Integrated Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Target Drug/siRNA Co‐Delivery

A hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticle (HMSNP) based drug/siRNA co‐delivery system was designed and fabricated, aiming at overcoming multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer cells for targeted cancer therapy. The as‐prepared HMSNPs have perpendicular nanochannels connecting to the internal hollow cores, thereby facilitating drug loading and release. The extra volume of the hollow core enhances the drug loading capacity by two folds as compared with conventional mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs). Folic acid conjugated polyethyleneimine (PEI‐FA) was coated on the HMSNP surfaces under neutral conditions through electrostatic interactions between the partially charged amino groups of PEI‐FA and the phosphate groups on the HMSNP surfaces, blocking the mesopores and preventing the loaded drugs from leakage. Folic acid acts as the targeting ligand that enables the co‐delivery system to selectively bind with and enter into the target cancer cells. PEI‐FA‐coated HMSNPs show enhanced siRNA binding capability on account of electrostatic interactions between the amino groups of PEI‐FA and siRNA, as compared with that of MSNPs. The electrostatic interactions provide the feasibility of pH‐controlled release. In vitro pH‐responsive drug/siRNA co‐delivery experiments were conducted on HeLa cell lines with high folic acid receptor expression and MCF‐7 cell lines with low folic acid receptor expression for comparison, showing effective target delivery to the HeLa cells through folic acid receptor meditated cellular endocytosis. The pH‐responsive intracellular drug/siRNA release greatly minimizes the prerelease and possible side effects of the delivery system. By simultaneously delivering both doxorubicin (Dox) and siRNA against the Bcl‐2 protein into the HeLa cells, the expression of the anti‐apoptotic protein Bcl‐2 was successfully suppressed, leading to an enhanced therapeutic efficacy. Thus, the present multifunctional nanoparticles show promising potentials for controlled and targeted drug and gene co‐delivery in cancer treatment.     

18O同位素标记定量肽段串联体蛋白质结合同位素稀释-多反应监测质谱的蛋白质绝对定量新方法

建立了定量肽段串联体蛋白质(concatamers of Q peptides, QconCATs)结合¹⁸O同位素标记-多反应监测质谱的蛋白质绝对定量新方法。首先对QconCAT重组蛋白质进行了纯度表征,十二烷基硫酸钠-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳(SDS-PAGE)表征结果表明重组蛋白质的纯度在99%以上,相对分子质量约为63.4 kDa。对QconCAT重组蛋白质酶切后的肽段混合物进行质谱分析,并经pFind和pLabel软件处理,验证了目标肽段。还考察了QconCAT重组蛋白质的酶切效率和¹⁸O标记效率,并对QconCAT蛋白质结合¹⁸O标记-同位素稀释-多反应监测质谱方法进行了评价。实验结果表明,采用该方法对腾冲嗜热厌氧菌(Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis, TTE)中选定蛋白质的肽段进行绝对含量测定时,相对标准偏差小于20%,准确度较高,说明该方法可用于复杂生物样本中蛋白质的绝对定量。更重要的是所建方法不仅解决了细胞培养氨基酸稳定同位素标记(SILAC)技术的重标试剂价格昂贵的问题,也为定量蛋白质组学提供了一种新的方法。     

On existence and multiplicity of similarity solutions to a nonlinear differential equation arising in magnetohydrodynamic Falkner–Skan flow for decelerated flows

Previously, existence and uniqueness of a class of monotone similarity solutions for a nonlinear differential equation arising in magnetohydrodynamic Falkner–Skan flow were considered in the case of accelerating flows. It was shown that a solution satisfying certain monotonicity properties exists and is unique for the case of accelerated flows and some decelerated flows. In this paper, we show that solutions to the problem can exist for decelerated flows even when the monotonicity conditions do not hold. In particular, these types of solutions have nonmonotone second derivatives and are, hence, a distinct type of solution from those studied previously. By virtue of this result, the present paper demonstrates the existence of an important type of solution for decelerated flows. Importantly, we show that multiple solutions can exist for the case of strongly decelerated flows, and this occurs because of the fact that the solutions do not satisfy the aforementioned monotonicity requirements. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiple plasmonic effect on photocurrent generation of metal‐loaded titanium dioxide composite/dye films on gold grating surface

