Aerobic and Ligand-Free Manganese-Catalyzed Homocoupling of Arenes or Aryl Halides via in Situ Formation of Aryllithiums.

Ligand-free manganese-catalyzed homocoupling of arenes or aryl halides can be carried out under aerobic conditions via the in situ formation of the corresponding aryllithiums. A wide range of biaryls and derivatives has been obtained, and a mechanism involving monomeric manganese-oxo complexes has been proposed on the basis of DFT calculations.

An Electrophilic Bromine Redox Catalysis for the Synthesis of Indole Alkaloid Building Blocks by Selective Aliphatic C-H Amination.

A new homogeneous bromine(-I/I) redox catalysis is described, which is based on monomeric bromine(I) compounds containing transferable phthalimidato groups. These catalysts enable intermolecular C-H amination reactions at previously unaccessible aliphatic positions and thus enlarge the synthetic potential of direct C-N bond formation, including its application in the synthesis of alkaloid building blocks. This aspect is demonstrated by a new synthetic approach to aspidospermidine. In addition to the development of the catalyst system, the structures of the involved bromine(I) key catalysts were fully elucidated, including by X-ray analyses.

Iodine(III)-Mediated para-Selective Direct Imidation of Anilides.

The direct, nucleophilic imidation of acetanilide derivatives has been performed under mild, iodine(III)-mediated or -catalyzed conditions, employing lithium triflimide as the nitrogen source. The reaction exhibits exclusive regioselectivity for the para position and shows a good tolerance for varied functional groups at both the ortho or meta positions. Preliminary mechanistic data suggest that the LiNTf2 reagent plays a key role in the reactivity.

Copper-catalyzed arylation of nitrogen heterocycles from anilines under ligand-free conditions.

The arylation of pyrazole and derivatives can be achieved by coupling arenediazonium species (formed in situ from anilines) by using a catalytic system that employs low-toxicity and inexpensive copper metal under very mild and ligand-free conditions (T=20 °C). From other nitrogen heterocycles, the presence of an additive (NBu4 I) significantly improves the efficiency of the catalytic system. These results represent the first examples of CN bond formation from arenediazonium species.

Human hematopoietic reconstitution and HLA-restricted responses in nonpermissive alymphoid mice.

We generated a new humanized mouse model to study HLA-restricted immune responses. For this purpose, we created unique murine hosts by enforcing the expression of human SIRPα by murine phagocytes in murine MHC-deficient HLA-transgenic alymphoid hosts, an approach that allowed the immune reconstitution of nonpermissive mice following injection of human hematopoietic stem cells. We showed that these mouse/human chimeras were able to generate HLA-restricted responses to immunization. These new humanized mice may offer attractive models to study immune responses to human diseases, such as HIV and EBV infections, as well as to assay new vaccine strategies.

IL-2 coordinates IL-2-producing and regulatory T cell interplay.

Many species of bacteria use quorum sensing to sense the amount of secreted metabolites and to adapt their growth according to their population density. We asked whether similar mechanisms would operate in lymphocyte homeostasis. We investigated the regulation of the size of interleukin-2 (IL-2)-producing CD4(+) T cell (IL-2p) pool using different IL-2 reporter mice. We found that in the absence of either IL-2 or regulatory CD4(+) T (T reg) cells, the number of IL-2p cells increases. Administration of IL-2 decreases the number of cells of the IL-2p cell subset and, pertinently, abrogates their ability to produce IL-2 upon in vivo cognate stimulation, while increasing T reg cell numbers. We propose that control of the IL-2p cell numbers occurs via a quorum sensing-like feedback loop where the produced IL-2 is sensed by both the activated CD4(+) T cell pool and by T reg cells, which reciprocally regulate cells of the IL-2p cell subset. In conclusion, IL-2 acts as a self-regulatory circuit integrating the homeostasis of activated and T reg cells as CD4(+) T cells restrain their growth by monitoring IL-2 levels, thereby preventing uncontrolled responses and autoimmunity.

Antiapoptotic Mcl-1 is critical for the survival and niche-filling capacity of Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells.

Foxp3⁺ regulatory T (Treg) cells are a crucial immunosuppressive population of CD4⁺ T cells, yet the homeostatic processes and survival programs that maintain the Treg cell pool are poorly understood. Here we report that peripheral Treg cells markedly alter their proliferative and apoptotic rates to rapidly restore numerical deficit through an interleukin 2-dependent and costimulation-dependent process. By contrast, excess Treg cells are removed by attrition, dependent on the Bim-initiated Bak- and Bax-dependent intrinsic apoptotic pathway. The antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-xL and Bcl-2 were dispensable for survival of Treg cells, whereas Mcl-1 was critical for survival of Treg cells, and the loss of this antiapoptotic protein caused fatal autoimmunity. Together, these data define the active processes by which Treg cells maintain homeostasis via critical survival pathways.

Quorum-Sensing in CD4(+) T Cell Homeostasis: A Hypothesis and a Model.

Homeostasis of lymphocyte numbers is believed to be due to competition between cellular populations for a common niche of restricted size, defined by the combination of interactions and trophic factors required for cell survival. Here we propose a new mechanism: homeostasis of lymphocyte numbers could also be achieved by the ability of lymphocytes to perceive the density of their own populations. Such a mechanism would be reminiscent of the primordial quorum-sensing systems used by bacteria, in which some bacteria sense the accumulation of bacterial metabolites secreted by other elements of the population, allowing them to "count" the number of cells present and adapt their growth accordingly. We propose that homeostasis of CD4(+) T cell numbers may occur via a quorum-sensing-like mechanism, where IL-2 is produced by activated CD4(+) T cells and sensed by a population of CD4(+) Treg cells that expresses the high-affinity IL-2Rα-chain and can regulate the number of activated IL-2-producing CD4(+) T cells and the total CD4(+) T cell population. In other words, CD4(+) T cell populations can restrain their growth by monitoring the number of activated cells, thus preventing uncontrolled lymphocyte proliferation during immune responses. We hypothesize that malfunction of this quorum-sensing mechanism may lead to uncontrolled T cell activation and autoimmunity. Finally, we present a mathematical model that describes the key role of IL-2 and quorum-sensing mechanisms in CD4(+) T cell homeostasis during an immune response.