Search results for " Nick"
showing 10 items of 87 documents
Histological and genetic studies in patients with bicuspid aortic valve and ascending aorta complications.
2011
OBJECTIVES: Aneurysm diameter and growing rate does not represent a definite parameter for operation in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), ascending aortic aneurysm and normal root patients. Thus, we investigated histological and immunohistochemical aspects of different segments of ascending aorta (precisely, aortic root without dilatation, aneurysmatic tubular portion, dissected ascending aorta) and genetic features of patients with BAV and ascending aorta complication (aneurysm or dissection). METHODS: Aorta tissue samples of 24 BAV patients were examined. The patients comprised of 18 men and 6 women; the mean age was 54.2 ± 14.3 years. All patients underwent composite aortic root replacement (…
Retinal oxidation, apoptosis and age- and sex-differences in the mnd mutant mouse, a model of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis
2004
Retinal degeneration is an early and progressive event in many forms of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs), a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders with unknown pathogenesis. We here used the mutant motor neuron degeneration (mnd) mouse, a late-infantile NCL variant, to investigate the retinal oxidative state and apoptotic cell death as a function of age and sex. Total superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) levels revealed progressive increases in retinal oxyradicals and lipid peroxides of mnd mice of both sexes. Female mnd retinas showed a higher oxidation rate and consistently exhibited the 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE)-adduc…
Increase in Bcl-2 phosphorylation and reduced levels of BH3-only Bcl-2 family proteins in kainic acid-mediated neuronal death in the rat brain.
2003
Kainic acid induces excitotoxicity and nerve cell degeneration in vulnerable regions of rat brain, most markedly in hippocampus and amygdala. Part of the cell death following kainic acid is apoptotic as shown by caspase 3 activation and chromatin condensation. Here we have studied the regulation of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins belonging to the Bcl-2 family in rat hippocampus and amygdala by kainic acid in relationship to ensuing neuronal death. The pro-apoptotic protein Bax was up-regulated in hippocampus 6 h after kainic acid administration. The increase in Bax was followed by the appearance of TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labelling-positive cells which were prominent at 24 h. Immunohist…
Pregnenolone sulfate, a naturally occurring excitotoxin involved in delayed retinal cell death.
2002
The present study was designed to investigate the neurosteroid pregnenolone sulfate (PS), known for its ability to modulate NMDA receptors and interfere with acute excitotoxicity, in delayed retinal cell death. Three hours after exposure of the isolated and intact retina to a 30-min PS pulse, DNA fragmentation as assessed by genomic DNA gel electrophoresis and a modified in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method appeared concurrently with an increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) levels. At 7 h, the increased amount of DNA laddering was accompanied by a higher number of TUN…
Zn(II) and Ni(II) complexes with poly-histidyl peptides derived from a snake venom
2018
Abstract The snake venoms are complex mixtures containing many bioactive peptides and proteins; some of them are aimed to protect the snake glands, where the venom is stored, until the latter is inoculated in the victim. In the venom of some vipers of the genus Atheris , a set of peptides containing poly-His and poly-Gly segments was recently found. Poly-His peptides are not rare in Nature. Although their exact biological function is most often unknown, one thing is certain: they have good binding properties towards the transition metal ions. As a matter of fact, the imidazole side chain of histidine is one of the groups most frequently involved in metal complexation in the active sites of …
Ni-Based Catalysts for Low Temperature Methane Steam Reforming: Recent Results on Ni-Au and Comparison with Other Bi-Metallic Systems
2013
Steam reforming of light hydrocarbons provides a promising method for hydrogen production. Ni-based catalysts are so far the best and the most commonly used catalysts for steam reforming because of their acceptably high activity and significantly lower cost in comparison with alternative precious metal-based catalysts. However, nickel catalysts are susceptible to deactivation from the deposition of carbon, even when operating at steam-to-carbon ratios predicted to be thermodynamically outside of the carbon-forming regime. Reactivity and deactivation by carbon formation can be tuned by modifying Ni surfaces with a second metal, such as Au through alloy formation. In the present review, we su…
Halogenation of tellurium by SO2Cl2. Formation and crystal structures of (H3O)[Te3Cl13]·1/2SO2, [(C4H8O)2H][TeCl5]·(C4H8O), [(Me2SO)2H]2[TeCl6], and …
2002
Abstract The halogenation of elemental tellurium with SO2Cl2 in various solvents has been investigated. (H3O)[Te3Cl13]·1/2SO2 (1) and [(C4H8O)2H][TeCl5]·(C4H8O) (2) were obtained in CS2 and THF, respectively. When DMSO is added into the THF solution of tellurium and SO2Cl2, [(Me2SO)2H]2[TeCl6] (3) is formed. In the acetonitrile solution tellurium and SO2Cl2 form [Ni(NCCH3)6][Te2Cl10] (4) in the presence of metallic nickel. All compounds 1–4 were characterized by 125Te NMR and by X-ray crystallography. The formation of the anions has been discussed.
The first metamagnetic one-dimensional molecular material with nickel(ii) and end-to-end azido bridges
2001
A novel single azido bridged one-dimensional Ni(II) chain, which represents the first metamagnetic one-dimensional metal–azido system with only end-to-end azido bridges, has been synthesised and characterised by a low temperature magnetic study. Lloret Pastor, Francisco, Francisco.Lloret@uv.es
G-quadruplex vs. duplex-DNA binding of nickel(II) and zinc(II) Schiff base complexes
2016
Novel nickel(II) (1) and zinc(II) (2) complexes of a Salen-like ligand, carrying a pyrimidine ring on the N,N' bridge, were synthesized and characterized. Their interaction with duplex and G-quadruplex DNA was investigated in aqueous solution through UV-visible absorption, circular dichroism and viscometry measurements. The results obtained point out that, while the zinc(II) complex does not interact with both duplex and G-quadruplex DNA, the nickel(II) complex 1 binds preferentially to G-quadruplex respect to duplex-DNA, with values of the DNA-binding constants, Kb, 2.6×10(5)M(-1) and 3.5×10(4)M(-1), respectively. Molecular dynamics simulations provided an atomic level model of the top-sta…
The effects of glutamate receptor antagonists on cerebellar granule cell survival and development.
2007
N-Methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor stimulation promotes neuronal survival and differentiation under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. We studied the effects of various NMDA receptor antagonists acting at different NMDA receptor binding sites and non-NMDA receptor antagonists on the development and survival of cerebellar granule cell (CGC) culture. Only three of the drugs tested induced neurotoxicity-MK-801 (non-competitive NMDA channel blocking antagonist), ifenprodil (an antagonist of the NR2B site and polyamine site of the NMDA receptor) and L-701.324 (full antagonist at glycine site), while CGP-37849 (a competitive NMDA antagonist), (+)-HA-966 (a partial agonist of the glycine site…