Development of a ZHER3‐Affibody‐Targeted Nano‐Vector for Gene Delivery to HER3‐Overexpressed Breast Cancer Cells

Despite the initial successes of gene delivery applications, they faced on several intrinsic drawbacks including toxicity and immunogenicity. Therefore, alternative gene‐delivery systems derived from recombinant peptides have emerged and is rapidly developing. Human epidermal growth factor receptor‐3 (HER3) shows high activity in tumor resistance to anti‐human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) therapies. In this study, an affibody molecule against HER3 is conjugated to a biomimetic peptide RALA (an amphipathic and cationic peptide enriched with arginine) and the ability of the fusion vector for targeting HER3 and afterward delivering specific genes in breast cancer cells is evaluated. The results demonstrate that the biopolymeric platform, which contains an affibody‐conjugated RALA peptide, can effectively condense DNA into nanoparticles and target the overexpressed HER3 receptors in breast cancer cells and transfer specific genes. The use of such a recombinant biopolymer may pave the way for the development of sensitive and effective diagnostic and treatment tool for breast cancer.     

Design and Synthesis of Mixed Oligomers with Thiophenes,Dithienothiophene S,S-Dioxides,Thieno[3,4]pyrazines and 2,1,3-Benzothiadiazoles: Flipper Screening for Mechanosensitive Systems

Monomers with large surface area and high quantum yield, that is fluorescent flippers, have been engineered into twisted push–pull oligomers to create membrane probes with high mechanosensitivity and long fluorescence lifetime. Here, the synthesis and characterization of thieno[3,4]pyrazines and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazoles are described in comparison with the original dithienothiophene S,S-dioxides. Dithienothiophene S,S-dioxide flippers are confirmed as the best reported so far, and poor results with single flipper probes support that two flippers are needed for the probe to really “swim”, that is, for high mechanosensitivity.     

Defining the characteristics of spherical Janus particles by investigating the behavior of their corresponding particles at the oil/water interface in a Pickering emulsion

In this study, a new analytical/experimental method is proposed in order to investigate the adsorption of different-sized spherical silica particles at the oil/water interface in a Pickering emulsion system as a well-known method to produce Janus particles. Accordingly, the characteristic of the produced silica Janus particles was defined based on their penetration depth into dispersed oil droplets. To ensure the accuracy of the method, the penetration depth of silica particles was also measured using field emission scanning electron microscopy images of solidified oil droplets covered with particles. The results revealed that the penetration depth increases with the size of the particles.     

Curing Kinetics Modeling of Epoxy Modified by Fully Vulcanized Elastomer Nanoparticles Using Rheometry Method

In this study, the curing kinetics of epoxy nanocomposites containing ultra-fine full-vulcanized acrylonitrile butadiene rubber nanoparticles (UFNBRP) at different concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 wt.% was investigated. In addition, the effect of curing temperatures was studied based on the rheological method under isothermal conditions. The epoxy resin/UFNBRP nanocomposites were characterized via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). FTIR analysis exhibited the successful preparation of epoxy resin/UFNBRP, due to the existence of the UFNBRP characteristic peaks in the final product spectrum. The morphological structure of the epoxy resin/UFNBRP nanocomposites was investigated by both field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies. The FESEM and TEM studies showed UFNBRP had a spherical structure and was well dispersed in epoxy resin. The chemorheological analysis showed that due to the interactions between UFNBRP and epoxy resin, by increasing UFNBRP concentration at a constant temperature (65, 70 and 75 °C), the curing rate decreases at the gel point. Furthermore, both the curing kinetics modeling and chemorheological analysis demonstrated that the incorporation of 0.5% UFNBRP in epoxy resin matrix reduces the activation energy. The curing kinetic of epoxy resin/UFNBRP nanocomposite was best fitted with the Sestak–Berggren autocatalytic model.     

