Morphine-induced conditioned place preference in mice: Metabolomic profiling of brain tissue to find “molecular switch” of drug abuse by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Conditioned place preference (CPP) is a widely used model to explore the mechanism of context-dependent learning. In this work, we developed a GC–MS method to investigate the metabolites in mice brain which was used to study the mechanism of context-dependent learning associated with rewarding effect of morphine. Metabolites were extracted from brain tissues and derivatized followed by analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS). In total, 69 peaks were identified as known compounds. By a Wilcoxon ran sum test with p value ≤0.05, 21 metabolites were selected and considered as the potential biomarkers of morphine in mice brain. Using principal component analysis (PCA) and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves, a model was constructed with a combination of these 21 metabolic markers. Multivariate statistics of the model yielded separation between the two groups with an area under the curve value of 0.947. Some metabolites were further discussed in detail about their pathway. Results showed that our technique can be successfully applied to profile for biomarkers and in understanding molecular mechanisms of drug abuse.     

Cu-Mn-Zn/Y直接合成二甲醚催化剂中锌和锰的协同调节作用

通过对Y型分子筛负载Cu-Mn、Cu-Zn和Cu-Mn-Zn催化剂的结构、表面性质及其直接合成二甲醚反应活性的对比,发现Mn和Zn对催化剂还原性能的影响作用相反,对催化剂吸附H₂和CO的影响也不同。Mn和Zn的单独添加或共同添加引起催化剂结构和组分之间相互作用程度的改变,是造成催化剂活性和选择性变化的主要原因。两者的协同作用,能调整催化剂的还原性能和吸附性能达到适合的状态,从而使得催化剂具有高的二甲醚合成活性。     

Partially crystallized Pd nanoparticles decorated TiO2 prepared by atmospheric-pressure cold plasma and its enhanced photocatalytic performance

TiO2 decorated with partially crystallized Pd nanoparticles （Pd/TiO2-P） was successfully prepared by atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma. The XRD and XPS analyses proved that Pd ions were reduced to partially crystallized metallic Pd nanoparticles in Pd/TiO2-P. The XPS spectra also indicated that an enhanced metal-support interaction was formed due to the existence of partially crystallized Pd nanoparticles with lower coordination number in Pd/TiO2-P. Photocatalytic activity of Pd/TiO2-P was much higher than that of TiO2 samples decorated with well crystallized Pd nanoparticles.     

甲烷部分氧化气氛制备碳纳米管

碳纳米管是由碳六元环构成的类石墨平面卷曲而成的纳米级中空管,其中每个碳原子通过sp2杂化与周围3个碳原子发生完全键合,管的直径在几个纳米到几十个纳米之间,而轴向长度却可达几十微米甚至更长,故被称为准一维分子纳米材料.由于这种特殊结构,碳纳米管具有许多奇异的物理化学性能,如独特的导电性、极高的机械强度、润滑性和吸附能力等.自发现碳纳米管以来[1],人们开展了多种方法进行制备研究,如电弧放电(Arcdischarge)[2]、激光烧蚀(Laserablation)[3]、碳氢化合物催化分解(Catalyticdecompositionofhydrocarbons)[4]和化学气相沉积(Chem…     

9,10⁃二(N⁃苯基吲哚⁃3⁃乙烯基)蒽的合成及聚集诱导荧光和压致荧光变色性质

通过简单的Wittig反应合成了一个荧光化合物9,10-二(N-苯基吲哚-3-乙烯基)蒽(IA-Ph); 通过核磁共振和质谱对其结构进行了确认; 利用荧光发射光谱和紫外吸收光谱对其光物理性质进行了表征. 结果表明, 化合物IA-Ph兼具聚集诱导荧光(AIE)和压致荧光变色性质, 在相同浓度下, 该化合物在THF/H₂O(体积比1∶9)混合溶液中的荧光强度比在纯四氢呋喃(THF)溶液中增加了12倍, 具有明显的AIE效应. 通过简单而有效的机械力研磨, 化合物可以从初始的发绿光转变为研磨后的橙红光, 光谱红移约68 nm; 而且在加热或溶剂熏蒸条件下, 化合物的颜色可以回复到起始的绿光, 具有完全可逆性.     

