Gilberto Orivaldo Chierice

Correlation between ionic radius and thermal decomposition of Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) diethanoldithiocarbamates

Diethanoldithiocarbamate complexes with Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) were prepared and characterised by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy and flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Their thermal decomposition was investigated by TG/DTG and DSC techniques under dynamic air and nitrogen atmospheres. These studies showed that the smaller the metallic ionic radius the higher was their thermal stability and that the bidentate complex decomposed in a direct way, with no evidence of thyocyanate intermediates.

Surface Complexation of Copper(II) with Alizarin Red S Adsorbed on a Graphite Electrode and Its Possible Application in Electroanalysis

Alizarin red S (ARS) has been used previously as a spectrophotometric reagent for several metals. It has been also employed as an electrode modifier agent for voltammetric analysis. With the purpose of studying the electrochemistry of the adsorbed ARS ligand and the surface ARS-copper(II) complex, on the pyrolytic graphite electrode, cyclic voltammetric experiments were carried out in open and closed circuits. The results indicate that ARS is strongly and irreversibly adsorbed on the electrode surface. This adsorption process was employed to immobilize, by complexation, copper ions from the solution, and for a possible application of the ARS modified electrode in trace copper electroanalysis are explored in this article. The optimization for trace copper determination in aqueous solution was accomplished by anodic stripping voltammetric technique (differential pulse mode); the preconcentration potential was –0.40 V; pH was 5.3 and accumulation time was 2 minutes. Under these conditions, the detection limit was 1.7×10–8 mol L–1, and a linear range from 1.0×10–7 to 4.0×10–6 mol L–1.

Anti-angiogenic and anti-metastatic activity of synthetic phosphoethanolamine.

Background Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common type of kidney cancer, and represents the third most common urological malignancy. Despite the advent of targeted therapies for RCC and the improvement of the lifespan of patients, its cost-effectiveness restricted the therapeutic efficacy. In a recent report, we showed that synthetic phosphoethanolamine (Pho-s) has a broad antitumor activity on a variety of tumor cells and showed potent inhibitor effects on tumor progress in vivo. Methodology/Principal Findings We show that murine renal carcinoma (Renca) is more sensitive to Pho-s when compared to normal immortalized rat proximal tubule cells (IRPTC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). In vitro anti-angiogenic activity assays show that Pho-s inhibits endothelial cell proliferation, migration and tube formation. In addition, Pho-s has anti-proliferative effects on HUVEC by inducing a cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. It causes a decrease in cyclin D1 mRNA, VEGFR1 gene transcription and VEGFR1 receptor expression. Pho-s also induces nuclear fragmentation and affects the organization of the cytoskeleton through the disruption of actin filaments. Additionally, Pho-s induces apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. The putative therapeutic potential of Pho-s was validated in a renal carcinoma model, on which our remarkable in vivo results show that Pho-s potentially inhibits lung metastasis in nude mice, with a superior efficacy when compared to Sunitinib. Conclusions/Significance Taken together, our findings provide evidence that Pho-s is a compound that potently inhibits lung metastasis, suggesting that it is a promising novel candidate drug for future developments.

Synthetic phosphoethanolamine induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells through the mitochondrial pathway.

Phosphoethanolamine (Pho-s) is a compound involved in phospholipid turnover, acting as a substrate for many phospholipids of the cell membranes. In a recent study, we showed that Pho-s has antitumor effect in the several tumor cells. In this study we evaluated the antitumor activity of synthetic Pho-s on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Here we demonstrate that Pho-s is cytotoxic to MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent manner, while it is cytotoxic to MCF10 only at higher concentrations. In addition, Pho-s induces a disruption in mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm). Furthermore, Pho-s induces mitochondria aggregates in the cytoplasm and DNA fragmentation of MCF-7 cells visualized by confocal microscopy. In agreement with the reduction on Δψm, we showed that Pho-s induces apoptosis followed by an increase in cytochrome c expression and capase-3-like activity in MCF-7 cells. Our results demonstrate that Pho-s induces a cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase through an inhibition of cyclin D1 and stimulates p53. An additional highlight of this study is the finding that Pho-s inhibits Bcl-2, inducing apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway. Taken together, these results show that Pho-s is a promising compound in the fight against cancer.

Study of the biodegradation of a polymer derived from castor oil by scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry and infrared spectroscopy

The aim of this research is to study the biodegradation of a polyurethane derived from castor oil, which contains polyester segment in its molecular structure, thus becoming susceptible to the microorganisms attack. The biodegradation of polyurethane was tested in contact with microorganisms resulting from microbiological grease degrading agents, in appropriate liquid media, with a duration of 156 days. The study was done by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetry (TG) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy with accessory for attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR). The results suggest that the degradation of polyurethane derived from castor oil occurs. TG curves are used in order to indicate the biodegradation, showing changes between the thermal behavior of the samples that were inoculated with microorganisms and control. In the FTIR-ATR spectra, there are detectable changes between the spectra of control and attacked specimens; this suggests that degradation occurs, with the decreased intensity of the absorption band at 1042 cm -1 , corresponding to the esters links.

