Harnessing Redox Cross-Reactivity To Profile Distinct Cysteine Modifications.

Cysteine S-nitrosation and S-sulfination are naturally occurring post-translational modifications (PTMs) on proteins induced by physiological signals and redox stress. Here we demonstrate that sulfinic acids and nitrosothiols react to form a stable thiosulfonate bond, and leverage this reactivity using sulfinate-linked probes to enrich and annotate hundreds of endogenous S-nitrosated proteins. In physiological buffers, sulfinic acids do not react with iodoacetamide or disulfides, enabling selective alkylation of free thiols and site-specific analysis of S-nitrosation. In parallel, S-nitrosothiol-linked probes enable enrichment and detection of endogenous S-sulfinated proteins, confirming that a single sulfinic acid can react with a nitrosothiol to form a thiosulfonate linkage. Using this approach, we find that hydrogen peroxide addition increases S-sulfination of human DJ-1 (PARK7) at Cys106, whereas Cys46 and Cys53 are fully oxidized to sulfonic acids. Comparative gel-based analysis of different mouse tissues reveals distinct profiles for both S-nitrosation and S-sulfination. Quantitative proteomic analysis demonstrates that both S-nitrosation and S-sulfination are widespread, yet exhibit enhanced occupancy on select proteins, including thioredoxin, peroxiredoxins, and other validated redox active proteins. Overall, we present a direct, bidirectional method to profile select redox cysteine modifications based on the unique nucleophilicity of sulfinic acids.

Use of natural health products in children: experiences and attitudes of family physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the experiences of family physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador with parents' use of natural health products (NHPs) for their children and to assess physicians' attitudes toward use of NHPs in children. DESIGN: A survey using the Dillman approach. SETTING: Newfoundland and Labrador. PARTICIPANTS: All family physicians in the province. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Physician demographic characteristics; whether physicians inquire about the use of NHPs in children; the degree to which they think patients disclose use of NHPs in children; whether they counsel parents about the potential benefits or harms of NHPs; their own opinions about the usefulness of NHPs; whether they recommend NHPs in children and for what reasons; and the particular NHPs they have seen used in children and for what reasons. RESULTS: A total of 159 (33.1%) family physicians responded; 65.4% were men, 71.7% were Canadian medical graduates, and 46.5% practised in rural areas. Overall, 18.8% of family physicians said they regularly or frequently asked about NHP use; 24.7% counseled patients about potential harms. Only 1.9% of physicians believed NHPs were usually beneficial, but a similarly small number (8.4%) thought they were usually harmful. Most respondents were somewhat neutral; 59.7% said they never recommend NHPs for children, and a further 37.0% said they would only "sometimes" recommend NHPs. CONCLUSION: Most physicians believed that NHPs were probably of little benefit but not likely to be harmful. Most NHPs used were vitamins and minerals. Physicians recognized that NHPs were often used by parents for children, but in general they believed NHPs had little effect on their day-to-day medical practices. Thirty-eight (24.7%) of the 154 physicians had at least once recommended an NHP (including vitamins) for their pediatric patients. Physicians believed that parents did not often disclose use of NHPs for their children, but at the same time physicians generally did not actively inquire.

Use of natural health products in children: survey of parents in waiting rooms.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how common it is for parents to give natural health products (NHPs) to their children, which NHPs are being used, why they are being used, and parents' assessments of the benefits and side effects of NHPs. DESIGN: Survey. SETTING: Newfoundland and Labrador. PARTICIPANTS: Parents waiting in their family doctors' offices. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Parent and child demographic characteristics; pediatric chronic medical conditions affecting the children; prescribed medications, over-the-counter medications, and NHPs used by the children; why the medications and NHPs were being used, the dose, and parents' assessments of the effectiveness and side effects; and where parents had heard about the NHPs, whether they had told their physicians that the children were taking the products, and where they had obtained the products. RESULTS: A total of 202 (53.4%) of the 378 eligible adults who were approached completed the survey. This represented 333 children. Mean (SD) age of the children was 5.1 (3.3) years. Overall, 28.7% of parents reported using nonvitamin NHPs for their children. A total of 137 children (41.1%) had taken NHPs (including vitamins); 61.1% of the NHPs being used were vitamins. The remainder fell under teas (primarily chamomile and green teas), echinacea, fish or omega-3 oils, and a large category of "other" products. These NHPs were most commonly used to improve general health, improve immunity, and prevent colds and infections. Approximately half of the parents (51.7%) believed their children had benefited from taking NHPs, and 4.4% believed their children had experienced adverse side effects. Slightly less than half of the parents (45.0%) had informed their physicians that their children were taking NHPs. CONCLUSION: Overall, 45.5% of parents attending physicians' offices reported using NHPs in their children. If vitamins are not included in the definition of NHPs, this rate drops to 28.7%. Parents most commonly use NHPs to maintain the general health of their children, to prevent colds, and to boost children's immune systems. About half of the parents believed the NHPs helped, very few had noticed any side effects, and approximately half had informed their physicians that they were giving their children NHPs.

