photothrombotic-ischemia-minimally-invasive-reproducible

Photothrombotic Ischemia: A Minimally Invasive and Reproducible Photochemical Cortical Lesion Model for Mouse Stroke Studies

The photothrombotic stroke model aims to induce an ischemic damage within a given cortical area by means of photo-activation of a previously injected ...

Chiral oxazaborolidines, known as CBS catalysts after the work of Corey, Bakshi and Shibata, are used for the stereoselective reduction of prochiral ketones to secondary chiral alcohols. Due to their relative low cost, ease of use, and high selectivity, their popularity has remarkably grown in the last 15 years. Oxazaborolidine-catalyzed reductions have been much studied, both experimentally and computationally, by means of semiempirical methods. Though, a more accurate high level quantum mechanical study on the complete system, capable of elucidating reliably the origins of stereoselectivity, is still lacking. Therefore, the acetophenone (PhMK) reduction with Corey's oxazaborolidine has been modeled for the first time with ab initio and DFT-B3LYP calculations on the complete system as well as with AM1. Calculations on the complexation of BH(3) to CBS, which can occur only in a cis fashion with respect to the hydrogen on the stereogenic C-4 carbon atom, have allowed us to confirm the great rigidity of Corey's catalyst, possibly determining its excellent enantioselectivity. Acetophenone-CBS-BH(3) complexes were characterized at various levels of theory, and it was found that the picture obtained depends heavily on the method adopted. A computational strategy for identifying the hydride transfer transition states of the competing pathways was developed and tested, using a model system for which the transition state geometry was already known. The application of the TS search method to the reduction of acetophenone allowed the characterization of the TS's for the competing pathways in this reaction, making it possible to predict with good quantitative accuracy the stereochemical outcome of the reaction at all the levels of theory adopted. The characterization of the intermediate oxazadiboretane products confirmed that the highly exothermic hydride transfer provides the thermodynamical drive for the reaction.

Quantum mechanical study of stereoselectivity in the oxazaborolidine-catalyzed reduction of acetophenone.

Beta-nicotinamidedinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-d) colocalizes with NOS in the central nervous system. Two types of NADPH-d-positive neurons are present in the primate cerebral cortex: type 1, intensely and Golgi-like labeled neurons, a subset of GABAergic interneurons; type 2, lightly labeled neurons (divided into two subclasses, a first one having a lightly stained cell body bearing only one short process, and a second one showing intense NADPH-d staining with short processes extending radially). We have analyzed the distribution of NADPH-d activity in human frontal, temporal, and occipital cortical areas, finding remarkable laminar and interareal differences in cell size and distribution of the different cell types. There was a clear bias for type 1 neurons in infragranular layers in all areas considered; both in supra- and infragranular layers, their density was highest in frontal, and lowest in temporal cortex. The density of type 2 neurons was lower supragranularly in temporal cortex and infragranularly in occipital cortex. The overall density of type 2 cells was remarkably higher in occipital cortex than in the temporal and frontal ones. Type 1 neurons were significantly larger than type 2, and were smaller in the supragranular than in the infragranular subzone in occipital and temporal cortex. Type 1 cells were significantly larger in frontal cortex than in occipital and temporal cortex, and type 2 cells were significantly smaller in occipital than in temporal and frontal cortex. These area-related differences might reflect differences between heterotypic and homotypic cortex in the regulation of cortical blood flow.

Differential distribution of NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry in human cerebral cortex.

A series of reactions of anilines and their metabolites have been treated with density functional theory to investigate if any of the computed energy changes correlate with mutagenicity.

Reaction energies computed with density functional theory correspond with a whole organism effect; modelling the Ames test for mutagenicity.

