Morrowmagnusson0892
A collection of potent antimicrobials consisting of novel 1,3-bis-benzoic acid and trifluoromethyl phenyl derived pyrazoles has been synthesized and tested for antibacterial activity. read more The majority of trifluoromethyl phenyl derivatives are highly potent growth inhibitors of Gram-positive bacteria and showed low toxicity to human cultured cells. In particular, two compounds (59 and 74) were selected for additional studies. These compounds are highly effective against Staphylococcus aureus as shown by a low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), a bactericidal effect in time-kill assays, moderate inhibition of biofilm formation as well as biofilm destruction, and a bactericidal effect against stationary phase cells representing non-growing persister cells. Multistep resistance assays showed a very low tendency for S. aureus and Enterococcus faecalis to develop resistance through mutation. Additionally, in vivo mouse model studies showed no harmful effects at doses up to 50 mg/kg using 14 blood plasma organ toxicity markers or TUNEL assay in liver and kidney. Investigations into the mode of action by performing macromolecular synthesis inhibition studies showed a broad range of inhibitory effects, suggesting targets that have a global effect on bacterial cell function.The pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been associated with dysregulation of histone deacetylases (HDACs). Previously, acridine-based HDAC inhibitors have shown potential in ameliorating HDAC activity and enhancing neurite outgrowth. In this study, the acridine ring was modified using various phenothiazine derivatives. Several resulting compounds exhibited potent enzyme-inhibiting activity towards class II HDACs when compared to the clinically approved HDAC inhibitor SAHA. Compound 4f demonstrated the highest class II HDAC inhibition (IC50 = 4.6-600 nM), as well as promotion of neurite outgrowth. Importantly, compound 4f displayed no cytotoxicity against neuron cells. Compound 4f was further evaluated for cellular effects. Altogether, these findings show a potential strategy in HDAC inhibition for treatment of the neurological disease.NLRP3 inflammasome activation plays a critical role in inflammation and its related disorders. Herein we report a hit-to-lead effort resulting in the discovery of a novel and potent class of NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors. Among these, the most potent lead 40 exhibited improved inhibitory potency and almost no toxicity. Further mechanistic study indicated that compound 40 inhibited the NLRP3 inflammasome activation via suppressing ROS production. More importantly, treatment with 40 showed remarkable therapeutic effects on LPS-induced sepsis and DSS-induced colitis. This study encourages further development of more potent inhibitors based on this chemical scaffold and provides a chemical tool to identify its cellular binding target.Developing light-weight, thin thickness and high-efficiency electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers was regarded as an effective strategy for dealing with the increasingly serious problem of electromagnetic radiation pollution. Herein, nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes/zinc ferrite (NRGO/MWCNTs/ZnFe2O4) composite aerogel was synthesized via solvothermal followed by hydrothermal and lyophilization processes. Morphological characterization results manifested that the attained ternary composite aerogel displayed unique three-dimensional porous netlike structure, which was composed of partial stack of adjacent NRGO sheets entangled by MWCNTs and decorated with ZnFe2O4 microspheres. Moreover, the influences of complexing with conductive MWCNTs and magnetic ZnFe2O4, and filler contents on the EMW attenuation performance of ternary composite aerogel were examined. Significantly, the ternary composite aerogel exhibited notably strengthened EMW absorption capacity in comparison with NRGO/MWCNTs composite aerogel, NRGO aerogel and ZnFe2O4 microspheres. The minimum reflection loss (RLmin) was up to -52.6 dB at a thin matching thickness of 1.7 mm and effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) was 5.1 GHz (12.7-17.8 GHz) under an ultrathin thickness of 1.65 mm with a low filler content of 10 wt%. Remarkably, the |SRLmin| (|specific RLmin value per thickness|) could achieve 30.9 dB/mm, which overwhelmed almost all the reported RGO-based composite aerogels. Besides, the possible EMW absorption mechanisms of as-synthesized ternary composite aerogel were proposed. It was believed that our results provided a valuable guidance for fabricating graphene-based composites with three-dimensional netlike structure as light-weight, thin thickness and high-performance EMW absorbers.The anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) interacts strongly with most globular proteins and denatures and unfolds them. While scattering studies using X-rays and neutrons have shown that this denaturation generally leads to protein-decorated SDS micelles, a different SDS-decorated polypeptide model has recently been suggested for complexes between SDS and Ubiquitin (UBI), in which individual SDS molecules are distributed on a partially stretched protein. To resolve this apparent discrepancy, we have investigated the SDS-UBI system by a number of complementary techniques. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) provides the overall structure of the SDS-UBI complexes, Tyr fluorescence and circular dichroism follow changes in tertiary and secondary structure, and isothermal titration calorimetry determines the stoichiometries of complexes and the amount of free SDS as a function of [SDS]. At low [SDS], UBI preserves its folded structure but dimerizes to a small extent. At 4 SDS per UBI, a complex is formed with two UBI and a small shared SDS cluster with 8 SDS molecules. In these complexes UBI preserves most of its native fold. At 10-12 SDS per UBI, which remains below the critical micelle concentration under our conditions, UBI-covered SDS micelles form with four UBIs around a core of 40 SDSs. This implies a protein-assisted micellization and an associated unfolding of UBI involving a change from mainly β-strands to mainly α-helical secondary structure. As [SDS] is increased, the complex gradually changes so that finally only one UBI covers one micelle with a similar number of SDS molecules at SDS saturation. Thus, we conclude that SDS unfolds UBI by mechanisms very similar to those observed for other globular proteins, leading to a protein-decorated SDS micelle rather than an SDS-decorated unfolded polypeptide chain.