Use of natural health products in children: qualitative analysis of parents' experiences.

OBJECTIVE: To gain a more thorough understanding of why parents choose to give their children natural health products (NHPs), parents' sources of information about NHPs, and the extent of disclosure and conversation with family doctors about the use of NHPs. DESIGN: Qualitative study. SETTING: Newfoundland and Labrador. PARTICIPANTS: Parents of children who were using NHPs (N = 20). METHODS: Individual, semistructured interviews were carried out with parents to obtain a better understanding of the reasoning behind the use of NHPs. Key themes emerging from the qualitative data were identified according to a number of criteria, including relevance to the research objectives, frequency with which a theme was mentioned, relative importance of the themes based on the amount of text taken up to address an issue, and emphasis (eg, emphatic or emotional speech). MAIN FINDINGS: The types of NHPs used by parents participating in this study varied, except for the use of multivitamins. In addition, use of the products themselves was variable and inconsistent. Parents reported few concerns about the use of NHPs. The most commonly reported source of information about NHPs was family and friends. Most participants had not spoken to their family doctors about the use of NHPs. CONCLUSION: Participants considered NHPs to be "natural" and seemed to equate this assessment with safety. This might explain why these parents sought advice and information from family and friends rather than from their family doctors and often failed to disclose the use of NHPs to their children's family doctors.

Has pharmacy adequately promoted pharmaceutical discoveries to the public?

In summary, twentieth-century British and American cards published by the organisations of pharmacy albeit a limited window into public relations--suggest that relatively little attention was given to offering the public an understanding of the science basis of pharmacy or the nature of pharmacy research. On the other hand, clear hints of this came from industry despite being diluted, some might say tainted, with overt commercialism. Thus it is suggested that the public came to associate industry with pharmacy research, a suggestion that needs to be examined in the light of other approaches to PR. It is, of course, not surprising that PR from pharmacy's professional bodies has focused largely on community practice. However, it is reasonable to ask, What is the cost in terms of professional image when opportunities to promote an understanding of the science of pharmacy are given little attention? Indeed, it seems to me that it was soon forgotten that an emphasis placed on the science base of pharmacy was very much behind the successful efforts in establishing the Pharmaceutical Society and a professional image for pharmacy. I suggest, too, that the pattern of limited science PR contributes, unconsciously, to current concerns over the place of scientists in the new professional society. As is well known, interminable debate exists over what the public sees as 'professional'. Even so, I think few would disagree that an image of science can be more than helpful. Maybe, in the current upheaval for British pharmacy, there is a case for the publication of free cards analogous to those recently produced by the School of Pharmacy, although only so long as they indicate, by way of context, both the science and humanity demanded for pharmacy practice.

Chemoselective ratiometric imaging of protein S-sulfenylation.

Here we report a ratiometric fluorescent probe for chemoselective conjugation to sulfenic acids in living cells. Our approach couples an α-fluoro-substituted dimedone to an aminonaphthalene fluorophore (F-DiNap), which upon sulfenic acid conjugation is locked as the 1,3-diketone, changing the fluorophore excitation. F-DiNap reacts with S-sulfenylated proteins at equivalent rates to current probes, but the α-fluorine substitution blocks side-reactions with biological aldehydes.