A Potential Serum -glycan Biomarker for Hepatitis C Virus-Related Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Liver Cirrhosis.

Detection of early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is beneficial for prolonging patient survival. However, the serum markers currently used show limited ability to identify early-stage HCC. In this study, we explored human serum -glycans as sensitive markers to diagnose HCC in patients with cirrhosis.

Phase-segregated NiP @FeP O core@shell nanoparticles: ready-to-use nanocatalysts for electro- and photo-catalytic water oxidation through activation by structural transformation and spontaneous ligand removal.

The high overpotential of the oxygen evolution reaction is a critical issue to be overcome to realize efficient overall water splitting and enable hydrogen generation powered by sunlight. Homogeneous and stable nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed in solvents are useful as both electrocatalysts and cocatalysts of photocatalysts for the electro- and photo-catalytic oxygen evolution reaction, respectively, through their adsorption on various electrode substrates. Here, phase-segregated NiP @FeP O core@shell NPs are selectively synthesized by the reaction of Fe(CO) with amorphous NiP seed-NPs.

Serum leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein-1 with fucosylated triantennary N-glycan: a novel colorectal cancer marker.

Background: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA)19-9 are used in clinical practice as tumor markers to diagnose or monitor colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, However, their specificities and sensitivities are not ideal, and novel alternatives are needed. In this study, mass spectrometry was used to search for screening markers, focusing on glycan alterations of glycoproteins in the sera of CRC patients.

Methods: Glycopeptides were prepared from serum glycoproteins separated from blood samples of 80 CRC patients and 50 healthy volunteers, and their levels were measured by liquid chromatography time-of flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS).

Boosting photocatalytic overall water splitting by Co doping into MnO nanoparticles as oxygen evolution cocatalysts.

The effect of cobalt doping into a manganese oxide (tetragonal spinel MnO) nanoparticle cocatalyst up to Co/(Co + Mn) = 0.4 (mol/mol) on the activity of photocatalytic water oxidation was studied. Monodisperse ∼10 nm CoMnO (0 ≤y≤ 0.

Nickel Catalyzed Copolymerization of Ethylene and Alkyl Acrylates.

Ni(II) complexes bearing an o-bis(aryl)phosphinophenolate ligand were synthesized as catalysts for copolymerization of ethylene and alkyl acrylates. When the P-bound aryl group was 2,6-dimethoxyphenyl group, one of the oxygen atoms in the methoxy groups coordinated to the nickel center on its apical position. This complex was a highly active catalyst without any activators to give highly linear and high molecular weight copolymers.

Improvement of operational stability of Ogataea minuta carbonyl reductase for chiral alcohol production.

Directed evolution of enantio-selective carbonyl reductase from Ogataea minuta was conducted to improve the operational stability of the enzyme. A mutant library was constructed by an error-prone PCR and screened using a newly developed colorimetric assay. The stability of a mutant with two amino acid substitutions was significantly higher than that of the wild type at 50°C in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide.

Visible Light-Driven Z-Scheme Water Splitting Using Oxysulfide H Evolution Photocatalysts.

A SmTiSO (STSO) oxysulfide photocatalyst prepared by a novel flux method showed a higher degree of crystallinity and greater photocatalytic activity than that prepared by conventional polymerized complex and sulfurization processes. Co-loading with both IrO, as an oxidative cocatalyst, and Pt, as a reductive cocatalyst, was found to be essential for promoting the photocatalytic activity of the STSO. Visible light-driven Z-scheme water splitting into H and O was realized by utilizing the STSO photocatalyst for H evolution in conjunction with a WO photocatalyst treated with H and Cs and loaded with PtO for O evolution, and a triiodide/iodide (I/I) redox couple as a shuttle electron mediator.

Highly Efficient Water Oxidation Photoanode Made of Surface Modified LaTiO N Particles.

An improved variation of highly active/durable O -evolving LaTiO N powder-based photoelectrode has been fabricated by pre-cleaning the powder with mild polysulfonic acid and by homogeneous deposition of CoO co-catalyst aided by microwave annealing. The treatment in aqueous solution of poly(4-styrene sulfonic acid) results in removal of surface LaTiO N layers, forming fine pores in the crystallites. The CoO co-catalyst by microwave deposition in Co(NH ) Cl /ethylene glycol homogeneously covers the particle surface.

Multifucosylated Alpha-1-acid Glycoprotein as a Novel Marker for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

High-sensitivity and -specificity diagnostic techniques to detect early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are in high demand. Screening with serum HCC markers, such as alpha-fetoprotein, is not practical because they possess poor sensitivity and specificity. As such, we focused on glycan alterations of glycoproteins found in patient sera in an attempt to discover novel HCC markers that are more specific and sensitive than current HCC markers.

Fully Aromatic High Performance Thermoset via Sydnone-Alkyne Cycloaddition.

We have developed an efficient synthetic platform for the preparation of a new class of high performance thermosets based on the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of a bifunctional sydnone with a trifunctional alkyne. These processable materials possess outstanding thermal stability, with Td5% of 520 °C and a weight loss of <0.1% per day at 225 °C (both in air).

Novel Enzyme Family Found in Filamentous Fungi Catalyzing trans-4-Hydroxylation of L-Pipecolic Acid.

Hydroxypipecolic acids are bioactive compounds widely distributed in nature and are valuable building blocks for the organic synthesis of pharmaceuticals. We have found a novel hydroxylating enzyme with activity toward L-pipecolic acid (L-Pip) in a filamentous fungus, Fusarium oxysporum c8D. The enzyme L-Pip trans-4-hydroxylase (Pip4H) of F.

