Theragnostic Applications of Mammal and Plant-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: Latest Findings,Current Technologies,and Prospects

The way cells communicate is not fully understood. However, it is well-known that extracellular vesicles (EVs) are involved. Researchers initially thought that EVs were used by cells to remove cellular waste. It is now clear that EVs function as signaling molecules released by cells to communicate with one another, carrying a cargo representing the mother cell. Furthermore, these EVs can be found in all biological fluids, making them the perfect non-invasive diagnostic tool, as their cargo causes functional changes in the cells upon receiving, unlike synthetic drug carriers. EVs last longer in circulation and instigate minor immune responses, making them the perfect drug carrier. This review sheds light on the latest development in EVs isolation, characterization and, application as therapeutic cargo, novel drug loading techniques, and diagnostic tools. We also address the advancement in plant-derived EVs, their characteristics, and applications; since plant-derived EVs only recently gained focus, we listed the latest findings. Although there is much more to learn about, EV is a wide field of research; what scientists have discovered so far is fascinating. This paper is suitable for those new to the field seeking to understand EVs and those already familiar with it but wanting to review the latest findings.     

甲醛自由基及其离子的稳定性

用密度泛函理论B3LYP方法和6-311＋＋G＊＊基函数计算研究甲醛自由基及其离子基态与低激发态的结构与稳定性.结果表明,甲醛自由基双重态和四重态的线性结构不稳定,稳定存在角形CS结构,基态为HCO角形结构,电子态为2A′甲醛自由基离子基态为HCO＋线性结构,电子态为1Σ.     

具有Beddington-Deangelis类功能反应的时滞食物链系统全局吸引性研究

研究了具有Beddington-Deangelis类功能反应的时滞食物链捕食者-食饵系统模型,得到了与时滞有关的系统永久持续生存的充分条件,同时通过构造Lyapunov函数得到了与时滞有关的系统全局渐近稳定的充分条件,是对文献结果的进一步推广和改进.     

Coffee Chlorogenic Acids Incorporation for Bioactivity Enhancement of Foods: A Review

The demand of foods with high antioxidant capacity have increased and research on these foods continues to grow. This review is focused on chlorogenic acids (CGAs) from green coffee, which is the most abundant source. The main CGA in coffee is 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA). Coffee extracts are currently the most widely used source to enhance the antioxidant activity of foods. Due to the solubility of CGAs, their extraction is mainly performed with organic solvents. CGAs have been associated with health benefits, such as antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activity, and others that reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. However, the biological activities depend on the stability of CGAs, which are sensitive to pH, temperature, and light. The anti-inflammatory activity of 5-CQA is attributed to reducing the proinflammatory activity of cytokines. 5-CQA can negatively affect colon microbiota. An increase in anthocyanins and antioxidant activity was observed when CGAs extracts were added to different food matrices such as dairy products, coffee drinks, chocolate, and bakery products. The fortification of foods with coffee CGAs has the potential to improve the functionality of foods.     

Surface Modification Strategy for Enhanced NO2 Capture in Metal–Organic Frameworks

The interaction strength of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) with a set of 43 functionalized benzene molecules was investigated by performing density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The functional groups under study were strategically selected as potential modifications of the organic linker of existing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) in order to enhance their uptake of NO₂ molecules. Among the functional groups considered, the highest interaction energy with NO₂ (5.4 kcal/mol) was found for phenyl hydrogen sulfate (-OSO₃H) at the RI-DSD-BLYP/def2-TZVPP level of theory—an interaction almost three times larger than the corresponding binding energy for non-functionalized benzene (2.0 kcal/mol). The groups with the strongest NO₂ interactions (-OSO₃H, -PO₃H₂, -OPO₃H₂) were selected for functionalizing the linker of IRMOF-8 and investigating the trend in their NO₂ uptake capacities with grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations at ambient temperature for a wide pressure range. The predicted isotherms show a profound enhancement of the NO₂ uptake with the introduction of the strongly-binding functional groups in the framework, rendering them promising modification candidates for improving the NO₂ uptake performance not only in MOFs but also in various other porous materials.     

