Aspergiolides C and D: spirocyclic aromatic polyketides with potent protein kinase c-Met inhibitory effects

Variation of the cultivation conditions for Aspergillus glaucus led to the discovery of two novel spirocyclic aromatic polyketides, aspergiolides C (3) and D (4). Their constitutions were elucidated by a combination of spectroscopic methods and isotope-labeling experiments. Aspergiolides C (3) and D (4) occur as racemic mixtures, the resolution of which was succeeded by HPLC on a chiral phase. The absolute configurations of their enantiomers were assigned online, from the peaks in the chromatogram, by a combination of HPLC-CD and quantum chemical CD calculations. Both compounds were found to inhibit the kinase activities of the receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) c-Met, Ron, and c-Src with low-micromolar IC(50)s. The enantiomers of 3 were resolved by HPLC on a chiral phase. Both enantiomers showed a comparable inhibition of the HGF-induced autophosphorylation of c-Met and of subsequent cell migration.     

Generation of laser-driven flyer dominated by shock-induced shear bands: A molecular dynamics simulation study

High-power pulsed lasers provide an ingenious method for launching metal foils to generate high-speed flyers for high-pressure loading in material science or aerospace engineering.At high-temperature and high-pressure laser-induced conditions,the dynamic response of the metals and the mechanism of flyer formation remain unclear.In this study,the overall process of the laser-driven aluminum flyer,including laser ablation,rupture of metal foil,and the generation of the flyer was investigated by molecular dynamics combined with the two-temperature model.It was found that under high laser fluence(over 1.3 J/cm;with 200-fs laser pulse duration),the laser induced a shock wave with a peak pressure higher than25 GPa,which led to shear bands expanding from the edge of the laser ablation zone in the foil.Compared with the cases of low laser fluence less than 0.5 J/cm^-1,the shear band induced by high laser fluence promotes the rupture of the foil and results in a high-speed flyer(>1 km/s)with better flatness and integrity.In addition,the shock wavefront was found to be accompanied by aluminum crystal phase transformation from face-centered cubic(FCC)to body-centered cubic structure.The crystal structure reverts with the decrease of pressure,therefore the internal structure of the generated flyer is pure of FCC.The results of this study provide a better understanding of the laser-induced shock effect on the foil rupture and flyer quality and forward the development of the laser-driven flyer.     

Synthesis and fluorescence properties of 7-hydroxy-3-(2-pyridyl)coumarin derivatives

Three coumarin derivatives, 7-hydroxy-3-(2-pyridyl)coumarin (HPC), 7-(4-(5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)benzyloxy)-3-(2-pyridyl)coumarin (Ox-PC), and 7-(4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)butoxy)-3-(2-pyridyl)coumarin (Cz-PC), were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, ¹H NMR, FT-IR, and UV?Cvis absorption spectra. The fluorescence behaviors of the compounds in methanol solutions and solid states were investigated. HPC exhibits weak green emission, whereas Cz-PC and Ox-PC show strong blue emissions in dilute solutions.     

Enhancing separation of histidine from amino acids via free-flow affinity electrophoresis with gravity-induced uniform hydrodynamic flow

In this paper, a novel mode of free-flow affinity electrophoresis (FFAE) was developed to indirectly enhance the separation of free-flow electrophoresis (FFE). In the mode of FFAE, a Ni(II) with high electric charge density and histidine (His) is chosen as a model ligand and target solute, respectively. Through the controlling of experimental conditions (10 mM pH 6.0 Na(2)HPO(4)-NaH(2)PO(4) with 2.0 mM NiCl(2)·6H(2)O background buffer), Ni(II) can combine with His and the combination leads to the high electric charge density of affinity complex of His-Ni(II) in contrast to the low density of free His molecule. But the ligand has weak interaction with uninterested amino acids. Thus, the mobility of His existing as His-Ni(II) is greatly increased from 14.5×10(-8) m(2) V(-1) s(-1) to 30.2 × 10(-8) m(2) V(-1) s(-1), while those mobilities of uninterested amino acids are almost constant. By virtue of the mode, we developed the FFAE procedure and conducted the relevant experiments. The experiments demonstrated the following merits of the FFAE technique: (i) clear enhancement of separation between the target solute of His and uninterested amino acids; (ii) simplicity, and (iii) low cost. Furthermore, the technique was used for the continuous separation of His from its complex sample, and the purity of His was near to 100%. All of the results demonstrate the feasibility of affinity separation in FFE. The developed FFAE may be used in the separation and pretreatment of some biological molecules (e.g. peptides).     

