Label-free electrochemical differentiation of phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated peptide by electro-catalyzed tyrosine oxidation

Protein phosphorylation plays an important role in many significant cellular processes, and has thus gained tremendous interest in the field of proteomics. The electro-active tyrosine residue, as an important receptor of phosphorylation in proteins, exhibits electro-inactivity after being phosphorylated on the hydroxy group of its aromatic ring. In this study, the electrochemical oxidation of tyrosine on indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes was catalyzed with an electron mediator Os(bpy)(3)(2+) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) and was employed as a signal reporter to differentially detect non-phosphorylated and phosphorylated peptides. A short, tyrosine-containing peptide glu-glu-glu-glu-glu-tyr (EY-6) was immobilized on an ITO surface using the layer-by-layer self-assembly method, and was detected by cyclic voltammetry in an Os(bpy)(3)(2+) solution. The limit of detection was about 0.23 microg mL(-1) EY-6 in solution. The phosphorylated peptide glu-glu-glu-glu-glu-tyr-OP (EY-6P) did not produce an appreciable oxidation current on the electrode. Surface plasmon resonance measurements revealed that the amount of EY-6 and EY-6P adsorbed on the sensor chip surface was 269 and 378 pg mm(-2), respectively. The poly(glu, tyr) (4 : 1) peptide, a protein tyrosine kinase substrate, was also detected by the same approach, with a detection limit of 0.65 microg mL(-1). This new approach offers the possibility of label-free and on-chip detection of protein tyrosine kinase activity.     

Investigation of high shear wet granulation processes using different parameters and formulations

This study compared the granulation processes for different formulations using a laboratory-scale high shear mixer. The effects of critical process parameters (impeller speed, chopper speed and kneading time) on granule characteristics were evaluated. The characteristics of the granules studied included the size distribution, friability and morphological properties. The flow profiles of the wet mass and material deposition during the process were also studied. The results obtained showed that the effect of the impeller speed was determined by the starting material system. On the other hand, chopper speeds from 1200 to 3600 rpm and kneading times from 120 to 240 s had a consistent influence on all formulations. Moreover, it was found that the toroidal flow pattern of the wet mass could be maintained for a longer period and granules with a good spherical shape were obtained by removing the chopper during the last 120 s of the granulation process. In addition, the use of the pregelatinized starch in the formulation also led to a reduction in the wall adhesion of the material. It was concluded that the effectiveness of high shear wet granulation could be improved by choosing a proper combination of starting material and process parameters and by monitoring the mass motion during the process.     

Synthesis, structure analysis and cytotoxicity studies of novel unsymmetrically n,n'-substituted ureas from dehydroabietic Acid

A series of novel unsymmetrically N,N'-substituted ureas were synthesized from dehydroabietic acid and their structures were characterized by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Three six-membered rings of urea 4c exhibited plane, half-chair and chair configurations, respectively. Their cytotoxicity activities against SMMC7721 liver cancer cells were evaluated by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) method. The results showed that the title compounds exhibited highly effective cytotoxicity activities against SMMC7721 cells. Their IC50 values are between 8.8 and 14.2 micromol/l. The change of N' substituted groups resulted little difference to the cytotoxicity activities of ureas, which indicated that the cytotoxicity of this kind of ureas depend strongly on the tricyclic hydrophenanthrene structure.     

Rapid Estimation of Octanol–Water Partition Coefficient for Triazole Fungicides by MEKC with Sodium Deoxycholate as Surfactant

A rapid estimation of octanol–water partition coefficient (log P _ow) was developed for triazole fungicides by micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). Five standard compounds with known log P _ow values from 2.9 to 4.3 (cyproconazole, bromuconazole, epoxiconazole, bitertanol and difenoconazole) were used for constructing the calibration curve of the log P _ow against the MEKC retention factor, log k. A linear relationship was achieved between log P _ow and log k, in the MEKC system containing 40 mM sodium deoxycholate (SDC) and 4 mM borate buffer at pH 9.3, with a correlation of determination, r ² = 0.9905. The log P _ow values of four test compounds of triazole fungicides (triadimenol, myclobutanil, propiconazole and penconazole) were calculated based on the log k values measured by MEKC and the slope and intercept of the calibration curve. This MEKC method can give good estimation of the log P _ow of the four test compounds of triazole fungicides with the differences between the literature log P _ow values and estimated log P _ow from the MEKC method were from 0.15 to 0.23 log units.     

