Progress in research on gut microbiota in ethnic minorities in China and consideration of intervention strategies based on ethnic medicine: A review.

One of the variables affecting gut microbiota is ethnicity. There are 56 ethnic subgroups in China, and their intestinal flora differs. A wealth of medical resources has also been produced by the presence of numerous ethnic minorities.

In Vivo Self-Assembly Induced Cell Membrane Phase Separation for Improved Peptide Drug Internalization.

Therapeutic peptides have been widely concerned, but their efficacy is limited by the inability to penetrate cell membranes, which is a key bottleneck in peptide drugs delivery. Herein, an in vivo self-assembly strategy is developed to induce phase separation of cell membrane that improves the peptide drugs internalization. A phosphopeptide KYp is synthesized, containing an anticancer peptide [KLAKLAK] (K) and a responsive moiety phosphorylated Y (Yp).

Pityriacitrin marine alkaloids as novel antiviral and anti-phytopathogenic-fungus agents.

Background: Plant diseases have been gripping agricultural production, seriously affecting the growth and yields of crops. Marine natural products are an important source for novel drugs discovery. In this work, pityriacitrin marine alkaloids were selected as the parent structures.

Enzyme-sensitive cytotoxic peptide-dendrimer conjugates enhance cell apoptosis and deep tumor penetration.

Peptide nanodrugs have been developed as promising antitumor chemotherapeutics because they partially overcome the drawbacks of free peptide drugs, but insufficient tumor penetration and interference of peptide function limit their further application. In this work, we have developed multifunctional peptide conjugated dendrimers for improving tumor penetration, cancer cell-specific peptide delivery and anticancer ability. The cytotoxic peptide KLAK, cell-penetrating peptide TAT and matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2)-sensitive peptide-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) were conjugated onto dendrimers by one-pot synthesis to gain PKT-S-PEG.

Self-Assembled ROS-Sensitive Polymer-Peptide Therapeutics Incorporating Built-in Reporters for Evaluation of Treatment Efficacy.

One of the major challenges in current cancer therapy is to maximize therapeutic effect and evaluate tumor progression under the scheduled treatment protocol. To address these challenges, we synthesized the cytotoxic peptide (KLAKLAK)2 (named KLAK) conjugated amphiphilic poly(β-thioester)s copolymers (H-P-K) composed of reactive oxygen species (ROS) sensitive backbones and hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) side chains. H-P-K could self-assemble into micelle-like nanoparticles by hydrophobic interaction with copolymer backbones as cores and PEG and KLAK as shells.

Meta-analysis of the MDM2 T309G polymorphism and gastric cancer risk.

Background: Mdm2 binds to the amino-terminus of p53 to induce its degradation and a single nucleotide polymorphism in the MDM2 promoter region (T309G) has been reported to increase the risk of several carcinomas, such as gastric cancer. However, the results of published studies to analyze the association between MDM2 T309G and gastric cancer havve often conflicted.

Methods: To better illustrate the filiation between MDM2 T309G and gastric cancer, we performed a meta-analysis.

Anti-bacterial and in vivo tumor treatment by reactive oxygen species generated by magnetic nanoparticles.

Photodynamic therapy is widely used in clinics and for anti-bacterial applications. The major challenge is the limited depth of tissue penetration of light and poor targetability. In this study, magnetite nanoparticles were used as a highly sensitive T-weighted MR imaging contrast agents to target the tumor and mimic horseradish peroxidase (HRP), which could catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) to inhibit the tumor in vivo.

(E)-2-Bromo-4-[(1,5-dimethyl-3-oxo-2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)imino-meth-yl]-6-meth-oxy-phenyl 4-methyl-benzene-sulfonate.

In the title compound, C(26)H(24)BrN(3)O(5)S, the central benzene ring makes dihedral angles of 6.27 (6), 33.63 (6) and 69.

(E)-4-[(1,5-Dimethyl-3-oxo-2-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)imino-meth-yl]-2-meth-oxy-phenyl 4-bromo-benzene-sulfonate.

In the title compound, C(25)H(22)BrN(3)O(5)S, the central benzene ring makes dihedral angles of 4.41 (10), 67.09 (9) and 62.

4-Meth-oxy-3-(4-nitro-benz-yloxy)benzaldehyde.

In the title compound, C(15)H(13)NO(5), the two benzene rings make a dihedral angle of 3.98 (7)°. The crystal packing is stabilized by weak non-classical inter-molecular C-H⋯O inter-actions that link mol-ecules into centrosymmetric tetra-mers.

A luminescent beta-cyclodextrin-based Ru(phen)3 complex as DNA compactor, enzyme inhibitor, and translocation tracer.

A beta-cyclodextrin-based Ru(phen)(3) complex (1) has been synthesized and exhibits good luminescent behavior. Atomic force microscopic and scanning electron microscopic studies show that 1 can induce the aggregation of originally circular DNA to toroidal or spherical shapes. The morphology of these DNA aggregates changes following a pathway of naked circular DNA --> toroid with gaps --> solid toroid --> spherical aggregate, depending on the different 1/DNA (w/w) ratios, and their average diameters vary from the nanometer to micrometer scale.

Selective binding and inverse fluorescent behavior of magnesium ion by podand possessing plural imidazo[4,5-f]-1,10-phenanthroline groups and its Ru(II) complex.

[structure: see text] Two podands, 4,4'-[(ethylenedioxy)bis(ethyleneoxy)]bis[1-(2-imidazo[4,5-f]-1,10-phenanthroline)benzene] (1) and [Ru(phen)(2)](2)(1)(PF(6))(4) (2) complex, were synthesized from 1,10-phenanthroline. The photophysical behavior and the binding ability of 1 and 2 with some alkali metal and alkaline earth cations were investigated by UV-vis and fluorescence spectrometry and (1)H NMR experiments as well as fluorescence lifetime measurements. The complex stability constants (K(S)) and Gibbs free energy changes (DeltaG degrees ) for the stoichiometric 1:1 complexation of 1 and 2 with the cations were obtained by the fluorimetric titrations.

Cooperative self-assembly and molecular binding behavior of cyclodextrin-crown ether conjugates mediated by alkali metal ions.

In order to quantitatively investigate their molecular binding ability, a series of cyclodextrin-crown ether conjugates containing beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CyD) and crown ether units, i.e.N-(benzoaza-15-crown-5)acylaminomethylene tethered 6-diethylenetriamino-6-deoxy-beta-CyD, N-(benzoaza-15-crown-5)acylaminomethylene tethered 6-triethylenetetraamino-6-deoxy-beta-CyD and 4',5'-dimethylene-benzo-15-crown-5 tethered 6-diethylenetriamino-6-deoxy-beta-CyD, have been prepared as ditopic molecular receptors.