Potatoes, tomatoes, and aubergines are all species of the Solanum genus and contain a vast array of secondary metabolites including calystegine alkaloids, phenolic compounds, lectins, and glycoalkaloids. Glycoalkaloids have been the subject of many literature papers, occur widely in the human diet, and are known to induce toxicity. Therefore, from a food safety perspective further information is required regarding their analysis, toxicity, and bioavailability. This is especially important in crop cultivars derived from wild species to prevent glycoalkaloid-induced toxicity. A comprehensive review of the bioactivity of glycoalkaloids and their aglycones of the Solanum species, particularly focused on comparison of their bioactivities including their anticancer, anticholesterol, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and antipyretic effects, toxicity, and synergism of action of the principal Solanum glycoalkaloids, correlated to differences of their individual molecular structures is presented.

The ability to track microbes in real time in vivo is of enormous value for preclinical investigations in infectious disease or gene therapy research. Bacteria present an attractive class of vector for cancer therapy, possessing a natural ability to grow preferentially within tumours following systemic administration. Bioluminescent Imaging (BLI) represents a powerful tool for use with bacteria engineered to express reporter genes such as lux. BLI is traditionally used as a 2D modality resulting in images that are limited in their ability to anatomically locate cell populations. Use of 3D diffuse optical tomography can localize the signals but still need to be combined with an anatomical imaging modality like micro-Computed Tomography (μCT) for interpretation.In this study, the non-pathogenic commensal bacteria E.coli K-12 MG1655 and Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003, or Salmonella Typhimurium SL7207 each expressing the luxABCDE operon were intravenously (IV) administered to mice bearing subcutaneous (s.c) FLuc-expressing xenograft tumours. Bacterial lux signal was detected specifically in tumours of mice post IV-administration and bioluminescence correlated with the numbers of bacteria recovered from tissue. Through whole body imaging for both lux and FLuc, bacteria and tumour cells were co-localised. 3D BLI and μCT image analysis revealed a pattern of multiple clusters of bacteria within tumours. Investigation of spatial resolution of 3D optical imaging was supported by ex vivo histological analyses. In vivo imaging of orally-administered commensal bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) was also achieved using 3D BLI. This study demonstrates for the first time the potential to simultaneously image multiple BLI reporter genes three dimensionally in vivo using approaches that provide unique information on spatial locations.

Type of publicationArticle ( 1 This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Deadman, B. J., Benjamin J. Deadman, [a] Stuart G. Collins [a] and Anita R. Maguire* [b] 2 This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Deadman, B. J., , Taming Hazardous Chemistry in Flow: The Continuous Processing of Diazo and Diazonium Compounds. Chem. Eur. J. which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/chem.201404348 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201404348 IntroductionDiazo and diazonium compounds are extremely versatile intermediates and reagents in organic synthesis. Diazoalkanes are important alkylating reagents, [1,2] while α-diazocarbonyls are important for their role in generating carbenes and metal carbenoids, [1,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] and also for providing access to reactive ketene and heteroanalogous intermediates via the Wolff rearrangement. [21][22][23][24][25][26] Diazo compounds are also important 1,3-dipoles for heterocycle-forming cycloaddition reactions. [27][28][29][30][31][32] The diazonium ion moiety is an important leaving group in Sandmeyer, [33][34][35] Meerwein, [36,37] Balz-Schiemann [38,39] and palladium catalysed cross coupling [40][41][42] chemistry; and is an essential reagent for the preparation of azo compounds, the backbone of the synthetic dye industry. [42,43] The versatility of the diazo and diazonium moieties is matched only by their fearsome reputation. Diazoalkanes are highly toxic due to their potent alkylation of DNA. [44] Furthermore, diazo and diazonium compounds are highly energetic by nature and explosions can be triggered by shock, heat or exposure to concentrated acids. [44,45] α-Diazocarbonyls are considerably more stable than diazoalkanes and diazoniums due to the resonance stabilisation of adjacent carbonyls but detonation is still possible under more forcing conditions. [44,46] These safety concerns necessitate caution when using diazo and diazonium intermediates in the laboratory, and have limited their use on scale in industry. The synthetic utility of these hazardous compounds has led to a recent interest in developing safer alternative methods for their preparation and use. [1,44] Continuous processing is rapidly growing in the academic, pharmaceutical and fine chemical sectors due to its favourable safety profile among other benefits such as efficient mixing, enhanced heat and mass transfer, access to extreme reaction conditions, reproducibility and scale up, in-line workups and automated operation. [47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] The safety profile offered by continuous processing is perhaps the most compelling reason for its popularity in recent years. Sensitive and toxic reaction intermediates can be generated and consumed during a single flow process without the need for stockpiling hazardous quantities of material. Furthermore, the high surface area-tovolume ratio of tubular flow reactors also ensures rapid dissipation of heat and reduces the risk of reaction runaway.Continuou...