The aim of this study was to develop a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer based on the dual P-glycoprotein (P-gp) breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) inhibitor tariquidar (1) to study the interaction of 1 with P-gp and BCRP in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in vivo. Odesmethyl-1 was synthesized and reacted with [ 11 C]methyl triflate to afford [ 11 C]-1. Small-animal PET imaging of [ 11 C]-1 was performed in naïve rats, before and after administration of unlabeled 1 (15 mg/kg, n=3) or the dual P-gp/BCRP inhibitor elacridar (5 mg/kg, n=2), as well as in wildtype, Mdr1a/b (−/−) , Bcrp1 (−/−) and Mdr1a/b (−/−) Bcrp1 (−/−) mice (n=3). In vitro autoradiography was performed with [ 11 C]-1 using brain sections of all 4 mouse types, with and without coincubation with unlabeled 1 or elacridar (1 μM). In PET experiments in rats, administration of unlabeled 1 or elacridar increased brain activity uptake by a factor of 3-4, whereas blood activity levels remained unchanged. In Mdr1a/b (−/−) , Bcrp1 (−/−) and Mdr1a/b (−/−) Bcrp1 (−/−) mice, brain-toblood ratios of activity at 25 min after tracer injection were 3.4, 1.8 and 14.5 times higher, respectively, as compared to wild-type animals. Autoradiography showed approximately 50% less [ 11 C]-1 binding in transporter knockout mice compared to wild-type mice and significant displacement by unlabeled elacridar in wild-type and Mdr1a/b (−/−) mouse brains. Our data suggest that [ 11 C]-1 interacts specifically with P-gp and BCRP in the BBB. However, further investigations are needed to assess if [ 11 C]-1 behaves in vivo as a transported or a non-transported inhibitor.

Heterotrophic organisms rely on the ingestion of organic molecules or nutrients from the environment to sustain energy and biomass production. Non-motile, unicellular organisms have a limited ability to store nutrients or to take evasive action, and are therefore most directly dependent on the availability of nutrients in their immediate surrounding. Such organisms have evolved numerous developmental options in order to adapt to and to survive the permanently changing nutritional status of the environment. The phenotypical, physiological and molecular nature of nutrient-induced cellular adaptations has been most extensively studied in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These studies have revealed a network of sensing mechanisms and of signalling pathways that generate and transmit the information on the nutritional status of the environment to the cellular machinery that implements specific developmental programmes. This review integrates our current knowledge on nutrient sensing and signalling in S. cerevisiae, and suggests how an integrated signalling network may lead to the establishment of a specific developmental programme, namely pseudohyphal differentiation and invasive growth.

F TIR spectroscopy is a nondestructive technique that provides structural information on molecular features of a large range of compounds. Its main advantages are speed, a high degree of automation, medium resolution, and cost-effectiveness. Recent improvements in instrumentation together with advances in fiber optics and chemometrics have provided an analytical tool that is suitable for routine qualitative analysis and process control in many industries.Although FTIR spectroscopy is widely applied in the food industry, acceptance of this technology in the grape and wine industry has been relatively slow and mainly

Similar to Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is characterized by a profound degeneration of cortically-projecting cholinergic neurons of the basal forebrain (BF) and associated depletion of cortical cholinergic activity. We aimed to investigate subregional atrophy of the BF in DLB in vivo and compare it to the pattern of BF atrophy in AD. Structural MRI scans of 11 patients with DLB, 11 patients with Alzheimer's disease, and 22 healthy controls were analysed using a recently developed technique for automated BF morphometry based on high-dimensional image warping and cytoarchitectonic maps of BF cholinergic nuclei. For comparison, hippocampus volume was assessed within the same morphometric framework using recently published consensus criteria for the definition of hippocampus outlines on MRI. The DLB group demonstrated pronounced and subregion-specific atrophy of the BF which was comparable to BF atrophy in AD: volume of the nucleus basalis Meynert was significantly reduced by 20-25%, whereas rostral BF nuclei were only marginally affected. By contrast, hippocampus volume was markedly less affected in DLB compared to AD. Global cognition as determined by MMSE score was associated with BF volume in AD, but not in DLB, whereas visuoperceptual function as determined by the trail making test was associated with BF volume in DLB, but not in AD. DLB may be characterized by a more selective degeneration of the cholinergic BF compared to AD, which may be related to the differential cognitive profiles in both conditions.

