Research on the controllable degradation of N-methylamido and dialkylamino substituted at the 5th position of the benzene ring in chlorsulfuron in acidic soil.

Owing to the lengthy residual problems associated with chlorsulfuron, metsulfuron-methyl, and ethametsulfuron, which prevents them from being used in the "annual multi-crop planting system", the application of these sulfonylurea herbicides (SU) has regrettably been terminated in China since 2014. In this field, we were the first to discover that the 5th position of the benzene ring in chlorsulfuron is a key point for influencing its degradation rate and the amino moiety at this position showed faster degradation rates and maintained their original potent bioactivity. In this study, we further elaborated on N-methylamido and dialkylamino substituents at the same position in chlorsulfuron to obtain 18 novel structures as M and N series. Their half-life degradation (DT50) values were faster, to varying degrees, than chlorsulfuron in acidic soil. It was found that most of the titled structures also retained their potent herbicidal activity and the crop safety of the M series towards corn greatly increased. Based on these data, a comprehensive graph describing the structure/degradation relationship was established first. Relating to the new molecules, their herbicidal activity (A), degradation rates (D), and crop safety (S) relationship were correlated and we used this approach to predict and explore the most preferable molecule, which coincided to the corresponding experimental data. The new concept of controllable degradation will provide us with more insight when searching for new ecological bioactive molecules in the future.

Anthranilic diamides derivatives as potential ryanodine receptor modulators: Synthesis, biological evaluation and structure activity relationship.

A series of novel anthranilic diamides derivatives (7a-s) containing halogen, trifluoromethyl group and cyano group were designed, synthesized, and characterized by melting point, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and elemental analyses. The bioactivity revealed that most of them showed moderate to excellent activities against oriental armyworm (Mythimna separata) and diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella). Above all, the larvicidal activity of 7o against oriental armyworm was 100% and 40% at 0.25 and 0.1 mg L-1, comparable to that of the standard chlorantraniliprole (100%, 0.25 mg L-1 and 20%, 0.1 mg L-1). What is more, 7o against diamondback moth displayed 90% insecticidal activity at 0.01 mg L-1, superior to chlorantraniliprole (45%, 0.01 mg L-1). The experiments 7o on the American cockroach (Periplaneta Americana) heart beating rates (Dorsal vessel) and contractile force were compared with chlorantraniliprole. In addition, 7o could affect the calcium homeostasis in the central neurons of the third larvae of oriental armyworm, which revealed that the ryanodine receptor is the potential target of 7o. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation results revealed the amide bridge, the benzene ring of anthraniloyl moiety and pyrazole ring might play an important role in the insecticidal activity through hydrophobic interactions and π-π conjugations.

Association between single nucleotide polymorphism of vitamin D receptor gene FokI polymorphism and clinical progress of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene and clinical progress of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in Chinese men. METHODS: The DNA was extracted from blood of 200 BPH patients with operation (progression group) and 200 patients without operation (control group), respectively. The genotypes of VDR gene FokI SNP represented by "F/f" were identified by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The odds ratio (OR) of having progression of BPH for having the genotype were calculated. RESULTS: Our date indicated that the f alleles of the VDR gene FokI SNP associated with the progression of BPH (P = 0.009). CONCLUSION: For the first time, our study demonstrated that VDR gene FokI SNP may be associated with the risk of BPH progress.

Synthesis and characteristics of (Hydrogenated) ferulic acid derivatives as potential antiviral agents with insecticidal activity.

BACKGROUND: Plant viruses cause many serious plant diseases and are currently suppressed with the simultaneous use of virucides and insecticides. The use of such materials, however, increases the amounts of pollutants in the environment. To reduce environmental contaminants, virucides with insecticidal activity is an attractive option. RESULTS: A series of substituted ferulic acid amide derivatives 7 and the corresponding hydrogenated ferulic acid amide derivatives 13 were synthesized and evaluated for their antiviral and insecticidal activities. The majority of the synthesized compounds exhibited good levels of antiviral activity against the tobacco mosaic virus (TMW), with compounds 7a, 7b and 7d in particular providing higher levels of protective and curative activities against TMV at 500 µg/mL than the control compound ribavirin. Furthermore, these compounds displayed good insecticidal activities against insects with piercing-sucking mouthparts, which can spread plant viruses between and within crops. CONCLUSIONS: Two series of ferulic acid derivatives have been synthesized efficiently. The bioassay showed title compounds not only inhibit the plant viral infection, but also prevented the spread of plant virus by insect vectors. These findings therefore demonstrate that the ferulic acid amides represent a new template for future antiviral studies.

