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AIM To report the results of a 104-week extension to a 52-week study in which dapagliflozin plus saxagliptin (DAPA+SAXA) improved glycaemic control, liver fat and metabolic variables compared with glimepiride (GLIM) in participants with type 2 diabetes (T2D) receiving background metformin. MATERIALS AND METHODS This extension to a 52-week global, multicentre, parallel-group, active-controlled, double-blind study (NCT02419612) continued randomized participants (1:1) on DAPA+SAXA (10/5 mg) plus placebo, or GLIM (1-6 mg) plus placebo, once daily. Eligible participants were aged ≥18 years, had T2D (glycated haemoglobin [HbA1c] 58.5-91.3 mmol/mol [7.5%-10.5%]), and a body mass index of 20.0 to 45.0 kg/m2 , and were receiving metformin (MET; ≥1500 mg/d). Key outcomes were: requirement for treatment intensification, based on HbA1c ≥53 mmol/mol (7%); achieving therapeutic glycaemic response; and changes in adipose tissue and liver fat on magnetic resonance imaging in a substudy. RESULTS Overall, 382 participants entered and 338 completed the 104-week extension period (MRI substudy, n = 82). The need for treatment intensification during the 156-week period was lower for DAPA+SAXA+MET (37.0%) than GLIM+MET (55.6%; hazard ratio 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.39-0.68; P

Targeting of the Glucose-dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide receptor GIPR is an emerging strategy in anti-diabetic drug development. The aim of this study was to develop a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) radioligand for the GIPR, to enable the assessment of target distribution and drug target engagement in vivo. The GIPR selective peptide S02-GIP was radiolabeled with Gallium-68. The resulting PET tracer [68Ga]S02-GIP-T4 was evaluated for affinity and specificity to human GIPR (huGIPR). The in vivo GIPR binding of [68Ga]S02-GIP-T4, as well as the occupancy of a drug candidate with GIPR activity, was assessed in non-human primates (NHP) by PET. [68Ga]S02-GIP-T4 bound with nanomolar affinity and high selectivity to huGIPR in overexpressing cells. In vivo pancreatic binding in NHP could be dose dependently inhibited by co-injection of unlabelled S02-GIP-T4. Finally, subcutaneous pre-treatment with a high dose of a drug candidate with GIPR activity led to a decreased pancreatic binding of [68Ga]S02-GIP-T4, corresponding to a GIPR drug occupancy of almost 90%. [68Ga]S02-GIP-T4 demonstrated a safe dosimetric profile, allowing for repeated studies in humans. In conclusion, [68Ga]S02-GIP-T4 is a novel PET biomarker for safe, non-invasive, and quantitative assessment of GIPR target distribution and drug occupancy.

Background and Purpose: Previous observational studies have shown a moderately increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) with high self-reported alcohol consumption. However, self-reported data tend to underestimate alcohol consumption. Phosphatidylethanol is a specific biomarker reflecting alcohol intake during the last month and correlates with the amount of alcohol consumed. The present study aimed to investigate the association between phosphatidylethanol levels and the risk of future ICH. Methods: This population-based nested case-referent study was conducted within the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Cohort. At baseline, all participants underwent a health examination, including a questionnaire with questions about alcohol consumption. A blood sample was collected and stored at −80°C, and phosphatidylethanol 16:0/18:1 levels were measured in packed erythrocytes. Cases (n=97) were diagnosed with a first-ever ICH between 1985 and 2007. Two referents (n=180) were matched to each case. Results: The mean age at baseline was 55 years, 39% of participants were women, and the mean time from blood sampling to ICH was 7.3 years. Only phosphatidylethanol and hypertension remained independently associated with ICH in a multivariable model. Participants with phosphatidylethanol >0.30 μmol/L had an increased risk of ICH compared with those with phosphatidylethanol Conclusions: High blood concentrations of phosphatidylethanol were associated with an increased risk of future ICH. This association was independent of hypertension and other risk factors for ICH. Our findings suggest that phosphatidylethanol, as a marker of alcohol consumption, may be used as a risk marker of future ICH.

Aim To assess the effects of dapagliflozin plus saxagliptin plus metformin versus glimepiride plus metformin on liver fat (proton density fat fraction) and visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue volumes over 52 weeks of treatment. Materials and methods This was a magnetic resonance imaging substudy of a 52‐week, multicentre, randomized, double‐blind, parallel‐group trial that evaluated the efficacy and safety of dapagliflozin 10 mg/day plus saxagliptin 5 mg/day versus titrated glimepiride 1–6 mg (1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 mg) in 82 patients with type 2 diabetes (HbA1c 7.5%–10.5%) on metformin ≥1500 mg/day background. Analyses were exploratory and not controlled for multiplicity; P‐values are nominal. Results Magnetic resonance imaging was performed on 59 patients; liver fat and adipose tissue volumes were analysed for 59 and 57 patients, respectively. There was a significant >30% reduction from baseline in liver fat (P = 0.007) and >10% reduction in adipose tissue volumes (P

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate tissue-specific effects of dapagliflozin on insulin sensitivity and liver and body fat in patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This randomized, double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled study recruited 32 patients with type 2 diabetes. Enrolled patients were to have HbA1c 6.5–10.5% (48–91 mmol/mol) and ≥3 months of stable treatment with metformin, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, or their combination. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive 10 mg dapagliflozin or placebo daily for 8 weeks. Before and after the intervention, tissue insulin sensitivity was measured using [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose and positron emission tomography during hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. Liver proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and adipose tissue volumes were assessed using MRI, and blood biomarkers were analyzed. RESULTS After 8 weeks, glycemic control was improved by dapagliflozin (placebo-corrected change in HbA1c −0.39%, P < 0.01), but whole-body glucose uptake was not increased (P = 0.90). Tissue-specific insulin-stimulated glucose uptake did not change in skeletal muscle, liver, myocardium, or white and brown adipose tissue, and endogenous glucose production remained unaffected. However, there were significant placebo-corrected decreases in liver PDFF (−3.74%, P < 0.01), liver volume (−0.10 L, P < 0.05), visceral adipose tissue volume (−0.35 L, P < 0.01), interleukin-6 (−1.87 pg/mL, P < 0.05), and N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (−96 ng/L, P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS In this study, 8 weeks of treatment with dapagliflozin reduced liver PDFF and the volume of visceral adipose tissue in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Although glycemic control was improved, no effect on tissue-level insulin sensitivity was observed.

