Facile SILAR Processed Bi2S3:PbS Solid Solution on MWCNTs for High‐performance Electrochemical Supercapacitor

Carbon based composite materials have gained much attention because of fulfilling desirable properties for supercapacitor application. In the featured work, the thin film of Bi₂S₃:PbS solid solution has been synthesized on multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by simple successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The nanoparticle morphology provides sufficient electroactive channels for electrolyte ions to penetrate during electrochemical activities. The composite exhibits superior specific capacitance 676 F/g at constant specific current density of 5.56 A/g with fast charge‐discharge cycles. In association of energy storage characteristics, the fabricated symmetric cell exhibits excellent energy density of 13.36 Wh/kg by acquiring power density of 0.83 kW/kg. The superior results of the hybrid electrode promise a novel direction for high performance supercapacitor application.     

Synthesis,Docking, and Pharmacological Evaluation of Derivatives of α‐Aminoketones Appended to Sydnones as Potent Antitubercular and Antifungal Scaffolds

3‐Arylsydnones are reported to possess striking pharmaceutical potency. α‐Aminoketone, a biologically active structural unit, is built at the fourth (electrophilic) position of sydnone and further derivatized with secondary amine and tetrazoles. The α‐aminoketone derivatives of sydnones coupled with secondary amines 4a – n were docked on enoyl acyl carrier protein (ACP) reductase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which revealed that compounds 4b , 4f , and 4i showed efficient C score values with different binding modes and hydrogen bonding. Further, these compounds were screened for antimycobacterial activity; among them, compound 4f displayed sensitivity at 6.25 μg/mL compared with the standard drug (Streptomycin) against M. tuberculosis (H₃₇R_V strain). In addition to this, α‐aminoketone derivatives of sydnones coupled with tetrazoles 8a – h were evaluated for antifungal activity. In the antifungal activity, compound 8b has exhibited potent activity at 6.25 μg/mL against Candida albicans and compound 8g at 0.4 μg/mL against Aspergillus fumigatus. The antifungal activities are comparatively better than standard antifungal agent Fluconazole at these drug concentrations. Alongside characterization of the final compounds by Fourier transform infrared, mass, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR spectral analyses, compounds 8b and 8g were confirmed by X‐ray crystallographic studies.     

Gene Interaction Network Analysis Reveals IFI44L as a Drug Target in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Periodontitis

Simple SummaryIn spite of substantial investigation, the biological link between periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis remains unexplained. This study intended to correlate periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis gene expression patterns to find shared targets for both the disease. We identified the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis. The network was built by integrating DEGs and ranking the genes using GeneMANIA. FINDSITEcomb2.0 was used to find a possible inhibitor for the top-ranked gene. Further, the binding effectiveness and protein-ligand complex stability were then determined by molecular docking and molecular dynamics. The network analysis showed IFI44L as a highly ranking gene implicated in most immunological pathways. A virtual screening of 6507 compounds revealed vemurafenib as the best candidate for the IFI44L target. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics modelling revealed the stability of the IFI44L-vemurafenib complex, which suggest IFI44L is potential target and vemurafenib could be the better candidate to treat both diseases.AbstractObjective: Despite extensive research on periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis, the underlying molecular connectivity between these condition remains largely unknown. This research aimed to integrate periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis gene expression profiles to identify interconnecting genes and focus to develop a common lead molecule against these inflammatory conditions. Materials and Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis were identified from the datasets retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The network was constructed by merging DEGs, and the interconnecting genes were identified and ranked using GeneMANIA. For the selected top ranked gene, the potential inhibitor was searched using FINDSITE^comb2.0. Subsequently, the molecular docking and molecular dynamics were performed to determine the binding efficiency and protein-ligand complex stability, respectively. Results: From the network analysis, IFN-induced protein 44-like (IFI44L) was identified as a top ranked gene involved in most of the immunological pathway. With further virtual screening of 6507 molecules, vemurafenib was identified to be the best fit against the IFI44L target. The binding energy and stability of IFI44L with vemurafenib were investigated using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation. Docking results show binding energy of −7.7 Kcal/mol, and the simulation results show stability till 100 ns. Conclusions: The identified IFI44L may represent a common drug target for periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis. Vemurafenib could be a potent anti-inflammatory drug for both diseases.     

A novel eco-friendly on-water protocol for the synthesis of 2,2-disubstituted 2,3-dihydro-1H-perimidines

An efficient green on-water protocol for the synthesis of 2,2-disubstituted 2,3-dihydro-1H-perimidines is demonstrated. The reaction used safer p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) as a catalyst on water at 80°C, for 2 hours affording a novel method for the synthesis of various disubstituted perimidines in moderate to excellent yields.     

Visible-light mediated regioselective approach towards synthesis of 7-aroyl-6-methyl-[1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazines

The first visible-light mediated, simple, efficient and ecofriendly protocol for the regioselective synthesis of novel [1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazines has been developed by the reaction of α-bromodiketones, generated in situ by the bromination of a diverse array of β-diketones with N-bromosuccinimide, with 4-amino-[1,2,4]triazole-3-thiols. The methodology does not require the presence of any additives and this reaction proceeded in the presence of EDG (OMe), EWG (Cl) and heteroarenes (thiophenyl) giving the expected products in good to excellent yields. A solvent free protocol was also established to accomplish the synthesis of target compounds but it required PTSA as a catalyst and yields are comparatively poor. The structure of the regioisomer has been confirmed unambiguously by heteronuclear 2D-NMR [(¹H-¹³C) HMBC, (¹H-¹⁵N) HMBC, (¹H-¹³C) HMQC] spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic studies.     

