Stimuli-Responsive Properties of Aggregation-Induced-Emission Compounds Containing a 9,10-Distyrylanthracene Moiety.

Two 9,10-distyrylanthracene-based luminophores exhibiting aggregation-induced emission and stimuli-responsive properties were synthesized. Seven- or five-color luminescence switching based on a single organic molecule was achieved for the first time. These phase transitions can be induced by physical stimuli such as grinding by mortar and pestle, heating, and exposure to the vapors of organic solvents. Moreover, a strategy for the design of new mechanoresponsive materials with π-conjugated luminophores is proposed.

Reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews or meta-analyses in nursing field in China.

The aim of this paper was to evaluate reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews or meta-analyses in the nursing field in China. Over the last decade, evidence-based nursing has been gradually known and accepted by nurses in China, and the number of systematic reviews or meta-analyses of nursing flied has steadily increased, but the quality of these reviews is unsatisfactory. The Chinese Journal Full-Text Database, the Chinese Biomedicine Literature Database and the Wanfang Database were searched for systematic reviews or meta-analyses in the nursing field, from inception through December 2011. The Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses and the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews checklists were used to assess reporting characteristics and methodological quality, respectively. A total of 63 systematic reviews or meta-analyses were identified. The deficiencies of methodological quality were mainly in literature searches, heterogeneity handling, recognition and assessment of publication bias. In addition, the deficiencies of reporting characteristics were reflected in incomplete reporting of literature search, quality assessment, risk of bias and results. Focusing on improving the quality of reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews or meta-analyses in the nursing field in China is urgently needed.

HnRNPK is involved in stress-induced depression-like behavior via ERK-BDNF pathway in mice.

As a ubiquitous RNA-binding protein, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNPK) interacts with numerous nucleic acids and proteins and is involved in various cellular functions. Available literature indicates that it can regulate dendritic spine density through the extracellular signal-regulating kinase (ERK) - brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) pathway, which is crucial to retain the synaptic plasticity in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and mouse depression models. However, ERK upstream regulatory kinase has not been fully elucidated. Furthermore, it remains unexplored whether hnRNPK may impact the depressive condition via the ERK pathway. The present study addressed this issue by integrating approaches of genetics, molecular biology, behavioral testing. We found that hnRNPK in the brain was mainly distributed in the hippocampal neurons; that it was significantly downregulated in mice that displayed stress-induced depression-like behaviors; and that the level of hnRNPK markedly decreased in MDD patients from the GEO database. Further in vivo and in vitro analyses revealed that the changes in the expressions of BDNF and PSD95 and in the phosphorylation of ERK (Thr202/Tyr204) paralleled the variation of hnRNPK levels in the ventral hippocampal neurons in mice with depression-like behaviors. Finally, esketamine treatment significantly increased the level of hnRNPK in mice. These findings evidence that hnRNPK involved in the pathogenesis of depression via the ERK-BDNF pathway, pinpointing hnRNPK as a potential therapeutic target in treating MDD patients.

Artemisinin induces caspase-8/9-mediated and Bax/Bak-independent apoptosis in human lung adenocarcinoma (ASTC-a-1) cells.

Artemisinin (ARTE), an antimalarial phytochemical component from the sweet wormwood plant, has been shown a potential anticancer activity by inducing cell apoptosis. The aim of this report is to explore the mechanism of ARTE-induced human lung adenocarcinoma (ASTC-a-1) cell apoptosis. Cell counting kit (CCK-8) assay showed that ARTE induced cytotoxcity in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Confocal microscopy fluorescence imaging of cells stained with Hoechst 33258 and flow cytometry (FCM) analysis of cells stained with Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide (PI) showed that ARTE induced reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent apoptosis. Confocal fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) imaging of single living cells expressing SCAT3, SCAT9 or CFP-Bid-YFP and fluorometic substrate assay showed that ARTE induced the activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9. Moreover, inhibition of caspase-8 or -9 completely blocked ARTE-induced apoptosis which was only partially attenuated by caspase-3 inhibitor. Interestingly, silencing Bax and Bak by RNA interference (RNAi) did not attenuate ARTE-induced apoptosis. Collectively, ARTE induces caspase-dependent but Bax/Bak-independent apoptosis in ASTC-a-1 cells.

Tetraphenylbutadiene-Based Symmetric 3D Hole-Transporting Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells: A Trial Trade-off between Charge Mobility and Film Morphology.

Two three-dimensional symmetric tetraphenylbutadiene derivatives decorated with diphenylamine or triphenylamine fragments are first prepared for use as hole-transporting materials (HTMs) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The HTMs are acquired using straightforward synthetic methods and facile purification techniques. The thermal stability, photophysical properties, electrochemical behaviors, computational study, hole mobility, X-ray diffraction, hole transfer dynamics, hydrophobicity, surface morphology, and photovoltaic performances of the HTMs are discussed. The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of CJ-04-based cell is 13.75%, which is increased to 20.06% when CJ-03 is used as HTM, superior to the PCE of the cell based on 2,2',7,7'-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9'-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) (18.90%). The preparation cost of CJ-03 accounts for merely 23.1% of the price of commercial spiro-OMeTAD, while the concentration of CJ-03 solution used in the device fabrication (60.0 mg mL-1) is lower compared with that of the spiro-OMeTAD solution (72.3 mg mL-1). These results corroborate that the screw-like HTMs with a highly distorted configuration are facilely available and promising candidates for PSCs. More importantly, a practical solution is proposed to achieve moderate charge mobility and good film-formation ability of the HTMs simultaneously.

