INTEDE 2.0: the metabolic roadmap of drugs.

The metabolic roadmap of drugs (MRD) is a comprehensive atlas for understanding the stepwise and sequential metabolism of certain drug in living organisms. It plays a vital role in lead optimization, personalized medication, and ADMET research. The MRD consists of three main components: (i) the sequential catalyses of drug and its metabolites by different drug-metabolizing enzymes (DMEs), (ii) a comprehensive collection of metabolic reactions along the entire MRD and (iii) a systematic description on efficacy & toxicity for all metabolites of a studied drug. However, there is no database available for describing the comprehensive metabolic roadmaps of drugs. Therefore, in this study, a major update of INTEDE was conducted, which provided the stepwise & sequential metabolic roadmaps for a total of 4701 drugs, and a total of 22 165 metabolic reactions containing 1088 DMEs and 18 882 drug metabolites. Additionally, the INTEDE 2.0 labeled the pharmacological properties (pharmacological activity or toxicity) of metabolites and provided their structural information. Furthermore, 3717 drug metabolism relationships were supplemented (from 7338 to 11 055). All in all, INTEDE 2.0 is highly expected to attract broad interests from related research community and serve as an essential supplement to existing pharmaceutical/biological/chemical databases. INTEDE 2.0 can now be accessible freely without any login requirement at: http://idrblab.org/intede/.

VARIDT 2.0: structural variability of drug transporter.

The structural variability data of drug transporter (DT) are key for research on precision medicine and rational drug use. However, these valuable data are not sufficiently covered by the available databases. In this study, a major update of VARIDT (a database previously constructed to provide DTs' variability data) was thus described. First, the experimentally resolved structures of all DTs reported in the original VARIDT were discovered from PubMed and Protein Data Bank. Second, the structural variability data of each DT were collected by literature review, which included: (a) mutation-induced spatial variations in folded state, (b) difference among DT structures of human and model organisms, (c) outward/inward-facing DT conformations and (d) xenobiotics-driven alterations in the 3D complexes. Third, for those DTs without experimentally resolved structural variabilities, homology modeling was further applied as well-established protocol to enrich such valuable data. As a result, 145 mutation-induced spatial variations of 42 DTs, 1622 inter-species structures originating from 292 DTs, 118 outward/inward-facing conformations belonging to 59 DTs, and 822 xenobiotics-regulated structures in complex with 57 DTs were updated to VARIDT (https://idrblab.org/varidt/ and http://varidt.idrblab.net/). All in all, the newly collected structural variabilities will be indispensable for explaining drug sensitivity/selectivity, bridging preclinical research with clinical trial, revealing the mechanism underlying drug-drug interaction, and so on.

Type-I Photosensitizer-Triggered Controllable Carbon Monoxide Release for Effective Treatment of Staph Skin Infection.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection is a major infectious skin disease that is highly resistant to conventional antibiotic treatment and host immune defense, leading to recurrence and exacerbation of bacterial infection. Herein, we developed a photoresponsive carbon monoxide (CO)-releasing nanocomposite by integrating anion-π+ type-I photosensitizer (OMeTBP) and organometallic complex (FeCO) for the treatment of planktonic S. aureus and biofilm-associated infections. After optimizing the molar ratio of FeCO and OMeTBP, the prepared nanoparticles, OMeTBP@FeCONPs, not only ensured sufficient loading of CO donors and efficient CO generation but also showed negligible free ROS leakage under light irradiation, which helped to avoid tissue damage caused by excessive ROS. Both in vitro and in vivo results demonstrated that OMeTBP@FeCONPs could effectively inhibit S. aureus methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and bacterial biofilm. Our design has the potential to overcome the resistance of conventional antibiotic treatment and provide a more effective option for bacterial infections.

Optimizing Analysis Methods: Rapid and Accurate Determination of Cuaminosulfate Residues with LC-MS/MS Based on Box-Behnken Design Study.