We demonstrate the multiple plasmonic effect on the photocurrent properties of photoanodes containing Ag or Au nanoparticles (NPs) loaded onto titanium dioxide film (Ag–TiO₂ or Au–TiO₂) on Au grating surfaces. Ag–TiO₂ or Au–TiO₂ nanocomposite particles are prepared by a flame spray pyrolysis route. The structures and morphologies of the prepared products are characterized by high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy. The Ag–TiO₂ or Au–TiO₂ composite NPs are deposited by spin coating onto the Au grating surfaces. The photoanode electrode is a layered structure of blu‐ray disc‐recordable grating substrate/Au/Ag (or Au)–TiO₂/dye/electrolyte/indium‐tin oxide. The plasmonic effect is induced when Ag or Au NPs are located within the propagating surface plasmon (SP) field on the Au grating surface. The short‐circuit photocurrent is increased by exciting the grating‐coupled propagating SP on the Au gratings and is further enhanced by positioning the Ag or Au NPs within the grating‐coupled SP field. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

可见光驱动丰产金属卟啉类配合物催化的二氧化碳选择性还原反应

随着能源短缺和环境问题日益突出, 寻找清洁和可再生能源来替代化石燃料是本世纪科学家面临的最紧迫的任务之一. 为了实现我国“双碳”战略目标, 利用太阳能将二氧化碳(CO₂)转化为清洁燃料和化学品是实现社会可持续发展的途径之一. 催化剂是CO₂光还原技术的核心组成部分, 其可以吸附气态CO₂分子, 在可见光照射下将CO₂还原为一氧化碳(CO)、 甲酸(HCOOH)、 甲醇(CH₃OH)或甲烷(CH₄)等能源小分子. 目前, 新型CO₂还原光催化体系的开发取得了很好的进展. 本文综合评述了近年来均相及非均相丰产金属卟啉类催化剂在光催化CO₂还原中的研究进展, 并对在金属卟啉均相催化剂作用下, CO₂光还原为CO或CH₄的反应机理分别进行了介绍, 还讨论了金属卟啉基多孔有机聚合物与卟啉有机金属框架在光催化CO₂方面的重要应用. 最后, 对可见光驱动卟啉类金属配合物催化的CO₂还原的发展前景进行了展望.     

Metabolite Profiling and Characterization of LW6, a Novel HIF-1α Inhibitor,as an Antitumor Drug Candidate in Mice

A novel HIF (hypoxia-inducible factor)-1α inhibitor, the (aryloxyacetylamino)benzoic acid derivative LW6, is an anticancer agent that inhibits the accumulation of HIF-1α. The aim of this study was to characterize and determine the structures of the metabolites of LW6 in ICR mice. Metabolite identification was performed using a predictive multiple reaction monitoring-information dependent acquisition-enhanced product ion (pMRM-IDA-EPI) method in negative ion mode on a hybrid triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer (QTRAP). A total of 12 metabolites were characterized based on their MS/MS spectra, and the retention times were compared with those of the parent compound. The metabolites were divided into five structural classes based on biotransformation reactions: amide hydrolysis, ester hydrolysis, mono-oxidation, glucuronidation, and a combination of these reactions. From this study, 2-(4-((3r,5r,7r)-adamantan-1-yl)phenoxy)acetic acid (APA, M7), the metabolite produced via amide hydrolysis, was found to be a major circulating metabolite of LW6 in mice. The results of this study can be used to improve the pharmacokinetic profile by lowering the clearance and increasing the exposure relative to LW6.     

Repurposing of Omarigliptin as a Neuroprotective Agent Based on Docking with A2A Adenosine and AChE Receptors,Brain GLP-1 Response and Its Brain/Plasma Concentration Ratio after 28 Days Multiple Doses in Rats Using LC-MS/MS

