Direct Determination of Trace Dopamine in an Ascorbic Acid Solution at a Bare Glassy Carbon Electrode Using Differential Pulse Voltammetry

It is difficult to monitor dopamine (DA) accurately with a bare glassy carbon electrode because of the interference of ascorbic acid (AA). In this paper, a method for the determination of DA in an AA solution using differential pulse voltammetry was established. Because AA loses its electrochemical activity after being oxidized, hydrogen peroxide was used to oxidize AA, and the interference of AA was completely eliminated. As a result, trace DA could be directly determined in the AA solution with a bare glassy carbon electrode. When trace DA was determined in a 1.0 mmol L^?1 AA solution, there was a wide linear range from 3.0×10^?8 mol L^?1 to 1.0×10^?5 mol L^?1. The application of this method was demonstrated by the selective measurement of DA in an injection without pretreatment.     

Dual gold nanoparticle lateflow immunoassay for sensitive detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7

Two patterns of signal amplification lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), which used anti-mouse secondary antibody-linked gold nanoparticle (AuNP) for dual AuNP-LFIA were developed. Escherichia coli O157:H7 was selected as the model analyte. In the signal amplification direct LFIA method, anti-mouse secondary antibody-linked AuNP (anti-mouse-Ab-AuNP) was mixed with sample solution in an ELISA well, after which it was added to LFIA, which already contained anti-E. coli O157:H7 monoclonal antibody-AuNP (anti-E. coli O157:H7-mAb-AuNP) dispersed in the conjugate pad. Polyclonal antibody was the test line, and anti-mouse secondary antibody was the control line in nitrocellulose (NC) membrane. In the signal amplification indirect LFIA method, anti-mouse-Ab-AuNP was mixed with sample solution and anti-E. coli O157:H7-mAb-AuNP complex in ELISA well, creating a dual AuNP complex. This complex was added to LFIA, which had a polyclonal antibody as the test line and secondary antibody as the control line in NC membrane. The detection sensitivity of both LFIAs improved 100-fold and reached 1.14 × 10³ CFU mL⁻¹. The 28 nm and 45 nm AuNPs were demonstrated to be the optimal dual AuNP pairs. Signal amplification LFIA was perfectly applied to the detection of milk samples with E. coli O157:H7 via naked eye observation.     

Cytotoxicity of benzophenanthridine alkaloids from the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. var. fastuosum How ex Huang

This work aimed to investigate benzophenanthridine from the roots of Zanthoxylum nitidum (Roxb.) DC. var. fastuosum How ex Huang for the first time. Thirteen benzophenanthridines were isolated, and our results of the cytotoxic activities indicated that compound 6 exhibited the best potency against A549, Hela, SMMC-7721 and EJ, with the IC₅₀ values of 27.50, 37.50, 16.95 and 60.42 μM, respectively. Compounds 7 and 11 also showed strong cytotoxicity when tested against the four human cancer cell lines (A549, Hela, SMMC-7721 and EJ), while only compounds 12 and 13 displayed cytotoxicity in inhibiting BALL-1 proliferation among all the compounds. These results suggested that benzophenanthridines may become a valid alternative of potential basis for new anti-proliferative agents.     

A new triterpenoid from the fruits of Gardenia jasminoides var. radicans Makino

A novel triterpenoid 3α,16β,23,24-tetrahydroxy-28-nor-ursane-12,17,19,21-tetraen (1) was isolated from the fruits of Gardenia jasminoides var. radicans Makino. The structure of the new compounds was elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis including MS and NMR data. Compound 1 was in vitro tested for cytostatic activity on human throat cancer (Hep-2) cell line by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide method and showed mild anticancer activity with the IC₅₀ of 31.2 μM.     

Fast determination of Ziziphora tenuior L. essential oil by inorganic–organic hybrid material based on ZnO nanoparticles anchored to a composite made from polythiophene and hexagonally ordered silica

In this paper, for the first time, an inorganic–organic hybrid material based on ZnO nanoparticles was anchored to a composite made from polythiophene and hexagonally ordered silica (ZnO/PT/SBA-15) for use in solid-phase fibre microextraction (SPME) of medicinal plants. A homemade SPME apparatus was used for the extraction of volatile components of Ziziphora tenuior L. A simplex method was used for optimisation of five different parameters affecting the efficiency of the extraction. The main constituents extracted by ZnO/PT/SBA-15 and PDMS fibres and hydrodistillation (HD) methods, respectively, included pulegone (51.25%, 53.64% and 56.68%), limonene (6.73%, 6.58% and 8.3%), caryophyllene oxide (5.33%, 4.31% and 4.53%) and 1,8-cineole (4.21%, 3.31% and 3.18%). In comparison with the HD method, the proposed technique could equally monitor almost all the components of the sample, in an easier way, in a shorter time and requiring a much lower amount of the sample.     