Introduction: [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-VS-Cys40-Tuna-2 (previously published as [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-VS-Cys40-S01-GCG) has shown high-affinity specific binding to the glucagon receptor (GCGR) in vitro and in vivo in rats and non-human primates in our previous studies, confirming the suitability of the tracer for drug development applications in humans. The manufacturing process of [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-VS-Cys40-Tuna-2 was automated for clinical use to meet the radiation safety and good manufacturing practice (GMP) requirements. Methods: The automated synthesis platform (Modular-Lab PharmTrace, Eckert &amp, Ziegler, Eurotope, Germany), disposable cassettes for 68Ga-labeling, and pharmaceutical-grade 68Ge/68Ga generator (GalliaPharm&reg, ) used in the study were purchased from Eckert &amp, Ziegler. The parameters such as time, temperature, precursor concentration, radical scavenger, buffer concentration, and pH, as well as product purification step, were investigated and optimized. Process optimization was conducted with regard to product quality and quantity, as well as process reproducibility. The active pharmaceutical ingredient starting material DO3A-VS-Cys40-Tuna-2 (GMP-grade) was provided by Sanofi Aventis. Results: The reproducible and GMP-compliant automated production of [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-VS-Cys40-Tuna-2 with on-line documentation was developed. The non-decay-corrected radiochemical yield was 45.2 &plusmn, 2.5% (n = 3, process validation) at the end of the synthesis with a labeling synthesis duration of 38 min and a quality controlincluding release procedure of 20 min. The radiochemical purity of the product was 98.9 &plusmn, 0.6% (n = 17) with the total amount of the peptide in the preparation of 48 &plusmn, 2 &micro, g (n = 3, process validation). Radionuclidic purity, sterility, endotoxin content, residual solvent content, and sterile filter integrity tests met the acceptance criteria. The product was stable at ambient temperature for at least 2 h. Conclusion: The fully automated GMP-compliant manufacturing process was developed and thoroughly validated. The resulting [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-VS-Cys40-Tuna-2 was used in a clinical study for accurate quantification of GCGR occupancy by a dual anti-diabetic drug in vivo in humans.

Background and Aims: Cotadutide, a dual receptor agonist with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucagon activity, is being researched for the potential treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Given the known effects of glucagon on hepatic glycogen and lipid metabolism, the aim of this phase 2a study was to investigate the effect of cotadutide on hepatic glycogen. Methods: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 21 overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (HbA1c ≤ 8%) were randomized to receive once-daily subcutaneous cotadutide (n = 12) or placebo (n = 9) for 28 days. Following 48 hours of standardized meals, serial magnetic resonance spectroscopy scans relying on signals from naturally abundant 13C were performed to measure glycogen, and liver fat was also estimated. Fasting amino acid and ketone levels were also assessed. Results: Significant reductions from baseline in postprandial hepatic glycogen content were observed with cotadutide (-100.2 mmol/L; 90% CI: -150.2, -50.1) vs. placebo (+5.5 mmol/L; 90% CI: -47.2, 58.3; P = 0.023). Statistically significant reductions in hepatic glycogen content were observed across serial measures and after a 14-hour fast (P < 0.05), with an overall change in glycogen AUC24h of -27.3% (P = 0.003) vs. placebo. In addition, a relative reduction in liver fat of 33.2% vs. placebo was reported (P = 0.006), and significant reductions in fasting alanine, glutamate, glycine, lysine, and threonine levels were also observed with cotadutide vs. placebo (all P ≤ 0.05). Beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate levels were not significantly different between the two arms. Conclusions: Cotadutide promoted a generalized reduction in hepatic glycogen and selected amino acid levels. Substantial reductions in liver fat were also observed with cotadutide, suggesting glucagon receptor engagement. Disclosure D. Robertson: Employee; Self; AstraZeneca. Stock/Shareholder; Self; AstraZeneca. L. Hansen: Employee; Self; AstraZeneca. P. Ambery: Employee; Self; AstraZeneca. R.L. Esterline: Employee; Self; AstraZeneca. L. Jermutus: Employee; Self; AstraZeneca. Stock/Shareholder; Self; AstraZeneca. Y. Chang: None. M. Petrone: Employee; Self; AstraZeneca. E. Johansson: None. L. Johansson: Employee; Self; Antaros Medical AB. Stock/Shareholder; Self; Antaros Medical AB. F.B. Sjöberg: None. V. Parker: None. Funding AstraZeneca

The recalcitrance bottleneck of lignocellulosic materials presents a major challenge for biorefineries, including second-generation biofuel production. Because of their abundance in the northern hemisphere, softwoods, such as Norway spruce, are of major interest as a potential feedstock for biorefineries. In nature, softwoods are primarily degraded by basidiomycetous fungi causing brown rot. These fungi employ a non-enzymatic oxidative system to depolymerize wood cell wall components prior to depolymerization by a limited set of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes. Here, it is shown that Norway spruce pretreated with two species of brown-rot fungi yielded more than 250% increase in glucose release when treated with a commercial enzyme cocktail and that there is a good correlation between mass loss and the degree of digestibility. A series of experiments was performed aimed at mimicking the brown-rot pretreatment, using a modified version of the Fenton reaction. A small increase in digestibility after pretreatment was shown where the aim was to generate reactive oxygen species within the wood cell wall matrix. Further experiments were performed to assess the possibility of performing pretreatment and saccharification in a single system, and the results indicated the need for a complete separation of oxidative pretreatment and saccharification. A more severe pretreatment was also completed, which interestingly did not yield a more digestible material. It was concluded that a biomimicking approach to pretreatment of softwoods using brown-rot fungal mechanisms is possible, but that there are additional factors of the system that need to be known and optimized before serious advances can be made to compete with already existing pretreatment methods.

Background: Diabetes increases the risk for cardiovascular (CV) events. It has recently been shown that the use of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors leads to a reduction in CV outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), including mortality and heart failure hospitalization. The exact mechanisms of how SGLT2 inhibitors lead to this CV risk reduction remain incompletely understood. The study of DAPAgliflozin on CARDiac substrate uptake, myocardial efficiency and myocardial contractile work in type 2 diabetes patients (DAPACARD) (NCT03387683) explores the possible effects of dapagliflozin, an SGLT2 inhibitor, on cardiac work, metabolism, and biomarker levels. Methods: DAPACARD is an international, randomized, double-blind trial that aims to examine the effects of dapagliflozin versus matching placebo in 52 patients with T2DM that are on stable metformin therapy prior to and during the 6 weeks of treatment. The primary efficacy endpoint is change in global longitudinal strain of the left ventricle (GLSLV) measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) between baseline (pre-treatment) and end of study (on-treatment). The secondary endpoint is the corresponding change in myocardial efficiency measured as external left ventricular work divided by total left ventricular work, which is estimated using [11C]-acetate clearance using positron emission tomography (PET). Conclusion: The DAPACARD study is an extensive investigation of cardiac function and metabolism, by advanced imaging with PET and MRI, as well as biomarkers, performed in order to further explore how the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin could influence cardiovascular outcomes in patients with T2DM.

ML, CD, IvL, GP, TM, SD, MS, APF, CT, DL, MAH, KL and SL: project grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society and the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation. MHi and JC: Cancer Research UK (C8/A6613). MC, EP and WE: Wellcome Trust (073915). MN and BV: projects MEYS-NPS-LO1413 and GACR P206/12/G151. EMC, MP, MMS, ZF and PG: Norwegian Cancer Society (182735, 732200) and Helse Vest (911884, 911789). RB and SC: NIH (R01 CA95684), the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Waxman Foundation. NW, AH, Ad’H: Cancer Research UK (C21383/A6950) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Doctoral Training Program. JL and YZ: Cancer Research UK (C240/A15751). MH and BW: SARomics Biostructures ABUY, KF: DDDP SciLife, Sweden. LJ, MHa, RS and A-LG: CBCS, Sweden. VP: SciLife fellowship. AT: Breast Cancer Research Scotland. The development of non-genotoxic therapies that activate wild-type p53 in tumors is of great interest since the discovery of p53 as a tumor suppressor. Here we report the identification of over 100 small-molecules activating p53 in cells. We elucidate the mechanism of action of a chiral tetrahydroindazole (HZ00), and through target deconvolution, we deduce that its active enantiomer (R)-HZ00, inhibits dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH). The chiral specificity of HZ05, a more potent analog, is revealed by the crystal structure of the (R)-HZ05/DHODH complex. Twelve other DHODH inhibitor chemotypes are detailed among the p53 activators, which identifies DHODH as a frequent target for structurally diverse compounds. We observe that HZ compounds accumulate cancer cells in S-phase, increase p53 synthesis, and synergize with an inhibitor of p53 degradation to reduce tumor growth in vivo. We, therefore, propose a strategy to promote cancer cell killing by p53 instead of its reversible cell cycle arresting effect. Publisher PDF

Two screening campaigns using commercial (Chembridge DiverSET) and proprietary (Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden, CBCS) compound libraries, revealed a number of pyridone- and pyrimidinone-derived systems as inhibitors of the human dCTP pyrophosphatase 1 (dCTPase). In this letter, we present their preliminary structure-activity-relationships (SAR) and ligand efficiency scores (LE and LLE).

