Search

Ovarian cancer is among the most prevalent causes of mortality among women. Despite improvements in diagnostic methods, non-specific symptoms and delayed gynecological exams can lead to late-stage ovarian tumor discovery. In this study, the effect of an anti-cancer compound, 3-amino-N-(3-chloro-2-methylphenyl)-5-oxo-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrothieno[2,3-b]quinoline-2-carboxamide (Compound 1), was examined. The impacts of cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and metabolomic changes in ovarian cancer cell lines SK-OV-3 and OVCAR-3, as well as glycosphingolipid (GSL) expression, on cancer stem cells (CSCs), marked as CD49f+, and non-CSCs (CD49f−) were explored. Treatment with Compound 1 reduced the percentage of CSCs compared to non-treated cells (p < 0.001). The functional impact of eight GSLs on CSCs and non-CSCs was examined using flow cytometry. The glycophenotype changed in both cell lines, with increases or decreases in its expression, after the treatment. These findings raise the possibility of specifically targeting CSCs in ovarian cancer therapy. Additionally, treatment with Compound 1 resulted in statistically meaningful increased apoptosis, including both early and late apoptosis (p < 0.001), suggesting a pivotal role in initiating programmed cell death by the apoptotic pathway. The analysis revealed that the metabolic activity of treated cancer cells was lower compared to those of the control group (p < 0.001).

New thieno[2,3-b]pyridine clubbed various thiazole ring systems were synthesized by the reaction of 2-(1-(3-amino-4,6-dimethylthieno[2,3-b]pyridin-2-yl)ethylidene)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide with chloroacetone, phenacyl chloride, and chloroacetic acid. The molecular modeling of the synthesized compounds using DFT/B3LYP methodology revealed that all have a low HOMO and LUMO energies, −4.85 - −5.52 and −2.79 - −3.62, respectively, where the compound 10 has the highest values. The targeting thienopyridine analogues with various thiazole moieties 3–10 was assessed in order to create new antimicrobial agents and compared with ampicillin, gentamicin and miconazole as reference antibacterial and antifungal drugs. Compounds 8–10 exhibited potent antimicrobial activity against Gram positive S. aureus, Gram Gram negative E. coli bacteria, and C. albicans (antifungal), with IC50 (18.9 ± 0.63––24.3 ± 0.74 µg/mL), (14.2 ± 0.41––19.5 ± 0.64 µg/mL), and (19.2 ± 0.58–––23.4 ± 0.65 µg/mL), respectively. Furthermore, Molecular docking stimulation on MOE program was applied to expect the effect and interactions of the newly thienopyridine analogues and E. coli DNA gyrase B as it expressed by PDB ID: 1AJ6.

Using sonication and mediated by piperazine, new arene-linked bis(thieno[2,3-b]pyridine) hybrids were efficiently prepared in this study. The target hybrids were prepared by reacting bis(α-haloketone) with two equivalents of the appropriate pyridine-2(1H)-thiones in the presence of 1.4 equivalents of piperazine. The reaction mixture was subjected to sonication at 60 °C for 30–40 min to produce the desired products in 88%–95% yields. When tested against six different ATCC bacterial strains, the new products demonstrated a wide range of antibacterial activity. The 4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-linked hybrids 1i and 1j, attached to 6-(4-methoxyphenyl) and 6-(p-tolyl) units, respectively, had the best efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Both hybrids showed more effective potency than the reference ciprofloxacin with MIC and MBC values in the ranges from 2.0 to 2.1, and 4.1 to 4.2 µM, respectively. Additionally, hybrids 1i and 1j demonstrated stronger efficacy than linezolid with MIC values ranging from 2.0 to 4.2 µM, and MBC values ranging from 8.2 to 8.5 µM, respectively, against the MRSA ATCC:33 591 and ATCC:43 300 strains. Furthermore, hybrids 1i and 1j showed inhibitory antibacterial biofilm activity comparable to the standard ciprofloxacin. They had IC50 values ranging from 3.8 to 4.6 µM against S. aureus, E. faecalis, E. coli, and P. aeruginosa strains. The cytotoxicity of hybrids 1i and 1j against the human breast epithelial cell line MCF-10A lends credence to both hybrids' potential as safe antibacterial agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new series of substituted ethyl 7-cyclopropyl-2-(2-aryloxo)-3-nitro-4-oxo-4,7-dihydrothieno[2,3-b]pyridine-5-carboxylates 3a–e were prepared by utilizing ethyl 2-chloro-7-cyclopropyl-3-nitro-4-oxo-4,7-dihydrothieno[2,3-b]pyridine-5-carboxylate (1) and replacing of the 2-chlorine with anions obtained from phenol (2a), salicylaldehyde derivatives 2b–d or thiophenol (2e), leading to the respective ethyl 7-cyclopropyl-2-(2-aryloxo)-3-nitro-4-oxo-4,7-dihydrothieno[2,3-b]pyridine-5-carboxylates 3a–e. The new compounds were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity towards sensitive CCRF-CEM and multidrug-resistant CEM/ADR5000 leukemia cells. The screening revealed that compounds 3a, 3b, and 3e inhibited the growth of both cell lines. Compound 3b, with a phenol moiety, exhibited the highest growth inhibitory activity against CEM/ADR5000 and CCRF-CEM cells with IC50 values 4.486 ± 0.286 and 2.580 ± 0.550 µM, respectively. Collectively, the presented results demonstrate that the synthesized thieno[2,3-b]pyridines warrant further exploration for potential use as anti-cancer agents.