Antibacterial alkaloids from Artabotrys crassifolius Hook.f. & Thomson

Chloroform extract of bark of Artabotrys crassifolius Hook.f. & Thomson exhibited antibacterial activities against both American Type Culture Collection and clinical bacterial strains in vitro with zones of inhibition ranging from 7 to 14 mm. Further analysis of this extract yielded artabotrine, liridine, lysicamine and atherospermidine. Artabotrine displayed a broad array of antibacterial activity mostly against Gram-positive bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 1.25 μg/mL to 5 μg/mL. Of note, artabotrine, liridine and lysicamine are bactericidal against Gram-negative extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella with MIC values equal 2.5, 2.5 and 10 μg/mL, respectively, and minimum bactericidal concentrations values equal to 2.5, 5 and 20 μg/mL.     

Tri-peptide reference structures for the calculation of relative solvent accessible surface area in protein amino acid residues

Relative amino acid residue solvent accessibility values allow the quantitative comparison of atomic solvent-accessible surface areas in different residue types and physical environments in proteins and in protein structural alignments. Geometry-optimised tri-peptide structures in extended solvent-exposed reference conformations have been obtained for 43 amino acid residue types at a high level of quantum chemical theory. Significant increases in side-chain solvent accessibility, offset by reductions in main-chain atom solvent exposure, were observed for standard residue types in partially geometry-optimised structures when compared to non-minimised models built from identical sets of proper dihedral angles abstracted from the literature. Optimisation of proper dihedral angles led most notably to marked increases of up to 54% in proline main-chain atom solvent accessibility compared to literature values. Similar effects were observed for fully-optimised tri-peptides in implicit solvent. The relief of internal strain energy was associated with systematic variation in N, C^α and C^β atom solvent accessibility across all standard residue types. The results underline the importance of optimisation of ‘hard’ degrees of freedom (bond lengths and valence bond angles) and improper dihedral angle values from force field or other context-independent reference values, and impact on the use of standardised fixed internal co-ordinate geometry in sampling approaches to the determination of absolute values of protein amino acid residue solvent accessibility. Quantum chemical methods provide a useful and accurate alternative to molecular mechanics methods to perform energy minimisation of peptides containing non-standard (chemically modified) amino acid residues frequently present in experimental protein structure data sets, for which force field parameters may not be available. Reference tri-peptide atomic co-ordinate sets including hydrogen atoms are made freely available.     

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of essential oil from aerial parts of Teucrium flavum L. subsp. flavum growing spontaneously in Tunisia

The objectives of this study were to chemically characterise and evaluate the antioxidant potential of the essential oil from Teucrium flavum L. subsp. flavum growing spontaneously in Tunisia. The volatile oil was extracted by hydrodistillation of the aerial parts in a Clevenger type apparatus. Forty constituents were identified via GC and GC-MS analysis. β-caryophyllene (32.5%) and α-humulene (17.8%) were the most abundant components. The evaluation of free radical scavenging activity using stable DPPH free radical showed that the volatile oil exhibits a moderate antioxidant activity and reduces DPPH to 50% at EC₅₀ value of 1230 μg mL^? 1.     

Development of a method to screen and isolate potential α‐glucosidase inhibitors from Panax japonicus C.A. Meyer by ultrafiltration,liquid chromatography,and counter‐current chromatography

A new assay based on ultrafiltration, liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry was developed for the rapid screening and identification of the ligands for α‐glucosidase from the extract of Panax japonicus. Six saponins were identified as α‐glucosidase inhibitors. Subsequently, the specific binding ligands, namely, notoginsenoside R₁, ginsenoside Rb₁, chikusetsusaponin V, chikusetsusaponin IV, chikusetsusaponin IVa, and ginsenoside Rd (the purities were 94.18, 95.43, 96.09, 93.26, 94.50, 93.86%, respectively) were separated by counter‐current chromatography using two‐phase solvent systems composed of tert‐butyl methyl ether, acetonitrile, 0.1% aqueous formic acid (3.8:1.0:4.4, v/v/v) and the solvent system composed of methylene chloride, isopropanol, methanol, 0.1% aqueous formic acid (5.8:1.0:6.0:2.2, v/v/v). The results demonstrate that ultrafiltration, liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry combined with high‐speed counter‐current chromatography might provide not only a powerful tool for screening and isolating α‐glucosidase inhibitors in complex samples but also a useful platform for discovering bioactive compounds for the prevention and treatment of diabetes mellitus.     

Separation of five compounds from leaves of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees by off‐line two‐dimensional high‐speed counter‐current chromatography combined with gradient and recycling elution

An off‐line two‐dimensional high‐speed counter‐current chromatography method combined with gradient and recycling elution mode was established to isolate terpenoids and flavones from the leaves of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees. By using the solvent systems composed of n‐hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water with different volume ratios, five compounds including roseooside, 5,4′‐dihydroxyflavonoid‐7‐O‐β‐d ‐pyranglucuronatebutylester, 7,8‐dimethoxy‐2′‐hydroxy‐5‐O‐β‐d ‐glucopyranosyloxyflavon, 14‐deoxyandrographiside, and andrographolide were successfully isolated. Purities of these isolated compounds were all over 95% as determined by high‐performance liquid chromatography. Their structures were identified by UV, mass spectrometry, and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. It has been demonstrated that the combination of off‐line two‐dimensional high‐speed counter‐current chromatography with different elution modes is an efficient technique to isolate compounds from complex natural product extracts.