Activated Nitriles in Heterocyclic Synthesis: Novel Syntheses of Pyrano[2,3-b]pyridines and Pyrano[2,3-d]pyrimidines

Reactions of β-(2-furanyl)- and β-(2-thienyl)-acrylonitrile with ethyl acetoacetate are reported. They lead to new polyfunctional derivatives of pyrano[2,3-b]pyridine and pyrano[2,3-d]-pyrimidine. The structures of these products and the mechanisms of their formation are reported.     

2,4-二氨基-5-取代苄基嘧啶类化合物的合成及其抑酶活性

本文设计并合成了18个在苄基上带有不同体积取代基的2,4-二氨基-5-取代苄基嘧啶类化合物。测定了这些化合物对乳酪菌二氢叶酸还原酶及对鸡肝二氢叶酸还原酶的表观50%抑制作用。其中2,4-二氨基-5-(3′-羟基-4′-甲氧基)苄基、2,4-二氨基-5-(3′-甲氧基-4′-甲氧乙氧基)苄基嘧啶对上述二氢叶酸还原酶(DHFR)的选择性较好。     

Phase II study of topotecan and thalidomide in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes

This phase II trial investigated the safety and preliminary efficacy of a topotecan/thalidomide combination therapy in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome who had refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB), RAEB with transformation, or chronic myelomonocytic anemia. Patients received three 21-day cycles of topotecan 1.25 mg/m² on days 1-5, which was repeated for two additional cycles in patients whose bone marrow blast percentages did not decrease. Oral thalidomide was then started at 100 mg/day (with the dose escalated up to 300 mg/day if well tolerated) for up to 1 year. Patients were monitored throughout the trial for hematologic and clinical adverse events, and efficacy was assessed using International Working Group (IWG) criteria. Forty-five patients, mostly elderly (median age 68 years; range 52-79 years), were enrolled. Therapy was generally well tolerated compared to high-dose chemotherapy. Three patients died from disease progression/infections during topotecan therapy, and four patients discontinued topotecan because of high-grade neutropenia (two patients), syncope (one patient), or hip surgery (one patient). Of 24 patients who received thalidomide, three discontinued because of treatment-related toxicity. Thirty-eight patients were evaluable for response: nine (24%) had hematologic improvement and 13 (34%) had stable disease. Responses occurred in patients with all disease subtypes. Six patients achieved transfusion independence, and one patient had a trilineage response. Approximately one-third of the patients had decreases in bone marrow blasts of ≥50%. Therefore, a topotecan and thalidomide combination therapy is promising, although further studies are needed to determine the optimum doses and schedule.     

Nutrition and cardiac cachexia

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Congestive heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in older persons. In advanced stages of the disease, congestive heart failure can be associated with serious complications such as cardiac cachexia (defined here as weight loss of more than 6% in 6 months). This review will discuss recent insights into the pathophysiology, anthropometric predictors and potential management of cardiac cachexia. RECENT FINDINGS: Cardiac cachexia and the associated progressive weight loss are sometimes overlooked by care providers. A delay in diagnosis often results in further loss of vital tissues, progressive weakness, fall-related injuries and potentially long-term care institutionalization and/or death. Emerging data suggest that congestive heart failure is a dynamic disorder of many organ systems, including the myocardial, neurohormonal, immune, vascular, gastrointestinal, renal and musculoskeletal systems. It is becoming more widely appreciated that it is the deterioration of this interactive multisystem complex that results in the systemic inflammation and progressive wasting and atrophy of muscle and other organ tissues, which is the hallmark of cardiac cachexia. SUMMARY: Cardiac cachexia in congestive heart failure patients may be associated with a low level of physical activity. A high systemic inflammatory state is another marker of cardiac cachexia. Prudent anti-inflammatory nutrition, dietary supplements and exercise can serve to ameliorate and/or potentially prevent progressive wasting. A better understanding of factors contributing to the development of cardiac cachexia will enable us to design preventive strategies and provide improved care for individuals with this debilitating condition.     

Cooperation between FGF8b overexpression and PTEN deficiency in prostate tumorigenesis

Two commonly occurring genetic aberrations of human prostate cancer [i.e., overexpression of a mitogenic polypeptide (fibroblast growth factor 8, isoform b or FGF8b) and loss of function of PTEN tumor suppressor] were recapitulated into a new combinatorial mouse model. This model harboring the Fgf8b transgene and haploinsufficiency in Pten, both in a prostate epithelium-specific manner, yielded prostatic adenocarcinoma with readily detectable lymph node metastases, whereas single models with each of the defects were shown earlier to progress generally only up to prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN). In addition to late age-related development of typical adenocarcinoma, the model also displayed a low incidence of mucinous adenocarcinoma, a rare variant type of human prostatic adenocarcinoma. The cooperation between FGF8b activation and PTEN deficiency must be linked to acquisition of additional genetic alterations for the progression of the lesions to primary adenocarcinoma. Here, we identified loss of heterozygosity at the Pten gene leading to bialleic loss, as a necessary secondary event, indicating that a complete loss of PTEN function is required in the development of invasive cancer in the model. Analyses of expression of downstream mediators phospho-AKT (p-AKT) and p27(KIP1), in various types of lesions, however, revealed a complex picture. Although PIN lesions displayed relatively strong expression of p-AKT and p27(KIP1), there was a notable heterogeneity with variable decrease in their immunostaining in adenocarcinomas. Together, the results further underscore the notion that besides activation of AKT by loss of PTEN function, other PTEN-regulated pathways must be operative for progression of lesions from PIN to adenocarcinoma.     

Subcellular localization-dependent changes in EGFP fluorescence lifetime measured by time-resolved flow cytometry

Intracellular protein transport and localization to subcellular regions are processes necessary for normal protein function. Fluorescent proteins can be fused to proteins of interest to track movement and determine localization within a cell. Currently, fluorescence microscopy combined with image processing is most often used to study protein movement and subcellular localization. In this contribution we evaluate a high-throughput time-resolved flow cytometry approach to correlate intracellular localization of human LC3 protein with the fluorescence lifetime of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Subcellular LC3 localization to autophagosomes is a marker of the cellular process called autophagy. In breast cancer cells expressing native EGFP and EGFP-LC3 fusion proteins, we measured the fluorescence intensity and lifetime of (i) diffuse EGFP (ii) punctate EGFP-LC3 and (iii) diffuse EGFP-ΔLC3 after amino acid starvation to induce autophagy-dependent LC3 localization. We verify EGFP-LC3 localization with low-throughput confocal microscopy and compare to fluorescence intensity measured by standard flow cytometry. Our results demonstrate that time-resolved flow cytometry can be correlated to subcellular localization of EGFP fusion proteins by measuring changes in fluorescence lifetime.OCIS codes: (260.2510) Fluorescence, (170.6920) Time-resolved imaging, (140.3518) Lasers, frequency modulated, (170.1530) Cell analysis     

微波和磁疗治疗膝关节骨性关节炎300例

1临床资料①对象:本组骨性关节炎患者300(男130,女170)例,年龄36～78(56±1.0)岁,病程1 mo～10 a,其中左膝120例,右膝112例,双膝68例.临床表现为关节疼痛、僵直、活动受限,偶尔会关节肿胀、关节腔积液.X线表现为关节间隙变窄,关节软骨下骨质致密,骨密度增高,骨小梁有断裂,髁间嵴变尖及髌骨后缘和外侧缘增生形成骨刺[1].