Deciphering Conformational Changes of the GDP-Bound NRAS Induced by Mutations G13D,Q61R,and C118S through Gaussian Accelerated Molecular Dynamic Simulations

The conformational changes in switch domains significantly affect the activity of NRAS. Gaussian-accelerated molecular dynamics (GaMD) simulations of three separate replicas were performed to decipher the effects of G13D, Q16R, and C118S on the conformational transformation of the GDP-bound NRAS. The analyses of root-mean-square fluctuations and dynamics cross-correlation maps indicated that the structural flexibility and motion modes of the switch domains involved in the binding of NRAS to effectors are highly altered by the G13D, Q61R, and C118Smutations. The free energy landscapes (FELs) suggested that mutations induce more energetic states in NRAS than the GDP-bound WT NRAS and lead to high disorder in the switch domains. The FELs also indicated that the different numbers of sodium ions entering the GDP binding regions compensate for the changes in electrostatic environments caused by mutations, especially for G13D. The GDP–residue interactions revealed that the disorder in the switch domains was attributable to the unstable hydrogen bonds between GDP and two residues, V29 and D30. This work is expected to provide information on the energetic basis and dynamics of conformational changes in switch domains that can aid in deeply understanding the target roles of NRAS in anticancer treatment.     

Li5Zn8Ga5Ge9O36: Cr3+, Ti4+: A Long Persistent Phosphor Excited in a Wide Spectral Region from UV to Red Light for Reproducible Imaging through Biological Tissue

Near‐infrared (NIR) long‐persistent phosphors (LPPs) have emerged as a potential solution for bio‐imaging applications over the past few years. However, there are enormous challenges regarding their in situ application based on their dependence on short‐wavelength excitation. In this paper, we report a multi‐spectral excited NIR LPP, Li₅Zn₈Ga₅Ge₉O₃₆: 1.5 % Cr³⁺, 0.5 % Ti⁴⁺, which overcomes the limitations of functional processes in biological tissues and other complex systems. This LPP exhibits a high luminescent intensity and a long emission duration in the NIR region (700–800 nm). The applicability of this phosphor to tissue imaging is demonstrated experimentally. Its persistent luminescence (PersL) can easily penetrate approximately 2 mm of pork flesh. More importantly, this phosphor can be re‐charged in situ using a red LED or laser diode array to provide renewed NIR PersL for biological tissues, which is beneficial for long‐term biological tissue imaging applications with high signal‐to‐noise ratios. Systematic investigations of the nature of energy traps and PersL mechanisms are also reported in this paper.     

Switchable Enzymatic Accessibility for Precision Cell-Selective Surface Glycan Remodeling

Precision cell-selective surface glycan remodeling is of vital importance for modulation of cell surface dynamics, tissue-specific imaging, and immunotherapy, but remains an unsolved challenge. Herein, we report a switchable enzymatic accessibility (SEA) strategy for highly specific editing of carbohydrate moieties of interest on the target cell surface. We demonstrate the blocking of enzyme in the inaccessible state with a metal-organic framework (MOF) cage and instantaneous switching to the accessible state through disassembly of MOF. We further show that this level of SEA regulation enables initial guided enzyme delivery to the target cell surface for subsequent cell-specific glycan remodeling, thus providing a temporally and spatially controlled tool for tuning the glycosylation architectures. Terminal galactose/N-acetylgalactosamine (Gal/GalNAc) remodeling and terminal sialic acid (Sia) desialylation have been precisely achieved on target cells even with other cell lines in close spatial proximity. The SEA protocol features a modular and generically adaptable design, a very short protocol duration (ca. 30 min or shorter), and a very high spatial resolving power (ability to differentiate immediately neighboring cell lines).     

Towards Unveiling the Exact Molecular Structure of Amorphous Red Phosphorus by Single‐Molecule Studies

Since the discovery of amorphous red phosphorus (a‐red P) in 1847, many possible structures have been proposed. However, the exact molecular structure has not yet been determined because of its amorphous nature. Herein several methods are used to investigate basic properties of a‐red P. Data from scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) confirm that a‐red P is a linear inorganic polymer with a broad molecular weight distribution. The theoretical single‐molecule elasticities of the possible a‐red P structures are obtained by quantum mechanical (QM) calculations. The experimental single‐molecule elasticity of a‐red P measured by single‐molecule AFM matches with the theoretical result of the zig‐zag ladder structure, indicating that a‐red P may adopt this structure. Although this conclusion needs further validation, this fundamental study represents progress towards solving the structure of a‐red P. It is expected that the strategy utilized in this work can be applied to study other inorganic polymers.     

Nanoporous phenanthroline polymer locked Pd as highly efficient catalyst for Suzuki-Miyaura Coupling reaction at room temperature

Because of the intrinsic advantages, Suzuki coupling reactions have been one of the most popular coupling reactions in organic synthesis, however developing a high-performance heterogeneous catalyst for Suzuki coupling reactions in aqueous media at low temperature (e.g. room temperature) is still a challenge. Herein, a heterogeneous catalyst with coordinated Pd as active site and a designed conjugated phenanthroline based porous polymer (CPP) as support was fabricated. Systematically investigation on CPP support by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherm and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that the derived CPP catalyst support owns a porous structure, moderately good surface area (141 m²/g) and an excellent thermal stability. As a heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of biphenyl derivatives via Suzuki coupling, Pd/CPP achieves an excellent catalytic performance and recycling ability towards Suzuki reaction of various reactants at room temperature in ethanol-water medium.     

Quantitative stability of fully random two-stage stochastic programs with mixed-integer recourse

Optimization Letters - The quantitative stability and empirical approximation of two-stage stochastic programs with mixed-integer recourse are investigated. We first study the boundedness of...     

Multilevel Chirality Transfer from Amino Acid Derivatives to Circularly Polarized Luminescence-Active Nanoparticles in Aqueous Medium

Chirality at different levels is widely observed in nature, but the clue to connect it all together, and the way chirality transfers among different levels are still obscure. Herein, a l -/d -lysine-based self-assembly system was constructed, in which two-step chirality transfer among three different levels was observed in aqueous solution. The chirality originated from the point chirality of amino acid derivatives l -/d -PyLys hydrochloride, and was transferred to the planar conformational chirality of water-soluble pillar[5]arene pR-/pS-WP5. Then, with the aid of pR-/pS-WP5, nanoparticles were formed that exhibited L-/R-handed circularly polarized luminescence with a dissymmetry factor of up to ±0.001, arising from pyrene chiral excimers. This multilevel chirality transfer not only provides a perspective to trace potential clues, and to pursue certain ways by which the chirality transfers, but also offers a strategy to create controllable CPL emission in aqueous media.