Insights into the Allosteric Effect of SENP1 Q597A Mutation on the Hydrolytic Reaction of SUMO1 via an Integrated Computational Study

Small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO)-specific protease 1 (SENP1) is a cysteine protease that catalyzes the cleavage of the C-terminus of SUMO1 for the processing of SUMO precursors and deSUMOylation of target proteins. SENP1 is considered to be a promising target for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and prostate cancer. SENP1 Gln597 is located at the unstructured loop connecting the helices α4 to α5. The Q597A mutation of SENP1 allosterically disrupts the hydrolytic reaction of SUMO1 through an unknown mechanism. Here, extensive multiple replicates of microsecond molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, coupled with principal component analysis, dynamic cross-correlation analysis, community network analysis, and binding free energy calculations, were performed to elucidate the detailed mechanism. Our MD simulations showed that the Q597A mutation induced marked dynamic conformational changes in SENP1, especially in the unstructured loop connecting the helices α4 to α5 which the mutation site occupies. Moreover, the Q597A mutation caused conformational changes to catalytic Cys603 and His533 at the active site, which might impair the catalytic activity of SENP1 in processing SUMO1. Moreover, binding free energy calculations revealed that the Q597A mutation had a minor effect on the binding affinity of SUMO1 to SENP1. Together, these results may broaden our understanding of the allosteric modulation of the SENP1−SUMO1 complex.     

Determination of 241Am in Environmental Samples: A Review

The determination of ²⁴¹Am in the environment is of importance in monitoring its release and assessing its environmental impact and radiological risk. This paper aims to give an overview about the recent developments and the state-of-art analytical methods for ²⁴¹Am determination in environmental samples. Thorough discussions are given in this paper covering a wide range of aspects, including sample pre-treatment and pre-concentration methods, chemical separation techniques, source preparation, radiometric and mass spectrometric measurement techniques, speciation analyses, and tracer applications. The paper focuses on some hyphenated separation methods based on different chromatographic resins, which have been developed to achieve high analytical efficiency and sample throughput for the determination of ²⁴¹Am. The performances of different radiometric and mass spectrometric measurement techniques for ²⁴¹Am are evaluated and compared. Tracer applications of ²⁴¹Am in the environment, including speciation analyses of ²⁴¹Am, and applications in nuclear forensics are also discussed.     

有机/聚合物顶发射发光器件

有机/聚合物顶发射发光器件可以解决传统底发射发光器件的一系列不足。高性能顶发射发光器件的实现,首先必须优化器件结构,其次对电子注入材料和空穴注入材料提出更高的要求。本文从提高顶发射器件中电子注入和空穴注入方法入手,综述了国内外有机/聚合物顶发射电致发光器件的发展历史,研究现状,最新进展及以后的发展方向。     

High-performance potassium poly(heptazine imide) films for photoelectrochemical water splitting

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is an appealing approach by which to convert solar energy into hydrogen fuel. Polymeric semiconductors have recently attracted intense interest of many scientists for PEC water splitting. The crystallinity of polymer films is regarded as the main factor that determines the conversion efficiency. Herein, potassium poly(heptazine) imide (K-PHI) films with improved crystallinity were in situ prepared on a conductive substrate as a photoanode for solar-driven water splitting. A remarkable photocurrent density of ca. 0.80 mA cm⁻² was achieved under air mass 1.5 global illumination without the use of any sacrificial agent, a performance that is ca. 20 times higher than that of the photoanode in an amorphous state, and higher than those of other related polymeric photoanodes. The boosted performance can be attributed to improved charge transfer, which has been investigated using steady state and operando approaches. This work elucidates the pivotal importance of the crystallinity of conjugated polymer semiconductors for PEC water splitting and other advanced photocatalytic applications.

Potassium poly(heptazine imide) photoanode is synthesized, and owing to the improved crystallinity, it has presented a remarkable performance for solar-driven water splitting.     

