Therapeutic Potential of Highly Selective A3 Adenosine Receptor Ligands in the Central and Peripheral Nervous System

Ligands of the G_i protein-coupled adenosine A₃ receptor (A₃R) are receiving increasing interest as attractive therapeutic tools for the treatment of a number of pathological conditions of the central and peripheral nervous systems (CNS and PNS, respectively). Their safe pharmacological profiles emerging from clinical trials on different pathologies (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and fatty liver diseases) confer a realistic translational potential to these compounds, thus encouraging the investigation of highly selective agonists and antagonists of A₃R. The present review summarizes information on the effect of latest-generation A₃R ligands, not yet available in commerce, obtained by using different in vitro and in vivo models of various PNS- or CNS-related disorders. This review places particular focus on brain ischemia insults and colitis, where the prototypical A₃R agonist, Cl-IB-MECA, and antagonist, MRS1523, have been used in research studies as reference compounds to explore the effects of latest-generation ligands on this receptor. The advantages and weaknesses of these compounds in terms of therapeutic potential are discussed.     

The effect of substrate concentration on biohydrogen production by using kinetic models

The effect of substrate concentration ranging from 0 to 300 g/L on fermentative hydrogen production by mixed cultures was investigated in batch tests using glucose as substrate. The experimental results showed that, at 35℃ and initial pH 7.0, during the fermentative hydrogen production, the hydrogen production potential and hydrogen production rate increased with increasing substrate concentration from 0 to 25 g/L. The maximal hydrogen production potential of 426.8 mL and maximal hydrogen pro-duction rate of 15.1 mL/h were obtained at the substrate concentration of 25 g/L. The maximal hydrogen yield and the maximal substrate degradation efficiency were respectively 384.3 mL/g glucose and 97.6%, at the substrate concentration of 2 g/L. The modified Logistic model could be used to describe the progress of cumulative hydrogen production in this study successfully. The Han-Levenspiel model could be used to describe the effect of substrate concentration on fermentative hydrogen production rate.     

A new nanobiosensor for glucose with high sensitivity and selectivity in serum based on fluorescence resonance Energy transfer (FRET) between CdTe quantum dots and Au nanoparticles

A novel assembled nanobiosensor QDs-ConA-beta-CDs-AuNPs was designed for the direct determination of glucose in serum with high sensitivity and selectivity. The sensing approach is based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between CdTe quantum dots (QDs) as an energy donor and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as an energy acceptor. The specific combination of concanavalin A (ConA)-conjugated QDs and thiolated beta-cyclodextrins (beta-SH-CDs)-modified AuNPs assembles a hyperefficient FRET nanobiosensor. In the presence of glucose, the AuNPs-beta-CDs segment of the nanobiosensor is displaced by glucose which competes with beta-CDs on the binding sites of ConA, resulting in the fluorescence recovery of the quenched QDs. Experimental results show that the increase in fluorescence intensity is proportional to the concentration of glucose within the range of 0.10-50 muM under the optimized experimental conditions. In addition, the nanobiosensor has high sensitivity with a detection limit as low as 50 nM, and has excellent selectivity for glucose over other sugars and most biological species present in serum. The nanobiosensor was applied directly to determine glucose in normal adult human serum, and the recovery and precision of the method were satisfactory. The unique combination of high sensitivity and good selectivity of this biosensor indicates its potential for the clinical determination of glucose directly and simply in serum, and provides the possibility to detect low levels of glucose in single cells or bacterial cultures. Moreover, the designed nanobiosensor achieves direct detection in biological samples, suggesting the use of nanobiotechnology-based assembled sensors for direct analytical applications in vivo or in vitro.     

硅溶胶-凝胶包埋纳米金和酶的葡萄糖生物传感器

采用溶胶-凝胶技术将金纳米粒子和葡萄糖氧化酶一次性固定于硅溶胶-凝胶的网络结构中,制备了葡萄糖生物电化学传感器并优化了传感器的制备条件。酶电极对葡萄糖具有良好的电化学响应,葡萄糖浓度在0.02~2.0 mmol/L范围内和催化电流呈线性关系,检出限为0.005 mmol/L。酶电极在4 ℃下贮存100 d后对葡萄糖的响应仅下降8%。该酶电极灵敏度高、响应快、稳定性好。     

血糖近红外光谱分析的Savitzky-Golay平滑模式与偏最小二乘法因子数的联合优选

利用偏最小二乘法(PLS)和光谱Savitzky-Golay(SG)平滑方法,建立血清葡萄糖近红外光谱分析的优化模型。基于最优单波数模型的预测效果,提出划分校正集和验证集的一种新方法。采用10000～5300cm-1和4920～4160cm-1的组合波段,光谱经过SG平滑处理,利用PLS方法建立定标预测模型。将平滑点数扩充为5,7,…,87(奇数),多项式次数扩充为n=2,3,4,5,6,得到包含582个平滑模式的14个平滑系数表。对所有平滑模式和PLS因子数(1～40)分别建立PLS模型。按照预测效果进行优选,得到最优SG平滑模式为1阶导数平滑,3、4次多项式类型,SG平滑点数为53,最优PLS因子数为7,最优RMSEP达到0.376mmol/L。所采用的划分校正集和验证集的方法、SG平滑模式的扩充、SG平滑模式和PLS因子数的联合大范围筛选能够有效地应用于近红外光谱分析的模型优化。     

An Antibacterial Nonenzymatic Glucose Sensor Composed of Carbon Nanotubes Decorated with Silver Nanoparticles

A glucose sensor composed of silver nanoparticles decorated carbon nanotubes (Ag‐NPs/CNTs) prepared by ion implantation is described. Ag‐NPs with size of 2–4 nm are uniformly distributed in the CNTs after ion implantation. This process provides a strong combination between Ag‐NPs and CNTs and can effectively prevent the Ag‐NPs from aggregation. A linear range of 125 µM to 10 mM towards glucose determination was obtained. The Ag‐NPs/CNTs electrode shows minimal interferences from co‐existence species such as uric acid and ascorbic acid and an antibacterial rate of 94 % towards E. coli.     

