Evoking Ferroptosis by Synergistic Enhancement of a Cyclopentadienyl Iridium-Betulin Immune Agonist

Ferroptosis is a form of programmed cell death driven by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation (LPO) with the potential for antitumor immunity activation. In this study, a nonferrous cyclopentadienyl metal-based ferroptosis inducer [Ir(Cp*)(Bet)Cl]Cl ( Ir-Bet ) was developed by a metal-ligand synergistic enhancement (MLSE) strategy involving the reaction of [Ir(Cp*)Cl]₂Cl₂ with the natural product Betulin. The fusion of Betulin with iridium cyclopentadienyl (Ir-Cp*) species as Ir-Bet not only tremendously enhanced the antiproliferative activity toward cancer cells, but also activated ferritinophagy for iron homeostasis regulation by PI3K/Akt/mTOR cascade inhibition with a lower dosage of Betulin, and then evoked an immune response by nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) activation of Ir-Cp* species. Further immunogenic cell death (ICD) occurred by remarkable ferroptosis through glutathione (GSH) depletion, glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) deactivation and ferritinophagy. An in vivo vaccination experiment demonstrated desirable antitumor and immunogenic effects of Ir-Bet by increasing the ratio of cytotoxic T cells (CTLs)/regulatory T cells (Tregs).     

Photoinduced Reaction of α-Bromoacetophenone with Thiosulfonate: Synthesis of β-Keto Thiosulfone

A photoinduced synthesis of β-keto thiosulfone/β-keto selenosulfone by the reaction of α-bromoacetophenone with thiosulfonate/selenosulfonate under metal-free and visible light irradiation conditions is developed. Two C−S bonds or one C−S bond and one C−Se bond were constructed simultaneously.     

Hyperbranched Polymer-Based Vaccines for Cancer Immunotherapy

Recently, several immunotherapeutic strategies are extensively studied and entered clinical investigation, suggesting their potential to lead a new generation of cancer therapy. Particularly, a cancer vaccine that combines tumor-associated antigens and immune adjuvants with a nanocarrier holds huge promise for inducing specific antitumor immune responses. Hyperbranched polymers, such as dendrimers and branched polyethylenimine (PEI) possessing abundant positively charged amine groups and inherent proton sponge effect are ideal carriers of antigens. Much effort is devoted to design dendrimer/branched PEI-based cancer vaccines. Herein, the recent advances in the design of dendrimer/branched PEI-based cancer vaccines for immunotherapy are reviewed. The future perspectives with regard to the development of dendrimer/branched PEI-based cancer vaccines are also briefly discussed.     

Assembled Organoruthenium(II) for Formaldehyde Decomposition and Hydrogen Production

Formaldehyde decomposition is not only an attractive method for hydrogen production, but also a potential approach for gaseous formaldehyde removal. In this research, we prepare some assembled organoruthenium through coordination reaction between Ru(p-Cymene)Cl₂ and bridge-linking ligands. It is a creative approach for Ru(p-Cymene)Cl₂ conversion into heterogeneous particles. The rigidity of bridge-linking ligand enables assembled organoruthenium to have highly ordered crystalline structure, even show clear crystal lattice with spacing of 0.19 nm. XPS shows the N−Ru bond are formed between bridge-linking ligand and Ru(p-Cymene)Cl₂. The assembled organoruthenium has high abundant active sites for formaldehyde decomposition at low temperature. The reaction rate could increase linearly with temperature and formaldehyde concentration, with a TOF of 2420 h⁻¹ at 90 °C. It is promising for gaseous formaldehyde decomposition in wet air or nitrogen. Formaldehyde conversion is up to 95 % over Ru-DAPM is 4,4′-diaminodiphenylmethane at 90 °C in air. Gaseous formaldehyde decomposition is a two-steps process under oxygen-free condition. Firstly, formaldehyde dissolve in water, and be converted into hydrogen and formic acid through formaldehyde-water shift reaction. Then intermediate formic acid will further decompose into hydrogen and carbon dioxide. We also find formaldehyde decomposition is a synergetic catalysis process of oxygen and water in moist air. Oxygen is conducive to formic acid desorption and decomposition on the active sites, so assembled organoruthenium exhibit slightly higher conversion for formaldehyde decomposition in moist air. This work proposes a distinctive method for gaseous formaldehyde decomposition in the air, which is entirely different from formaldehyde photocatalysis or thermocatalysis oxidation.     

Palladium-Catalyzed Ring-Opening Addition of Activated Vinyl Cyclopropanes with N-Tosylhydrazones

Ring-opening addition reaction of activated vinyl cyclopropanes with N-tosylhydrazones in the presence of palladium(0) and triphenylphosphine affords N-tosylhydrazone butenylmalonate compounds. Aromatic aldehyde-derived N-tosylhydrazones produced terminal and internal N-allylated products, in which the terminal products are the main. While ketone-derived tosylhydrazones produced only terminal addition products. The transformation relationship of the terminal and internal N-allylated products in the reaction was also observed. A reasonable mechanism is proposed based on preliminary experimental results.     

