Exploring the potential association among sleep disturbances, cognitive impairments, and immune activation in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.DS) is a neurogenetic disorder caused by a microdeletion in chromosome 22. Its phenotype includes high rates of psychiatric disorders, immune system abnormalities, and cognitive impairments. We assessed the quality of sleep in 22q11.2DS and its potential link to inflammatory markers and cognitive deficits. Thirty-three 22q11.2DS individuals and 24 healthy controls were studied. Sleep parameters were assessed by the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) questionnaire and correlated with serum cytokine levels and cognitive functioning, measured using the Penn computerized neurocognitive battery (CNB). The 22q11.2DS individuals had significantly worse sleep quality scores than the controls, unrelated to the psychiatric or physical comorbidities common to 22q11.2DS. Interleukin 6 levels were correlated with the overall score of the PSQI questionnaire for nonpsychotic 22q11.2DS participants only. Several domains of the CNB were associated with poorer sleep quality, suggesting that cognitive impairments in 22q11.2DS may be at least partially explained by poor sleep quality. Our findings confirm sleep impairments in individuals with 22q11.2DS, which might negatively affect their cognitive functioning, and corroborate a potential role of immunological pathways in the 22q11.2DS neuro-phenotype.

Drug repurposing from the perspective of pharmaceutical companies.

Drug repurposing holds the potential to bring medications with known safety profiles to new patient populations. Numerous examples exist for the identification of new indications for existing molecules, most stemming from serendipitous findings or focused recent efforts specifically limited to the mode of action of a specific drug. In recent years, the need for new approaches to drug research and development, combined with the advent of big data repositories and associated analytical methods, has generated interest in developing systematic approaches to drug repurposing. A variety of innovative computational methods to enable systematic repurposing screens, experimental as well as through in silico approaches, have emerged. An efficient drug repurposing pipeline requires the combination of access to molecular data, appropriate analytical expertise to enable robust insights, expertise and experimental set-up for validation and clinical development know-how. In this review, we describe some of the main approaches to systematic repurposing and discuss the various players in this field and the need for strategic collaborations to increase the likelihood of success in bringing existing molecules to new indications, as well as the current advantages, considerations and challenges in repurposing as a drug development strategy pursued by pharmaceutical companies. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on Inventing New Therapies Without Reinventing the Wheel: The Power of Drug Repurposing. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.2/issuetoc.

Contrasting population genetic patterns and evolutionary histories among sympatric Sonoran Desert cactophilic Drosophila.

We studied population genetic differentiation in the sympatric Sonoran Desert cactophilic flies Drosophila pachea, D. mettleri and D. nigrospiracula across their continental and peninsular ranges. These flies show marked differences in ecology and behaviour including dispersal distances and host cactus specialization. Examination of a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (mtCOI) reveals that the Sea of Cortez has constituted an effective dispersal barrier for D. pachea, leading to significant genetic differentiation between the continental and peninsular ranges of this species. No genetic differentiation was detected, however, within its continental and peninsular ranges. In contrast, our mtCOI-based results for D. mettleri and D. nigrospiracula are consistent with a previous allozyme-based study that showed no significant genetic differentiation between continental and peninsular ranges of these two species. For D. mettleri, we also found that the insular population from Santa Catalina Island, California, is genetically differentiated with respect to continental and peninsular localities. We discuss how differences in the genetic structure patterns of D. pachea, D. mettleri and D. nigrospiracula may correspond to differences in their dispersal abilities, host preferences and behaviour.

Pyridoxal phosphate binding to wild type, W330F, and C298S mutants of Escherichia coli apotryptophanase: unraveling the cold inactivation.

The mechanism of pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) binding to apotryptophanase was investigated using stopped-flow kinetics with wild type (WT), W330F and C298S mutants. Based on the dependence of the rate constants on PLP concentrations for the fast and slow phases detected, two mechanistic schemes were proposed. For the WT and C298S mutant, the slow process is due to an isomerization of the aldimine complex after its formation, and not to the binding to an alternative conformation of the apoenzyme, which is the case proposed for the W330F mutant. It is suggested that during the cold inactivation process a conformational change precedes the aldimine bond cleavage. For the W330F apotryptophanase, another conformational change occurs subsequent to the aldimine bond cleavage.

Cold inactivation and dissociation into dimers of Escherichia coli tryptophanase and its W330F mutant form.

The kinetics and mechanism of reversible cold inactivation of the tetrameric enzyme tryptophanase have been studied. Cold inactivation is shown to occur slowly in the presence of K+ ions and much faster in their absence. The W330F mutant tryptophanase undergoes rapid cold inactivation even in the presence of K+ ions. In all cases the inactivation is accompanied by a decrease of the coenzyme 420-nm CD and absorption peaks and a shift of the latter peak to shorter wavelengths. The spectral changes and the NaBH4 test indicate that cooling of tryptophanase leads to breaking of the internal aldimine bond and release of the coenzyme. HPLC analysis showed that the ensuing apoenzyme dissociates into dimers. The dissociation depends on the nature and concentration of anions in the buffer solution. It readily occurs at low protein concentrations in the presence of salting-in anions Cl-, NO3- and I-, whereas salting-out anions, especially HPO4(2-), hinder the dissociation. K+ ions do not influence the dissociation of the apoenzyme, but partially protect holotryptophanase from cold inactivation. Thus, the two processes, cold inactivation of tryptophanase and dissociation of its apoform into dimers exhibit different dependencies on K+ ions and anions.