Clavuridins A and B, two new trinor-guaiane sesquiterpenes isolated from the Xisha soft coral Clavularia viridis.

In the present study, two new trinor-guaiane sesquiterpenes, named clavuridins B (1), and A (2), along with three known sesquiterpenes (3-5), were isolated from the Xisha soft coral Clavularia viridis. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis with Cu Kα radiation and by comparison with related model compounds. Compounds 1 and 3-5 were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity.

Continuous synthesis and anti-myocardial injury of tanshinone IIA derivatives.

A series of tanshinone IIA derivatives were synthesized through sulfonation, slat-forming, chlorination, and amidation reactions. Meanwhile, anti-myocardial injury activity was evaluated in vitro. D8 and D9 exhibited a slightly higher anti-myocardial injury (5.

Wnt/β-catenin signaling plays an important role in the protective effects of FDP-Sr against oxidative stress induced apoptosis in MC3T3-E1 cell.

Strontium fructose 1,6-diphosphate (FDP-Sr) is a new strontium-containing compound. The primary aim of this study was to clarify whether the structure component of FDP-Sr, FDP could benefit the protective effect of Sr (II) against oxidative stress induced apoptosis, and meanwhile to further explore the important role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the anti-apoptosis effect of FDP-Sr in response to oxidative stress induced by H2O2 in an osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cell line. Results showed that FDP-Sr could improve the osteoblastic differentiation under oxidative stress with induced cell proliferation and improved mineralization.

Discovery of a novel NEDD8 Activating Enzyme Inhibitor with Piperidin-4-amine Scaffold by Structure-Based Virtual Screening.

NEDD8 activating enzyme (NAE) plays an important role in regulating intracellular proteins with key parts in a broad array of cellular functions. Here, we report a structure-based virtual screening of a compound library containing 50 000 small molecular entities against the active site of NAE. Computational docking and scoring followed by biochemical screening and target validation lead to the identification of 1-benzyl-N-(2,4-dichlorophenethyl) piperidin-4-amine (M22) as a selective NAE inhibitor.

Effect of Cholesterol on Cellular Uptake of Cancer Drugs Pirarubicin and Ellipticine.

The cell membrane is a major barrier for drug transport. Given that many cancer drugs must passively cross the cell membrane, understanding drug-membrane interactions is crucial. We used fluorescence-activated cell sorting to investigate how cholesterol influences the transport of the cancer drugs ellipticine and pirarubicin across cell membranes.

Design and Characterization of a Multifunctional pH-Triggered Peptide C8 for Selective Anticancer Activity.

Most drug delivery systems have been developed for efficient delivery to tumor sites via targeting and on-demand strategies, but the carriers rarely execute synergistic therapeutic actions. In this work, C8, a cationic, pH-triggered anticancer peptide, is developed by incorporating histidine-mediated pH-sensitivity, amphipathic helix, and amino acid pairing self-assembly design. We designed C8 to function as a pH-responsive nanostructure whose cytotoxicity can be switched on and off by its self-assembly: Noncytotoxic β-sheet fibers at high pH with neutral histidines, and positively charged monomers with membrane lytic activity at low pH.

3D-QSAR Based Pharmacophore Modeling and Virtual Screening for Identification of Novel G Protein-Coupled Receptor40 Agonists.

Pharmacophore models of G protein-coupled receptor40 (GPR40) agonists were developed using Discovery Studio V2.1. One hydrogen bond acceptor and three hydrophobic features, Hypo 1 which was the best hypothesis, had a correlation co-efficient of 0.

Enhanced bioelectricity generation by improving pyocyanin production and membrane permeability through sophorolipid addition in Pseudomonas aeruginosa-inoculated microbial fuel cells.

Improvement on electron shuttle-mediated extracellular electron transfer (EET) is of great potential to enhance the power output of MFCs. In this study, sophorolipid was added to enhance the performance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa-inoculated MFC by improving the electron shuttle-mediated EET. Upon sophorolipid addition, the current density and power density increased ∼ 1.

Bioavailability comparison of a new form of vilazodone XVII to IV in beagles using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Vilazodone hydrochloride (CAS 163521-12-8) is polymorphic and has 15 crystal forms, referred to as I-XI and XIII-XVI. In the study, we prepared and performed structural identification of a new crystal form named XVII. To investigate this in vivo, a rapid and sensitive method based on liquid-liquid extraction, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was developed and validated for the determination of vilazodone hydrochloride in dog plasma.

Characterization of process-related impurities including forced degradation products of alogliptin benzoate and the development of the corresponding reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method.

The characterization of process-related impurities and forced degradants of alogliptin benzoate (Alb) in bulk drugs and a stability-indicating HPLC method for the separation and quantification of all the impurities were investigated. Alb was found to be unstable under acid and alkali stress conditions and two major degradation products (Imp-F and Imp-G) were observed. The optimum separation was achieved on Kromasil C18 (250 × 4.

Enhancement of bioelectricity generation by cofactor manipulation in microbial fuel cell.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising for harnessing bioenergy from various organic wastes. However, low electricity power output (EPT) is one of the major bottlenecks in the practical application of MFCs. In this study, EPT improvement by cofactor manipulation was explored in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa-inoculated MFCs.

