Chiroptical Sensing of Amino Acid Derivatives by Host-Guest Complexation with Cyclo[6]aramide.

A hydrogen-bonded (H-bonded) amide macrocycle was found to serve as an effective component in the host-guest assembly for a supramolecular chirality transfer process. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy studies showed that the near-planar macrocycle could produce a CD response when combined with three of the twelve L-α-amino acid esters (all cryptochiral molecules) tested as possible guests. The host-guest complexation between the macrocycle and cationic guests was explored using NMR, revealing the presence of a strong affinity involving the multi-point recognition of guests. This was further corroborated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The present work proposes a new strategy for amplifying the CD signals of cryptochiral molecules by means of H-bonded macrocycle-based host-guest association, and is expected to be useful in designing supramolecular chiroptical sensing materials.

Hydrogen-rich water ameliorates rat placental stress induced by water restriction.

Dehydration is one of the intrauterine abnormalities that could lead to fetal growth retardation and to increase the risk of a variety of adult diseases later in life. This study were to determine the impact of hydrogen-rich water (HRW) supplementation on placental angiotensin II type 1 receptor and placental oxidative stress induced by water restriction. Pregnant Wistar rat were randomly assigned to one of the three groups (n =12 per group). In control group, pure water and food were supplied ad libitum. Water restriction group and HRW group were respectively given pure water and HRW with free access to food, excepting only one hour was available for drinking from day 7 to day 17 of pregnancy. The placental damages and biomarkers of stress were detected by histopathology, immunohistochemistry and western blot, as well as serological test were performed. We demonstrated that maternal water restriction resulted in reduced urine volume and increased serum osmotic pressure, along with decreased fetus weight and crown-rump length. Although placental weight and the number of fetuses had no significant difference among groups, the placental efficiency significantly increased after the oral administration of HRW to the mothers. Meanwhile, the serological derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites decreased, a significant improvement of placental microstructure with more developed junctional zone and denser labyrinth was manifested, the upregulated expression of angiotensin II type 1 receptor, nuclear factoκB, malondialdehyde, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, p38, c-Jun N-terminal kinase and down-regulation of superoxide dismutase were revealed in the placenta. Collectively, HRW administration is able to effectively attenuate placental stress induced by water restriction.

Postnatal ovarian development and its relationship with steroid hormone receptors in JiNing Grey goats.

In this work, we examined the ovarian development and its relationship with steroid hormone receptors levels and the precocious puberty in JiNing Gray goats by using optical microscopy, immunohistochemistry, quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qPCR) and Western blotting. We found that in the ovaries of neonatal kids, high level of receptors for estrogen (ERα and ERß) and progesterone (PR) and their mRNA were observed along with growing follicles. From 0 to 30 days of age, the weight and volume of ovaries increased significantly and the boundary between the inner and outer cortex disappeared, while the expression of ERα, ERß and PR and their mRNA decreased sharply. When 60 days old, the animals began to ovulate; the expression of ERα, ERß and PR and their mRNA significantly increased, and the animals reached puberty. On day 90, the animals manifested sexual maturity with biggest mature follicles 6.18mm in diameter, the expression of ERß and PR protein and their mRNA was maintained at a high level, with decreased expression of ERα and its mRNA. Before puberty, the expression of ovarian ERα (prepubertal dominant receptor) and it's mRNA was significantly higher than that of ERß (dominant receptor after sexual maturity). The results showed that JiNing Grey goats' ovaries had fast development and early maturation, and ERα, ERß and PR protein and mRNA expression in the ovary had distinct specificity for time and space, which may be closely related to the strain's progenitive characteristics.

Hydrogen-rich saline protects retina against glutamate-induced excitotoxic injury in guinea pig.

Molecular hydrogen (H(2)) is an efficient antioxidant that can selectively reduce hydroxyl radicals and inhibit oxidative stress-induced injuries. We investigated the protective effects and mechanism of hydrogen-rich saline in a glutamate-induced retinal injury model. Retinal excitotoxicity was induced in healthy guinea pigs by injecting glutamate into the vitreous cavity. After 30 min, hydrogen-rich saline was injected into the vitreous cavity, the peritoneal cavity or both. Seven days later, the retinal stress response was evaluated by examining the stress biomarkers, inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS) and glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78). The impaired glutamate uptake was assessed by the expression of the excitatory amino acid transporter 1(EAAT-1). The retinal histopathological changes were investigated, focusing on the thicknesses of the entire retina and its inner layer, the number of cells in the retinal ganglion cell layer (GCL) and the ultrastructure of the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and glial cells. Compared with the glutamate-induced injury group, the hydrogen-rich saline treatment reduced the loss of cells in the GCL and thinning of the retina and attenuated cellular morphological damage. These improvements were greatest in animals that received H(2) injections into both the vitreous and the peritoneal cavities. The hydrogen-rich saline also inhibited the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in Müller cells, CD11b in microglia, and iNOS and GRP78 in glial cells. Moreover, the hydrogen-rich saline increased the expression of EAAT-1. In conclusion, the administration of hydrogen-rich saline through the intravitreal or/and intraperitoneal routes could reduce the retinal excitotoxic injury and promote retinal recovery. This result likely occurs by inhibiting the activation of glial cells, decreasing the production of the iNOS and GRP78 and promoting glutamate clearance.

Immunosuppressive effect of progesterone on dendritic cells in mice.

Progesterone has been demonstrated to be involved in maintaining pregnancy by regulating immunocytes. Dendritic cells (DCs), the most potent triggers of the adaptive immune response, express receptors for steroid hormones and are regarded as one of the primary targets of progesterone. However, the functional modification of DCs by progesterone remains poorly understood. Here, we report that progesterone does not affect the morphology or apoptosis of murine bone marrow-derived DCs. Progesterone-treated DCs were characterized by decreased expression of Ia (MHC class II), CD80 and CD86, increased production of IL-10, and decreased secretion of IL-12. Compared with mature DCs (mDCs), activated progesterone-treated DCs had a reduced capacity to stimulate CD4(+) T cell proliferation. The observation that progesterone-treated DCs could attenuate delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses in vivo suggests that progesterone mediates suppressive DC activity. However, transfer of progesterone-treated DCs into the peritoneal cavity of mice did not elevate the percentage of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells in the spleen. Overall, our study helps to increase understanding of the role of DCs exposed to progesterone in the maintenance of pregnancy.