Ovarian cancer is among the most prevalent causes of mortality among women. Despite improvements in diagnostic methods, non-specific symptoms and delayed gynecological exams can lead to late-stage ovarian tumor discovery. In this study, the effect of an anti-cancer compound, 3-amino- N -(3-chloro-2-methylphenyl)-5-oxo-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrothieno[2,3- b ]quinoline-2-carboxamide (Compound 1 ), was examined. The impacts of cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and metabolomic changes in ovarian cancer cell lines SK-OV-3 and OVCAR-3, as well as glycosphingolipid (GSL) expression, on cancer stem cells (CSCs), marked as CD49f + , and non-CSCs (CD49f - ) were explored. Treatment with Compound 1 reduced the percentage of CSCs compared to non-treated cells ( p < 0.001). The functional impact of eight GSLs on CSCs and non-CSCs was examined using flow cytometry. The glycophenotype changed in both cell lines, with increases or decreases in its expression, after the treatment. These findings raise the possibility of specifically targeting CSCs in ovarian cancer therapy. Additionally, treatment with Compound 1 resulted in statistically meaningful increased apoptosis, including both early and late apoptosis ( p < 0.001), suggesting a pivotal role in initiating programmed cell death by the apoptotic pathway. The analysis revealed that the metabolic activity of treated cancer cells was lower compared to those of the control group ( p < 0.001).