Objective To investigate the feasibility of using 31 P-MRS for objective non-invasive quality assessment of human pancreas grafts prior to transplantation or islet isolation. Materials and methods Pancreata from 5 human donors, 3 males and 2 females, aged 49–78 years, with body mass index (BMI) 22–31 kg/m 2 , were included. Pancreata were perfused with histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution during procurement and stored in hypothermic condition (4 °C) for 21–44 h. During the period of hypothermic storage repeated spectra were obtained for each graft by 31 P-MRS (1.5 Tesla) to measure the cold ischemia time (CIT) dependent changes of the phosphorous metabolites adenosine triphosphate (ATP), phosphomonoesters (PME), phosphodiesters (PDE) and inorganic phosphate (Pi), in the grafts. Graft temperature was measured immediately before and after MR-examination. Reference spectrum for non-viable tissue was obtained after graft exposure to room temperature. Results PME/Pi, PDE/Pi and ATP/Pi spectral intensities ratios decreased with increasing CIT, reflecting the decreased viability of the grafts. PME/Pi ratio was the most discriminatory variable at prolonged CIT. 31 P-MRS could be performed without significantly increasing graft temperature. Conclusions 31 P-MRS may provide quantitative parameters for evaluating graft viability ex vivo, and is a promising tool for objective non-invasive assessment of the quality of human pancreas grafts prior to transplantation or islet isolation.

ATMP pilot refining trials on Norway spruce were conducted. The ATMP configuration consists of selective wood disintegration and targeted application of chemicals when defibration already is initia ...

Defibration and fibre development patterns were investigated for the novel ATMP refining process, based on pilot scale trials with Norway spruce chips. ATMP refining with different chemical agents ...

3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic diimide molecules were evaporated onto a Sn/ Si(111)- 2 3 × 2 3 surface and studied using photoelectron spectroscopy and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). We found evidences of a strong interaction between the PTCDI molecules and the substrate. The interactions cause changes in the Sn 4d, C 1s, and N 1s core level spectra. These interactions also cause a complete absence of transitions to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) in the NEXAFS spectra, in combination with a new state between the regular highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the Fermi level at low coverages. These changes are explained to be due to the charge transfer from the top Sn atoms to the PTCDI molecules, resulting in a split of the HOMO, and lowering of the LUMO levels. The interactions are shown to heavily involve the carbonyl carbon and partly nitrogen atoms of the imide group.

The glucagon receptor (GCGR) is an emerging target in anti-diabetic therapy. Reliable biomarkers for in vivo activity on the GCGR, in the setting of dual glucagon-like peptide 1/glucagon (GLP-1/GCG) receptor agonism, are currently unavailable. Here, we investigated [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-S01-GCG as a biomarker for GCGR occupancy in liver, the tissue with highest GCGR expression, in non-human primates (NHP) by PET. [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-S01-GCG was evaluated by dynamic PET in NHPs by a dose escalation study design, where up to 67 µg/kg DO3A-S01-GCG peptide mass was co-injected. The test-retest reproducibility of [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-S01-GCG binding in liver was evaluated. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of pre-treatment with acylated glucagon agonist 1-GCG on [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-S01-GCG binding in liver. [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-S01-GCG bound to liver in vivo in a dose-dependent manner. Negligible peptide mass effect was observed for DO3A-S01-GCG doses In vivo Kd for [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-S01-GCG corresponded to 0.7 µg/kg, which indicates high potency. The test-retest reproducibility for [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-S01-GCG binding in liver was 5.7 ± 7.9%. Pre-treatment with 1-GCG, an acylated glucagon agonist, resulted in a GCGR occupancy of 61.5 ± 9.1% in liver. Predicted human radiation dosimetry would allow for repeated annual [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-S01-GCG PET examinations. In summary, PET radioligand [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-S01-GCG is a quantitative biomarker of in vivo GCGR occupancy.

Perylene tetracarboxylic diimide molecules were evaporated onto a Sn/Si(111)-2 root 3 x 2 root 3 surface and studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low energy electron diffraction. At low coverages, single molecules are locked into specific adsorption geometries, which are investigated in detail using high resolution STM. The electronic structure of these individual molecules was studied using bias dependent STM images. The molecules form 1D rows that become more common with increasing coverages. Possible intermolecular O center dot center dot center dot H interactions within the rows have been identified. At around half of a monolayer (ML), the rows of molecules interact with each other and form a commensurate 4 root 3 x 2 root 3 reconstruction. In a complete monolayer, several structures emerge as molecules fill in the space between the 4 root 3 x 2 root 3 stripes. Possible intermolecular interactions within the 1 ML structures have been discussed. At coverages above 1 ML, the growth is characterized by island growth, where the molecules are arranged according to the canted structure within the layers. Artikeln tidigare publicerad som manuskript i Emanuelssons (2018) doktorsavhandling Electronic Structure and Film Morphology Studies of PTCDI on Metal/Semiconductor Surfaces

Oral administration of a fixed-dose combination of the SGLT2 inhibitor dapagliflozin (DAPA) and the DPP-4 inhibitor saxagliptin (SAXA) is approved for improving glycemic control in adult patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). A 52-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trial (NCT02419612) evaluated the efficacy and safety of DAPA 10 mg/d + SAXA 5 mg/d vs. titrated glimepiride (GLIM) 1-6 mg/d in 443 patients with T2D (A1C 7.5-10.5%) on metformin (MET) ≥1500 mg/d background. In a substudy, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess effects on liver fat (proton density fat fraction [PDFF]) and visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue volumes over 52 weeks of treatment. MRI was performed on 59 patients; liver fat and adipose tissue volumes were analyzed for 59 and 57 patients, respectively. There was a significant >30% reduction from baseline in liver fat (P=0.007) and a >10% reduction in adipose tissue volumes (P In conclusion, DAPA + SAXA significantly decreased liver fat and adipose tissue volume vs. GLIM, and reduced serum liver enzyme levels, indicating a favorable metabolic profile of DAPA + SAXA in patients with T2D on MET therapy. Disclosure J.P. Wilding: Other Relationship; Self; Astellas, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Novo Nordisk Inc., Sanofi, Eli Lilly and Company, Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc. P. Hockings: Other Relationship; Self; MedImmune, AstraZeneca. E.K. Johnsson: Employee; Self; AstraZeneca. J. Maaske: Employee; Self; AstraZeneca. Employee; Spouse/Partner; AstraZeneca. Stock/Shareholder; Spouse/Partner; AstraZeneca. R. Garcia-Sanchez: Employee; Self; AstraZeneca. L. Johansson: Stock/Shareholder; Self; Antaros Medical.

