Synthesis and characterization of (R)-miniPEG-containing chiral γ-peptide nucleic acids using the Fmoc strategy

Diethylene glycol (miniPEG)-containing chiral γPNA is considered to be one of the best PNA derivatives. Its preparation is mainly based on the Boc strategy for solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), requiring the repeated use of trifluoroacetic acid TFA, which is not suitable for the in situ synthesis of PNA arrays and some other applications under mild conditions. Herein, Fmoc/Cbz orthogonal protected miniPEG-containing chiral γPNA monomers were synthesized, and a 15mer γPNA was prepared using the Fmoc strategy under mild conditions.     

pH-Responsive Polycarbonate Copolymer-based Nanoparticles for Targeted Anticancer Drug Delivery

A smart polycarbonate(PCA) copolymer-based nanoparticle(NanoPCA) with pH-responsive, long-term stability, and tumor targeting ability was successfully developed by synthesizing and assembling a series of functional PCA-based copolymers including poly(2-amino-1,3-propanediol carbonate-co-L-lactide)[P(CA-co-LA)], poly(2-amino-1,3-propanediol carbonate-co-L-lactide)-g-methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol)[P(CA-co-LA)-g-MPEG], and poly(2-amino-1,3-propanediol carbonate-co-L-lactide)-g-poly(ethylene glycol)-cyclic(Arg-Gly-Asp-D-Phe-Lys)[P(CA-co-LA)-g-PEG-cRGD] for targeted anticancer drug delivery. pH-Responsive studies demonstrated that the loading doxorubicin(DOX) released faster from NanoPCA at acidic conditions due to protonation effects of P(CA-co-LA) copolymers. Furthermore, the in vitro and in vivo investigations demonstrate that the DOX-loaded NanoPCA exhibited significant tumor targeting ability, outstanding antitumor effect and excellent biological safety in the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC). Therefore, this work provides a promising drug delivery platform for cancer therapy and other applications.     

核酸适体-纳米材料复合物用于癌症的诊断与靶向治疗研究进展

因具有独特的光、电、磁、热等优异性能,纳米材料已被广泛应用于生物分析与生物医学领域。核酸适体是一类能够高亲和力和高特异性地与靶标结合的寡核苷酸序列。将核酸适体作为识别单元与纳米材料相结合,可以构建核酸适体-纳米材料复合物。近年来,在肿瘤靶向治疗方面,核酸适体-纳米材料复合物受到了人们的广泛关注。通过纳米材料与具有特异性识别能力的核酸适体的结合,核酸适体-纳米材料复合物可以为癌症治疗提供一种更有效的、低毒副作用的新策略。本文综述了核酸适体-纳米材料复合物作为药物输送载体在癌症的特异性识别与诊断及靶向治疗方面的应用。除此之外,本文还总结了核酸适体-纳米材料复合物与其他新兴技术的有效结合从而提高选择性和癌症治疗效率的相关研究进展。     

Free energy change of crystallisation in single copolymers

ABSTRACT

We performed dynamic Monte Carlo simulations to calculate the free energy change of crystallisation in single linear and ring polymers containing one or more non-crystallisable sequence defects (comonomers) along the chain. We found that, similar to chain ends, the numbers of comonomers bring only a thermodynamic effect to the free energy barrier and shift down the melting points of single copolymers by following Flory’s thermodynamic equation. Furthermore, there exists a critical comonomer number (or sequence length) for the success of crystallisation, which explains the segregation of sequence lengths upon crystallisation in statistical copolymers. Our observations shed light onto the kinetic suppression of crystallinity for polymers containing various chemical, geometrical or stereo-optical sequence defects, as well as for protein molecules containing specific sequences.     

Hydrothermal Synthesized Co-Ni3S2 Ultrathin Nanosheets for Efficient and Enhanced Overall Water Splitting

We used the one-step hydrothennal controlled synthesis method for Co-Ni3S2 ultrathin nanosheets grown directly on nickel foam(NF).The as-synthesized Co-Ni3S2/NF showed eiilianced activities in the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER),oxygen evolution reaction(OER)and better overall water splitting(OWS)efficiency than the iin-doped Ni3S2/NF.the voltage of Co-Ni3S2/NF for OWS was only 1.58 V at the current density of 10 niA/cm^2 and with long time(>30 h)current output during the current-density(i-t)test.The good i-t pertonnance was also observed in both HER and OER processes.Additionally,the Co-Ni3S2/NF showed a large current density(>1A/cm^2)for both HER and OER.Wlien the current densities reached 100 and 1000 mA/cm^2,the required overpotentials tor Co-Ni3S2/NF were 0.35 and 0.75 V for OER and 0.30 and 0.85 V for HER.Therefore,after introducing Co,the activity of Ni3S2-based material was strongly enhanced.     

Rapid synthesis of carbon materials by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method at low temperature and its adsorption properties for uranium (VI)

The cathelicidin-derived peptide (CDP1) is a human antimicrobial peptide that preferentially targets bacterial membranes in response to infection. CDP1 was functionalised with NODAGA and DOTA for complexation with gallium-68 to evaluate its potential as an infection imaging tracer. The synthesis of [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–NODAGA–CDP1 and [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–DOTA–CDP1 were optimised for pH, molarity, incubation time and temperature, and product purification. The integrity and protein binding were investigated employing [⁶⁸Ga]GaCl₃ and [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–DOTA–TATE as internal references. [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–NODAGA–CDP1 displayed good labelling properties with higher product yield compared to [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–DOTA–CDP1. In contrast, [⁶⁸Ga]Ga–DOTA–CDP1 showed better stability and is the preferred candidate for an in vivo investigation.