Fully-sialylated alpha-chain of complement 4-binding protein: Diagnostic utility for ovarian clear cell carcinoma.

Objective: While a certain fraction of endometriomas can develop de novo epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) such as clear cell carcinoma (OCCC), there is currently no useful biomarker available for early detection of OCCC from endometriomas. The aim of this study was to describe the diagnostic utility of a novel biomarker for EOC especially for OCCC to distinguish from endometrioma.

Methods: More than 100,000 glycan structures of serum glycoproteins obtained from 134 pretreatment all stage EOC patients (including 45 OCCCs) and 159 non-cancer control women (including 36 endometriomas) were explored for a mass spectrum approach.

Anagliptin, a potent dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor: its single-crystal structure and enzyme interactions.

The single-crystal structure of anagliptin, N-[2-({2-[(2S)-2-cyanopyrrolidin-1-yl]-2-oxoethyl}amino)-2-methylpropyl]-2-methylpyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-6-carboxamide, was determined. Two independent molecules were held together by intermolecular hydrogen bonds, and the absolute configuration of the 2-cyanopyrrolidine ring delivered from l-prolinamide was confirmed to be S. The interactions of anagliptin with DPP-4 were clarified by the co-crystal structure solved at 2.

M-path: a compass for navigating potential metabolic pathways.

Motivation: Construction of synthetic metabolic pathways promises sustainable production of diverse chemicals and materials. To design synthetic metabolic pathways of high value, computational methods are needed to expand present knowledge by mining comprehensive chemical and enzymatic information databases. Several computational methods have been already reported for the metabolic pathway design, but until now computation complexity has limited the diversity of chemical and enzymatic data used.

Heterologous expression of l-lysine α-oxidase from Scomber japonicus in Pichia pastoris and functional characterization of the recombinant enzyme.

Fish have a complex self-defense mechanism against microbial invasion. Recently, l-lysine α-oxidases have been identified from a number of fish species as a novel type of antibacterial protein in the integument. These enzymes exhibit strict substrate specificity for l-lysine, but the underlying mechanisms and details of their catalytic properties remain unknown.

Human turnover dynamics during sleep: statistical behavior and its modeling.

Turnover is a typical intermittent body movement while asleep. Exploring its behavior may provide insights into the mechanisms and management of sleep. However, little is understood about the dynamic nature of turnover in healthy humans and how it can be modified in disease.

Characterization of a thermostable 2,4-diaminopentanoate dehydrogenase from Fervidobacterium nodosum Rt17-B1.

2,4-Diaminopentanoate dehydrogenase (2,4-DAPDH), which is involved in the oxidative ornithine degradation pathway, catalyzes the NAD(+)- or NADP(+)-dependent oxidative deamination of (2R,4S)-2,4-diaminopentanoate (2,4-DAP) to form 2-amino-4-oxopentanoate. A Fervidobacterium nodosum Rt17-B1 gene, Fnod_1646, which codes for a protein with sequence similarity to 2,4-DAPDH discovered in metagenomic DNA, was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli, and the gene product was purified and characterized. The purified protein catalyzed the reduction of NAD(+) and NADP(+) in the presence of 2,4-DAP, indicating that the protein is a 2,4-DAPDH.

A study of gait acceleration and synchronisation in healthy adult subjects.

Accelerometry-based gait analysis is widely recognised as a promising tool in healthcare and clinical settings since it is unobtrusive, inexpensive and capable of providing insightful information on human gait characteristics. In order to expand the application of this technology in daily environments, it is desirable to develop reliable gait measures and their extraction methods from the acceleration signal that can differentiate between normal and atypical gait. Important examples of such measures are gait cycle and gait-induced acceleration magnitude, which are known to be closely related to each other depending on each individual's physical condition.

Outer arm fucosylation of N-glycans increases in sera of hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Serum glycans are promising markers for early-stage cancer detection, but the research remains challenging because low concentrations of serum glycoproteins are secreted from early-stage tumors. We have established an N-glycan profiling method using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry with high sensitive derivative, trimethyl(4-aminophenyl)ammonium chloride (TMAPA). The mass sensitivity of TMAPA-labeled oligosaccharides was enhanced more than 50 times compared with 2-aminopyridine (PA) labeled oligosaccharides, and the analytical period was significantly shortened compared with traditional HPLC 2D-mapping.

Ab initio study of ultrafast photochemical reaction dynamics of phenol blue.

Phenol blue (PB) is a primary skeletal structure part of indoaniline dyes and well-known as a solvatochromic dye. It has been recently observed by pump-probe (PP) transient absorption measurements that PB shows ultrafast ground state recovery within a few hundred femtoseconds after photoexcitation. In this work, the ultrafast photochemical reaction mechanism of PB has been investigated using direct ab initio (CASSCF) nonadiabatic molecular dynamics with the trajectory surface hopping (TSH) method.

CASSCF and CASPT2 studies on the structures, transition energies, and dipole moments of ground and excited states for azulene.

The electronic structure of azulene molecule has been studied. We have obtained the optimized structures of ground and singlet excited states by using the complete active space self-consistent-field (CASSCF) method, and calculated vertical and 0-0 transition energies between the ground and excited states with second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (CASPT2). The CASPT2 calculations indicate that the bond-equalized C(2v) structure is more stable than the bond-alternating C(s) structure in the ground state.