Fission 2.8.1 __TOP__

The position of equilibrium reactions that involve hydrogen exchange, (2.8.12), will be effected by the presence of deuterium to favor the deuterium being concentrated in the more stable bond. This is the basis of the concentration of HOD from HSD and water, (2.8.3).

Fission 2.8.1

Reaction of the rodent carcinogen acrylamide (AM) at pH 7.0 and 37 degrees C for 10 and 40 days with 2'-deoxyadenosine (dAdo), 2'-deoxycytidine (dCyd), 2'-deoxyguanosine (dGuo), and thymidine (dThd) resulted in the formation of 2-formamidoethyl and 2-carboxyethyl adducts via Michael addition. The alkylated 2'-deoxynucleoside adducts isolated (% yield after 40 days) were 1-(2-carboxyethyl)-dAdo (1-CE-dAdo) (8%), N6-CE-dAdo (21%) (via Dimroth rearrangement of 1-CE-dAdo), 1-CE-dGuo (4%), 7-(2-formamidoethyl)-Gua (7-FAE-Gua) (6%), 7, 9-bis-FAE-Gua (1%) (formed by reaction of AM with depurinated 7-FAE-Gua during the course of the reaction), and 3-FAE-dThd (4%). The products isolated following in vitro reaction of AM with calf thymus DNA at pH 7.0 and 37 degrees C for 40 days were (nmol/mg DNA) 1-CE-dAdo (5.5), N6-CE-dAdo (1.4), 3-CE-dCyd (2.8), 1-CE-dGuo (0.3), and 7-FAe-Gua (1.6). Compound 3-FAE-dThd was not detected. Structures were assigned on the basis of chemical properties, UV spectra, and electron impact, chemical ionization, desorption chemical ionization, Californium-252 fission fragment ionization, and fast atom bombardment mass spectra. A facile hydrolysis of the amide group to a carboxylic acid was observed when AM alkylated a ring nitrogen adjacent to an exocyclic nitrogen atom. In previous studies, we had observed an analogous phenomenon when studying the in vitro reactions of acrylonitrile with DNA, i.e., a facile hydrolysis of nitrile to carboxylic acid when acrylonitrile alkylated (via Michael addition) a ring nitrogen adjacent to an exocyclic nitrogen. Since the nitrile group hydrolyzes to a carboxylic acid via an amide intermediate, we had hypothesized in the present study that the same facile hydrolysis of amide to carboxylic acid would occur under identical stereochemical conditions as had occurred with the nitrile group. Thus, in vitro alkylation of calf thymus DNA by both acrylonitrile and, in the present study, AM, resulted in mixed adduct formation.

Painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) is an intractable complication affecting 25% of diabetic patients. Painful diabetic neuropathy is characterized by neuropathic pain accompanied by dorsal root ganglion (DRG) nociceptor hyperexcitability, resulting in calcium overload, axonal degeneration, and loss of cutaneous innervation. The molecular pathways underlying these effects are unknown. Using high-throughput and deep-proteome profiling, we found that mitochondrial fission proteins were elevated in DRG neurons from mice with PDN induced by a high-fat diet (HFD). In vivo calcium imaging revealed increased calcium signaling in DRG nociceptors from mice with PDN. Furthermore, using electron microscopy, we showed that mitochondria in DRG nociceptors had fragmented morphology as early as 2 weeks after starting HFD, preceding the onset of mechanical allodynia and small-fiber degeneration. Moreover, preventing calcium entry into the mitochondria, by selectively deleting the mitochondrial calcium uniporter from these neurons, restored normal mitochondrial morphology, prevented axonal degeneration, and reversed mechanical allodynia in the HFD mouse model of PDN. These studies suggest a molecular cascade linking neuropathic pain to axonal degeneration in PDN. In particular, nociceptor hyperexcitability and the associated increased intracellular calcium concentrations could lead to excessive calcium entry into mitochondria mediated by the mitochondrial calcium uniporter, resulting in increased calcium-dependent mitochondrial fission and ultimately contributing to small-fiber degeneration and neuropathic pain in PDN. Hence, we propose that targeting calcium entry into nociceptor mitochondria may represent a promising effective and disease-modifying therapeutic approach for this currently intractable and widespread affliction. Moreover, these results are likely to inform studies of other neurodegenerative disease involving similar underlying events. 041b061a72