Self-assembled hybrid nanofibers confer a magnetorheological supramolecular hydrogel

Most magnetorheological materials, composed of magnetic microparticles in a liquid, require significant amounts of magnetic particles and a large magnetic field to achieve the desired effects. Here, we report on a new type of magnetorheological materials consisting of small amounts of magnetic nanoparticles (0.8 wt %) but exhibiting large rheological change (i.e., a gel-sol transition) upon the application of a small magnetic field. We use self-assembly to create hybrid nanofibers, which consist of supramolecular hydrogelators and magnetic nanoparticles, as the matrices of the hydrogel. Localized in the nanofibers at a distance of 1-2 nm, the magnetic nanoparticles occupy a small volume fraction of the hydrogel, significantly enhancing the magnetic dipole interactions between them, which results in the large magnetoresponse. This strategy generates a hierarchical nanostructure and eliminates several drawbacks of the simple mixture of polymers with nanoparticles, and thus provides a new methodology that uses magnetic force to control the nanostructures and properties of soft materials.     

Imaging cellular distribution of fluorescent supramolecular nanofibers

In this study, we used the 4-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD) as an aromatic capping group for a peptide to construct the supramolecular nanofibers. Taking the advantage of the fluorescence property of NBD, we could directly observe the cellular distribution of the self-assembled nanofibers. We found that the distributions of the nanofibers of NBD-FFETIGGY are different in four mammalian cells and two plant cells. The nanofibers are mainly located at the surface of two mammalian cells and one plant cell, while in the intracellular space of other cells. Different distributions of nanofibers lead to different protein binding patterns of the nanofibers in two different cell lines. We believe that a useful and versatile platform has been offered to the image cellular distribution of nanofibers, which can provide useful information to the biological functions of the self-assembled nanostructures.     

Synthesis and Chromatographic Evaluation of Perfluorooctyl Stationary Phase for Separation of Basic Compounds

Fluorinated stationary phases provide unique separation effect on basic compounds, due to the fluorine atoms, and pentafluorophenyl stationary phases (PFPs) are the most widely used. Considering that some fluoroalkyls have higher fluorine contents than PFPs do, it is speculated that fluoroalkyl stationary phases should have potential new applications. Herein, we synthesized a silica-based stationary phase bonding perfluoroctyl (FC8) proved by characterization through elemental analysis and solid-state ¹³C cross-polarization/magic-anglespinning nuclear magnetic resonance. The chromatographic behavior of the stationary phase was evaluated with test compounds. In addition, to further study the applicability of FC8 materials, Corydalis decumbens (Thunb.) Pers. fraction, considered as a challenging medicine on reversed-phase chromatography columns, was chosen as a test sample. Results demonstrated that the FC8 stationary phase had better and more satisfactory separation performance than the PFP stationary phase on basic compounds.

     

High-performance liquid chromatography quantitative analysis of ephedrine alkaloids in Ephedrae Herba on a perfluorooctyl stationary phase

Ephedrae Herba is one of the most commonly used herbal medicines, and it has been shown that most of the clinical efficacy for cold and asthma is exerted by its alkaloidal components. A simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed using a perfluorooctyl column for the simultaneous determination of five alkaloids (norephedrine, norpseudoephedrine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and methylephedrine) in Ephedrae Herba. The mobile phase comprising acetonitrile and 15 mM ammonium trifluoroacetate was used to elute the targets in isocratic elution mode. The method was validated for linearity (R² > 0.999), repeatability, intraday and interday precision, recoveries with trueness (93.87–110.99%), limits of detection (5.35–5.76 µg/mL), and limits of quantification (20 µg/mL). The quantitative results revealed that the developed method was precise and accurate. Then it was successfully applied to determine the difference in the contents of three batches of Ephedrae Herba from three pharmaceutical companies.     

固相萃取-超高效液相色谱法测定人参中5种原人参二醇型人参皂苷的含量

建立了固相萃取-超高效液相色谱测定人参中5种原人参二醇型人参皂苷的方法。人参药材经粉碎后通过水饱和正丁醇溶液进行超声提取,经过亲水作用固相萃取柱净化后,在ACQUITY UPLC BEH Shield RP18色谱柱（100 mm×2.1 mm,1.7 μm）上分离,利用乙腈/水作为流动相进行梯度洗脱,采用光电二极管阵列检测器检测。结果表明,5种原人参二醇型人参皂苷在5~500 μg/mL范围内具有很好的线性关系,相关系数均大于0.999。方法精密度的RSD值在0.95%~2.62%（n=6）之间,22 h内样品稳定性的RSD值在0.90%~2.15%（n=8）之间,日内和日间重复性的RSD值分别为5.35%~6.47%（n=6）和5.56%~6.34%（n=8）。方法的加标回收率在87.16%~101.92%之间,相对标准偏差在1.54%~4.01%（n=6）之间。所建立的方法采用亲水作用色谱模式的固相萃取材料,药材的提取液可直接作为固相萃取的上样溶液进行人参皂苷的富集和净化,并且超高效液相色谱大大缩短了分析时间。该方法简单快速、通量高、重现性好,适用于人参中5种原人参二醇型人参皂苷的定量分析。     

A simple visual assay based on small molecule hydrogels for detecting inhibitors of enzymes

Here we report a simple approach to develop assays based on the hydrogelation of small molecules for quick detecting inhibitors of enzymes.     