A new series of substituted ethyl 7-cyclopropyl-2-(2-aryloxo)-3-nitro-4-oxo-4,7-dihydrothieno[2,3-b]pyridine-5-carboxylates 3a–e were prepared by utilizing ethyl 2-chloro-7-cyclopropyl-3-nitro-4-oxo-4,7-dihydrothieno[2,3-b]pyridine-5-carboxylate (1) and replacing of the 2-chlorine with anions obtained from phenol (2a), salicylaldehyde derivatives 2b–d or thiophenol (2e), leading to the respective ethyl 7-cyclopropyl-2-(2-aryloxo)-3-nitro-4-oxo-4,7-dihydrothieno[2,3-b]pyridine-5-carboxylates 3a–e. The new compounds were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity towards sensitive CCRF-CEM and multidrug-resistant CEM/ADR5000 leukemia cells. The screening revealed that compounds 3a, 3b, and 3e inhibited the growth of both cell lines. Compound 3b, with a phenol moiety, exhibited the highest growth inhibitory activity against CEM/ADR5000 and CCRF-CEM cells with IC50 values 4.486 ± 0.286 and 2.580 ± 0.550 µM, respectively. Collectively, the presented results demonstrate that the synthesized thieno[2,3-b]pyridines warrant further exploration for potential use as anti-cancer agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Heterocyclic compounds and their fused analogs, which contain pharmacophore fragments such as pyridine, thiophene and pyrimidine rings, are of great interest due to their broad spectrum of biological activity. Chemical compounds containing two or more pharmacophore groups due to additional interactions with active receptor centers usually enhance biological activity and can even lead to a new type of activity. The search for new effective neurotropic drugs in the series of derivatives of heterocycles containing pharmacophore groups in organic, bioorganic and medical chemistry is a serious problem. Methods: Modern methodology of drugs involves synthesis, physicochemical study, molecular modeling and selection of active compounds through virtual screening and experimental evaluation of the biological activity of new chimeric compounds with pharmacophore fragments. For the synthesis of new compounds, classical organic methods were used and developed. For the evaluation of neurotropic activity of new synthesized compounds, some biological methods were used according to indicators characterizing anticonvulsant, sedative and antianxiety activity as well as side effects. For docking analysis, various soft ware packages and methods were used. Results: As a result of multistep reactions, 11 new, tri- and tetracyclic heterocyclic systems were obtained. The studied compounds exhibit protection against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) seizures as well as some psychotropic effects. The biological assays evidenced that nine of the eleven studied compounds showed a high anticonvulsant activity by antagonism with pentylenetetrazole. The toxicity of the compounds is low, and they do not induce muscle relaxation in the studied doses. According to the study of psychotropic activity, it was found that the selected compounds have an activating behavior and anxiolytic effects on the “open field” and “elevated plus maze” (EPM) models. The data obtained indicate the anxiolytic (antianxiety) activity of the derivatives of tricyclic thieno[2,3-b]pyridines and tetracyclic pyridothieno[3,2-d]pyrimidin-8-ones, especially pronounced in compounds 3b–f and 4e. The studied compounds increase the latent time of first immobilization on the “forced swimming” (FS) model and exhibit antidepressant effects; compounds 3e and 3f especially exhibit these effects, similarly to diazepam. Docking studies revealed that compounds 3c and 4b bound tightly in the active site of γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors with a value of the scoring function that estimates free energy of binding (∆G) at −10.0 ± 5 kcal/mol. Compound 4e showed the best affinity ((∆G) at −11.0 ± 0.54 kcal/mol) and seems to be an inhibitor of serotonin (SERT) transporter. Compounds 3c–f and 4e practically bound with the groove of T4L of 5HT_1A and blocked it completely, while the best affinity observed was in compound 3f ((∆G) at −9.3 ± 0.46 kcal/mol). Conclusions: The selected compounds have an anticonvulsant, activating behavior and anxiolytic effects and at the same time exhibit antidepressant effects.

The growing risk of antimicrobial resistance besides the continuous increase in the number of cancer patients represents a great threat to global health, which requires intensified efforts to discover new bioactive compounds to use as antimicrobial and anticancer agents. Thus, a new set of pyridothienopyrimidine derivatives 2a,b–9a,b was synthesized via cyclization reactions of 3-amino-thieno[2,3-b]pyridine-2-carboxamides 1a,b with different reagents. All new compounds were evaluated against five bacterial and five fungal strains. Many of the target compounds showed significant antimicrobial activity. In addition, the new derivatives were further subjected to cytotoxicity evaluation against HepG-2 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines. The most potent cytotoxic candidates (3a, 4a, 5a, 6b, 8b and 9b) were examined as EGFR kinase inhibitors. Molecular docking study was also performed to explore the binding modes of these derivatives at the active site of EGFR-PK. Compounds 3a, 5a and 9b displayed broad spectrum antimicrobial activity with MIC ranges of 4–16 µg/mL and potent cytotoxic activity with IC50 ranges of 1.17–2.79 µM. In addition, they provided suppressing activity against EGFR with IC50 ranges of 7.27–17.29 nM, higher than that of erlotinib, IC50 = 27.01 nM.

