Cell‐Laden Hydrogels for Multikingdom 3D Printing

Living materials are created through the embedding of live, whole cells into a matrix that can house and sustain the viability of the encapsulated cells. Through the immobilization of these cells, their bioactivity can be harnessed for applications such as bioreactors for the production of high‐value chemicals. While the interest in living materials is growing, many existing materials lack robust structure and are difficult to pattern. Furthermore, many living materials employ only one type of microorganism, or microbial consortia with little control over the arrangement of the various cell types. In this work, a Pluronic F127‐based hydrogel system is characterized for the encapsulation of algae, yeast, and bacteria to create living materials. This hydrogel system is also demonstrated to be an excellent material for additive manufacturing in the form of direct write 3D‐printing to spatially arrange the cells within a single printed construct. These living materials allow for the development of incredibly complex, immobilized consortia, and the results detailed herein further enhance the understanding of how cells behave within living material matrices. The utilization of these materials allows for interesting applications of multikingdom microbial cultures in immobilized bioreactor or biosensing technologies.     

Brønsted Acid Catalyzed [3+2]‐Cycloaddition of 2‐Vinylindoles with In Situ Generated 2‐Methide‐2H‐indoles: Highly Enantioselective Synthesis of Pyrrolo[1,2‐a]indoles

Pyrrolo[1,2‐a]indoles are privileged structural elements of many natural products and pharmaceuticals. An efficient one‐step process for their highly diastereo‐ and enantioselective synthesis, comprising a direct [3+2]‐cycloaddition, has been developed. A chiral BINOL‐derived phosphoric acid catalyzes the reaction of in situ‐generated 2‐methide‐2H‐indoles with 2‐vinylindoles, furnishing the target products incorporating three contiguous stereogenic centers as single diastereoisomers and with excellent yields and enantioselectivities.     

Comparison of flow and batch polymerization processes for production of vinyl ether terpolymers for use in the delivery of siRNA

Synthetic polymers represent a modifiable class of materials that can serve as adjuvants to address challenges in numerous biomedical and medicinal chemistry applications including the delivery of siRNA. Polymer‐based therapeutics offer unique challenges in both synthesis and characterization as compared to small molecule therapeutics. The ability to control the structure of the polymer is critical in creating a therapeutic. Reported herein, are batch and flow polymerization processes to produce amphiphilic terpolymers through a Lewis acid BF₃OEt₂‐catalyzed polymerization. These processes focus on controlling reaction variables, which affect polymer structure in this rapid, exothermic, nonliving cationic polymerization. In addition to analytical characterization of the polymers, the in vivo activity of the polymer‐siRNA conjugates is also highlighted—demonstrating that the method of synthesis does affect the in vivo activity of the resulting polymer conjugate. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1119–1129     

Identification of Seven-coordinate LnIII Ions in a LnIII[15-MCFeIIIN(shi)-5](OAc)2Cl Species Crystallized from Methanol and Pyridine

The title metallacrown (MC) complexes Ln^III[15-MC_Fe^III_N(shi)-5](OAc)₂Cl(C₅H₅N)₆ (Ln1), where OAc^– is acetate, shi^3? is salicylhydroximate, and Ln?=?Gd and Dy, were synthesized via a self-assembly reaction in methanol and pyridine. Single crystals were grown using slow evaporation and characterized using X-ray diffraction. Seven-coordinate capped octahedron geometries were observed for the lanthanide ion in both complexes, which is uncommon for trivalent lanthanide species. The 15-MC-5 is a ruffled metallacrown archetype similar to previously reported mixed-valent manganese metallacrowns.

Graphic Abstract

The title metallacrown (MC) complexes Ln^III[15-MC_Fe^III_N(shi)-5](OAc)₂Cl(C₅H₅N)₆ (Ln1), where OAc^– is acetate, shi^3? is salicylhydroximate, and Ln?=?Gd and Dy, contains seven-coordinate capped octahedron geometries for the lanthanide ion in both complexes, which is uncommon for trivalent lanthanide species.

