New antiproliferative 14,15-secopregnane glycosides from Solenostemma argel

Eight new 14,15-secopregnane glycosides, namely argelosides C-J, possessing two ketal functions involved in three five-membered rings, have been isolated from the hairy seeds of Solenostemma argel. Their structures have been established by MS and NMR experiments, combined with quantum mechanical calculations of the ¹³C chemical shifts for the interpretation of the experimental data. On the basis of the obtained results, the structures of argelosides A and B have been revised. Additionally, the effect of these compounds on the VEGF-induced in Kaposi's sarcoma cell proliferation was evaluated. Results indicated that all the compounds reduced the cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner.     

Evidence for shape-dependent deposition in crossflow microfiltration of microbial cells

Measurements of the mean cell volume and mean cell aspect ratio are reported for suspensions of the polymorphic yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus var. marxianus NRRLy2415 and for cakes of the same microorganism recovered after crossflow microfiltration with a tubular ceramic membrane at fixed trans-membrane pressure and crossflow velocity. The mean cell volume and the mean cell aspect ratio in the cake were determined using image analysis. The mean cell volume was found to be consistently smaller in the cake than in the suspension while tentative evidence was found that the mean cell aspect ratio was also smaller in the cake. Enhanced deposition of less elongated cells is likely to be a consequence of preferential deposition of small cells because, for the microorganism used in this study, the mean cell aspect ratio in a suspension increases with increasing mean cell volume. Close analysis of the data reveals that the mean cell aspect ratio is greater in the cake than would be expected based on the mean cell volume in the suspension, suggesting that the deposition of more elongated cells is favoured over less elongated cells of the same volume.     

Simple Method in Diagnosing Cancer Cells by a Novel Fluorescence Probe BMVC

Different cellular accumulations with distinct fluorescence properties of BMVC in cancer cells from normal cells allow us to establish a simple and economic method for the diagnosis of cancer cells. With using a light emitting diode to excite the BMVC molecule, microarray fluorescence analysis of a cell‐based glass chip provides an easy method towards the detection of a limited number of cancer cells.     

现代细胞分析中的仪器分析方法

本文介绍了显微吸收（荧光）光度术、流式细胞术、图象分析技术和激光扫描共焦显微术等仪器分析方法的原理,并对其在细胞分析中的应用进行了评述。     

A flow-through microfluidic chip for continuous dielectrophoretic separation of viable and non-viable human T-cells

Effective methods for rapid sorting of cells according to their viability are critical in T cells based therapies to prevent any risk to patients. In this context, we present a novel microfluidic device that continuously separates viable and non-viable T-cells according to their dielectric properties. A dielectrophoresis (DEP) force is generated by an array of castellated microelectrodes embedded into a microfluidic channel with a single inlet and two outlets; cells subjected to positive DEP forces are drawn toward the electrodes array and leave from the top outlet, those subjected to negative DEP forces are repelled away from the electrodes and leave from the bottom outlet. Computational fluid dynamics is used to predict the device separation efficacy, according to the applied alternative current (AC) frequency, at which the cells move from/to a negative/positive DEP region and the ionic strength of the suspension medium. The model is used to support the design of the operational conditions, confirming a separation efficiency, in terms of purity, of 96% under an applied AC frequency of 1.5 × 10⁶ Hz and a flow rate of 20 μl/h. This work represents the first example of effective continuous sorting of viable and non-viable human T-cells in a single-inlet microfluidic chip, paving the way for lab-on-a-chip applications at the point of need.     

