Prostate-Specific Antigen Monitoring Using Nano Zinc(II) Metal-Organic Framework-Based Optical Biosensor.

BACKGROUND: The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is an important cancer biomarker that is commonly utilized in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. The development of a PSA determination technique that is rapid, simple, and inexpensive, in addition to highly accurate, sensitive, and selective, remains a formidable obstacle. METHODS: In this study, we developed a practical biosensor based on Zn(II) metal-organic framework nanoparticles (Zn-MOFs-NPs). Many spectroscopic and microanalytical tools are used to determine the structure, morphology, and physicochemical properties of the prepared MOF. RESULTS: According to the results, Zn-MOFs-NPs are sensitive to PSA, selective to an extremely greater extent, and stable in terms of chemical composition. Furthermore, the Zn-MOFs-NPs did not exhibit any interferences from other common analytes that might cause interference. The detection limit for PSA was calculated and was 0.145 fg/mL throughout a wide linear concentration range (0.1 fg/mL-20 pg/mL). CONCLUSIONS: Zn-MOFs-NPs were successfully used as a growing biosensor for the monitoring and measurement of PSA in biological real samples.

Theoretical Investigation by DFT and Molecular Docking of Synthesized Oxidovanadium(IV)-Based Imidazole Drug Complexes as Promising Anticancer Agents.

Vanadium compounds have been set in various fields as anticancer, anti-diabetic, anti-parasitic, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial agents. This study reports the synthesis and structural characterization of oxidovanadium(IV)-based imidazole drug complexes by the elemental analyzer, molar conductance, magnetic moment, spectroscopic techniques, as well as thermal analysis. The obtained geometries were studied theoretically using density functional theory (DFT) under the B3LYP level. The DNA-binding nature of the ligands and their synthesized complexes has been studied by the electronic absorption titrations method. The biological studies were carried with in-vivo assays and the molecular docking method. The EPR spectra asserted the geometry around the vanadium center to be a square pyramid for metal complexes. The geometries have been confirmed using DFT under the B3LYP level. Moreover, the quantum parameters proposed promising bioactivity of the oxidovanadium(IV) complexes. The results of the DNA-binding revealed that the investigated complexes bind to DNA via non-covalent mode, and the intrinsic binding constant (Kb) value for the [VO(SO4)(MNZ)2] H2O complex was promising, which was 2.0 × 106 M-1. Additionally, the cytotoxic activity of the synthesized complexes exhibited good inhibition toward both hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2) and human breast cancer (HCF-7) cell lines. The results of molecular docking displayed good correlations with experimental cytotoxicity findings. Therefore, these findings suggest that our synthesized complexes can be introduced as effective anticancer agents.

QSAR Modeling, Molecular Docking and Cytotoxic Evaluation for Novel Oxidovanadium(IV) Complexes as Colon Anticancer Agents.

Four new drug-based oxidovanadium (IV) complexes were synthesized and characterized by various spectral techniques, including molar conductance, magnetic measurements, and thermogravimetric analysis. Moreover, optimal structures geometry for all syntheses was obtained by the Gaussian09 program via the DFT/B3LYP method and showed that all of the metal complexes adopted a square-pyramidal structure. The essential parameters, electrophilicity (ω) value and expression for the maximum charge that an electrophile molecule may accept (ΔNmax) showed the practical biological potency of [VO(CTZ)2] 2H2O. The complexes were also evaluated for their propensity to bind to DNA through UV-vis absorption titration. The result revealed a high binding ability of the [VO(CTZ)2] 2H2O complex with Kb = 1.40 × 106 M-1. Furthermore, molecular docking was carried out to study the behavior of the VO (II) complexes towards colon cancer cell (3IG7) protein. A quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) study was also implemented for the newly synthesized compounds. The results of validation indicate that the generated QSAR model possessed a high predictive power (R2 = 0.97). Within the investigated series, the [VO(CTZ)2] 2H2O complex showed the greatest potential the most selective compound comparing to the stander chemotherapy drug.

S-scheme mesoporous Li2MnO3/g-C3N4 heterojunctions as efficient photocatalysts for the mineralization of trichloroethylene in aqueous media.

Novel mesoporous Li2MnO3/g-C3N4 heterostructures were prepared for the first time by utilizing the sol-gel route in the presence of a nonionic surfactant. TEM and XRD measurements showed that Li2MnO3 (5-10 nm) with monoclinic structures was uniformly distributed onto porous g-C3N4 for the construction of Li2MnO3/g-C3N4 heterojunctions. The obtained photocatalysts were assessed for mineralization and removal of trichloroethylene (TCE) in aqueous media under visible light exposure. Complete degradation of TCE over a 3 %Li2MnO3/g-C3N4 heterostructure within 120 min was achieved. The degradation rate over Li2MnO3/g-C3N4 heterostructures was significantly enhanced, and the 3% Li2MnO3/g-C3N4 heterostructure exhibited a large degradation rate of 7.04 µmolL-1 min-1, which was enhanced by 5 and 3.8 fold compared to those of pristine g-C3N4 (1.39 µmolL-1 min-1) and Li2MnO3 (1.85 µmolL-1 min-1), respectively. The photocatalytic efficiency of the Li2MnO3/g-C3N4 heterojunction was outstandingly promoted because integrating Li2MnO3 with g-C3N4 could create close interfaces with well-matched band potentials for easy mobility and low recombination of photoinduced carriers. The coexistence of Li2MnO3/g-C3N4 interfaces led to a synergic effect, which is considered the key factor in photoinduced electron-hole separation. The synthesis procedure that was employed here is a promising process for the preparation of effective g-C3N4-based photocatalyst systems for photocatalysis applications.

