AQ-4, a deuterium-containing molecule, acts as a microtubule-targeting agent for cancer treatment.

The important physiological function of microtubules makes them an indispensable and clinically effective target of anti-tumor agents. Herein, we sought to design, synthesize, and evaluate a novel 4-anilinoquinazoline derivative and identify its anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo. The novel compound, N-(4-methoxyphenyl)-N-methyl-2-(methyl-d)quinazolin-4-amine (AQ-4), was identified as a representative scaffold and potent microtubule-targeting agent.

Shikonin attenuates sympathetic remodeling in chronic heart failure mice via regulating miR-124.

Aims: Shikonin is a naphthoquinone compound extracted from the root of Lithospermum with various pharmacological activities. Sympathetic neural remodeling greatly contributes to chronic heart failure. Growing evidence has identified a critical role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in a variety of cardiac biological processes.

Molecular Basis Underlying Leaf Variegation of a Moth Orchid Mutant ( subsp. ).

Leaf variegation is often the focus of plant breeding. Here, we studied a variegated mutant of subsp. , which is usually used as a parent of horticultural breeding, to understand its anatomic and genetic regulatory mechanisms in variegation.

Characterization of Genomic Inheritance of Intergeneric Hybrids between Ascocenda and Phalaenopsis Cultivars by GISH, PCR-RFLP and RFLP.

Background: The intergeneric hybrids between Ascocenda John De Biase 'Blue' and Phalaenopsis Chih Shang's Stripes have been generated to introduce the blue color into the Phalaenopsis germplasm in prior study. In order to confirm the inheritance in hybrid progenies, genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis were conducted to confirm the intergeneric hybridization status.

Methods/results: GISH analysis showed the presence of both maternal and paternal chromosomes in the cells of the putative hybrids indicating that the putative hybrid seedlings were intergeneric hybrids of the two parents.

Determination of perfluorocarboxylic acids in water by ion-pair dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with injection port derivatization.

A novel technique for derivatization in a gas chromatograph injection port after a one-step extraction of trace perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) in water with ion pair formation during dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) was investigated. Tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate (TBAHS) was used as the ion pair reagent. PFCA butyl ester derivatives were formed in the GC injection port and then analyzed using gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry with negative chemical ionization.

Headspace solid phase microextraction in-situ supercritical fluid extraction coupled to gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for simultaneous determination of perfluorocarboxylic acids in sediments.

Headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) in-situ supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) was investigated for the determination of trace amounts of perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs) in sediments. Quantitation was performed by using gas chromatography coupled to negative chemical ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-NCI-MS/MS). The optimum conditions of HS-SPME following SFE were obtained using 500 μL n-butanol as a derivatization reagent in supercritical carbon dioxide with static extraction for 10 min, then dynamic extraction for 20 min at 30 MPa and 70 °C and simultaneous collected with 100 μm film thickness PDMS fiber.