Construction of a Live‐Attenuated HIV‐1 Vaccine through Genetic Code Expansion

A safe and effective vaccine against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1) is urgently needed to combat the worldwide AIDS pandemic, but still remains elusive. The fact that uncontrolled replication of an attenuated vaccine can lead to regaining of its virulence creates safety concerns precluding many vaccines from clinical application. We introduce a novel approach to control HIV‐1 replication, which entails the manipulation of essential HIV‐1 protein biosynthesis through unnatural amino acid (UAA*)‐mediated suppression of genome‐encoded blank codon. We successfully demonstrate that HIV‐1 replication can be precisely turned on and off in vitro.     

BODIPY‐Bridged Push–Pull Chromophores for Nonlinear Optical Applications

A set of linear and dissymmetric BODIPY‐bridged push–pull dyes are synthesized. The electron‐donating substituents are anisole and dialkylanilino groups. The strongly electron‐accepting moiety, a 1,1,4,4‐tetracyanobuta‐1,3‐diene (TCBD) group, is obtained by insertion of an electron‐rich ethyne into tetracyanoethylene. A nonlinear push–pull system is developed with a donor at the 5‐position of the BODIPY core and the acceptor at the 2‐position. All dyes are fully characterized and their electrochemical, linear and nonlinear optical properties are discussed. The linear optical properties of dialkylamino compounds show strong solvatochromic behavior and undergo drastic changes upon protonation. The strong push–pull systems are non‐fluorescent and the TCBD‐BODIPY dyes show diverse photochemistry and electrochemistry, with several reversible reduction waves for the tetracyanobutadiene moiety. The hyperpolarizability μβ of selected compounds is evaluated using the electric‐field‐induced second‐harmonic generation technique. Two of the TCBD‐BODIPY dyes show particularly high μβ (1.907 μm) values of 2050×10^?48 and 5900×10^?48 esu. In addition, one of these dyes shows a high NLO contrast upon protonation–deprotonation of the donor residue.     

Ultra‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization/quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry for the rapid analysis of constituents in the traditional Chinese medical formula Danggui San

In this work, ultra‐performance LC with ESI quadrupole TOF‐MS (UPLC–ESI‐Q‐TOF‐MS) and automated MetaboLynx analysis was used to rapidly separate and identify the chemical constituents of Danggui San, a traditional Chinese medical formula. The analysis was performed on a Waters UPLC BEH C₁₈ column using a gradient elution system. A hyphenated ESI and Q‐TOF analyzer was used for the determination of the accurate mass of the protonated or deprotonated molecule and fragment ions in both positive and negative modes. Based on retention times, accurate mass, and the mass spectrometric fragmentation characteristics, a total of 47 compounds distributed over the chemical groups of phthalides, flavonoids, monoterpene glycosides, sesquiterpenoids, phenolics, and alkaloids, were simultaneously separated within 18 min and identified or tentatively elucidated in Danggui San for the first time. UPLC–ESI‐Q‐TOF‐MS analysis revealed the complexity of the chemical composition of this formula. The method developed is rapid, accurate, reliable, and highly sensitive to characterize the chemical constituents of Danggui San.     

Preparation of raspberry-like silica microcapsules via sulfonated polystyrene template and aniline medium assembly method

Raspberry-like composite particles and microcapsules were prepared with anionic sulfonated polystyrene (PSS) particles as templates and cationic aniline monomer as assembly medium. With the help of the sulfonated microgel shells, aniline and silica particles could not only adsorbed onto template surfaces but also go inward shells and finally form microcapsules with varied silica shell thickness. The sulfonation extent of PSS particles first climbed up and then decreased with sulfonation time due to the competition of sulfonation reaction and PSS chain detachment. The silica content in composite particles and shell thickness of microcapsules followed similar trend with sulfonation extent. The choice of aniline as assembly medium was checked by comparing with methyl methacrylate and [2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride, and it was found that the cationic and water-insoluble properties of aniline are both important for the composite efficiency.     

Evanescent Wave-Guided Growth of an Organic Supramolecular Nanowire Array

The ordered assembly of molecules within a specific space of nanoscale, such as a surface, holds great promise in advanced micro-/nanostructure fabrication for various applications. Herein, we demonstrate the evanescent wave (EW)-guided organization of small molecules into a long-range ordered nanowire (NW) array. Experiment and simulation revealed that the orientation and periodicity of the NW array were feasibly regulated by altering the propagation direction and the wavelength of EW. The generality of this approach was demonstrated by using different molecule precursors. While existing studies on EW often took advantages of its near-field property for optical sensing, this work demonstrated the photochemical power of EW in the guided-assembly of small molecules for the first time. It also provides an enlightening avenue to periodic structure with fluorescence, promising for super-resolution microscopy and important devices applicable to optical and bio-related fields.     

