Development of a Smart Fluorescent Probe Specifically Interacting with C-Myc I-Motif.

I-motifs play key regulatory roles in biological processes, holding great potential as attractive therapeutic targets. In the present study, we developed a novel fluorescent probe with strong and selective binding to the gene promoter i-motif. had an i-motif-binding carbazole moiety conjugated with naphthalimide fluorescent groups.

Transcriptional regulation of telomeric repeat-containing RNA by acridine derivatives.

Telomere is a specialized DNA-protein complex that plays an important role in maintaining chromosomal integrity. Shelterin is a protein complex formed by six different proteins, with telomeric repeat factors 1 (TRF1) and 2 (TRF2) binding to double-strand telomeric DNA. Telomeric DNA consists of complementary G-rich and C-rich repeats, which could form G-quadruplex and intercalated motif (i-motif), respectively, during cell cycle.

Syntheses and evaluation of acridone-naphthalimide derivatives for regulating oncogene PDGFR-β expression.

Upregulation of platelet-derived growth factor receptor β (PDGFR-β) has been found to be associated with development of various types of cancers, which has become an attractive target for anti-tumor treatment. Previously, we have synthesized and studied an acridone derivative B19, which can selectively bind to and stabilize oncogene c-myc promoter i-motif, resulting in down-regulation of c-myc transcription and translation, however its effect on tumor cells apoptosis requires improvement. In the present study, we synthesized a variety of B19 derivatives containing a known anti-cancer fluorescent chromophore naphthalimide for the purpose of enhancing anti-cancer activity.

Position Effect of Fatty Acid Modification on the Cytotoxicity and Antimetastasis Potential of the Cytotoxic Peptide Lycosin-I.

Peptide modification with fatty acids is an effective method to improve peptide performance. We previously investigated the fatty acid modification of R-lycosin-I, a cytotoxic peptide derived from lycosin-I from the venom of the spider . In this study, we further investigated the position effects of fatty acid modification of lycosin-I.

Monosaccharide Analogues of Anticancer Peptide R-Lycosin-I: Role of Monosaccharide Conjugation in Complexation and the Potential of Lung Cancer Targeting and Therapy.

Glycoconjugation is a promising modification strategy for the optimization of peptide drugs. In this study, five different monosaccharide derivatives () were covalently linked to the N-terminal of R-lycosin-I, which yielded five glycopeptides (). They demonstrated increased or reduced cytotoxicity depending on monosaccharide types, which might be explained by the changes of physicochemical properties.

Biosafety Level 4 Laboratory User Training Program, China.

Experienced, qualified personnel certified to work in high-level biocontainment laboratories contribute to the safe operation of these facilities. China began a training program for laboratory users after establishing its first Biosafety Level 4 laboratory, the Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory (Level 4) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. We provide an overview of the content of this training program, which can serve as a reference for developing national norms for high-containment laboratory training.

The Roles of Fatty-Acid Modification in the Activity of the Anticancer Peptide R-Lycosin-I.

We previously reported that R-lycosin-I, modified by amino acid substitution from lycosin-I, was a peptide with anticancer activity and a linear amphipathic α-helix conformation and that it can induce cancer cell apoptosis and inhibit cell proliferation. However, the anticancer activity of R-lycosin-I was not highly improved. In order to further improve the anticancer activity of R-lycosin-I, fatty acids with different chain lengths from 12 to 20 carbons were introduced to the N-terminal of R-lycosin-I to yield five lipopeptides (R-C, R-C, R-C, R-C, R-C).

Arginine modification of lycosin-I to improve inhibitory activity against cancer cells.

Lycosin-I is a linear amphipathic α-helical anticancer peptide (ACP) extracted from the spider Lycosa singoriensis, which can activate the mitochondrial death pathway to induce apoptosis in tumor cells and up-regulate p27 to inhibit cell proliferation. However, the applicability of lycosin-I as a novel anticancer drug is limited by its low cellular entry and efficacy in solid tumors. Amino acid substitution presents an effective and modest strategy to improve the anticancer activity and bioavailability of ACPs.

Open Resonator Electric Spaser.

The inception of the plasmonic laser or spaser (surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) concept in 2003 provides a solution for overcoming the diffraction limit of electromagnetic waves in miniaturization of traditional lasers into the nanoscale. From then on, many spaser designs have been proposed. However, all existing designs use closed resonators.

Conductance fluctuations in graphene in the presence of long-range disorder.

The fluctuations in the conductance of graphene that arise from a long-range disorder potential induced by random impurities are investigated with an atomic tight-binding lattice. The screened impurities lead to a slow variation of the background potential and this varies the overall potential landscape as the Fermi energy or an applied magnetic field is varied. As a result, the phase interference varies randomly and leads to fluctuations in the conductance.

Conductance fluctuations in semiconductor nanostructures.

Conductance fluctuations have been seen in semiconductors and graphene for quite some time. It has generally been believed that a universality existed in which the conductance variance was the same for variations in energy and magnetic field, although some experiments have questioned this view. Here, we use numerical simulations to show that fluctuations in magneto-conductance are typically smaller than those in energy by as much as a factor of 3.