In view of the defects in the previous detection of cuaminosulfate, which only focused on the analysis of copper ions, there is currently no analysis method available to determine the actual state of cuaminosulfate as chelated or bound. In order to investigate the dissipation and terminal residues in soil and watermelon of cuaminosulfate for food safety and environmental risk, a highly effective technique was developed to detect cuaminosulfate residues in watermelon and soil, and field experiments were conducted in China. After single-factor experiments, residual cuaminosulfate in samples was extracted by pure water, purified using a liquid-liquid approach combined with a dispersive solid-phase extraction, and detected by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The Box-Behnken design (BBD) study was used to find the optimal solutions for the time of liquid-liquid purification, the amount of extraction solvent, and the amounts of cleanup sorbents for the analytical method. The average recovery of the method was in the range of 80.0% to 101.1%, the average relative standard deviation (RSD) was 5.3-9.9%, and the detection limit was lower than 0.05 mg/kg. The BBD study not only improved the extraction rate of the method, but also saved time and was operated easily. The final residues of cuaminosulfate in watermelon at different sampling intervals were all lower than 0.05 mg/kg under field conditions. The cuaminosulfate in soils dissipated following exponential kinetics, with half-life values in the range of 9.39 to 12.58 days, which varied by different locations. Based on the validated method, food safety residues and soil residues can be determined rapidly and accurately.

New Set of Isobaric Labeling Reagents for Quantitative 16Plex Proteomics.

Peptide labeling by isobaric tags is a powerful approach for the relative quantitative analysis of proteomes in multiple groups. There has been a revolution in the innovation of new isobaric reagents; however, great effort is being made to expand simultaneous labeling groups to identify more labeled peptides and reduce reporter ion signal suppression. We redesigned the original chemical structure of the deuterium isobaric amine-reactive tag developed in our laboratory. We optimized the synthetic pathway to create a new set of 16-plex isobaric tags (IBT-16plex). The novel reagent enabled almost complete labeling of peptides within 90 min, with all labeling reporter ions exhibiting comparable MS/MS signals. Compared to a typical 16plex reagent, TMTpro-16plex, the peptides and proteins identified by IBT-16plex in trypsinized HeLa cells were significantly increased by 14.8 and 8.6%, respectively. Moreover, differences in peptide abundance within 10-fold among multiple groups were barely suppressed in IBT-16plex, whereas the dynamic range in TMTpro-16plex-labeled groups was smaller. After quantitative examination of MCF7 cell proteins, IBT-16plex was confirmed as feasible and useful for evaluating protein responses of glucose-starved MCF7 cells to a glucose-rich medium.

Simulation Guided Coaxial Electrospinning of Polyvinylidene Fluoride Hollow Fibers with Tailored Piezoelectric Performance.

Electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric fibers have high potential applicability in mechanical energy harvesting and self-powered sensing owing to their high electromechanical coupling capabilities. Strategies for tailoring fiber morphology have been the primary focus for realizing enhanced piezoelectric output. However, the relationship between piezoelectric performance and fiber structure remains unclear. This study fabricates PVDF hollow fibers through coaxial electrospinning, whose wall thickness can be tuned by changing the internal solution concentration. Simulation analysis demonstrates an increased effective deformation of the hollow fiber as enlarging inner diameter, resulting in enhanced piezoelectric output, which is in excellent agreement with the experimental results. This study is the first to unravel the influence mechanism of morphology regulation of a PVDF hollow fiber on its piezoelectric performance from both simulation and experimental aspects. The optimal PVDF hollow fiber piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) delivers a piezoelectric output voltage of 32.6 V, ≈3 times that of the solid PVDF fiber PEH. Furthermore, the electrical output of hollow fiber PEH can be stably stored in secondary energy storage systems to power microelectronics. This study highlights an efficient approach for reconciling the simulation and tailoring the fiber PEH morphology for enhanced performances for future self-powered systems.

Occurrence and risk assessment of three chloroamide herbicides in water and soil environment in northeastern, eastern and southern China.

Chloroamide herbicides can cause adverse effects on nontarget organisms, but there is limited information about their occurrence in the environment of major cropland growing regions. In this study, a total of 1012 soil samples, 617 surface water samples and 737 groundwater samples were collected from 2020 to 2021 in three regions of China to evaluate the occurrence and risk of three important chloroamide herbicides alachlor, acetochlor and butachlor using the improved QuEChERS extraction method and high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that residues of the three chloroamide compounds in surface water and groundwater ranged from 0.1 to 176.0 µg L-1, of which acetochlor was frequently detected from surface water (17.5%). As for the soil, mass fraction was varied between 1.0 and 1540.3 µg kg-1, similarly acetochlor had the highest detection frequency (49.6%). Timewise, the median mass fraction of selected chloroamide herbicides in soil in 2021 (7.8 µg kg-1) was significantly lower than that in 2020 (10.9 µg kg-1). Spatially, there were regional differences in the content of environmental residues, and the overall level of residues in the northeast was relatively high. The environmental risk assessment based on the improved Risk Quotient (RQ) method indicated that the selected herbicides were currently within an acceptable range for human health risks in the soil and water environment in various regions, but acetochlor and butachlor had contributed to the RQ values of fish and earthworms (0.01＜RQ＜0.1) in recent years, respectively, which might pose a certain risk of oral exposure to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. This study provides valuable data and ideas for the rational application, pollution control and environmental safety evaluation of chloroamide herbicides in China.

