Development and validation of a rapid and sensitive assay for the determination of anisodamine in 50 μL of beagle dog plasma by LC–MS/MS

A simple, rapid, high‐throughput, and highly sensitive LC–MS/MS was developed to determine anisodamine in a small volume (50 μL) of beagle dog plasma using atropine sulfate as the internal standard. The analyte and internal standard were isolated from 50 μL plasma samples after a one‐step protein precipitation using Sirocco 96‐well protein precipitation filtration plates. The separation was accomplished on a Hanbon Hedera CN column (100 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) and the run time was 4 min. A Micromass Quatro Ultima mass spectrometer equipped with an ESI source was operated in the multiple reaction monitoring mode with the precursor‐to‐product ion transitions m/z 306.0→140.0 (anisodamine) and 290.0→123.9 (atropine) used for quantitation. The method was sensitive with a low LOQ of 0.05 ng/mL, and good linearity in the range 0.05–50 ng/mL for anisodamine (r² ≥ 0.995). All the validation data, such as accuracy, intra‐ and interrun precision, were within the required limits. The method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of anisodamine hydrochloride injection in beagle dogs.     

Fast parallel detection of feline panleukopenia virus DNA by multi‐channel microchip electrophoresis with programmed step electric field strength

A multi‐channel microchip electrophoresis using a programmed step electric field strength (PSEFS) method was investigated for fast parallel detection of feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) DNA. An expanded laser beam, a 10× objective lens, and a charge‐coupled device camera were used to simultaneously detect the separations in three parallel channels using laser‐induced fluorescence detection. The parallel separations of a 100‐bp DNA ladder were demonstrated on the system using a sieving gel matrix of 0.5% poly(ethylene oxide) (M_r = 8 000 000) in the individual channels. In addition, the PSEFS method was also applied for faster DNA separation without loss of resolving power. A DNA size marker, FPV DNA sample, and a negative control were simultaneously analyzed with single‐run and one‐step detection. The FPV DNA was clearly distinguished within 30 s, which was more than 100 times faster than with conventional slab gel electrophoresis. The proposed multi‐channel microchip electrophoresis with PSEFS was demonstrated to be a simple and powerful diagnostic method to analyze multiple disease‐related DNA fragments in parallel with high speed, throughput, and accuracy.     

Coagulation behaviors and in-situ flocs characteristics of composite coagulants in cyanide-containing wastewater: Role of cationic polyelectrolyte

In this paper,composite coagulants(PFS,PFSC05,PFSC1 and PFSC5),prepared by mixing polyferric sulfate(PFS)and cationic polyelectrolyte(CP)coagulants with different weight percent(Wp)of CP(Wp=0%,0.5%,1%and 5%,respectively),were adopted to treat cyanide-containing wastewater.PFSC5 exhibited superior coagulation performances at optimal conditions:the removal of total cyanide(TCN)and chemical oxygen demand(COD)was 95%–97%and 50%–55%,respectively.The effects of CP on the properties and structure of flocs were investigated by laser diffraction instrument and small-angle laser light scattering(SALLS),respectively.The results show that the flocs of PFSC5 have higher growth rate,higher strength factor and lower recovery factor than other flocs.They are also much denser and more uniform owing to the higher fractal dimension(Df)and less microflocs(10–100 m).Furthermore,the dense structure of the PFSC5 flocs can be restored after shear and is more resistant to hydraulic conditions.Particularly,detailed morphology evolution of the flocs was in-situ detected by on-line particle imaging.Due to strong ionic strength in wastewater,the CP in PFSC5 plays a significant role of adsorption,while the main mechanism of CP is electrostatic patch aggregation during the PFSC05 systems.     