Orbital-Free Density Functional Theory for Molecular Structure Calculations

We give here an overview of the orbital-free density functional theory that is used for modeling atoms and molecules.We review typical approximations to the kinetic energy,exchange-correlation corrections to the kinetic and Hartree energies, and constructions of the pseudopotentials.We discuss numerical discretizations for the orbital-free methods and include several numerical results for illustrations.     

Computational Insight into Biotransformation Profiles of Organophosphorus Flame Retardants to Their Diester Metabolites by Cytochrome P450

Biotransformation of organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) mediated by cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) has a potential correlation with their toxicological effects on humans. In this work, we employed five typical OPFRs including tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP), tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCIPP), tri(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), triethyl phosphate (TEP), and 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPHP), and performed density functional theory (DFT) calculations to clarify the CYP-catalyzed biotransformation of five OPFRs to their diester metabolites. The DFT results show that the reaction mechanism consists of Cα-hydroxylation and O-dealkylation steps, and the biotransformation activities of five OPFRs may follow the order of TCEP ≈ TEP ≈ EHDPHP > TCIPP > TDCIPP. We further performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to unravel the binding interactions of five OPFRs in the CYP3A4 isoform. Binding mode analyses demonstrate that CYP3A4-mediated metabolism of TDCIPP, TCIPP, TCEP, and TEP can produce the diester metabolites, while EHDPHP metabolism may generate para-hydroxyEHDPHP as the primary metabolite. Moreover, the EHDPHP and TDCIPP have higher binding potential to CYP3A4 than TCIPP, TCEP, and TEP. This work reports the biotransformation profiles and binding features of five OPFRs in CYP, which can provide meaningful clues for the further studies of the metabolic fates of OPFRs and toxicological effects associated with the relevant metabolites.     

Effects of Organic Acids on the Release of Fruity Esters in Water: An Insight at the Molecular Level

It is well known that organic acids (OAs) could affect the flavour of fruit juices and beverages. However, the molecular mechanism of aroma release is still unclear. In this study, the effects of citric acid (CA), L-(-)-malic acid (MA) and L-lactic acid (LA) on the release of six selected esters and their sensory perception were investigated by means of HS-GC-MS analyses and odour detection threshold determination, respectively. Meanwhile, the density functional theory (DFT) calculation was employed to explore the interaction modes between esters and OAs. HS-GC-MS analyses showed that the concentration and the type of OAs regulated the release of esters. The results were basically consistent with the detection threshold change of those esters. The DFT calculation suggested that the main intermolecular interaction was hydrogen bonds, and several esters could form a ternary ring structure with OAs through hydrogen bonds. The interactions can induce the different release behaviours of esters in OAs water solution. The number of carboxyl functional groups in OAs and the spatial conformation of esters appeared to influence the magnitude of the interaction. The above results demonstrated the mechanism of OAs affecting the release of esters and indicated a possible flavour control way by using different OAs and OA concentrations.     

致病杆菌功能基因的分子生物学研究进展

致病杆菌是与斯氏线虫共生的肠杆菌科细菌,存在于昆虫病原线虫肠道内,可随线虫的侵染进入寄主昆虫血腔,迅速繁殖并产生多种代谢产物,抑制其他杂菌的污染,保护线虫繁殖的环境。多年研究发现,该菌的代谢产物具有广泛的杀虫、抑菌、抗癌等生物活性。本文介绍了致病杆菌外膜蛋白基因、菌毛蛋白基因、共生作用相关基因、溶血素相关基因、杀虫毒素蛋白基因、抗生素相关基因以及专利申请基因的研究进展。     

新鲜多孔硅(001)表面结构与电子特性理论研究

在周期边界条件下的k空间中,采用基于密度泛函理论的广义梯度近似(GGA)平面波超软赝势法,建立H12S i31几何模型来对表面主要被H覆盖的新鲜多孔硅(Porous S ilicon,PS)(001)表面最外层的S i—H键的几何结构和电子特性进行初步的理论研究.计算得到氢化PS(001)表面几何结构S i—H键长为0.148 nm、H—S i—H键角为106°,并通过原子布居数、电子密度图分析得到氢化PS表面原子的电子特性.