The authors in the current work suggested the potential repurposing of omarigliptin (OMR) for neurodegenerative diseases based on three new findings that support the preliminary finding of crossing BBB after a single dose study in the literature. The first finding is the positive results of the docking study with the crystal structures of A_2A adenosine (A2AAR) and acetylcholine esterase (AChE) receptors. A2AAR is a member of non-dopaminergic GPCR superfamily receptor proteins and has essential role in regulation of glutamate and dopamine release in Parkinson’s disease while AChE plays a major role in Alzheimer’s disease as the primary enzyme responsible for the hydrolytic metabolism of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine into choline and acetate. Docking showed that OMR perfectly fits into A2AAR binding pocket forming a distinctive hydrogen bond with Threonine 256. Besides other non-polar interactions inside the pocket suggesting the future of the marketed anti-diabetic drug (that cross BBB) as a potential antiparkinsonian agent while OMR showed perfect fit inside AChE receptor binding site smoothly because of its optimum length and the two fluorine atoms that enables quite lean fitting. Moreover, a computational comparative study of OMR docking, other 12 DPP-4 inhibitors and 11 SGLT-2 inhibitors was carried out. Secondly, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) concentration in rats’ brain tissue was determined by the authors using sandwich GLP-1 ELISA kit bio-analysis to ensure the effect of OMR after the multiple doses’ study. Brain GLP-1 concentration was elevated by 1.9-fold following oral multiple doses of OMR (5 mg/kg/day, p.o. for 28 days) as compared to the control group. The third finding is the enhanced BBB crossing of OMR after 28 days of multiple doses that had been studied using LC-MS/MS method with enhanced liquid–liquid extraction. A modified LC-MS/MS method was established for bioassay of OMR in rats’ plasma (10–3100 ng/mL) and rats’ brain tissue (15–2900 ng/mL) using liquid–liquid extraction. Alogliptin (ALP) was chosen as an internal standard (IS) due to its LogP value of 1.1, which is very close to the LogP of OMR. Extraction of OMR from samples of both rats’ plasma and rats’ brain tissue was effectively achieved with ethyl acetate as the extracting solvent after adding 1N sodium carbonate to enhance the drug migration, while choosing acetonitrile to be the diluent solvent for the IS to effectively decrease any emulsion between the layers in the stated method of extraction. Validation results were all pleasing including good stability studies with bias of value below 20%. Concentration of OMR in rats’ plasma were determined after 2 h of the latest dose from 28 days multiple doses, p.o, 5 mg/kg/day. It was found to be 1295.66 ± 684.63 ng/mL estimated from the bio-analysis regression equation. OMR passed through the BBB following oral administration and exhibited concentration of 543.56 ± 344.15 ng/g in brain tissue, taking in consideration the dilution factor of 10. The brain/plasma concentration ratio of 0.42 (543.56/1295.66) was used to illustrate the penetration power through the BBB after the multiple doses for 28 days. Results showed that OMR passed through the BBB more effectively in the multiple dose study as compared to the previously published single dose study by the authors. Thus, the present study suggests potential repositioning of OMR as antiparkinsonian agent that will be of interest for researchers interested in neurodegenerative diseases.     

Cooperative spectrum sharing MIMO systems with successive decoding

A spectrum sharing system with primary and secondary nodes, each equipped with an arbitrary number of antennas, is investigated. Particularly, the outage performance of an underlay cognitive system is analytically studied, in the case when the end-to-end ($e2e$) communication is established via an intermediate relay node. To better enhance the $e2e$ communication, successive interference cancellation (SIC) is adopted, which compensates for both the transmission power constraint and the presence of interference from primary nodes. Both the relay and secondary receiver perform unordered SIC to successively decode the multiple streams, whereas the decode-and-forward relaying protocol is used for the $e2e$ communication. New closed-form expressions for the $e2e$ outage performance of each transmitted stream are derived in terms of finite sum series of the Tricomi confluent hypergeometric function. In addition, simplified yet tight approximations for the asymptotic outage performance are obtained. Useful engineering insights are manifested, such as the diversity order of the considered system and the impact of interference from the primary nodes in conjunction with the constrained transmission power of the secondary nodes.     

Decay of metastable states in Nd II

The difficulty associated with an accurate determination of transition rates for forbidden lines in lowly ionized heavy elements is illustrated in the case of Nd II. We have investigated the radiative decay of the low-lying metastable levels in Nd⁺ including the two levels K_11/2 and I_13/2. In these two particular cases, using different theoretical approaches, we find that the decay is dominated by the M1 channels but that the E2 contributions are of the same order of magnitude. These levels have also been studied experimentally by lifetime measurements with the heavy ion storage ring CRYRING of Stockholm University. The difficulties encountered when performing such experiments are underlined and discussed.     

基于大功率LED扩展光源的均匀光斑光辐射模拟器设计

基于边缘光线原理和光学扩展量守恒思想,结合复合抛物面聚光器和轴对称自由曲面透镜,设计并研制了大功率发光二极管扩展光源的反射/折射准直器.运用Tracepro软件对系统进行光束追迹模拟仿真和实验,研制出均匀光斑的光辐射模拟器.模拟器输出发散角为±12°光束,测量距离出射面50cm处光屏的光斑,在尺寸为14cm×14cm的光照范围内,测得光斑水平方向中心线上的光度均匀度优于4.1%,竖直方向中心线上的光度均匀度优于3.8%.