Theoretical prediction on HAlS+ and HSAl+ cations using multiconfiguration second‐order perturbation theory

Some low‐lying states of the HAlS⁺ and HSAl⁺ cations have been studied for the first time by large‐scale theoretical calculations using three methods: complete active space self‐consistent field (CASSCF), complete active second‐order perturbation theory (CASPT2), and density functional theory Becke's three‐parameter hybrid function with the nonlocal correlation of Lee–Yang–Parr (B3LYP) with the contracted atomic natural orbital (ANO‐L) and cc‐pVTZ basis sets. The geometries of all stationary points along the potential energy surfaces (PESs) were optimized at the CASSCF/ANO‐L and B3LYP/cc‐pVTZ levels. The ground and the first excited states of linear HAlS⁺ are predicted to be X²Π and A²Σ⁺ states, respectively. For the linear HSAl⁺ structure, the first excited state is A²Σ⁺. The X²Π state of linear HSAl⁺ is a second‐order saddle point, because it has two imaginary frequencies. Two bent global minima M1 and M2 were found along the 1²A′ and 1²A″ PESs, respectively. The CASPT2/ANO‐L potential energy curves of isomerization reactions were calculated as a function of HAlS bond angle. According to our calculations, the ground‐state HAlS⁺ is linear, whereas the ground‐state HSAl⁺ is bent. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

A supramolecular route towards core-shell polymeric microspheres in water via cucurbit[8]uril complexation

Core-shell polymeric microspheres with a cleavable shell were prepared in water using cucurbit[8]uril to bring together functional polymeric microspheres and functional polymers. This supramolecular approach was employed to switch the cytotoxicity of the polymeric microspheres, leading to potential applications in the eradication of cancer cells.     

Supramolecular Peptide Amphiphile Vesicles through Host-Guest Complexation

Tricky triggering: Supramolecular peptide amphiphiles were prepared by host-guest complexation of pyrene-labeled peptides and viologen lipid with cucurbit[8]uril. They self-assemble into vesicles, which are responsive to a variety of external triggers. Both "switching on" and "switching off" of fluoresence and cytotoxicity is demonstrated in?vitro.     

Highly ordered thin films of 5,5'-bis(3'-fluoro-biphenyl-4-yl)-2,2' : 5',2'-terthiophene with two meso-phases

The growth process and phase state of 5,5'-bis(3'-fluoro-biphenyl-4-yl)-2,2'?:?5',2'- terthiophene (m-F2BP3T) thin films were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), in-plane and out-of-plane X-ray diffraction (XRD), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). Two meso-phases (thin film phases) of m-F2BP3T films on SiO(2) surface were obtained in the early stages. The m-F2BP3T films initially exhibited two-dimensional (2D) layers (≤4 ML) followed by three-dimensional (3D) island growth. The film structure evolved two thin film phases in the first four layers and the bulk phase was formed from the fifth layer, which occurred concomitantly with the change of the growth mode. Moreover, the variation of weak epitaxy growth behavior of ZnPc from 2D to 3D growth further reflects that the phase state of the first three layers is different from that of the fourth layer, in spite of ZnPc crystals showing just one orientation corresponding to commensurate epitaxy. The novel phase behavior is closely related to the synergistic effects of the outstanding soft matter properties, limited elasticity of organic molecules, and strain originating from the SiO(2) substrate. This study investigates novel phase behavior in organic thin films and provides significant insight into the mechanism of the phase transition.