Measurements of the Solid–Liquid Equilibria in the Quaternary System NaCl–NaBr–Na2SO4–H2O at 323 K

Phase equilibria of the quaternary NaCl–NaBr–Na₂SO₄–H₂O system at 323 K were studied by the isothermal dissolution equilibrium method. The solubilities of salts and densities of saturated solutions were determined. Solid solutions [Na(Cl, Br)] were found in the experiments. The phase diagram of the quaternary system has no invariant point, but has one univariant curve at the boundary of Na(Cl, Br) and Na₂SO₄ crystallization fields. The experimental results show that an increase of the NaBr concentration is accompanied by an obvious increase of the solution density and the decrease of the solubilities of NaCl and Na₂SO₄.     

Regioselective Nitration of Phenols by NaNO3 in Microemulsion

Highly regiospecific mononitration of phenols and substituted phenols was carried out in TX100-based microemulsion. The use of inexpensive and relatively nontoxic acidic reagent is an advantage of this method. The effect of various parameters such as concentration of NaNO₃, temperature, and agitation speed on reaction system have been investigated. Exclusive ortho-selectivity was observed for all the phenols subjected to this protocol.     

Enhancing the Cellulose-Degrading Activity of Cellulolytic Bacteria CTL-6 (Clostridium thermocellum) by Co-Culture with Non-cellulolytic Bacteria W2-10 (Geobacillus sp.)

The effect of a non-cellulolytic bacterium W2-10 (Geobacillus sp.) on the cellulose-degrading activity of a cellulolytic bacterium CTL-6 (Clostridium thermocellum) was determined using cellulose materials (paper and straw) in peptone cellulose solution (PCS) medium under aerobic conditions. The results indicated that in the co-culture, addition of W2-10 resulted in a balanced medium pH, and may provide the required anaerobic environment for CTL-6. Overall, addition of W2-10 was beneficial to CTL-6 growth in the adverse environment of the PCS medium. In co-culture with W2-10, the CTL-6 cellulose degradation efficiency of filter paper and alkaline-treated wheat straw significantly increased up to 72.45 and 37.79 %, respectively. The CMCase activity and biomass of CTL-6 also increased from 0.23 U ml^?1 and 45.1 μg ml^?1 (DNA content) up to 0.47 U ml^?1 and 112.2 μg ml^?1, respectively. In addition, co-culture resulted in accumulation of acetate and propionate up to 4.26 and 2.76 mg ml^?1. This was a respective increase of 2.58 and 4.45 times, in comparison to the monoculture with CTL-6.     

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.