Introduction Glucokinase (GK) is potentially a target for imaging of islets of Langerhans. Here we report the radiosynthesis and preclinical evaluation of the GK activator, [ 11 C]AZ12504948, for in vivo imaging of GK. Methods [ 11 C]AZ12504948 was synthesized by O -methylation of the precursor, AZ125555620, using carbon-11 methyl iodide ([ 11 C]CH 3 I). Preclinical evaluation was performed by autoradiography (ARG) of human tissues and PET/CT studies in pig and non-human primate. Result [ 11 C]AZ12504948 was produced in reproducible good radiochemical yield in 28–30min. Radiochemical purity of the formulated product was >98% for up to 2h with specific radioactivities 855±209GBq/μmol (n=8) . The preclinical evaluation showed some specificity for GK in liver, but not in pancreas. Conclusion [ 11 C]AZ12504948 images GK in liver, but the low specificity impedes the visualization of GK in pancreas. Improved target specificity is required for further progress using PET probes based on this class of GK activators.

Background: Treatment with omega-3 fatty acids and fenofibrates reduces serum triglyceride levels, but few studies have compared the effect of these agents on liver fat. Objective: The aim of the EFFECT I trial (NCT02354976) was to determine the effects of free omega-3 carboxylic acids (OM-3CA) and fenofibrate on liver fat in overweight or obese individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hypertriglyceridemia. Methods: Seventy-eight patients were randomized to receive oral doses of 4 g OM-3CA (n = 25), 200 mg fenofibrate (n = 27), or placebo (n = 26) for 12 weeks in a double-blind, parallel-group study. Liver proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and volume, pancreas volume, and adipose tissue volumes were assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Changes in liver PDFF at 12 weeks were not significantly different across treatment groups (relative changes from baseline: placebo, +4%; OM-3CA, −2%; and fenofibrate, +17%). The common PNPLA3 genetic polymorphism (I148M) did not significantly influence the effects of OM-3CA or fenofibrate on liver PDFF. Fenofibrate treatment significantly increased liver and pancreas volumes vs placebo treatment, and the changes in liver and pancreas volumes were positively correlated (rho 0.45, P =.02). Total liver fat volume increased significantly in patients using fenofibrate vs OM-3CA (+23% vs −3%, P =.04). Compared with OM-3CA, fenofibrate increased total liver fat and liver volume. Serum triglycerides decreased with OM-3CA (−26%, P =.02) and fenofibrate (−38%, P

3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic diimide molecules were evaporated onto a Ag/Si(111)-√3 x √3 surface and studied using photoelectron spectroscopy and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). All core levels related to the imide group of the molecules showed a partial shift to lower binding energies at low coverages. In NEXAFS spectra, the first transitions to the unoccupied states were weaker at low coverages compared to thicker films. Also, extra states in the valence band between the regular highest occupied molecular orbital and the Fermi level were found at low coverages. These changes were explained by two types of molecules. Due to charge transfer from the surface, these two types have different interactions between the imide group and the substrate. As a result, one type has a partially filled lowest unoccupied molecular orbital while the other type does not.

Aims/hypothesis The EFFECT-II study aimed to investigate the effects of dapagliflozin and omega-3 (n-3) carboxylic acids (OM-3CA), individually or combined, on liver fat content in individuals with type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods This randomised placebo-controlled double-blind parallel-group study was performed at five clinical research centres at university hospitals in Sweden. 84 participants with type 2 diabetes and NAFLD were randomly assigned 1:1:1:1 to four treatments by a centralised randomisation system, and all participants as well as investigators and staff involved in the study conduct and analyses were blinded to treatments. Each group received oral doses of one of the following: 10 mg dapagliflozin (n = 21), 4 g OM-3CA (n = 20), a combination of both (n = 22) or placebo (n = 21). The primary endpoint was liver fat content assessed by MRI (proton density fat fraction [PDFF]) and, in addition, total liver volume and markers of glucose and lipid metabolism as well as of hepatocyte injury and oxidative stress were assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment (completion of the trial). Results Participants had a mean age of 65.5 years (SD 5.9), BMI 31.2 kg/m2 (3.5) and liver PDFF 18% (9.3). All active treatments significantly reduced liver PDFF from baseline, relative changes: OM-3CA, −15%; dapagliflozin, −13%; OM-3CA + dapagliflozin, −21%. Only the combination treatment reduced liver PDFF (p = 0.046) and total liver fat volume (relative change, −24%, p = 0.037) in comparison with placebo. There was an interaction between the PNPLA3 I148M polymorphism and change in liver PDFF in the active treatment groups (p = 0.03). Dapagliflozin monotherapy, but not the combination with OM-3CA, reduced the levels of hepatocyte injury biomarkers, including alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, γ-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT), cytokeratin (CK) 18-M30 and CK 18-M65 and plasma fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21). Changes in γ-GT correlated with changes in liver PDFF (ρ = 0.53, p = 0.02). Dapagliflozin alone and in combination with OM-3CA improved glucose control and reduced body weight and abdominal fat volumes. Fatty acid oxidative stress biomarkers were not affected by treatments. There were no new or unexpected adverse events compared with previous studies with these treatments. Conclusions/interpretation Combined treatment with dapagliflozin and OM-3CA significantly reduced liver fat content. Dapagliflozin monotherapy reduced all measured hepatocyte injury biomarkers and FGF21, suggesting a disease-modifying effect in NAFLD. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02279407 Funding: The study was funded by AstraZeneca. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00125-018-4675-2) contains peer-reviewed but unedited supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.

This work was supported by five grants to Sonia Laín: Vetenskapsrådet (VR) 521-2014-3341, Cancerfonden (Swedish Cancer Society) 150393, CAN 2014/702, Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) 130086, Barncancerfonden (Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation) TJ-2014-0038, Barncancerfonden (Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation) PR-2014-0038; two grants to Ravi Bhatia: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) 6137-14 and NIH R01 CA95684; one grant to David P Lane: Vetenskapsrådet (VR) 538-2013-8807; one grant to Marcus J G W Ladds: Karolinska Institute KID Doctoral Student Funding; one grant to Gergana Popova: Karolinska Institutet KID Doctoral Student Funding; two grants to Nicholas J Westwood: Cancer Research UK C21383 and Cancer Research UK A6950; two grants to Gerald McInerney: Vetenskapsrådet (VR) 621-2014-4718 and Cancerfonden (Swedish Cancer Society) 150393, CAN 2015/751; and four grants to Emmet McCormack: Kreftforeningen 182735, Kreftforeningen 732200, Halse Vest 911884, Halse Vest 911789. Tenovin-6 is the most studied member of a family of small molecules with antitumour activity in vivo. Previously, it has been determined that part of the effects of tenovin-6 associate with its ability to inhibit SirT1 and activate p53. However, tenovin-6 has also been shown to modulate autophagic flux. Here we show that blockage of autophagic flux occurs in a variety of cell lines in response to certain tenovins, that autophagy blockage occurs regardless of the effect of tenovins on SirT1 or p53, and that this blockage is dependent on the aliphatic tertiary amine side chain of these molecules. Additionally, we evaluate the contribution of this tertiary amine to the elimination of proliferating melanoma cells in culture. We also demonstrate that the presence of the tertiary amine is sufficient to lead to death of tumour cells arrested in G1 phase following vemurafenib treatment. We conclude that blockage of autophagic flux by tenovins is necessary to eliminate melanoma cells that survive B-Raf inhibition and achieve total tumour cell kill and that autophagy blockage can be achieved at a lower concentration than by chloroquine. This observation is of great relevance as relapse and resistance are frequently observed in cancer patients treated with B-Raf inhibitors. Publisher PDF

The electronic structures of PTCDA on the Sn/Si(111)-2√3×2√3 surface have been thoroughly studied by high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS ...

