Potent Dual BET/HDAC Inhibitors for Efficient Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

As one of the most aggressive and lethal human malignancies with extremely poor prognosis, there is an urgent demand of more effective therapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Reported here is a new, effective therapeutic strategy and the design of small‐molecule inhibitors that simultaneously target bromodomain and extra‐terminal (BET) and histone deacetylase (HDAC), potentially serving as promising therapeutic agents for pancreatic cancer. A highly potent dual inhibitor ( 13 a ) is identified to possess excellent and balanced activities against BRD4 BD1 (IC₅₀=11 nm ) and HDAC1 (IC₅₀=21 nm ). Notably, this compound shows higher in vitro and in vivo antitumor potency than the BET inhibitor (+)‐JQ1 and the HDAC inhibitor vorinostat, either alone or and in combination, highlighting the advantages of BET/HDAC dual inhibitors for more effective treatment of pancreatic cancer.     

Rare‐Earth Single Erbium Atoms for Enhanced Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

The solar‐driven photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ (CO₂RR) into chemical fuels is a promising route to enrich energy supplies and mitigate CO₂ emissions. However, low catalytic efficiency and poor selectivity, especially in a pure‐water system, hinder the development of photocatalytic CO₂RR owing to the lack of effective catalysts. Herein, we report a novel atom‐confinement and coordination (ACC) strategy to achieve the synthesis of rare‐earth single erbium (Er) atoms supported on carbon nitride nanotubes (Er₁/CN‐NT) with a tunable dispersion density of single atoms. Er₁/CN‐NT is a highly efficient and robust photocatalyst that exhibits outstanding CO₂RR performance in a pure‐water system. Experimental results and density functional theory calculations reveal the crucial role of single Er atoms in promoting photocatalytic CO₂RR.     

DNA‐Based Adaptive Plasmonic Logic Gates

Self‐assembled plasmonic logic gates that read DNA molecules as input and return plasmonic chiroptical signals as outputs are reported. Such logic gates are achieved on a DNA‐based platform that logically regulate the conformation of a chiral plasmonic nanostructure, upon specific input DNA strands and internal computing units. With systematical designs, a complete set of Boolean logical gates are realized. Intriguingly, the logic gates could be endowed with adaptiveness, so they can autonomously alter their logics when the environment changes. As a demonstration, a logic gate that performs AND function at body temperature while OR function at cold storage temperature is constructed. In addition, the plasmonic chiroptical output has three distinctive states, which makes a three‐state molecular logic gate readily achievable on this platform. Such DNA‐based plasmonic logic gates are envisioned to execute more complex tasks giving these unique characteristics.     

A modified quick,easy, cheap,effective, rugged,and safe method with hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvent as extractant and analyte protectant for analyzing pyrethroid residues in tomatoes

In this work, a novel quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe technique with hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvent as both extractant and analyte protectant was developed and combined with gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry to analyze pyrethroid residues in tomatoes. Eight hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvents were first evaluated as analyte protectants and those with decanoic acid or lactic acid as hydrogen bond donor were demonstrated to be effective in compensating for the matrix effects of pyrethroids in the gas chromatography system. Hence, they were added to solvent standards for correcting the quantitation errors instead of matrix‐matched calibration standards. Then the abilities of these acid‐based deep eutectic solvents to extract pyrethriods from tomatoes were evaluated. Results showed the recoveries of all pyrethroids reached to over 80% with only 5 mL menthol:decanoic acid (1:1) used, and good phase separation was easily achieved without the addition of inorganic salt in the extraction step, indicating hydrophobic natural deep eutectic solvent could be a green substitute for acetonitrile in the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe extraction. Compared with the conventional method, the proposed protocol improved the recoveries, reduced the matrix effects, and simplified the extraction step, demonstrating to be an effective, fast, and green method.     

Full use of the liquid nature of the stationary phase: The development of elution‐extrusion counter current chromatography

Elution‐extrusion counter current chromatography extrudes the most solute retained in the column with the highest possible peak resolution. It can greatly improve the hydrophobic window. In recent years, elution‐extrusion counter current chromatography has received extensive attention in the separation of complex samples. This article first reviews the development and application of elution‐extrusion counter current chromatography, including its origin, mechanism, advantages and disadvantages, and some representative applications. At the same time, this review also shared our visions and ideas on how to improve the elution‐extrusion mode. This article aims to provide certain reference for the research of this technology.     

