Electron mobility in poly(3-hexylthiophene) enhanced by gamma-ray irradiation

Gamma-ray irradiation effects on the photoresponsive thin-film devices based on the regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (RR-P3HT) conjugated polymer have been studied by means of atomic force microscopy, UV–vis absorption, photoluminescence (PL), and time-of-flight measurements. As a result, increased light absorption in the red region and PL quenching induced by the irradiation were observed. Besides, enhancement of the electron/hole mobilities, attributable to improved ordering or increased nanodomain size of the P3HT thin films, was revealed.     

Uncovering the Stoichiometry of Pyrococcus furiosus RNase P,a Multi‐Subunit Catalytic Ribonucleoprotein Complex,by Surface‐Induced Dissociation and Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry

We demonstrate that surface‐induced dissociation (SID) coupled with ion mobility mass spectrometry (IM‐MS) is a powerful tool for determining the stoichiometry of a multi‐subunit ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex assembled in a solution containing Mg²⁺. We investigated Pyrococcus furiosus (Pfu) RNase P, an archaeal RNP that catalyzes tRNA 5′ maturation. Previous step‐wise, Mg²⁺‐dependent reconstitutions of Pfu RNase P with its catalytic RNA subunit and two interacting protein cofactor pairs (RPP21?RPP29 and POP5?RPP30) revealed functional RNP intermediates en route to the RNase P enzyme, but provided no information on subunit stoichiometry. Our native MS studies with the proteins showed RPP21?RPP29 and (POP5?RPP30)₂ complexes, but indicated a 1:1 composition for all subunits when either one or both protein complexes bind the cognate RNA. These results highlight the utility of SID and IM‐MS in resolving conformational heterogeneity and yielding insights on RNP assembly.     

High‐expression β1 adrenergic receptor/cell membrane chromatography method based on a target receptor to screen active ingredients from traditional Chinese medicines

β‐Adrenergic receptors are important targets for drug discovery. We have developed a new β₁‐adrenergic receptor cell membrane chromatography (β₁AR‐CMC) with offline ultra‐performance LC (UPLC) and MS method for screening active ingredients from traditional Chinese medicines. In this study, Chinese hamster ovary‐S cells with high β₁AR expression levels were established and used to prepare a cell membrane stationary phase in a β₁AR‐CMC model. The retention fractions were separated and identified by the UPLC–MS system. The screening results found that isoimperatorin from Rhizoma et Radix Notopterygii was the targeted component that could act on β₁AR in similar manner of metoprolol as a control drug. In addition, the biological effects of active component were also investigated in order to search for a new type of β₁AR antagonist. It will be a useful method for drug discovery as a leading compound resource.     

Correlating Glycoforms of DC-SIGN with Stability Using a Combination of Enzymatic Digestion and Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry

The immune scavenger protein DC-SIGN interacts with glycosylated proteins and has a putative role in facilitating viral infection. How these recognition events take place with different viruses is not clear and the effects of glycosylation on the folding and stability of DC-SIGN have not been reported. Herein, we report the development and application of a mass-spectrometry-based approach to both uncover and characterise the effects of O-glycans on the stability of DC-SIGN. We first quantify the Core 1 and 2 O-glycan structures on the carbohydrate recognition and extracellular domains of the protein using sequential exoglycosidase sequencing. Using ion mobility mass spectrometry, we show how specific O-glycans, and/or single monosaccharide substitutions, alter both the overall collision cross section and the gas-phase stability of the DC-SIGN isoforms. We find that rather than the mass or length of glycoprotein modifications, the stability of DC-SIGN is better correlated with the number of glycosylation sites.     

Anisotropic charge carrier transport of optoelectronic functional selenium-containing organic semiconductor materials

Organic semiconductors (OSCs) materials are currently under intense investigation because of their potential applications such as organic field-effect transistors, organic photovoltaic devices, and organic light-emitting diodes. Inspired by the selenization strategy can promote anisotropic charge carrier migration, and selenium-containing compounds have been proved to be promising materials as OSCs both for hole and electron transfer. Herein, we now explore the anisotropic transport properties of the series of selenium-containing compounds. For the compound containing Se Se bond, the Se Se bond will break when attaching an electron, thus those compounds cannot act as n-type OSCs. About the different isomer compounds with conjugated structure, the charge transfer will be affected by the stacking of the conjugated structures. The analysis of chemical structure and charge transfer property indicates that Se-containing materials are promising high-performance OSCs and might be used as p-type, n-type, or ambipolar OSCs. Furthermore, the symmetry of the selenium-containing OSCs will affect the type of OSCs. In addition, there is no direct relationship between the R groups with their performance, whether it or not as p-type OSCs or n-types. This work demonstrates the relationship between the optoelectronic function and structure of selenium-containing OSCs materials and hence paves the way to design and improve optoelectronic function of OSCs materials.     