Larvicidal activity and click synthesis of 2-alkoxyl-2-(1,2,3-triazole-1- yl)acetamide library.

Heterogeneous copper-in-charcoal-catalyzed click synthesis in 96-well polypropylene filter plates is an efficient method for the rapid generation of sufficient pure 2-alkoxyl-2-(1,2,3-triazole-1-yl) acetamide derivatives library by simple filtration, which directly assay the products for larvicidal activity against mosquitoes. In this procedure, copper nanoparticles on charcoal were arrayed into each well on a 96-well plate, reagents were delivered using a pipette gun, and a constant temperature shaker bath was used to complete the click reaction in 24-72 hours under temperature-controlled conditions. The results of bioassays indicated that the target compounds possessed excellent larvacidal activities against mosquitoes. In particular, the larvacidal activities against mosquitoes of compounds 8[2,3] and 8[7,1] at 2 µg.mL⁻¹ were 100% and 73% respectively.

Synthesis, crystal structure and biological activity of novel anthranilic diamide insecticide containing alkyl ether group.

In searching for environmentally benign insecticides with high activity, low toxicity and low residue, two series of novel anthranilic diamide containing methyl ether and isopropyl ether group were designed and synthesized. All of the compounds were characterized by (1)H NMR spectroscopy, (13)C NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The single crystal structure of 19j was determined by X-ray diffraction. The insecticidal activities of the new compounds were evaluated. The results showed that some compounds exhibited excellent insecticidal activities against Lepidoptera pests. Among this series, compound, 18l showed 100 % larvicidal activity against Mythimna separate Walker, Plutella xylostella Linnaeus and Laphygma exigua Hubner at the test concentration, which was equal to the available chlorantraniliprole.

[Relationship between vitamin D receptor gene Fok I polymorphisms and benign prostatic hyperplasia complicated by histological prostatitis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene Fok I polymorphisms and BPH complicated by histological prostatitis (BPH + HP). METHODS: We detected Fok I polymorphisms in the peripheral blood of 79 patients with BPH + HP and 81 controls with BPH only using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and analyzed the frequency distribution of the genotypes and alleles of the two groups of patients. RESULTS: Obvious differences were found in the distribution of genotypes and alleles between the BPH + HP patients (FF: 27% [21/79], Ff: 30% [24/79], ff: 43% [34/79]) and the controls (FF: 33% [27/81], Ff: 36% [29/81], ff: 31% [25/81]), with statistical significance in the distribution of the genotype ff (P < 0.05). The histological prostatitis group showed a significant difference from the controls in the frequency of the f allele (58% [196/338] vs 49% [153/312], P < 0.05), but not in that of the F allele (42% [142/338] vs 51% [159/312] , P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: VDR Fok I polymorphisms may be correlated with BPH complicated by histological prostatitis.

Design, synthesis, biological activities, and 3D-QSAR of new N,N'-diacylhydrazines containing 2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)propane moiety.

A series of new N,N'-diacylhydrazine derivatives were synthesized efficiently under microwave irradiation. Their structures were characterized by (1) H NMR, MS, and elemental analysis. Various biological activities of these compounds were tested. Most of them exhibited higher herbicidal activities against dicotyledonous weeds than monocotyledonous weeds. In addition, favorable in vivo fungicidal activities were also found of these compounds against Cladosporium cucumerinum, Corynespora cassiicola, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum(Lib.)de Bary, Erysiphe cichoracearum, and Colletotrichum orbiculare (Berk aLMont) Arx. All compounds displayed excellent plant growth regulatory activities: 100% inhibition was achieved against the radicle growth of cucumber. To further investigate the structure-activity relationship, comparative molecular field analysis was performed on the basis of herbicidal activity data, resulting in a statistically reliable model with good predictive power (r(2) = 0.913, q(2) =0.556). Based on the calculation, five additional novel compounds were designed and synthesized. Satisfyingly, compound 4u displayed excellent herbicidal activity (94.7%) at 1500 g/ha, although it is less active than 2,4-D. Meanwhile, this compound also exhibited good fungicidal activity against C. orbiculare (Berk aLMont) Arx (82.16%).

Integrating molecular docking, DFT and CoMFA/CoMSIA approaches for a series of naphthoquinone fused cyclic α-aminophosphonates that act as novel topoisomerase II inhibitors.

