minutes/hours to completely return to the CF. The residual color imparted by the TT form and the slow thermal back-reaction of the TC form are considered as problems to be solved. [9][10][11][12][13] The thermal backreaction speed of colored naphthopyrans can be modulated by the introduction of an electron-donating group at the para position of the 3-phenyl ring. [4] However, substitution at the 3-phenyl ring typically causes significant changes in the color of the colored species. Although the speed of the thermal back-reaction can be modulated by exploiting steric effects to destabilize the TC form and the long-lived TT form, the synthetic procedures required to yield the desired products are not simple and moderate control of the thermal backreaction speed for photochromic lenses is difficult to achieve. [14][15][16][17][18][19] In order to design appropriate naphthopyran derivatives showing on-demand photochromic properties, the independent control of the thermal back-reaction speed is an important challenge in the development of advanced photochromic materials. Within this context, we herein present a molecular design strategy that can be used to modulate the thermal fading speed without significant changes to other photochromic properties.In this study, we designed novel naphthopyran derivatives possessing alkylenedioxy moieties as a means to control the thermal fading speed of the TC form and reduce the generation of the long-lived TT form. The reactivity and optical properties of the 1,2-alkylenedioxy benzene significantly depend on the ring-size of the alkylenedioxy moiety owing to changes in electron-donating ability and π-conjugation length upon changing the conformation of the ring. [20][21][22] We introduced alkylenedioxy moieties to the 9-and 10-positions of 3H-naphthopyran (3HNP) and investigated the effects of ring size on the photochromic properties of the resultant molecules. Remarkably, the thermal back-reaction speed of the newly designed naphthopyran derivatives was found to be controllable independently of other photochromic properties, such as the color of the colored species, by changing the alkyl chain length of the alkylenedioxy moiety. In addition, intramolecular hydrogen bonding is very important for modulating the conformation and stability of the structural isomers. [23,24] The undesirable residual color attributable to the formation of the TT form upon cessation of light irradiation is effectively reduced owing to the hydrogen bonding between the oxygen atom at the 10-position and the olefinic proton at the 1-position in the TC form, resulting in fast photoswitchable Photofunctional compounds have emerged as critically important materials for both fundamental studies and industrial applications. Control of the thermal decoloration speed to within several seconds while sustaining satisfactory photochromic colorability is an important challenge for the application of such materials to photochromic lenses and smart windows. Photochromic naphthopyran derivatives are utilized for photoch...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most frequent neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease. The main clinical features of PD include tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity and postural instability. The primary pathology of PD is degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, resulting in loss of the nigrostriatal pathway and a reduction of dopamine contents in the striatum. The biochemical and cellular changes that occur following the administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) are remarkably similar to that seen in idiopathic PD. Recent evidence shows that oxidative stress contributes to the cascade leading to dopaminergic cell degeneration in PD. However, oxidative stress is intimately linked to other components of neurodegenerative process, such as nitric oxide stress and inflammation. Recently, there is convincing evidence for the involvement of nitric oxide that reacts with superoxide to produce peroxynitrite and ultimately hydroxyl radical production. In view of these new insights, however, the role of reactive nitrogen species, reactive oxygen species and inflammation against MPTP neurotoxicity is not fully understood. In this review, we discuss the possible role of reactive nitrogen species, reactive oxygen species and inflammation in the dopaminergic neurons against MPTP neurotoxicity.

Dopaminergic neurons are selectively vulnerable to oxidative stress and inflammatory attack. The neuronal cell loss in the substantia nigra is associated with a glial response composed markedly of activated microglia and, to a lesser extent, of reactive astrocytes although these glial responses may be the source of neurotrophic factors and can protect against oxidative stress such as reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species. However, the glial response can also mediate a variety of deleterious events related to the production of pro-inflammatory, pro-oxidant reactive species, prostaglandins, cytokines, and so on. In this review, we discuss the possible protective and deleterious effects of glial cells in the neurodegenerative diseases and examine how these factors may contribute to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. This review suggests that further investigation concerning glial reaction in Parkinson's disease may lead to disease-modifying therapeutic approaches and may contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease.

We investigated the therapeutic effect of zonisamide against 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) neurotoxicity in mice, using Western blot analysis, immunohistochemistry and behavioral test. Our Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical study showed that the post-treatment with zonisamide prevented significantly dopaminergic cell damage, the depletion of tyrosine-hydroxylase (TH) protein levels and the proliferation of microglia in the striatum and/or substantia nigra 8 days after MPTP treatment. Furthermore, our behavioral study showed that the post-treatment with zonisamide attenuated significantly the motor deficits 7 days after MPTP treatment. These results show that zonisamide has the therapeutic effect in the MPTP model of Parkinson's disease (PD) in mice. Our study also demonstrates the neuroprotective effect of zonisamide against dopaminergic cell damage after MPTP treatment in mice. Thus our present findings suggest that therapeutic strategies targeted to the activation of TH protein and/or the inhibition of microglial activation with zonisamide may offer a great potential for restoring the functional capacity of the surviving dopaminergic neurons in individuals affected with PD.

Zonisamide, an anti-convulsant drug, has recently been shown to exert beneficial effects in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, actual pathophysiological mechanism underlying the anti-parkinsonian effect of zonisamide remains uncertain. Here we tested exactly the neuroprotective effect of zonisamide against 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) neurotoxicity in mice. We observed that zonisamide attenuated MPTP-induced dopamine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), and homovanillic acid (HVA) depletion in the striatum and reduced the loss of tyrosine hidroxylase (TH) positive neurons and the increase of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) positive astrocytes in the striatum and substantia nigra after 5 days. Our Western blot analysis study also showed that zonisamide can prevent the decrease of TH protein levels and increase of GFAP protein levels in the striatum 5 days after MPTP treatment. In the present study, on the other hand, zonisaimde treatment showed no significant changes of the striatal dopamine, DOPAC, and HVA content in the striatum of normal mice after 1 day, as compared to the vehicle-treated group. Furthermore, zonisamide produced a significant increase of the TH protein levels in the striatum after 1 day, as compared to vehicle-treated group. In contrast, zonisamide showed no significant changes of the GFAP protein levels in the striatum after 1 day, as compared to vehicle-treated group. These results show that anticonvulsant drug, zonisamide, has the neuroprotective effect in the MPTP model of PD in mice. Our study also demonstrates that the neuroprotective effect of zonisamide against dopaminergic cell damage may be mediated by the elevation of TH activity on dopaminergic system after MPTP treatment in mice. Our findings suggest that zonisamide may offer a new approach for the treatment of PD.