Malikmckenzie1406

The results showed that the antitussive activity of EE was almost all contained in PEE and ECE. The 16 major peaks in PEE were identified as 15 lignans (1-12 and 14-16) and 1 triterpene (compound 13), and 3 major peaks (1, 17, and 18) in ECE were also identified as lignans. Three doses of five compounds brought about a significant decrease in number of cough efforts (P  less then  .01), and the cough inhibition rates were between 40.9% and 85.1%. Therefore, lignans are the antitussive ingredients of S. chinensis.The anticancer effects of Shinan (Shinan-South Korea) sea salts on azoxymethane (AOM)/dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) with high fat diet (HFD)-induced colon cancer and obesity in C57BL/6N mice were studied. We prepared three types of sea salt generally manufactured sea salt (GS), generally manufactured after filtering seawater (FS), and manufactured with only new seawater (NS). Sea salt intake increased colon length and reduced colon length/weight ratio, tumor number, and progression of colon cancer in colon tissue. The differently prepared sea salts also ameliorated liver injury. In addition, the mineral composition of each salt was different. Moreover, the sea salts enhanced activation of natural killer cell (CD56) expression in colon and spleen tissues. However, the mineral compositions of sea salts were not simply associated with anticancer effects in AOM/DSS+HFD induced mice. Thus, the anticolorectal cancer effects of sea salts may be mediated by different factors, which remain to be identified.The chemistry occurring in the interstellar medium (ISM) is an active area of contemporary research. New aspects of interstellar chemistry are getting unraveled regularly. In this context, the role of metal-ions in the chemistry occurring in the ISM is not well-studied so far. Herein, we highlight the role of metal-ions in interstellar chemistry. For this purpose, we choose the problem of gas-phase formamide formation in interstellar molecular clouds. Formamide is a key biomonomer and contains the simplest peptide [-(C═O)-NH-] linkage. With its two electronegative atoms ("O" and "N"), it provides an excellent platform to probe the role of the metal-ions. The metal-ions chosen are Na+, K+, Al+, Mg+, and Mg2+-all of them present in the ISM. The metal-ions are studied in three different forms as bare positively charged ions, as hydrated metal-ions co-ordinated with a molecule of water, and when the metal-ions are part of a neutral covalent molecule. With the aid of electronic structure calculations [CCSD(T) and DFT methods], we study different gas-phase pathways which result in the generation of interstellar formamide. Throughout our study, we find that metal-ions lower the barriers (with Mg+, Mg++, and Al+ offering maximal stabilization of the transition states) and facilitate the reactions. The chemical factors influencing the reactions, how we consider the putative conditions in the ISM, the astrochemical implications of this study, and its connection with terrestrial prebiotic chemistry and refractory astrochemistry are subsequently presented. Based on our results, we also recommend the detection of two new closed-shell molecules, NH2CH2OH (aminomethanol) and CH2NH2+ (iminium ion), and two open-shell molecules, CONH2 (carbamyl radical) and HCONH (an isomer of carbamyl radical), in the ISM.The Li metal anode is a promising key component for next-generation high-energy-density batteries. Understanding the charge/discharge mechanism of Li metal is therefore necessary for the effective utilization of Li metal anodes in commercial batteries. In this study, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) combined with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) was conducted to reveal the chemical state of the Li metal anode surface. Cryogenic techniques and ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs) enabled the observation of electrodeposited Li metal on the nanometer scale. The chemical compositions of several surface layers were revealed by cryo-STEM-EELS analysis, and these measurements gave crucial information regarding the surface layer of the electrodeposited Li metal.Ligand-mediated interface control has been broadly applied as a powerful tool in constructing sophisticated nanocomposites. However, the resultant morphologies are usually limited to solid structures. Now, a facile spatially controllable ligand-mediated superassembly strategy is explored to construct monodispersed, asymmetric, hollow, open Au-silica (SiO2) nanotadpoles (AHOASTs). By manipulating the spatial density of ligands, the degree of diffusion of silica can be precisely modulated; thus the diameters of the cavity can be continuously tuned. Due to their highly anisotropic, hollow, open morphologies, we construct a multicompartment nanocontainer with enzymes held and isolated inside the cavity. Furthermore, the resulting enzyme-AHOASTs are used as biocompatible smart H2O2-sensitive nanoswimmers and demonstrate a higher diffusion coefficient than other nanoscaled swimmers. We believe that this strategy is critical not only in designing sophisticated hollow nanosystem but also in providing great opportunities for applications in nanomaterial assembly, catalysis, sensors, and nanoreactors.High concentrations of micro- and nanoparticles of common plastic materials present in the environment are causing an adverse health impact on living organisms. As a model study, here we report the synthesis and characterization of luminescent polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanoparticles and investigate the interaction with normal human lung fibroblast cells (IMR 90) to understand the uptake, translocation, and toxicity of PVC and PMMA nanoparticles. The synthesized particles are in the size range of 120-140 nm with a negative surface potential. The colocalization and uptake efficiency of the nanoparticles were analyzed, and the cytotoxicity assay