Surface properties and doxorubicin delivery in mixed systems comprising a natural rosin-based ester tertiary amine and an anionic surfactant

A rosin-based ester tertiary amine salt (RETAS) cationic surfactant was obtained using natural rosin as raw material. GC-MS of RETAS was detailed analyzed. The pH-responsive mechanism of rosin-based ester tertiary amine (RETA) and RETAS was confirmed by applying theoretical calculations about electrostatic potential maps of RETA and RETAS cation using Gaussian software. Mixed system surfactants were obtained by blending RETAS cationic surfactant with sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) anionic surfactant. The binary mixed surfactant systems of RETAS and SDBS had obvious synergistic effect. The γ_cmc and CMC were 39.40?mN/m and 0.56?mmol/L at the optimum molar fraction of RETAS (α)?=?0.6, respectively. The stability time of emulsion with the optimum mixed system as emulsifier increased to 309?s at α?=?0.6. The emulsifying capacity of RETAS was much better than that of RETA. RETAS had pH-responsive targeted release and the optimum mixed system showed a relatively sustained drug release by using doxorubicin (DOX) as a model drug. These results indicate that RETAS surfactant and mixed system surfactant are both promising for applications in drug delivery and emulsification.     

Ultrathin Alternating Copolymer Nanotubes with Readily Tunable Surface Functionalities

Well‐defined ultrathin nanotubes (30 nm in diameter and of micrometer‐scale length) were generated through the self‐assembly of a novel alternative copolymer synthesized using an epoxy–thiol click‐chemistry reaction. The self‐assembly mechanism was investigated both by experiments and using dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. The obtained nanotubes can be readily functionalized with carboxy groups, amino groups, peptides, or other groups by simple modular click copolymerization.     

Rapid Screening of Lipase Inhibitors from Ophiopogonis Radix Using High-Performance Thin Layer Chromatography by Two Step Gradient Elution Combined with Bioautographic Method

In this study, a high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method by two step gradient elution with two mobile phases was developed for the simultaneous analysis of seven constituents in Ophiopogonis Radix. The chromatography was performed on silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ plate with dichloromethane-methanol-ethyl acetate-water (70:25:12:3, v/v/v/v) and dichloromethane-methanol (300:1, v/v) as the mobile phase for two step gradient elution. Then, the HPTLC profiles were observed after derivatization with 10% sulfuric acid in ethanol solution. The obtained HPTLC images were further analyzed by chemometric approaches and the samples could be clustered based on regions and/or growth years, which were two important factors affecting the constituents in Ophiopogonis Radix. Furthermore, five compounds including ophiopogonin D, ophiopojaponin C, ophiopogonin D’, ophiopogonin C’ and methylophiopogonanone B were screened as potential lipase inhibitors from Ophiopogonis Radix by the HPTLC-bioautographic method. The binding modes and interactions between the five compounds and lipase were further explored by molecular docking analysis. The developed HPTLC method could be used for quality control of Ophiopogonis Radix and screening of the potential lipase inhibitors.     

Computational Drug Repurposing Based on a Recommendation System and Drug–Drug Functional Pathway Similarity

Drug repurposing identifies new clinical indications for existing drugs. It can be used to overcome common problems associated with cancers, such as heterogeneity and resistance to established therapies, by rapidly adapting known drugs for new treatment. In this study, we utilized a recommendation system learning model to prioritize candidate cancer drugs. We designed a drug–drug pathway functional similarity by integrating multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations such as gene expression, copy number variation (CNV), and DNA methylation. When compared with other similarities, such as SMILES chemical structures and drug targets based on the protein–protein interaction network, our approach provided better interpretable models capturing drug response mechanisms. Furthermore, our approach can achieve comparable accuracy when evaluated with other learning models based on large public datasets (CCLE and GDSC). A case study about the Erlotinib and OSI-906 (Linsitinib) indicated that they have a synergistic effect to reduce the growth rate of tumors, which is an alternative targeted therapy option for patients. Taken together, our computational method characterized drug response from the viewpoint of a multi-omics pathway and systematically predicted candidate cancer drugs with similar therapeutic effects.