Application of molecularly imprinted polymers for electrochemical detection of some important biomedical markers and pathogens

The determination of biomedical markers and pathogens using electrochemical sensors is a well-established technique in which the transducer and the recognition element are used to detect the target molecule. There is a growing interest in molecularly imprinted polymer (MIPs) applications as promising recognition elements. The use of MIPs as recognition elements in electrochemical sensors offers the advantages of being fast, low cost, and, at the same time, provides accurate and selective results compared with other commonly applied routine methods for biomedical markers and pathogen detection. Compared with other nanomaterials and aptamer-based biosensors, MIP-based sensors offered excellent selectivity for low-priced reagents to be used. The aim of the current review is to discuss the most recent applications of MIP-based electrochemical sensors (2019–2021) as promising detection devices for some important biomarkers, enzymes, and pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, and toxins.     

Multifingerprint based similarity searches for targeted class compound selection

Molecular fingerprints are widely used for similarity-based virtual screening in drug discovery projects. In this paper we discuss the performance and the complementarity of nine two-dimensional fingerprints (Daylight, Unity, AlFi, Hologram, CATS, TRUST, Molprint 2D, ChemGPS, and ALOGP) in retrieving active molecules by similarity searching against a set of query compounds. For this purpose, we used biological data from HTS screening campaigns of four protein families (GPCRs, kinases, ion channels, and proteases). We have established threshold values for the similarity index (Tanimoto index) to be used as starting points for similarity searches. Based on the complementarities between the selections made by using different fingerprints we propose a multifingerprint approach as an efficient tool to balance the strengths and weaknesses of various fingerprints.     

Assessment of a Coulomb-attenuated exchange-correlation energy functional

The recently proposed CAM-B3LYP exchange-correlation energy functional, based on a partitioning of the r operator in the exchange interaction into long- and short-range components, is assessed for the determination of molecular thermochemistry, structures, and second order response properties. Rydberg and charge transfer excitation energies and static electronic polarisabilities are notably improved over the standard B3LYP functional; classical reaction barriers also improve. Ionisation potentials, bond lengths, NMR shielding constants and indirect spin-spin coupling constants are comparable with the two functionals. CAM-B3LYP atomisation energies and diatomic harmonic vibrational wavenumbers are less accurate than those of B3LYP. Future research directions are outlined.     

On the Radical Nature of Iron‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling Reactions

The radical nature of iron‐catalyzed cross‐coupling between Grignard reagents and alkyl halides has been studied by using a combination of competitive kinetic experiments and DFT calculations. In contrast to the corresponding coupling with aryl halides, which commences through a classical two‐electron oxidative addition/reductive elimination sequence, the presented data suggest that alkyl halides react through an atom‐transfer‐initiated radical pathway. Furthermore, a general iodine‐based quenching methodology was developed to enable the determination of highly accurate concentrations of Grignard reagents, a capability that facilitates and increases the information output of kinetic investigations based on these substrates.     

Finite group actions on AF algebras obtained by folding the interval

For any finite groupG we construct examples of an AF algebraA and an action byG onA such that the fixed point algebra is not AF. The construction ofA is done by successive foldings and cuttings of the interval in a way originally suggested by Blackadar and, in a different context, by Connes in his talk in Oslo in 1978.     

Retrosynthetic accessibility score (RAscore) – rapid machine learned synthesizability classification from AI driven retrosynthetic planning

Computer aided synthesis planning (CASP) is part of a suite of artificial intelligence (AI) based tools that are able to propose synthesis routes to a wide range of compounds. However, at present they are too slow to be used to screen the synthetic feasibility of millions of generated or enumerated compounds before identification of potential bioactivity by virtual screening (VS) workflows. Herein we report a machine learning (ML) based method capable of classifying whether a synthetic route can be identified for a particular compound or not by the CASP tool AiZynthFinder. The resulting ML models return a retrosynthetic accessibility score (RAscore) of any molecule of interest, and computes at least 4500 times faster than retrosynthetic analysis performed by the underlying CASP tool. The RAscore should be useful for pre-screening millions of virtual molecules from enumerated databases or generative models for synthetic accessibility and produce higher quality databases for virtual screening of biological activity.

