ABSTRACT
The epoxidation of olefins by substituting "air" for potentially harmful oxidants was achieved using an oxidation method that integrated a fluorous iron(III) salen catalyst derived from common metals and pivalaldehyde. Several aromatic disubstituted olefins were converted into their corresponding epoxides with high efficiency and quantitative yields. This reaction represents an environmentally friendly oxidation process that utilizes an abundant source of air and employs a readily available metal, iron, in the form of salen complexes, making it an environmentally conscious oxidation reaction.
ABSTRACT
The neurotrophic effects of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) on rat sensory neuronal cell line ND7/23 cells were investigated. PACAP caused a concentration-dependent increase in the number of neurite-bearing cells and the expression of the substance P precursor (PPT) mRNA in 24 h. The effects of PACAP were mimicked by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide with lower potency and dibutyryl-cyclic AMP, and inhibited by inhibitors of protein kinase A, ERK kinase or p38 kinase, KT5720, U0126, or SB203580, respectively. In a PPT promoter luciferase reporter assay, the increase of PPT mRNA was the result of an increase in PPT gene transcriptional activity by PACAP. The increasing effects of PACAP on PPT mRNA were similarly observed in primary cultured rat dorsal root ganglion cells. Thus, PACAP could induce differentiation-like phenomena in sensory neurons in a cAMP-, protein kinase A-, ERK kinase-, and p38 kinase-dependent manner. These results provide evidence of the neurotrophic action of PACAP, which may function to rescue damaged neurons or to switch the neuronal phenotype in injured or inflamed sensory neurons.
Subject(s)
Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases/physiology , Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide/pharmacology , Sensory Receptor Cells/drug effects , Signal Transduction/drug effects , Substance P/biosynthesis , Animals , Cell Differentiation/drug effects , Cells, Cultured/drug effects , Cells, Cultured/metabolism , Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors , Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors , Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases/physiology , Ganglia, Spinal/cytology , Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects , Genes, Reporter , Hybrid Cells/drug effects , Hybrid Cells/metabolism , Male , Neurites/drug effects , Neurites/ultrastructure , Phenotype , Protein Kinase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Protein Precursors/biosynthesis , Protein Precursors/genetics , RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis , RNA, Messenger/genetics , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Recombinant Fusion Proteins/biosynthesis , Recombinant Fusion Proteins/genetics , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Sensory Receptor Cells/metabolism , Sensory Receptor Cells/ultrastructure , Substance P/genetics , Tachykinins/biosynthesis , Tachykinins/genetics , Transcription, Genetic/drug effects , p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors , p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/physiologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Fetal supraventricular tachycardia confers an increased risk of cardiac failure, hydrops, and eventual intrauterine death. Although protocols for prenatal anti-arrhythmic treatment are now well established, few published reports discuss this condition in the setting of multiple pregnancies. CASE REPORT: A 20-year-old primigravida woman with a twin pregnancy presented at 31 weeks of gestation for routine obstetrical check-up which revealed simultaneous supraventricular tachycardia in both fetuses. She was treated with oral digoxin, resulting in successful cardioversion in both of the fetuses, which was maintained until they were delivered by caesarian section at 38 weeks gestation. However, several hours after birth, tachyarrhythmias recurred in each of the infants. Combined disopyramide therapy with digoxin was necessary to control their heart rates. CONCLUSION: The treatment of arrhythmia in fetuses of a multiple gestation presents unique issues, particularly when diagnosed prior to fetal lung maturity.