Sonodynamic therapy using water-dispersed TiO2-polyethylene glycol compound on glioma cells: comparison of cytotoxic mechanism with photodynamic therapy

Sonodynamic therapy is expected to be a novel therapeutic strategy for malignant gliomas. The titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) nanoparticle, a photosensitizer, can be activated by ultrasound. In this study, by using water-dispersed TiO(2) nanoparticles, an in vitro comparison was made between the photodynamic and sonodynamic damages on U251 human glioblastoma cell lines. Water-dispersed TiO(2) nanoparticles were constructed by the adsorption of chemically modified polyethylene glycole (PEG) on the TiO(2) surface (TiO(2)/PEG). To evaluate cytotoxicity, U251 monolayer cells were incubated in culture medium including 100 μg/ml of TiO(2)/PEG for 3h and subsequently irradiated by ultraviolet light (5.0 mW/cm(2)) or 1.0MHz ultrasound (1.0 W/cm(2)). Cell survival was estimated by MTT assay 24h after irradiation. In the presence of TiO(2)/PEG, the photodynamic cytotoxic effect was not observed after 20 min of an ultraviolet light exposure, while the sonodynamic cytotoxicity effect was almost proportional to the time of sonication. In addition, photodynamic cytotoxicity of TiO(2)/PEG was almost completely inhibited by radical scavenger, while suppression of the sonodynamic cytotoxic effect was not significant. Results of various fluorescent stains showed that ultrasound-treated cells lost their viability immediately after irradiation, and cell membranes were especially damaged in comparison with ultraviolet-treated cells. These findings showed a potential application of TiO(2)/PEG to sonodynamic therapy as a new treatment of malignant gliomas and suggested that the mechanism of TiO(2)/PEG mediated sonodynamic cytotoxicity differs from that of photodynamic cytotoxicity.     

Comparison between sonodynamic effect and photodynamic effect with photosensitizers on free radical formation and cell killing

Although enhancement of ultrasound-induced cell killing by photodynamic reagents has been shown, the sonochemical mechanism in detail is still not clear. Here, comparison between sonodynamic effect and photodynamic effect with photosensitizers at a concentration of 10 μM on free radical formation and cell killing was made. When electron paramagnetic-resonance spectroscopy (EPR) was used to detect 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidone-N-oxyl (TAN) after photo-irradiation or sonication with 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidone (TMPD), the order of TAN formation in the photo-irradiated samples was as follows: rhodamine 6G (R6) > sulforhodamine B (SR) > hematoporphyrin (Hp) > rhodamine 123 (R123) > rose bengal (RB) > erythrosine B (Er) = 0; although there was time-dependent TAN formation when the samples were sonicated, no significant difference among these agents were observed. All these agents suppressed ultrasound-induced OH radical formation detected by EPR-spin trapping. Sensitizer-derived free radicals were markedly observed in SR, RB and Er, while trace level of radicals derived from R6 and R123 were observed. Enhancement of ultrasound-induced decrease of survival in human lymphoma U937 cells was observed at 1.5 W/cm² (less than inertial cavitation threshold) for R6, R123, SR and Er, and at 2.3 W/cm² for R6, R123, Er, RB and SR. On the other hand, photo-induced decrease of survival was observed for R6, Hp and RB at the same concentration (10 μM). These comparative results suggest that (1) ¹O₂ is not involved in the enhancement of ultrasound-induced loss of cell survival, (2) OH radicals and sensitizer-derived free radicals do not take part in the enhancement, and (3) the mechanism is mainly due to certain mechanical stress such as augmentation of physical disruption of cellular membrane by sensitizers in the close vicinity of cells and/or cavitation bubbles.     

Singularities of the hypergeometric system associated with a monomial curve

We compute, using -module restrictions, the slopes of the irregular hypergeometric system associated with a monomial curve. We also study rational solutions and reducibility of such systems.

     

Catalytic enantioselective Strecker reaction of ketoimines using catalytic amount of TMSCN and stoichiometric amount of HCN

Catalyst loading as low as 0.1 mol % was achieved in the enantioselective Strecker reaction of ketoimines. Excellent enantioselectivity was obtained with a combined use of a catalytic amount of TMSCN and a stoichiometric amount of HCN as a reagent, and a chiral gadolinium complex as a catalyst.     

Formation and fragmentation of the [M + Na]+ ion of glycosides in fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry

Positive-ion fast atom bombardment (FAB) mass spectra of flavonol and steroid glycosides with sodium chloride added showed well known characteristic features; of the appearance of [M + Na]⁺ peaks, disappearance of [M + H]⁺ peaks and a significant decrease in the peak heights of fragment ions. Compared with the features in the FAB mass spectra of crown ethers with addition of salt, and above features suggest a complexation between Na⁺ and the glycosides in matrix solution. The B/E-constant linked scanning technique was used to obtain structural information of the [M + Na]⁺ ion of the glycosides. The B/E spectra gave the daughter-ion peaks, suggesting that coordination of Na⁺ with the biosides and triosides occurs at the sugar moiety, whereas the coordination with the monoglycosides occurs at the aglycone moiety, except for monoglycosides in which the aglycone moiety does not contain significant oxygen functional groups such as OH and CO.     

Facile Borylation of Alkenes,Alkynes, Imines,Arenes and Heteroarenes with N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Boranes and a Heterogeneous Semiconductor Photocatalyst

Although the development of radical chain and photocatalytic borylation reactions using N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-borane as boron source is remarkable, the persistent problems, including the use of hazardous and high-energy radical initiators or the recyclability and photostability issues of soluble homogeneous photocatalysts, still leave great room for further development in a sustainable manner. Herein, we report a conceptually different approach toward highly functionalized organoborane synthesis by using recoverable ultrathin cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanosheets as a heterogeneous photocatalyst, and a general and mild borylation platform that enables regioselective borylation of a wide variety of alkenes (arylethenes, trifluoromethylalkenes, α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and nitriles), alkynes, imines and electron-poor aromatic rings with NHC-borane as boryl radical precursor. Mechanistic studies and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that both photogenerated electrons and holes on the CdS fully perform their own roles, thereby resulting in enhancement of photocatalytic activity and stability of CdS.