Insight into the photocatalytic properties of phosphonate-based metal–organic frameworks for reduction of Cr (VI) and Synergistic elimination of organic dyes under natural sunlight

The photocatalytic reduction of Cr (VI) is investigated over phosphonate-based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) structured as STA-12(M)(M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni). The removal of Cr (VI) appears to be faster with STA-12(Fe) under natural sunlight. The correlation among responses to effective variables as main and interactions were optimized by central composite design (CCD) in response surface methodology (RSM). Moreover, STA-12(Fe) has exhibited considerable synergistic photocatalytic activity for dyes (MO and RhB) degradation and Cr (VI) reduction. The reduction ratio of Cr (VI) was increased extremely after addition of MO or RhB. The highest photocatalytic activity of dyes degradation and Cr (VI) reduction appeared under the dye/Cr (VI) weight ratio of 3:1. To determine the most important species that affected the photocatalytic reduction, trapping experiments were carried out, using various kinds of scavenger species. Finally, a probable reaction mechanism has been investigated in detail.     

Phosphine-free polystyrene-supported palladium(II) complex as an efficient catalyst for the Heck and Suzuki coupling reactions in water

A palladium complex, 1-phenyl-1,2-propanedione-2-oxime thiosemi-carbazone-functionalized polystyrene resin supported Pd(II), is found to be a highly active catalyst for the Heck reaction of methyl acrylate with aryl halides and Suzuki reaction of phenylboronic acid with aryl iodides and bromides, giving excellent yields. The reactions were performed under phosphine-free conditions in an air atmosphere. The palladium catalyst is easily separated, and can be reused for several times without a significant loss in its catalytic activity.     

Prediction of grain size,thickness and absorbance of nanocrystalline tin oxide thin film by Taguchi robust design

Transparent conductive films of tin oxide were deposited on glass substrates under various deposition conditions. Taguchi analysis was used to model the dependence of the grain size, thickness and absorbance of nanocrystalline tin oxide on the process parameters namely pH value, concentration, time of deposition and bath temperature. The effect of the mentioned process parameters on the grain size, thickness and absorbance of deposited layer during the deposition of nanocrystalline was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV–Visible spectroscopy. Comparison between the model predictions and the experimental observations predicted a remarkable agreement between them. The predictions of the model and sensitivity analysis showed that among the effective process parameters, deposition time and concentration were the main parameters having significant effect on crystalline size. Bath temperature had the most significant effect on absorbance and deposition time had a dominant effect on thickness.     

Structural Snapshots for Mechanism‐Based Inactivation of a Glycoside Hydrolase by Cyclopropyl Carbasugars

Glycoside hydrolases (GHs) have attracted considerable attention as targets for therapeutic agents, and thus mechanism‐based inhibitors are of great interest. We report the first structural analysis of a carbocyclic mechanism‐based GH inactivator, the results of which show that the two Michaelis complexes are in ²H₃ conformations. We also report the synthesis and reactivity of a fluorinated analogue and the structure of its covalently linked intermediate (flattened ²H₃ half‐chair). We conclude that these inactivator reactions mainly involve motion of the pseudo‐anomeric carbon atom, knowledge that should stimulate the design of new transition‐state analogues for use as chemical biology tools.     

Suppression of Pulmonary Tumor Promotion and Induction of Apoptosis by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Crocus sativus</Emphasis> L. Extraction

Crocus sativus L., commonly known as saffron, is the raw material for one of the most expensive spice in the world, and it has been used in folk medicine for centuries. We investigated the potential of the ethanolic extract of saffron to induce cytotoxic and apoptosis effects in carcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549), a commonly used cell culture system for in vitro studies on lung cancer. The cells were cultured in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium with 10% fetal bovine serum treated with different concentrations of the ethanolic extract of saffron for two consecutive days. Cell viability was quantitated by the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Apoptotic cells were determined using annexin V–fluorescein isothiocyanate by flow cytometry. Saffron could decrease the cell viability in the malignant cells as a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The IC₅₀ values against the A549 cell lines were determined as 1,200 and 650 μg/ml after 24 and 48 h, respectively. Saffron-induced apoptosis of the A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner, as determined by flow cytometry histogram of treated cells that induced apoptotic cell death, is involved in the toxicity of saffron. It might be concluded that saffron could cause cell death in the A549 cells, in which apoptosis plays an important role. Saffron could also be considered as a promising chemotherapeutic agent in lung cancer treatment in future.