Accumulation of endogenous and exogenous nucleic acids in “Touch DNA” components on hands

Successful forensic DNA profiling from handled items is increasingly routine in casework. This “touch DNA” is thought to contain both cellular and acellular nucleic acid sources. However, there is little clarity on the origins or characteristics of this material. The cellular component consists of anucleate, terminally differentiated corneocytes (assumed to lack DNA), and the occasional nucleated cell. The acellular DNA source is fragmentary, presumably cell breakdown products. This study examines the relative contributions each component makes to the hand-secretions (endogenous) and hand-accumulations (exogenous) by recovering rinses from the inside and outside of worn gloves. Additionally, cellular and acellular DNA was measured at timepoints up to 2 h after hand washing, both with and without interim contact. Microscopic examination confirmed cell morphology and presence of nucleic acids. Following the novel application of a hair keratinocyte lysis method and plasma-DNA fragment purification to hand rinse samples, DNA profiles were generated from both fractions. Exogenous cell-free DNA is shown to be a significant source of touch DNA, which reaccumulates quickly, although its amplifiable nuclear alleles are limited. Endogenous DNA is mostly cellular in origin and provides more allelic information consistently over time.     

An 18 Multi-InDels panel for analysis of highly degraded forensic biological samples

DNA genotyping from trace and highly degraded biological samples is one of the most significant challenges of forensic DNA identification. There is a lack of simple and effective methods for genotyping highly degraded samples. In this study, a multiple loci insertion/deletion polymorphisms (Multi-InDels) panel was designed for detecting 18 autosomal Multi-InDels through capillary electrophoresis (CE) with amplicon sizes no longer than 125 bp. Studies of sensitivity, degradation, and species specificity were performed and a population study was carried out using 192 samples from Han populations in Hunan province in the south of China. The combined random match probability (CMP) of these 18 Multi-InDels was 3.23 × 10^–12 and the cumulative probability of exclusion (CPE) was 0.9989, suggesting this panel could be used independently for human identification and could provide efficient supporting information for parentage testing. Complete profiles were obtained from as low as 62.5 pg of total input DNA after increasing the number of PCR cycles. Moreover, all alleles were detected from artificially highly degraded DNA after 80 min of boiling water bath treatment. This 18 Multi-InDels panel is simple, fast, and effective for the forensic analysis of highly degraded DNA.     

提高金属有机骨架材料在二氧化碳热催化转化中的性能:策略及前景展望

近年来,大气中CO2的浓度不断增加,带来全球变暖等一系列严重后果,成为国际社会共同关注的环境问题.将CO2催化转化为高附加值化学品可有效降低其向大气中的排放,同时可实现其资源化利用,符合低碳社会的发展目标.目前,已有多种催化体系实现了CO2向不同化学品的转化.然而,由于CO2自身的热力学稳定性和动力学惰性,这些转化通常需要在苛刻的反应条件和较高能耗下进行.设计开发高效催化体系、实现温和条件下CO2的转化利用引起了工业界和学术界的广泛兴趣.金属有机骨架材料(MOFs)是一类由有机配体和金属中心通过配位键组装而成的有机-无机杂化材料,在很多方面展现出良好的应用性能.由于其结构的多样性、可设计性、高比表面积和多孔性等独特性质,MOFs在催化领域吸引了很多研究者的关注.其中,MOFs作为非均相催化剂在CO2热催化转化中表现出良好的应用前景,已实现多种CO2向高值化学品的转化路径.但这些催化体系也存在一些缺点,如有些MOFs材料在催化反应中稳定性差以及其微孔性对反应中的传质造成限制等.因此,设计稳定的MOFs和MOF-基材料并对其结构进行优化改性,从而在温和条件下实现高效的CO2转化具有重要意义.本文综述了提高MOFs在CO2热催化转化反应中性能的几种策略:(1)对MOFs结构中的配体进行设计,包括具有活性官能团的配体、活性配合物作为配体和引入混合配体设计多元MOF;(2)调节MOFs结构中的金属中心,设计混合金属中心和包含活性金属团簇的金属中心;(3)构筑多级孔MOFs;(4)设计MOF-基的复合材料,包括MOFs作为载体与金属纳米颗粒、活性配合物和聚合物构建复合材料;(5)利用MOFs作为前驱体制备MOF-基衍生物材料,重点阐述了如何增加MOFs作为非均相催化剂的催化活性位点以及在CO2转化反应中各位点之间的协同作用.此外,介绍了原位表征技术在MOF-基材料用于CO2固定和转化中的应用.最后,分析了MOF-基非均相催化材料在CO2热催化转化领域目前面临的问题和挑战,包括MOFs材料结构优化、催化机理研究和规模化制备等方面,并对未来的发展趋势进行了展望.     

