BioLeT: A new design strategy for functional bioluminogenic probes

By integrating photoinduced electron transfer (PET) into the design of functional bioluminogenic probes, Urano and his coworkers recently developed a new rational design strategy, BioLeT. It is expected that this BioLeT strategy will enable us to design and develop new bioluminescence probes for detecting various biomolecules with no catalytic or reactive activity.     

Pretreating near infrared spectra with fractional order Savitzky–Golay differentiation(FOSGD)

With the aid of Riemann–Liouville fractional calculus theory,fractional order Savitzky–Golay differentiation(FOSGD) is calculated and applied to pretreat near infrared(NIR) spectra in order to improve the performance of multivariate calibrations.Similar to integral order Savitzky–Golay differentiation(IOSGD),FOSGD is obtained by fitting a spectral curve in a moving window with a polynomial function to estimate its coefficients and then carrying out the weighted average of the spectral curve in the window with the coefficients.Three NIR datasets including diesel,wheat and corn datasets were utilized to test this method.The results showed that FOSGD,which is easy to compute,is a general method to obtain Savitzky–Golay smoothing,fractional order and integral order differentiations.Fractional order differentiation computation to the NIR spectra often improves the performance of the PLS model with smaller RMSECV and RMSEP than integral order ones,especially for physical properties of interest,such as density,cetane number and hardness.     

Development of a triple channel detection probe for hydrogen peroxide

The rapid and reliable measurement of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is imperative for many areas of technology, including pharmaceutical, clinical, food industry and environmental applications. In this work, a novel multifunctional complex, [Ru(bpy)₂(luminol-bpy)](PF₆)₂ (bpy: 2,20'-bipyridine), was designed and synthesized by incorporating a Ru(II) complex with a luminal group. In the presence of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), reaction of [Ru(bpy)₂(luminol-bpy)]²⁺ with H₂O₂ can be monitored by three sensing channels including photoluminescence (PL), chemiluminiscence (CL) and eletrochemiluminiscence (ECL). The quantitative assays for H₂O₂ in aqueous solutions using [Ru(bpy)₂(Luminalbpy)]( PF₆)₂ as a probe were established with PL, ECL and CL signal output modes, respectively.     

Solvent free synthesis of trifluoromethyl tertiary alcohols by cross Aldol reaction

Exceedingly fast preparation of trifluoromethyl tertiary alcohols has been accomplished from methyl ketones and trifluoromethyl ketones under solvent free conditions by cross Aldol reaction. The reaction was achieved in the presence of common inorganic base by grinding method at ambient temperature to give β-trifluoromethyl-β-hydroxyl ketones in high yields (up to 95%).     

Development and validation of polymerized high internal phase emulsion monoliths coupled with HPLC and fluorescence detection for the determination of trace tetracycline antibiotics in environmental water samples

A polymerized high internal phase emulsion monolith was used as a novel sorbent for solid‐phase extraction coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection for the determination of oxytetracycline, tetracycline, doxycycline, and chlorotetracycline in environmental water samples. The polymerized high internal phase emulsion monolithic column was prepared by the in situ polymerization of the continuous phase of a high internal phase emulsion containing glycidyl methacrylate, styrene, and divinylbenzene in pipette tips, and then functionalized with iminodiacetic acid. The resulting monolith exhibited highly interconnected porosity and large surface areas, making it an excellent candidate as an solid‐phase extraction sorbent for the enrichment of trace tetracycline antibiotics. Several factors affecting the extraction performance of polymerized high internal phase emulsion monoliths, including the pH of sample solution, the eluting solvents, the sample loading flow rate and volume, were investigated, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the mean recoveries of oxytetracycline, tetracycline, doxycycline, and chlorotetracycline spiked in pond and farm wastewater samples ranged from 78.1 to 119.3% with relative standard deviation less than 15%. The detection limits (S/N = 3) of the proposed method were in the range of 51–137 pg/mL. This study demonstrated that the monolithic polymerized high internal phase emulsion would be promising solid‐phase extraction sorbents in the extraction and proconcentration of trace analytes from complex samples.     

Hydrophobic terminal group of surfactant initiating micellization as revealed by 1H NMR spectroscopy

The critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of four with three kinds of conventional surfactants, namely, two cationic surfactants [hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and tetradecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (TTAB)], one anionic surfactant [sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)], and a nonionic surfactant [Triton X-100 (TX-100)], were determined by variation of ¹H chemical shifts with surfactant concentrations. Results show that the CAC values of protons at different positions of the same molecule are different, and those of the terminal methyl protons are the lowest, respectively, which suggests that the terminal groups of the alkyl chains aggregates first during micellization. Measurement of the transverse relaxation time (T₂) of different protons in SDS also show that the terminal methyl protons start to decrease with the increase in concentration first, which supports the above mentioned tendency.     

Anti-tumor effects of combined doxorubicin and siRNA for pulmonary delivery

Direct administration of drugs and genes to the lungs by pulmonary delivery offers a potential effective therapy for lung cancers.In this study,combined doxorubicin(DOX)and Bcl2 siRNA was employed for cancer therapy using polyethylenimine(PEI)as the carrier of Bcl2 siRNA.Most of the DOX and siRNA possessed high cellular uptake efficiency in B16F10 cells,which was proved by FCM and CLSM analysis. Real-time PCR showed that PEI/Bcl2 siRNA exhibited high gene silencing efficiency with 70% Bcl2 mRNA being knocked down.The combination of DOX and siRNA could enhance the cell proliferation inhibition and the cell apoptosis against B16F10 cells compared to free DOX or PEI/Bcl2 siRNA.Furthermore,the biodistribution of DOX and siRNA via pulmonary administration was studied in mice with B16F10 metastatic lung cancer.The results showed that most of the DOX and siRNA were accumulated in lungs and lasted at least for 3 days,which suggested that combined DOX and siRNA by pulmonary administration may have high anti-tumor effects for metastatic lung cancer treatment in vivo.