The influence of organic sample solvents on the separation efficiency of basic compounds under strong cation exchange mode

This study investigated the influence of organic sample solvents on separation efficiency of basic compounds under strong cation exchange (SCX) mode. The mixtures of acidic aqueous solution and organic solvent such as acetonitrile, ethanol, methanol and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were tested as sample solvents. For later-eluting analytes, the increase of sample solvent elution strength was responsible for the decrease of separation efficiency. Thus, sample solvents with weak elution strength could provide high separation efficiencies. For earlier-eluting analytes, the retention of organic sample solvents was the main factor affecting separation efficiency. Weakly retained solvents could provide high separation efficiency. In addition, an optimized approach was proposed to reduce the effect of organic sample solvent, in which low ionic solvent was employed as initial mobile phase in the gradient. At last, the analysis of impurities in hydrophobic drug berberine was performed. The results showed that using acidic aqueous methanol as sample solvents could provide high separation efficiency and good resolution (R > 1.5).     

高选择性高效液相色谱-电化学检测法测定丹参中5种酚类物质

发展了一种高灵敏度的高效液相色谱-电化学检测（HPLC-ECD）方法,用于丹参中5种酚类物质的定量分析。为了获得较高的检测灵敏度,对流动相的pH、缓冲溶液类型和浓度、有机相种类和梯度以及流速做了系统研究。在较低的pH（2.8）、较低的缓冲盐浓度（20 mmol/L NaH₂PO₄）和较缓的乙腈梯度下,以0.2 mL/min流速可为5种酚类的分离检测提供较好的分离度和较高的检测灵敏度。在获得优化的分离参数后,将其用于14批丹参药材中5种酚类物质的定量分析。结果表明,该方法可获得较好的回收率（>95%）、较宽的线性范围（高达4个数量级）、较好的重复性（RSD<4.01%）和较高的灵敏度（咖啡酸的LOQ低至1.5μg/L）。与紫外检测方法相比,ECD检测方法具有更高的选择性,可减少非抗氧化活性的物质的干扰。     

Click maltose as an alternative to reverse phase material for desalting glycopeptides

Desalting peptides before mass spectrometry analysis is important because salts lead to adduct formation, increased chemical noise and ion suppression effect. A high concentration of salt can clog nanoelectrospray ionization (ESI) emitters. The reverse phase C18 material is commonly used to desalt peptides because of its high binding capacity. However, peptides with high hydrophilicity, such as glycopeptides, are not retained well on this material, resulting in the loss of peptide information. To improve the efficiency of glycopeptide desalting, we introduced a hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC)-based material named click maltose. Four glycoproteins, horseradish peroxidase (HRP), human serum immunoglobulin G (IgG), bovine ribonuclease B (RNase B), and α-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP) were chosen as models and their glycopeptides were desalted with click maltose, AQ C18, Empore C18 and ZipTip C18. Click maltose as a HILIC material exhibited better performance than the other three C18 materials for both number of targeted glycopeptides and their corresponding intensities. In addition, accurate glycopeptide profiling was achieved with click maltose desalting regardless of peptide lengths and glycan types.     

高效亲和色谱法测定2种中药成分与人血清白蛋白的结合率

采用高效亲和色谱技术(HPAC)对中药成分与人血清白蛋白(HSA)的相互作用进行了研究。首先采用点击化学的方法制备了表面键合有HSA蛋白的硅胶固定相并装填成亲和色谱柱,根据药物在该色谱柱上与空白硅胶柱上的保留时间差计算得到药物与蛋白的结合率。利用该方法测得模型化合物华法令与HSA的结合率与文献中采用超滤法测得的结果基本一致,表明该方法可用于测定药物与HSA的结合率。在此基础上用该方法测定了葛根素和告依春两种中药成分与HSA的相对结合率分别为10.26%和10.20%。同时用超滤的方法测定了葛根素与HSA的结合率为14.25%。结果表明,HPAC可以作为研究药物与蛋白相互作用的一种简便可行的方法,其测定结果与超滤方法一致。