Xiaoyu Tian

TL;DR: Curcumin-based near-infrared fluorescence imaging probes for detecting both soluble and insoluble amyloid beta (Aβ) species and then an inhibitor that could attenuate cross-linking of Aβ induced by copper are designed and synthesized.

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that CRANAD-3, a curcumin analog, is capable of detecting both soluble and insoluble Aβ species and could monitor the decrease in Aβs after drug treatment, the first time that NIRF was used to monitor AD therapy.

TL;DR: The authors' results suggest that the six-membered lactone pharmacophore is critical for CB2 receptor selectivity, and synthesized benzo-6-one analogs possessing high affinity and selectivity for this receptor are CB2 agonists.

TL;DR: These results are congruent with a hypothesis that anandamide approaches its binding site by laterally diffusing within one membrane leaflet in an extended conformation and interacts with a hydrophobic groove formed by helices 3 and 6 of CB1, where its terminal carbon is positioned close to a key cysteine residue in helix 6 leading to receptor activation.

TL;DR: The proposed model is discussed using a group of classical and non-classical cannabinoids as well as the endogenous cannabinoid ligand anandamide to show that such ligands when incorporated in a membrane system assume a preferred orientation and conformation.