Simultaneous Determination of Six Immunosuppressants in Human Whole Blood by HPLC-MS/MS Using a Modified QuEChERS Method

A high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was established for the simultaneous determination of mycophenolic acid, mycophenolate mofetil, tacrolimus, rapamycin, everolimus and pimecrolimus in human whole blood by optimizing the QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) preparation method. Whole blood was extracted into ethyl acetate, salted out with anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and purified with ethylenediamine-N-propyl silane adsorbent. The supernatant was evaporated under nitrogen until dry and finally reconstituted in methanol. Chromatographic separation was performed on an Agilent Poroshell 120 EC-C18 column in methanol (mobile phase A)-water (optimized for 0.1% acetic acid and 10 mM ammonium acetate, mobile phase B) at a 0.3 mL·min⁻¹ flow rate. Electrospray ionization and positive ion multiple reaction monitoring were used for detection. The time for of analysis was 13 min. The calibration curves range of tacrolimus, rapamycin, everolimus and pimecrolimus were in the range of 1–100 ng·mL⁻¹, mycophenolate mofetil in the range of 0.1–10 ng·mL⁻¹ and mycophenolic acid at 10–1000 ng·mL⁻¹. All correlation coefficients were >0.993. The coefficients of variation (CV, %) for inter-day and intra-day precision were less than 10%, while the spiked recoveries were in the range of 92.1% to 116%. Our method was rapid, sensitive, specific, and reproducible for the simultaneous determination of six immunosuppressants in human whole blood. Importantly, our approach can be used to monitor drug concentrations in the blood to facilitate disease treatment.     

Cu(ii)/SPDO complex catalyzed asymmetric Baeyer–Villiger oxidation of 2-arylcyclobutanones and its application for the total synthesis of eupomatilones 5 and 6

A novel classical kinetic resolution of 2-aryl-substituted or 2,3-disubstituted cyclobutanones of Baeyer–Villiger oxidation catalyzed by a Cu(ii)/SPDO complex is reported for the first time, producing normal lactones in excellent enantioselectivities (up to 96% ee) and regioselectivities (up to >20/1), along with unreacted ketones in excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee). The current transformation features a wide substrate scope. Moreover, catalytic asymmetric total syntheses of natural eupomatilones 5 and 6 are achieved in nine steps from commercially available 3-methylcyclobutan-1-one.

A novel classical kinetic resolution of Baeyer–Villiger oxidation catalyzed by a Cu(ii)/SPDO complex with excellent enantioselectivity, regioselectivity and wide substrate scope is reported for the first time and explore the synthetic application.     

Structural and Functional Analysis of the Pyridoxal Phosphate Homeostasis Protein YggS from Fusobacterium nucleatum

Pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) is the active form of vitamin B6, but it is highly reactive and poisonous in its free form. YggS is a PLP-binding protein found in bacteria and humans that mediates PLP homeostasis by delivering PLP to target enzymes or by performing a protective function. Several biochemical and structural studies of YggS have been reported, but the mechanism by which YggS recognizes PLP has not been fully elucidated. Here, we report a functional and structural analysis of YggS from Fusobacterium nucleatum (FnYggS). The PLP molecule could bind to native FnYggS, but no PLP binding was observed for selenomethionine (SeMet)-derivatized FnYggS. The crystal structure of FnYggS showed a type III TIM barrel fold, exhibiting structural homology with several other PLP-dependent enzymes. Although FnYggS exhibited low (<35%) amino acid sequence similarity with previously studied YggS proteins, its overall structure and PLP-binding site were highly conserved. In the PLP-binding site of FnYggS, the sulfate ion was coordinated by the conserved residues Ser201, Gly218, and Thr219, which were positioned to provide the binding moiety for the phosphate group of PLP. The mutagenesis study showed that the conserved Ser201 residue in FnYggS was the key residue for PLP binding. These results will expand the knowledge of the molecular properties and function of the YggS family.     