Cellulase retention and sugar removal by membrane ultrafiltration during lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysis

Technologies suitable for the separation and reuse of cellulase enzymes during the enzymatic saccharification of pretreated corn stover are investigated to examine the economic and technical viability of processes that promote cellulase reuse while removing inhibitory reaction products such as glucose and cellobiose. The simplest and most suitable separation is a filter with relatively large pores on the order of 20–25 mm that retains residual corn stover solids while passing reaction products such as glucose and cellobiose to form a sugar stream for a variety of end uses. Such a simple separation is effective because cellulase remains bound to the residual solids. Ultrafiltration using 50-kDa polyethersulfone membranes to recover cellulase enzymes in solution was shown not to enhance further the saccharification rate or overall conversion. Instead, it appears that the necessary cellulase enzymes, including β-glucosidase, are tightly bound to the substrate; when fresh corn stover is contacted with highly washed residual solids, without the addition of fresh enzymes, glucose is generated at a high rate. When filtration was applied multiple times, the concentration of inhibitory reaction products such as glucose and cellobiose was reduced from 70 to 10 g/L. However, an enhanced saccharification performance was not observed, most likely because the concentration of the inhibitory products remained too high. Further reduction in the product concentration was not investigated, because it would make the reaction unnecessarily complex and result in a product stream that is much too dilute to be useful. Finally, an economic analysis shows that reuse of cellulase can reduce glucose production costs, especially when the enzyme price is high. The most economic performance is shown to occur when the cellulase enzyme is reused and a small amount of fresh enzyme is added after each separation step to replace lost or deactivated enzyme.     

葡萄糖对溶胶凝胶法制备Li1.2Ni0.13Co0.13Mn0.54O2正极材料性能的影响

利用XRD、SEM、EDS、BET、激光粒度、循环伏安、恒流充放电、交流阻抗方法研究了葡萄糖为碳源对溶胶凝胶法制备Li_1.2Ni_0.13Co_0.13Mn_0.54O₂正极材料的结构、形貌以及电化学性能的影响。结果表明:与前驱体中未加入葡萄糖所制备的材料相比,掺葡萄糖后样品颗粒分布相对均匀,粒径变小,D₅₀从11.56减小至9.94μm,比表面积增加近1倍。经0.05C充放电活化后,未掺葡萄糖和掺葡萄糖样品0.2C放电比容量分别为183.4、211.6mAh·g^-1,2C容量分别为其0.2C的62.2%、77.6%。1C循环50次后放电比容量分别为133.3、173.6mAh·g^-1,容量保持率分别为95.1%、100%。掺葡萄糖可降低首次不可逆容量损失,提高材料的倍率性能与循环稳定性,减少电荷传递阻抗、Warburg阻抗以及双电层弥散效应,但不改变材料的晶型结构。     

Improved thromboresistance and analytical performance of intravascular amperometric glucose sensors using optimized nitric oxide release coatings

In this work, nitric oxide (NO) release coatings designed for intravenous amperometric glucose sensors are optimized through the use of a polylactic acid (PLA) layer doped with a lipophilic diazeniumdiolated species that releases NO through a proton-driven mechanism. An Elast-Eon E2As polyurethane coating is used to both moderate NO release from the sensor surface and increase the sensor''s linear detection range toward glucose. These sensors were evaluated for thromboresistance and in vivo glucose performance through implantation in rabbit veins. By maintaining NO flux on a similar scale to endogenous endothelial cells, implanted glucose sensors exhibited reduced surface clot formation which enables more accurate quantitative glucose measurements continuously. An in vivo time trace of implanted venous sensors demonstrated glucose values that correlated well with the discrete measurements of blood samples on a benchtop point-of-care sensor-based instrument. The raw measured currents from the implanted glucose sensors over 7 h time periods were converted to glucose concentration through use of both a one-point in vivo calibration and a calibration curve obtained in vitro within a bovine serum solution. Control sensors, assembled without NO release functionality, exhibit distinctive surface clotting over the 7 h in vivo implantation period.     

Beyond labels: A review of the application of quantum dots as integrated components of assays, bioprobes, and biosensors utilizing optical transduction

A comprehensive review of the development of assays, bioprobes, and biosensors using quantum dots (QDs) as integrated components is presented. In contrast to a QD that is selectively introduced as a label, an integrated QD is one that is present in a system throughout a bioanalysis, and simultaneously has a role in transduction and as a scaffold for biorecognition. Through a diverse array of coatings and bioconjugation strategies, it is possible to use QDs as a scaffold for biorecognition events. The modulation of QD luminescence provides the opportunity for the transduction of these events via fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET), charge transfer quenching, and electrochemiluminescence (ECL). An overview of the basic concepts and principles underlying the use of QDs with each of these transduction methods is provided, along with many examples of their application in biological sensing. The latter include: the detection of small molecules using enzyme-linked methods, or using aptamers as affinity probes; the detection of proteins via immunoassays or aptamers; nucleic acid hybridization assays; and assays for protease or nuclease activity. Strategies for multiplexed detection are highlighted among these examples. Although the majority of developments to date have been in vitro, QD-based methods for ex vivo biological sensing are emerging. Some special attention is given to the development of solid-phase assays, which offer certain advantages over their solution-phase counterparts.