ELTD1—An Emerging Silent Actor in Cancer Drama Play

The epidermal growth factor, latrophilin, and seven transmembrane domain–containing protein 1 (ELTD1), is a member of the G–protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) superfamily. Although discovered in 2001, ELTD1 has been investigated only by a few research groups, and important data about its role in normal and tumor cells is still missing. Even though its functions and structure are not yet fully understood, recent studies show that ELTD1 has a role in both physiological and pathological angiogenesis, and it appears to be a very important biomarker and a molecular target in cancer diseases. Upregulation of ELTD1 in malignant cells has been reported, and correlated with poor cancer prognosis. This review article aims to compile the existing data and to discuss the current knowledge on ELTD1 structure and signaling, and its role in physiological and neoplastic conditions.     

Theoretical Examination of New Forms of Carbon Formed by Intra- or Intermolecular Dehydrogenation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons,Particularly Helicenes

Generalized helicenes are defined. A theoretical analysis is presented for the intramolecular dehydrogenation of helicenes, bridging adjacent rungs of the helix with the formation of 4-, 5-, and/or 6-membered rings, yielding helical tubulenes to which Euler's formula for polyhedra no longer applies as such constructions are derived from Möbius strips and correspond to nonplanar graphs (i.e., have crossing lines when drawn in two dimensions). Intermolecular dehydrogenation of two parallel-superimposed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with formation of similar rings leads to convex polyhedral carbon cages. Carbon helical nanotubes and some carbon cages that are different from fullerenes are also discussed.     

Chemical Graphs. Part 51.1 Enumeration of Nonbranched Catafusenes According to the Numbers of Benzenoid Rings in the Catafusene and in its Longest Linearly Condensed Portion

The number N(h,s) of nonbranched cata-condensed benzenoids, including helicenes and other out-of-plane systems, is discussed in terms of two parameters: total number h of benzenoid rings, and number s of benzenoid rings in the longest linearly condensed portion. Recurrence formulas for N(h,s) are demonstrated by Theorems 1 and 2 and implemented by means of a computer program. For h ≤ 2s ? 1, an explicit formula for N(h,s) is proved by Theorem 3; in this case, N(h,s) no longer depends separately on h and s, but only on the difference h ? s.     

Carbon Nanotubes Grown by RF Heating and Their Morphological and Structural Properties

Multiwall and single-wall carbon nanotubes were synthesized on Fe-Co/CaCO₃ and a Fe-Co/MgO catalyst system, respectively, by using two different catalytic chemical vapor deposition methods, external furnace (EF) heating and radio frequency (RF) excitation. The carbon nanotubes synthesized with radio frequency excitation have a smaller outer diameter, fewer layers (smaller outer/inner diameter ratio), and better crystalline properties than the nanotubes grown with external furnace heating. The radio frequency process was found to be responsible for a faster growth rate of the carbon nanotubes over longer periods of time due to a higher localized heating. These findings can be explained by the skin currents induced in the metallic catalytic clusters, which keep the catalysts active for longer periods of time and diminish the amount of noncrystalline carbon formed in the synthesis process.     

Perforated Bicontinuous Cubic Phases with pH‐Responsive Topological Channel Interconnectivity

Lipidic lyotropic liquid crystals are at the frontline of current research for release of target therapeutic molecules due to their unique structural complexity and the possibility of engineering stimuli‐triggered release of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules. One of the most suitable lipidic mesophases for the encapsulation and delivery of drugs is the reversed double diamond bicontinuous cubic phase, in which two distinct and parallel networks of ～4 nm water channels percolate independently through the lipid bilayers, following a Pn3m space group symmetry. In the unperturbed Pn3m structure, the two sets of channels act as autonomous and non‐communicating 3D transport pathways. Here, a novel type of bicontinuous cubic phase is introduced, where the presence of OmpF membrane proteins at the bilayers provides unique topological interconnectivities among the two distinct sets of water channels, enabling molecular active gating among them. By a combination of small‐angle X‐ray scattering, release and ion conductivity experiments, it is shown that, without altering the Pn3m space group symmetry or the water channel diameter, the newly designed perforated bicontinuous cubic phase attains transport properties well beyond those of the standard mesophase, allowing faster, sustained release of bioactive target molecules. By further exploiting the pH‐mediated pore‐closing response mechanism of the double amino acid half‐ring architecture in the membrane protein, the pores of the perforated mesophase can be opened and closed with a pH trigger, enabling a fine modulation of the transport properties by only moderate changes in pH, which could open unexplored opportunities in the targeted delivery of bioactive compounds.     

Super-orthogonal space-time trellis codes with eight dimensional phase-shift keying signal constellations

We propose a new method of designing super-orthogonal space-time trellis codes (SOSTTCS) by labeling each state transition of the trellis diagram with an ordered pair of 2×2 orthogonal matrices instead of only a single 2×2 orthogonal matrix. An 8D instead of a 4D signal constellation is thus used for modulation and the delay elements of the trellis encoder are 4T instead of 2T, where T is the 2D symbol duration. Therefore, at the receiver, the sequence decoding using Viterbi algorithm requires two times less frequent updating of the branch metrics. We investigate by computer simulation the performance of the new sosttcs compared to sosttcs designed by the known method. The frame error rate (fer) and the bit error rate (ber) simulation results show that the performance of the new sosttcs is practically as good as that of the sosttcs of similar complexity designed along classical lines, with the advantage that the number of arithmetic and logic operations performed by the decoder per time unit is smaller, which is crucial in high data-rate applications.     