光子四维量子态隐形传输

多维量子纠缠态比二维纠缠态可加载更多的信息,多维量子系统是量子信息处理中一个很重要的资源.本文采用已实现的光子四维纠缠态,给出了光子四维量子态的张量表达式,并描述了四维量子态隐形传输的一般表示方法;通过讨论光子四维量子态系统的量子通道参数矩阵和测量矩阵的特性,得到实现完全传输和非零概率传输的充要条件.最后,本文给出在多种量子通道下的四维态的量子隐形传态方案,这一过程在张量分析表示下十分清晰明了.     

Pogostone Enhances the Antibacterial Activity of Colistin against MCR-1-Positive Bacteria by Inhibiting the Biological Function of MCR-1

The emergence of the plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene mcr-1 has resulted in the loss of available treatments for certain severe infections. Here we identified a potential inhibitor of MCR-1 for the treatment of infections caused by MCR-1-positive drug-resistant bacteria, especially MCR-1-positive carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). A checkerboard minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) test, a killing curve test, a growth curve test, bacterial live/dead assays, scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis, cytotoxicity tests, molecular dynamics simulation analysis, and animal studies were used to confirm the in vivo/in vitro synergistic effects of pogostone and colistin. The results showed that pogostone could restore the bactericidal activity of colistin against all tested MCR-1-positive bacterial strains or MCR-1 mutant–positive bacterial strains (FIC < 0.5). Pogostone does not inhibit the expression of MCR-1. Rather, it inhibits the binding of MCR-1 to substrates by binding to amino acids in the active region of MCR-1, thus inhibiting the biological activity of MCR-1 and its mutants (such as MCR-3). An in vivo mouse systemic infection model, pogostone in combination with colistin resulted in 80.0% (the survival rates after monotherapy with colistin or pogostone alone were 33.3% and 40.0%) survival at 72 h after infection of MCR-1-positve Escherichia coli (E. coli) ZJ487 (blaNDM-1-carrying), and pogostone in combination with colistin led to one or more order of magnitude decreases in the bacterial burdens in the liver, spleen and kidney compared with pogostone or colistin alone. Our results confirm that pogostone is a potential inhibitor of MCR-1 for use in combination with polymyxin for the treatment of severe infections caused by MCR-1-positive Enterobacteriaceae.     

Anionic surfactant selective electrode for the titrimetric determination of anionic surfactant

The construction and characteristic performance of a PVC membrane electrode responsive for sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) are described in this paper. The electrode based on CTA⁺DS^? ion pair as ionophore in PVC membrane displays a Nernstian slope of ?58.8 ± 0.7 mV/decade in a 1.32 × 10^?6 to 3.75 × 10^?3 mol L^?1 concentration range and a limit of detection of 1.13 × 10^?6 mol L^?1. The electrode can be used for 3 months without showing significant changes in the value of slope or working range. The electrode has been utilized as an end point indicator electrode for potentiometric titration involving Hyamine as titrant. More than 100 titrations were carried out for the evaluation of the electrode parameters: the standard deviations of the equivalent volume and the equivalent potential, the height of the potential jump and the number of faulty titrations. The behavior of the electrode was assessed with regard to their usefulness in routine analysis.     

UPLC-ELSD Determination of 1-Octacosanol in Raw Material and Health Products

Determination of the levels of 1-octacosanol is important in food stuff for the study of its pharmacological activities and health benefits. In this study, a novel, simple and fast internal standard method for the non-derivatization ultra-performance liquid chromatographic determination of 1-octacosanol in raw materials and health products was developed and validated based on evaporative light scattering detection. The linearity (r ² > 0.998), recovery (99.1–100.2%, RSD <2.7%), intra- and inter-day precision (RSD <3.8%), limit of detection (1.0 mg/L), limit of quantification (2.2 mg/L) of the 1-octacosanol were determined. The method was successfully applied to nine real 1-octacosanol products. The results of analyses had close agreement with the labeled claims of 1-octacosanol content in these products. Compared with the classical gas chromatography method, the developed method was simpler, faster and more environmentally friendly due to avoiding any derivatization step. This protocol represents a rapid and feasible method for quality control of 1-octacosanol products.