The current study evaluated the diversity of yeast species in Cabernet Sauvignon grape must derived from three neighbouring vineyards from a similar terroir but on which significantly different management practices are employed. The fermentation kinetics and yeast population dynamics were monitored from the beginning to the end of spontaneous fermentation. The grape musts were characterised by distinct yeast populations comprising oxidative, weakly fermentative and strongly fermentative yeasts. Different combinations of dominant non-Saccharomyces yeasts were observed in each must, with significantly different assortments of dominant species, including Starmerella bacillaris (synonym Candida zemplinina), Lachancea thermotolerans, Hanseniaspora uvarum, Candida parapsilosis and Wickerhamomyces anomalus. None of these yeast consortia appeared to affect the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae or inhibit the overall progress of fermentation. However, the percentage of fermentative yeasts was positively correlated with the fermentation rate. Glucose and fructose consumption rates suggested active participation of both glucophilic and fructophilic yeasts from the onset of fermentation. The data highlight two parameters, viz. initial cell concentration and yeast community composition, as important fermentation drivers and open the possibility to predict fermentation behaviour based on the initial composition of the yeast community.

The adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette transporter P-glycoprotein (ABCB1/Abcb1a) restricts at the blood–brain barrier (BBB) brain distribution of many drugs. ABCB1 may be involved in drug–drug interactions (DDIs) at the BBB, which may lead to changes in brain distribution and central nervous system side effects of drugs. Positron emission tomography (PET) with the ABCB1 substrates (R)-[11C]verapamil and [11C]-N-desmethyl-loperamide and the ABCB1 inhibitor tariquidar has allowed direct comparison of ABCB1-mediated DDIs at the rodent and human BBB. In this work we evaluated different factors which could influence the magnitude of the interaction between tariquidar and (R)-[11C]verapamil or [11C]-N-desmethyl-loperamide at the BBB and thereby contribute to previously observed species differences between rodents and humans. We performed in vitro transport experiments with [3H]verapamil and [3H]-N-desmethyl-loperamide in ABCB1 and Abcb1a overexpressing cell lines. Moreover we conducted in vivo PET experiments and biodistribution studies with (R)-[11C]verapamil and [11C]-N-desmethyl-loperamide in wild-type mice without and with tariquidar pretreatment and in homozygous Abcb1a/1b(−/−) and heterozygous Abcb1a/1b(+/−) mice. We found no differences for in vitro transport of [3H]verapamil and [3H]-N-desmethyl-loperamide by ABCB1 and Abcb1a and its inhibition by tariquidar. [3H]-N-Desmethyl-loperamide was transported with a 5 to 9 times higher transport ratio than [3H]verapamil in ABCB1- and Abcb1a-transfected cells. In vivo, brain radioactivity concentrations were lower for [11C]-N-desmethyl-loperamide than for (R)-[11C]verapamil. Both radiotracers showed tariquidar dose dependent increases in brain distribution with tariquidar half-maximum inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of 1052 nM (95% confidence interval CI: 930–1189) for (R)-[11C]verapamil and 1329 nM (95% CI: 980–1801) for [11C]-N-desmethyl-loperamide. In homozygous Abcb1a/1b(−/−) mice brain radioactivity distribution was increased by 3.9- and 2.8-fold and in heterozygous Abcb1a/1b(+/−) mice by 1.5- and 1.1-fold, for (R)-[11C]verapamil and [11C]-N-desmethyl-loperamide, respectively, as compared with wild-type mice. For both radiotracers radiolabeled metabolites were detected in plasma and brain. When brain and plasma radioactivity concentrations were corrected for radiolabeled metabolites, brain distribution of (R)-[11C]verapamil and [11C]-N-desmethyl-loperamide was increased in tariquidar (15 mg/kg) treated animals by 14.1- and 18.3-fold, respectively, as compared with vehicle group. Isoflurane anesthesia altered [11C]-N-desmethyl-loperamide but not (R)-[11C]verapamil metabolism, and this had a direct effect on the magnitude of the increase in brain distribution following ABCB1 inhibition. Our data furthermore suggest that in the absence of ABCB1 function brain distribution of [11C]-N-desmethyl-loperamide but not (R)-[11C]verapamil may depend on cerebral blood flow. In conclusion, we have identified a number of important factors, i.e., substrate affinity to ABCB1...

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The 5′ upstream regions of the Saccharomyces cerevisiaeglucoamylase-encoding genes STA1 to -3 and of the MUC1 (or FLO11) gene, which is critical for pseudohyphal development, invasive growth, and flocculation, are almost identical, and the genes are coregulated to a large extent. Besides representing the largest yeast promoters identified to date, these regions are of particular interest from both a functional and an evolutionary point of view. Transcription of the genes indeed seems to be dependent on numerous transcription factors which integrate the information of a complex network of signaling pathways, while the very limited sequence differences between them should allow the study of promoter evolution on a molecular level. To investigate the transcriptional regulation, we compared the transcription levels conferred by the STA2 and MUC1 promoters under various growth conditions. Our data show that transcription of both genes responded similarly to most environmental signals but also indicated significant divergence in some aspects. We identified distinct areas within the promoters that show specific responses to the activating effect of Flo8p, Msn1p (or Mss10p, Fup1p, or Phd2p), and Mss11p as well as to carbon catabolite repression. We also identified the STA10 repressive effect as the absence of Flo8p, a transcriptional activator of flocculation genes in S. cerevisiae.