Catalytic degradation of dimethomorph by nitrogen-doped rice husk biochar.

N-doped biochar is widely used for activating persulfate to degrade organic pollutants. Which type of N atom is the key factor for activation is still unclear and needs to be further explored and analyzed. In this study, four kinds of biochar were prepared using urea and rice husk as precursors, and tested for the catalytic degradation of dimethomorph. Increasing the nitrogen doping level caused the catalytic removal efficiency of dimethomorph in the presence of peroxymonosulfate increased from 16.6% to 86.8%. A correlation analysis showed that the ability of N-doped biochar to activate PMS is mainly related to the content of pyrrole N, graphite N and carbonyl and the degree of defects. In experiments on electron paramagnetic resonance and free radical suppression, the reactive species of SO4•-, 1O2,·OH and O2.- were detected, among which 1O2 was found to be the main agent in the nonradical pathway. The degradation pathways for dimethomorph were analyzed based on a total of 8 degradation products identified by high-performance liquid chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOFMS). The results of this study provide a fundamental basis for using agricultural waste to produce inexpensive and efficient nonmetal catalysts that are highly effective in reducing dimethomorph levels in agricultural lands.

Analysis of VOC emissions and O3 control strategies in the Fenhe Plain cities, China.

Long-term continuous hourly measurements of ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are scarce at the regional scale. In this study, a one-year hourly measurement campaign of VOCs was performed in Lvliang, Linfen, and Yuncheng in the heavily polluted Fenhe Plain region in China. The VOC average (±standard deviation, std) concentrations in Lvliang, Linfen, and Yuncheng were 44.4 ± 24.9, 45.7 ± 24.9, and 37.5 ± 25.0 ppbv, respectively. Compared to published data from the past two decades in China, the observed VOCs were at high concentration levels. VOCs in the Fenhe Plain cities were significantly impacted by industrial sources according to calculated emission ratios but were less affected by liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas (LPG/NG) and traffic emissions than those in megacities abroad. The emission inventories and observation data were combined for verification and identification of the key VOC species and sources controlling ozone (O3). Industrial emissions were the largest source of VOCs, accounting for 65%-79% of the total VOC emissions, while the coking industry accounted for 45.2%-66.0%. The emission inventories significantly underestimated oxygenated VOC (OVOC) emissions through the verification of VOC emission ratios. O3 control scenarios were analyzed by changing VOC/NOX reduction ratios through a photochemical box model. O3 control strategies were formulated considering local pollution control plans, emission inventories, and O3 formation regimes. The O3 reduction of reactivity-control measures was comparable with emission-control measures, ranging from 16% to 41%, which was contrary to the general perception that ozone formation potential (OFP)-based measures were more efficient for O3 reduction. Sources with high VOC emissions are accompanied by high OFP on the Fenhe Plain, indicating that the control of high-emission sources can effectively mitigate O3 pollution on this region.

Spontaneous In-Source Fragmentation Reaction Mechanism and Highly Sensitive Analysis of Dicofol by Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry.

Although dicofol has been widely banned all over the world as a kind of organochlorine contaminant, it still exists in the environment. This study developed a high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) detection technique for dicofol, an environmental pollutant, for the first time using in-source fragmentation. The results confirmed that m/z 251 was the only precursor ion of dicofol after in-source fragmentation, and m/z 139 and m/z 111 were reasonable product ions. The main factors triggering the in-source fragmentation were the H+ content and solution conductivity when dicofol entered the mass spectrometer. Density functional theory can be used to analyze and interpret the mechanism of dicofol fragmentation reaction in ESI source. Dicofol reduced the molecular energy from 8.8 ± 0.05 kcal/mol to 1.0 ± 0.05 kcal/mol, indicating that the internal energy release from high to low was the key driving force of in-source fragmentation. A method based on HPLC-MS/MS was developed to analyze dicofol residues in environmental water. The LOQ was 0.1 µg/L, which was better than the previous GC or GC-MS methods. This study not only proposed an HPLC-MS/MS analysis method for dicofol for the first time but also explained the in-source fragmentation mechanism of compounds in ESI source, which has positive significance for the study of compounds with unconventional mass spectrometry behavior in the field of organic pollutant analysis and metabonomics.