One-pot multicomponent synthesis of novel thiazol-2-imines via microwave irradiation and their antifungal evaluation

Microwave-assisted green approach is developed for an efficient synthesis of thiazol-2-imines under catalyst-free conditions. The desired products are formed by one-pot three-component reaction which is an improvised method for Hantzsch thiazole synthesis. The microwave-assisted protocol gives excellent yields with high purity in just 10–15?min. All the synthesized compounds have been screened for antifungal activity and some of the derivatives show a broad spectrum against fungal pathogens.     

Silica nanocapsules of fluorescent conjugated polymers and superparamagnetic nanocrystals for dual-mode cellular imaging

We describe here a facile and benign synthetic strategy to integrate the fluorescent behavior of conjugated polymers and superparamagnetic properties of iron oxide nanocrystals into silica nanocapsules, forming a new type of bifunctional magnetic fluorescent silica nanocapsule (BMFSN). The resultant BMFSNs are uniform, colloidally stable in aqueous medium, and exhibit the desired dual functionality of fluorescence and superparamagnetism in a single entity. Four conjugated polymers with different emissions were used to demonstrate the versatility of employing this class of fluorescent materials for the preparation of BMFSNs. The applicability of BMFSNs in cellular imaging was studied by incubating them with human liver cancer cells, the result of which demonstrated that the cells could be visualized by dual-mode fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, the superparamagnetic behavior of the BMFSNs was exploited for in vitro magnetic-guided delivery of the nanocapsules into the cancer cells, thereby highlighting their potential for targeting biomedical applications.     

Synthesis,Characterization Luminiscence Studies and Microbial Activity of Ethylenediamine Ruthenium (II) Complexes with Dipyridophenazine Ligands

Three symmetric ligands 7-methyl dipyrido-[3,2-a;2′,3′-c]phenazine (dppz-CH₃), 7-nitro dipyrido-[3,2-a;2′,3′-c]phenazine (dppz-NO₂) and benzo[i]dipyrido-[3,2-a;2′,3′-c]phenazine (dppn) and their ruthenium(II) complexes [Ru(en)₂(L)][ClO₄]₂ (en= ethylenediamine), L= dppz-CH₃, dppz-NO₂ and dppn have been synthesized and characterized by IR, ¹H, ¹³C NMR and Mass spectra. The interactions of these complexes with calf thymus DNA have been investigated by spectrophotometric, spectrofluorimetric, circular dichroism, viscosity and thermal denaturation studies. As the planar extension of the intercalative ligand increases, the interaction of the complex with DNA increases, indicating that the size and shape of the intercalalative ligand has a marked effect on the strength of interaction. The plot of log K versus log [Na⁺] yield a slope of -1.26, -1.53, -1.60 for the complexes 1, 2 and 3 respectively. These three complexes have been found to promote the cleavage of plasmid pBR 322 DNA upon irradiation.     

Multisite and multivalent binding between cyanovirin-N and branched oligomannosides: calorimetric and NMR characterization

Binding of the protein cyanovirin-N to oligomannose-8 and oligomannose-9 of gp120 is crucially involved in its potent virucidal activity against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The interaction between cyanovirin-N and these oligosaccharides has not been thoroughly characterized due to aggregation of the oligosaccharide-protein complexes. Here, cyanovirin-N's interaction with a nonamannoside, a structural analog of oligomannose-9, has been studied by nuclear magnetic resonance and isothermal titration calorimetry. The nonamannoside interacts with cyanovirin-N in a multivalent fashion, resulting in tight complexes with an average 1:1 stoichiometry. Like the nonamannoside, an alpha1-->2-linked trimannoside substructure interacts with cyanovirin-N at two distinct protein subsites. The chitobiose and internal core trimannoside substructures of oligomannose-9 are not recognized by cyanovirin-N, and binding of the core hexamannoside occurs at only one of the sites on the protein. This is the first detailed analysis of a biologically relevant interaction between cyanovirin-N and high-mannose oligosaccharides of HIV-1 gp120.     

Valve leaflet‐inspired elastomeric scaffolds with tunable and anisotropic mechanical properties

Fibrous scaffolds, which can mimic the elastic and anisotropic mechanical properties of native tissues, hold great promise in recapitulating the native tissue microenvironment. We previously fabricated electrospun fibrous scaffolds made of hybrid synthetic elastomers (poly(1,3‐diamino‐2‐hydroxypropane‐co‐glycerol sebacate)‐co‐poly (ethylene glycol) (APS‐co‐PEG) and polycaprolactone (PCL)) to obtain uniaxial mechanical properties similar to those of human aortic valve leaflets. However, conventional electrospinning process often yields scaffolds with random alignment, which fails to recreate the anisotropic nature of most of the soft tissues such as native heart valves. Inspired by the structure of native valve leaflet, we designed a novel valve leaflet‐inspired ring‐shaped collector to modulate the electrospun fiber alignment and studied the effect of polymer formulation (PEG amount [mole %] in APS‐co‐PEG; ratio between APS‐co‐PEG and PCL; and total polymer concentration) in tuning the biaxial mechanical properties of the fibrous scaffolds. The fibrous scaffolds collected on the ring‐shaped collector displayed anisotropic biaxial mechanical properties, suggesting that their biaxial mechanical properties are closely associated with the fiber alignment in the scaffold. Additionally, the scaffold stiffness was easily tuned by changing the composition and concentration of the polymer blend. Human valvular interstitial cells (hVICs) cultured on these anisotropic scaffolds displayed aligned morphology as instructed by the fiber alignment. Overall, we generated a library of biologically relevant fibrous scaffolds with tunable mechanical properties, which will guide the cellular alignment.