Circularly Polarized Luminescence of Achiral Metal-Organic Colloids and Guest Molecules in a Vortex Field.

Recently, scientists have reported a range of chiral fluorescence materials or chiral composites that can emit circularly polarized luminescence. Herein, two achiral metal-organic colloidal solutions were studied, showing active circularly polarized luminescence, which is observed in vortex stirring. The absolute values for glum are 0.05 and 0.03 and the plus or minus sign of glum depends on the colloidal structure and stirring direction, which make the property easy to manipulate. Further, the host-guest interaction study suggests both electrostatic interactions and coordination bonding may influence the chiroptical property from the colloidal solution to the guest molecule. Rhodamine 6G and its carboxylic acid derivative exhibit good quantum yields and acceptable glum values in the colloidal solution.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of the Matrine Derivatives as a Novel Family of Potential Anticancer Agents.

BACKGROUND: FufangKushen injection' was a Chinese Traditional anticancer drug, which has been widely used to treat cancer in combination with other anticancer drugs. OBJECTIVE: Our goal is to synthesize a series of novel 13-dithiocarbamates matrine derivatives using matrine (1) as the lead compound, and evaluate the biological activities of the obtained compounds. METHODS: The in vitro cytotoxicity of the target compounds against three human cancer cell lines (Hep3B, LM3 and BeL-7404) was evaluated. To investigate the mechanism of biological activity, cell cycle analysis was performed. RESULTS: The results revealed that compounds 6o and 6v displayed the most significant anticancer activity against three cancer cell lines with IC50 values in the range of 3.42-8.05 µM, which showed better activity than the parent compound (Matrine). SAR analysis indicated that the introduction of a substituted amino dithiocarbamate might significantly enhance the antiproliferative activity. CONCLUSION: During the newly synthesized compounds, matrine analog 6v exhibited a potent effect against three human tumor cell lines. The mode of action of 6v was to inhibit the G0/G1 phase arrest. Therefore, compound 6v has been selected as a novel-scaffold lead to further structural optimizations or as a chemical probe for exploring anticancer pathways of this kind of compounds.

Percutaneous valved stent implantation in the ascending aorta for the treatment of very high-risk aortic regurgitation: an animal study.

PURPOSE: We investigated the effects of percutaneous valved stent implantation in the ascending aorta as an alternative treatment for aortic regurgitation in a canine model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 16 healthy dogs weighing an average of 18.3 ± 2.1 kg were used for the establishment of animal models of chronic aortic regurgitation by percutaneous aortic valve perforation and balloon dilation. At 2 mo after successful model establishment, all experimental animals underwent valved stent implantation in the ascending aorta and then were followed up for 3 mo. RESULTS: Experimental models of chronic aortic regurgitation were successfully established in 10 dogs. Surviving dogs underwent successful valved stent implantation in the ascending aorta and were subsequently followed up for 3 mo. The level of instantaneous aortic regurgitation at 3-mo follow-up was significantly reduced compared with that before valved stent implantation (2.4 ± 0.9 versus 10.6 ± 2.1 mL/s, P < 0.05). The left ventricular ejection fraction was significantly increased (53.8 ± 4.2% versus 37.8 ± 3.7%, P < 0.05), and the left ventricular end-diastolic volume was also significantly reduced (30.3 ± 2.2 versus 40.1 ± 3.6 mL, P < 0.05). No paravalvular leak, stroke, atrioventricular block, or other complications occurred in dogs undergoing valved stent implantation. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous valved stent implantation in the ascending aorta is feasible, effective, and safe as an alternative treatment for very high-risk aortic regurgitation in a canine model.

Cloning and characterization of a novel, human cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein CRALBP-like (CRALBPL) gene.

Cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein (CRALBP) plays a role in the vertebrate visual process as a substrate-routing protein. It belongs to a widespread lipid-binding SEC14-like protein family. All the members of the family have the lipid-binding domain called CRAL-TRIO. Here we have isolated a new human CRAL-TRIO domain containing a CRALBP-like (CRALBPL) gene from the cDNA library of human adult brain. The CRALBPL gene consisted of 1,694 bp and had an ORF encoding putatively 354 amino acids with a CRAL-TRIO domain from 118 to 279 aa. The expression pattern in 18 human tissues indicated that CRALBPL gene was mainly expressed in brain. The alignment of CRAL-TRIO domain showed that CRALBPL had 45% identity with human CRALBP. Subcellular location revealed that CRALBPL protein was located in the cytoplasm of HeLa cells. Western blotting indicated that the CRALBPL had a molecular weight of about 40 kDa.

Cloning and characterization a novel human 1-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase gene AGPAT7.

The 1-Acylglycerolphosphate acyltransferase is crucial enzyme for synthesis of glycerolipids as well as triacylglylcerol biosynthesis in eukaryotes. Six members of 1-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase family in human have been described, which were AGPAT1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Here we report the cloning and characterization of another novel human 1-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase member AGPAT7 (1-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 7) gene, which was mapped to human chromosome 15q14. The AGPAT7 cDNA is 1898 bp in length, encoding a putative protein with 524 amino acid residues, which contains an acyltransferase domain in 123-234 aa. RT PCR amplification in 18 human tissues indicated that human AGPAT7 gene was widely expressed in uterus, thymus, pancreas, skeletal muscle, bladder, stomach, lung and testis. AGPAT7 protein was mainly localized to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in Hela cells.

Human THROMBOSPONDIN-1 gene contains a natural antisense transcript, and characterization of its expression in human multiple tissues and cells.

Human THROMBOSPONDIN-1 play versatile roles in platelet aggregation, angiogenesis, and tumorigenesis, which forms a disulfide-linked homotrimeric complex. Here we reported that the genomic lotus of TSP1 also transcribes a natural antisense transcript (NAT) with an overlapping and reverse complement region against TSP1. The NAT of TSP1 was expressed in human testis, lung, thymus, colon, placenta, kidney and skeleton muscle, revealed by PCR amplification. It was also expressed in some tumor cell lines. The identification of NAT of TSP1 would be of significant importance to understand the functions of TSP1, and it would also suggest the potential attempt of using RNA interference for related tumor therapy, for instance, breast cancer.