Enzymes and phytochemicals from neem extract robustly tuned the photocatalytic activity of ZnO for the degradation of malachite green (MG) in aqueous media

The malachite green (MG) is very difficult to degrade in water; thus, it needs an efficient photocatalyst. In this study, neem extract was used to tune the surface and crystal properties of ZnO nanostructures for the photodegradation of MG. The biosynthesized ZnO samples were prepared by hydrothermal method in the presence of 5, 10 and 15 mL of neem extract. The structural characterization has shown nanoparticle like morphology of ZnO as revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and hexagonal phase was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The XRD analysis has shown a shift in the 2 theta towards lower angle for ZnO with increasing amount of neem extract. Also, the crystallite particle size of ZnO was decreased with increasing neem extract. The UV–visible spectroscopy has shown the decrease in the optical band gap of ZnO, and the lowest band gap is possessed by ZnO sample produced with 15 mL of neem extract. The ZnO sample obtained with 15 mL of neem extract has shown approximately 99% degradation efficiency for MG for 70 min in aqueous solution. The superior photocatalytic activity of ZnO sample with 15 mL of neem extract could be attributed from the decrease in charge recombination rate due to the decreased optical band gap and particle size.

     

Evaluation of the Expression of Amyloid Precursor Protein and the Ratio of Secreted Amyloid Beta 42 to Amyloid Beta 40 in SH-SY5Y Cells Stably Transfected with Wild-Type,Single-Mutant and Double-Mutant Forms of the APP Gene for the Study of Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology

Neuroblastoma cell lines such as SH-SY5Y are the most frequently utilized models in neurodegenerative research, and their use has advanced the understanding of the pathology of neurodegeneration over the past few decades. In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), several pathogenic mutations have been described, all of which cause elevated levels of pathological hallmarks such as amyloid-beta (Aβ). Although the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease is well known, familial AD only accounts for a small number of cases in the population, with the rest being sporadic AD, which contains no known mutations. Currently, most of the in vitro models used to study AD pathogenesis only examine the level of Aβ42 as a confirmation of successful model generation and only perform comparisons between wild-type APP and single mutants of the APP gene. Recent findings have shown that the Aβ42/40 ratio in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a better diagnostic indicator for AD patients than is Aβ42 alone and that more extensive Aβ formation, such as accumulation of intraneuronal Aβ, Aβ plaques, soluble oligomeric Aβ (oAβ), and insoluble fibrillar Aβ (fAβ) occurs in TgCRND8 mice expressing a double-mutant form (Swedish and Indiana) of APP, later leading to greater progressive impairment of the brain. In this study, we generated SH-SY5Y cells stably transfected separately with wild-type APP, the Swedish mutation of APP, and the Swedish and Indiana mutations of APP and evaluated the APP expression as well as the Aβ42/40 ratio in those cells. The double-mutant form of APP (Swedish/Indiana) expressed markedly high levels of APP protein and showed a high Aβ2/40 ratio compared to wild-type and single-mutant cells.     

Sensitive and selective determination of peptides,PG and PGP,using a novel fluorogenic reagent 4-chlorobenzene-1,2-diol

A novel fluorometric method was developed for the sensitive and selective detection of Pro-Gly (PG) and Pro-Gly-Pro (PGP) using 4-chlorobenzene-1,2-diol (4-CBD) as a fluorogenic reagent. The reaction was performed at 37°C for 30 min in the presence of a borate buffer (pH 7.0) and sodium periodate. The resulting fluorescence intensity was measured using a spectrofluorometer with excitation and emission wavelengths of 450 nm and 535 nm. To obtain a stable fluorescent signal and maximise its intensity, different reaction conditions such as the concentrations of the reagents, the reaction time, and the pH were optimised. Under the optimised conditions, a linear relationship was obtained between fluorescence intensity and peptide concentrations from 1.0–40.0 µmol L^?1 with a limit of detection of 1.0 µmol L^?1 (S/N = 3). Both PG and PGP generated a strong signal out of all the peptides tested and no other biogenic substances such as amino acids or proteins produced any fluorescence. The reaction thus developed is simple, rapid, selective, and sensitive. It can be applied to the determination of peptides as biomarkers or substrates.     

