In This Issue Cite This: ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9, 628−628
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RAPAMYCIN TO THE RESCUE
minor structural variations. As a result, the authors presented compounds that were capable of scavenging free radicals and chelating metal-bound amyloid β to reduce aggregation.
■ Multidrug resistant Gram-negative pathogens are an emerging crisis worldwide, triggering a race to develop new antibiotic drugs. One of the last lines of defense against these pathogens are polymyxins, lipopeptide antibiotics that count neurotoxicity as one of their side effects. Additionally, the mechanisms by which polymyxins induce neurotoxicity remain largely uncharacterized. In this issue, Dai et al. (DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00323) explore the lipophilic macrocyclic lactone antibiotic rapamycin, which exhibits pharmacological neuroprotective properties in addition to antibiotic activity. The authors previously elucidated the details of how colistin, a polymyxin antibiotic, induces neurotoxicity via the generation of reactive oxygen species that trigger apoptosis of neuronal cells. Here, the authors demonstrate that the neuroprotective properties of rapamycin suppress colistin-induced oxidative stress and rescue neuronal cells from apoptosis, triggering autophagy instead.
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LIGHTING UP SYNAPSES
The synapse is a key structure in neural signaling, and synaptic dysfunction is associated with several neurodegenerative diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. The ability to noninvasively image synapses and their properties is a critical step in the early diagnosis of neurological disorders. While current synapse monitoring techniques involve genetically encoded markers, these tools are limited by effective delivery of genetic material to the brain. In this issue, Dunn et al. (DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00263) describe a chemical approach to imaging synapses. They have developed an image-based, high-throughput screening platform to detect synaptic labeling and then applied this platform to screen for fluorescent dyes capable of synaptic imaging. This screen identified compounds in the xanthone family of fluorescent dyes as synaptic markers.
CHEMICAL PROBES FOR ALZHEIMER’S BIOMARKERS
While the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease remains poorly understood, a number of cellular markers associated with the disease have been identified, such as amyloid β, metal-bound amyloid β, and free radicals. The development of chemical tools capable of targeting and modulating these pathogenic factors would be extremely useful in further understanding how this disease develops and progresses at the cellular level. Here, Han et al. (DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00454) describe the development of small molecule chemical tools to probe and modulate pathological elements implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. The authors synthesized a series of small molecule probes and fine-tuned their redox properties through © 2018 American Chemical Society
pubs.acs.org/chemneuro
Published: April 18, 2018 628
DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.8b00153 ACS Chem. Neurosci. 2018, 9, 628−628