黏惰化及酸敏感修饰对纳米粒子黏膜穿透的影响

使用纳米粒子进行疾病的诊断和治疗是当前研究的一个热点. 由于受到黏液层的阻碍, 纳米粒子对于黏膜上皮细胞的进入效果不佳, 从而限制了其对黏膜相关疾病的诊断和治疗. 本文设计合成了一种具有黏惰性的酸敏感纳米粒子(MSNs-pCBMA-DMMA), 可有效穿透黏液层进入黏膜上皮细胞. 首先采用溶胶-凝胶法合成了表面氨基化的介孔二氧化硅纳米粒子(MSNs-NH₂), 然后通过原子转移自由基聚合法(ATRP)使两性离子羧基甜菜碱甲基丙烯酸酯(CBMA)在MSNs-NH₂表面上聚合形成聚羧基甜菜碱甲基丙烯酸酯(pCBMA), 获得惰性化的粒子(MSNs-pCBMA), 最后将酸响应性分子2,3-二甲基马来酸酐(DMMA)修饰于MSNs-pCBMA表面, 制备了MSNs-pCBMA-DMMA. 场发射透射电子显微镜(TEM)、 傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)、 氢核磁共振波谱(¹H NMR)和纳米粒度Zeta电位测定仪等分析结果表明, 本文合成了MSNs-pCBMA-DMMA, 且粒子表面电位随pH值降低显著增加, 在pH=7.4~5.7范围内具有酸敏感能力. Transwell^?小室实验表明, pCBMA的接枝提高了粒子在模拟黏液中的渗透速率, 而DMMA的修饰则进一步增强了粒子的扩散能力, 4 h内MSNs-pCBMA-DMMA的模拟黏液渗透率达到16.3%, 为MSNs-pCBMA的1.9倍, MSNs-NH₂的3倍, 而以MSNs-NH₂的表观渗透系数（P_app）为标准计算得到的MSNs-pCBMA-DMMA的相对表观渗透系数达到了2.96. 细胞毒性试验验证MSNs-pCBMA-DMMA粒子的生物安全性良好. 细胞摄取试验表明, 相比于其它粒子MSNs-pCBMA-DMMA能够更快的被黏膜上皮细胞摄取. 本文所构建的纳米粒子能够快速渗透黏液且易于被黏膜上皮细胞摄取, 为其应用于黏膜相关疾病的活体诊断和治疗提供了基础.     

Design,synthesis and docking studies of new hydrazinyl-thiazole derivatives as anticancer and antimicrobial agents

Increase in the number of infections caused by pathogenic microbes in cancer patients has prompted the searcher to invest in the development of agents having dual anticancer and antimicrobial properties. The present study is concerned with synthesis and screening for anticancer and antimicrobial activity of a series of 5-hydrazinyl-2-(2-(1-(thien-2-yl)ethylidene)hydrazinyl)thiazole derivatives. The structure elucidation of the synthesized hydrazinyl thiazole derivatives was illustrated by spectroscopic and elemental analysis. All the newly synthesized compounds 5a-p were evaluated for in-vitro cytotoxic activity against breast carcinoma (MCF-7 cell line), hepatocellular carcinoma (HePG-2) and colorectal cancer (HCT-116) cell lines using MTT assay method. Compounds 5 g, 5h showed broad spectrum activity against three cancer cell lines with IC₅₀ ranged from 3.81 to 11.34 µM in compared to the reference drug Roscovitine (IC₅₀ = 9.32 to 13.82 µM), while compounds 5 l and 5 m were found to be more selective against HePG-2 and HCT-116 cell line (IC₅₀ = 9.29 and 8.93 µM respectively) and compound 5j was more selective against HePG-2 and MCF-7 cell lines (IC₅₀ = 6.73 and 10.87 µM respectively). The inhibitory activity of the most promising compounds was tested against the EGFR and ARO enzymes and were further tested for apoptosis and Annexin V/PI staining. The results of enzyme-based tests revealed that the tested compound 5j has a dual inhibitory effect on the EGFR and ARO enzymes with IC₅₀ = 82.8 and 98.6 nM respectively in compared to the reference drugs Erlotinib and Letrozole (IC₅₀ = 62.4 and 79 nM respectively). Furthermore, the majority of the tested hydrazinyl thiazole derivatives exhibited significant antimicrobial activity against the used pathogenic microbes species. Compounds 4b, 5h, 5j and 5 m exerted a good antibacterial and antifungal activity against all tested pathogenic microbes. Therefore, it was concluded that compounds 5 h, 5j and 5 m proved to possess dual anticancer and antimicrobial agent and may serves as a useful lead compounds in search for further modification or derivatization to give more potent and selective agents.     

