Discovery of an NAD+ analogue with enhanced specificity for PARP1

Among various protein posttranslational modifiers, poly-ADP-ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1) is a key player for regulating numerous cellular processes and events through enzymatic attachments of target proteins with ADP-ribose units donated by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺). Human PARP1 is involved in the pathogenesis and progression of many diseases. PARP1 inhibitors have received approvals for cancer treatment. Despite these successes, our understanding about PARP1 remains limited, partially due to the presence of various ADP-ribosylation reactions catalyzed by other PARPs and their overlapped cellular functions. Here we report a synthetic NAD⁺ featuring an adenosyl 3′-azido substitution. Acting as an ADP-ribose donor with high activity and specificity for human PARP1, this compound enables labelling and profiling of possible protein substrates of endogenous PARP1. It provides a unique and valuable tool for studying PARP1 in biology and pathology and may shed light on the development of PARP isoform-specific modulators.

An analogue of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) featuring an azido group at 3′-OH of adenosine moiety is found to possess high specificity for human PARP1-catalyzed protein poly-ADP-ribosylation.     

Activation of Stimulation of Interferon Genes (STING) Signal and Cancer Immunotherapy

Stimulator of interferon gene (STING), an intracellular receptor in the endoplasmic reticulum, could induce the production of cytokines such as type I interferon (IFN) by activating the cGAS-STING signal pathway. In recent years, activation of STING has shown great potential to enhance anti-tumor immunity and reshape the tumor microenvironment, which is expected to be used in tumor immunotherapy. A number of STING agonists have demonstrated promising biological activity and showed excellent synergistic anti-tumor effects in combination with other cancer therapies in preclinical studies and some clinical trials. The combination of STING agonists and ICI also showed a potent effect in improving anti-tumor immunity. In this review, we introduce the cGAS-STING signaling pathway and its effect in tumor immunity and discuss the recent strategies of activation of the STING signaling pathway and its research progress in tumor immunotherapy.     

Rapid Identification for the Pterocarpus Bracelet by Three-Step Infrared Spectrum Method

In order to explore a rapid identification method for the anti-counterfeit of commercial high value collections, a three-step infrared spectrum method was used for the pterocarpus collection identification to confirm whether a commercial pterocarpus bracelet (PB) was made from the precious species of Pterocarpus santalinus (P. santalinus). In the first step, undertaken by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectrum, the absorption peaks intensity of PB was slightly higher than that of P. santalinus only at 1594 cm⁻¹, 1205 cm⁻¹, 1155 cm⁻¹ and 836 cm⁻¹. In the next step of second derivative IR spectra (SDIR), the FTIR features of the tested samples were further amplified, and the peaks at 1600 cm⁻¹, 1171 cm⁻¹ and 1152 cm⁻¹ become clearly defined in PB. Finally, by means of two-dimensional correlation infrared (2DIR) spectrum, it revealed that the response of holocellulose to thermal perturbation was stronger in P. santalinus than that in PB mainly at 977 cm⁻¹, 1008 cm⁻¹, 1100 cm⁻¹, 1057 cm⁻¹, 1190 cm⁻¹ and 1214 cm⁻¹, while the aromatic functional groups of PB were much more sensitive to the thermal perturbation than those of P. santalinus mainly at 1456 cm⁻¹, 1467 cm⁻¹, 1518 cm⁻¹, 1558 cm⁻¹, 1576 cm⁻¹ and 1605 cm⁻¹. In addition, fluorescence microscopy was used to verify the effectiveness of the above method for wood identification and the results showed good consistency. This study demonstrated that the three-step IR method could provide a rapid and effective way for the anti-counterfeit of pterocarpus collections.     

