Unsymmetrically substituted benzimidazolium based Silver(I)-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes: Synthesis,characterization and in vitro anticancer study against human breast cancer and colon cancer

The promising biomedical applications of silver complexes stimulated the researchers to test these compounds against cancer. The present research work was designed to achieve this goal. In this work, a series of 5-methyl benzimidazole based N-Heterocyclic carbene ligands and respective silver(I) complexes were synthesized and tested on cancer cell lines to assess their anticancer activity. Unsymmetrically substituted benzimidazole was found unique in its reactivity and generation of a single product during NHC ligand formation was only possible after two successive alkylations with same alkyl halide. The corresponding Ag(I)-NHC adducts were obtained by in situ deprotonation of the NHC ligands. Synthesized compounds were characterized by various physcio-chemical and spectroscopic methods. Single crystal X-ray diffraction study of complex 7 revealed its mononuclear structure. Preliminary in vitro anticancer study of azolium salts and respective Ag(I)-NHC complexes against human breast cancer (MDA-MB-231), colon cancer (HCT-116) and normal endothelial cells (EA.hy926) cells revealed that all the compounds are more cytotoxic to cancer cells than normal cells and the complexes are relatively more potent compared to the corresponding NHC ligands. It was found that increased chain length and presence of methyl substituent on benzimidazole ring enhance the biopotency of Ag(I)-NHC complexes. The synthesized compounds were further studied for pro-apoptotic mechanism of action via Rhodamine 123 test. The tested compounds were found to induce apoptosis via extrinsic mitochondrial pathway.     

Fabrication of the First Disposable Three‐dimensional Paper‐based Concentration Cell as Ammonia Sensor with a New Method for Paper Hydrophobization by Laser Patterned Parafilm®

A new, simple and low‐cost method for patterning hydrophobic barriers in porous support such as paper by Parafilm® has been introduced. This method is then used for electrochemical paper‐based ammonia sensor construction. Ammonia sensor is based on electrochemical concentration cell which ammonia reaction with electrolyte in halves cell caused in concentration gradient and therefore potential difference dependent on ammonia concentration. The effect of concentrations of the involved chemicals, time periods of the required processes, the presence of Faraday cage as well as the effects of different salts used in the salt bridge on the response of the sensor, were investigated in order to find the optimized conditions.     

Microfluidic three-dimensional biomimetic tumor model for studying breast cancer cell migration and invasion in the presence of interstitial flow

Cell migration and invasion are critical steps in cancer metastasis, which are the major cause of death in cancer patients. Tumor-associated macrophages(TAMs) and interstitial flow(IF) are two important biochemical and biomechanical cues in tumor microenvironment, play essential roles in tumor progression. However, their combined effects on tumor cell migration and invasion as well as molecular mechanism remains largely unknown. In this work, we developed a microfluidic-based 3 D breast cancer model by co-culturing tumor aggregates, macrophages, monocytes and endothelial cells within 3 D extracellular matrix in the presence of IF to study tumor cell migration and invasion. On the established platform, we can precisely control the parameters related to tumor microenvironment and observe cellular responses and interactions in real-time. When co-culture of U937 with human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs) or MDA-MB-231 cells and tri-culture of U937 with HUVECs and MDA-MB-231 cells, we found that mesenchymal-like MDA-MB-231 aggregates activated the monocytes to TAM-like phenotype macrophages. MDA-MB-231 cells and IF simultaneously enhanced the macrophages activation by the stimulation of colony-stimulating factor 1(CSF-1). The activated macrophages and IF further promoted vascular sprouting via vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGFα) signal and tumor cell invasion. This is the first attempt to study the interaction between macrophages and breast cancer cells under IF condition. Taken together, our results provide a new insight to reveal the important physiological and pathological processes of macrophages-tumor communication. Moreover, our established platform with a more mimetic 3 D breast cancer model has the potential for drug screening with more accurate results.     

New strategy for reversal tolerant anode for automotive polymer electrolyte fuel cell

New approach for the reversal tolerant anode for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is suggested by using the multifunctional IrRu alloy catalyst having concurrent superior activities towards hydrogen oxidation reaction and oxygen evolution reaction to mitigate the degradation of anode under the fuel starvation condition.     

