Identification and biochemical characterization of DC07090 as a novel potent small molecule inhibitor against human enterovirus 71 3C protease by structure-based virtual screening.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a serious, highly contagious disease. HFMD caused by Enterovirus 71 (EV71), results in severe complications and even death. The pivotal role of EV71 3Cpro in the viral life cycle makes it an attractive target for drug discovery and development to treat HFMD. In this study, we identified novel EV71 3Cpro inhibitors by docking-based virtual screening. Totally 50 compounds were selected to test their inhibitory activity against EV71 3Cpro. The best inhibitor DC07090 exhibited the inhibition potency with an IC50 value of 21.72 ± 0.95 µM without apparent toxicity (CC50 > 200 µM). To explore structure-activity relationship of DC07090, 15 new derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated in vitro enzyme assay accordingly. Interestingly, four compounds showed inhibitory activities against EV71 3Cpro and only DC07090 inhibited EV71 replication with an EC50 value of 22.09 ± 1.07 µM. Enzyme inhibition kinetic experiments showed that the compound was a reversible and competitive inhibitor. The Ki value was determined to be 23.29 ± 12.08 µM. Further molecular docking, MD simulation and mutagenesis studies confirmed the binding mode of DC07090 and EV71 3Cpro. Besides, DC07090 could also inhibit coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) replication with an EC50 value of 27.76 ± 0.88 µM. Therefore, DC07090 represents a new non-peptidyl small molecule inhibitor for further development of antiviral therapy against EV71 or other picornaviruses.

The potential adjuvanticity of quaternized chitosan hydrogel based microparticles for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus inactivated vaccine.

Infectious diseases possess a big threat to the livestock industry worldwide. Currently, inactivated veterinary vaccines have attracted much attention to prevent infection due to their safer profile compared to live attenuated vaccine. However, its intrinsic poor immunogenicity demands the incorporation of an adjuvant. Mineral oil based adjuvant (Montanide™ ISA206) was usually used to potentiate the efficacy of veterinary vaccines. However, ISA206 could not induce robust cellular immune responses, which was very important in controlling virus replication and clearing the infected cells. Moreover, mineral oil would result in severe side effects. To improve both the humoral and cellular immune responses of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) inactivated vaccine, we developed pH-sensitive and size-controllable quaternized chitosan hydrogel microparticles (Gel MPs) without using chemical cross linking agent. Gel MPs, ionic cross-linked with glycerophosphate (GP), were biocompatible and could efficiently adsorb the inactivated PRRSV vaccine with a loading capacity of 579.05µg/mg. After intramuscular immunization in mice, results suggested that Gel MPs elicited significantly higher cell-mediated immune responses and comparable humoral immune responses compared to ISA 206. Regarding the biocompatibility, safety and effectiveness, Gel MPs would be a promising candidate to enhance the efficacy of veterinary vaccine.

Preparation of uniform sized chitosan microspheres by membrane emulsification technique and application as a carrier of protein drug.

The control of size and size distribution of microspheres is necessary for obtaining repeatable controlled release behavior. The chitosan microspheres were prepared by a membrane emulsification technique in this study. Chitosan was dissolved in 1 wt.% aqueous acetic acid containing 0.9 wt.% sodium chloride, which was used as a water phase. A mixture of liquid paraffin and petroleum ether 7:5 (v/v) containing PO-500 emulsifier was used as an oil phase. The water phase was permeated through the uniform pores of a porous glass membrane into the oil phase by the pressure of nitrogen gas to form W/O emulsion. Then GST (Glutaraldehyde Saturated Toluene) as crosslinking agent was slowly dropped into the W/O emulsion to solidify the chitosan droplets. The preparation condition for obtaining uniform-sized microspheres was optimized. The microspheres with different size were prepared by using the membranes with different pore size, and there was a linear relationship between the diameter of microspheres and pore size of the membranes when the microspheres were in the range of micron size. The smallest chitosan microspheres obtained was 0.4 mum in diameter. This is the first report for preparing the uniform-sized chitosan microspheres by membrane emulsification technique. Uniform chitosan microspheres were further used as a carrier of protein drug. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model drug was loaded in the microspheres and released in vitro. The effects of pH value, diameter and crosslinking degree of microspheres, and BSA concentration on loading efficiency and release behavior were discussed.

Single-step recovery of ephedrine hydrochloride from raw materials using expanded bed adsorption.

Expanded bed adsorption, using a cation resin 001 x 7 Styrene-DVB, was used to recover and purify ephedrine hydrochloride from a powdered herb. The axial liquid-phase dispersion coefficient was about 10(-5) m(2) s(-1) and the recovery yield and purification reached 86% and 22, respectively. Compared with using conventional extraction with dimethylbenzene, this method is safer and also more efficient.