Non-Motor Symptoms in Primary Familial Brain Calcification.

Background/Objectives: Primary Familial Brain Calcification is a rare neurodegenerative disorder of adulthood characterized by calcium deposition in the basal ganglia and other brain areas; the main clinical manifestations include movement disorders, mainly parkinsonism. Non-motor symptoms are not well defined in PFBC. This work aims at defining the burden of non-motor symptoms in PFBC. Methods: A clinical, genetic and neuropsychological evaluation of a cohort of PFBC patients, COMPASS-31 scale administration. Results: A total of 50 PFBC patients were recruited; in 25, the genetic test was negative; 10 carried mutations in SLC20A2 gene, 8 in MYORG, 3 in PDGFB, 1 in PDGFRB, 2 in JAM2 (single mutations), and one test is still ongoing. The main motor manifestation was parkinsonism. Headache was reported in 26% of subjects (especially in PDGFB mutation carriers), anxiety or depression in 62%, psychosis or hallucinations in 10-12%, sleep disturbances in 34%; 14% of patients reported hyposmia, 32% constipation, and 34% urinary disturbances. A neuropsychological assessment revealed cognitive involvement in 56% (sparing memory functions, to some extent). The COMPASS-31 mean score was 20.6, with higher sub-scores in orthostatic intolerance and gastrointestinal problems. MYORG patients and subjects with cognitive decline tended to have higher scores and bladder involvement compared to other groups. Conclusions: The presence of non-motor symptoms is frequent in PFBC and should be systematically assessed to better meet patients' needs.

Evidence of Excited-State Vibrational Mode Governing the Photorelaxation of a Charge-Transfer Complex.

Modern, nonlinear, time-resolved spectroscopic techniques have opened new doors for investigating the intriguing but complex world of photoinduced ultrafast out-of-equilibrium phenomena and charge dynamics. The interaction between light and matter introduces an additional dimension, where the complex interplay between electronic and vibrational dynamics needs the most advanced theoretical-computational protocols to be fully understood on the molecular scale. In this study, we showcase the capabilities of ab initio molecular dynamics simulation integrated with a multiresolution wavelet protocol to carefully investigate the excited-state relaxation dynamics in a noncovalent complex involving tetramethylbenzene (TMB) and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) undergoing charge transfer (CT) upon photoexcitation. Our protocol provides an accurate description that facilitates a direct comparison between transient vibrational analysis and time-resolved spectroscopic signals. This molecular level perspective enhances our understanding of photorelaxation processes confined in the adiabatic regime and offers an improved interpretation of vibrational spectra. Furthermore, it enables the quantification of anharmonic vibrational couplings between high- and low-frequency modes, specifically the TCNQ "rocking" and "bending" modes. Additionally, it identifies the primary vibrational mode that governs the adiabaticity between the ground state and the CT state. This comprehensive understanding of photorelaxation processes holds significant importance in the rational design and precise control of more efficient photovoltaic and sensor devices.

Validation of a guideline to reduce variability in diagnosing cervical dystonia.

BACKGROUND: Cervical dystonia is characterized by a variable pattern of neck muscle involvement. Due to the lack of a diagnostic test, cervical dystonia diagnosis is based on clinical examination and is therefore subjective. The present work was designed to provide practical guidance for clinicians in confirming or refuting suspected cervical dystonia. METHODS: Participants were video recorded according to a standardized protocol to assess 6 main clinical features possibly contributing to cervical dystonia diagnosis: presence of repetitive, patterned head/neck movements/postures inducing head/neck deviation from neutral position (item 1); sensory trick (item 2); and red flags related to conditions mimicking dystonia that should be absent in dystonia (items 3-6). Inter-/intra-rater agreement among three independent raters was assessed by k statistics. To estimate sensitivity and specificity, the gold standard was cervical dystonia diagnosis reviewed at each site by independent senior neurologists. RESULTS: The validation sample included 43 idiopathic cervical dystonia patients and 41 control subjects (12 normal subjects, 6 patients with isolated head tremor, 4 with chorea, 6 with tics, 4 with head ptosis due to myasthenia or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 7 with orthopedic/rheumatologic neck diseases, and 2 with ocular torticollis). The best combination of sensitivity and specificity was observed considering all the items except for an item related to capability to voluntarily suppress spasms (sensitivity: 96.1%; specificity: 81%). CONCLUSIONS: An accurate diagnosis of cervical dystonia can be achieved if, in addition to the core motor features, we also consider some clinical features related to dystonia mimics that should be absent in dystonia.

