Structural Investigation of the Interaction Mechanism between Chlorogenic Acid and AMPA Receptor via In Silico Approaches

Chlorogenic acid (CGA), an important metabolite in natural plant medicines such as honeysuckle and eucommia, has been shown to have potent antinociceptive effects. Nevertheless, the mechanism by which CGA relieves chronic pain remains unclear. α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isooxazolpropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) is a major ionotropic glutamate receptor that mediates rapid excitatory synaptic transmission and its glutamate ionotropic receptor AMPA type subunit 1 (GluA1) plays a key role in nociceptive transmission. In this study, we used Western blot, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assay, and the molecular simulation technologies to investigate the mechanism of interaction between CGA and AMPAR to relieve chronic pain. Our results indicate that the protein expression level of GluA1 showed a dependent decrease as the concentration of CGA increased (0, 50, 100, and 200 μM). The SPR assay demonstrates that CGA can directly bind to GluA1 (K_D = 496 μM). Furthermore, CGA forms a stable binding interaction with GluA1, which is validated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The binding free energy between CGA and GluA1 is −39.803 ± 14.772 kJ/mol, where van der Waals interaction and electrostatic interaction are the major contributors to the GluA1–CGA binding, and the key residues are identified (Val-32, Glu-33, Ala-36, Glu-37, Leu-48), which play a crucial role in the binding interaction. This study first reveals the structural basis of the stable interaction between CGA and GluA1 to form a binding complex for the relief of chronic pain. The research provides the structural basis to understand the treatment of chronic pain and is valuable to the design of novel drug molecules in the future.     

A Nonsmooth L-M Method for Solving the Generalized Nonlinear Complementarity Problem over a Polyhedral Cone

In this paper the generalized nonlinear complementarity problem (GNCP) defined on a polyhedral cone is reformulated as a system of nonsmooth equations. Based on this reformulation, the famous Levenberg-Marquardt (L-M) algorithm is employed to obtain its solution. Theoretical results that relate the stationary points of the merit function to the solution of the GNCP are presented. Under mild assumptions, we show that the L-M algorithm is both globally and superlinearly convergent. Moreover, a method to calculate a generalized Jacobian is given and numerical experimental results are presented.     

Active Control of Thermo-mechanical Buckling of Composite Laminated Plates Using Piezoelectric Actuators

This paper is concerned with the active control of thermo-mechanical buckling of composite laminated plates using piezoelectric facesheets as actuators.The four...     

快速溶剂萃取-在线净化-GCMS联用分析纺织品中10种芳香胺

利用在线净化-快速溶剂萃取结合气相色谱-质谱联用技术,建立了一种快速、高效的多种致癌芳香胺类成分的样品前处理及分析方法。纺织样品中的偶氮染料在萃取池内高温和高压条件下进行氧化-还原裂解反应,裂解芳香胺产物萃取后,经池内硅藻土填料实现在线净化。10种芳香胺类物质在0.5~90 mg/L的范围内与峰面积呈线性,检测限在1.2~4.6 mg/kg之间,快速溶剂萃取处理所得10种致癌芳香胺成分的回收率在82.6%~96.3%之间,RSD范围在1.8%~4.7%之间。     

Nigellamines A3, A4, A5, and C, new dolabellane-type diterpene alkaloids, with lipid metabolism-promoting activities from the Egyptian medicinal food black cumin

New dolabellane-type diterpene alkaloids, nigellamines A(3), A(4), A(5), and C, were isolated from the methanolic extract of an Egyptian medicinal food, black cumin (the seeds of Nigella sativa). Their absolute configurations were determined on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. Nigellamines were found to lower triglyceride levels in primary cultured mouse hepatocytes, and in particular, the activity of nigellamine A(5) was equivalent to that of the hypolipidemic agent, clofibrate.     