     

Effect of growth parameters on the properties of GaN : Zn epilayers

The vapor-phase HCl/Ga/NH₃ method for deposition of GaN : Zn epilayers on sapphire substrates has been investigated to determine the dependence of epilayer resistivity, cathodoluminescence, and surface quality on the growth parameters. Both nucleation and control of the epilayer properties have been significantly improved by introducing HCl directly into the deposition zone in addition to the HCl that passes over the Ga source to produce GaCl. The effect of annealing on the stability of undoped layers and on the cathololuminescence of Zn-doped layers has also been investigated. Electroluminescent devices with reproducible properties have been obtained by growing structures consisting of an undoped n⁺ layer, a Zn-doped n-type layer, and a very thin, Zn-doped, high-resistivity layer whose growth parameters determine the emission wavelength and electroluminescence efficiency.     

Anticancer diaminotris(phenolato) vanadium(V) complexes: Ligand-metal interplay

Abstract

Vanadium complexes are attractive candidates for anticancer chemotherapy, although often suffering from rich aqueous chemistry and hydrolytic instability. We have introduced an LVO family of vanadium oxo complexes, L being a diaminotris(phenolato) chlelating ligand, demonstrating high hydrolytic stability in water along with promising in vitro and in vivo efficacy. Herein we analyzed mechanistic aspects of the reactivity of such complexes in cellular environment. A representative complex exhibited high activity toward all lines in the NIH NCI-60 panel, with an average GI₅₀ value of 0.7 ± 0.5 μM, and with a unique reactivity pattern implying a distinct mechanism. Free ligands demonstrated cytotoxicity similar to that of their vanadium complexes, were identified in cells treated with the complex, and induced apoptosis as did the parent complex, all implying their participation as active species. Cell cycle studies pointed to possible arrest mostly at the S phase, with some variations for the complex and ligand on the two lines analyzed. Nevertheless, the vanadium ion apparently accelerated cellular entry, as the activity was evident following markedly shorter periods of incubation with the extracellular complex when compared with the free ligand. The results displayed herein overall highlight the role of the vanadium complex as a pro-drug.     

LC–ELISA as a contribution to the assessment of matrix effects with environmental water samples in an immunoassay for estrone (E1)

Accreditation and Quality Assurance - Estrone (E1), a metabolite of the estrogenic hormones 17β-estradiol (β-E2) and 17α-estradiol (α-E2), is itself a potent estrogen which can...     

A Self‐Digitization Dielectrophoretic (SD‐DEP) Chip for High‐Efficiency Single‐Cell Capture,On‐Demand Compartmentalization,and Downstream Nucleic Acid Analysis

The design and fabrication of a self‐digitization dielectrophoretic (SD‐DEP) chip with simple components for single‐cell manipulation and downstream nucleic acid analysis is presented. The device employed the traditional DEP and insulator DEP to create the local electric field that is tailored to approximately the size of single cells, enabling highly efficient single‐cell capture. The multistep procedures of cell manipulation, compartmentalization, lysis, and analysis were performed in the integrated microdevice, consuming minimal reagents, minimizing contamination, decreasing lysate dilution, and increasing assay sensitivity. The platform developed here could be a promising and powerful tool in single‐cell research for precise medicine.     

Towards a Sustainable Synthesis of Oxymethylene Dimethyl Ether by Homogeneous Catalysis and Uptake of Molecular Formaldehyde

Oxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OME_n; CH₃(‐OCH₂‐)_nO‐CH₃, n=3–5) are a novel class of sustainable synthetic fuels, which are of increasing interest due to their soot‐free combustion. Herein a novel anhydrous OME_n synthesis route is presented. Catalyzed by trimethyloxonium salts, dimethoxymethane takes up monomeric gaseous formaldehyde instantaneously and forms high purity OME_n at temperatures of 25–30 °C. This new anhydrous approach using molecular formaldehyde and catalytic amounts of highly active trimethyloxonium salts represents a promising new step towards a sustainable formation of OME_n emanating from CO₂ and H₂.     

Chemoselective Suzuki-Miyaura reactions of 4-bromo-3-O-triflyl-estrone. Synthesis and atropisomerism of arylated estrones

4-Bromo-3-O-triflyl-estrone has been synthesized in 2 steps from estrone and was successfully employed in chemoselective palladium catalysed Suzuki-Miyaura reactions. Mono- and bis-arylations were carried out selectively by variation of ligands and solvents. Overall 19 derivatives of mono- and bis-arylated estrones were synthesized under optimized conditions in high yields. Various products showed atropisomerism which was studied in detail by NMR spectroscopy.