Writing tremor in Parkinson's disease: frequency and associated clinical features.

Action tremor in Parkinson's disease may present in up to 46% of patients, either as postural or kinetic tremor. How action tremor may affect handwriting has been the object of some investigations; however, clinical features of writing tremor in Parkinson's disease are still not well-characterised. One hundred consecutive patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease were included in the study. Demographic and clinical data were collected through a standardized questionnaire. Patients were assessed for the presence of rest, action and writing tremor in on condition. The effect of a standardised sensory trick (gently touching the wrist of the upper limb manifesting tremor with the contralateral hand) was also investigated in all patients with action tremor. Writing tremor was found in 10% of patients (26% of patients with postural/kinetic tremor, either alone or in combination with rest tremor). Severity of writing tremor did not correlated with that of the other tremor variants and to the other clinical variables. Writing tremor was task-specific in 4/10 patients, no task-specific in 6/10. Sensory trick was effective on writing tremor in two patients but did not improve action tremor in any of the study patients. Results showed that writing tremor in Parkinson's disease is less common than other tremor variants, may be associated with other forms of action tremor, and may sometimes have dystonic features, including task-specificity and sensitivity to sensory trick.

Electronic and Vibrational Manifold of Tetracyanoethylene-Chloronaphthalene Charge Transfer Complex in Solution: Insights from TD-DFT and Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics.

The interplay between light absorption and the molecular environment has a central role in the observed photophysics of a wide range of photoinduced chemical and biological phenomena. The understanding of the interplay between vibrational and electronic transitions is the focus of this work, since it can provide a rationale to tune the optical properties of charge transfer (CT) materials used for technological applications. A clear description of these processes poses a nontrivial challenge from both the theoretical and experimental points of view, where the main issue is how to accurately describe and probe drastic changes in the electronic structure and the ultrafast molecular relaxation and dynamics. In this work we focused on the intermolecular CT reaction that occurs upon photon absorption in a π-stacked model system in dichloromethane solution, in which the 1-chloronaphthalene (1ClN) acts as the electron donor and tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) is the electron acceptor. Density functional theory calculations have been carried out to characterize both the ground-state properties and more importantly the low-lying CT electronic transition, and excellent agreement with recently available experimental results [Mathies, R. A.; et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 2018, 122 (14), 3594] was obtained. The minima of the ground state and first singlet excited state have been accurately characterized in terms of spatial arrangements and vibrational Raman frequencies, and the CT natures of the first two low-lying electronic transitions in the absorption spectra have been addressed and clarified too. Finally, by modeling the possible coordination sites of the TCNE electron acceptor with respect to monovalent ions (Na+, K+) in an implicit solution of acetonitrile, we find that TCNE can accommodate a counterion in two different arrangements, parallel and orthogonal to the C═C axis, leading to the formation of a contact ion pair. The nature of the counterion and its relative position entail structural modifications of the TCNE radical anion, mainly the central C═C and C≡N bonds, compared to the isolated case. An important red shift of the C═C stretching frequency was observed when the counterion is orthogonal to the double bond, to a greater extent for Na+. On the contrary, in the second case, where the counterion ion lies along the internuclear C═C axis, we find that K+ polarizes the electron density of the double bond more, resulting in a greater red shift than with Na+.

Exploring the Franck-Condon region of a photoexcited charge transfer complex in solution to interpret femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy: excited state electronic structure methods to unveil non-radiative pathways.