FER分子筛中铝原子的受限落位

分子筛是一类具有规则孔道或笼状结构的多孔材料,因其独特的结构和可调的酸性而广泛用于石油化工、精细化学品合成、现代煤化工等诸多行业.2006年Iglesia等在具有8元环孔道结构/侧口袋的FER和MOR分子筛上实现了无卤素添加、无贵金属存在条件下,由二甲醚羰基化合成乙酸甲酯的反应.乙酸甲酯通过进一步加氢可实现煤基乙醇的绿色生产.MOR分子筛通常具有较高的催化活性,但失活迅速;FER分子筛表现出良好的催化稳定性,但活性较低.如何在保证FER分子筛稳定性的前提下,进一步提升其羰基化活性是目前研究的热点.前期理论和实验研究发现,二甲醚羰基化反应活性与分子筛8元环孔道中的Br?nsted酸位密度存在正相关.因此,通过优化合成条件,选择性调控铝原子分布在"ferrierite"笼中,可以提高FER分子筛的羰基化反应活性.尽管研究者已在调节FER分子筛铝分布方面进行了大量研究,但对于不同T位上Al原子的精准识别以及对应Br?nsted酸位的可接触性还缺少系统和深入的认识.本文选取了几种代表性模板剂,分别在碱性和含氟体系下制备了系列FER分子筛样品,利用Rietveld精修和模拟退火算法,在原子水平揭示了模板剂种类以及合成介质变化对Al原子在不同T位分布的影响,并结合二甲醚羰基化反应进行了结构和性能的关联.首先选取不同尺寸大小的环状胺(环己胺、哌啶、吡啶、吡咯烷)和链状胺(乙二胺)合成了具有相似形貌、孔结构、酸密度的系列FER分子筛样品.以CHA-Na-FER为例,PXRD精修结果显示,Na+(平衡35％的骨架负电荷)分布在10元环孔道中与O1形成氢键,质子化的环己胺分布在"ferrierite"笼中,并且环己胺上的N与O3形成氢键.这说明与O1相连的T3位以及与O3相连的T1位都有可能是Al富集的位置.为了进一步验证该结论,本文还精修了吸附探针分子吡啶的样品CHA-Na-FER-Py-60h.原粉以及吸附吡啶样品的精修结果表明,T1位和T3位是样品中铝富集的位置.随后,运用相同方法研究了Py-Na-FER,PI-Na-FER,En-Na-FER和Pyrr-HF-FER样品中的Al落位,发现T1/T3位均是样品中Al富集的位置.此外,理论计算结果表明T1/T3位上Al原子的取代能较低,说明Al优先取代T1/T3位上的Si,这与精修结果相一致.前期理论模拟结果表明,FER分子筛中T2-O5和T4-O7位点的CO插入反应能垒较低,是二甲醚羰基化反应的活性位.本文吡啶吸附实验、热重分析以及PXRD精修结果表明,FER分子筛中大部分Al富集在T1/T3位,与T2/T4位相关的Br?nsted酸约占18％～30％.最后,对各样品进行了二甲醚羰基化反应评价,结果显示PI-Na-FER,Py-Na-FER,En-Na-FER和CHA-Na-FER催化剂的乙酸甲酯生成速率相近,约为0.10 mol/(mol H+?h).Pyrr-HF-FER催化剂的乙酸甲酯生成速率最高,可达到0.16 mol/(mol H+?h),这可能是由于Pyrr-HF-FER催化剂具有更多T2/T4位相关的Br?nsted酸.虽然Pyrr-HF-FER催化剂的乙酸甲酯生成速率较其他四个催化剂有一定提升,但其仍远低于MOR分子筛上乙酸甲酯生成速率(0.40 mol/(mol H+·h)).综上,有机模板剂的选择与合成介质的改变对FER分子筛中Al分布的调控作用是有限的,即Al原子总是优先分布于T1/T3位.而与T1和T3位相关的Br?nsted酸位不是二甲醚羰基化反应的活性位点.因此与MOR相比,FER分子筛在二甲醚羰基化反应中表现出较低的催化活性.     