Highly Efficient and Chemoselective Tandem Hydroformylation-Hydrogenation of Alkenes to Alcohols over g-CN Supported Bimetallic Rh and Co Nanoparticles Catalysts

The objective of the tandem hydroformylation-hydrogenation of alkenes to corresponding alcohols was to design an efficient and stable heterogeneous catalyst. To this end, a series of novel heterogeneous graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) supported bimetallic Rh−Co nanoparticle catalysts (Rh−Co/g-CN) were prepared and subsequently studied for this one-pot two-step reaction. The lamellar structure makes Rh and Co nanoparticles with diameters of <1 nm and 20 nm, respectively, homogeneously deposited on the surface of g-CN layers, exhibit remarkable conversion of styrene (99.9 %) and chemoselectivity for alcohol (87.8 %). More importantly, Co nanoparticles are found to play an important role in the improvement of the chemoselectivity for alcohol due to the formation of catalytic active species [HCo(CO)_y]. Besides the detailed investigation of the catalytic properties of Rh−Co/g-CN under different reaction conditions, the reuse of Rh−Co/g-CN was conducted for five times and no evident decrease in the activity and chemoselectivity was observed. Therefore, we expect that this work could offer an initial insight into g-CN-based heterogeneous catalyst on the tandem hydroformylation-hydrogenation reaction.     

pH Responsive Poly(Amino Acid) Nanoparticles as Potent Carrier Adjuvants for Enhancing Cellular Immunity

Adjuvants are widely used in vaccine to improve the protection or treatment efficacy. However, so far they inevitably produce side effects and are hard to induce cellular immunity in practical application. Herein, two kinds of amphiphilic poly(glutamic acid) nanoparticles (α-PGA-F and γ-PGA-F NPs) as nanocarrier adjuvants are fabricated to induce an effective cellular immune response. Amphiphilic PGA are synthesized by grafting phenylalanine ethyl ester to form biodegradable self-assembly nanoadjuvants in a water solution. The model antigen, chicken ovalbumin (OVA), can be loaded into PGA-F NPs (OVA@PGA-F NPs) with the high loading ratio >12%. Moreover, compared with γ-PGA-F NPs, the acidic environment can induce the α-helical secondary structure of α-PGA NPs, promoting membrane fusion and more fast antigen lysosomal escape. Hence, the antigen presenting cells treated with OVA@α-PGA-F NPs show higher secretion of inflammatory cytokines, and higher expression of major biological histocompatibility complex class I and CD80 than those of OVA@γ-PGA-F NPs. Overall, this work indicates that pH responsive α-PGA-F NPs as a carrier adjuvant can effectively improve the ability of cellular immune responses, leading to it being a potent candidate for vaccine applications.     

Chemical profiling of Ziziphi spinosae semen using on-line comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry based on a novel phthalic anhydride bonded stationary phase

Ziziphi spinosae semen has been widely used to treat insomnia and anxiety. To profile its chemical components, an online comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was developed. In this two-dimensional liquid chromatography system, a novel phthalic anhydride-bonded stationary phase column was combined with a C18 column. As a result, this new stationary phase exhibited remarkable differences in separation selectivity from C18, achieving a good orthogonality of 83.3%. Moreover, this new stationary phase with weaker hydrophobicity than C18 realized solvent compatibility in the online configuration. Coupled with tandem MS, 154 compounds were identified, including 51 unreported compounds. Compared with one-dimensional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, this online two-dimensional liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry system exhibited a much higher resolving power in isomer separation. This work provided an effective separation and characterization method for the material basis of Ziziphi spinosae semen. This strategy provides ideas for the material basis research of other traditional Chinese medicines.     

Two-dimensional correlation analysis of continuous online in situ ATR-FTIR on the adsorption of butyl xanthate at the surface of a-PbO

The adsorption behavior of butyl xanthate on the surface of lead oxide was investigated using continuous online in situ attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared（ATR-FTIR） spectroscopy technique and two dimensional（2D） correlation analysis.The adsorbed layer studied was prepared by coating α-PbO particles onto the surfaces of the ZnSe crystal.The appearance of spectral peaks at 1203 cm^-1,1033 cm^-1 and their red shift indicated the formation and aggregation of xanthate at the surface of α-PbO.According to 1R intensity changes after rinsing with deionized water and a NaOH solution,the adsorption was proved to be a chemisorption type.The competition between xanthate and OH for the surfaces leads to desorption of xanthate at higher pH.The technique of 2D correlation ATR-FTIR spectroscopy was used to evaluate the changing order of spectral intensities in the adsorption process,and the results indicated that xanthate micelles were formed at the surfaces.The adsorption kinetics of butyl xanthate was found to be a pseudo-second-order reaction model and the adsorption capacity of butyl xanthate at α-PbO was as high as 281 mg g^-1 after 150 min.     

Facile synthesis of phthalan derivatives via a Pd-catalyzed tandem hydroalkynylation,isomerization, Diels-Alder cycloaddition and aromatization reaction

A novel Pd-catalyzed tandem reaction involving hydroalkynylation,isomerization.Diels-Alder cycloaddition and aromatization reaction to produce phthalan derivatives in moderate yields is reported.The reaction is atom economical and occurs in a highly ordered fashion.The reaction mechanism is discussed.