We present electronic structure methods to unveil the non-radiative pathways of photoinduced charge transfer (CT) reactions that play a main role in photophysics and light harvesting technologies. A prototypical π-stacked molecular complex consisting of an electron donor (1-chloronaphthalene, 1ClN) and an electron acceptor (tetracyanoethylene, TCNE) was investigated in dichloromethane solution for this purpose. The characterization of TCNE:π:1ClN in both its equilibrium ground and photoinduced low-lying CT electronic states was performed by using a reliable and accurate theoretical-computational methodology exploiting ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The structural and vibrational time evolution of key vibrational modes is found to be in excellent agreement with femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy experiments [R. A. Mathies et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122, 14, 3594], unveiling a correlation between vibrational fingerprints and electronic properties. The evaluation of nonadiabatic coupling matrix elements along generalized normal modes has made possible the interpretation on the molecular scale of the activation of nonradiative relaxation pathways towards the ground electronic state. In particular, two low frequency vibrational modes such as the out of plane bending and dimer breathing and the TCNE central C[double bond, length as m-dash]C stretching play a prominent role in relaxation phenomena from the electronic CT state to the ground state one.

Deep grey matter involvement and altered sensory gating in multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold (STDT) is altered in multiple sclerosis (MS). In healthy subjects (HS), voluntary movement modulates the STDT through mechanisms of subcortical sensory gating. OBJECTIVE: With neurophysiological and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, we investigated sensory gating and sensorimotor integration in MS. METHODS: We recruited 38 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RR-MS) patients with no-to-mild disability and 33 HS. We tested STDT at rest and during index finger abductions and recorded the movement kinematics. Participants underwent a 3T MRI protocol. RESULTS: Patients exhibited higher STDT values and performed slower finger movements than HS. During voluntary movement, STDT values increased in both groups, albeit to a lesser extent in patients, while the mean angular velocity of finger movements decreased in patients alone. Patients had a smaller volume of the thalamus, pallidum and caudate nucleus, and displayed higher mean diffusivity in the putamen, pallidum and thalamus. STDT correlated with thalamic volume while mean angular velocity correlated with putaminal volume. Changes in mean angular velocity during sensorimotor integration inversely correlated with mean diffusivity in the thalamus and pallidum. Changes in STDT and velocity were associated with fatigue score. CONCLUSION: Altered STDT and sensorimotor integration are related to structural damage in the thalamus and basal ganglia in MS and likely to affect motor performance.

From ascorbic acid to furan derivatives: the gas phase acid catalyzed degradation of vitamin C.

Furan derivatives, potentially carcinogenic to humans, can be formed, in addition to carbohydrates and other sources, from the degradation of ascorbic acid (AA). At present, the mechanisms involved in the ascorbic acid degradation are not yet fully understood. In this study, we reported a gas-phase investigation, performed using Triple Quadrupole (TQ/MS) and Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry (QIT/MS) together with quantum mechanical calculations at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory, on the non-oxidative degradation mechanism of l-ascorbic acid (AA) to furan derivatives. Gaseous protonated ascorbic acid ions, the AAH+ ionic reagents, were generated by Electrospray Ionization (ESI) of an aqueous AA solution added with a mild protonation reagent. The Collisionally Induced Dissociation (CID) mass spectra of the AAH+ ions displayed gaseous fragment ions corresponding to the degradation intermediates and reaction products, which were structurally characterized and identified. Precise mechanistic insights were achieved by using l-[1-13C]-AA. On the basis of experimental and computational results, the gas phase non-oxidative acid catalyzed degradation mechanism of ascorbic acid is proposed, a benchmark point for the comprehension of the mechanism in the condensed phase.

Insight into the Mechanism of Action of Marine Cytotoxic Thiazinoquinones.