Excess ectopic fat storage is linked to type 2 diabetes. The importance of dietary fat composition for ectopic fat storage in humans is unknown. We investigated liver fat accumulation and body composition during overfeeding saturated fatty acids (SFAs) or polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). LIPOGAIN was a double-blind, parallel-group, randomized trial. Thirty-nine young and normal-weight individuals were overfed muffins high in SFAs (palm oil) or n-6 PUFAs (sunflower oil) for 7 weeks. Liver fat, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), total adipose tissue, pancreatic fat, and lean tissue were assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. Transcriptomics were performed in SAT. Both groups gained similar weight. SFAs, however, markedly increased liver fat compared with PUFAs and caused a twofold larger increase in VAT than PUFAs. Conversely, PUFAs caused a nearly threefold larger increase in lean tissue than SFAs. Increase in liver fat directly correlated with changes in plasma SFAs and inversely with PUFAs. Genes involved in regulating energy dissipation, insulin resistance, body composition, and fat-cell differentiation in SAT were differentially regulated between diets, and associated with increased PUFAs in SAT. In conclusion, overeating SFAs promotes hepatic and visceral fat storage, whereas excess energy from PUFAs may instead promote lean tissue in healthy humans.

Aims Dapagliflozin, a highly selective inhibitor of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), reduces hyperglycaemia and weight in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by increasing urinary glucose excretion. Long-term glycaemic control, body composition and bone safety were evaluated in patients with T2DM after 102 weeks of dapagliflozin treatment. Methods This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (NCT00855166) enrolled patients with T2DM [mean: age 60.7 years; HbA1c 7.2%; body mass index (BMI) 31.9 kg/m2; body weight 91.5 kg] inadequately controlled on metformin. Patients (N = 182) were randomly assigned 1 : 1 to receive dapagliflozin 10 mg/day or placebo added to open-label metformin for a 24-week double-blind treatment period followed by a 78-week site- and patient-blinded extension period. At week 102, changes from baseline in HbA1c, weight, waist circumference, total body fat mass as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), serum markers of bone turnover, bone mineral density (BMD) as measured by DXA, and adverse events were evaluated. Results A total of 140 patients (76.9%) completed the study. Over 102 weeks, dapagliflozin-treated patients showed reductions in HbA1c by −0.3%, weight by −4.54 kg, waist circumference by −5.0 cm and fat mass by −2.80 kg without increase in rate of hypoglycaemia. Compared with placebo, no meaningful changes from baseline in markers of bone turnover or BMD were identified over 102 weeks. One fracture occurred in each treatment group. The frequency of urinary tract infection (UTI) and genital infection was similar in both treatment groups. Conclusions Over 102 weeks, dapagliflozin improved glycaemic control, and reduced weight and fat mass, without affecting markers of bone turnover or BMD in patients with T2DM inadequately controlled on metformin.

The measurement of tissue lipid and glycogen contents and the establishment of normal levels of variability are important when assessing changes caused by pathology or treatment. We measured hepatic and skeletal muscle lipid and glycogen levels using 1H and 13C MRS at 3 T in groups of subjects with and without type 2 diabetes. Within-visit reproducibility, due to repositioning and instrument errors was determined from repeat measurements made over 1 h. Natural variability was assessed from separate measurements made on three occasions over 1 month. Hepatic lipid content was greater in subjects with diabetes relative to healthy subjects (p = 0.03), whereas levels of hepatic and skeletal muscle glycogen, and of intra- and extra-myocellular lipid, were similar. The single-session reproducibility values (coefficient of variation, CV) for hepatic lipid content were 12% and 7% in groups of subjects with and without diabetes, respectively. The variability of hepatic lipid content over 1 month was greater than the reproducibility, with CV = 22% (p = 0.08) and CV = 44% (p = 0.004) in subjects with and without diabetes, respectively. Similarly, levels of variation in basal hepatic glycogen concentrations (subjects with diabetes, CV = 38%; healthy volunteers, CV = 35%) were significantly larger than single-session reproducibility values (CV = 17%, p = 0.02 and CV = 13%, p = 0.05, respectively), indicating substantial biological changes in basal concentrations over 1 month. There was a decreasing correlation in measurements of both hepatic lipid and glycogen content with increasing time between scans. Levels of variability in intra- and extra-myocellular lipid in the soleus muscle, and glycogen concentrations in the gastrocnemius muscle, tended to be larger than expected from single-session reproducibility, although these did not reach significance. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The electronic structures of perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride on Sn/Si(111)-2√3×2√3 have been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Individual molecules have been investigated at 0.15 ML, while at 0.3 ML molecules formed short rods. At 0.6 ML, the molecular rods interacted with each other, coupling with the substrate and forming a new 4√3×2√3 super structure. At 0.9 ML, the surface was further reconstructed and consisted of strips with two and three rods of molecules. We found that these surface structures are strongly modified by the molecule/substrate and the intermolecular interactions. As a result, the HOMO-LUMO gaps of these molecules change with respect to the phases and the thickness. For a single molecular layer of the 4√3×2√3 phase, the HOMO-LUMO levels were split with a gap of approximately 2.1 eV, which is caused by charge transfer from the substrate to the molecules.

Aims Dapagliflozin, a selective sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, reduces hyperglycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) by increasing urinary glucose excretion. Owing to its mechanism of action, dapagliflozin could potentially affect the renal tubular transportation of bone minerals. Therefore, markers of bone formation and resorption and bone mineral density (BMD) were evaluated in patients with T2DM after 50 weeks of dapagliflozin treatment. Methods This international, multi-centre, randomized, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00855166) enrolled patients with T2DM (women 55-75 years and men 30-75 years; HbA1c 6.5-8.5%; BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2) ; body weight ≤ 120 kg) whose T2DM was inadequately controlled on metformin. One hundred and eighty-two patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive dapagliflozin 10 mg/day or placebo added to open-label metformin for a 24-week double-blind treatment period followed by a 78-week site- and patient-blinded extension period. At week 50, serum markers of bone formation (procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide; P1NP) and resorption (C-terminal cross-linking telopeptides of type I collagen; CTX), bone mineral density (BMD) as assessed by standardized Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) measurements and adverse events of fracture were evaluated as safety objectives. Results One hundred and sixty-five patients (90.7%) completed the first 50 weeks. Compared with placebo, no significant changes from baseline in P1NP, CTX or BMD were identified over 50 weeks of dapagliflozin treatment, with no significant treatment-by-gender interactions. No fractures were reported. Conclusions Dapagliflozin had no effect on markers of bone formation and resorption or BMD after 50 weeks of treatment in both male and post-menopausal female patients whose T2DM was inadequately controlled on metformin.