Presodiation Strategies for the Promotion of Sodium-Based Energy Storage Systems

Nowadays sodium-based energy storage systems (Na-based ESSs) have been widely researched as it possesses the possibility to replace traditional energy storage media to become next generation energy storage system. However, due to the irreversible loss of sodium ions in the first cycle, development of Na-based ESSs is limited. Presodiation, as a strategy of adding excess sodium ions to the system in advance, accomplishes the enhancement of electrochemical performance. In this minireview, different presodiation strategies applied in sodium-based energy storage systems will be summarized in detail, their functions and corresponding mechanisms will be discussed as well. Furthermore, the current novel application of presodiation method in other aspects of Na-based ESSs will be mentioned additionally. At last, in the view of present research status of presodiation, issues that can be mitigated are put forward and guidelines are given on how to deliberate in-depth presodiation technology in the future, dedicating to promote the further development of Na-based ESSs.     

Local Field Induced Mass Transfer: New Insight into Nano-electrocatalysis

Unravelling the complex kinetics of electrocatalysis is essential for the design of electrocatalysts with high performance. Mass transfer and electron transfer are two primary factors that need to be optimized in order to enhance electrocatalytic reactions. The use of nanocatalysts proves to be a promising way of promoting the performance of electrocatalytic reactions, this improvement is usually attributed to their ability to enhance electron transfer. However, when catalysts are taken down to the nanoscale, their size is comparable to the thickness of an electrical double layer, so any curvature can lead to an inhomogeneous local electric field on the electrode, which then changes the mass transfer essentially. In this article, we introduce the new concept of local-field-induced mass transfer in nano-electrocatalytic systems, and provide a brief review of recent progress, revealing its effect on nano-electrocatalysis, which may bring new insight into the future design of nano-electrocatalysts.     

Chemical Constituents of the Roots of Phlomis betonicoides and Their Anti-Rotavirus Activity

Chemistry of Natural Compounds - Two new isobenzofuranone derivatives (1 and 2) together with six known compounds (3–8) were isolated from the roots of Phlomis betonicoides, a highly sweet...     

Developmental validation of the Yfiler Platinum PCR Amplification Kit for forensic genetic caseworks and databases

Y chromosome kits are successfully applied in cases where human biological material exists. With the development of genotyping ability, more Y chromosomal markers are needed for finer identification of male individuals and lineages. In this study, a developmental validation of a newly emerged Y chromosome kit that combines two different kinds of markers: 38 Y-STRs and 3 Y-indels are conducted. The results show that this kit has high sensitivity when there is a small amount of DNA (125 pg), more than one male (minor:major = 1:7), or a mixture of males and females (male:female = 125pg:1875pg), inhibited substances (800 μM hematin and more than 1600 ng/μL humic acid). The kit exhibits high precision level with a standard deviation of allele size no more than 0.14 nt. Locus DYS481 shows the largest stutter rate, with three stutters per true allele. Population samples are well identified (MP of 0.001106), and mutations can be observed in father–son pairs (46 mutations in 70 pairs, 10 in locus DYS627). Out of all the population samples, 13.2% belong to haplogroup M117-O2a2b1a1, with their ethnic group being Han Chinese. The results show that this kit can improve the performance of identifying male individuals, obtaining more unique haplotypes (increasing from 894 to 918 of 1000 male samples) and higher discrimination capacity (increasing from 0.942 to 0.955) in this study compared to previous widely used Yfiler Plus kit. Besides, it gives information about their paternal lineages in forensic genetic casework and genealogical database construction.     

化学气相沉积金刚石X射线探测器相对标定

利用神光Ⅱ激光装置,开展了化学气相沉积金刚石X射线探测器的相对标定技术研究。实验得到了金刚石X射线探测器与已绝对标定的平响应X射线二极管对X射线辐射的测量结果,计算得到金刚石X射线探测器平均灵敏度为1.19610-5 C/J,不同发次得到的灵敏度与平均值之间的偏差不大于13%。     

大尺度粗糙地面的电磁散射特性

综合考虑空间区域分割、消息传递、负载平衡及同步和边界处理等因素,给出了计算随机粗糙地面电磁散射的并行时域有限差分算法流程,并在大型高性能并行机上应用。理论分析和仿真结果表明：该算法可以快速准确地计算大尺度随机粗糙地面的电磁散射特性;通过与经典解析方法的比较,验证了该算法的正确性和实用性,在大尺度情况下拟合结果更好,更能体现地面的统计特性。