Synthetic Phosphoethanolamine Induces Apoptosis Through Caspase-3 Pathway by Decreasing Expression of Bax/Bad Protein and Changes Cell Cycle in Melanoma

Phospholipids are potential antineoplastic agents that are abundant constituents of the cell membrane of eukaryotes and are supposed to be involved in specific intracellular signaling such as cell death. The aim of this study was to assess the in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects of synthetic phosphoethalomanine (PHO-S) on B16F10 murine melanoma cells and normal human fibroblasts. The cytotoxicty was evaluated by MTT assay and PHO-S was cytotoxic in melanoma cells but not in fibroblasts with IC50% of 1.4 mg/ml to melanoma cells. In vivo antitumor activity was evaluated in a mice model subcutaneously injected with B16F10 melanoma cells. The mice treated with PHO-S in all concentrations showed a decrease of the tumor growth and metastasis. Cytometry analysis showed that the PHO-S blocked DNA synthesis, decreased number of melanoma cells in S phase and G2/M, besides increasing number of apoptotic cells, inducing caspase-3 activity and decreasing Bad/Bax protein expression. Histologically, the dorsal tumors in the control group showed pigmented nodular masses with high vascularization and pleomorphic tumor cells. In the treated group, PHO-S reduction vascularization intratumoral with increased of collagen fibers and infiltrates neutrophils. The data indicate that PHO-S is a lipid compound potential with proapoptotic and antiproliferative effects but further work will be necessary to elucidate the antitumor mechanisms.

Biodegradation of polyurethane derived from castor oil

The aim of this research was to study the biodegradation of a polymer derived from castor oil, which is a renewa- ble, natural material that is a practical alternative for the replacement of traditional polyurethane foams. Due to its molecular structure, which contains polyester segments derived from vegetable oil, the polymeric surface is susceptible to microor- ganism attack. This study tested the biological degrading agent that was in contact with the microorganisms resulting from microbiological grease degrading agents, when foam was inoculated. Solid-media agar-plate tests were conducted for their potential to evaluate the biodegradation of polymeric particles by specific strains of microorganisms during 216 hours. The growth rate was defined. This technique provides a way of distinguishing the degradation abilities of microorganisms from the degradability of materials.

The Effect of the Aminic Substituent on the Thermal Decomposition of Cyclic Dithiocarbamates

Thermogravimetric and Differential Scanning Calorimetric investigation of the thermal behaviour of NH4+, Na+, Zn2+, Cd2+ e Pb2+ dithiocarbamates obtained from cyclic amines, is described under nitrogen and air atmospheres in order to investigate the effect of a cyclic ring on the mechanism of decomposition. Intermediates were identified by X-ray Diffraction analysis. Zn2+, Cd2+ e Pb2+ oxysulphates were detected under air atmosphere suggesting the thermal decomposition under these conditions as an alternating synthetic route to prepare those compounds. The final decomposition products were the metallic sulphides under N2 atmosphere while transition metal oxides and sodium sulphate were obtained under air. Melting enthalpies are also reported from DSC data.

Synthetic phosphoethanolamine a precursor of membrane phospholipids reduce tumor growth in mice bearing melanoma B16-F10 and in vitro induce apoptosis and arrest in G2/M phase

Phosphoethanolamine (Pho-s) is a compound involved in phospholipid turnover, acting as a substrate for many phospholipids of the cell membranes, especially phosphatidylcholine. We recently reported that synthetic Pho-s has potent effects on a wide variety of tumor cells. To determine if Pho-s has a potential antitumor activity, in this study we evaluated the activity of Pho-s against the B16-F10 melanoma both in vitro and in mice bearing a dorsal tumor. The treatment of B16F10 cells with Pho-s resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation. At low concentrations, this activity appears to be involved in the arrest of the cell cycle at G2/M, while at high concentrations Pho-s induces apoptosis. In accordance with these results, the loss of mitochondrial potential and increased caspase-3 activity suggest that Pho-s has dual antitumor effects; i.e. it induces apoptosis at high concentrations and modulates the cell cycle at lower concentrations. In vivo, we evaluated the effect of Pho-s in mice bearing B16-F10 melanoma. The results show that Pho-s reduces the tumoral volume increasing survival rate. Furthermore, the tumor doubling time and tumor delays were substantially reduced when compared with untreated mice. Histological analyses reveal that Pho-s induces changes in cell morphology, typical characteristics of apoptosis, in addition the large areas of necrosis correlating with a reduction of tumor size. The results presented here support the hypothesis that Pho-s has antitumor effects by the induction of apoptosis as well as the inhibition of cell proliferation by arrest at G2/M. Thus, Pho-s can be regarded as a promising agent for the treatment of melanoma.

Effects of Ricinus communis oil esters on salivary glands of Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806) (Acari: Ixodidae)

This study showed the interference of esters extracted from Ricinus communis in the secretory cycle of salivary glands of Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks, which consequently caused collateral effects on their feeding process. Ticks attached on hosts which were fed with commercial feed containing different concentrations of R. communis oil esters suffered damages such as cytoplasmic changes in their salivary glands, notably in the acinar cells, impairing the functioning of the acini and accelerating the organs degeneration as a whole. It was found that esters interfered with the activity of cellular secretion by changing the glycoprotein of salivary composition especially in acini II cells. It was also shown that the damages caused by esters in the salivary glands cells of these ectoparasites increased in higher concentrations of the product and degenerative glandular changes were more pronounced.