Brassinin inhibits proliferation and induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in nasopharyngeal cancer C666-1 cells

BackgroundNasopharyngeal cancer is a tumor that occurs in the mucous epithelium of the nasopharynx. Due to its rapid growth and early metastatic nature, the successful treatment of nasopharyngeal cancer is highly challenging.ObjectiveHere, we intended to assess the in vitro anticancer property of brassinin against the nasopharyngeal cancer C666-1 cells.MethodologyThe in vitro free radical scavenging property of the brassinin was assessed by various free radical scavenging activities such as FRAP, DPPH, chemiluminescence (CL), and ORAC assays. The cytotoxic level of the brassinin (1–50 µM) against the nasopharyngeal cancer C666-1 cells and normal Vero cells were assessed by the MTT cytotoxicity assay. The levels of TBARS, GSH, and the SOD activity was assessed using kits. The level of ROS generation, MMP, and apoptosis were investigated by the respective fluorescent staining techniques. The flow cytometry analysis was done to scrutinize the cell cycle arrest. The Bax/Bcl-2 level and caspase activities were examined using respective kits.ResultsThe brassinin treatment effectively scavenged the free radicals, which are assessed by the FRAP, DPPH, chemiluminescence (CL), and ORAC assays. The proliferation of brassinin treated C666-1 cells were decreased remarkably, while the same concentration of brassinin did not disturbed the Vero cell viability. The 30 µM of brassinin effectively increased the ROS production, depleted the MMP, and stimulated the apoptosis in the C666-1 cells. The brassinin increased the TBARS and depleted the GSH and SOD in the C666-1 cells. The flow cytometry analysis revealed that the brassinin administration improved the G0/G1 ratio and decreased the proportion of cells with ‘S’ and ‘G2/M’ phase. The Bax, caspase-3 and ?9 were elevated and Bcl-2 level was decreased in the brassinin administered C666-1 cells.ConclusionOur findings discovered that the brassinin has the capacity to prevent the proliferation and stimulate the apoptotic cell death C666‐1 cells via blocking cell cycle and increasing oxidative stress and apoptotic markers. Hence, it can be a talented therapeutic agent to treat the nasopharyngeal cancer in the future.     

Screening anaphylactic components of MaiLuoNing injection by using rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cell membrane chromatography coupled with HPLC–ESI‐TOF‐MS

MaiLuoNing injection is a traditional Chinese medicine that used clinically since the 1950s in China. However, anaphylactic reactions, through the potentiation of mast cell degranulation, have been reported. In the present study, a rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cell membrane chromatography coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization‐ion trap‐time of flight‐mass spectrometry method was established for screening, analyzing, and identifying the potential anaphylactic components of MaiLuoNing injection. Harpagoside, a potential degranulator of rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cells, was retained in rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cell membrane chromatography. We aimed to evaluate the retained components to determine which of those were capable of inducing degranulation of basophilic leukemia cells. A β‐hexosaminidase assay revealed that harpagoside can induce rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cell degranulation in a dose‐dependent manner. BLBA/c mice also exhibit passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in response to harpagoside. These results indicate that rat basophilic leukemia‐2H3 cell membrane chromatography coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization ion trap time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry is effective in screening for the anaphylactic components of MaiLuoNing injection.     

Use of grapevine cell cultures for the production of phytostilbenes of cosmetic interest

Plant cell cultures constitute pesticide-free sources for obtaining plant secondary metabolites or plant extracts. Additionally, they do not contain any fungal contaminants, mycotoxins or heavy metals providing to the consumer potential health benefits and justifying the development of this technology at an industrial scale. Significant production levels of these secondary metabolites can be obtained through the use of elicitors, which activate plant defense mechanisms. Resveratrol, a well-known grapevine polyphenolic compound which possesses potent antioxidant and antiaging activities as well as a protective action on skin, is a good example of such plant secondary metabolites. Resveratrol and its oligomeric derivatives are used by several companies of cosmetic products but their extraction from vine stems and similar vegetal sources remains difficult. Therefore grapevine cell suspensions could represent interesting systems for the large-scale bioproduction of those compounds. Here we present an update of the methods used for the production of phytostilbenes by using grapevine cell cultures and the results obtained.