number of triterpenes and steroids including: betulin, 24-methylene-cycloart-3-ol, cycloart-23Z-ene-3β,25-diol, cycloart-23Z-ene-3β,25-diol, ergosta-8,24-dien-3-ol (obtusifoliol) and beta-sitosterol which were reported for the first time from this plant. The stru...

BACKGROUND The molecular pathways that regulate the extent of ischemic injury and post-myocardial infarction (MI) remodeling are not well understood. We recently demonstrated that glycogen synthase kinase-3α (GSK-3α) is critical to the heart's response to pressure overload. However, the role, if any, of GSK-3α in regulating ischemic injury and its consequences is not known. METHODS AND RESULT...

The rescue of exhausted CD8+ cytolytic T-cells (CTLs) by anti-Programmed Cell Death-1 (anti-PD-1) blockade has been found to require CD28 expression. At the same time, we have shown that the inactivation of the serine/threonine kinase glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3α/β with small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and small molecule inhibitors (SMIs) specifically down-regulates PD-1 expression for enha...