Highly-Selective Analytical Strategy for 90 Pesticides and Metabolites Residues in Fish and Shrimp Samples.

The analysis of pesticide residues in aquatic products is challenging due to low residue levels and the complex matrix interference. In this study, we developed a simple, fast method for the trace analysis of 90 pesticides and metabolites in aquatic products. The analytes covered a wide polarity range with log Kow (log octanol-water partition coefficient) ranging from -1.2 to 6.37. Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) and prawn (Penaeus chinensis) samples were chosen to validate the quantification method. The samples were extracted by 0.2% formic-acetonitrile, cleaned by solid-phase extraction (PRiME HLB), and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The results showed good linearities for the analytes and were observed in the range of 0.05-50 µg/L. The recoveries of the method were within 50.4-118.6%, with the relative standard deviations being lower than 20%. The limits of quantifications (LOQs) of the method were in the range of 0.05-5.0 µg/kg, which were superior to values compared with other research. The developed method was applied to detect pesticide residues in prawn samples from eastern coastal areas of China. Three herbicide residues of diuron, prometryn, and atrazine were detected in prawn samples. The method was sensitive and efficient, which is of significance in expanding the screening scope and improving the quantitative analysis efficiency in aquatic products.

Characteristics and source apportionment of PM2.5 under the dual influence of the Spring Festival and the COVID-19 pandemic in Yuncheng city.

Based on the online and membrane sampling data of Yuncheng from January 1st to February 12th, 2020, the formation mechanism of haze under the dual influence of Spring Festival and COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease) was analyzed. Atmospheric capacity, chemical composition, secondary transformation, source apportionment, backward trajectory, pollution space and enterprise distribution were studied. Low wind speed, high humidity and small atmospheric capacity inhibited the diffusion of air pollutants. Four severe pollution processes occurred during the period, and the pollution degree was the highest around the Spring Festival. In light, medium and heavy pollution periods, the proportion of SNA (SO42-, NO3- and NH4+) was 59.6%, 56.0% and 54.9%, respectively, which was the largest components of PM2.5; the [NO3-]/[SO42-] ratio was 2.1, 1.5 and 1.7, respectively, indicating that coal source had a great influence; the changes of NOR (nitrogen oxidation ratio, 0.44, 0.45, 0.61) and SOR (sulphur oxidation ratio, 0.40, 0.49, 0.65) indicated the accumulation of secondary aerosols with increasing pollution. The coal combustion, motor vehicle, secondary inorganic sources and industrial sources contributed 36.8%, 26.59%, 11.84% and 8.02% to PM2.5 masses, respectively. Backward trajectory showed that the influence from the east was greater during the Spring Festival, and the pollutants from the eastern air mass were higher, which would aggravate the pollution. Meteorological and Spring Festival had a great impact on heavy pollution weather. Although some work could not operate due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the emission of pollutants did not reduce much.

Enhanced secondary organic aerosol formation during dust episodes by photochemical reactions in the winter in Wuhan.

To investigate the effect of frequently occurring mineral dust on the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), 106 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), trace gas pollutants and chemical components of PM2.5 were measured continuously in January 2021 in Wuhan, Central China. The observation period was divided into two stages that included a haze period and a following dust period, based on the ratio of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations. The average ratio of secondary organic carbon (SOC) to elemental carbon (EC) was 1.98 during the dust period, which was higher than that during the haze period (0.69). The contribution of SOA to PM2.5 also increased from 2.75% to 8.64%. The analysis of the relationships between the SOA and relative humidity (RH) and the odd oxygen (e.g., OX = O3 + NO2) levels suggested that photochemical reactions played a more important role in the enhancement of SOA production during the dust period than the aqueous-phase reactions. The heterogeneous photochemical production of OH radicals in the presence of metal oxides during the dust period was believed to be enhanced. Meanwhile, the ratios of trans-2-butene to cis-2-butene and m-/p-xylene to ethylbenzene (X/E) dropped significantly, confirming that stronger photochemical reactions occurred and SOA precursors formed efficiently. These results verified the laboratory findings that metal oxides in mineral dust could catalyse the oxidation of VOCs and induce higher SOA production.

