Publisher Correction: A new antagonist for CCR4 attenuates allergic lung inflammation in a mouse model of asthma.

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In vitro and in vivo antifungal activities and mechanism of heteropolytungstates against Candida species.

The antifungal activities of heteropolytungstates, α-1,2,3-KH[SiWVO] (SiW-3), K[Ce(SiWO)]·17HO (SiW-5), K[Eu(SiWO)]·25HO (SiW-10), KPVWO (PW-6), α-KPVWO (PW-8), were screened in 29 Candida albicans, 8 Candida glabrata, 3 Candida krusei, 2 Candida parapsilosis, 1 Candida tropicalis, and 1 Cryptococcus neoformans strains using the CLSI M27-A3 method. SiW-5 had the highest efficacy with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of <0.2-10.

A new antagonist for CCR4 attenuates allergic lung inflammation in a mouse model of asthma.

CCR4 is highly expressed on Th2 cells. CCR4 ligands include CCL22 and CCL17. Chemokine-like factor 1 can also mediate chemotaxis via CCR4.

Reversing drug resistance of soft tumor-repopulating cells by tumor cell-derived chemotherapeutic microparticles.

Developing novel approaches to reverse the drug resistance of tumor-repopulating cells (TRCs) or stem cell-like cancer cells is an urgent clinical need to improve outcomes of cancer patients. Here we show an innovative approach that reverses drug resistance of TRCs using tumor cell-derived microparticles (T-MPs) containing anti-tumor drugs. TRCs, by virtue of being more deformable than differentiated cancer cells, preferentially take up T-MPs that release anti-tumor drugs after entering cells, which in turn lead to death of TRCs.

Label-free electrochemical nucleic acid biosensing by tandem polymerization and cleavage-mediated cascade target recycling and DNAzyme amplification.

Owing to the intrinsic importance of nucleic acid as bio-targets, the achievement of its simple and sensitive detection with high confidence is very essential for biological studies and diagnostic purposes. Herein, a label-free, isothermal, and ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of target DNA was developed by using a tandem polymerization and cleavage-mediated cascade target recycling and DNAzyme releasing amplification strategy. Upon sensing of the nucleic acid analyte for the assembled hairpin-like probe DNA on the electrode, the DNA polymerase guided the target recycling and simultaneously triggered the lambda exonuclease cleavage, accompanied by the cascade recycling of the released new complementary strand and the amplified liberation of the G-rich sequence of the HRP-mimicking DNAzyme.

A programmable Y-shaped junction scaffold-mediated modular and cascade amplification strategy for the one-step, isothermal and ultrasensitive detection of target DNA.

The programmable DNA polymerization across the two branches of the assembled Y-shaped junction was ingeniously manipulated for modular target recycling and cascade lambda exonuclease cleavage, which afforded the one-pot, isothermal and ultrasensitive detection of target DNA. A low detection limit of 28.2 fM of target DNA with an excellent selectivity could be obtained.

Programmable Mg(2+)-dependent DNAzyme switch by the catalytic hairpin DNA assembly for dual-signal amplification toward homogeneous analysis of protein and DNA.

The catalytic hairpin DNA assembly-programmed active Mg(2+)-dependent DNAzyme was proposed for dual-signal amplified detection toward protein and DNA. The protein detection was implemented with the further combination of an additional terminal protection strategy. The detection limit toward avidin and target DNA could be achieved as 2 pM and 0.

Highly sensitive fluorescence detection of target DNA by coupling exonuclease-assisted cascade target recycling and DNAzyme amplification.

Because of the intrinsic importance of nucleic acid as bio-targets, the simple and sensitive detection of nucleic acid is very essential for biological studies and medical diagnostics. Herein, a simple, isothermal and highly sensitive fluorescence detection of target DNA was developed with the combination of exonuclease III (Exo III)-assisted cascade target recycling and DNAzyme amplification. A hairpin DNA probe was designed, which contained the 3'-protruding DNA fragment as target recognition unit, the caged DNA fragment in the stem region as target analogue, and the caged 8-17 DNAzyme sequence in the loop region as signal response unit.

Design and synthesis of a series of pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives as CCR4 antagonists.

A series of pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives were designed and synthesized based on known CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) antagonists. The activities of all the newly synthesized compounds were evaluated using a chemotaxis inhibition assay. Compound 6b was proven to be a potent CCR4 antagonist that can block cell chemotaxis induced by macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC), thymus and activation regulated chemokine (TARC), and CKLF1, the natural ligands of CCR4.

Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks for kinetic separation of propane and propene.

Propane/propene separation by cryogenic distillation is one of the most energy and cost intensive industrial processes. Adsorptive separation is a more energy-efficient alternative. Three isostructural zinc imidazolate zeolitic framework materials are found, for the first time, to be very promising in the separation of propene and propane based on their different diffusion rates.

Theoretical investigation of the reaction of CF(3)CHFOCH(3) with OH radical.

A direct ab initio dynamics method was used to study the mechanism and kinetics of the reaction CF(3)CHFOCH(3) + OH. Two reaction channels, R1 and R2, were found, corresponding to H-abstraction from a CH(3) group and a CHF group, respectively. The potential energy surface (PES) information was obtained at the G3(MP2)//MP2/6-311G(d,p) level.

[Exon polymorphism of human RHD gene].

Objective: To study exon polymorphism of human RHD gene and investigate the genetic mechanism of RhD-negative individuals.

Methods: PCR using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) was performed on 40 RhD-positive, 120 RhD-negative and 2 weak D blood samples.

Results: All 10 exons could be detected in the 40 RhD-positive and 2 weak D samples.