PTSA-catalyzed selective synthesis and antibacterial evaluation of 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazoles.

Herein, we developed a convenient and efficient method via protonation of p-toluenesulfonic acid promoted cyclocondensation of o-phenylenediamine and aldehydes for selectively synthesizing 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazoles. This method displayed broad substrate adaptability and afforded the desired products in moderate to excellent yield in short reaction time. The effect of different substituents on the yield was investigated by extending optimum reaction conditions, which was further confirmed by theoretical calculations. It suggested that the surface electrostatic potential of oxygen atom and nitrogen atom on the substrates played important role in the synthesis of 1,2-disubstituted benzimidazoles. Besides, the crystal structure of compound 2t in the orthorhombic space group P2(1)/c was presented. Also, the anti-mycolicibacterium smegmatis (MC2155) activity was evaluated using rifampicin as a positive control. The products (2a, 2b, 2c, 2i, 2j, 2k, 2m) showed good antibacterial activities which were comparable to rifampicin.

Design of a Real-Time Salinity Detection System for Water Injection Wells Based on Fuzzy Control.

Salinity is an important index of water quality in oilfield water injection engineering. To address the need for real-time measurement of salinity in water flooding solutions during oilfield water injection, a salinity measurement system that can withstand a high temperature environment was designed. In terms of the polarization and capacitance effects, the system uses an integrator circuit to collect information and fuzzy control to switch gears to expand the range. Experimental results show that the system can operate stably in a high-temperature environment, with an accuracy of 0.6% and an uncertainty of 0.2% in the measurement range of 1-10 g/L.

Effect of Autoinducer-2 Quorum Sensing Inhibitor on Interspecies Quorum Sensing.

Bacterial drug resistance caused by overuse and misuse of antibiotics is common, especially in clinical multispecies infections. It is of great significance to discover novel agents to treat clinical bacterial infections. Studies have demonstrated that autoinducer-2 (AI-2), a signal molecule in quorum sensing (QS), plays an important role in communication among multiple bacterial species and bacterial drug-resistance. Previously, 14 AI-2 inhibited compounds were selected through virtual screening by using the AI-2 receptor protein LuxP as a target. Here, we used Vibrio harveyi BB170 as a reporter strain for the preliminary screening of 14 inhibitors and compound Str7410 had higher AI-2 QS inhibition activity (IC50 = 0.3724 ± 0.1091 µM). Then, co-culture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 with Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 was used to evaluate the inhibitory effects of Str7410 on multispecies infection in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, Str7410 significantly inhibited the formation of mixed bacterial biofilms. Meanwhile, the combination of Str7410 with meropenem trihydrate (MEPM) significantly improved the susceptibility of mixed-species-biofilm cells to the antibiotic. In vivo, Str7410 significantly increased the survival rate of wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans N2 co-infected by P. aeruginosa PAO1 and S. aureus ATCC 25923. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed that Str7410 reduced virulence factor (pyocyanin and elastase) production and swarming motility of P. aeruginosa PAO1 by downregulating the expression of QS-related genes in strain PAO1 in co-culture with S. aureus ATCC 25923. Compound Str7410 is a candidate agent for treating drug-resistant multispecies infections. The work described here provides a strategy for discovering novel antibacterial drugs.

Neuroprotective Effects of 2-Substituted 1, 3-Selenazole Amide Derivatives on Amyloid-Beta-Induced Toxicity in a Transgenic Caenorhabditis Elegans Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease is an age-related neurodegenerative disease, associated with the presence of extracellular amyloid-ß (Aß) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Although the pathogenesis of AD remains unclear, the characteristic feature of AD was reported to be the buildup of Aß plaques. In this study, we extensively investigated the neuroprotective effects of 2-substituted 1,3-selenazole amide derivatives (CHF11) on Aß1-42 transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans CL4176. Results showed that worms fed with CHF11 exhibited remarkably reduced paralysis, decreased levels of toxic Aß oligomers and Aß plaque deposition, as well as less ROS production in comparison with the untreated worms. The effective concentrations of CHF11 were arranged in the descending order of 100 µM > 10 µM > 1 µM. Real-time PCR analysis showed that there was no significant difference in Aß expression between CHF11-administered group and the blank control group, suggesting that CHF11-induced reduction in toxic protein deposition may be regulated at the post-transcriptional level. In the meantime, the gene expressions of hsf-1 and its downstream target hsp-12.6 were significantly increased, indicating that CHF11 against Aß toxicity may involve in HSF-1 signaling pathway in worms. In conclusion, CHF11 exhibits a significant protective effect against ß-amyloid-induced toxicity in CL4176 by reducing ß-amyloid aggregation and ROS production, which may involve in HSF-1 and downstream target HSP-12.6 pathway.

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone derivatives as potent quorum-sensing inhibitors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1.

Due to the increasing resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to most clinically relevant antimicrobials, it is challenging to treat bacterial infection with traditional antibiotics. Quorum sensing can regulate the production of biofilms and virulence factors which are closely related to bacterial resistance. Previously we synthesized a series of oxazolidinone compounds targeting the quorum-sensing transcriptional regulatory protein CviR and ZS-12 showed good activity against Chromobacterium violaceum CV026 quorum-sensing. In this study, eighteen 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone compounds were designed and synthesized using ZS-12 as the lead compound. We initially evaluated the inhibitory activities of novel oxazolidinone compounds against QS using C. violaceum CV026 as a reporter strain. Thirteen compounds showed good activities (IC50 range 3.69-63.58 µM) and YXL-13 inhibition was the most significant (IC50 = 3.686 ± 0.5790 µM) against biofilm formation and virulence factors determination of P. aeruginosa PAO1. In vitro, YXL-13 significantly inhibited the formation of PAO1 biofilm (range 42.98%-17.67%), the production of virulence factors (pyocyanin, elastase, rhamnolipid, and protease), and bacterial motility. Moreover, the combination of YXL-13 with an antibiotic (meropenem trihydrate) could significantly improve the antibiotic susceptibility of biofilm P. aeruginosa PAO1 cells. In vivo, YXL-13 significantly prolonged the lifespan of wildtype Caenorhabditis elegans N2 infected by P. aeruginosa PAO1. In conclusion, YXL-13 is a candidate agent for antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa PAO1and provides a method for finding new antibacterial drugs.