Rapid identification of chemical compositions in callicarpa kwangtungensis Chun by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with Q Exactive hybrid quadrupole orbitrap high-resolution accurate mass spectrometry.

Callicarpa kwangtungensis Chun is a traditional Chinese medicine that has various therapeutic effects. Despite its wide use in Chinese medicine, the study is still quite limited, especially its chemical compositions. In this research, an ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled with Q Exactive hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap high-resolution accurate mass spectrometry tandem mass spectrometry method was utilized to analyze its chemical compositions for the first time. As a result, a total of 124 compounds, including 20 phenylethanoid glycosides, 31 flavonoids, 36 organic acids, 26 terpenoids and 11 phenols, were identified or tentatively characterized in 30 min. Among them, 49 compounds, including 5 phenylethanoid glycosides, 12 flavonoids, 16 organic acids, 12 terpenoids, and 4 phenols, were identified in Callicarpa kwangtungensis Chun for the first time. Besides, the fragmentation pathways were also discussed. This research established a rapid and reliable method to analyze the chemical compositions of complicated herb without the process of isolation, and provide abundant information on the chemical material basis for further bioactivity and quality control studies.

Thermally Stable Hierarchical Nanostructures of Ultrathin MoS2 Nanosheet-Coated CeO2 Hollow Spheres as Catalyst for Ammonia Decomposition.

MoS2 ultrathin nanosheet-coated CeO2 hollow sphere (CeO2@MoS2) hybrid nanostructures with a 3D hierarchical configuration were successfully constructed from a facile two-step wet chemistry strategy: first, CeO2 formed on a silica core which served as a template and was subsequently removed by NaOH solution to attain hollow spheres, and then few-layered ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets were deposited on the CeO2 hollow spheres through a hydrothermal process. As a proof of concept application, the as-prepared CeO2@MoS2 hybrid nanostructures were used as catalytic material, which exhibited enhanced catalytic activity in ammonia decomposition for H2 production at high temperature. It was demonstrated that, even with a structural transformation from MoS2 to MoNx under harsh conditions of ammonia decomposition at high temperature (700 °C), the 3D hierarchical nanostructures of the CeO2@MoNx were well kept, indicating the important role of the CeO2 support.

Injectable self-healing ceria-based nanocomposite hydrogel with ROS-scavenging activity for skin wound repair.

Excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the injured skin may impede the wound repair and skin regeneration. Herein, we develop an injectable self-healing ceria-based nanocomposite hydrogel with ROS-scavenging activity to accelerate wound healing. The nanocomposite hydrogels were successfully prepared by coating cerium oxide nanorods with polyethylenimine and crosslinked with benzaldehyde-terminated F127 (F127-CHO) through the dynamic Schiff-base reaction (FVEC hydrogel). The results showed that the FVEC hydrogel possessed the good thermosensitivity, injectability, self-healing ability and ROS scavenging activity. The subcutaneous implantation experiments in mice confirmed that FVEC hydrogels are biocompatible and biodegradable in vivo. The full-thickness skin wound studies showed that FVEC hydrogel could significantly enhance the wound healing and epithelium regeneration with the formation of hair follicle and adipocyte tissue. This work provides a new strategy for the development of multifunctional Ce-based nanocomposite hydrogel for full-thickness skin wound healing and regeneration.

Development of a red fluorescent light-up probe for highly selective and sensitive detection of vicinal dithiol-containing proteins in living cells.

Vicinal dithiol-containing proteins (VDPs) play a key role in cellular redox homeostasis and are responsible for many diseases. Here, we develop a red fluorescent light-up probe FAsH for the highly selective and sensitive detection of VDPs using the environment-sensitive 2-(4-dimethylaminophenyl)-4-(2-carboxyphenyl)-7-diethylamino-1-benzopyrylium (F1) as the fluorescent reporter and cyclic dithiaarsane as the targeting unit. FAsH is almost nonfluorescent in aqueous solution. However, it exhibits intense fluorescence emission upon binding to reduced bovine serum albumin (rBSA, selected as the model protein). The fluorescence intensity of FAsH is directly proportional to the concentration of rBSA over the range of 0.06-0.9 µM, with a detection limit (3δ) of 0.015 µM. Importantly, the fast kinetics of binding between FAsH and VDPs (∼2.5 min) enables the dynamic tracing of VDPs in biological systems. Preliminary experiments show that FAsH can be used for the no-wash imaging of endogenous VDPs in living cells. In addition, our study shows that F1 presents both high environment-sensitivity and good fluorescence properties, and is promising for the development of no-wash fluorescent light-up probes for target-specific proteins in living cells.

[Determination of trace bismuth in traditional Chinese medicines by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry].

A method is reported for the determination of trace bismuth in traditional chinese medicine by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The effect of different means of digestion, the medium amounts of acid and reducing agent on the determination of Bi is investigated. In the given conditions, the linear range of determination is 0.1-200 microg x L(-1), and the detection limit is 0.0946 microg x L(-1). The instrumental relative standard deviation is about 0.55% and the recovery is about 94%-107%. The method is accurate, rapid and convenient with satisfactory results.

[Determination of trace mercury in the Chinese traditional medicine by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry].

A hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry method has been developed for the determination of trace mercury in traditional Chinese medicines. A high-pressure digestion using HNO3-H2O2 system was applied to the pretreatment of traditional Chinese medicine samples and an interval flow precedure was used. The experimental conditions and instrumental operation parameters such as KBH4 concentration, flow rates of carrier and shield gases, currents of lamp and height of atomic oven, which affect the determination, have been optimized respectively as 0.05%, 400 and 800 mL x min(-1), 20 mA and 6 mm. Under the optimum conditions, there is a linear relationship between the fluorescence intensity and the mercury concentration with correlation coefficient of 0.9999, while the detection limit is 0.021 microg x L(-1). Trace mercury in the standard reference substance peach leaf (GBW08501, produced by the Environmental Science Committee of Chinese Scientific Institute) was also determinated in this way and the results of six times were in good agreement with the certified value, with a variation coefficient not more than 0.34%. This method is simple, rapid, sensitive, convinent and accurate, so it can be successfully used for the determination of trace mercury in traditional Chinese medi-

[Determintion of trace lead in the traditional Chinese medicine using hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry].

A hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry method has been developed for the determination of trace lead in traditional Chinese medicines. A high pressure digestion using HNO3-H2O2 system was applied for the pretreatment of traditional Chinese medicine samples and the interval flow precedure was used. The experimental conditions and instrumental operating parameters such as KBH4 concentration, flow rates of carrier and shield gases, current of the lamp and height of the atomizer, have been optimized. Under the optimum conditions the detection limit is 0.08 microg x L(-1). The relative standard deviation is 0.34%. This method is simple, rapid and sensitive, so it can be successfully used for the determination of lead in traditional Chinese medicines.