The electrochemical response of four natural cytotoxic thiazinoquinones isolated from the Aplidium species was studied using conventional solution-phase and solid-state techniques, based on the voltammetry of immobilized particles methodology. The interaction with O2 and electrochemically generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) was electrochemically monitored. At the same time, a molecular modeling study including density functional theory (DFT) calculations was performed in order to analyze the conformational and electronic properties of the natural thiazinoquinones, as well as those of their reduced intermediates. The obtained electrochemical and computational results were analyzed and correlated to cytotoxic activity of these compounds, highlighting some features possibly related to their mechanism of action.

Vitamin C: an experimental and theoretical study on the gas-phase structure and ion energetics of protonated ascorbic acid.

In order to investigate the gas-phase mechanisms of the acid catalyzed degradation of ascorbic acid (AA) to furan, we undertook a mass spectrometric (ESI/TQ/MS) and theoretical investigation at the B3LYP/6-31 + G(d,p) level of theory. The gaseous reactant species, the protonated AA, [C6 H8 O6 ]H+ , were generated by electrospray ionization of a 10-3 M H2 O/CH3 OH (1 : 1) AA solution. In order to structurally characterize the gaseous [C6 H8 O6 ]H+ ionic reactants, we estimated the proton affinity and the gas-phase basicity of AA by the extended Cooks's kinetic method and by computational methods at the B3LYP/6-31 + G(d,p) level of theory. As expected, computational results identify the carbonyl oxygen atom (O2) of AA as the preferred protonation site. From the experimental proton affinity of 875.0 ± 12 kJ mol-1 and protonation entropy ΔSp 108.9 ± 2 J mol-1 K-1 , a gas-phase basicity value of AA of 842.5 ± 12 kJ mol-1 at 298 K was obtained, which is in agreement with the value issuing from quantum mechanical computations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

On the Driving Force of the Excited-State Proton Shuttle in the Green Fluorescent Protein: A Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) Study of the Intrinsic Reaction Path.

We simulated the intrinsic reaction path of the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) proton shuttle in both the ground state (S0) and first singlet excited state (S1), accounting for the main energetic and steric effects of the protein in a convenient model including the chromophore, the crystallographic water, and the residues directly involved in the proton transfer event. We adopted density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) levels to define the potential energy surfaces of the two electronic states, and we compared results obtained by the Damped Velocity Verlet and the Hessian-based Predictor-Corrector integrators of the intrinsic reaction coordinate, which gave a comparable and consistent picture of the mechanism. We show that, at S1, the GFP proton transfer becomes favored, with respect to S0, as suggested by the experimental evidence. As an important finding, this change is strictly related to the rearrangement of the hydrogen bond network composing the reaction path, which, in S1, relaxes to a tighter and planar configuration, as a consequence of the photoinduced relaxation in the GFP chromophore structure, thus prompting more effectively for the proton shuttle. Therefore, we give an unprecedented direct proof of the key role played by the photoinduced structural relaxation of the GFP on the chromophore photoacidity, validating, in particular, the hypothesis of Fang and co-workers [Nature 2009, 462, 200].

Use of Integrated Computational Approaches in the Search for New Therapeutic Agents.

Computer-aided drug discovery plays a strategic role in the development of new potential therapeutic agents. Nevertheless, the modeling of biological systems still represents a challenge for computational chemists and at present a single computational method able to face such challenge is not available. This prompted us, as computational medicinal chemists, to develop in-house methodologies by mixing various bioinformatics and computational tools. Importantly, thanks to multi-disciplinary collaborations, our computational studies were integrated and validated by experimental data in an iterative process. In this review, we describe some recent applications of such integrated approaches and how they were successfully applied in i) the search of new allosteric inhibitors of protein-protein interactions and ii) the development of new redox-active antimalarials from natural leads.

Accurate Infrared (IR) Spectra for Molecules Containing the C≡N Moiety by Anharmonic Computations with the Double Hybrid B2PLYP Density Functional.