A single-site mutant (M5) of native urokinase plasminogen activator (prouPA) induces effective thrombolysis in dogs with venous or arterial thrombosis with a reduction in bleeding complications compared to tPA. This effect, related to inhibition of two-chain M5 (tcM5) by plasma C1-inhibitor (C1I), thereby preventing non-specific plasmin generation, was augmented by the addition of exogenous C1I to plasma in vitro. In the present study, tPA, M5 or placebo +/- C1I were administered in two rat stroke models. In Part-I, permanent MCA occlusion was used to evaluate intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) by the thrombolytic regimens. In Part II, thromboembolic occlusion was used with thrombolysis administered 2 h later. Infarct and edema volumes, and ICH were determined at 24 h, and neuroscore pre (2 h) and post (24 h) treatment. In Part I, fatal ICH occurred in 57% of tPA and 75% of M5 rats. Adjunctive C1I reduced this to 25% and 17% respectively. Similarly, semiquantitation of ICH by neuropathological examination showed significantly less ICH in rats given adjunctive C1I compared with tPA or M5 alone. In Part-II, tPA, M5, and M5+C1I induced comparable ischemic volume reductions (>55%) compared with the saline or C1I controls, indicating the three treatments had a similar fibrinolytic effect. ICH was seen in 40% of tPA and 50% of M5 rats, with 1 death in the latter. Only 17% of the M5+C1I rats showed ICH, and the bleeding score in this group was significantly less than that in either the tPA or M5 group. The M5+C1I group had the best Benefit Index, calculated by dividing percent brain salvaged by the ICH visual score in each group. In conclusion, adjunctive C1I inhibited bleeding by M5, induced significant neuroscore improvement and had the best Benefit Index. The C1I did not compromise fibrinolysis by M5 in contrast with tPA, consistent with previous in vitro findings.

Mutant prourokinase with adjunctive C1-inhibitor is an effective and safer alternative to tPA in rat stroke.

Cortical areas differ in the size and distribution of neuronal cell bodies, density, and distribution of myelinated axons, connections, and functional properties. We find that they also differ in the diameter of long corticofugal axons, with the thickest axons originating from primary motor, somatosensory, and visual areas and the thinnest ones from prefrontal and temporal areas. Since diameter is proportional to axonal conduction velocity, it can be inferred that action potentials issued from the different areas will be relayed to their targets at different speed. Conduction delays also depend on conduction distance. By computing conduction velocity and conduction distances, we found the longest conduction delays for the primary visual and temporal areas and the shortest for the premotor, primary motor, and somatosensory areas, compatible with the available electrophysiological data. These findings seem to establish a new principle in cortical organization relevant to the pathophysiology of neurological or psychiatric illnesses as well as to the speed of information processing in cortical circuits.

Areal differences in diameter and length of corticofugal projections.

We have investigated practical and computationally efficient methods for the quantitative prediction of regioisomer distribution in kinetically controlled nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions. One of the methods is based on calculating the relative stabilities of the isomeric Ïƒ-complex intermediates using DFT. We show that predictions from this method can be used quantitatively both for anionic nucleophiles with F(-) as leaving group, as well as for neutral nucleophiles with HF as leaving group. The Ïƒ-complex approach failed when the leaving group was Cl/HCl or Br/HBr, both for anionic and neutral nucleophiles, because of difficulties in finding relevant Ïƒ-complex structures. An approach where we assumed a concerted substitution step and used such transition state structures gave quantitatively useful results. Our results are consistent with other theoretical works, where a stable Ïƒ-complex has been identified in some cases, whereas others have been indicated to proceed via a concerted substitution step.

Predicting regioselectivity in nucleophilic aromatic substitution.

The deprotonation and alkylation of 1-methylcyclohexa-2,5-diene-1-carboxylic acid has been investigated under a range of conditions. In all cases, the formation of compounds 14 was found to be completely stereoselective, although compound 14c was formed as an impurity when alkyl iodides were used as electrophiles, and doubly-alkylated compounds 17 were formed in some cases when alkyl bromides were used.

Diastereoselective alkylation reactions of 1-methylcyclohexa-2,5-diene-1-carboxylic acid.