The main abjectives of this work were to evaluate the extent to which extractives in wood chips for mechanical pulping are released into process water during compressive pre-treatment before refining and to develop a method to remove the released extractives from the process water. In thermomechanical pulping, pre-treatments based on a high compression ratio and high temperature, are used to reduce the amount of extractives in wood chips of different raw materials before refining. One objective of this study was to evaluate the removal of extractives from the wood chips during compressive pre-treatment, in an Impressafiner by determining mass balance of extractives around a mill scale Impressafiner installation. The mass balance showed that it was possible to remove up to 15% of extractives before the refining process. Thus one advantage of using an Impressafiner is that removal of dispersed extractives can be done with little loss of fibres, from a small concentrated water stream. Handling of this water is important in order to avoid that the extractives enter the effluent treatment or reach undesirable levels in the process water. Thus the solubility, colloidal stability and flocculation of the extractives in the pressate water was studied. The objective was to obtain a better understanding of the effects of cationic polyelectrolytes on the stability of colloidal extractives in the pressate water from Impressafiner. A high charge density and low molecular mass polymer (poly-DADMAC), a high molecular mass and low charge density polymer (C-PAM) and combination of the polymers (mass ratio 1:1) were used. It was found that these polymers efficiently flocculate colloidal extractives present in the process water via two different flocculation mechanisms: charge neutralization and bridging flocculation. Extractives which are removed from the process water have to be taken care of in an economical way. They have to be brought into a form making it possible to remove them from the process water before the water is sent to the effluent treatment or before the water is reused in the mill. In that respect, the extent to which the extractives are present in either dissolved, colloidal or bound to fibres is important. In this work, Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) was used to remove the flocculated extractives from Impressafiner process water. For comparison, laboratory experiments were also conducted on water from chip washer. It was shown in both laboratory and pilot scale that by using DAF in combination with flocculation of the extractives with polyelectrolyte the colloidal and fibre bound extractives could be removed from the process water with a removal efficiency of 80-90%, with equal efficiency for the Impressafiner and chip washer waters. The results attained in the thesis strongly suggest that by using a compressive pretreatment method of the wood chips is possible to remove a substantial fraction of extractives before the refining process. A larger fraction of the more toxic extractive components, resin acids, than of fatty acids were removed. Further, this study emphasizes the importance of the polymer properties for their floccculation efficiency of colloidal extractives present in process water. The results also show that Dissolved Air Flotation is a convenient method to remove flocculated extractives from process water.

Background : There have been no human prospective randomized studies of the amount of alcohol that can induce hepatic steatosis. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods : Thirty-two healthy women and twelve healthy men (34 +/- 9 years of age) were randomized to consume 150 ml of red wine/day for women (16 g ethanol/day) or double that amount for men (33 g ethanol/day), or to alcohol abstention for 90 days. Participants underwent proton-nuclear magnetic-resonance spectroscopy for measurement of hepatic triglyceride content (HTGC). Blood samples for assessment of cardiovascular risk were drawn before and after the intervention. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults: After exclusion of three subjects with steatosis at baseline a trend towards increased HTGC was apparent for red wine (before median: 1.1%, range 0.2-3.9%, after median: 1.1%, range 0.5-5.2%, P = 0.059) a difference that was statistically significant compared with abstainers (p = 0.02). However, no subject developed hepatic steatosis. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol was lowered by red wine (-0.3 mmol/l, SE-0.1, 95% CI-0.6 to -0.04). less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusions: Moderate consumption of red wine during three months increased HTGC in subjects without steatosis at baseline. However, since not a single participant developed steatosis we suggest that the threshold of alcohol consumption to define nonalcoholic fatty liver disease should not be lower than the amount in our study.

A model to calculate bone resorption driven by fluid flow at the bone-soft tissue interface is developed and used as a basis for computer calculations, which are compared to experiments where bone is subjected to fluid flow in a rat model. Previous models for bone remodelling calculations have been based on the state of stress, strain or energy density of the bone tissue as the stimulus for remodelling. We believe that there is experimental support for an additional pathway where an increase in the amount of the cells directly involved in bone removal, the osteoclasts, is caused by fluid pressure, flow velocity or other parameters related to fluid flow at the bone-soft tissue interface, resulting in bone resorption.

A pilot refining trial on Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) was conducted using a novel process configuration called ATMP (Advanced Thermomechanical Pulp). In this process, selective wood disintegration due to mechanical pre-treatment of chips and increased refining intensity is combined with targeted application of chemicals after defibration. Standard TMP was compared to ATMP where different chemical strategies were applied. These strategies employed active chemicals known to cause sulphonation, carboxylation/oxidation and degradation of fibre components in order to assist the refining process. Main goal of the study was to evaluate the potential of decreasing the energy demand in refining evaluated at equal tensile index compared to a TMP reference. Another goal was to produce pulp where the TMP character, i.e. good optical properties combined with good bulk and strength properties, was fully preserved. The objective was also to study other quality aspects of the pulp produced using the ATMP process and compare these to properties of conventional TMP. Energy demand in refining was decreased with at least 0.6 MWh/odt compared to TMP at tensile index 25 Nm/g when ATMP concept was used. Maximum achieved reduction in the refining energy demand was 1.1 MWh/odt (42%) compared to the TMP reference at tensile index 25 Nm/g. Statistical analysis showed that pulp, produced using the ATMP process, retained all its important properties such as light scattering, density and elongation on the same level as control TMP, i.e. it had the same character. All pulps produced using the ATMP process had very low shive content. Treatment with hydrogen peroxide and magnesium hydroxide was the most successful chemical strategy tested during the pilot trial. It was most successful both in respect to improved optical properties (14 ISO % increase in brightness could be achieved by adding 25 kg/odt hydrogen peroxide in the first stage refiner) and reduction of energy demand in refining.

The main abjectives of this work were to evaluate the extent to which extractives in wood chips for mechanical pulping are released into process water during compressive pre-treatment before refining and to develop a method to remove the released extractives from the process water. In thermomechanical pulping, pre-treatments based on a high compression ratio and high temperature, are used to reduce the amount of extractives in wood chips of different raw materials before refining. One objective of this study was to evaluate the removal of extractives from the wood chips during compressive pre-treatment, in an Impressafiner by determining mass balance of extractives around a mill scale Impressafiner installation. The mass balance showed that it was possible to remove up to 15% of extractives before the refining process. Thus one advantage of using an Impressafiner is that removal of dispersed extractives can be done with little loss of fibres, from a small concentrated water stream. Handling of this water is important in order to avoid that the extractives enter the effluent treatment or reach undesirable levels in the process water. Thus the solubility, colloidal stability and flocculation of the extractives in the pressate water was studied. The objective was to obtain a better understanding of the effects of cationic polyelectrolytes on the stability of colloidal extractives in the pressate water from Impressafiner. A high charge density and low molecular mass polymer (poly-DADMAC), a high molecular mass and low charge density polymer (C-PAM) and combination of the polymers (mass ratio 1:1) were used. It was found that these polymers efficiently flocculate colloidal extractives present in the process water via two different flocculation mechanisms: charge neutralization and bridging flocculation. Extractives which are removed from the process water have to be taken care of in an economical way. They have to be brought into a form making it possible to remove them from the process water before the water is sent to the effluent treatment or before the water is reused in the mill. In that respect, the extent to which the extractives are present in either dissolved, colloidal or bound to fibres is important. In this work, Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) was used to remove the flocculated extractives from Impressafiner process water. For comparison, laboratory experiments were also conducted on water from chip washer. It was shown in both laboratory and pilot scale that by using DAF in combination with flocculation of the extractives with polyelectrolyte the colloidal and fibre bound extractives could be removed from the process water with a removal efficiency of 80-90%, with equal efficiency for the Impressafiner and chip washer waters. The results attained in the thesis strongly suggest that by using a compressive pretreatment method of the wood chips is possible to remove a substantial fraction of extractives before the refining process. A larger fraction of the more toxic extractive components, resin acids, than of fatty acids were removed. Further, this study emphasizes the importance of the polymer properties for their floccculation efficiency of colloidal extractives present in process water. The results also show that Dissolved Air Flotation is a convenient method to remove flocculated extractives from process water.