Highly Antiplasmodial Non‐Natural Oxidative Products of Dioncophylline A: Synthesis,Absolute Configuration,and Conformational Stability

Four new compounds, the monomeric dioncotetralones A ( 6 a ) and B ( 6 b ) and the dimeric compounds jozimine A₃ ( 7 ) and jozimine A₄ ( 9 ), were semi‐synthesized from the natural product dioncophylline A ( 4 ) and its 5′‐O‐demethylated derivative ( 5 ), respectively, under phenol oxidative reaction conditions. Dioncotetralones A ( 6 a ) and B ( 6 b ) possess an unprecedented Z‐configured double bond, in contrast to the classic biaryl axis that is present in the precursor dioncophylline A ( 4 ), and an additional stereogenic center at the C2′ atom was generated due to the dearomatization. The resulting steric repulsion forced the expected planar double bond into a helical distorted conformation. The homocoupling of 5 yielded compounds 7 and 9 , the latter of which is the first sp³–sp² coupled product of a monomeric naphthylisoquinoline with a reduced one and, thus, contains a newly generated stereogenic center. The full stereostructures of 6 a , 6 b , 7 , and 9 were successfully elucidated by the interplay of spectroscopic methods (1D/2D NMR and electronic circular‐dichroism spectroscopy) in combination with quantum‐chemical calculations. In addition, compounds 6 a and 7 exhibited high antiplasmodial activities with excellent half‐maximal inhibitory concentration values.     

Synthesis,reactions, and antimicrobial activity of some novel pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine,pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidine,and pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-c]pyrimidine derivatives

Treatment of N-phenyl-substituted benzenecarbo-hydrazonoyl chlorides 1a - d with malononitrile in sodium ethoxide solution gave 5-amino-4-cyanopyrazole derivatives 2 - 5 . Compounds 2 - 5 were converted to formidate derivatives 6 - 9 upon treatment with TEOF in acetic anhydride. The reaction of the latter products 6 - 9 with hydrazine hydrate gave imino-amino derivatives 10 - 13 , which was converted to hydrazino derivatives 14 - 17 by refluxing with hydrazine hydrate. Hydrazino as well as imino-amino derivatives undergo condensation, cyclization, and cycloaddition reactions to give pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine 18 - 21 , pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo-[3,4-c]pyrimidine 22 - 27 , and pyrazolo[3′,4′:4,5]pyrimido[1,6-b][1,2,4]triazine 42 - 44 derivatives. Antimicrobial studies are performed using two Gram-positive bacteria and two Gram-negative bacteria. Data indicated that compounds 5 , 28D , 29B , and 31D are exploring elevated antibacterial effects against all strains tested. Compound 28D is the most promising antibacterial agent against the delicate bacterial strain Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa with high effectiveness (low minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] value) 40 and 60 μg/mL, respectively.     

Synthesis and characterization of surface modified SBA-15 silica materials and their application in chromatography

Hexagonally ordered SBA-15 mesoporous silica spheres with large uniform pore diameters are obtained using the triblock copolymer, Pluronic P123, as template with a cosurfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and the cosolvent ethanol in acidic media. A series of surface modified SBA-15 silica materials is prepared in the present work using mono- and trifunctional alkyl chains of various lengths which improves the hydrothermal and mechanical stability. Several techniques, such as element analysis, nitrogen sorption analysis, small angle X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FTIR, solid-state (29)Si and (13)C NMR spectroscopy are employed to characterize the SBA-15 materials before and after surface modification with the organic components. Nitrogen sorption analysis is performed to calculate specific surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution. By surface modification with organic groups, the mesoporous SBA-15 silica spheres are potential materials for stationary phases in HPLC separation of small aromatic molecules and biomolecules. The HPLC performance of the present SBA-15 samples is therefore tested by means of a suitable test mixture.     