Electrohydrodynamic Pulling Consolidated High-Efficiency 3D Printing to Architect Unusual Self-Polarized ß-PVDF Arrays for Advanced Piezoelectric Sensing.

Piezoelectric pressure sensors are important for applications in robotics, artificial intelligence, communication devices, etc. The hyperboloid is theoretically predicted to be an unusual 3D structure that allows concerted piezoelectric enhancement owing to its synergistic effects of geometrical stress confinement and stress concentration, but has not been experimentally fulfilled due to a lack of efficient architecting techniques. In this work, a 3D hyperboloidal arrayed self-polarized PVDF piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) is successfully fabricated by incorporating electrohydrodynamic (EHD) pulling technology into fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing. This strategy not only simplifies the layer-by-layer constructing procedure for arrays, but simultaneously realizes a self-polarized and high ß-phase (92%) PVDF PEH in a single electric-pulling step, saving posttreatment such as poling and removing excessive additives. Such a PEH delivers a significantly enhanced piezoelectric potential which is around 8 times that of a 2D flat film sensor. Moreover, this PEH featuring excellent linearity within a wide pressure regime, enables the sensing of human activities in a relatively large force range, which is otherwise difficult for traditional film sensors to differentiate. This work demonstrates a potential roadmap to advanced piezoelectric sensors exploiting unusual 3D structures enabled by the unique EHD pulling coupled 3D printing technique.

Do biological activities of selective histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibitors rely on the modification of cap group?

Nowadays, significant progress has been made in the development of selective histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibitors, exerting great potential in the treatment of various malignant tumors and neurodegenerative diseases. Previously, selective inhibitory activities of HDAC inhibitors were generally considered sensitive to the interactions between the Cap group and the binding site of HDAC6, and a large number of selective HDAC6 inhibitors have been designed and synthesized based on the strategy. However, some inhibitors without Cap group could also exhibit excellent potency and selective inhibition towards HDAC6, and in this study, BRD9757 and compound 8, as capless selective HDAC6 inhibitors, were selected as molecular probes to explore the difference of their binding interactions in HDAC1&6. Through the analysis of binding-free energies and conformational rearrangements after 1 µs molecular dynamics simulation, it could be learned that although the residues in the binding site remained highly consistent, the binding mechanisms of BRD9757 and compound 8 in HDAC1&6 were different, which will provide valuable hints for the discovery of novel selective HDAC6 inhibitors.

Design, Synthesis, and biological evaluation of HDAC6 inhibitors based on Cap modification strategy.

The abnormal biological functions of HDAC6 were closely related to the occurrence and development of various tumors, making HDAC6 gradually become promising therapeutic target for cancer treatment and inspiring researchers to explore and develop selective HDAC inhibitors. In this study, based on the classical pharmacophore model of HDAC inhibitors, 20 compounds were designed and synthesized by modifying the Cap group, and the biological activities of the target compounds were assessed through anti-proliferation and enzyme inhibition experiments. The title compounds exhibited varying degrees of inhibitory activities against the selected tumor cell lines, especially the compounds 9m, 9q, and 12c, which were further evaluated at the enzymatic level. The enzyme inhibition assay showed that compound 12c exerted broad-spectrum enzyme inhibitory activities and compounds 9m and 9q were more inclined to inhibit HDAC6, exhibiting certain selective inhibitory activities among the representative subtypes. Moreover, the binding modes of compounds 9q and 12c in HDAC1&6 were further explored via computational approaches to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying selective inhibitory activities, providing valuable hints for the discovery of novel HDAC6 inhibitors.

Quizalofop-P-ethyl induced developmental toxicity and cardiotoxicity in early life stage of zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Quizalofop-P-ethyl (QpE), a highly efficient selective herbicide, has good control effect on annual and perennial weeds. However, its excessive use will pose a threat to the ecological environment. QpE has been proven harmful to aquatic organisms, but there is little evidence on the adverse effects of QpE in the early life of aquatic organisms. In this work, zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were treated with 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40, and 0.50 mg/L of QpE for 120 h. The findings revealed that the LC50 value of QpE to zebrafish embryos was 0.23 mg/L at 96 hpf. QpE exposure significantly increased the mortality rate, decreased the hatching rate and caused morphological defects during zebrafish embryonic development, with a concentration dependent manner. QpE also caused severe morphological changes in the cardiovascular system, as well as resulted in a dysfunction in cardiovascular performance. Meanwhile, both histopathological examination and neutrophil observations showed inflammatory response occurred in the heart. Furthermore, several genes associated with heart development and inflammation were significantly altered following QpE exposure. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis proved that there was a connection between the changed heart development-relevant and inflammation-related genes. Taken together, our findings suggest that QpE causes cardiotoxicity in zebrafish embryos by altering the expression of genes in the regulatory network of cardiac development, which might be aggravated by inflammatory reactions, thereby affecting embryo development. These findings generated here are useful for in-depth assessment of the effects of QpE on early development of aquatic organisms and providing theoretical foundation for risk management measures.