Canady Cold Helios Plasma Reduces Soft Tissue Sarcoma Viability by Inhibiting Proliferation,Disrupting Cell Cycle,and Inducing Apoptosis: A Preliminary Report

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a rare and highly heterogeneous group of solid tumors, originating from various types of connective tissue. Complete removal of STS by surgery is challenging due to the anatomical location of the tumor, which results in tumor recurrence. Additionally, current polychemotherapeutic regimens are highly toxic with no rational survival benefit. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a novel technology that has demonstrated immense cancer therapeutic potential. Canady Cold Helios Plasma (CHCP) is a device that sprays CAP along the surgical margins to eradicate residual cancer cells after tumor resection. This preliminary study was conducted in vitro prior to in vivo testing in a humanitarian compassionate use case study and an FDA-approved phase 1 clinical trial (IDE G190165). In this study, the authors evaluate the efficacy of CHCP across multiple STS cell lines. CHCP treatment reduced the viability of four different STS cell lines (i.e., fibrosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and liposarcoma) in a dose-dependent manner by inhibiting proliferation, disrupting cell cycle, and inducing apoptosis-like cell death.     

The Effects of Charged Amino Acid Side-Chain Length on Diagonal Cross-Strand Interactions between Carboxylate- and Ammonium-Containing Residues in a β-Hairpin

The β-sheet is one of the common protein secondary structures, and the aberrant aggregation of β-sheets is implicated in various neurodegenerative diseases. Cross-strand interactions are an important determinant of β-sheet stability. Accordingly, both diagonal and lateral cross-strand interactions have been studied. Surprisingly, diagonal cross-strand ion-pairing interactions have yet to be investigated. Herein, we present a systematic study on the effects of charged amino acid side-chain length on a diagonal ion-pairing interaction between carboxylate- and ammonium-containing residues in a β-hairpin. To this end, 2D-NMR was used to investigate the conformation of the peptides. The fraction folded population and the folding free energy were derived from the chemical shift data. The fraction folded population for these peptides with potential diagonal ion pairs was mostly lower compared to the corresponding peptide with a potential lateral ion pair. The diagonal ion-pairing interaction energy was derived using double mutant cycle analysis. The Asp2-Dab9 (Asp: one methylene; Dab: two methylenes) interaction was the most stabilizing (−0.79 ± 0.14 kcal/mol), most likely representing an optimal balance between the entropic penalty to enable the ion-pairing interaction and the number of side-chain conformations that can accommodate the interaction. These results should be useful for designing β-sheet containing molecular entities for various applications.     

Anisotropic Superconducting Properties of Kagome Metal CsV_3Sb_5

We systematically measure the superconducting(SC) and mixed state properties of high-quality CsV_3 Sb_5 single crystals with T_c～3.5 K.We find that the upper critical field H_(c2)(T) exhibits a large anisotropic ratio of H_(c2)~(ab)/H_(c2)~c～9 at zero temperature and fitting its temperature dependence requires a minimum two-band effective model.Moreover,the ratio of the lower critical field,H_(c1)~(ab)/H_(c1)~c,is also found to be larger than 1,which indicates that the in-plane energy dispersion is strongly renormalized near Fermi energy.Both H_(c1)(T) and SC diamagnetic signal are found to change little initially below T_c～3.5 K and then to increase abruptly upon cooling to a characteristic temperature of ～2.8 K.Furthermore,we identify a two-fold anisotropy of in-plane angular-dependent magnetoresistance in the mixed state.Interestingly,we find that,below the same characteristic T～2.8 K,the orientation of this two-fold anisotropy displays a peculiar twist by an angle of 60° characteristic of the Kagome geometry.Our results suggest an intriguing superconducting state emerging in the complex environment of Kagome lattice,which,at least,is partially driven by electron-electron correlation.     

多检测GPC/SEC技术在高分子表征中的应用Ⅳ.氘化高分子的溶液性质

采用体积排斥色谱法／ 示差折光指数／ 直角激光光散射／ 示差粘度三检测联用技术表征了氘化聚苯乙烯、聚苯乙烯和氘化聚苯乙烯－ 聚异戊二烯。结果表明,在θ条件下,虽然氘化聚苯乙烯的化学依赖性常数υＴ,ＤＰＳ比聚苯乙烯的化学依赖性常数υＴ,ＰＳ大,但２５ ℃时在四氢呋喃中,氘化聚苯乙烯的分子尺寸仍小于聚苯乙烯的分子尺寸。由于嵌段共聚物的淋洗体积随组成变化,所以用传统的ＳＥＣ／ＲＩ得不到准确的分子量。经比较膜渗透、小角激光光散射和基质辅助激光脱吸与离子化时间飞行质谱等的实验结果,证明体积排斥色谱法／ 示差折光指数／ 直角激光光散射／ 示差粘度三检测技术能准确地得到氘化二嵌段共聚物的分子量以及其它重要信息。     

