Biodegradation-induced surface change of polymer microspheres and its influence on cell growth

Biodegradable microspheres were fabricated by poly(?-caprolactone) (PCL) homopolymer and poly(?-caprolactone-b-ethylene oxide) (PCL-b-PEO) amphiphilic block copolymer. The regulation of microsphere surface morphology was successfully achieved by controlled enzymatic degradation. The morphological changes induced by biodegradation and their influences on the growth of MG-63 human osteosarcoma cells were studied. Results based on the evaluation of cytotoxicity and the morphological observation of MG-63 cells cultivated on microspheres showed better growth of cells on the surface of degraded microspheres than on the surface of those undegraded microspheres no matter they were fabricated by homopolymers or copolymers. The influences of morphological changes of microsphere surface before and after biodegradation on MG-63 cell growth were discussed. The results of this work indicated that the biodegradation-induced morphological changes of microspheres could be well controlled and were favorable for MG-63 cell attachment and proliferation.     

Machilusides A and B: structurally unprecedented homocucurbitane glycosides from the stem bark of Machilus yaoshansis

Two structurally novel homocucurbitane triterpenoid glycosides, machilusides A (1) and B (2), possessing an unprecedented C(36) skeleton with a D-fructose moiety incorporated into a cucurbitane nucleus forming unique cage-like tricyclic ring moieties, were isolated from the stem bark of Machilus yaoshansis. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods. Both compounds exhibited nonselective cytotoxic activities against several human cancer cell lines. The biosynthetic pathway of 1 and 2 was postulated.     

邻苯二酚紫-示波计时电位法测定天然水中不同形态铝

报道邻苯二酚紫-示波计时电位法分别在酸性和碱性条件下直接检测天然水中的无机单核铝和总单核铝浓度。并用该法测定了水样中的总铝,有机单核铝和酸溶态铝,从而实现了天然水中5种Al形态的电化学测定。测定了20多个实际水样,与Driscoll方法进行了对照,结果基本一致。     

一种新型C60-硫醚衍生物分子在金表面上的自组装

报导了一种新型C60 硫醚分子在金表面上自组装膜的形成,并通过接触角、扫描隧道显微术（STM）、X射线光电子能谱（XPS）、电化学和光电化学手段对其进行表征.高分辩STM形貌图证明,在Au(111)基底上C60基团存在并直观显示出特殊的单层膜结构. XPS分析表明,这一新型C60 硫醚分子是通过金硫键固定在金表面上的,并且在组装过程中存在分子内碳硫键断裂步骤.     

Ligand effect in the synthesis of hyperbranched polymers via copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition polymerization (CuAACP)

Copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition polymerization (CuAACP) of AB₂ monomers demonstrated a chain-growth mechanism without any external ligand because of the complexation of in situ formed triazole groups with Cu catalysts. In this study, we explored the use of various ligands that affected the polymerization kinetics to tune the polymers’ molecular weights and the degree of branching (DB). Eight ligands were studied, including polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether (PEG₃₅₀, M_n = 350), tris(benzyltriazolylmethyl)amine (TBTA), 2,6-bis(1-undecyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)pyridine (Py(DBim)₂), 2,2′-bipyridyl (bpy), 4,4′-di-n-nonyl-2,2′-bipyridine (dNbpy), N,N,N′,N″,N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA), N,N,N′,N″,N″-penta(n-butyl)diethylenetriamine (PBuDETA), and N,N,N′,N″,N″-pentabenzyldiethylenetriamine (PBnDETA). All ligands except PEG₃₅₀ exhibited stronger coordination with Cu(I) than the polytriazole polymer, which freed the Cu catalyst from polymers and resulted in dominant step-growth polymerization with simultaneous chain-growth feature. Meanwhile, the use of PEG₃₅₀ ligand retained the confined Cu in the polymer, demonstrating a chain-growth mechanism, but lower polymer molecular weights as compared with the no-external-ligand polymerization. Results indicated that aliphatic substituent groups on ligands had little effect on the molecular weights and DB of the polymers, but rigid aromatic substituent groups decreased both values. By varying the ligand species and amounts, hyperbranched polymers with DB value ranging from 0.53 ([TBTA]₀/[Cu]₀ = 5) to 0.98 ([PMDETA]₀/[Cu]₀ = 2) have been achieved. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 2238–2244     

Application of flammability limit criteria on non-ASTM standard equipment

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Accurate data of flammability limits for flammable gases and vapors are needed to prevent fires and explosions. The flammability limit, which is the...     

Preparation of Porous Polylactide Microspheres and Their Application in Tissue Engineering

In this study,porous polylactide (PLA) microspheres with different structures were prepared through the multiple emulsion solvent evaporation method.By changing organic solvents (ethyl acetate and chloroform) and adding effervescent salt NH4HCO3 in the inner water phase,microspheres with porous capsular,matrix,microcapsular and multivesicular structures were prepared.The protein encapsulation and release,and the cell growth behavior of porous microspheres were further explored.Under the same inner water phase,microspheres prepared with chloroform had higher protein encapsulation efficiency and less protein release rate as compared with those prepared with ethyl acetate.Cell experiments showed that the relatively rough surface of microspheres prepared with chloroform was more favorable for the cell growth in comparison with the smooth surface of microspheres prepared with ethyl acetate.This study shows a simple and effective method to control the protein release and cell growth behaviors of polymer microspheres by tuning their porous structure.     

Determination of Pharmaceuticals by Dynamic Cell Membrane Chromatography Coupled with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

As a biological affinity chromatographic method, cell membrane chromatography (CMC) using a silica stationary phase covered with specific cell membrane has been used in screening active components. The innovation of this work is that the bioactive cell membrane and the chromatographic packing are mixed and absorbed for the first time to form the pre-column. The pre-column was placed in front of a C₁₈ column to create dynamic CMC online high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. The retention behavior and dynamic changes of pharmaceuticals were studied for this system. The results indicate that the retention time of the drug was increased and the symmetry factor reached the analytical level after the addition of the dynamic cell membrane pre-column. Therefore, the dynamic CMC coupled with HPLC system may be a potentially rapid and efficient drug analysis approach for the interaction of drug molecule and receptor on red blood cell membranes.