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Sandra Hess

Publications and source records attributed to Sandra Hess.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

The acetaminophen-derived bioactive N-acylphenolamine AM404 inhibits NFAT by targeting nuclear regulatory events.

AM404 is a synthetic TRPV1/CB(1) hybrid ligand with inhibitory activity on the anandamide transporter and is used for the pharmacological manipulation of the endocannabinoid system. It has been recently described that acetaminophen is metabolised in the brain to form the bioactive N-acylphenolamine AM404 and therefore, we have evaluated the effect of this metabolite in human T cells, discovering that AM404 is a potent inhibitor of TCR-mediated T-cell activation. Moreover, we found that AM404 specifically inhibited both IL-2 and TNF-alpha gene transcription and TNF-alpha synthesis in CD3/CD28-stimulated Jurkat T cells in a FAAH independent way. To further characterize the biochemical inhibitory mechanisms of AM404, we examined the signaling pathways that regulate the activation of the transcription factors NF-kappaB, NFAT and AP-1 in Jurkat cells. We found that AM404 inhibited both the binding to DNA and the transcriptional activity of endogenous NFAT and the transcriptional activity driven by the over expressed fusion protein Gal4-NFAT (1-415). However, AM404 did not affect early steps in NFAT signaling such as CD3-induced calcium mobilization and NFAT1 dephosphorylation. The NFAT inhibitory activity of AM404 seems to be quite specific since this compound did not interfere with the signaling pathways leading to AP-1 or NF-kappaB activation. These findings provide new mechanistic insights into the immunological effects of AM404 which in part could explain some of the activities ascribed to the widely used acetaminophen.

Acetaminophen↗
PubMed2005

Signal transduction pathways regulating cyclooxygenase-2 in lipopolysaccharide-activated primary rat microglia.

Microglia are the major cell type involved in neuroinflammatory events in brain diseases such as encephalitis, stroke, and neurodegenerative disorders, and contribute significantly to the release of prostaglandins (PGs) during neuronal insults. In this report, we studied the immediate-early intracellular signalling pathways in microglia, following bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, leading to the synthesis and release of PGE2. Here we show that LPS induces cyclooxygenase (COX) 2 by activating sphingomyelinases leading to the release of ceramides, which in turn, activate the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), but not the p42/44 MAPK. We further show that exogenously added ceramide analogue (C2-ceramide) also induce PGE2 synthesis through a p38 MAPK-dependent pathway. This potential nature of ceramides in activating microglia suggests that endogenously produced ceramides during neuronal apoptosis in ischemia or neurodegenerative diseases could also contribute to the amplification of neuroinflammatory events. In contrast to protein kinase C (PKC) and phosphocholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC), which transcriptionally regulate LPS-induced COX-2 synthesis, inhibition of phospholipase A2 (PLA2) has no effect on COX-2 transcription, although it inhibits the release of PGE2. Transcriptional regulation of LPS-induced COX-2 by PKC is further proved by the ability of the PKC inhibitor, Gö 6976, to inhibit LPS-induced 8-isoprostane synthesis, but not affecting LPS-induced COX-2 activity. Our data with 8-isoprostane also indicates that COX-2 plays a major role in ROS production in LPS-activated microglia. This detailed view of the intracellular signaling pathway in microglial activation and COX-2 expression opens a new therapeutic window in the search for new and more effective central anti-inflammatory agents.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Polymeric membranes for aromatic/aliphatic separation processes.

For the membrane-based separation of benzene/cyclohexane mixtures, the pervaporation properties of different 6FDA (4,4'-hexafluoroisopropylidene diphthalic anhydride) based copolyimide membranes have been investigated. In order to obtain high permeability as well as high selectivity copolyimides were synthesised using a combination of 4MPD (2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,4-phenylene diamine) and 6FpDA (4,4'-hexafluoro-isopropylidene dianiline) as well as DABA (3,5-diaminobenzoic acid) as monomers. Cross-linking is possible with this type of copolyimides and necessary to reduce swelling effects, which often occur with polymeric membranes and lead to a deterioration of the separation characteristics in aromatic/aliphatic separation processes. In order to find the most suitable membrane material, the polymer structure, the crosslinking agents, as well as the crosslinking methods have been varied. The separation characteristics have been determined by sorption and pervaporation experiments. Sorption experiments have been carried out at 60 degrees C using benzene, toluene and ethylbenzene as aromatic components and cyclohexane, cyclohexene, hexane and heptane as aliphatic solvents. Pervaporation experiments have been performed at 60 degrees C using benzene/cyclohexane mixtures with benzene concentrations covering the whole concentration range. It has been found that crosslinked copolyimide membranes show excellent chemical resistance, strongly reduced swelling behaviour and higher selectivity in aromatic/aliphatic separation compared to conventional membrane materials.

Chemistry, Physical↗