Perinatal hypoxia-ischemia is a major cause of acute mortality in newborns and cognitive and motor impairments in children. Cerebral hypoxia-ischemia leads to excitotoxicity and necrotic and apoptotic cell death, in which mitochondria play a major role. Increased resistance against major damage can be achieved by preconditioning triggered by subtle insults. CO, a toxic molecule that is also generated endogenously, may have a role in preconditioning as low doses can protect against inflammation and apoptosis. In this study, the role of CO-induced preconditioning on neurons was addressed in vitro and in vivo. The effect of 1 h of CO treatment on neuronal death (plasmatic membrane permeabilization and chromatin condensation) and bcl-2 expression was studied in cerebellar granule cells undergoing to glutamate-induced apoptosis. CO's role was studied in vivo in the Rice-Vannucci model of neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (common carotid artery ligature +75 min at 8% oxygen). Apoptotic cells, assessed by Nissl staining were counted with a stereological approach and cleaved caspase 3-positive profiles in the hippocampus were assessed. Apoptotic hallmarks were analyzed in hippocampal extracts by Western Blot. CO inhibited excitotoxicity-induced cell death and increased Bcl-2 mRNA in primary cultures of neurons. In vivo, CO prevented hypoxia-ischemia induced apoptosis in the hippocampus, limited cytochrome c released from mitochondria and reduced activation of caspase-3. Still, Bcl-2 protein levels were higher in hippocampus of CO pre-treated rat pups. Our results show that CO preconditioning elicits a molecular cascade that limits neuronal apoptosis. This could represent an innovative therapeutic strategy for high-risk cerebral hypoxia-ischemia patients, in particular neonates.

Preconditioning triggered by carbon monoxide (CO) provides neuronal protection following perinatal hypoxia-ischemia.

Urinary incontinence, defined as the complaint of any involuntary loss of urine, is a pathological condition, which affects 30% females and 15% males over 60, often following a progressive decrease of rhabdosphincter cells due to increasing age or secondary to damage to the pelvic floor musculature, connective tissue and/or nerves. Recently, stem cell therapy has been proposed as a source for cell replacement and for trophic support to the sphincter. To develop new therapeutic strategies for urinary incontinence, we studied the interaction between mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and muscle cells in vitro; thereafter, aiming at a clinical usage, we analyzed the supporting role of MSCs for muscle cells in vitro and in in vivo xenotransplantation. MSCs can express markers of the myogenic cell lineages and give rise, under specific cell culture conditions, to myotube-like structures. Nevertheless, we failed to obtain mixed myotubes both in vitro and in vivo. For in vivo transplantation, we tested a new protocol to collect human MSCs from whole bone marrow, to get larger numbers of cells. MSCs, when transplanted into the pelvic muscles close to the external urethral sphincter, survived for a long time in absence of immunosuppression, and migrated into the muscle among fibers, and towards neuromuscular endplates. Moreover, they showed low levels of cycling cells, and did not infiltrate blood vessels. We never observed formation of cell masses suggestive of tumorigenesis. Those which remained close to the injection site showed an immature phenotype, whereas those in the muscle had more elongated morphologies. Therefore, MSCs are safe and can be easily transplanted without risk of side effects in the pelvic muscles. Further studies are needed to elucidate their integration into muscle fibers, and to promote their muscular transdifferentiation either before or after transplantation.

Article	Year
Quantum mechanical study of stereoselectivity in the oxazaborolidine-catalyzed reduction of acetophenone. Journal of the American Chemical Society\| PubMed ID: 12914466	2003
Differential distribution of NADPH-diaphorase histochemistry in human cerebral cortex. Brain research\| PubMed ID: 15713254	2005
Reaction energies computed with density functional theory correspond with a whole organism effect; modelling the Ames test for mutagenicity. Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)\| PubMed ID: 19225647	2009
Mutant prourokinase with adjunctive C1-inhibitor is an effective and safer alternative to tPA in rat stroke. PloS one\| PubMed ID: 21779364	2011
Areal differences in diameter and length of corticofugal projections. Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)\| PubMed ID: 22302056	2012
Predicting regioselectivity in nucleophilic aromatic substitution. The Journal of organic chemistry\| PubMed ID: 22384935	2012
Diastereoselective alkylation reactions of 1-methylcyclohexa-2,5-diene-1-carboxylic acid. Organic & biomolecular chemistry\| PubMed ID: 22473327	2012
Preconditioning triggered by carbon monoxide (CO) provides neuronal protection following perinatal hypoxia-ischemia. PloS one\| PubMed ID: 22952602	2012
Myogenic potential of whole bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro and in vivo for usage in urinary incontinence. PloS one\| PubMed ID: 23029081	2012

Simone Tomasi

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