Mo的引入方式对CeO2脱硝性能的影响

固定源排放的氮氧化物(NOx)导致了严重的环境污染问题,NH3选择性催化还原(NH3-SCR)被认为是目前控制NOx排放的最有效技术,已广泛应用于电力行业的烟气排放治理.然而,我国非电行业的NOx减排仍然面临着重大挑战,因为其排放的废气温度通常低于300oC,且含有一定量的SO2,传统的钒基SCR催化剂因活性温度(300～400oC)较高而无法有效发挥作用.因此,亟待开发新型的高效低温SCR催化剂.铈基催化剂由于氧化铈(CeO2)的优异储氧能力(OSC)和良好的氧化还原能力而显示出较好的低温(80～300oC)脱硝性能,如Mn-Ce,W-Ce,Ta-Ce,Cu-Ce和Nb-Ce等.但这些铈基催化剂易被烟气中的SO2毒化而导致催化活性降低.因此,提高铈基SCR催化剂抗硫中毒能力是其产业化应用的关键.已有研究发现,通过构筑结构保护层或添加另一种金属来保护活性组分是提高SCR催化剂抗硫性能的一种可行策略.氧化钼(MoO3)通常被用做传统V2O5/TiO2催化剂的促进剂以提高其水热稳定性和表面酸性.研究表明,在V/Ti催化剂中引入钼物种不仅可以提高其SCR活性,而且提高了V/Ti催化剂的抗SO2性能,这是由于VMo/Ti表面较少的V–O–V键削弱了对SO2的氧化作用.Tang等开发了一种Fe2O3/MoO3纳米片催化剂,显示出比纯Fe2O3更好的抗SO2能力,主要是由于层状结构的MoO3能阻止NH4+在硫酸氢铵中的沉积.目前关于Mo的引入方式即催化剂的制备方法对铈基催化剂物化性能和NH3-SCR催化性能(特别是抗SO2能力)的影响的研究还比较少.本文分别采用浸渍法和沉淀法在CeO2中引入钼物种,制备了Mo-CeO2和MoCe-cp催化剂来探究制备方法对MoCe催化剂的脱硝性能及抗SO2中毒能力的影响.结果表明,引入Mo可以显著地提高CeO2的低温脱硝性能,其中Mo-CeO2催化剂在150 oC即可达到80％以上的脱硝效率,同时抗SO2中毒性能也得到了显著提高.对催化剂结构、氧化还原能力、表面酸度和反应物分子的吸附脱附性质进行了表征,并与MoCe催化剂脱硝性能和抗硫性能相关联.结果表明,Mo-CeO2和MoCe-cp催化剂的物理化学性质和脱硝性能有明显区别.首先,Mo-CeO2中的钼物种主要存在于CeO2表面,而MoCe-cp中的钼物种主要存在于CeO2体相,其为Mo-CeO2表面带来大量的Br?nsted酸位并抑制了硝酸盐的吸附,促使NH3-SCR反应按照Eley-Rideal机理进行,进而表现出优于MoCe-cp的低温活性.其次,Mo-CeO2表面更多的Mo物种抑制了SO2的吸附,从而使Mo-CeO2表现出更好的抗SO2性能.本文为具有实际应用前景的铈基NH3-SCR催化剂的设计提供了参考.     

Electrochemical Biosensor Design with Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube to Display DNA-Schiff Base Interaction

This paper demonstrates a Schiff base i. e. 5-(diethylamino)-2-((2,6-diethylphenylimino)methyl)phenol (5-DDMP) that was sensed by DNA biosensor. dsDNA was immobilized onto GCE modified with functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes to prepare a biosensor. The efficiency of dsDNA biosensor was determined and binding of 5-DDMP with dsDNA was searched by UV-vis spectrophotometry and differential pulse voltammetry. Molecular docking simulations between 5-DDMP and dsDNA were explored and as a result, a hydrogen bond and a π-π contact were observed between 5-DDMP and deoxyguanosine base (dG22) of the strand B, deoxyadenosine base (dA5) of the strand A, respectively. These studies could be useful for new anticancer drug design and development.     