Biomarkers based on multiplatform comprehensive analysis: A systematic analysis of Geng-Nian-Shu in perimenopausal syndrome

Although Geng-Nian-Shu has been shown to be clinically effective in perimenopausal syndrome, its active components and mechanism have not yet been elucidated. To demonstrate the mechanism-based biomarkers of Geng-Nian-Shu in treating perimenopausal syndrome, a total of 135 chemical constituents including 52 prototype blood constituents were identified via high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight/mass spectrometry. Then, network pharmacology showed significant enrichment for the PhosphoInositide-3 Kinase/Akt pathway, suggesting that it may be the main regulatory pathway for the Geng-Nian-Shu treatment of the perimenopausal syndrome. Subsequently, multivariate analysis was performed between the Geng-Nian-Shu sham-treated and Geng-Nian-Shu ovariectomy-treated groups and further screened out 18 prototype blood constituents by correlation analysis with plasma estrogen levels to identify potential biomarkers associated with Geng-Nian-Shu treat the ovariectomy-induced perimenopausal syndrome. Finally, the results of pharmacological experimental verification and Pearson correlation analysis indicated that catalpol, ligustilide, paeoniflorin, and gallic acid were selected as biomarkers of Geng-Nian-Shu which were strongly and positively correlated with PhosphoInositide-3 Kinase/Akt signaling pathway. In this study, based on high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight/mass spectrometry combined with pharmacodynamics, network pharmacology, pharmacology, and other disciplines, we explored the effects and mechanisms of Geng-Nian-Shu in the treatment of perimenopausal syndrome at multiple levels. Using multiplatform technology to investigate the role of Geng-Nian-Shu represents a new strategy for the selection and verification of biomarkers of Geng-Nian-Shu and provides a basis for further development and utilization of Geng-Nian-Shu.     

Computational insights into octyl-D-xyloside isomers towards understanding the liquid crystalline structure: physico-chemical features

We applied density functional theory to study octyl-D-xyloside isomers in order to explain the features responsible for the liquid crystal mesophases. Compared to a glucoside, the xylose headgroup has a proton instead of the hydroxymethyl group on C5. Thus, a xyloside has a reduced headgroup volume that renders it less hydrophilic. Our results have shown that the xylose headgroup may adopt stable pyranose and furanose conformations, which may lead to different effective headgroup hydrophilicities. These features are probably responsible for forming two non-equivalent inverse micelles, which are self-assembled into a cubic discontinuous phase with a space group of Fd3m commonly found for xylosides. While different factors are responsible for controlling the relative stability of each isomer, the role of intramolecular hydrogen bonding was highlighted for the investigated single molecule. The polarisable continuum model was used to take into account the solvent effect in order to understand the molecular behaviour in very polar systems. Results from calculations carried out in gas phase were used for comparative purposes. The molecular electrostatic potential calculations for these xylolipids demonstrate sugar amphoterism, which is implicated in the heterogeneity nature of lipid self-assembly.     