Enhancement of bioelectricity generation by manipulation of the electron shuttles synthesis pathway in microbial fuel cells.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising for generating bioenergy and treating organic waste simultaneously. However, low extracellular electron transfer (EET) efficiency between electrogens and anodes remains one of the major bottlenecks in practical applications of MFCs. In this paper, pyocyanin (PYO) synthesis pathway was manipulated to improve the EET efficiency in Pseudomonas aeruginosa-inoculated MFCs.

2-(1-Methyl-2-oxoindolin-3-yl-idene)malono-nitrile.

The title mol-ecule, C12H7N3O, is almost planar, with an r.m.s.

5-Methyl-N-(1,3-thia-zol-2-yl)isoxazole-4-carboxamide.

In the title compound, C8H7N3O2S, the dihedral angle between the thia-zol and isoxazole rings is 34.08 (13)°. In the crystal, the mol-ecules are linked by pairs of N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers, and C-H⋯O inter-actions, resulting in chains along the b-axis direction.

Ultrasonic pretreatment and acid hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse for succinic acid production using Actinobacillus succinogenes.

Immense interest has been devoted to the production of bulk chemicals from lignocellulose biomass. Diluted sulfuric acid treatment is currently one of the main pretreatment methods. However, the low total sugar concentration obtained via such pretreatment limits industrial fermentation systems that use lignocellulosic hydrolysate.

Fungal arachidonic acid-rich oil: research, development and industrialization.

Fungal arachidonic acid (ARA)-rich oil is an important microbial oil that affects diverse physiological processes that impact normal health and chronic disease. In this article, the historic developments and technological achievements in fungal ARA-rich oil production in the past several years are reviewed. The biochemistry of ARA, ARA-rich oil synthesis and the accumulation mechanism are first introduced.

Succinic acid production by Actinobacillus succinogenes NJ113 using corn steep liquor powder as nitrogen source.

In this study, corn steep liquor powder (CSL) was used as nitrogen source to replace the relatively costly yeast extract typically used for the production of succinic acid with Actinobacillus succinogenes NJ113. Moreover, when heme was added to the fermentation medium and the culture was agitated at a low speed, a maximum succinic acid concentration of 37.9 g/l was obtained from a glucose concentration of 50 g/l, and a productivity of 0.

Butanol production from acid hydrolyzed corn fiber with Clostridium beijerinckii mutant.

Sulfuric acid treated corn fiber hydrolysate (SACFH) inhibited cell growth and the production of butanol (4.7±0.2 g/L) by Clostridium beijerinckii IB4 in P2 medium.

An oxidoreduction potential shift control strategy for high purity propionic acid production by Propionibacterium freudenreichii CCTCC M207015 with glycerol as sole carbon source.

The effects of oxidoreduction potential (ORP) regulation on the process of propionic acid production by Propionibacterium freudenreichii CCTCC M207015 have been investigated. Potassium ferricyanide and sodium borohydride were determined as ORP control agents through serum bottle experiment. In batch fermentation, cell growth, propionic acid and by-products distribution were changed with ORP levels in the range of 0-160 mV.

Butanol production from hemicellulosic hydrolysate of corn fiber by a Clostridium beijerinckii mutant with high inhibitor-tolerance.

A Clostridium beijerinckii mutant RT66 with considerable inhibitor-tolerance obtained by continuous culture was used for butanol production from non-detoxified hemicellulosic hydrolysate of corn fiber treated with dilute sulfuric acid (SAHHC). In fed-batch fermentation, 1.8L of diluted SAHHC containing 10 g/L of reducing sugar was provided during the acidogenic phase and 0.

N-Cyclo-hexyl-N-{[3-(4,6-dimeth-oxy-pyrimidin-2-yl-oxy)pyridin-2-yl]meth-yl}4,6-dimeth-oxy-pyrimidin-2-amine.

In the title compound, C(24)H(30)N(6)O(5), the cyclo-hexyl ring adopts a chair conformation, while the remainder of the mol-ecule adopts a U-shape. The dihedral angles between the pyridine ring and the pendant pyrimidine rings are 69.04 (12) and 75.

[2-(1H-Indol-4-yl)eth-yl]dipropyl-amine.

In the title compound, C(16)H(24)N(2), the aliphatic amine substituent is rotated almost orthogonally [C-C-C-C torsion angle = 75.7 (3)°] out of the plane of the indole unit. The amine N atom has a pyramidal configuration deviating by 0.

5-Methyl-N-[2-(trifluoro-meth-yl)phen-yl]isoxazole-4-carboxamide.

In the title compound, C(12)H(9)F(3)N(2)O(2), the benzene ring is nearly perpendicular to the isoxazole ring, making a dihedral angle of 82.97 (2)°. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a supra-molecular chain running along the c axis.

rac-Methyl 2-(2-formyl-4-nitro-phen-oxy)hexa-noate.

In the racemic title compound, C(14)H(17)NO(6), the plane of the ester group of the methyl hexa-noate side chain makes a dihedral angle of 80.0 (2)° with the benzene ring, while the nitro group is approximately coplanar with the benzene ring [dihedral angle = 10.3 (2)°].

(4R*,5R*)-Diethyl 2-(4-nitro-phen-yl)-1,3-dioxolane-4,5-dicarboxyl-ate.

In the title compound, C(15)H(17)NO(8), the nitro group is essentially coplanar with the aromatic ring [dihedral angle = 6.4 (3) Å]. The five-membered ring has a twist conformation.