shows significant reduction in cell viability. Cellular internalization was investigated using colocalization and dynasore inhibitor tests, which showed that the PVC and PMMA nanoparticles enter into the cell via endocytosis. The polymer nanoparticles induced a reduction in viability, decrease in adenosine triphosphate, and increase in reactive oxygen species and lactate dehydrogenase concentrations. In addition, the polymer nanoparticles caused cell cycle arrest at sub-G1, G0/G1, and G2/M phases, followed by apoptotic cell death. selleck chemicals Our results reported here are important to the emerging data on understanding the impact of common polymer particles on human health.Protein cages hold much promise as carrier systems in nanomedicine, due to their well-defined size, cargo-loading capacity, and inherent biodegradability. In order to make them suitable for drug delivery, they have to be stable under physiological conditions. In addition, often surface modifications are required, for example, to improve cell targeting or reduce the particle immunogenicity by PEGylation. For this purpose, we investigated the functionalization capacity of the capsid of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV), modified at the interior with a stabilizing elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) tag, by employing a combination of protein engineering and bio-orthogonal chemistry. We first demonstrated the accessibility of the native cysteine residue in ELP-CCMV as a site-selective surface-exposed functional handle, which was not available in the native CCMV capsid. An additional bio-orthogonal functional handle was introduced by incorporation of the noncanonical amino acid, azido-phenylalanine (AzF), using the amber suppression mechanism. Dual site-selective presentation of both a cell-penetrating TAT peptide and a fluorophore to track the particles was demonstrated successfully in HeLa cell uptake studies.Hydroxyapatite (HA) coating has received significant attention in the scientific community for the development of implants, and HA coating on titanium oxide (TiO2) nanotubes has shown potential benefits in the improvement of cell proliferation, adhesion, and differentiation. In this study, a HA coating on a TiO2 nanotubular surface was developed to improve the biocompatibility of the titanium (Ti) surface via magnetron sputtering. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface profilometry, and water contact goniometry revealed that HA-coated TiO2 nanotubes influenced the surface roughness (Ra) and hydrophilicity. The XRD and FTIR peaks indicated the presence of crystalline phases of TiO2 (anatase) and HA-coated TiO2 nanotubes after annealing at 500 °C for 120 min. The HA-coated TiO2 nanotubes showed significantly increased Ra and decreased water contact angle (θ) compared to the as-anodized TiO2 nanotubular and bare CP-Ti surfaces. MTS assay using osteoblast-like cells confirmed that the HA-coated TiO2 nanotubular surface provided an enhanced cell attachment and growth when compared to as-anodized TiO2 nanotubular and pure CP-Ti surfaces.Anticancer agents that present nonapoptotic cell death pathways are required for treating apoptosis-resistant pancreatic cancer. Here, we synthesized three fluorescent dithiocarbazate-copper complexes, [CuII(L)(Cl)] 1, [CuII2(L)2(NO3)2] 2, and [CuII2CuI(L)2(Br)3] 3, to assess their antipancreatic cancer activities. Complexes 1-3 showed significantly greater cytotoxicity toward several pancreatic cancer cell lines with better IC50 than those of the HL ligand and cisplatin. Confocal fluorescence imaging showed that complex 3 was primarily localized in the mitochondria. Primarily, compound 3 also can be applied to in vivo imaging. Further studies revealed that complex 3 kills pancreatic cancer cells by triggering multiple mechanisms, including ferroptosis. Complex 3 is the first copper complex to evoke cellular events consistent with ferroptosis in cancer cells. Finally, it significantly retarded the ASPC-1 cells' growth in a mouse xenograft model.Magnetic anisotropy, in the absence of an external magnetic field, relates to the degeneracy lift of energy levels. In the standard case of transition metal complexes, this property is usually modeled by an anisotropic spin Hamiltonian and one speaks of "zero-field splitting" (ZFS) of spin states. While the case of mononuclear complexes has been extensively described by means of ab initio quantum mechanical calculations, the literature on polynuclear complexes studied with these methodologies is rather scarce. In this work, advanced multiconfigurational wave function theory methods are applied to compute the ZFS of the ground S = 4 state of an actual tetranickel(II) complex, displaying a magnet behavior below 0.5 K. First, the isotropic couplings are computed in the absence of the spin-orbit coupling operator, in the full complex and also in clusters with only two active nickel(II) centers, confirming the occurrence of weak ferromagnetic couplings in this system. Second, the single-site magnetic anisotropies are computed on a cluster bearing only one active nickel(II) site, showing that the single-site anisotropy axes are not oriented in an optimal fashion for generating a large uniaxial molecular anisotropy. Furthermore, the possibility for involving only a few local orbital excited states in the calculation is assessed, actually opening the way for a consistent and manageable treatment of the ZFS of the ground S = 4 state. Third, multiconfigurational calculations are performed on the full complex, confirming the weak uniaxial anisotropy occurring for this state and also, interestingly, revealing a significant contribution of the lowest-lying orbitally excited S = 3 states. Overall, by comparison with the experiment, the reported results question the common habit of using only one structure, in particular derived from a crystallography experiment, to compute magnetic anisotropy parameters.