Preparation of Hyaluronic Acid Micro-Hydrogel by Biotin–Avidin-Specific Bonding for Doxorubicin-Targeted Delivery

Hyaluronic acid is a naturally ionic polysaccharide with cancer cell selectivity. It is an ideal candidate material for delivery of anticancer agents. In this study, hyaluronic acid (HA) micro-hydrogel loaded with anticancer drugs was prepared by the biotin–avidin system approach. Firstly, carboxyl groups on HA were changed into amino groups with adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH) to graft with biotin by 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride named as HA–biotin. When HA–biotin solution mixed with doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX·HCl) was blended with neutravidin, the micro-hydrogels would be formed with DOX loading. If excess biotin was added into the microgel, it would be disjointed, and DOX will be released quickly. The results of the synthesis procedure were characterized by ¹H-NMR and FTIR; ADH and biotin have been demonstrated to graft on the HA molecule. A field emission scanning electron microscope was used to observe morphologies of HA micro-hydrogels. Furthermore, the in vitro DOX release results revealed that the release behaviors can be adjusted by adding biotin. Therefore, the HA micro-hydrogel can deliver anticancer drugs efficiently, and the rate of release can be controlled by biotin-specific bonding with the neutravidin. Consequently, the micro-hydrogel will perform the promising property of switching in the specific site in cancer therapy.     

Highly transparent silica monoliths embedded with high concentration oxide nanoparticles

Silica monoliths embedded with high concentration of γ-Fe₂O₃ or TiO₂ nanoparticles were prepared by a sol–gel procedure designed according to the inherent properties of oxide colloids. In the first step, highly dispersible oxide nanoparticles were produced using an in situ modification sol–gel strategy. Then, these particles were re-dispersed in silicon alkoxide-containing solution to form a stable colloidal solution. The hydrolysis and condensation reactions of alkoxide were catalyzed by an organic base (morpholine). Due to the large molecule size of morpholine, the electric double layer on the surface of colloidal particles was not compressed by the ionized morpholine molecules. The colloidal solution thus remained stable during the gelation process. Through this procedure, oxide nanoparticles could be immobilized homogeneously in the pores of a silica matrix, forming highly transparent and crack-free monoliths.     

Structural and Dynamic Basis of Human Cytochrome P450 7B1: A Survey of Substrate Selectivity and Major Active Site Access Channels

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 7B1 is a steroid cytochrome P450 7α‐hydroxylase that has been linked directly with bile salt synthesis and hereditary spastic paraplegia type 5 (SPG5). The enzyme provides the primary metabolic route for neurosteroids dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), cholesterol derivatives 25‐hydroxycholesterol (25‐HOChol), and other steroids such as 5α‐androstane‐3β,17β‐diol (anediol), and 5α‐androstene‐3β,17β‐diol (enediol). A series of investigations including homology modeling, molecular dynamics (MD), and automatic docking, combined with the results of previous experimental site‐directed mutagenesis studies and access channels analysis, have identified the structural features relevant to the substrate selectivity of CYP7B1. The results clearly identify the dominant access channels and critical residues responsible for ligand binding. Both binding free energy analysis and total interaction energy analysis are consistent with the experimental conclusion that 25‐HOChol is the best substrate. According to 20 ns MD simulations, the Phe cluster residues that lie above the active site, particularly Phe489, are proposed to merge the active site with the adjacent channel to the surface and accommodate substrate binding in a reasonable orientation. The investigation of CYP7B1–substrate binding modes provides detailed insights into the poorly understood structural features of human CYP7B1 at the atomic level, and will be valuable information for drug development and protein engineering.     

Renormalization and conjugacy of piecewise linear Lorenz maps

We investigate the uniform piecewise linearizing question for a family of Lorenz maps. Let f be a piecewise linear Lorenz map with different slopes and positive topological entropy, we show that f is conjugate to a linear mod one transformation and the conjugacy admits a dichotomy: it is either bi-Lipschitz or singular depending on whether f is renormalizable or not. f is renormalizable if and only if its rotation interval degenerates to be a rational point. Furthermore, if the endpoints are periodic points with the same rotation number, then the conjugacy is quasisymmetric.     

Amperometric bienzyme screen-printed biosensor for the determination of leucine

Leucine plays an important role in protein synthesis, brain functions, building muscle mass, and helping the body when it undergoes stress. Here, we report a new amperometric bienzyme screen-printed biosensor for the determination of leucine, by coimmobilizing p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase (HBH) and leucine dehydrogenase (LDH) on a screen-printed electrode with NADP⁺ and p-hydroxybenzoate as the cofactors. The detection principle of the sensor is that LDH catalyzes the specific dehydrogenation of leucine by using NADP⁺ as a cofactor. The product, NADPH, triggers the hydroxylation of p-hydroxybenzoate by HBH in the presence of oxygen to produce 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate, which results in a change in electron concentration at the working carbon electrode, which is detected by the potentiostat. The sensor shows a linear detection range between 10 and 600 μM with a detection limit of 2 μM. The response is reproducible and has a fast measuring time of 5–10 s after the addition of a given concentration of leucine.     

