The in vitro structure-related anti-cancer activity of ginsenosides and their derivatives

Panax ginseng has long been used in Asia as a herbal medicine for the prevention and treatment of various diseases, including cancer. The current study evaluated the cytotoxic potency against a variety of cancer cells by using ginseng ethanol extracts (RSE), protopanaxadiol (PPD)-type, protopanaxatriol (PPT)-type ginsenosides fractions, and their hydrolysates, which were prepared by stepwise hydrolysis of the sugar moieties of the ginsenosides. The results showed that the cytotoxic potency of the hydrolysates of RSE and total PPD-type or PPT-type ginsenoside fractions was much stronger than the original RSE and ginsenosides; especially the hydrolysate of PPD-type ginsenoside fractions. Subsequently, two derivatives of protopanaxadiol (1), compounds 2 and 3, were synthesized via hydrogenation and dehydration reactions of compound 1. Using those two derivatives and the original ginsenosides, a comparative study on various cancer cell lines was conducted; the results demonstrated that the cytotoxic potency was generally in the descending order of compound 3 > 20(S)-dihydroprotopanaxadiol (2) > PPD (1) > 20(S)-Rh2 > 20(R)-Rh2 ≈ 20(R)-Rg3 ≈ 20(S)-Rg3. The results clearly indicate the structure-related activities in which the compound with less polar chemical structures possesses higher cytotoxic activity towards cancer cells.     

DC-biased AC-electrokinetics: a conductivity gradient driven fluid flow

This paper studies the principles of fluid flow manipulation based on DC-biased AC-electrokinetics. This method makes use of planar parallel electrodes in a microfluidic channel in contact with an electrolyte solution, with a DC biased AC electrical signal applied to the electrode pair. Due to the application of DC bias, incipient Faradaic electrolytic reactions take place resulting in an increase of the ionic content of the bulk solution. The ionic content was found to be dissimilar at the cathodic and anodic sides of the channel and a conductivity difference of approximately 10% was measured for 2 V(DC). Fluid flow is generated by the action of the DC biased AC electric signal acting on the transverse conductivity gradient generated across the microchannel. The induced flow in the form of vortex was characterized experimentally and the results substantiated theoretically. The velocity of the induced flow vortex under the employed experimental conditions was ~600 to 700 μm s(-1) which is faster than those obtained in conventional AC-electroosmosis and AC-electrothermal types of flows.     

Palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative arylation of potassium cyanoacetate: synthesis of α-diaryl nitriles from aryl halides

A palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling of potassium cyanoacetate with aryl bromides and chlorides is described. The reaction conditions feature the absence of additional strong inorganic bases and provide ester functional group tolerance. With Pd(dba)(2) and XPhos ligand as the catalyst system, α-diaryl nitriles can be obtained in good yields.     

Determination of closantel and rafoxanide in animal tissues by online anionic mixed-mode solid-phase extraction followed by isotope dilution liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid and high-throughput isotope dilution LC-MS/MS method with online sample pre-concentration and clean-up using anionic mixed-mode SPE was described for the determination of closantel and rafoxanide in edible bovine and ovine tissues. Tissue samples were extracted with acetonitrile and acetone mixture (60:40, v/v). Sample pre-concentration, clean-up and analysis were completed simultaneously with the online MAX SPE LC-MS/MS system. Closantel-(13) C(6) and rafoxanide-(13) C(6) were used as the internal standards to improve the precision of the method. The method was validated with edible ovine and bovine tissues (muscle, kidney and liver) fortified at three different levels. The accuracy and RSD were 86-106% and ≤14%, respectively. This high-throughput method was suitable for routine quantitative analysis of closantel and rafoxanide in food safety surveillance samples.     

Transition‐metal‐catalyzed aminations and aziridinations of C?H and CC bonds with iminoiodinanes

Catalytic insertion or addition of a metal‐imido/nitrene species, generated from reaction of a transition‐metal catalyst with iminoiodanes, to C? H and C?C bonds offers a convenient and atom economical method for the synthesis of nitrogen‐containing compounds. Following this groundbreaking discovery during the second half of the last century, the field has received an immense amount of attention with a myriad of impressive metal‐mediated methods for the synthesis of amines and aziridines having been developed. This review will cover the significant progress made in improving the efficiency, versatility and stereocontrol of this important reaction. This will include the various iminoiodanes, their in situ formation, and metal catalysts that could be employed and new ligands, both chiral and non‐chiral, which have been designed, as well as the application of this functional group transformation to natural product synthesis and the preparation of bioactive compounds of current therapeutic interest. DOI 10.1002/tcr.201100018     

Formation of (3+1) G-quadruplexes with a long loop by human telomeric DNA spanning five or more repeats

Structural studies of human telomeric repeats represent an active field of research with potential applications toward the development of specific telomeric quadruplex-targeting drugs for anticancer treatment. To date, high-definition structures were limited to DNA sequences containing up to four GGGTTA repeats. Here we investigate the formation of G-quadruplexes in sequences spanning five to seven human telomeric repeats using NMR, UV, and CD spectroscopy. A (3+1) G-quadruplex with a long propeller loop was isolated from a five-repeat sequence utilizing a guanine-to-inosine substitution. A simple approach of selective site-specific labeling of guanine residues was devised to rigorously determine the folding topology of the oligonucleotide. The same scaffold could be extrapolated to six- and seven-repeat sequences. Our results suggest that long human telomeric sequences consisting of five or more GGGTTA repeats could adopt (3+1) G-quadruplex structures harboring one or more repeat(s) within a single loop. We report on the formation of a Watson-Crick duplex within the long propeller loop upon addition of the complementary strand, demonstrating that the long loop could serve as a new recognition motif.     

A new polyoxygenated triterpene and two new aeginetic acid quinovosides from the roots of Rehmannia glutinosa

A new minor polyoxygenated triterpene named glutinolic acid (1) and two new aeginetic acid quinovosides (2, 3) were isolated from the roots of Rehmannia glutinosa LIBOSCH. (Scrophulariaceae) cultivated in Gunwi-gun, Korea. The structures of these compounds were established as 3α,19α,20β,24,30-pentahydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid (1, glutinolic acid), aeginetic acid 5-O-β-D-quinovoside (2) and aeginetoyl ajugol 5″-O-β-D-quinovoside (3) on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidence.     

On the Laplacian spectral radii of bipartite graphs

The Laplacian spectral radius of a graph is the largest eigenvalue of the associated Laplacian matrix. In this paper, we provide structural and behavioral details of graphs with maximum Laplacian spectral radius among all bipartite connected graphs of given order and size. Using these results, we provide a unified approach to determine the graphs with maximum Laplacian spectral radii among all trees, and all bipartite unicyclic, bicyclic, tricyclic and quasi-tree graphs, respectively.     

含金刚烷基团的新型手性单齿亚磷酸酯配体的合成及其在不对称1,4-共轭加成反应中的应用

以轴手性的BINOL/H8-BINOL(BINOL为联苯酚)和大位阻的金刚烷酰氯为原料,合成了系列新型手性单齿亚磷酸酯配体,并应用于Cu催化的二乙基锌对环烯酮的不对称1,4.共轭加成反应中.结果表明,配体结构中部分氢化的2,2'-(1,1'-联萘基)亚磷酸酯单元和金刚烷基团,有助于改善反应的对映选择性,对映选择性最高可...