A safe and efficient therapy for patients with the bone marrow failure syndrome Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA) is urgently needed. To identify novel drug candidates for DBA, a small molecule screen was performed using c-Kit positive E14.5 fetal liver cells from a DBA mouse model in which the DBA phenotype is induced upon doxycycline (DOX)-inducible silencing of Rps19, the most frequently mutated gene in DBA (Jaako et al. PMID: 21989989). Test compounds were added 24 hours after cell seeding and DOX addition. After four days the number of live metabolically active cells in each well was estimated based on quantitation of intracellular ATP. Fifteen commercial annotated small-molecule libraries (3 800 molecules) and 10 500 selected compounds from a diverse compound library were screened. Between the screens we identified 20 molecules that reproducibly increased proliferation of rps19-deficient erythroid progenitors 4-8 fold in a concentration-dependent manner. Hits from annotated libraries included inhibitors of TGFb receptor, DYRK and Casein kinases. The most potent hits however were compounds in a series of thienopyridines, with an unknown target profile, but with a core structure suggesting kinase inhibition activity. Database searches revealed that the structure-activity relationships (SAR) of 12 active and 10 inactive analogues were similar to that of a series of thienopyridines previously reported as bone anabolic agents by unknown mechanism (Saito et al. PMID: 23453217). The most potent analogues described by Saito et al. as bone anabolic agents were synthesized, and the compounds rescue also RPS19-deficient erythroid cell proliferation in a potent manner (EC50= 20-50 nM). In an attempt to identify the molecular target of these compounds, six actives including thienopyridines 15k and 15w were subjected to kinase profiling against 468 kinases (DiscoverX). Three of the compounds targeted cyclin- dependent kinases CDK8 and its paralog CDK19, and in particular the most potent molecule (15w) is a highly selective CDK8 inhibitor. To confirm whether CDK8 inhibition underlies the rescue of the DBA phenotype, structurally unrelated and potent CDK8 inhibitors including CCT-251545, Senexin A, Senexin B, and Sel120-34A were also evaluated. All tested CDK8-inhibitors rescue proliferation and erythroid maturation of c-kit+ cells from the DBA mouse in a concentration-dependent manner. To further investigate the potential of CDK8 as a therapeutic target in DBA several CDK8 inhibitors were evaluated in erythroid cultures of primary DBA patient cells. CDK8 inhibitors 15w, Senexin B and Sel120-34A increase erythroid progenitor proliferation 5-10 fold of CD34+ peripheral blood cells from three DBA patients (RPS19, RPS26, RPL35a mutations), and increase the fraction of transferrin receptor (CD71) and glycophorin A positive cells in culture. Healthy CD34+ peripheral blood treated with CDK8 inhibitors show no increase in proliferation. Finally, we show that bone marrow failure and anemia in the DBA mouse model is partially rescued (RBC and Hemoglobin levels, p Disclosures Rzymski: Selvita S.A.: Employment, Equity Ownership. Johansson:LU Holding: Patents & Royalties. Lundbäck:LU Holding: Patents & Royalties. Mazan:Selvita S.A.: Employment. Majewska:Selvita S.A.: Employment. Brzózka:Selvita S.A.: Employment, Equity Ownership, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Flygare:LU Holding: Patents & Royalties: Patent.

Thiazolones with an exo-norbornylamine at the 2-position and an isopropyl group on the 5-position are potent 11beta-HSD1 inhibitors. However, the C-5 center was prone to epimerization in vitro and in vivo, forming a less potent diastereomer. A methyl group was added to the C-5 position to eliminate epimerization, leading to the discovery of (S)-2-((1S,2S,4R)-bicyclo[2.2.1]heptan-2-ylamino)-5-isopropyl-5-methylthiazol-4(5H)-one (AMG 221). This compound decreased fed blood glucose and insulin levels and reduced body weight in diet-induced obesity mice.

The main abjectives of this work were to evaluate the extent to which extractives in wood chips for mechanical pulping are released into process water during compressive pre-treatment before refining and to develop a method to remove the released extractives from the process water. In thermomechanical pulping, pre-treatments based on a high compression ratio and high temperature, are used to reduce the amount of extractives in wood chips of different raw materials before refining. One objective of this study was to evaluate the removal of extractives from the wood chips during compressive pre-treatment, in an Impressafiner by determining mass balance of extractives around a mill scale Impressafiner installation. The mass balance showed that it was possible to remove up to 15% of extractives before the refining process. Thus one advantage of using an Impressafiner is that removal of dispersed extractives can be done with little loss of fibres, from a small concentrated water stream. Handling of this water is important in order to avoid that the extractives enter the effluent treatment or reach undesirable levels in the process water. Thus the solubility, colloidal stability and flocculation of the extractives in the pressate water was studied. The objective was to obtain a better understanding of the effects of cationic polyelectrolytes on the stability of colloidal extractives in the pressate water from Impressafiner. A high charge density and low molecular mass polymer (poly-DADMAC), a high molecular mass and low charge density polymer (C-PAM) and combination of the polymers (mass ratio 1:1) were used. It was found that these polymers efficiently flocculate colloidal extractives present in the process water via two different flocculation mechanisms: charge neutralization and bridging flocculation. Extractives which are removed from the process water have to be taken care of in an economical way. They have to be brought into a form making it possible to remove them from the process water before the water is sent to the effluent treatment or before the water is reused in the mill. In that respect, the extent to which the extractives are present in either dissolved, colloidal or bound to fibres is important. In this work, Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) was used to remove the flocculated extractives from Impressafiner process water. For comparison, laboratory experiments were also conducted on water from chip washer. It was shown in both laboratory and pilot scale that by using DAF in combination with flocculation of the extractives with polyelectrolyte the colloidal and fibre bound extractives could be removed from the process water with a removal efficiency of 80-90%, with equal efficiency for the Impressafiner and chip washer waters. The results attained in the thesis strongly suggest that by using a compressive pretreatment method of the wood chips is possible to remove a substantial fraction of extractives before the refining process. A larger fraction of the more toxic extractive components, resin acids, than of fatty acids were removed. Further, this study emphasizes the importance of the polymer properties for their floccculation efficiency of colloidal extractives present in process water. The results also show that Dissolved Air Flotation is a convenient method to remove flocculated extractives from process water.

