In Search for Low-Molecular-Weight Ligands of Human Serum Albumin That Affect Its Affinity for Monomeric Amyloid ß Peptide.

An imbalance between production and excretion of amyloid ß peptide (Aß) in the brain tissues of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients leads to Aß accumulation and the formation of noxious Aß oligomers/plaques. A promising approach to AD prevention is the reduction of free Aß levels by directed enhancement of Aß binding to its natural depot, human serum albumin (HSA). We previously demonstrated the ability of specific low-molecular-weight ligands (LMWLs) in HSA to improve its affinity for Aß. Here we develop this approach through a bioinformatic search for the clinically approved AD-related LMWLs in HSA, followed by classification of the candidates according to the predicted location of their binding sites on the HSA surface, ranking of the candidates, and selective experimental validation of their impact on HSA affinity for Aß. The top 100 candidate LMWLs were classified into five clusters. The specific representatives of the different clusters exhibit dramatically different behavior, with 3- to 13-fold changes in equilibrium dissociation constants for the HSA-Aß40 interaction: prednisone favors HSA-Aß interaction, mefenamic acid shows the opposite effect, and levothyroxine exhibits bidirectional effects. Overall, the LMWLs in HSA chosen here provide a basis for drug repurposing for AD prevention, and for the search of medications promoting AD progression.

Asymmetric grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering and anisotropic domain wall motion in obliquely grown nanocrystalline Co films.

Strong asymmetries have been observed in grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS) in situ patterns obtained from 30 nm-thick nanocrystalline Co films prepared by oblique sputtering (15°-75° off-sample normal). These asymmetries have been qualitatively simulated by a simple model consisting of an ensemble of 8 nm-wide inclined Co nanocolumns. It is found that narrow inclined features appear in the diffuse background resembling those characteristic of faceted systems, which can be used to obtain straightforward non-destructive estimations of buried nanocolumnar grains inclination, even for oblique angles below 45°, when the stronger and broader asymmetric features of the pattern are not yet fully formed. Furthermore, using magneto-optical microscopy, a marked change in the magnetic domain's nucleation and growth process has been observed in the sample prepared at 75°, with the stronger GISAXS asymmetries. Easy axis magnetization reversal starts by a random and homogeneous nucleation of small (∼µm) elongated domains aligned with the nanocolumn's long axis and proceeds through the preferred propagation of head-to-head domain walls (DWs) along the applied field direction. This peculiar magnetic behavior indicates that the strongly anisotropic nanostructuring created by the oblique growth process is equivalent, from a magnetic point of view, to an array of self-assembled buried nanowires. These results show how GISAXS and magneto-optical microscopy can be combined as a powerful tool for correlating the morphology and magnetism of thin nanostructured systems.

Enhancement of antiferromagnetic coupling in magnetic multilayers by low energy ion beam substrate nanopatterning.

Ion beam irradiation has been shown to be an interesting tool for tailoring the magnetic properties of thin films and multilayers. The modified properties include magnetic anisotropy, interlayer exchange coupling, exchange bias, magnetic domain structure and magnetization reversal. In this work, new results are shown concerning the enhancement, by one order of magnitude, of the antiferromagnetic coupling strength in amorphous CoSi/Si multilayers by irradiating Si(100) substrates with 1 keV Ar(+) ions. The ion beam exposure induces an increase of the substrate roughness, from 0.07 to 0.88 nm, which enhances antiferromagnetic coupling in the magnetic multilayers grown on top. One possible mechanism governing this enhancement is discussed, related to the formation of magnetic/non-magnetic regions where dipolar interactions could stabilize the antiferromagnetic alignment. The presence of non-magnetic regions is suggested by the observed trend to superparamagnetism, and is expected since the Curie temperature of the amorphous CoSi alloy used is slightly above but very close to room temperature. Accordingly, small fluctuations in the local composition, leading to an enrichment of Si, would produce non-magnetic regions enabling dipolar interactions to take place. Furthermore, the ion beam induced increase of roughness makes surface diffusion of the atoms arriving at the sample difficult, favoring the formation of local non-magnetic inhomogeneities. Finally, the role of other possible mechanisms to enhance antiferromagnetic coupling is also briefly discussed.

Crossed-ratchet effects for magnetic domain wall motion.

We study both experimentally and theoretically the driven motion of domain walls in extended amorphous magnetic films patterned with a periodic array of asymmetric holes. We find two crossed-ratchet effects of opposite sign that change the preferred sense for domain wall propagation, depending on whether a flat or a kinked wall is moving. By solving numerically a simple phi(4) model we show that the essential physical ingredients for this effect are quite generic and could be realized in other experimental systems involving elastic interfaces moving in multidimensional ratchet potentials.

Early stage of ripple formation on Ge(001) surfaces under near-normal ion beam sputtering.