The retrosynthetic accessibility score (RAscore) is based on AI driven retrosynthetic planning, and is useful for rapid scoring of synthetic feasability and pre-screening of large datasets of virtual/generated molecules.     

Synthesis of sugar arrays in microtiter plate

1,3-Dipolar cycloadditions between azides and alkynes were exploited to attach oligosaccharides to a C(14) hydrocarbon chain that noncovalently binds to the microtiter well surface. Synthesis of sugar arrays was performed on a micromolar scale in situ in the microtiter plate. As a model study, the beta-galactosyllipid 5 was displayed on a 4-micromol scale. Formation of product was confirmed via ESI-MS, and the yield was determined via chemical and biological assays. Several complex carbohydrates (6-16) were also displayed in microtiter plates and successfully screened with various lectins. Moreover, sialyl Lewis x (17) was synthesized via the enzymatic fucosylation of a precursor displayed in the plate. Studies on inhibition of this biotransformation have been carried out, and the IC(50) value found for the known inhibitor 20 was consistent with previous studies in solution.     

Perturbations of flows on Banach spaces and operator algebras

For automorphism groups of operator algebras we show how properties of the difference _t – ' _t are reflected in relations between the generators , . Indeed for a von Neumann algebraM with separable predual we show that if _t – '_t 0.28 for smallt, then = 0(+)°^-1 where is an inner automorphism ofM and is a bounded derivation ofM. If the difference _t – ' _t =O(t) ast ; 0, then = + and if _t – ' _t 0.28 for allt then =. We prove analogous results for unitary groups on a Hilbert space andC ₀,C ₀ ^* groups on a Banach space.This paper subsumes an earlier work of the same title which appeared as a report from Z.I.F. der Universität BielefeldWith partial support of the U.S. National Science Foundation     

Preparation and characterization of prototypes for multi-modal separation aimed for capture of positively charged biomolecules at high-salt conditions

Several prototypes of aromatic (Ar) and non-aromatic (NoAr) cation-exchange ligands suitable for capture of proteins from high conductivity (ca. 30 mS/cm) mobile phases were coupled to Sepharose 6 Fast Flow. These new prototypes of multi-modal cation-exchangers were found by screening a diverse library of multi-modal ligands and selecting cation-exchangers resulting in elution of test proteins at high ionic-strength. Candidates were then tested with respect to breakthrough capacity of bovine serum albumin (BSA), human IgG and lysozyme in buffers adjusted to a high conductivity. By applying a salt-step or a pH-step the recoveries were also tested. We have found that aromatic multi-modal cation-exchanger ligands based on carboxylic acids seem to be optimal for the capture of proteins at high-salt conditions. Experimental evidence on the importance of the relative position of the aromatic group in order to improve the breakthrough capacity at high-salt conditions has been found. It was also found that an amide group on the alpha-carbon was essential for capture of proteins at high-salt conditions. Compared to a strong cation-exchanger such as SP Sepharose Fast Flow the best new multi-modal weak cation-exchangers have breakthrough capacities of BSA, human IgG and lysozyme that are 10-30 times higher at high-salt conditions. The new multi-modal cation-exchangers can also be used at normal cation-exchange conditions and with either a salt-step or a pH-step (to pH-values where the proteins are negatively charged) to accomplish elution of proteins. In addition, the functional performance of the new cation-exchangers was found to be intact after treatment in 1.0 M sodium hydroxide solution for 10 days. For BSA it was also possible to design cation-exchangers based on non-aromatic carboxyl acid ligands with high capacities at high-salt conditions. A common feature of these ligands is that they contain hydrogen acceptor groups close to the carboxylic group. Furthermore, it was also possible to obtain high breakthrough capacities for lysozyme and BSA of a strong cation-exchanger (SP Sepharose Fast Flow) if phenyl groups were attached to the beads. Varying the ligand ratio (SP/Phenyl) could be used for optimizing the function of mixed-ligand ion-exchange media.     

Greens functions,Hamiltonians and modular automorphisms

We demonstrate, under circumstances that allow the construction of a G(A, B; t) = w(As_t (B))G(A, B; t) = \omega (A\sigma _t (B))