Synthesis, Structural Investigations, Molecular Docking, and Anticancer Activity of Some Novel Schiff Bases and Their Uranyl Complexes.

Three novel 2-aminopyrazine Schiff bases derived from salicylaldehyde derivatives and their uranyl complexes were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, UV-vis, FTIR, molar conductance, and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The proposed structures were optimized using density functional theory (DFT/B3LYP) and 6-311G ∗(d,p) basis sets. All uranyl complexes are soluble in DMSO and have low molar conductance, which indicates that all the complexes are nonelectrolytes. The DNA binding of those Schiff bases and their uranyl complexes was studied using UV-vis spectroscopy, and screening of their ability to bind to calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) showed that the complexes interact with CT-DNA through an intercalation mode, for which the Kb values ranged from 1 × 106 to 3.33 × 105 M-1. The anticancer activities of the Schiff base ligands and their uranyl complexes against two ovarian (Ovcar-3) and melanoma cell lines (M14) were investigated, and the results indicated that uranyl complexes exhibit better results than the Schiff base ligands. Molecular docking identified the distance, energy account, type, and position of links contributing to the interactions between these complexes and two different cancer proteins (3W2S and 2OPZ).

CoAl2O4-g-C3N4 Nanocomposite Photocatalysts for Powerful Visible-Light-Driven Hydrogen Production.

There is no doubt that the rate of hydrogen production via the water splitting reaction is profoundly affected to a remarkable degree based on the isolation of photogenerated electrons from holes. The precipitation of any cocatalysts on the substrate surfaces (including semiconductor materials) provides significant hindrance to such reincorporation. In this regard, a graphite-like structure in the form of mesoporous g-C3N4 formed in the presence of a template of mesoporous silica has been synthesized via the known combustion method. Hence, the resulting g-C3N4 nanosheets were decorated with varying amounts of mesoporous CoAl2O4 nanoparticles (1.0-4.0%). The efficiencies of the photocatalytic H2 production by CoAl2O4-doped g-C3N4 nanocomposites were studied and compared with those of pure CoAl2O4 and g-C3N4. Visible light irradiation was carried out in the presence of glycerol as a scavenger. The results showed that the noticeable photocatalytic enhancement rate was due to the presence of CoAl2O4 nanoparticles distributed on the g-C3N4 surface. The 3.0% CoAl2O4-g-C3N4 nanocomposite had the optimum concentration. This photocatalyst showed extremely high photocatalytic activities that were up to 22 and 45 times greater than those of CoAl2O4 and g-C3N4, respectively. This photocatalyst also showed 5 times higher photocatalytic stability than that of CoAl2O4 or g-C3N4. The presence of CoAl2O4 nanoparticles as a cocatalyst increased both the efficiency and productivity of the CoAl2O4-g-C3N4 photocatalyst. This outcome was attributed to the mesostructures being efficient charge separation carriers with narrow band gaps and high surface areas, which were due to the presence of CoAl2O4.

Correction to: Novel advanced nanomaterial based on ferrous metal-organic framework and its application as chemosensors for mercury in environmental and biological samples.

The authors would like to call the reader's attention to the fact that, unfortunately, there was an oversight regarding the Acknowledgment in this manuscript; please find the correct information below.

Novel advanced nanomaterial based on ferrous metal-organic framework and its application as chemosensors for mercury in environmental and biological samples.

In this work, promising novel ferrous metal-organic framework nanoparticles (Fe(II)-MOF-NPs) were prepared via a simple method. The produced materials were fully characterized using FE-SEM, EDX, HR-TEM, elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, FT-IR, UV-Vis, TG/DSC, XRD, XPS, and analysis of magnetic properties. Colorimetric and photoluminescence (PL) investigations of Fe(II)-MOF-NPs were also carried out. The specific coordination binding between the Hg(II) and amino groups of the MOF led to an enhancement of the PL and the absorbance intensities. Therefore, Hg(II) concentrations could be determined quantitatively. A fast, sensitive, and selective method of mercury ion detection based on colorimetric and PL chemosensors using Fe(II)-MOF-NPs was developed. At optimal conditions, the PL and colorimetric chemosensors exhibited stable responses for Hg(II) in a concentration range of 1.0 nM to 1.0 µM with detection limits (LOD) = 1.17 and 1.14 nM and quantification limits (LOQ) = 1.59 and 1.48 nM, respectively. The developed PL and colorimetric chemosensors exhibited high selectivity towards Hg(II) over the other competing metal ions. Moreover, both ultrasensitive chemosensors were further investigated for determination of Hg(II) in different water sources (tap, mineral, river, sea, and wastewater) as well as in biological samples (blood serum and urine samples), with satisfactory recoveries. Graphical abstract.

Pre-steady state reactivity of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)-21H,23H-porphyrin iron(III) chloride with hydrogen peroxide.

A stopped-flow study has shown that tetrakis(pentafluoro-phenyl)porphyrin iron(III) chloride reacts rapidly (<3 ms) with hydrogen peroxide to form a Fe(III)-H(2)O(2) complex where log K = 2.39. This subsequently undergoes rapid intramolecular conversion (k = 4.4 s(-1)) to an iron(IV) intermediate, which in turn reacts with hydrogen peroxide (k' = 54.3 M(-1) s(-1)) to reform the original Fe(III)-H(2)O(2) complex.