Placental iron transport during the last trimester of pregnancy determines the iron endowment of the neonate. Iron transport is a function of the major iron transport proteins: transferrin receptor-1 (TfR-1) and ferroportin-1 (FPN-1). The mRNAs for TfR-1 and, potentially, FPN-1 are posttranscriptionally regulated by iron regulatory protein (IRP)-1 and IRP-2. We assessed the effect of gestationa...

Placental iron transport during the last trimester of pregnancy determines the iron endowment of the neonate. Iron transport is a function of the major iron transport proteins, transferrin receptor-1 (TfR-1) and ferroportin-1 (FPN-1). The mRNAs for TfR-1, and potentially FPN-1, are post-transcriptionally regulated by iron regulatory protein-1 (IRP-1) and -2 (IRP-2). We assessed the effect of ge...

Two leapfrog isomers of a B(112) boron fullerene are constructed from small C(28) fullerenes (T(d) and D(2) symmetries) by the leapfrog transformation combined with omnicapping of the new hexagons. Their electronic structure is analyzed using the density functional theory at the B3LYP/SVP and BHLYP/SVP levels. Both isomers are characterized as minima on the potential energy hypersurface with a ...

Cytokine-treated macrophages represent a useful model to unravel the molecular basis of reticuloendothelial (RE) iron retention in inflammatory conditions. In the present study, we showed that stimulation of murine macrophage J774 cells with interferon (IFN)-gamma/lipopolysaccharide (LPS) resulted in a nitric oxide-dependent modulation of the activity of iron regulatory proteins (IRP)-1 and 2, ...

The fullerene structures of C20cage and bowl,C20H10 and their N-doped structures as C20cage NH,C20bowl NH, C20H10NH, C20H10N and their isomers are optimized using the MPW1PW91/6-31G level of the theory. Magnetic shielding tensors of 14N and 13C atoms are calculated by the same level of the theory. Results show that doping an N atom on fullerenes affects differently on the chemical shielding of ...

Since fullerene formation occurs under conditions where direct observation of atomic-scale reactions is not possible, modeling the only way to reveal atomistic mechanisms which can lead selection abundant isomers (like C60-Ih). In present paper we review results obtained for different by various techniques. Although it seems that processes related odd fullerenes (such as growth consecutive inse...

Lanthanide-lanthanide bonds are exceptionally rare, and dimetallofullerenes provide a unique possibility to stabilize and study these unusual bonding patterns. The presence of metal-metal bonds and consequences thereof for the electronic properties of M2@C82 (M = Sc, Er, Lu) are addressed by electrochemistry, electron paramagnetic resonance, SQUID magnetometry and other spectroscopic techniques...

A carbon heptagon ring is a key unit responsible for structural defects in sp(2)-hybrized carbon allotropes including fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphenes, with consequential influences on their mechanical, electronic and magnetic properties. Previous evidence concerning the existence of heptagons in fullerenes has been obtained only in off-line halogenation experiments through top-down d...