In this research, we exploited derivatives of thieno[2,3-b]pyridine as dual inhibitors of the key enzymes in eicosanoid biosynthesis, cyclooxygenase (COX, subtypes 1 and 2) and 5-lipoxygensase (5-LOX). Testing these compounds in a rat paw oedema model revealed potency higher than ibuprofen. The most active compounds 7a, 7b, 8b, and 8c were screened against COX-1/2 and 5-LOX enzymes. Compound 7a was the most powerful inhibitor of 5-LOX with IC50 = 0.15 µM, while its p-chloro analogue 7b was more active against COX-2 (IC50 = 7.5 µM). The less desirable target COX-1 was inhibited more potently by 8c with IC50 = 7.7 µM. Surflex docking programme predicted that the more stable anti- conformer of compound (7a) formed a favourable complex with the active site of 5-LOX but not COX-1. This is in contrast to the binding mode of 8c, which resembles the syn-conformer of series 7 and binds favourably to COX-1.

The adhesion of cancer cells to vascular endothelium is a critical process in hematogenous metastasis and might be similar to the recruitment of leukocytes at the site of inflammation. It is mediated by E-selectin and its ligands, of which the most stereospecific is a glycoconjugate sialyl Lewis x (CD15s), which may be expressed as an oligosaccharide branch of the CD44 glycoprotein, as well as a self-contained glycosphingolipid. It is also known that increased sialylation of glycoconjugates is a feature of malignant cells. The aim of the study was to analyse the effect of a novel thieno[2,3-b]pyridine, compound 1, in MDA-MB-231 triple-negative breast cancer cells (TNBCs) upon CD15s and CD44 expression in different cell subpopulations using flow cytometry. CD15s expression was compared between mesenchymal-like cancer stem cells (CSC, CD44+CD24−), epithelial cells without CD44 (CD44−CD24+ and CD44−CD24−), and CD44+CD24+ cells that exhibit mesenchymal and epithelial features. In addition, expression of CD44 in CD15s+CSC and CD15s−CSC was determined. Compound 1 significantly decreased the percentage of CD15s+CSC, CD15s+CD44+CD24+, and CD15s+CD44− subpopulations, as well as the expression of CD15s in CD44+CD24+ and CD44− cells, and therefore shows potential as a treatment for TNBC.

New thieno[2,3- b ]pyridine clubbed various thiazole ring systems were synthesized by the reaction of 2-(1-(3-amino-4,6-dimethylthieno[2,3- b ]pyridin-2-yl)ethylidene)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide with chloroacetone, phenacyl chloride, and chloroacetic acid. The molecular modeling of the synthesized compounds using DFT/B3LYP methodology revealed that all have a low HOMO and LUMO energies, −4.85 - −5.52 and −2.79 - −3.62, respectively, where the compound 10 has the highest values. The targeting thienopyridine analogues with various thiazole moieties 3–10 was assessed in order to create new antimicrobial agents and compared with ampicillin, gentamicin and miconazole as reference antibacterial and antifungal drugs. Compounds 8 – 10 exhibited potent antimicrobial activity against Gram positive S. aureus , Gram Gram negative E. coli bacteria , and C. albicans (antifungal), with IC 50 (18.9 ± 0.63––24.3 ± 0.74 µg/mL), (14.2 ± 0.41––19.5 ± 0.64 µg/mL), and (19.2 ± 0.58–––23.4 ± 0.65 µg/mL), respectively. Furthermore, Molecular docking stimulation on MOE program was applied to expect the effect and interactions of the newly thienopyridine analogues and E. coli DNA gyrase B as it expressed by PDB ID: 1AJ6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria causes hundreds of thousands of deaths every year, making it one of the most dangerous infectious diseases worldwide. Because the pathogens have developed resistance against most of the established anti-malarial drugs, new antiplasmodial agents are urgently needed. In analogy to similar antiplasmodial ketones, 4-arylthieno[2,3-b]pyridine-2-carboxamides were synthesized by Thorpe-Ziegler reactions. In contrast to the related ketones, these carboxamides are only weak inhibitors of the plasmodial enzyme PfGSK-3 but the compounds nevertheless show strong antiparasitic activity. The most potent representatives inhibit the pathogens with IC50 values in the two-digit nanomolar range and exhibit high selectivity indices (>100).

