Donor-acceptor fluorophores as efficient energy transfer photocatalysts for [2 + 2] photodimerization.

Mild [2 + 2] photodimerization of enone substrates was induced by donor-acceptor fluorophores. Enone substrates were activated efficiently for anti-head to head dimerizations with a high yield (up to 83%) and high selectivity. The adjustable excited state potential also allows donor-acceptor fluorophores to be used for isomerization of the above substrates, confirming the potential of donor-acceptor fluorophores as energy transfer photocatalysts.

Scavenger Receptor BI Protects against Septic Death through Its Role in Modulating Inflammatory Response.

Sepsis is a leading cause of death that is characterized by uncontrolled inflammatory response. In this study, we report that scavenger receptor BI (SR-BI), a high density lipoprotein receptor, is a critical survival factor of sepsis. We induced sepsis using an established septic animal model, cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). CLP induced 100% fatality in SR-BI-null mice but only 21% fatality in wild type littermates. SR-BI-null mice exhibited aberrant inflammatory responses with delayed inflammatory cytokine generation at the early stage of sepsis and highly elevated inflammatory cytokine production 20 h after CLP treatment. To understand the mechanisms underlying SR-BI protection, we elucidated the effect of macrophage SR-BI on inflammatory cytokine generation. Macrophages from SR-BI-null mice produced significantly higher levels of inflammatory cytokines than those of wild type controls in response to LPS. Importantly, transgenic mice overexpressing SR-BI were more resistant to CLP-induced septic death. Using an HEK-Blue(TM) cell system, we demonstrated that expression of SR-BI suppressed TLR4-mediated NF-kappaB activation. To understand why SR-BI-null mice had a delayed inflammatory response, we elucidated the effect of SR-BI on LPS clearance during sepsis. Compared with wild type controls, SR-BI-null mice had lower plasma LPS levels in the early stage of sepsis and elevated plasma LPS levels 20 h following CLP treatment. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that SR-BI is a critical protective modulator of sepsis in mice. SR-BI exerts its protective function through its role in modulating inflammatory response in macrophages and facilitating LPS recruitment and clearance.

New types of the flexible self-assembled metal-organic coordination polymers constructed by aliphatic dicarboxylates and rigid bidentate nitrogen ligands.

The reaction of metal ions, flexible aliphatic dicarboxylates and rigid bidentate linear ligands under mild conditions in water afford four novel metal-organic coordination polymers, [Cd(mu-mal)(mu-pyz)(0.5)(H(2)O)](n) 1 (mal = malonate dianion, pyz = pyrazine), [Cd(2)(mu-suc)(2)(mu-pyz)(H(2)O)(2)](n) 2 (suc = succinate dianion), and ([M(mu-bipy)(H(2)O)4][suc].4H(2)O)(n)(M = Co, 3, M = Zn, 4, bipy = 4,4'-bipyridine). The molecular structures of 1-4 have been established by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. 1 is a 3D network being composed of layers of octahedrally coordinated Cd atoms bridged by malonate anions in syn-anti configurations within the layers and pyz molecules between layers. Unlike that in 1, each Cd atom in 2 displays uncommon pentagonal-bipyramidal geometry to form 2D infinite grid sheets with square grid dimensions of ca. 7.936 x 7.936 [Angstrom]. Both 3 and 4 exhibit 1D linear -M-bipy-M-bipy- chain polymers, and these chains were packed as ...ABCABC... layered structures. The bridging succinate ligands in 2 adopt the syn-anti mode with a torsion angle of 60.8(7) degrees, while the solvated succinate ligands in 3 and 4 adopt the anti-anti mode with a torsion angle of 180.0 degrees. To our knowledge, compound 2 represents the first example of flexible self-assembled succinate-pyrazine mixed bridging ligand coordination network. 3 and 4 are the first two cases of succinate-bipy polymers with non-coordinated succinate. The magnetic behavior for 3 was studied in the temperature range of 5-300 K. The result indicates the occurrence of a weak antiferromagnetic coupling between the cobalt(II) ions.