Superhydrophobic leached carbon Black/Poly(vinyl) alcohol aerogel for selective removal of oils and organic compounds from water.

The remediation of oil spills and treatment of oily wastewater remains challenging to cope with nowadays. This has caused a surge in demand on adsorbent materials with multi-functionalities to effectively separate oils and nonpolar solvents from water. A superhydrophobic composite aerogel prepared from industrial waste-derived leached carbon black waste (LCBW) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was developed in this work via conventional freeze-casting followed by surface coating. The composite aerogel was ultralight and porous with porosity >85% and tunable density ranging between 0.015 and 0.065 g/cm3. It was found that the embedded LCBW in the PVA network is crucial to impart superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity to the aerogel as it enhances the surface roughness. Wettability test showed that composite aerogel prepared from 0.5 wt% PVA at PVA/LCBW ratio of 1 exhibited the highest water contact angle (156.7 ± 2.9°). LCBW also improved the thermal stability of the composite aerogel. With its superior selectivity, PVA/LCBW aerogel was used as selective adsorbent for a variety of oils and organic solvents. The adsorption test showed that the composite aerogel exhibited an adsorption capacity up to 35 times its original weight and could be reused repeatedly and easily recovered through a simple drying method.

Rapid and visual detection of berberine hydrochloride based on a water-soluble pyrene derivative.

In this study, a rapid method for the detection of berberine hydrochloride (BRH) was developed based on a water-soluble pyrenyl probe, 8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid (HPTS). This method features low cost, good selectivity, high sensitivity and a fast response. The sensing mechanism of this probe is attributed to the formation of a complex between HPTS and BRH induced by electrostatic interaction and π-π stacking. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fluorescent sensor for BRH based on organic materials that has low cost and a visual response. The detection limit of this method was as low as 1.24 µM and the linear response range is 2-50 µM. This method also allowed rapid detection of BRH real samples.

Identification of novel EZH2 inhibitors through pharmacophore-based virtual screening and biological assays.

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) acts as a primary writer for di- and tri-methylation of histone H3 at lysine 27. This protein plays an essential role in silencing gene expression. Enhancer of zeste 2 (EZH2), the catalytic subunit of PRC2, is considered as a promising therapeutic target for cancer. GSK126, a specific inhibitor of EZH2, is undergoing phase I trials for hypermethylation-related cancers. In addition, many derivatives of GSK126 are also commonly used in laboratory investigations. However, studies on the mechanism and drug development of EZH2 are limited by the absence of structural diversity of these inhibitors because they share similar SAM-like scaffolds. In this study, we generated a pharmacophore model based on reported EZH2 inhibitors and performed in silico screenings. Experimental validations led to the identification of two novel EZH2 inhibitors, DCE_42 and DCE_254, with IC50 values of 23 and 11µM, respectively. They also displayed significant anti-proliferation activity against lymphoma cell lines. Thus, we discovered potent EZH2 inhibitors with novel scaffold using combined in silico screening and experimental study. Results from this study can also guide further development of novel specific EZH2 inhibitors.

Discovery of a novel hybrid from finasteride and epristeride as 5α-reductase inhibitor.

Finasteride and epristeride both inhibit 5α-reductase with high potency via competitive and non-competitive mechanism, respectively. A new hybrid of finasteride and epristeride was designed as a new 5α-reductase inhibitor based on combination principles in medicinal chemistry. Human 5ß-reductase was chosen as a plausible surrogate of 5α-reductase type II and the results indicate that although the hybrid compound possesses the main bulk of epristeride, its inhibitory mechanism is same as of finasteride. The hybrid turned out to be a potent 5α-reductase inhibitor in low IC(50) ranges.