Toxic Effect of Fullerene and Its Derivatives upon the Transmembrane β2-Adrenergic Receptors

Numerous experiments have revealed that fullerene (C₆₀) and its derivatives can bind to proteins and affect their biological functions. In this study, we explored the interaction between fullerine and the β₂-adrenergic receptor (β₂AR). The MD simulation results show that fullerene binds with the extracellular loop 2 (ECL2) and intracellular loop 2 (ICL2) of β₂AR through hydrophobic interactions and π–π stacking interactions. In the C₆₀_in1 trajectory, due to the π–π stacking interactions of fullerene molecules with PHE and PRO residues on ICL2, ICL2 completely flipped towards the fullerene direction and the fullerene moved slowly into the lipid membrane. When five fullerene molecules were placed on the extracellular side, they preferred to stack into a stable fullerene cluster (a deformed tetrahedral aggregate), and had almost no effect on the structure of β₂AR. The hydroxyl groups of fullerene derivatives (C₆₀(OH)_X, X represents the number of hydroxyl groups, X = 4, 8) can form strong hydrogen bonds with the ECL2, helix6, and helix7 of β₂AR. The hydroxyl groups firmly grasp the β₂AR receptor like several claws, blocking the binding entry of ligands. The simulation results show that fullerene and fullerene derivatives may have a significant effect on the local structure of β₂AR, especially the distortion of helix4, but bring about no great changes within the overall structure. It was found that C₆₀ did not compete with ligands for binding sites, but blocked the ligands’ entry into the pocket channel. All the above observations suggest that fullerene and its derivatives exhibit certain cytotoxicity.     

达旦黄-曲通X-100体系共振光散射法测定蛋白质

基于在Triton X-100存在下,蛋白质与达旦黄作用使得体系的共振光散射增强,在λ＝492 nm处光散射强度最大,增强作用的强弱与蛋白质的含量成正比,据此建立了共振光散射测定蛋白质的新方法。此方法对牛血清白蛋白的检出限达到17.7 ng·mL-1,线性范围为0.03～0.9 μg·mL-1,用于合成样与人血清样品的分析,取得了令人满意的结果。同时也研究了人血清白蛋白、鸡蛋白蛋白、溶菌酶、胰蛋白酶与达旦黄的作用。     

Improvement of the Performance of an Acousto-Optical Q-Switched Nd:YAG 946 nm Laser Using a Convex–Plane Cavity

We improve the performance of an acousto-optical Q-switched Nd:YAG 946 nm laser using a convex–plane cavity. We obtain the highest output average power of 2.3 W with a pulse width of 15.3 ns in a 10 kHz 946 nm laser with a convex–plane cavity. The maximum peak power 15.0 kW is about three times higher than that in a plane–plane cavity. Also we investigate the output performances of the pulsed 946 nm laser with the convex–plane cavity at 20 and 50 kHz.     

一种蓝色聚合物激光材料

聚合物作为一种有机发光材料,由于在平板显示和光电子器件中的良好应用前景而受到广泛研究［１～２］．近年来,一个重要进展是在聚合物中观测到了受激发射（简称Ｐｏｌｙ－ｍｅｒ激光）现象［３～６］．Ｐｏｌｙｍｅｒ激光最早是在溶液中实现的［３～４］．作为一种新型...     

Preparation of nano-hydroxyapatite/poly(<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-lactide) biocomposite microspheres

Nano-hydroxyapatite (HA)/poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) composite microspheres with relatively uniform size distribution were prepared by a solid-in-oil-in-water (s/o/w) emusion solvent evaporation method. The encapsulation of the HA nanopaticles in microshperes was significantly improved by grafting PLLA on the surface of the HA nanoparticles (p-HA) during emulsion process. This procedure gave a possibility to obtain p-HA/PLLA composite microspheres with uniform morphology and the encapsulated p-HA nanoparticle loading reached up to 40 wt% (33 wt% of pure HA) in the p-HA/PLLA composite microspheres. The microstructure of composite microspheres from core-shell to single phase changed with the variation of p-HA to PLLA ratios. p-HA/PLLA composite microspheres with the diameter range of 2–3 μm were obtained. The entrapment efficiency of p-HA in microspheres could high up to 90 wt% and that of HA was only 13 wt%. Surface and bulk characterizations of the composite microspheres were performed by measurements such as wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).     