Comparison on effect of hydrophobicity on the antibacterial and antifungal activities of α-helical antimicrobial peptides

HPRP-A1, a 15-mer α-helical cationic peptide, was derived from N-terminus of ribosomal protein L1 (RpL1) of Helicobacter pylori. In this study, HPRP-A1 was used as a framework to obtain a series of peptide analogs with different hydrophobicity by single amino acid substitutions in the center of nonpolar face of the amphipathic helix in order to systematically study the effect of hydrophobicity on biological activities of -helical antimicrobial peptides. Hydrophobicity and net charge of peptides played key roles in the biological activities of these peptide analogs; HPRP-A1 and peptide analogs with relative higher hydrophobicity exerted broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria and pathogenic fungi, but also showed stronger hemolytic activity; the change of hydrophobicity and net charge of peptides had similar effects with close trend and extent on antibacterial activities and antifungal activities. This indicated that there were certain correlations between the antibacterial mode of action and the antifungal mode of action of these peptides in this study. The peptides exhibited antimicrobial specificity for bacteria and fungi, which provided potentials to develop new antimicrobial drugs for clinical practices.     

2,2′‐Anhydro‐1‐(3′,5′‐di‐O‐acetyl‐β‐D‐arabinofuranosyl)uracil,a cyclouridine nucleoside with a C4′‐endo furanosyl conformation

2,2′‐Anhydro‐1‐(3′,5′‐di‐O‐acetyl‐β‐D‐arabinofuranosyl)uracil, C₁₃H₁₄N₂O₇, was obtained by refluxing 2′,3′‐O‐(methoxymethylene)uridine in acetic anhydride. The structure exhibits a nearly perfect C4′‐endo (⁴E) conformation. The best four‐atom plane of the five‐membered furanose ring is O—C—C—C, involving the C atoms of the fused five‐membered oxazolidine ring, and the torsion angle is only −0.4 (2)°. The oxazolidine ring is essentially coplanar with the six‐membered uracil ring [r.m.s. deviation = 0.012 (5) Å and dihedral angle = −3.2 (3)°]. The conformation at the exocyclic C—C bond is gauche–trans which is stabilized by various C—H...π and C—O...π interactions.     

A new three‐dimensional silver(I) coordination framework with a diamondoid topology constructed from 2‐(pyridin‐4‐yl)‐1H‐imidazole‐4,5‐dicarboxylic acid

The title compound, poly[[μ₄‐5‐carboxy‐4‐carboxylato‐2‐(pyridin‐4‐yl)‐1H‐imidazol‐1‐ido]disilver(I)], [Ag₂(C₁₀H₅N₃O₄)]_n, was synthesized by reacting silver nitrate with 2‐(pyridin‐4‐yl)‐1H‐imidazole‐4,5‐dicarboxylic acid (H₃PyIDC) under hydrothermal conditions. The asymmetric unit contains two crystallographically independent Ag^I cations and one unique HPyIDC²⁻ anion. Both Ag^I cations are three‐coordinated in distorted T‐shaped coordination geometries. One Ag^I cation is coordinated by one N and two O atoms from two HPyIDC²⁻ anions, while the other is bonded to one O and two N atoms from two HPyIDC²⁻ anions. It is interesting to note that the HPyIDC²⁻ group acts as a μ₄‐bridging ligand to link the Ag^I cations into a three‐dimensional framework, which can be simplified as a diamondoid topology. The thermal stability and photoluminescent properties of the title compound have also been studied.     

An ultrasensitive quantum dots fluorescent polarization immunoassay based on the antibody modified Au nanoparticles amplifying for the detection of adenosine triphosphate

In this work, an ultrasensitive fluorescent polarization immunoassay (FPIA) method based on the quantum dot/aptamer/antibody/gold nanoparticles ensemble has been developed for the detection of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). DNA hybridization is formed when ATP is present in the PBS solution containing the DNA-conjugated quantum dots (QDs) and antibody-AuNPs. The substantial sensitivity improvement of the antibody-AuNPs-enhanced method is mainly attributed to the slower rotation of fluorescent unit when QDs-labeled oligonucleotides hybridize with antibody modified the gold nanoparticle. As a result, the fluorescent polarization (FP) values of the system increase significantly. Under the optimal conditions, a linear response with ATP concentration is ranged from 8 × 10⁻¹² M to 2.40 × 10⁻⁴ M. The detection limit reached as low as 1.8 pM. The developed work provides a sensitive and selective immunoassay protocol for ATP detection, which could be applied in more bioanalytical systems.