糖-蛋白质相互作用

糖生物学被认为是生物化学领域“最后的前沿”。糖-蛋白质相互作用是信号传导、细胞粘附、病菌感染、受精、增殖、分化和免疫应答等很多细胞识别过程的基础,在生命科学中意义重大。本文综述了糖-蛋白质(尤其是凝集素)相互作用研究的电化学、压电传感、光谱学、纳米技术、微阵列技术和生物传感器等方法和器件及生物医学应用进展。     

环境污染物中碳氯键离解能的理论研究

利用六种密度泛函理论方法（B3LYP, B3P86, MPW1K, TPSS1KCIS, X3LYP, BMK）对碳氯键离解能进行理论计算,结果发现几种新发展的密度泛函(DFT)方法用于碳氯键离解能的计算比传统的B3LYP有较大的改善,其中对能量估算相对准确的B3P86方法对碳氯键离解能的计算精度最高,对17个分子中碳氯键离解能计算的平均绝对偏差为6.58 kJ/mol。最后运用B3P86方法对一系列环境危害较大,但可通过光化学降解和生物降解的氯代有机物的碳氯键离解能值进行预测,并讨论了影响碳氯键离解能的结构性质关系。     

具有高稳定性以及光催化产氢活性的奇数环状异金属钛氧纳米团簇

利用太阳能是解决当前能源危机和环境问题的有效途径.二氧化钛是一种稳定性高、环境友好的新型光催化剂.近年来,具有精确结构信息的晶态钛氧团簇(PTCs)作为TiO2的分子结构模型受到广泛关注.目前大多数PTCs含有烷氧基,在空气中易发生水解.这在很大程度上限制了对其光催化性能的研究.在无机钛氧簇的外围修饰大量的共轭有机配体...     

Dipolar Glass Polymers for Capacitive Energy Storage at Room Temperatures and Elevated Temperatures

Dielectric polymers are the materials of choice for high energy density film capacitors. The increasing demand for advanced electrical systems requires dielectric polymers to operate efficiently under extreme conditions, especially at elevated temperatures. However, the low permittivity and relatively low operating temperature of dielectric polymers limit the high-temperature capacitive energy storage applications.Fortunately, dipolar glass polymers are demonstrated as the preferred materials to...     

Nano-Theranostics Constructed from Terpyridine-Modified Pillar [5]arene-Based Supramolecular Amphiphile and Its Application in Both Cell Imaging and Cancer Therapy

Theranostics play an important role in cancer treatment due to its realized real-time tracking of therapeutic efficacy in situ. In this work, we have designed and synthesized a terpyridine-modified pillar [5]arenes (TP5). By the coordination of terpyridine and Zn²⁺, the complex TP5/Zn was obtained. Then, supramolecular amphiphile can be constructed by using host–guest complexation between a polyethylene glycol contained guest (PM) and TP5/Zn. Combining the fluorescence properties from the terpyridine group and the amphiphilicity from the system, the obtained TP5/Zn/PM can further be self-assembled into fluorescent particles with diameters of about 150 nm in water. The obtained particles can effectively load anti-cancer drugs and realize living cell imaging and a precise release of the drugs.     

Structure-Based Discovery and Biological Assays of a Novel PRMT5 Inhibitor for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) is a popular anticancer target that regulates histone or nonhistone methylation and is linked to the development and poor prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer. PRMT5 inhibitors have shown great promise in clinical trials as a cancer therapy. However, most inhibitors reported recently act in a SAM-competitive mode and lack structural diversity. In this paper, a novel non-SAM inhibitor, 3039-0164, was discovered by the structure-based virtual screening method. The binding mechanism of 3039-0164 to PRMT5 was revealed via molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. 3039-0164 inhibited PRMT5 enzymatic activity, downregulated the expression of PRMT5 downstream target genes (FGFR3 and eIF4E), and blocked the activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR and ERK signaling pathways. The discovery of 3039-0164 provides precise and creative hit compounds for the design optimization of PRMT5 lead compounds in non-small cell lung cancer.     

