Effect of SkQ1 eye drops on the rat lens metabolomic composition and the chaperone activity of α-crystallin.

The ability of SkQ1 eye drops to slow down the cataract development is demonstrated on the senescence-accelerated OXYS rats: the SkQ1 treatment leads to the considerable improvement of the lens condition as compared to the control group. The comparison of the chaperone activities of α-crystallins isolated from the rat lenses did not reveal significant difference between SkQ1-treated and control rats. The contents of major metabolites (23 compounds) in lenses of SkQ1-treated and untreated rats are also very similar, though the concentration of reduced glutathione (GSH) in lenses of SkQ1-treated rats is 12% lower. This difference may be attributed to the reduction of the oxidative stress under action of SkQ1 eye drops, and to the decreased requirement to produce high amounts of this antioxidant.

The therapeutic effect of mitochondria-targeted antioxidant SkQ1 and Cistanche deserticola is associated with increased levels of tryptophan and kynurenine in the rat lens.

Supplementation of senescence-accelerated OXYS rats with the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant SkQ1 and with the powder from Cistanche deserticola results in the deceleration of the cataract development and even in the improvement of lens transparency. The therapeutic effect of these preparations correlates with a significant elevation of tryptophan and kynurenine levels in the lens. This finding is attributed to a deceleration of the tryptophan and kynurenine oxidation due to antioxidant-assisted reduction of oxidative stress in the lens.

Photoactivity of kynurenine-derived UV filters.

Quantum yields of photodecomposition and triplet state formation under aerobic and anaerobic conditions are determined for kynurenine (KN), 3-hydroxykynurenine (3OHKN), xanthurenic acid (XAN), and kynurenine adducts of glutathione (GSH-KN), cysteine (Cys-KN), histidine (His-KN), and lysine (Lys-KN) in aqueous solutions. The highest yields of anaerobic photodecomposition were obtained for GSH-KN and His-KN adducts, which correlates with the highest triplet yields for these compounds. In aerobic conditions, the photodecomposition yields for all compounds under study increase; the highest decomposition rates were observed for His-KN and 3OHKN. The fast decomposition of the latter is attributed to the dark autoxidation of the starting compound.

Competition between ultrafast relaxation and photoionization in excited prefluorescent states of tryptophan and indole.

The quantum yield of photoionization of TrpH and IndH from the nonrelaxed prefluorescent state S* increases with the temperature decrease. This effect is attributed to the competition between temperature independent ionization and ultrafast thermal relaxation S* --> S1. The rate constant of the relaxation does not depend on the solvent and on the presence of the amino acid side chain: the temperature dependences of photoionization quantum yield, obtained for TrpH and IndH in different solvents, practically coincide. The activation energy for the relaxation rate constant Er approximately 4.5 kJ/mol probably corresponds to intramolecular process or to the formation of the vibronically excited transient complex between photoexcited molecule and solvent molecules.