An Efficient Method for the Selective Syntheses of Sodium Telluride and Symmetrical Diorganyl Tellurides and the Investigation of Reaction Pathways.

Studies on organotellurium compounds have not been extensively conducted due to a lack of tolerable synthetic methods, difficult isolation processes, and their chemical instabilities. Overcoming these hurdles, we developed an efficient and mild method for the selective synthesis of symmetrical diorganyl tellurides , a representative class of organotellurium compounds, using a proper reducing reagent. The reaction condition was optimized for the selective formation of by forming the telluride dianion (Te) using a reducing reagent, sodium borohydride (NaBH), and then followed by the addition of organyl halides.

Tumor-homing peptide iRGD-conjugate enhances tumor accumulation of camptothecin for colon cancer therapy.

Poor intracellular uptake of therapeutics in the tumor parenchyma is a key issue in cancer therapy. We describe a novel approach to enhance tumor targeting and achieve targeted delivery of camptothecin (CPT) based on a tumor-homing internalizing RGD peptide (iRGD). We synthesized an iRGD-camptothecin conjugate (iRGD-CPT) covalently coupled by a heterobifunctional linker and evaluated its in vitro and in vivo activity in human colon cancer cells.

Mitochondria targeting molecular transporters: synthesis, lipophilic effect, and ionic complex.

As mitochondria are potential therapeutic targeting sites for the treatment of human diseases, delivering cytotoxic drugs, antioxidants, and imaging molecules to mitochondria can provide new therapeutic opportunities. In an attempt to develop a new mitochondria-targeting vector, we synthesized sorbitol-based molecular transporters with multiple guanidines, measured their partition coefficients, compared their targeting efficiency using fluorescent images and Pearson's correlation coefficients, and studied cellular uptake mechanisms. To increase the targeting ability of these molecular transporters to mitochondria, alanine-naphthalene as a lipophilic group was attached to the molecular transporter, which improved translocation across cellular membranes and led to higher accumulation in mitochondria.

Highly stretchable superhydrophobic surface by silica nanoparticle embedded electrospun fibrous mat.

Hypothesis: Obtaining simultaneous stretchability and superhydrophobicity remains a great challenge in stretchable electronics, and wearable devices. Inspired by natural surfaces, such as lotus leaf, surface roughness and coating materials are the fundamental requirements to achieve superhydrophobicity.

Experiments: We prepared an elastic fibrous mat by electrospinning of a composite solution made of thermoplastic elastomer as an organic polymer matrix, and silica nanoparticles as inorganic additives to support surface roughness.

Versatility of cell-penetrating peptides for intracellular delivery of siRNA.

The plasma membrane is a large barrier to systemic drug delivery into cells, and it limits the efficacy of drug cargo. This issue has been overcome using cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs). CPPs are short peptides (6-30 amino acid residues) that are potentially capable of intracellular penetration to deliver drug molecules.