Sterically Shielded Heptamethine Cyanine Dyes for Bioconjugation and High Performance Near‐Infrared Fluorescence Imaging

The near‐infrared window of fluorescent heptamethine cyanine dyes greatly facilitates biological imaging because there is deep penetration of the light and negligible background fluorescence. However, dye instability, aggregation, and poor pharmacokinetics are current drawbacks that limit performance and the scope of possible applications. All these limitations are simultaneously overcome with a new molecular design strategy that produces a charge balanced and sterically shielded fluorochrome. The key design feature is a meso‐aryl group that simultaneously projects two shielding arms directly over each face of a linear heptamethine polyene. Cell and mouse imaging experiments compared a shielded heptamethine cyanine dye (and several peptide and antibody bioconjugates) to benchmark heptamethine dyes and found that the shielded systems possess an unsurpassed combination of photophysical, physiochemical, and biodistribution properties that greatly enhance bioimaging performance.     

A Highly Efficient All‐Solid‐State Lithium/Electrolyte Interface Induced by an Energetic Reaction

The energetic chemical reaction between Zn(NO₃)₂ and Li is used to create a solid‐state interface between Li metal and Li_6.4La₃Zr_1.4Ta_0.6O₁₂ (LLZTO) electrolyte. This interlayer, composed of Zn, ZnLi_x alloy, Li₃N, Li₂O, and other species, possesses strong affinities with both Li metal and LLZTO and affords highly efficient conductive pathways for Li⁺ transport through the interface. The unique structure and properties of the interlayer lead to Li metal anodes with longer cycle life, higher efficiency, and better safety compared to the current best Li metal electrodes operating in liquid electrolytes while retaining comparable capacity, rate, and overpotential. All‐solid‐state Li||Li cells can operate at very demanding current–capacity conditions of 4 mA cm^?2–8 mAh cm^?2. Thousands of hours of continuous cycling are achieved at Coulombic efficiency >99.5 % without dendrite formation or side reactions with the electrolyte.     

Construction of Liposomes Mimicking Cell Membrane Structure through Frame‐Guided Assembly

The shape of eukaryotic cells is determined by the cytoskeleton associated with membrane proteins; however, the detailed mechanism of how the integral morphologies with structural stability is generated and maintained is still not fully understood. Here, based on the Frame‐Guided Assembly (FGA) strategy, we successfully prepared hetero‐liposomes with structural composition similar to that of eukaryotic cells by screening a series of transmembrane peptides as the leading hydrophobic groups (LHGs). It was demonstrated that the conformation and transmembrane mode of the LHGs played dominant roles during the FGA process. The FGA liposomes were formed with excellent stability, which may further provide evidence for the cytoskeleton–membrane protein–lipid bilayer model. Taking advantage of the biocompatibility and stability, the FGA liposomes were also applied to prepare novel drug delivery vehicles, which is promising in diagnostic imaging and cancer therapy applications.     

Zinc–Organic Battery with a Wide Operation‐Temperature Window from −70 to 150 °C

Aqueous zinc (Zn) batteries have been considered as promising candidates for grid‐scale energy storage. However, their cycle stability is generally limited by the structure collapse of cathode materials and dendrite formation coupled with undesired hydrogen evolution on the Zn anode. Herein we propose a zinc–organic battery with a phenanthrenequinone macrocyclic trimer (PQ‐MCT) cathode, a zinc‐foil anode, and a non‐aqueous electrolyte of a N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF) solution containing Zn²⁺. The non‐aqueous nature of the system and the formation of a Zn²⁺–DMF complex can efficiently eliminate undesired hydrogen evolution and dendrite growth on the Zn anode, respectively. Furthermore, the organic cathode can store Zn²⁺ ions through a reversible coordination reaction with fast kinetics. Therefore, this battery can be cycled 20 000 times with negligible capacity fading. Surprisingly, this battery can even be operated in a wide temperature range from ?70 to 150 °C.     

The Stabilization Effect of CO2 in Lithium–Oxygen/CO2 Batteries

The lithium (Li)–air battery has an ultrahigh theoretical specific energy, however, even in pure oxygen (O₂), the vulnerability of conventional organic electrolytes and carbon cathodes towards reaction intermediates, especially O₂^?, and corrosive oxidation and crack/pulverization of Li metal anode lead to poor cycling stability of the Li‐air battery. Even worse, the water and/or CO₂ in air bring parasitic reactions and safety issues. Therefore, applying such systems in open‐air environment is challenging. Herein, contrary to previous assertions, we have found that CO₂ can improve the stability of both anode and electrolyte, and a high‐performance rechargeable Li–O₂/CO₂ battery is developed. The CO₂ not only facilitates the in situ formation of a passivated protective Li₂CO₃ film on the Li anode, but also restrains side reactions involving electrolyte and cathode by capturing O₂^?. Moreover, the Pd/CNT catalyst in the cathode can extend the battery lifespan by effectively tuning the product morphology and catalyzing the decomposition of Li₂CO₃. The Li–O₂/CO₂ battery achieves a full discharge capacity of 6628 mAh g^?1 and a long life of 715 cycles, which is even better than those of pure Li–O₂ batteries.