Evaluation of the transfection efficacies of quaternary ammonium salts prepared from sophorolipids.

Five quaternary ammonium amphiphilic compounds were synthesized from sophorolipid 1. These compounds were formulated in aqueous media and some of them (5 and 6) produced well-defined supramolecular aggregates which were characterized by DLS and zeta measurements. Their capacity to transfect four different eukaryotic cell lines in vitro was assessed. To evaluate the influence of the carbohydrate head group from the sophorolipids on the transfection efficacies, their deglycosylated analogues were also synthesized and tested for gene delivery. For all the compounds, the use of DOPE as a helper lipid in a 1 : 1 molar ratio with the ammonium-based lipids was required to obtain homogeneous formulations. The transfection results indicate that quaternary ammonium-based sophorolipids proved to be more efficient pDNA carriers than their deglycosylated counterparts. Moreover, the presence of the carbohydrate head group clearly contributed to the good biocompatibility of these cationic lipids. These cationic sophorolipid derivatives thus offer good potential for the development of new vectors for gene delivery based on renewable resources.

Dual-polarization multi-band OFDM versus single-carrier DP-QPSK for 100 Gb/s long-haul WDM transmission over legacy infrastructure.

The transmission performance of coherent dual-polarization multi-band OFDM (DP-MB-OFDM) and QPSK (DP-QPSK) are experimentally compared for 100 Gb/s long-haul transport over legacy infrastructure combining G.652 fiber and 10 Gb/s WDM system. It is shown that DP-MB-OFDM and DP-QPSK have nearly the same performance at 100 Gb/s after transmission over a 10 × 100-km fiber line. Furthermore, the origin of performance degradations and limitations of the DP-MB-OFDM is explored numerically, as well as the impact of transmission distance and sub-band spacing.

Archaeosomes based on synthetic tetraether-like lipids as novel versatile gene delivery systems.

Novel cationic liposomes, termed "archaeosomes", based on mixtures of neutral/cationic bilayer-forming lipids and archaeobacterial synthetic tetraether-type bipolar lipids show efficient in vitro gene transfection properties and represent a new approach for modulating the lipidic membrane fluidity of the complexes they form with DNA.

Challenges and Successes Using Nanomedicines for Aerosol Delivery to the Airways.

Numerous diseases affect the respiratory tract and the aerosol administration has been widely considered as an adapted and non-invasive method for local delivery. This pathway induces a lung concentration and thus also limits, systemic side effects. However, aerosol delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients represents a real challenge, due to numerous obstacles such as the specific respiratory movement, the presence of mucus or surfactant, and the mucociliary clearance. Nanomedicines, such as liposomes, micelles or nanoparticles, offer the possibility to increase bioavailability and favor intracellular penetration of specific drugs into lung tissue. This review focuses on the description of aerosol formulations and cellular barriers including design, characteristics and progressive adaptation to airways anatomy. Then, aerosolized formulations currently clinically approved, or in clinical trial are summarized according to the encapsulated drug. In a final section, promising aerosol formulations in pre-clinical studies are detailed.

Preparation of alcohols from alkenes via the homologation of boronates with (Trimethylsilyl)diazomethane

Alkylcatecholboranes obtained from alkenes were converted to the corresponding alkylmethanols by reaction with (trimethylsilyl)diazomethane followed by oxidation and treatment with fluoride.