Mild Photochemical Reduction of Alkenes and Heterocycles via Thiol-Mediated Formate Activation.

The reduction of alkenes to their respective alkanes is one of the most important transformations in organic chemistry, given the abundance of natural and commercial olefins. Metal-catalyzed hydrogenation is the most common way to reduce alkenes; however, the use of H gas in combination with the precious metals required for these conditions can be impractical, dangerous, and expensive. More complex substrates often require extremely high pressures of H, further emphasizing the safety concerns associated with these hydrogenation reactions.

Multistep Engineering of Synergistic Catalysts in a Metal-Organic Framework for Tandem C-O Bond Cleavage.

Cleavage of strong C-O bonds without breaking C-C/C-H bonds is a key step for catalytic conversion of renewable biomass to hydrocarbon feedstocks. Herein we report multistep sequential engineering of orthogonal Lewis acid and palladium nanoparticle (NP) catalysts in a metal-organic framework (MOF) built from (Al-OH) secondary building units and a mixture of 2,2'-bipyridine-5,5'-dicarboxylate (dcbpy) and 1,4-benzenediacrylate (pdac) ligands () for tandem C-O bond cleavage. Ozonolysis of selectively removed pdac ligands to generate Al(OH)(OH) sites, which were subsequently triflated with trimethylsilyl triflate to afford strongly Lewis acidic sites for dehydroalkoxylation.

Metal-Organic Frameworks Significantly Enhance Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution and CO Reduction with Earth-Abundant Copper Photosensitizers.

We report here the design of two multifunctional metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and comprising cuprous photosensitizers (Cu-PSs) and molecular Co or Re catalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (HER) and CO reduction (CORR), respectively. Hierarchical organization of Cu-PSs and Co/Re catalysts in these MOFs facilitates multielectron transfer to drive HER and CORR under visible light with an HER turnover number (TON) of 18 700 for and a CORR TON of 1328 for , which represent a 95-fold enhancement over their homogeneous controls. Photophysical and electrochemical investigations revealed the reductive quenching pathway in HER and CORR catalytic cycles and attributed the significantly improved performances of MOFs over their homogeneous counterparts to enhanced electron transfer due to close proximity between Cu-PSs and active catalysts and stabilization of Cu-PSs and molecular catalysts by the MOF framework.

The small-molecule MERTK inhibitor UNC2025 decreases platelet activation and prevents thrombosis.

Unlabelled: Essentials Signaling by Gas6 through Tyro3/Axl/Mer receptors is essential for stable platelet aggregation. UNC2025 is a small molecule inhibitor of the Mer tyrosine kinase. UNC2025 decreases platelet activation in vitro and thrombus formation in vivo.

Wnt7a is a novel inducer of β-catenin-independent tumor-suppressive cellular senescence in lung cancer.

Cellular senescence is an initial barrier for carcinogenesis. However, the signaling mechanisms that trigger cellular senescence are incompletely understood, particularly in vivo. Here we identify Wnt7a as a novel upstream inducer of cellular senescence.

hsa-miR29b, a critical downstream target of non-canonical Wnt signaling, plays an anti-proliferative role in non-small cell lung cancer cells via targeting MDM2 expression.

In non-small cell lung cancer cell lines, activation of β-catenin independent signaling, via Wnt7a/Frizzled9 signaling, leads to reversal of cellular transformation, reduced anchorage-independent growth and induction of epithelial differentiation. miRNA expression profiling on a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line (A549) identified hsa-miR29b as an important downstream target of Wnt7a/Frizzled9 signaling. We show herein that hsa-miR29b expression is lost in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines and stimulation of β-catenin independent signaling, via Wnt7a expression, in NSCLC cell lines results in increased expression of hsa-miR29b.

Non-small-cell lung cancer: molecular targeted therapy and personalized medicine - drug resistance, mechanisms, and strategies.

Targeted therapies for cancer bring the hope of specific treatment, providing high efficacy and in some cases lower toxicity than conventional treatment. Although targeted therapeutics have helped immensely in the treatment of several cancers, like chronic myelogenous leukemia, colon cancer, and breast cancer, the benefit of these agents in the treatment of lung cancer remains limited, in part due to the development of drug resistance. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of drug resistance and the current strategies used to treat lung cancer.

Long-term balancing selection at the blood group-related gene B4galnt2 in the genus Mus (Rodentia; Muridae).

Recent surveys of the human genome have highlighted the significance of balancing selection in relation to understanding the evolutionary origins of disease-associated variation. Cis-regulatory variation at the blood group-related glycosyltransferase B4galnt2 is associated with a phenotype in mice that closely resembles a common human bleeding disorder, von Willebrand disease. In this study, we have performed a survey of the 5' flanking region of the B4galnt2 gene in several Mus musculus subspecies and Mus spretus.