Trace determination of hexabromocyclododecane diastereomers in water samples with temperature controlled ionic liquid dispersive liquid phase microextraction

A novel temperature controlled ionic liquid dispersive liquid phase microextraction(TCIL-DLPME) coupled with rapid resolution liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry(RRLC-ESI-MS-MS) has been developed for the enrichment and determination of three hexabromocyclododecane diastereomers(HBCDs) in water samples.Green solvent ionic liquid(IL) was used as extraction solvent instead of toxic organic solvents.This technique also avoided the usage of dispersive solvent.Some important parameters that might affect the extraction efficiency were optimized.Under the optimum conditions,good linear relationship,sensitivity and reproducibility were obtained.All the limits of detection for the three diastereomers were 0.1 ng/ mL.The linear range was obtained in the range of 1-100 ng/mL for the total amount of three HBCD diastereomers.It was satisfactory to analyze real environmental water samples with the recoveries ranging from 77.2%to 99.3%.The main advantage of the method is toxic organic solvent-free.     

促红细胞生成素B螺旋表面肽的代谢稳定性结构修饰：设计、合成及其提高的肾保护作用

肾脏缺血缺氧以及再灌注过程都将导致肾小管上皮细胞凋亡,使肾功能严重受损.肾脏的缺血再灌注损伤是移植肾功能延迟恢复的主要原因并能诱导急慢性排斥,影响肾存活率.近年来发现,衍生于促红细胞生成素（EPO）的B螺旋亚基亲水表面序列的肽链（HBSP）,对肾脏缺血再灌注损伤具有显著的保护作用,但其在体内极短的半衰期（约2min）极大地限制了它的临床应用.因此,本研究采用构象约束、全D-构型氨基酸替换和N-端封闭策略,设计了3种类型的EPOB螺旋表面肽衍生物,旨在提高其代谢稳定性环肽的设计采用了对氧化还原稳定的硫醚键和相对刚性的亚砜键两种环合方式.在多肽的合成上,采用微波辅助多肽自动合成和手工合成两种模式有机结合;优化了硫醚环合工艺,应用微波加热进行硫醚环肽的合成,大大提高了产率和效率;利用圆二色（CD）谱确定了亚砜环肽的相对构型.活性实验表明,相对于线性母肽HBSP,本文设计合成的代谢稳定衍生肽对大/小鼠肾脏缺血再灌注损伤均有显著提高的保护作用,且硫醚和R-构型亚砜环肽的肾脏保护活性强于S-构型亚砜环肽.而且,环化确实提高了功能肽的血浆稳定性.因此,本文合成的硫醚环肽一周一次注射剂量等效于线性肽HBSP一日三次剂量对小鼠肾损伤的保护作用.     

Thermoresponsive hybrid hydrogel of oxidized nanocellulose using a polypeptide crosslinker

Thermoresponsive hybrid nanocellulose hydrogels were prepared from a mixture of oxidized nanocellulose and elastin-like polypeptide (ELP). Positively charged ELP was used as a polymeric crosslinker for conjugation with negatively charged nanocellulose. Hydrogel formation was triggered by a simple increase in temperature, and the hydrogel was reversibly returned to the liquid phase by decreasing temperature. Surface potential measurement confirmed the electrostatic properties of oxidized nanocellulose and ELP molecules. The surface morphology of hydrogels was observed by atomic force microscopy and field emission-scanning electron microscopy. Conformational changes in the ELP/nanocellulose hybrid were characterized by circular dichroism. The ELP/nanocellulose hybrid hydrogel was noncytotoxic and suitable for encapsulating cells, indicating its potential for biomedical applications.