含氮前驱体对氮杂有序介孔炭材料及其氧还原电催化性能的影响

燃料电池中贵金属铂的大量使用是阻碍其发展的关键因素,亟需探索高效廉价的替代型电催化剂.在目前的替代型非贵金属催化剂研究中,氮杂炭材料是一类氧还原反应催化活性最好、成本最低廉的催化剂,被认为是最有可能取代Pt催化剂而获得实际应用的催化剂.氮杂有序介孔炭材料因具有极高的比表面积和规整的孔道结构,可实现活性位点的密集组装与反应物料的快速传输,受到研究者的广泛关注.本文分别以苯胺、吡咯和邻菲罗啉为含氮前驱体,介孔分子筛SBA-15为硬模板,采用纳米浇铸法成功制备了具有高比表面积的氮杂有序介孔炭材料,系统研究了不同含氮前驱体对氮杂有序介孔炭材料的影响.采用氮气吸附-脱附等温线、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)等方法研究了氮杂有序介孔炭的组成与结构,采用循环伏安法(CV)以及线性扫描伏安法(LSV)等手段考察了其电化学行为与氧还原反应极化性能.氮气吸附-脱附等温线结果表明,采用三种不同含氮前驱体制备的氮杂炭材料都对应Ⅳ型吸脱附等温线以及H4型滞后环,表明所制备的氮杂炭材料具有介孔结构.由TEM可以清楚地观察到氮杂炭材料已经成功地反转了SBA-15模板的孔道结构.同时发现,含氮前驱体对氮杂炭材料的比表面积和孔结构产生较大影响:以吡咯和邻菲罗啉为前驱体制备的炭材料C-PY-900和C-Phen-900的比表面积较高,分别为765和746 m2/g,而以苯胺为前驱体制备的炭材料C-PA-900比表面积较小(569 m2/g);三种炭材料平均孔径大小顺序为C-Phen-900 (3.7 nm)＜ C-PY-900 (5.0 nm)＜ C-PA-900 (5.9 nm),这是由于不同含氮前驱体在高温焙烧过程中热分解行为不同所致.XRD结果发现,含氮前驱体对氮杂炭材料的晶型基本没有影响,均为无定形碳.XPS结果表明,采用苯胺、吡咯以及林菲啰啉为前驱体制备的氮杂炭材料中氮含量基本相同,分别为3.13 at％,3.32 at％和3.33 at％,说明在相同热解条件下材料中的氮含量基本不受前驱体的影响,但不同配位环境的氮含量以及氮活化碳原子的含量却有较大差异,其氮活化碳原子的相对含量分别为15.60％,19.87％和23.04％.电化学测试结果表明,三种氮杂介孔炭材料的氧还原反应电催化活性顺序为C-PA-900＜C-PY-900＜C-Phen-900,其H2O2产率低于30％,说明氧还原反应经历4电子转移路径.在碱性条件下,所制氮杂有序介孔炭材料C-PY-900和C-Phen-900表现出较商品Pt/C催化剂更加优异的氧还原反应电催化性能.综上可见,通过改变含氮前驱体的类型可以有效调变氮杂炭材料的比表面积、孔道结构以及N 1s与C 1s化学态,从而调控氧还原反应活性,本文不仅制备出高活性的非贵金属氧还原电催化剂,同时也为高活性炭基电催化剂的可控制备提供了思路.     

CO2 Hydrogenation over Oxide‐Supported PtCo Catalysts: The Role of the Oxide Support in Determining the Product Selectivity

By simply changing the oxide support, the selectivity of a metal–oxide catalysts can be tuned. For the CO₂ hydrogenation over PtCo bimetallic catalysts supported on different reducible oxides (CeO₂, ZrO₂, and TiO₂), replacing a TiO₂ support by CeO₂ or ZrO₂ selectively strengthens the binding of C,O‐bound and O‐bound species at the PtCo–oxide interface, leading to a different product selectivity. These results reveal mechanistic insights into how the catalytic performance of metal–oxide catalysts can be fine‐tuned.     

Cyclometalated Palladium(II) N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes: Anticancer Agents for Potent In Vitro Cytotoxicity and In Vivo Tumor Growth Suppression

Palladium(II) complexes are generally reactive toward substitution/reduction, and their biological applications are seldom explored. A new series of palladium(II) N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes that are stable in the presence of biological thiols are reported. A representative complex, [Pd(C^N^N)(N,N′‐nBu₂NHC)](CF₃SO₃) ( Pd1 d , HC^N^N=6‐phenyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine, N,N′‐nBu₂NHC=N,N′‐di‐n‐butylimidazolylidene), displays potent killing activity toward cancer cell lines (IC₅₀=0.09–0.5 μm ) but is less cytotoxic toward a normal human fibroblast cell line (CCD‐19Lu, IC₅₀=11.8 μm ). In vivo anticancer studies revealed that Pd1 d significantly inhibited tumor growth in a nude mice model. Proteomics data and in vitro biochemical assays reveal that Pd1 d exerts anticancer effects, including inhibition of an epidermal growth factor receptor pathway, induction of mitochondrial dysfunction, and antiangiogenic activity to endothelial cells.     

A Supramolecularly Activated Radical Cation for Accelerated Catalytic Oxidation

Tuning the activity of radicals is crucial for radical reactions and radical‐based materials. Herein, we report a supramolecular strategy to accelerate the Fenton reaction through the construction of supramolecularly activated radical cations. As a proof of the concept, cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) was introduced, through host–guest interactions, onto each side of a derivative of 1,4‐diketopyrrolo[3,4‐c]pyrrole (DPP), a model dye for Fenton oxidation. The DPP radical cation, the key intermediate in the oxidation process, was activated by the electrostatically negative carbonyl groups of CB[7]. The activation induced a drastic decrease in the apparent activation energy and greatly increased the reaction rate. This facile supramolecular strategy is a promising method for promoting radical reactions. It may also open up a new route for the catalytic oxidation of organic pollutants for water purification and widen the realm of supramolecular catalysis.