One-pot synthesis of Ag-Cu-Cu2O/C nanocomposites derived from a metal-organic framework as a photocatalyst for borylation of aryl halide.

Mixed metal-metal oxide/C (Ag-Cu-Cu2O/C) nanocomposites were synthesized by the heat treatment of a metal-organic framework under a N2 flow using the one-pot synthesis method. The as-prepared nanocomposites were characterized using a range of techniques, such as TEM, elemental mapping, XRD, N2 sorption, UV-Vis DRS, and XPS. The nanoparticles were successfully formed with high dispersion in porous carbon materials and high crystallinity based on the analysis results. The Ag-Cu-Cu2O/C nanocomposites (35 nm) showed high photocatalytic activity and good recyclability toward the borylation of aryl halides under a xenon arc lamp. This result can enhance the interest in photocatalysis for various applications, particularly in organic reactions, using a simple and efficient synthesis method.

An Integrated Approach for the Efficient Extraction and Solubilization of Rice Microsomal Membrane Proteins for High-Throughput Proteomics.

The preparation of microsomal membrane proteins (MPs) is critically important to microsomal proteomics. To date most research studies have utilized an ultracentrifugation-based approach for the isolation and solubilization of plant MPs. However, these approaches are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and unaffordable in certain cases. Furthermore, the use of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and its removal prior to a mass spectrometry (MS) analysis through multiple washing steps result in the loss of proteins. To address these limitations, this study introduced a simple micro-centrifugation-based MP extraction (MME) method from rice leaves, with the efficacy of this approach being compared with a commercially available plasma membrane extraction kit (PME). Moreover, this study assessed the subsequent solubilization of isolated MPs in an MS-compatible surfactant, namely, 4-hexylphenylazosulfonate (Azo) and SDS using a label-free proteomic approach. The results validated the effectiveness of the MME method, specifically in the enrichment of plasma membrane proteins as compared with the PME method. Furthermore, the findings showed that Azo demonstrated several advantages over SDS in solubilizing the MPs, which was reflected through a label-free quantitative proteome analysis. Altogether, this study provided a relatively simple and rapid workflow for the efficient extraction of MPs with an Azo-integrated MME approach for bottom-up proteomics.

Synthesis and initial screening of lactate dehydrogenase inhibitor activity of 1,3-benzodioxole derivatives.

Cancer is one of the main causes of mortality in the world. Many cancer cells produce ATP through high-level lactic acid fermentation catalyzed by lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), which converts pyruvic acid to lactic acid. LDH plays a dominant role in the Warburg effect, wherein aerobic glycolysis is favored over oxidative phosphorylation. Due to the high lactic acid production level in cancer cells, LDH-targeting could be a potential cancer treatment strategy. A few approaches, such as drug treatment, reportedly inhibited LDH activity. In this study, we describe new 1,3-benzodioxole derivatives that might be potential small molecule candidates for LDHA inhibition. The synthesis was carried out by trans-esterification between aryl ester and alcohol groups from piperonyl alcohol. Compounds 2 and 10 exhibited a selective LDHA IC50 value of 13.63 µM and 47.2 µM, respectively. Whereas only compound 10 showed significant cytotoxicity in several lines of cancer cells, especially in human pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cells. These synthesized compounds possess 2 aromatic rings and -CF3 moiety, which expectedly contributes to LDHA inhibition. The presented products have the potential to become a promising LDHA inhibitor drug candidate.