Comprehensive identification of the binding sites of cisplatin in hen egg white lysozyme

Platinum drugs have become one of the most important kinds of chemotherapy agents, and the interactions of these drugs with proteins play very important roles in their side effects and drug resistance. However, it is still a challenge to determine the binding sites of platinum drugs in proteins with multiple disulfide bonds and stable three-dimensional structures using mass spectrometry. Here, the interaction between cisplatin and hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL), a multi-disulfide-bond-containing protein with a stable three-dimensional structure, was investigated using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. Typical disulfide bond reduction with dithiothreitol/tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine before trypsin digestion destroyed the binding of cisplatin to HEWL, and no platination sites were found. Efficient trypsin digestion methods for HEWL–cisplatin adducts were developed to avoid the loss of platinum binding to protein. At 55 °C, platinated HEWL was digested directly by trypsin in 6 h, and multiple platinated peptides were observed. In 60 % acetonitrile, the digestion time of platinated HEWL was shortened to 2 h, and most of the platinated peptides were observed. In addition, the reduction of the disulfide bonds of HEWL greatly accelerated the reaction between HEWL and cisplatin, and the potential binding sites of cisplatin in reduced HEWL could be easily recognized. On the basis of the above-mentioned methods, multiple binding sites of cisplatin in HEWL were first identified by mass spectrometry.

A wide range optical pH sensor for living cells using Au@Ag nanoparticles functionalized carbon nanotubes based on SERS signals

p-Aminothiophenol (pATP) functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been demonstrated as an efficient pH sensor for living cells. The proposed sensor employs gold/silver core-shell nanoparticles (Au@Ag NPs) functionalized MWCNTs hybrid structure as the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate and pATP molecules as the SERS reporters, which possess a pH-dependent SERS performance. By using MWCNTs as the substrate to be in a state of aggregation, the pH sensing range could be extended to pH 3.0～14.0, which is much wider than that using unaggregated Au@Ag NPs without MWCNTs. Furthermore, the pH-sensitive performance was well retained in living cells with a low cytotoxicity. The developed SERS-active MWCNTs-based nanocomposite is expected to be an efficient intracellular pH sensor for bio-applications.     

Transformations of iodine species inside elliptical channels of AlPO4‐11 crystals at low temperature: a Raman study

Raman spectra of iodine species confined in one‐dimensional elliptical channels of AlPO₄‐11 (AEL) crystals have been studied from room temperature down to −196 °C. As temperature decreases, thermal fluctuations of individual iodine molecules confined in AEL channels are slowed down and they prefer to rotate to channel axis direction, which increases the population of iodine molecules along channel axis (i.e., lying molecules and chains). Such temperature‐driven orientation transformation of iodine molecules is found to be reversible upon heating up to room temperature. The experimental observations are in good agreement with our theoretical simulations by molecular dynamics on low density iodine‐filled AEL crystals. We thus provide a new way to modulate the orientation of iodine molecules in nanochannels, which may have implications in low‐temperature‐sensitive nanoscale devices. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Continuous Porous Aromatic Framework Membranes with Modifiable Sites for Optimized Gas Separation

Continuous microporous membranes are widely studied for gas separation, due to their low energy premium and strong molecular specificity. Porous aromatic frameworks (PAFs) with their exceptional stability and structural flexibility are suited to a wide range of separations. Main-stream PAF-based membranes are usually prepared with polymeric matrices, but their discrete entities and boundary defects weaken their selectivity and permeability. The synthesis of continuous PAF membranes is still a major challenge because PAFs are insoluble. Herein, we successfully synthesized a continuous PAF membrane for gas separation. Both pore size and chemistry of the PAF membrane were modified by ion-exchange, resulting in good selectivity and permeance for the gas mixtures H₂/N₂ and CO₂/N₂. The membrane with Br^? as a counter ion in the framework exhibited a H₂/N₂ selectivity of 72.7 with a H₂ permeance of 51844 gas permeation units (GPU). When the counter ions were replaced by BF₄^?, the membrane showed a CO₂ permeance of 23058 GPU, and an optimized CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 60.0. Our results show that continuous PAF membranes with modifiable pores are promising for various gas separation situations.     

海水电解面临的挑战与机遇：含氯电化学中先进材料研究进展

氢气是一种清洁高效的能源载体,通过海水电解规模化制备氢气能够为应对全球能源挑战提供新的机遇。然而,缺乏高活性、高选择性和高稳定性的理想电极材料是在腐蚀性海水中连续电解过程的一个巨大挑战。为了缓解这一困境,需要从基础理论和实际应用两方面对材料进行深入研究。近年来,人们围绕电极材料的催化活性、选择性和耐腐蚀性进行了大量的探索。本文重点总结了高选择性和强耐腐蚀性材料的设计合成与作用机制。其中详细介绍了多种电极材料(如多金属氧化物、Ni/Fe/Co基复合材料、氧化锰包覆异质结构等)对氧气生成选择性的研究进展;系统论述了各种材料的抗腐蚀工程研究成果,主要讨论了本征抗腐蚀材料、外防护涂层和原位产生抗腐蚀物种三种情况。此外,提出了海水电解过程中存在的挑战和潜在的机遇。先进纳米材料的设计有望为解决海水电解中的氯化学问题提供新思路。