Superior neuroprotective effects of cerebrolysin in heat stroke following chronic intoxication of Cu or Ag engineered nanoparticles. A comparative study with other neuroprotective agents using biochemical and morphological approaches in the rat

The possibility that cerebrolysin, a mixture of several active fragments of neurotrophic factors and peptides induces neuroprotection following nanoparticles induced exacerbation of brain damage in heat stroke was examined in a rat model. For this purpose, the therapeutic efficacy of Cerebrolysin (2.5 or 5 ml/kg) recommended for stroke treatment was used in comparison with other drugs in standard doses recommended for such therapy in clinical situations e.g., levetiracetam (44 mg/kg), pregabalin (200 mg/kg), topiramate (40 mg/kg,i.p.) and valproate (400 mg/kg). Rats subjected to 4 h heat stress in a biological oxygen demand (BOD) incubator at 38 degrees C (Rel Humid 45-47%; Wind vel 22.4 to 25.6 cm/sec) developed profound behavioral symptoms of heat stroke e.g., hyperthermia, profuse salivation, prostration and gastric ulcerations in the stomach. These rats also exhibited marked brain pathology at this time. Thus, breakdown of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to proteins associated with brain edema formation could be seen in these heat stressed rats as compared to control groups. The edematous brain areas showed profound neuronal damage and/or distortion in large areas of the neuropil. These pathological symptoms were further exacerbated in Cu or Ag nanoparticles treated group (50-60 nm particle size, 50 mg/kg, i.p./day for 7 days) after identical heat stress on the 8th day. Pretreatment with cerebrolysin (2.5 ml/kg, i.v.) daily for 3 days in normal rats before heat stress significantly reduced the behavioral stress symptoms and the breakdown of the BBB function, edema formation and neuronal injuries. However, the magnitude and intensity of these neuroprotective effects were much less intense in all other drug treated rats after similar heat stress. On the other hand, almost double dose of cerebrolysin (5 ml/kg) was needed to achieve comparable neuroprotection in nanoparticles treated animals after heat stress. Whereas, double dose of all other compounds was much less effective in inducing neuroprotection in nanoparticles treated heat-exposed animals. These observations are the first to show that cerebrolysin exerts the most superior neuroprotective effects in heat stress as compared to other neuroprotective agents on brain pathology in normal and in nanoparticles treated group. Furthermore, cerebrolysin in double dose was the most effective in inducing neuroprotection in nanoparticles treated heat exposed rats on brain pathology as compared to double doses of other drugs. Taken together, our results show that cerebrolysin has the most superior neuroprotective effects on brain pathology in heat stroke in both normal and nanoparticles treated rats as compared to other contemporary neuroprotective agents, not reported earlier.     

System of nano-silver inkjet printed memory cards and PC card reader and programmer

This work describes the development of inkjet printed, low-cost memory cards, and complementary pair of memory card reader and card reader/programmer for PCs. This constitutes a complete system that can be used for various applications. The memory cards are manufactured by inkjet printing nano-silver ink on photo paper substrate. The printed memory structures have an initial high resistance that can later be programmed to specific values representing data on the cards, the so called Write Once Read Many (WORM) memories. The memory card reader measures the resistance values of the memory cells and reads it back to the computer by USB connection. Using multiple resistance levels that represent different states it is possible to have a larger number of selectable combinations with fewer physical bits compared to binary coding. This somewhat counters one of the limitations of resistive memory technology that basically each cell needs one physical contact. The number of possible states is related to the resolution of the reader and the stability of the WORM memory.     

The relationships between biological activities and structure of flavan-3-ols

Flavan-3-ols are involved in multiple metabolic pathways that induce inhibition of cell proliferation. We studied the structure-activity relationship of gallic acid (GA) and four flavan-3-ols: epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin (EGC), catechin (C), and epicatechin (EC). We measured the cell viability by the MTT assay and we determined the concentration of testing compound required to reduce cell viability by 50% (IC(50)). All tested compounds showed a dose-dependent and time-dependent inhibitory antiproliferative effect on Hs578T cells; IC(50) values varying from the 15.81 to 326.8 μM. Intracellular ROS (reactive oxygen species) were quantified using a fluorescent probe 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA). Only the treatment with 10 μM EGC and EGCG was able to induce a significant decrease of ROS concentration and increased levels of ROS were registered for 100 μM EGCG, EGC and GA. Flavans-3-ols and GA induced apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner, which indicated that the induction of apoptosis mediated their cytotoxic activity at least partially. The galloylated catechins have shown a stronger antiproliferative activity and apoptotic effect than the one produced by non galloylated catechins. The galloylated flavan-3-ols are potential therapeutic agents for patients with triple negative breast cancer via induction of apoptosis.     

Films of poly(4-azulen-1-yl-2,6-bis(2-thienyl)pyridine) for heavy metal ions complexation

Electrochemical behaviour and electropolymerization of 4-azulen-1-yl-2,6-bis(2-thienyl)pyridine (L) has been studied. Complexing polymer-coated electrodes have been synthesized by oxidative electropolymerization of L in acetonitrile solutions containing 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium perchlorate. The films were characterized by cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse-voltammetry and scanning electron microscopy. The complexing properties of L and these new polymer-coated electrode materials were investigated towards heavy metals leading to complexation of lead and cadmium metal cations inside the polymer film.