Assessing Causality Between Plasma Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor With Major Depression Disorder: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study.

Purpose: This study employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to investigate the bidirectional relationship between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and major depressive disorder (MDD), addressing gaps left by prior observational studies.

Methods: We utilized Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) datasets, including MDD information from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) and the UK Biobank (N = 500,199), along with plasma BDNF measurements from the FinnGen Consortium (N = 619). In a subsequent phase, we analyzed MDD data from FinnGen (N = 448,069) with plasma BDNF data from three additional GWAS sources: UK Biobank (N = 33,924), deCODE (N = 35,353), and INTERVAL (N = 3301).

Hyaluronic acid-nimesulide conjugates as anticancer drugs against CD44-overexpressing HT-29 colorectal cancer in vitro and in vivo.

Carrier-mediated drug delivery systems are promising therapeutics for targeted delivery and improved efficacy and safety of potent cytotoxic drugs. Nimesulide is a multifactorial cyclooxygenase 2 nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug with analgesic, antipyretic and potent anticancer properties; however, the low solubility of nimesulide limits its applications. Drugs conjugated with hyaluronic acid (HA) are innovative carrier-mediated drug delivery systems characterized by CD44-mediated endocytosis of HA and intracellular drug release.

Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer using luciferase-immobilized quantum dots for self-illuminated photodynamic therapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an innovative method for cancer treatment that involves the administration of a photosensitizing agent followed by exposure to visible light. An appreciable amount of a particular light source is a key to activate photosensitizers in PDT. However, the external excitation light source is a problem for clinical application because of the limitation of tissue-penetrating properties.

Effects of acetone on methyl ethyl ketone peroxide runaway reaction.

Runaway reactions by methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKPO) are an important issue in Asia, due to its unstable structure and extensive heat release during upset situations. This study employed differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to draw the experimental data for MEKPO 31 mass% and with acetone 99 mass% on three types of heating rate of 2, 4, and 10 degrees C/min; the kinetic and safety parameters were then evaluated via curve fitting. Through the reproducible tests in each condition, the results show that acetone is not a contaminant, because it could increase the activation energy (Ea) and onset temperature (To) when combined with MEKPO, which differs from the hazard information of the material safety data sheet (MSDS).

Substrate activation of butyrylcholinesterase and substrate inhibition of acetylcholinesterase by 3,3-dimethylbutyl-N-n-butylcarbamate and 2-trimethylsilyl-ethyl-N-n-butylcarbamate.

Carbamates are used to treat Alzheimer's disease. These compounds inhibit acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase. The goal of this work is to use the substrate analogs of butyrylcholinesterase, 3,3-dimethylbutyl-N-n-butylcarbamate (1) and 2-trimethylsilyl-ethyl-N-n-butylcarbamate (2) to probe the substrate activation mechanism of butyrylcholinesterase.

Inhibition or activation of Pseudomonas species lipase by 1,2-ethylene-di-N-alkylcarbamates in detergents.

1,2-Ethylene-di-N-n-propylcarbamate (1) is characterized as an essential activator of Pseudomonas species lipase while 1,2-ethylene-di-N-n-butyl-, t-butyl-, n-heptyl-, and n-octyl-carbamates (2-5) are characterized as the pseudo substrate inhibitors of the enzyme in the presence of the detergent taurocholate or triton X-100. The inhibition and activation reactions are more sensitive in taurocholate than in triton X-100. From CD studies, the enzyme changes conformations in the presence of the detergent and further alters conformations by addition of the carbamate activator or inhibitor into the enzyme-detergent adduct.

Ortho effects in quantitative structure-activity relationships for acetylcholinesterase inhibition by aryl carbamates.

Ortho-substituted phenyl-N-butyl carbamates (1-9) are characterized as "pseudo-pseudo-substrate" inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase. Since the inhibitors protonate at pH 7.0 buffer solution, the virtual inhibition constants (K'is) of the protonated inhibitors are calculated from the equation, - logK'i = - logKi - logKb.

Benzene-di-N-octylcarbamates as conformationally constrained phospholipase A(2) inhibitors.

Conformationally constrained 1,2-, 1,3-, and 1,4-benzene-di-N-octylcarbamates are potent reversible competitive inhibitors of Naja mocambique mocambique phospholipase A(2) with the K(i) values of 11, 4, and 15 microM, respectively. With the angle of 120(o) between two C(benzene)-O bonds, 1,3-benzene-di-N-octylcarbamate mimics the preferable eclipsed C(sn-2)-O/C(sn-3)-O conformer of phospholipid in the enzyme-phospholipid complex. Further, a three-step phospholipase A(2) inhibition mechanism by the inhibitor is proposed.