We present a study of the early stage of ripple formation on Ge(001) surfaces irradiated by a 1 keV Xe(+) ion beam at room temperature and near-normal incidence. A combination of a grazing incidence x-ray scattering technique and atomic force microscopy allowed us to observe a variation of the symmetry of the surface nanopattern upon increase of the ion fluence. The isotropic dot pattern formed during the first minutes of sputtering evolves into an anisotropic ripple pattern for longer sputtering time. These results provide a new basis for further steps in the theoretical description of the morphology evolution during ion beam sputtering.

Beta-carotene breakdown products enhance genotoxic effects of oxidative stress in primary rat hepatocytes.

Since it has to be expected that individuals exposed to oxidative stress who take supplements of beta-carotene are simultaneously exposed to both beta-carotene cleavage products (CPs) and oxidative stress, and both exposures have been demonstrated to cause genotoxic effects in primary rat hepatocytes, cyto- and genotoxic effects on primary rat hepatocytes after supplementation of the medium with increasing concentrations of a CP mixture during exposure to oxidative stress by treatment with either DMNQ (2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) or hypoxia/reoxygenation (Hy/Reox) was investigated. The cytological endpoints analysed were the mitotic indices, the percentages of apoptotic and necrotic cells, the percentages of micronucleated (MN) cells and the number of chromosomal aberrations (CAs) and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE). The results obtained clearly demonstrate that the CP mixture enhances the genotoxic effects of oxidative stress exposure, whereas it had no effect at all on the endpoints of cytotoxicity studied. These results further support the hypothesis that CP might be responsible for the reported carcinogenic response in the beta-CArotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET) and Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-carotene Cancer prevention (ATBC) chemoprevention trials.

Cyto- and genotoxic potential of beta-carotene and cleavage products under oxidative stress.

Free radical attack on beta-carotene results in the formation of high amounts of cleavage products with prooxidant activities towards subcellular organelles such as mitochondria, a finding which could provide an explanation for the contradictory results obtained with beta-carotene in clinical efficacy and cancer prevention trials. Since primary hepatocytes proved to be very sensitive indicators for the genotoxic action of suspect mutagens/carcinogens we therefore investigated a beta-carotene cleavage products mixture (CP), apo-8'-beta-carotenal (apo-8') and beta-carotene in the primary rat hepatocyte assay in the presence and absence of oxidative stress provided by hypoxia/reoxygenation (Hy/re). The endpoints tested were: the mitotic indices, the percentages of necrotic and apoptotic cells, micronucleated cells (MN), chromosomal aberrations (CA) and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE). The results obtained indicate a genotoxic potential of both CP and apo-8' already in the concentration range of 100 nM and 1 microM, i.e. at physiologically relevant levels of beta-carotene and beta-carotene breakdown products. In contrast, no significant cytotoxic effects of these substances were observed, nor did beta-carotene induce significant cytotoxic or genotoxic effects at concentrations ranging from 0.01 up to 10 microM. However, when beta-carotene is supplemented during oxidative stress induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation, a dose-dependent increase of CP is observed accompanied by increasing genotoxicity. Furthermore, when beta-carotene cleavage products were supplied during oxidative stress significant additional increases of genotoxic effects were observed, the additional increases indicating an additive effect of both exposures. Summarizing, these results provide strong evidence that beta-carotene breakdown products are responsible for the occurrence of carcinogenic effects found in the Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-carotene-Cancer prevention (ATBC) study and the beta-CArotene and RETinol Efficacy (CARET) Trial.

Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of beta-carotene breakdown products on primary rat hepatocytes.

According to Siems and colleagues, free radical attack on beta-carotene results in the formation of high amounts of cleavage products with prooxidant activities towards subcellular organelles such as mitochondria. This finding may be an explanation for the contradictory results obtained with beta-carotene in clinical efficacy and cancer prevention trials. Since primary hepatocytes proved to be very sensitive indicators of the genotoxic action of suspect mutagens/carcinogens we therefore investigated a beta-carotene cleavage products mixture (CP), apo8'- carotenal (apo8') and beta-carotene utilizing primary cultures of rat hepatocytes. The end-points tested were: the mitotic index, the percentage of necrotic and apoptotic cells, micronucleated cells, chromosomal aberrations and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE). Our results indicate a genotoxic potential of both CP and apo8' already at the concentrations 100 nM and 1 microM, i.e. at pathophysiologically relevant levels of beta-carotene and beta-carotene breakdown products. A 3 h treatment with CP induced statistically significant levels of micronuclei at concentrations of 0.1, 1 and 10 microM and chromosomal aberrations at concentrations of 1, 5 and 10 microM. Apo8' induced statistically significant levels of micronuclei at concentrations of 0.1, 1 and 5 microM and chromosomal aberrations at concentrations of 0.1, 1 and 10 microM. Statistically significant increases in SCE induction were only observed at a concentration of 10 microM CP and apo8'. In contrast, no significant cytotoxic effects of these substances were observed. Since beta-carotene induced neither significant cytotoxic nor genotoxic effects at concentrations ranging from 0.01 up to 10 microM, these observations indicate that most likely beta-carotene breakdown products are responsible for the occurrence of carcinogenic effects found in the Alpha-Tocopherol Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study and the Beta-CArotene and RETinol Efficacy Trial (CARET).