ß-Carboline and N-hydroxycinnamamide hybrids as anticancer agents for drug-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma.

In an effort to develop anticancer agents that may overcome drug resistance, the number one reason in caner death, we have developed a series of novel hybrids of ß-carboline and N-hydroxycinnamamide as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. Most of the hybrids 13a-p showed strong antiproliferative effects with low-micromolar IC50 values against four human cancer cells. The most potent compound of series 13p exhibited high HDAC1/6 inhibitory effects, and also increased the acetylation levels of histone H3, H4 and α-tubulin. Importantly, 13p demonstrated high anticancer potency against drug-sensitive HepG2 and Bel7402 cells and drug-resistant Bel7402/5FU cells. Hybrid 13p triggered significant apoptosis by regulating apoptotic relative proteins expression in these Bel7402/5FU cells. Finally, 13p induced a substantial amount of autophagic flux activity by the accretion of the expression of LC3-II and the degeneration of expression of p62 and LC3-I in Bel7402/5FU cells. Overall, 13p is a novel ß-carboline/N-hydroxycinnamamide hybrid with significant anticancer potency that warrants further evaluation for the treatment of drug-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma.

Development of novel amino-quinoline-5,8-dione derivatives as NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) inhibitors with potent antiproliferative activities.

Fourteen novel amino-quinoline-5,8-dione derivatives (6a-h and 7a-h) were designed and synthesized by coupling different alkyl- or aryl-amino fragments at the C6- or C7-position of quinoline-5,8-dione. All target compounds showed antiproliferative potency in the low micromolar range in both drug sensitive HeLaS3 and multidrug resistant KB-vin cell lines. Compounds 6h, 6d, 7a, and 7d exhibited more potent antiproliferative effects than the other compounds. Especially, compounds 6d and 7d displayed NQO1-dependent cytotoxicity and competitive NQO1 inhibitory effects in both drug sensitive HeLaS3 and multidrug resistant KB-vin cell lines. Furthermore, compounds 6h, 6d, 7a, and 7d induced a dose-dependent lethal mitochondrial dysfunction in both drug sensitive HeLaS3 and multidrug resistant KB-vin cells by increasing intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Notably, compound 7d selectively inhibited cancer cells, but not non-tumor liver cell proliferation in vitro, and significantly triggered HeLaS3 cell apoptosis by regulating apoptotic proteins of Bcl-2, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3 in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings suggest that these novel C6- or C7-substituted amino-quinoline-5,8-dione derivatives, such as 7d, could be further developed in the future as potent and selective antitumor agents to potentially circumvent multi-drug resistance (MDR).

A novel harmine derivative, N-(4-(hydroxycarbamoyl)benzyl)-1-(4- methoxyphenyl)-9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole-3-carboxamide (HBC), as histone deacetylase inhibitor: in vitro antiproliferation, apoptosis induction, cell cycle arrest, and antimetastatic effects.

This study aims to design and synthesize a novel harmine derivative N-(4-(hydroxycarbamoyl) benzyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-9H-pyrido [3,4-b]indole-3-carboxamide (HBC) as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, and evaluate its antitumor activities and anti-metastasis mechanism. HBC not only exerted significant ant-proliferation activity against five human cancer cell lines, especially for HepG2 cell with an IC50 value of 2.21 µM, which is nearly three-fold lower than SAHA (IC50 = 6.26 µM), but also showed selective HDAC1/6 inhibitory effects in vitro. However, HBC had little effect on normal hepatic cells LO2. Furthermore, HBC simultaneously increased the acetylation of histone H3, H4, and α-tubulin, induced hypochromism by electrostatical interaction with CT-DNA, triggered more significant cancer cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G2/M than SAHA by inhibition of both CDK1 and cyclin B in a concentration dependent manner. In addition, scratch and invasion assay showed that HBC also dose-dependently suppressed migration and invasion capacities of highly metastatic HCC HepG2 cells through down-regulated the expression of tumor metastasis related proteins MMP-2 and MMP-9, significantly better than SAHA. Finally, HBC showed low acute toxicity to mice and significant growth inhibition of the hepatoma tumor in vivo. These results demonstrate that novel harmine-based HDAC inhibitor HBC not only exhibited selective HDAC1/6 inhibitory activity and significant in vitro and in vivo antitumor activity, but also possessed DNA binding effect, apoptosis induction, cell cycle arrest effects, and potent anti-metastasis mechanisms, which may hold great promise as therapeutic agent targeting HDAC1/6 for the intervention of human cancers.