基于SERS纳米探针的细胞内硝基还原酶检测

在缺氧的肿瘤细胞内, 硝基还原酶(NTR)通常过表达且其含量高低与缺氧程度呈正相关, 因此开发高选择性检测NTR的方法对早期肿瘤诊断至关重要. 本文通过修饰对硝基苯硫酚(p?NTP)到金纳米粒子(Au NPs)表面构建了一种表面增强拉曼散射(SERS)探针. 在缺氧条件下, 以还原型烟酰胺腺嘌呤二核苷酸(NADH)作为电子供体, NTR可催化还原芳香硝基为芳香胺, 导致纳米探针的SERS光谱发生变化, 从而实现NTR的高选择性检测, 检出限低至18 ng/mL. 该探针毒性低、 生物兼容性好, 可用于缺氧条件下A549细胞内的NTR分析, 为肿瘤细胞的缺氧现象评估提供了一种有效的策略.     

电动分离统一理论

在真空、气相和液相中实施线性电动分离,创造出了质谱、离子淌度谱、电泳和毛细管电泳等,但它们却未成体系,各自发展,各有理论,互不相关。该文从牛顿力学第二定律出发结合静电学理论,推导出了它们的统一运动方程,并由此推演出并简要讨论了上述各法自己的通用运动子方程和测量模式。这些方程不仅有利于系统化这些现存方法,也可用于推导和发现新型电动分离模式。     

Conjugated polymer nanoparticles as fluorescence switch for selective cell imaging

Fluorescence switch plays a vital role in bioelectronics and bioimaging.Herein,we presented a new kind of facile electrostatic complex nanoparticles(ECNs)for fluorescence switching in cells and marking of individual cell.The ECNs were prepared by mixing positively charged poly(6-(2-(thiophen-3-yl)ethoxy)hexyl trimethylammonium bromide)(PT)and negatively charged diarylethene sodium salt(DAECOONa).DAE-COONa is a photoswitchable molecule which can be transformed between the ring-closed fo rm and ring-open form under the irradiation of UV or visible light.The closed-form of DAE-COONa can efficie ntly quench the fluorescence of PT through intermolecular energy transfer,while the open form of DAE-COONa does not influence the emission of PT.Thus,the fluorescence of ECNs can be modulated by light irradiation,and the ECNs with good fluorescence switching performance have been employed for fluorescence imaging and individual cell lighting up process successfully.We demonstrate that the electrostatic complex strategy provides a facile method to construct fluorescence switch fo r selective cell marking and imaging applications.     

基于水分掺杂的高场非对称波形离子迁移谱检测硫化氢的研究

高场非对称波形离子迁移谱(FAIMS)是一种芯片级高灵敏度快速分析检测技术,其在大气压环境下工作的特点使之受环境影响明显,其中气体的湿度是显著影响因素,湿度的变化可引起迁移区离子反应机理以及迁移过程的变化。该文研究了干燥条件下痕量硫化氢的定量检测方法,确定了DF=33%时的检测线性范围与回归方程。利用PTFE管渗透作用,设定水浴温度为40～90℃,考察了不同含量水分对FAIMS检测硫化氢的影响。通过考察不同湿度下硫化氢的FAIMS特征谱图以及特征离子峰,研究了掺杂水分对于硫化氢谱峰峰值、补偿电压以及检测分辨率的影响。结果表明,FAIMS对于硫化氢的检测谱图清晰可见,能够准确定位其特征离子峰。随着气体中水分增多,不同分离电场下的产物离子峰峰值增大,说明湿度增大在一定程度上提高了灵敏度,DF=35%时的检出限为1.43×10~(-3) mg/m~3。