The Amomum tsao-ko Essential Oils Inhibited Inflammation and Apoptosis through p38/JNK MAPK Signaling Pathway and Alleviated Gentamicin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury

The clinical application of gentamicin may lead to acute kidney injury (AKI), and the nephrotoxicity of gentamicin is related to the pathological mechanism of several oxidative and inflammatory cytokines. Plant-derived essential oils have good anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This study aimed to clarify the protective effect of Amomum tsao-ko essential oils (AOs) on gentamicin-induced AKI in rats and its possible mechanism. The rat AKI model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of gentamicin. After 14 days of oral AO treatment, the renal function and pathological changes of the kidney tissues were evaluated, and the level of kidney tissue oxidative stress was detected. The content of inflammatory cytokines was measured by ELISA. The expression of ERK1/2, JNK1/2, p38, NF-κB, caspase-3, and Bax/Bcl-2 proteins were estimated by Western blot analysis. The results showed that taking AO reduced the contents of serum urea and creatinine in AKI rats and improve the pathological changes and oxidative stress of the kidney tissue in rats. At the same time, AO reduced inflammation and apoptosis during AKI by regulating the MAPK pathway. The data show that AO has a protective effect on the kidneys and may be a potential drug for treating kidney injury.     

Maternal Physiological Variations Induced by Chronic Gestational Hypoxia: 1H NMR-Based Metabolomics Study

Metabolomics have been widely used in pregnancy-related diseases. However, physiological variations induced by chronic hypoxia during pregnancy are not well characterized. We aimed to investigate physiological variations induced by chronic hypoxia during pregnancy. A Sprague–Dawley (SD) pregnant rat model of chronic hypoxia was established. Plasma and urine metabolite profiles at different stages of the pregnancy were detected by ¹H NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance). Multivariate statistical analysis was used to analyze changes in plasma and urine metabolic trajectories at different time-points. We identified hypoxia-induced changes in the levels of 30 metabolites in plasma and 29 metabolites in urine during different stages of pregnancy; the prominently affected metabolites included acetic acid, acetone, choline, citric acid, glutamine, isoleucine, lysine, and serine. Most significant hypoxia-induced changes in plasma and urine sample metabolites were observed on the 11th day of gestation. In summary, chronic hypoxia has a significant effect on pregnant rats, and may cause metabolic disorders involving glucose, lipids, amino acids, and tricarboxylic acid cycle. Metabolomics study of the effect of hypoxia during pregnancy may provide insights into the pathogenesis of obstetric disorders.     

Thiazole fused S,N-heteroacene step-ladder polymeric semiconductors for organic transistors

Ladder-type thiazole-fused S,N-heteroacenes with an extended π-conjugation consisting of six (SN6-Tz) and nine (SN9-Tz) fused aromatic rings have been synthesized and fully characterized. To date, the synthesis of well-defined fused building blocks and polymers of π-conjugated organic compounds based on the thiazole moiety is a considerable synthetic challenge, due to the difficulty in their synthesis. Acceptor–donor building blocks M1 and M2 were successfully polymerized into ladder homopolymers P1–P2 and further copolymerized with a diketopyrrolopyrrole unit to afford step-ladder copolymer P3. The optical, electronic, and thermal properties, in addition to their charge transport behavior in organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs), were investigated. The results showed an interesting effect on the molecular arrangement of the thiazole-based ladder-type heteroacene in the crystal structure revealing skewed π–π-stacking, and expected to possess better p-type semiconducting performance. The polymers all possess good molecular weights and excellent thermal properties. All the polymer-based OTFT devices exhibit annealing temperature dependent performance, and among the polymers P3 exhibits the highest mobility of 0.05 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹.

Ladder-type thiazole-fused S,N-heteroacenes with an extended π-conjugation consisting of six (SN6-Tz) and nine (SN9-Tz) fused aromatic rings have been synthesized and fully characterized.