The Designs and Applications of Tetraphenylethylene Macrocycles and Cages.

Macrocycles and cages are very attractive for the development of functional materials due to their unique inner cavities. Building blocks with interesting functions and synthetic conveniences are especially attractive. Tetraphenylethylene (TPE) is such an entity with C symmetry and tetrakis-functional groups easily modifiable.

Two-Dimensional Detergent Expansion Strategy for Membrane Protein Studies.

Detergents are the most frequently applied reagents in membrane protein (MP) studies. The limited diversity of one-head-one-tailed traditional detergents, however, is far from sufficient for structurally distinct MPs. Expansion of detergent repertoire has a continuous momentum.

Structure-Activity Relationship Studies of Hydantoin-Cored Ligands for Smoothened Receptor.

An underside binding site was recently identified in the transmembrane domain of smoothened receptor (SMO). Herein, we report efforts in the exploration of new insights into the interactions between the ligand and SMO. The hydantoin core in the middle of the parent compound was found to be highly conservative in chirality, ring size, and substituents.

Catalytically Cleavable Detergent for Membrane Protein Studies.

Throughout the studies of membrane proteins (MPs), proper detergents are essential for the preparation of stable aqueous samples. To date, universally applicable detergents have not yet been reported to accommodate the distinct requirements for the highly diversified MPs and at the different stages of MP manipulation. Detergent exchange often has to be performed.

Design and synthesis of novel dual-cyclic RGD peptides for αβ integrin targeting.

The specific binding of RGD cyclic peptide with integrin αβ attracts great research interest for tumor-targeting drug delivery. Herein, we designed and synthesized a series of dual-ring RGD-peptide derivatives as a drug carrier for αβ targeting. Three novel peptides showed excellent cell adhesion inhibition effect, in which, P3 exhibited 7-fold enhancement in IC compared with cyclo(RGDfK).

Glycoconjugate probes containing a core-fucosylated N-glycan trisaccharide for fucose lectin identification and purification.

Glyco-PAMAM dendrimers and glyco-agarose beads bearing a core-fucosylated N-glycan trisaccharide GlcNAcβ1,4(Fucα1,6)GlcNAc or a non-fucose disaccharide GlcNAcβ1,4GlcNAc were successfully synthesized and characterized by monosaccharide analysis with HPAEC-PAD technique. These glycoconjugates as fucose lectin probes were applied in fucose-specific lectin detection and purification. The model fucose lectin AAL indicated binding activity with the FITC-labeled PAMAM carrying core-fucose trisaccharide.

Glycoengineering and glycosite-specific labeling of serum IgGs from various species.

Chemoenzymatic glycoengineering of immunoglobulin G (IgG) catalyzed by Endo-S is a powerful approach to remodel the heterogeneous N-glycoforms of Fc domain with a homogeneous synthetic glycan structure for enhanced Fc receptor-mediated effector functions. The previous researches on the method development mainly focused on human or humanized IgGs with therapeutic potentials. Here, for the first time we report the extended application of this method on glycan-remodeling of serum IgGs from other species including rabbit, mouse, and goat.

Atmospheric pressure liquefaction of dried distillers grains (DDG) and making polyurethane foams from liquefied DDG.

In this study, dried distillers grains (DDG) was liquefied in acidic conditions at atmospheric pressure, and polyurethane foams were subsequently prepared from the liquefied DDG. Liquefaction was examined over a range of conditions including liquefaction time of 1-3 h, temperature of 150-170 degrees C, sulfuric acid (as catalyst) concentration of 1.0-3.