Ricerc@Sapienza

Nitric oxide (NO) is a well-known active site ligand and inhibitor of respiratory terminal oxidases. Here, we investigated the interaction of NO with a purified chimeric bcc-aa3 supercomplex composed of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cytochrome bcc and Mycobacterium smegmatis aa3-type terminal oxidase. Strikingly, we found that the enzyme in turnover with O2 and reductants is resistant to inhibition by the ligand, being able to metabolize NO at 25◦C with an apparent turnover number as high as ≈303 mol NO (mol enzyme)−1 min−1 at 30 µM NO.

We describe the design and in–flight performance of the cryostat and the self–contained 3He refrigerator for the OLIMPO balloon–borne experiment, a spectrophotometer to measure the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect in clusters of galaxies. The 3He refrigerator provides the 0.3 K operation temperature for the four arrays of kinetic inductance detectors working in 4 bands centered at 150, 250, 350 and 460 GHz. The cryostat provides the 1.65 K base temperature for the 3He refrigerator, and cools down the reimaging optics and the filters chain at about 2 K.

This review deals with the notable results obtained by the synergy between ionic liquids (ILs) and WO3 in the field of pollutant gas sensing and sulfur removal pretreatment of fuels. Starting from the known characteristics of tungsten trioxide as catalytic material, many authors have proposed the use of ionic liquids in order to both direct WO3 production towards controllable nanostructures (nanorods, nanospheres, etc.) and to modify the metal oxide structure (incorporating ILs) in order to increase the gas adsorption ability and, thus, the catalytic efficiency.

Lo scritto muove dalla considerazione di alcuni casi – quelli di Alfie Evans, di Charlie Gard, di Isaiah Haastrup e di Fabiano Antoniani (c.d. DJ Fabo) - tutti concernenti problematiche di fine vita, per riflettere sulle relative decisioni giurisprudenziali alla luce dei principi costituzionali.

The dorsal striatum coordinates input-output processing of numerous functions including those related to motor activity, motivation, and learning. Considerable anatomical and biochemical heterogeneity across striatal subregions has long been known to result in distinct functional outcomes, and for imbalances in these pathways to contribute to many complex disorders.

The cholinergic pathways in the central nervous system (CNS) of animals and humans are important for cognitive and behavioural functions. Until a few years ago, it was thought that the key molecules transducing the cholinergic message were the metabotropic muscarinic receptors, but it is now known that ionotropic neuronal nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) are also involved. Based on recent studies, we prepared a small library of novel 3-substituted-3,6-diazabicyclo [3.1.1]heptanes, whose binding activity and functionality have been assayed.

We designed the synthesis of a small library of 3-substituted-3,6-diazabicyclo[3.1.1]heptanes whose affinity on neuronal nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) was evaluated. Among the synthesized compounds, the 5-(3,6-diazabicyclo[3.1.1]heptane-3-yl)-N-(2-fluorophenyl)nicotinamide 43 proved to be the most interesting compound with alpha(4)beta(2) Ki value of 10 pM and a very high alpha(7)/alpha(4)beta(2) selectivity.

Plasma membrane lipids play essential roles in regulating T cell signaling, differentiation, and
effector functions. The major lipid species in the plasma membrane are glycerophospholipids,
sphingolipids, and sterol lipids. TCR and costimulatory molecules lead to profound changes in
the composition, distribution, and dynamic of plasma membrane lipids. For instance, cholesterol,
sphingomyelin, and saturated phosphocholine are enriched at the contact zone between T cells

The thiadiazole scaffold is an important core moiety in a variety of clinical drug candidates targeting a range of diseases. For example, the 2,4,5-substituted 1,3,4-thiadiazole scaffold is present in a lead compound and at least two clinical candidates targeting the human motor protein Eg5, against neoplastic diseases.