A highly sensitive and selective fluorescent probe for Fe3+ containing two rhodamine B and thiocarbonyl moieties and its application to live cell imaging

A novel turn-on rhodamine B-based fluorescent chemosensor (RBCS) was designed and synthesized by reacting N-(rhodamine B)lactam-1,2-ethylenediamine and carbon disulfide. Upon addition of Fe³⁺ in EtOH/H₂O solution (2:1, v/v, HEPES buffer, 0.6?mM, pH 7.20), the RBCS displayed a significant fluorescence enhancement at 582?nm and a dramatic color change from colorless to pink, which can be detected by the naked eye. Significantly, the RBCS exhibited a highly selective and sensitive ability toward Fe³⁺. The detection limit of the probe was 2.05?×?10^?7?M. Job's plot indicated the formation of 1:1 complex between the RBCS and Fe³⁺. Moreover, the practical use of the RBCS is demonstrated by its application in the detection of Fe³⁺ in HeLa cells.     

Effect of quality control on the proliferation of the extract from Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.‐Mazz. in Lactobacillus plantarum

In recent years, the fingerprint of high‐performance liquid chromatography has been extensively applied in the identification and quality control of traditional Chinese medicine. It can be a potential protocol for assessing the authenticity, stability and consistency of traditional Chinese medicine and guaranteeing the expected biological activity. In this paper, a method using high‐performance liquid chromatography to identify and control the quality of the extract of Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.‐Mazz. (TME) was established. With this method, the correlation coefficients of the similarity of 10 batches were ≥0.994. The TME displayed a steady proliferative effect in Lactobacillus plantarum. In brief, this study successfully built a reliable, simple and efficient method to control and confirm the quality and the stability of biological activity of the TME.     

Applications of magnetic materials separation in biological nanomedicine

As a result of their advantages for superparamagnetic properties, good biocompatibility, and high binding capacity, functionalized magnetic materials became widely popular over the past couple of decades, being applied on large scale in various processes of sample preparation for biomedicine. In this work, we perform an in‐depth review on the current progress in the field of magnetic bead separation, discussing in detail the physical basis of this process, various synthesis methods and surface modification strategies. We place special focus of attention as well on the latest applications of magnetic polymer microspheres in cell separation, protein purification, immobilized enzyme, nucleic acid separation, and extraction of bioactive compounds with low molecular weight. Existing problems are highlighted and possible trends of magnetic separation techniques for biomedicine in the future are proposed.     

1,3,4-(口恶)二唑硫醚酰胺为核心骨架的新型多杂环分子的合成及对Cdc25B与PTP1B的抑制活性

首先利用含有三嗪的芳香酰肼(3)构筑了1,3,4-噁二唑衍生物(5), 然后将化合物5与含有1,3,4-噻二唑的衍生物(6)拼合合成了18个目标分子. 利用红外光谱(IR)、 核磁共振波谱(NMR)和高分辨质谱(HRMS)等技术对其结构进行了表征. 考察了目标分子对细胞分裂周期25磷酸酯酶B(Cdc25B)和蛋白酪氨酸磷酸酯酶1B(PTP1B)的抑制活性. 结果表明, 有8个目标分子的抑制活性优于其阳性对照物, 有望成为潜在的Cdc25B抑制剂; 有12个目标分子的抑制活性优于其对照物, 有望成为潜在的PTP1B抑制剂.     

An Oscillation Condition for an Electrode－separated Piezoelectric Sensor in Non－electrolyte Liquid

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A cell electrofusion microfluidic chip using discrete coplanar vertical sidewall microelectrodes

A novel cell electrofusion microfluidic chip using discrete coplanar vertical sidewall electrodes has been designed, fabricated, and tested. The device contains a serpentine-shaped microchannel with 22 500 pairs of vertical sidewall microelectrodes patterned on two opposing vertical sidewalls of the microchannel. The adjacent microelectrodes on each sidewall are separated by coplanar SiO(2) -Polysilicon-SiO(2) /silicon. This design of coplanar discrete vertical sidewall electrodes eliminates the "dead area" present in previous designs using continuous three-dimensional (3D) protruding sidewall electrodes, and generates uniform electric field along the height of the microchannel, leading to a lower voltage required for cell fusion compared to designs using 2D thin-film electrodes. This device is tested to fuse NIH3T3 cells under a low voltage (～9 V). Almost 100% cells are aligned to the edge of the discrete microelectrodes, and cell-cell pairing efficiency reaches 70%. The electrofusion efficiency is above 40% of the total cells loaded into the device, which is much higher than traditional fusion methods and existing microfluidic devices using continuous 3D protruding sidewall microelectrodes.