Since they are potential topoisomerase II (Topo II) inhibitors, naphthoquinone fused cyclic α-aminophosphonates display anticancer activity. In order to explore the inhibitory mechanisms of these compounds, they were docked into the active site of Topo II structure, which allowed their probable binding modes to be predicted. Some meaningful results concerning their structure-activity relationships were obtained from density functional theory calculations. Models based on quantitative comparative molecular field analysis and comparative molecular similarity index analysis were derived for the steric, electrostatic, hydrophobic and H-bonding features of the compounds. The present study provides valuable results that enhance our understanding of the anticancer activities of these inhibitors and will aid the rational drug design of novel Topo II inhibitors in the future.

High throughput receptor-based virtual screening under ZINC database, synthesis, and biological evaluation of ketol-acid reductoisomerase inhibitors.

Ketol-acid reductoisomerase (KARI; EC 1.1.1.86) catalyzes the second common step in branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis. This enzyme is an important target for drug design. Based on the crystal structure of ketol-acid reductoisomerase/N-hydroxy-N-isopropyloxamate (IpOHA) complex, we have carried out high throughput receptor-based virtual screening of the ZINC/drug like database (2 000 000 compounds) to look for novel inhibitors of KARI for the first time. Some novel compounds were found to inhibit rice KARI in vitro among 15 procured compounds. This method can provide useful information for further design and discovery of KARI inhibitors.

Vladimuliecins A and B: cytotoxic pentacyclic pregnanols from Vladimiria muliensis.

Two new steroids, vladimuliecins A (1) and B (2), were isolated by bioassay-guided fractionation from the rhizome of Vladimiria muliensis. Compounds 1 and 2 are the first examples possessing a pentacyclic 3alpha,5alpha-cyclopregnane-type framework. The structures of vladimuliecins A (1) and B (2) and their deacetylated derivative (3) were determined on the basis of IR, MS, 1D NMR, 2D NMR, and X-ray data analyses. The absolute configuration of the 10 stereogenic centers of compounds 1 and 2 was determined to be 3R,5R,6R,8S,9R,10R,13R,14R,17S,20R by means of auxiliary chiral MTPA derivatives and optical rotation calculation. A probable biosynthesis pathway to 1 and 2 is also proposed and discussed. In addition, the cytotoxicity of compounds 1, 2, and 3 was evaluated against selected cancer cell lines, including human leukemia cell (HL-60), human hepatoma cell (SMMC-7721), and human cervical carcinoma cell (HeLa) lines.

Synthesis and antiviral activity against tobacco mosaic virus and 3D-QSAR of alpha-substituted-1,2,3-thiadiazoleacetamides.

A series of alpha-substituted-1,2,3-thiadiazoleacetamides were prepared and tested in vitro against tobacco mosaic virus. The preliminary bioassays indicated that some of the new compounds are good as compared to the commercial pesticide Virus A at 500 mg/L, and the activity was influenced by the nature of the substituents. 3D-QSAR models were established based on the antiviral activity of the compounds. It has also been found that some of the new compounds also exhibit significant anti-HBV activity in human hepatoblastoma-derived liver Hep-G2 cells.

[Effect of bonding materials and methods on microleakage around the edge of stainless-steel brackets: an in vitro study].

PURPOSE: To observe and compare the effect of different types of adhesive materials and different types of etching methods on microleakage around bonded metal brackets. METHODS: 36 healthy premolars extracted for orthodontic reason were selected in the study. The samples were divided into three groups, 12 in each. Group A was etched with 37% phosphate and bonded with Jingjin adhesive; Group B was with 37% phosphate+3M Transbond; Group C was self-etching primer+3M Transbond. All samples were thermalcycled for 500 times, then put into 1% methylenum solution for 24 hours. Microleakage of samples was observed under stereomicroscope. Multiple comparison and Student t test were used for the comparison of data samples(alpha=0.05). RESULTS: (1) Significant difference of microleakage was found among three groups (F=22.462, P<0.01); Multiple comparison showed no significant difference between Group A and Group B (P>0.05), significant differences of microleakage were found between group A and C (P<0.05), group B and C (P<0.05), respectively. (2) Significant differences between occlusal microleakage and gingival microleakage were found in group A (P<0.05), group B (P<0.01) and group C (P<0.01), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: (1) The type of adhesive had no effect on microleakage. (2)Different etching methods are relevant to microleakage, the microleakage of self-etching groups is much more than that of phosphate-etching groups. (3) Gingival microleakage is significantly larger than occlusal microleakage.