Herein, we report a comprehensive benchmark of C≡N stretching vibrations computed at harmonic and anharmonic levels with the aim of proposing and validating a reliable computational strategy to get accurate results for this puzzling vibrational mode without any ad hoc scaling factor. Anharmonic calculations employing second-order vibrational perturbation theory provide very good results when performed using the B2PLYP double-hybrid functional, in conjunction with an extended basis set and supplemented by semiempirical dispersion contributions. For larger systems, B2PLYP harmonic frequencies, together with B3LYP anharmonic corrections, offer a very good compromise between accuracy and computational cost without the need of any empirical scaling factor.

CC/DFT Route toward Accurate Structures and Spectroscopic Features for Observed and Elusive Conformers of Flexible Molecules: Pyruvic Acid as a Case Study.

The structures and relative stabilities as well as the rotational and vibrational spectra of the three low-energy conformers of pyruvic acid (PA) have been characterized using a state-of-the-art quantum-mechanical approach designed for flexible molecules. By making use of the available experimental rotational constants for several isotopologues of the most stable PA conformer, Tc-PA, the semiexperimental equilibrium structure has been derived. The latter provides a reference for the pure theoretical determination of the equilibrium geometries for all conformers, thus confirming for these structures an accuracy of 0.001 Å and 0.1 deg for bond lengths and angles, respectively. Highly accurate relative energies of all conformers (Tc-, Tt-, and Ct-PA) and of the transition states connecting them are provided along with the thermodynamic properties at low and high temperatures, thus leading to conformational enthalpies accurate to 1 kJ mol(-1). Concerning microwave spectroscopy, rotational constants accurate to about 20 MHz are provided for the Tt- and Ct-PA conformers, together with the computed centrifugal-distortion constants and dipole moments required to simulate their rotational spectra. For Ct-PA, vibrational frequencies in the mid-infrared region accurate to 10 cm(-1) are reported along with theoretical estimates for the transitions in the near-infrared range, and the corresponding infrared spectrum including fundamental transitions, overtones, and combination bands has been simulated. In addition to the new data described above, theoretical results for the Tc- and Tt-PA conformers are compared with all available experimental data to further confirm the accuracy of the hybrid coupled-cluster/density functional theory (CC/DFT) protocol applied in the present study. Finally, we discuss in detail the accuracy of computational models fully based on double-hybrid DFT functionals (mainly at the B2PLYP/aug-cc-pVTZ level) that avoid the use of very expensive CC calculations.

Extension of the AMBER force-field for the study of large nitroxides in condensed phases: an ab initio parameterization.

The popular AMBER force-field has been extended to provide an accurate description of large and flexible nitroxide free-radicals in condensed phases. New atom types have been included, and relevant parameters have been fitted based on geometries, vibrational frequencies and potential energy surfaces computed at the DFT level for several different classes of nitroxides, both in vacuo and in different solvents. The resulting computational tool is capable of providing reliable structures, vibrational frequencies, relative energies and spectroscopic observables for large and flexible nitroxide systems, including those typically used as spin labels. The modified force field has been employed in the context of an integrated approach, based on classical molecular dynamics and discrete-continuum solvent models, for the investigation of environmental and short-time dynamic effects on the hyperfine and gyromagnetic tensors of PROXYL, TEMPO and INDCO spin probes. The computed magnetic parameters are in very good agreement with the available experimental values, and the procedure allows for an unbiased evaluation of the role of different effects in tuning the overall EPR observables.

An integrated computational protocol for the accurate prediction of EPR and PNMR parameters of aminoxyl radicals in solution.

Magnetic spectroscopic techniques such as electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and paramagnetic NMR (PNMR) are valuable tools for understanding the structure and dynamics of complex systems such as, for example, biomolecules or nanomaterials labeled with suitable free radicals. Unfortunately, such spectra do not give direct access to the radical structure because of the subtle interplay between several different effects not easily separable and evaluable by experimentalists alone. In this respect, computational spectroscopy is becoming an essential and versatile tool for the assignment and interpretation of experimental spectra. In this article, the new integrated computational approaches developed in the recent years in our research group are reviewed. Such approaches have been applied to two widely used spin probes showing that proper account of stereo-electronic, environmental and dynamical effects leads to magnetic properties in remarkable agreement with experimental results.