郡县制国家现代化：中央政府如何扩大公共事务治理职能

郡县制国家的传统职能是“管人”,但是在当代,为了适应现代世界,需要加强和完善“管事”的职能。然而,加强“管事”的职能遇到的一大障碍,是“管事”与“管人”通常难以分开,带来管事与管人的冲突。在全国性公共事务上,面对管事与管人的冲突,郡县制国家的一种改革方向,即建立中央统一管理与地方属地管理相结合的体制,既扩大中央政府的治理职能,同时又发挥纵向约束机制的作用,从而能改善全国性公共事务治理。此种中央统一管理与地方属地管理相结合的体制,通常不是中央政府事先设计出来的,而是在改革过程中,经由中央政府与地方政府的策略性互动过程,逐渐建立起来的。因此,郡县制国家蕴含着一种潜力,即在公共事务治理上,包括地方公共事务和全国性公共事务,可以引入和发挥“纵向约束机制”的作用,使得国家既保持“管人”的基本体制不变,又能提高治理能力。     

基因编辑与人的尊严—关于基因技术革命的伦理学思考

生物技术革命所带来的基因编辑技术,使人类充当“上帝”的角色,成为自身的造物主,具有“设计生命”和“人的再造”的能力,但这一技术革命却带来了对人类尊严的存在论根基的严重挑战,引发了最深刻的伦理学新问题。当代自由主义优生学者提出,人类能够以“玩弄上帝”的方式去改变和重新创造人类自身,而这一再创造的存在论后果却是一个悖谬：人类在获得极度自由的同时,却摧毁了人之为人的尊严的根基,从而彻底失去生命存在的自由本性。按照康德的教诲,尊严是人之为人的最高伦理价值,尊严并不仅仅是出于个体自主性的“权利”和“自尊”,而是出于普遍道德自主性之上的“责任”和“敬重”,人的自由本性的道德自律才是人的尊严和崇高所在。后形而上学思想家进一步发展了康德的尊严观点,在他者和公共性维度上提出一种建立在承认、交互性和交往共同体基础之上的新尊严理论。面对生物技术的滥用和人类尊严受到的挑战,伦理学需要保卫和重建尊严概念,在“自由者的共在关系”中寻求尊严的基础和规范性的力量,从开放的“我们”推演出对“未来人”的责任。     

Optimal Conditions for Existence of Vesicles Under Electric Field

Giant vesicles have been of intense interest as the model system for cell membranes. To bring numerous applications of the vesicles into full play, the existence time of the vesicles becomes particularly important. In this work, we explored the existence time of the vesicles in distilled water under four kinds of representative alternative current (AC) electric fields with different energizing time. When the application time of AC electric field reached 1 hour, the existence time of the vesicles reached the maximum value. As the applied electric field time increased, the existence time of the vesicles decreased. Thus, after obtaining the best vesicles on the carbon fiber electrode, disconnecting the external electric field is very necessary. Based on the in situ observation using inverted microscope, the disappearing phenomena of the vesicles were presented. In addition, it is found that vesicles in phosphate buffer solutions (PBSs) can last about 2–3 days when the electric field was applied for 1 hour, which was much longer than that in distilled water.     

Chiral and water‐soluble poly(2‐oxazoline)s

We describe the synthesis and characterization of the first water‐soluble and chiral poly(2,4‐disubstituted‐2‐oxazoline)s. While poly(2,4‐dimethyl‐2‐oxazoline)s are water soluble up to 100 °C, aqueous solutions of poly(2‐ethyl‐4‐methly‐2‐oxazoline) exhibit a lower critical solution temperature. This is discussed in context with its constitutional isomers poly(2‐oxazoline)s and poly(2‐oxazine)s. Circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed strong Cotton effects, which are also responsive to temperature in aqueous solution. It is therefore hypothesized that structures, comparable to polyproline helices, are formed in aqueous solution. In contrast to polyproline, poly(2,4‐disubstituted‐2‐oxazoline)s are highly water soluble and therefore represent very interesting pseudo‐polypeptides that may be useful to develop responsive biomimetic biomaterials. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Coupled intramolecular/heterointerfacial electron transfer in polyelectrolyte-shielded Iso-type black phosphorus hetero-structure boosts oxygen reduction kinetics

Searching new structured black phosphorus (BP) and exploring intriguing functions and applications have become a hot topic so far.Here,we introduce a novel Iso-...