In the title molecule, C22H22N2O4S, the bicyclic core is slightly folded [1.9 (1)°], while pairwise intermolecular N—H...O hydrogen bonding forms dimers across centers of symmetry. The dihedral angle between the phenyl ring an the six-membered ring of the bicyclic core is 75.50 (4)°. The molecular conformation is stabilized by an intramolecular N—H...O hydrogen bond with graph-set motif S(6) and by a weak C—H...O contact, forming an S(7) motif. In the crystal, π–π interactions [centroid-to-centroid distance = 3.7484 (10) Å] between phenyl rings and two weak C—H...π interactions are also observed.

Background: Heterocyclic compounds and their fused analogs, which contain pharmacophore fragments such as pyridine, thiophene and pyrimidine rings, are of great interest due to their broad spectrum of biological activity. Chemical compounds containing two or more pharmacophore groups due to additional interactions with active receptor centers usually enhance biological activity and can even lead to a new type of activity. The search for new effective neurotropic drugs in the series of derivatives of heterocycles containing pharmacophore groups in organic, bioorganic and medical chemistry is a serious problem., Methods: Modern methodology of drugs involves synthesis, physicochemical study, molecular modeling and selection of active compounds through virtual screening and experimental evaluation of the biological activity of new chimeric compounds with pharmacophore fragments. For the synthesis of new compounds, classical organic methods were used and developed. For the evaluation of neurotropic activity of new synthesized compounds, some biological methods were used according to indicators characterizing anticonvulsant, sedative and antianxiety activity as well as side effects. For docking analysis, various soft ware packages and methods were used., Results: As a result of multistep reactions, 11 new, tri- and tetracyclic heterocyclic systems were obtained. The studied compounds exhibit protection against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) seizures as well as some psychotropic effects. The biological assays evidenced that nine of the eleven studied compounds showed a high anticonvulsant activity by antagonism with pentylenetetrazole. The toxicity of the compounds is low, and they do not induce muscle relaxation in the studied doses. According to the study of psychotropic activity, it was found that the selected compounds have an activating behavior and anxiolytic effects on the "open field" and "elevated plus maze" (EPM) models. The data obtained indicate the anxiolytic (antianxiety) activity of the derivatives of tricyclic thieno[2,3- b ]pyridines and tetracyclic pyridothieno[3,2- d ]pyrimidin-8-ones, especially pronounced in compounds 3b - f and 4e . The studied compounds increase the latent time of first immobilization on the "forced swimming" (FS) model and exhibit antidepressant effects; compounds 3e and 3f especially exhibit these effects, similarly to diazepam. Docking studies revealed that compounds 3c and 4b bound tightly in the active site of γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA A ) receptors with a value of the scoring function that estimates free energy of binding (∆G) at -10.0 ± 5 kcal/mol. Compound 4e showed the best affinity ((∆G) at -11.0 ± 0.54 kcal/mol) and seems to be an inhibitor of serotonin (SERT) transporter. Compounds 3c - f and 4e practically bound with the groove of T4L of 5HT&#95;1A and blocked it completely, while the best affinity observed was in compound 3f ((∆G) at -9.3 ± 0.46 kcal/mol)., Conclusions: The selected compounds have an anticonvulsant, activating behavior and anxiolytic effects and at the same time exhibit antidepressant effects.

The growing risk of antimicrobial resistance besides the continuous increase in the number of cancer patients represents a great threat to global health, which requires intensified efforts to discover new bioactive compounds to use as antimicrobial and anticancer agents. Thus, a new set of pyridothienopyrimidine derivatives 2a,b-9a,b was synthesized via cyclization reactions of 3-amino-thieno[2,3- b ]pyridine-2-carboxamides 1a,b with different reagents. All new compounds were evaluated against five bacterial and five fungal strains. Many of the target compounds showed significant antimicrobial activity. In addition, the new derivatives were further subjected to cytotoxicity evaluation against HepG-2 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines. The most potent cytotoxic candidates ( 3a , 4a , 5a , 6b , 8b and 9b ) were examined as EGFR kinase inhibitors. Molecular docking study was also performed to explore the binding modes of these derivatives at the active site of EGFR-PK. Compounds 3a , 5a and 9b displayed broad spectrum antimicrobial activity with MIC ranges of 4-16 µg/mL and potent cytotoxic activity with IC 50 ranges of 1.17-2.79 µM. In addition, they provided suppressing activity against EGFR with IC 50 ranges of 7.27-17.29 nM, higher than that of erlotinib, IC 50 = 27.01 nM.