Double C-H activation of ethane by metal-free SO2*+ radical cations.

The room-temperature C-H activation of ethane by metal-free SO(2)(*+) radical cations has been investigated under different pressure regimes by mass spectrometric techniques. The major reaction channel is the conversion of ethane to ethylene accompanied by the formation of H(2)SO(2)(*+), the radical cation of sulfoxylic acid. The mechanism of the double C-H activation, in the absence of the single activation product HSO(2)(+), is elucidated by kinetic studies and quantum chemical calculations. Under near single-collision conditions the reaction occurs with rate constant k=1.0 x 10(-9) (+/-30%) cm(3) s(-1) molecule(-1), efficiency=90%, kinetic isotope effect k(H)/k(D)=1.1, and partial H/D scrambling. The theoretical analysis shows that the interaction of SO(2)(*+) with ethane through an oxygen atom directly leads to the C-H activation intermediate. The interaction through sulfur leads to an encounter complex that rapidly converts to the same intermediate. The double C-H activation occurs by a reaction path that lies below the reactants and involves intermediates separated by very low energy barriers, which include a complex of the ethyl cation suitable to undergo H/D scrambling. Key issues in the observed reactivity are electron-transfer processes, in which a crucial role is played by geometrical constraints. The work shows how mechanistic details disclosed by the reactions of metal-free electrophiles may contribute to the current understanding of the C-H activation of ethane.

Interplay of stereo-electronic, environmental, and dynamical effects in determining the EPR parameters of aromatic spin-probes: INDCO as a test case.

An integrated computational strategy for the evaluation of reliable structures and magnetic properties of spin probes and spin labels has been extended to aromatic species. From an electronic point of view, delocalization of the unpaired electron density over aromatic moieties reduces significantly the computed nitrogen isotropic hyperfine coupling constant (A(N)) with respect to values characteristic of aliphatic nitroxides. Solvent effects in not too high polarity media are quite small, but not negligible. At this stage computed A(N) are lower than their experimental counterparts by more than 1 G. Inclusion of vibrational averaging effects by molecular dynamics simulations with a new reliable force field restores full agreement with experiment pointing out the limits of static approaches irrespective of the sophistication of the electronic quantum mechanical method. The generality and computational effectiveness of the proposed integrated approach paves the route toward a reliable analysis of the interplay of stereo-electronic, environmental, and dynamical effects in tuning the properties of large flexible magnetic systems of biological and technological interest.

Insight into the mechanism of action of plakortins, simple 1,2-dioxane antimalarials.

A multidisciplinary approach, based on molecular dynamics/mechanics, ab initio calculations, dynamic docking studies, and chemical reactions, has been employed to gain insight into the mechanism of the antimalarial action of plakortin and dihydroplakortin, simple 1,2-dioxanes isolated from the sponge Plakortis simplex. Our results show that these molecules, after interaction of the endoperoxide bond with Fe(ii), likely coming from the heme molecule, give rise to the formation of an oxygen radical, followed by rearrangement to give a carbon radical centered on the "western" alkyl side-chain. The carbon radicals generated on the side-chain, amenable for intermolecular reactions, should represent the toxic intermediates responsible for subsequent reactions leading to plasmodium death. The minimal structural requirements necessary for the activity of this class of antimalarial agents have been identified and discussed throughout the paper.

Magnetic interactions in phenyl-bridged nitroxide diradicals: conformational effects by multireference and broken symmetry DFT approaches.

In the present paper we report the key results of a comprehensive computational study aimed at investigating the dependence of the singlet-triplet energy gap in phenyl-bridged bis-nitroxide diradicals, on the basis set and on soft structural parameters like torsion and pyramidalization. We have compared the BS-DFT technique with the post-Hartree-Fock DDCI2 multireference approach. With this latter method we have also studied the different role that sigma and pi core and virtual orbitals have in the resulting singlet-triplet energy gap.The results obtained represent one step forward in the definition of a protocol for an efficient and reliable computation of spin-spin coupling in diradical systems.