     

Expression and Characterization of a Novel 1,3-Propanediol Dehydrogenase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lactobacillus brevis</Emphasis>

1,3-Propanediol dehydrogenase (PDOR) is important in the biosynthesis of 1,3-propanediol. In the present study, the dhaT gene encoding PDOR was cloned from Lactobacillus brevis 6239 and expressed in Escherichia coli for the first time. Sequence analysis revealed that PDOR containing two Fe²⁺-binding motifs and a cofactor motif belongs to the type III alcohol dehydrogenase. The purified recombinant PDOR exhibited a single band of 42 kDa according to SDS-PAGE. Optimal temperatures and pH values of this dehydrogenase are 37 °C, 7.5 for reduction and 25 °C, 9.5 for oxidation, respectively. We found that PDOR was more stable in acid buffer than in alkaline condition, and 60 % of its relative activity still remained after a 2-h incubation at 37 °C. The activity of PDOR can be enhanced in the presence of Mn²⁺ or Fe²⁺ iron and inhibited by EDTA or PMSF by different degrees. The K _m and V _max of this dehydrogenase are 1.25 mM, 64.02 μM min^?1 mg^?1 for propionaldehyde and 2.26 mM, 35.05 μM min^?1 mg^?1 for 1,3-PD, respectively. Substrate specificity analysis showed that PDOR has a broad range of substrate specificities. The modeling superposition indicated that the structural differences may account for the diversity of PDORs’ properties. Thus, our PDOR is a potential candidate for facilitating the 1,3-PD biosynthesis.     

Structural characterization and identification of flavonoid aglycones in three Glycyrrhiza species by liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Flavonoids, including flavones, isoflavones, flavanones, chalcones, and isoflavans, have long been recognized as the main active ingredients in licorice. A method combining liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry was developed to characterize components in three Glycyrrhiza species, and to expound the characteristic fragmentation behaviors in the positive ion mode. Based on the fragmentation patterns of reference compounds, a total of 39 compounds, including 37 flavonoid aglycones and two coumestans, were identified or tentatively identified. Besides, some common features, such as H₂O, CO, and CH₂O₂ losses, together with retro‐Diels–Alder fragmentation, were observed in these compounds. Furthermore, diagnostic fragmentations of C‐ring cleavages and UV absorption on the skeleton groups were observed to structurally characterize flavonoid aglycones. In addition, typical losses of different substituent groups were detected: Neutral losses of 56 (C₄H₈) and 68 Da (C₅H₈) were yielded from a prenyl chain; neutral losses of 42 (C₃H₆), 54 (C₄H₆), and 70 Da (C₄H₆O) were generated by a pyran ring. Particularly, neutral losses of 18 (H₂O), 16 (CH₄), 112 (C₈H₁₆), and 98 Da (C₇H₁₄) predicted a hydroxyl, a methoxyl, double prenyl chains, and a prenyl chain with a pyran ring, respectively.     

Photocatalytically Powered Matchlike Nanomotor for Light‐Guided Active SERS Sensing

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a powerful optical sensing technique that can detect analytes of extremely low concentrations. However, the presence of enough SERS probes in the detection area and a close contact between analytes and SERS probes are critical for efficient acquisition of a SERS signal. Presented here is a light‐powered micro/nanomotor (MNM) that can serve as an active SERS probe. The matchlike AgNW@SiO₂ core–shell structure of the nanomotors work as SERS probes based on the shell‐isolated enhanced Raman mechanism. The AgCl tail serves as photocatalytic nanoengine, providing a self‐propulsion force by light‐induced self‐diffusiophoresis. The phototactic behavior was utilized to achieve enrichment of the nanomotor‐based SERS probes for on‐demand biochemical sensing. The results demonstrate the possibility of using photocatalytic nanomotors as active SERS probes for remote, light‐controlled, and smart biochemical sensing on the micro/nanoscale.     

Determination of human IgG by solid substrate room temperature phosphorescence immunoassay based on an antibody labeled with nanoparticles containing Rhodamine 6G luminescent molecules

Luminescent silicon dioxide nanoparticles (R-SiO2) with size of 50 nm containing Rhodamine 6G (R) were synthesized by sol-gel method. In the presence of Pb(Ac)2 as a heavy atom perturber, the particle can emit intense and stable room temperature phosphorescence signal of R, respectively, on polyamide membrane, with the lambda(ex)(max)/lambda(em)(max) = 470/635 nm for R. Our research indicates that the specific immune reaction between goat-anti-human IgG antibody labeled with R-SiO2 and human IgG can be carried on polyamide membrane quantitatively, and the phosphorescence intensity was enhanced after the immunoreactions. Thus, a new method of solid substrate room temperature phosphorescence immunoassay (SS-RTP-IA) for the determination of human IgG was established basing on antibody labeled with the nanoparticles containing binary luminescent molecules. The linear range of this method is 0.0624-20.0 pg spot(-1) of human IgG (corresponding concentration, 0.156-50.0 ng mL(-1); sample volume, 0.40 microL spot(-1)). The regression equations of working curves are delta I(p) = 88.16. + 16.79 m(IgG) (pg spot(-1)) (485/646 nm, r = 0.9997). Detection limits calculated by 3Sb/k are 0.017 pg spot(-1). For samples containing 0.156 and 50.0 ng mL(-1) of IgG, we measured repeatedly for 11 times, RSDs are 3.9 and 2.8%, respectively. This method is sensitive, accurate and of high precision.