Binding Characteristics Study of DNA based Aptamers for E. coli O157:H7

E. coli O157:H7 is a pathogenic bacterium producing verotoxins that could lead to serious complications such as hemolytic uremia syndrome. Fast detection of such pathogens is important. For rapid detection, aptamers are quickly gaining traction as alternative biorecognition molecules besides conventional antibodies. Several DNA aptamers have been selected for E. coli O157:H7. Nonetheless, there has not been a comparative study of the binding characteristics of these aptamers. In this work, we present a comprehensive analysis of binding characteristics including binding affinity (K_d) and binding capacity (B_max) of DNA-based aptamers for E. coli O157:H7 using qPCR. Our results show that aptamer E18R has the highest binding capacity to E. coli 157:H7 and the highest specificity over non-pathogenic E. coli strains K12 and DH5α. Our study also finds that the common biotin-tag modification at 5′ end typically changes the binding capacity significantly. For most of the selected aptamers, the binding capacity after a biotin-tag modification decreases. There exists a discrepancy in the binding capability between the selected aptamer and the aptamer used for detection. Our study also shows that a lower concentration of Mg²⁺ ions in the binding buffer leads to a decrease in the binding capacity of E17F and E18R, while it does not affect the binding capacity of S1 and EcoR1.     

Analytical Methods for Determination of Phytic Acid and Other Inositol Phosphates: A Review

From the early precipitation-based techniques, introduced more than a century ago, to the latest development of enzymatic bio- and nano-sensor applications, the analysis of phytic acid and/or other inositol phosphates has never been a straightforward analytical task. Due to the biomedical importance, such as antinutritional, antioxidant and anticancer effects, several types of methodologies were investigated over the years to develop a reliable determination of these intriguing analytes in many types of biological samples; from various foodstuffs to living cell organisms. The main aim of the present work was to critically overview the development of the most relevant analytical principles, separation and detection methods that have been applied in order to overcome the difficulties with specific chemical properties of inositol phosphates, their interferences, absence of characteristic signal (e.g., absorbance), and strong binding interactions with (multivalent) metals and other biological molecules present in the sample matrix. A systematical and chronological review of the applied methodology and the detection system is given, ranging from the very beginnings of the classical gravimetric and titrimetric analysis, through the potentiometric titrations, chromatographic and electrophoretic separation techniques, to the use of spectroscopic methods and of the recently reported fluorescence and voltammetric bio- and nano-sensors.     

Discovery of Novel Sultone Fused Berberine Derivatives as Promising Tdp1 Inhibitors

A new type of berberine derivatives was obtained by the reaction of berberrubine with aliphatic sulfonyl chlorides. The new polycyclic compounds have a sultone ring condensed to C and D rings of a protoberberine core. The reaction conditions were developed to facilitate the formation of sultones with high yields without by-product formation. Thus, it was shown that the order of addition of reagents affects the composition of the reaction products: when sulfochlorides are added to berberrubine, their corresponding 9-O-sulfonates are predominantly formed; when berberrubine is added to pre-generated sulfenes, sultones are the only products. The reaction was shown to proceed stereo-selectively and the cycle configuration was confirmed by 2D NMR spectroscopy. The inhibitory activity of the synthesized sultones and their 12-brominated analogs against the DNA-repair enzyme tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 (Tdp1), an important target for a potential antitumor therapy, was studied. All derivatives were active in the micromolar and submicromolar range, in contrast to the acyclic analogs and 9-O-sulfonates, which were inactive. The significance of the sultone cycle and bromine substituent in binding with the enzyme was confirmed using molecular modeling. The active inhibitors are mostly non-toxic to the HeLa cancer cell line, and several ligands show synergy with topotecan, a topoisomerase 1 poison in clinical use. Thus, novel berberine derivatives can be considered as candidates for adjuvant therapy against cancer.     

DNA/银纳米簇在分析检测中的应用

银纳米簇(AgNCs)为几个到数十个原子所组成的聚集体,核尺寸小于2 nm,具有优异的物理化学性质,常以聚合物、蛋白质、DNA等作为模板采用化学合成法制备,其中以DNA为模板合成的AgNCs(DNA/AgNCs)是一种新型的发光纳米材料,其突出的荧光特性和良好的生物相容性,被应用于纳米传感器、细胞标记与检测等多种分析领域,引起广泛关注。本文针对近些年来DNA/AgNCs在重金属离子、有机小分子、核酸、蛋白质、细胞分析检测方面的最新应用进展以及面临的问题进行简要总结概括。