Introduction The positron emission tomography (PET) tracer 9-[ 18 F]fluoroethyl-(+)-dihydrotetrabenazine ([ 18 F]-FE-(+)-DTBZ) is a potential candidate for quantifying beta-cell mass in vivo. The purpose was to investigate in vitro and in vivo utility of this tracer for the assessment of beta-cell mass. Methods Three pigs were intravenously administered [ 18 F]-FE-(+)-DTBZ and examined by PET/computed tomography. Binding parameters were estimated by kinetic modeling. In vitro k D and B max were determined by saturation binding studies of endocrine and exocrine human tissue homogenates. In vitro pancreatic uptake was determined by tissue autoradiography with pancreases from patients with types 1 (T1DM) and 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and healthy controls. Results [ 18 F]-FE-(+)-DTBZ had a k D of 3.5±1.0 nM, a B max of 382±108 fmol/mg protein and a specificity of 89±1.8% in islet homogenates. The total exocrine uptake was lower and 65% was nondisplaceable. No uptake difference was observed in pancreatic tissue slices from patients with T1DM, T2DM or healthy controls. The in vivo porcine pancreatic uptake reached a peak of standardized uptake value (SUV) of 2.8 with a low distribution volume ratio in all animals. Moderate to high tracer uptake was identified in the bile system and in bone. Conclusions [ 18 F]-FE-(+)-DTBZ binds to vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) with high specificity in pure islet tissue in vitro. However, there is high nondisplaceable binding to exocrine tissue. In addition, in vivo tracer metabolism and dehalogenation result in severe underestimation of porcine pancreatic VMAT2 expression and BCM. The results do not support [ 18 F]-FE-(+)-DTBZ as a suitable tracer for in vivo beta-cell imaging.

Tetraphenylporphyrins bearing four linkers consisting of thioacetyl-functionalized carbon chains were immobilized on a gold surface via thiolate-gold bonds using two different preparation routes. T ...

In this article we report our findings on the electronic structure of the Li induced Ge(1 1 1)–3 × 1reconstruction as determined by angle-resolved ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (ARUPS) and ...

11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) has attracted considerable attention during the past few years as a potential target for the treatment of diseases associated with metabolic syndrome. In our ongoing work on 11beta-HSD1 inhibitors, a series of new 2-amino-1,3-thiazol-4(5 H)-ones were explored. By inserting various cycloalkylamines at the 2-position and alkyl groups or spirocycloalkyl groups at the 5-position of the thiazolone, several potent 11beta-HSD1 inhibitors were identified. An X-ray cocrystal structure of human 11beta-HSD1 with compound 6d (Ki=28 nM) revealed a large lipophilic pocket accessible by substitution off the 2-position of the thiazolone. To increase potency, analogues were prepared with larger lipophilic groups at this position. One of these compounds, the 3-noradamantyl analogue 8b, was a potent inhibitor of human 11beta-HSD1 (Ki=3 nM) and also inhibited 11beta-HSD1 activity in lean C57Bl/6 mice when evaluated in an ex vivo adipose and liver cortisone to cortisol conversion assay.

We present an angle-resolved photoemission study of the valence band of Au/ ( 3 × 3 ) − R 30 ° -4H-SiC(0 0 0 1). Several different two-dimensional states could be identified, depending on the Au coverage and annealing temperature. In the case of silicide at the surface, two-dimensional Shockley-like state is observed for higher coverages, but a potential interface state is observed at low coverages of Au. In the case of a gold film at the surface a true, confined Shockley-type surface state is observed.

Background: Previous studies have shown that homocysteine and folate levels in plasma are associated with risk for cardiovascular events and mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate if plasma concentrations of total homocysteine and folate can predict major bleeding, cardiovascular events, and all-cause mortality in patients being treated with warfarin. Methods: In a longitudinal cohort study, 719 patients who were taking warfarin were followed for 3001 treatment years. The following were recorded and classified: major bleeding; cardiovascular events including stroke, arterial emboli, and myocardial infarction (MI); and mortality. Blood samples collected at baseline were analysed for plasma homocysteine and folate levels. Results: After adjustment for age, C-reactive protein, and creatinine, high homocysteine levels were associated with cardiovascular events [hazard ratio (HR) 1.23 per standard deviation (SD); 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03–1.47], MI (HR 1.38 per SD; 95% CI: 1.03–1.85), and all-cause mortality (HR 1.41 per SD; 95% CI: 1.19–1.68). The highest tertile of folate compared to the lowest tertile was associated with decreased risk for both cardiovascular events (HR 0.64; 95% CI: 0.43–0.91) and MI (HR 0.45; 95% CI: 0.21–0.97). There was no association between major bleeding and homocysteine or folate levels. Conclusions: In patients receiving warfarin treatment, high homocysteine and low folate plasma concentrations are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular events but not major bleeding. For homocysteine levels, there is also an association with all-cause mortality.

The dCTPase pyrophosphatase 1 (dCTPase) regulates the intracellular nucleotide pool through hydrolytic degradation of canonical and noncanonical nucleotide triphosphates (dNTPs). dCTPase is highly expressed in multiple carcinomas and is associated with cancer cell stemness. Here we report on the development of the first potent and selective dCTPase inhibitors that enhance the cytotoxic effect of cytidine analogues in leukemia cells. Boronate 30 displays a promising in vitro ADME profile, including plasma and mouse microsomal half-lives, aqueous solubility, cell permeability and CYP inhibition, deeming it a suitable compound for in vivo studies.

A series of 2-anilinothiazolones were prepared as inhibitors of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1). The most potent compounds contained a 2-chloro or 2-fluoro group on the aniline ring with an isopropyl substituent on the 5-position of the thiazolone ring (compounds 2 and 3, respectively). The binding mode was determined through the X-ray co-crystal structure of the enzyme with compound 3. This compound was also approximately 70-fold selective over 11beta-HSD2 and was orally bioavailable in rat pharmacokinetic studies. However, compound 3 was >580-fold less active in the 11beta-HSD1 cell assay when tested in the presence of 3% human serum albumin.

2,5,5-Trisubstituted oxazolones were identified as potent inhibitors of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1). The synthesis, structure-activity relationship and metabolic stability of these compounds are presented.

In this paper we present evidence for a surface resonance on the (6v root 3 x 6 root 3)-R30 degrees-reconstruction obtained on 5 monolayers (ML) of An deposited on the (root 3 x root 3)-R30 degrees-4H-SiC(0001) and subsequently annealed. We use synchrotron radiation-based angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy to show that this resonance has no k(parallel to)-dispersion, but a parabolic-like kil-dispersion of 0.4 eV around Gamma. Its electronic localization in the (6 root 3- x 6 root 3-)-R30 degrees surface reconstruction is documented by comparison with the (2 root 3- x 2 root 3-)-R30 degrees structure, obtained at a slightly lower annealing temperature after 5 ML Au deposition on the (root 3- x root 3)-R30 degrees-4H-SiC(0001) substrate. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)

By employing scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), the surface atomic structure of Ag/Si(111)√3 × √3 has been studied in detail. Both honeycomb-chain-trimer (HCT) and inequivalent-triangle (IET) structures have been observed at room temperature. Si trimers, which were invisible in earlier STM studies, form a bright hexagonal pattern surrounded by a honeycomb chain from the Ag trimers. We found that the obtained images to a large extent depended on the STM tip state. Our finding indicates the important role of the tip state in the tunnelling process and consequently the interpretation of STM images.

The growth of thin 3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) films on a 3C-SiC(0 0 1)c(2 × 2) substrate has been studied by means of photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). In the first monolayer the molecules interact with the substrate mainly through the O atoms in the end groups of the molecule. The O atoms have a higher binding energy in the first molecular layer compared to the following layers. No chemical shifts are observed in the Si 2p spectra or in the C 1s spectra from the perylene core of the molecules. From the VB spectra and LEED pattern we conclude that the substrate remains in the c(2 × 2) reconstruction after PTCDA deposition. For thicker films a Stranski–Krastanov film growth was observed with flat lying molecules relative to the substrate.