Significant contribution of secondary particulate matter to recurrent air pollution: Evidence from in situ observation in the most polluted city of Fen-Wei Plain of China.

Particulate matter (PM) pollution in high emission regions will affect air quality, human health and climate change on both local and regional scales, and thus attract worldwide attention. In this study, a comprehensive study on PM2.5 and its chemical composition were performed in Yuncheng (the most polluted city of Fen-Wei Plain of China) from November 28, 2020 to January 24, 2021. The average concentration of PM2.5 was 87.8 ± 52.0 µg/m3, which were apparently lower than those observed during the same periods of past five years, attributable to the clean air action plan implemented in this region. NO3- and organic carbon (OC) were the dominant particulate components, which on average contributed 22.6% and 16.5% to PM2.5, respectively. The fractions of NO3-, NH4+, OC and trace metals increased while those of crustal materials and elemental carbon decreased with the degradation of PM2.5 pollution. Six types of PM2.5 sources were identified by the PMF model, including secondary inorganic aerosol (35.3%), coal combustion (28.7%), vehicular emission (20.7%), electroplating industry (8.6%), smelt industry (3.9%) and dust (2.8%). Locations of each identified source were pinpointed based on conditional probability function, potential source contribution function and concentration weighted trajectory, which showed that the geographical distribution of the sources of PM2.5 roughly agreed with the areas of high emission. Overall, this study provides valuable information on atmospheric pollution and deems beneficial for policymakers to take informed action to sustainably improve air quality in highly polluted region.

Quantitative determination of pyriproxyfen and its metabolite residues in bee products of China using a modified QuEChERS approach with UPLC-MS/MS.

Given the key role of bees as indicators for environmental assessment, residues in bees and bee products have attracted great interest. In this regard, an improved, highly sensitive method for quantifying the insecticide pyriproxyfen and its four metabolites (4'-OH-Pyr, DPH-Pyr, 2-OH-PY, 4'-OH-POP) in honeybees, larvae, and bee products (honey, pollen, royal jelly and wax) should be established. For this purpose, we used ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry for rapid quantification (≤5 min). Recoveries for various matrices ranged from 73.77% to 114.97%, with satisfactory intra-day and inter-day precision (relative standard deviations of 0.03-8.61% and 0.10-7.25%, respectively). The results demonstrated excellent linearity (R2 > 0.9903) with a limit of quantification of 1 µg/kg for six different matrices. We collected and analyzed 597 samples (honey, bees and wax) from four major beekeeping areas in China. Only 47 of these samples contained residues of pyriproxyfen and two of its metabolites (2-OH-PY, 4'-OH-Pyr), and high levels of contamination were found in bee samples (2-739 µg/kg), with substantive accumulation in wax (levels were 9.49% higher than in other samples). The result demonstrate that the method provides a reliable and convenient means of monitoring pyriproxyfen and its metabolites in bee products for better product quality, human health, and international commercial competition and also lays a foundation for risk assessment of potential pyriproxyfen contamination in China.

Engineering Living Mitochondria with AIE Photosensitizer for Synergistic Cancer Cell Ablation.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been increasingly studied in cancer treatment, and several factors have been identified to limit the PDT therapeutic efficiency. Taking Bcl-2 protein as an example, its overexpressing in cancer cells could strengthen the antioxidant and antiapoptotic capability of the cells, making PDT less effective in cancer cell treatment. To address this issue, we developed an engineered living system by integrating an aggregation-induced emission photosensitizer (AIE PS) with bioactive mitochondria (Mito-AIEgen-lipid) for enhanced PDT. The AIE PS engineered mitochondria could not only change the energetic metabolism of cancer cells from aerobic glycolysis to normal oxide phosphorylation for cancer cell growth inhibition but also activate the apoptotic pathway and reduce the expression of antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2. This specific organelle-based living system holds great promise to enhance the therapeutic efficiency of PDT by integrating the advantages of synthetic organic small molecules with biological components.