Design Strategies for High-Performance Aqueous Zn/Organic Batteries

Organic electroactive compounds are attractive to serve as the cathode materials of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) because of their resource renewability, environmentally friendliness and structural diversity. Up to now, various organic electrode materials have been developed and different redox mechanisms are observed in aqueous Zn/organic battery systems. In this Minireview, we present the recent developments in the energy storage mechanisms and design of the organic electrode materials of aqueous ZIBs, including carbonyl compounds, imine compounds, conductive polymers, nitronyl nitroxides, organosulfur polymers and triphenylamine derivatives. Furthermore, we highlight the design strategies to improve their electrochemical performance in the aspects of specific capacity, output voltage, cycle life and rate capability. Finally, we discuss the challenges and future perspectives of aqueous Zn/organic batteries.     

“拟双子”阴离子表面活性剂在癸烷/水界面的分子动力学模拟

采用全原子分子动力学模拟方法研究了壬基酚取代的系列烷基磺酸盐表面活性剂在癸烷/水界面的微观聚集行为,通过分析界面厚度、界面生成能和界面张力以及表面活性剂分子与水分子之间的径向分布函数和配位数,讨论了不同磺烷基链长度对壬基酚基取代烷基磺酸盐表面活性剂界面性质的影响.结果表明,磺烷基链长为12时,表面活性剂的界面张力最低,界面厚度和界面生成能最大.     

食品中7种常见的非食用色素检测研究进展

食用色素可以明显的改善食品外观,激发食欲,在食品行业有着广泛的应用,但一些不法分子为了牟取暴利向食品中添加非食用色素来代替食用色素,但是非食用色素对人体存在致癌风险。食品中常见的非食用色素有以下7种：碱性嫩黄O、碱性橙II、酸性橙II、苏丹红、罗丹明B、美术绿和孔雀石绿,而目前对这7种非食用色素的检测还未全部建立国家标准。本文综述了近3年来食品行业中针对这7种非食用色素的各种检验方法,以期为食品安全监督监督检测机构提供参考。     

基于钴离子介导信号转换的抗坏血酸比色分析

抗坏血酸是许多生化过程所必需的一种生物小分子。借助于羟基氧化钴纳米片的氧化性和钴离子与硫氰酸根离子之间强的螯合作用,本研究首次报道了一种基于钴离子信号转换的新方法用于抗坏血酸的比色分析。在抗坏血酸存在时,羟基氧化钴纳米片被还原降解产生二价钴离子,钴离子与硫氰酸根离子之间通过螯合作用生成蓝色的[Co(NCS)₄]^_2-阴离子络合物,在625 nm处产生可见吸收信号。实验首先对羟基氧化钴纳米片与抗坏血酸的反应时间、硫氰酸铵和吐温-80的加入量等实验参数进行了优化,当反应时间为5 min,硫氰酸铵(3 mol/L)和吐温-80(10%, w%)的加入体积分别为30 μL和80 μL时,检测体产生最强的吸收信号。在优化的条件下,随着抗坏血酸浓度的增加,检测体系在625 nm处的吸收值线性增强,在0.03～0.45 mmol/L浓度范围内,检测体系在625 nm处的吸收值与AA浓度呈良好的线性关系,线性方程为A₆₂₅=0.638C (mmol/L)+0.042,相关系数R=0.993,检测限(3S/N)为1.5 μmol/L。     

Sulfonium‐Based Homolytic Substitution Observed for the Radical SAM Enzyme HemN

Sulfur‐based homolytic substitution (S_H reaction) plays an important role in synthetic chemistry, yet whether such a reaction could occur on the positively charged sulfonium compounds remains unknown. In the study of the anaerobic coproporphyrinogen III oxidase HemN, a radical S‐adenosyl‐l ‐methionine (SAM) enzyme involved in heme biosynthesis, we observed the production of di‐(5′‐deoxyadenosyl)methylsulfonium, which supports a deoxyadenosyl (dAdo) radical‐mediated S_H reaction on the sulfonium center of SAM. The sulfonium‐based S_H reactions were then investigated in detail by density functional theory calculations and model reactions, which showed that this type of reactions is thermodynamically favorable and kinetically competent. These findings represent the first report of sulfonium‐based S_H reactions, which could be useful in synthetic chemistry. Our study also demonstrates the remarkable catalytic promiscuity of the radical SAM superfamily enzymes.