The adhesion of cancer cells to vascular endothelium is a critical process in hematogenous metastasis and might be similar to the recruitment of leukocytes at the site of inflammation. It is mediated by E-selectin and its ligands, of which the most stereospecific is a glycoconjugate sialyl Lewis x (CD15s), which may be expressed as an oligosaccharide branch of the CD44 glycoprotein, as well as a self-contained glycosphingolipid. It is also known that increased sialylation of glycoconjugates is a feature of malignant cells. The aim of the study was to analyse the effect of a novel thieno[2,3- b ]pyridine, compound 1 , in MDA-MB-231 triple-negative breast cancer cells (TNBCs) upon CD15s and CD44 expression in different cell subpopulations using flow cytometry. CD15s expression was compared between mesenchymal-like cancer stem cells (CSC, CD44 + CD24 - ), epithelial cells without CD44 (CD44 - CD24 + and CD44 - CD24 - ), and CD44 + CD24 + cells that exhibit mesenchymal and epithelial features. In addition, expression of CD44 in CD15s + CSC and CD15s - CSC was determined. Compound 1 significantly decreased the percentage of CD15s + CSC, CD15s + CD44 + CD24 + , and CD15s + CD44 - subpopulations, as well as the expression of CD15s in CD44 + CD24 + and CD44 - cells, and therefore shows potential as a treatment for TNBC.

Malaria causes hundreds of thousands of deaths every year, making it one of the most dangerous infectious diseases worldwide. Because the pathogens have developed resistance against most of the established anti-malarial drugs, new antiplasmodial agents are urgently needed. In analogy to similar antiplasmodial ketones, 4-arylthieno[2,3- b ]pyridine-2-carboxamides were synthesized by Thorpe-Ziegler reactions. In contrast to the related ketones, these carboxamides are only weak inhibitors of the plasmodial enzyme Pf GSK-3 but the compounds nevertheless show strong antiparasitic activity. The most potent representatives inhibit the pathogens with IC 50 values in the two-digit nanomolar range and exhibit high selectivity indices (>100).

In this research, we exploited derivatives of thieno[2,3-b]pyridine as dual inhibitors of the key enzymes in eicosanoid biosynthesis, cyclooxygenase (COX, subtypes 1 and 2) and 5-lipoxygensase (5-LOX). Testing these compounds in a rat paw oedema model revealed potency higher than ibuprofen. The most active compounds 7a, 7b, 8b, and 8c were screened against COX-1/2 and 5-LOX enzymes. Compound 7a was the most powerful inhibitor of 5-LOX with IC 50  = 0.15 µM, while its p-chloro analogue 7b was more active against COX-2 (IC 50  = 7.5 µM). The less desirable target COX-1 was inhibited more potently by 8c with IC 50  = 7.7 µM. Surflex docking programme predicted that the more stable anti- conformer of compound (7a) formed a favourable complex with the active site of 5-LOX but not COX-1. This is in contrast to the binding mode of 8c, which resembles the syn-conformer of series 7 and binds favourably to COX-1.

A series of pyridine and thieno[2,3-b]pyridine derivatives have been designed and synthesized as anticancer PIM-1 kinase inhibitors. Thirty-seven compounds were selected by NCI to be tested initially at a single dose (10 µM) in the full NCI 60 cell line panel. Compound 5b showed potent anticancer activity and was tested twice in the five-dose assay which confirmed its potent antitumor activity (GI 50 values 0.302-3.57 µM) against all tested tumor cell lines except six cell lines where they showed moderate sensitivity. This compound was sent to NCI biological evaluation committee and still under consideration for further testing. In addition, the most active anticancer compounds in each series, 5b, 8d, 10c, 13h, and 15e, were evaluated for their PIM-1 kinase inhibitory activity. Compound 8d was the most potent one with IC 50  = 0.019 µM followed by 5b, 15e, 10c and 13h with IC 50 values 0.044, 0.083, 0.128 and 0.479 µM respectively. Moreover, docking study of the most active compounds in PIM-1 kinase active site was consistent with the in vitro activity., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)