Determination of free phenolic acids and antioxidant capacity of methanolic extracts obtained from leaves and flowers of camel thorn (Alhagi maurorum)

The present study comprises the determination of some phenolic acids from the leaves and flowers of Alhagi maurorum by HPLC-DAD, confirmed by LC-MS-APCI. The antioxidant properties and measurements of the total phenolic contents of the extracts were assessed by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging and Folin-Ciocalteu methods, respectively. It was found that the leaf extract had higher antioxidant potential (83.5%) than the flower extract (72.3%). The antioxidant properties and total phenolic contents of the leaves were higher than those of the flowers.     

Marilines A-C: novel phthalimidines from the sponge-derived fungus Stachylidium sp

A marine-derived fungus of the genus Stachylidium was isolated from the sponge Callyspongia cf. C. flammea. Chemical investigation of the bioactive fungal extract led to the isolation of the novel phthalimidine derivatives marilines A(1) (1a), A(2) (1b), B (2), and C (3). The absolute configurations of the enantiomeric compounds 1a and 1b were assigned by a combination of experimental circular dichroism (CD) investigations and quantum chemical CD calculations. The skeleton of marilines is most unusual, and its biosynthesis is suggested to require uncommon biochemical reactions in fungal secondary metabolism. Both enantiomers, marilines A(1) (1a) and A(2) (1b), inhibited human leukocyte elastase (HLE) with an IC(50) value of 0.86 μM.     

Effects of boundary reflection on photoacoustic spectrum of porous silicon

Photoacoustic (PA) amplitude and phase spectra are studied on porous silicon (PS) samples. For the sample with a thinner PS layer and a rough interface observed by field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), PA amplitude decays rapidly at short wavelengths but stays at a higher level above 650 nm compared with a sample with a thicker PS layer and a smooth interface. In this latter long-wavelength region, phase delay for the former sample is smaller. A model calculation for the two-layer model taking account of scattering of light in the porous media and interface reflection of light gives at least a qualitative explanation of these differences. Received: 30 June 1999 / Accepted: 11 October 1999 / Published online: 23 February 2000     

Hybrid Quinoline-Thiosemicarbazone Therapeutics as a New Treatment Opportunity for Alzheimer’s Disease‒Synthesis,In Vitro Cholinesterase Inhibitory Potential and Computational Modeling Analysis

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the leading cause of dementia worldwide. The limited pharmacological approaches based on cholinesterase inhibitors only provide symptomatic relief to AD patients. Moreover, the adverse side effects such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, muscle cramps, and headaches associated with these drugs and numerous clinical trial failures present substantial limitations on the use of medications and call for a detailed insight of disease heterogeneity and development of preventive and multifactorial therapeutic strategies on urgent basis. In this context, we herein report a series of quinoline-thiosemicarbazone hybrid therapeutics as selective and potent inhibitors of cholinesterases. A facile multistep synthetic approach was utilized to generate target structures bearing multiple sites for chemical modifications and establishing drug-receptor interactions. The structures of all the synthesized compounds were fully established using readily available spectroscopic techniques (FTIR, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR). In vitro inhibitory results revealed compound 5b as a promising and lead inhibitor with an IC₅₀ value of 0.12 ± 0.02 μM, a 5-fold higher potency than standard drug (galantamine; IC₅₀ = 0.62 ± 0.01 μM). The synergistic effect of electron-rich (methoxy) group and ethylmorpholine moiety in quinoline-thiosemicarbazone conjugates contributes significantly in improving the inhibition level. Molecular docking analysis revealed various vital interactions of potent compounds with amino acid residues and reinforced the in vitro results. Kinetics experiments revealed the competitive mode of inhibition while ADME properties favored the translation of identified inhibitors into safe and promising drug candidates for pre-clinical testing. Collectively, inhibitory activity data and results from key physicochemical properties merit further research to ensure the design and development of safe and high-quality drug candidates for Alzheimer’s disease.