酵母对抑制剂耐受的系统分析

纤维素生产乙醇的关键问题之一是水解产生的抑制性物质对乙醇发酵具有明显的抑制效应,因而引起了国内外研究者的广泛关注。研究发现,在抑制剂存在下,酵母在基因表达水平,蛋白水平和代谢物水平都有相应的耐受响应,且这些响应错综复杂。从系统角度运用组学的方法研究这一体系将有助于全面深入了解酵母的耐受机制。本文综述了系统研究的思路和方法在酵母对抑制剂耐受方面的研究状况;对主要研究手段和成果进行了回顾;并对酵母发酵乙醇系统分析的前景进行了展望。     

Lattice Compression Revealed at the ≈1 nm Scale

Lattice tuning at the ≈1 nm scale is fascinating and challenging; for instance, lattice compression at such a minuscule scale has not been observed. The lattice compression might also bring about some unusual properties, which waits to be verified. Through ligand induction, we herein achieve the lattice compression in a ≈1 nm gold nanocluster for the first time, as detected by the single-crystal X-ray crystallography. In a freshly synthesized Au₅₂(CHT)₂₈ (CHT=S-c−C₆H₁₁) nanocluster, the lattice distance of the (110) facet is found to be compressed from 4.51 to 3.58 Å at the near end. However, the lattice distances of the (111) and (100) facets show no change in different positions. The lattice-compressed nanocluster exhibits superior electrocatalytic activity for the CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) compared to that exhibited by the same-sized Au₅₂(TBBT)₃₂ (TBBT=4-tert-butyl-benzenethiolate) nanocluster and larger Au nanocrystals without lattice variation, indicating that lattice tuning is an efficient method for tailoring the properties of metal nanoclusters. Further theoretical calculations explain the high CO₂RR performance of the lattice-compressed Au₅₂(CHT)₂₈ and provide a correlation between its structure and catalytic activity.     

Development of an automatic multi-channel ink-jet ejection chemiluminescence system and its application to the determination of horseradish peroxidase

In this work, an automatic multi-channel ink-jet for chemiluminescence (CL) analysis was developed. The four-channel ink-jet device was controlled by a home-made circuit. Differing from the classic flow injection CL, the whole procedure for CL analysis was automatically completed on a hydrophobic glass side. CL reaction of luminal and hydrogen peroxide for the determination of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was selected as an application to automatic CL analysis platform. All solutions delivered by different channels were precisely ejected to the same position of the glass slide for the CL analysis. The consumption of reaction solution was reduced to nanoliter level. The whole CL analysis could be completed in less than 4 min, which was benefited from the prompt solution mixing in small size of droplet. The CL intensity increased linearly with HRP concentration in the range from 0.01 to 0.5 μg mL⁻¹. The limit of detection (LOD) (S/N = 3) was 0.005 μg mL⁻¹. Finally, the automatic CL system could also be used for the detection of HRP in HRP–protein conjugates, which showed its practical application in immunoassay.     

通过赝反伽伐尼反应实现金纳米粒子模块替换

通过可控的方式精确调控纳米粒子的结构仍是一个富有挑战性和鼓舞人心的课题.尽管单原子或两、三个金属原子的精细调控已经在金纳米粒子中实现,涉及三个以上金属原子的取代（模块取代）还没有报道.本工作报道了环己硫醇配体保护的Au₄₈（CHT）₂₆的合成及其通过赝反伽伐尼过程的模块取代.单晶结构揭示模块取代的产物与母体团簇共用一个相似的Au₃₁（CHT）₁₂主体,但剩余部分不同（Au₆（CHT）₁₁ vs.Au₁₆（CHT）₁₄）.一个有趣的发现是模块取代抑制了Au₄₈（CHT）₂₆的光热过程,却增强了它的发射,赋予了所合成团簇更好的双（多）功能应用潜力.光热效应的减弱和发射的增强也暗示了这两种作用能够彼此至少部分转化,对于研究这两种效应之间的相互影响也具有重要的启示.     

阳极氧化法制备TiO2多孔薄膜

本文综述了制备TiO₂薄膜的各种方法,详细介绍了阳极氧化法制备TiO₂多孔膜的进展,在非含氟电解液体系中,对纯钛进行阳极氧化处理可制得表面呈无规则生长的多孔膜结构;在含氟电解液体系中,则可自组织形成高度有序的TiO₂纳米管阵列,并指出阳极氧化法是可在常温低压下进行、操作工艺简单、薄膜性能稳定、再现性好的一种最具工业化应用潜力的制备方法。