Research Progress on Structure-Activity Relationship of 1,8-Naphthalimide DNA Chimeras Against Tumor.

The development of 1,8-naphthalimide derivatives as cell probes, DNA targeting agents, and anti-tumor drugs is one of the research hotspots in the field of medicine. Naphthalimide compounds are a kind of DNA embedder, which can change the topological structure of DNA by embedding in the middle of DNA base pairs, and then affect the recognition and action of topoisomerase on DNA. Aminofide and mitonafide are the first 2 drugs to undergo clinical trials. They have good DNA insertion ability, can embed DNA double-stranded structure, and induce topoisomerase II to cut part of pBR322DNA, but not yet entered the market due to their toxicity. In this paper, the design and structure-activity relationship of mononaphthalimide and bisaphthalimide compounds were studied, and the relationship between the structure of naphthalimide and anti-tumor activity was analyzed and discussed. It was found that a variety of structural modifications were significant in improving anti-tumor activity and reducing toxicity.

A Fluorogenic and Chromogenic Probe Distinguishes Fluoride Anions and Thiols: Implications for Discrimination of Fluoride-Containing G Series and Sulfur-Containing V Series Nerve Agents.

A coumarin-based probe, FP2, was designed for the differential detection of fluoride anions and thiols, i.e., the corresponding nucleophilic substitution products from fluorine-containing G agents and sulfur-containing V agents, thus having the potential to discriminate between these two nerve agents. FP2 with two functional reaction groups, α, ß-unsaturated ketone and silyl groups, can react selectively with fluoride anions and thiols at the µM level respectively. Intriguingly, in the THF solution, FP2 reacts with the fluoride anion but not with the thiol, whereas in the EtOH/HEPES solution, FP2 reacts with the thiol but not with the fluoride anion. As a result, FP2 can produce different fluorophores in the two detection solutions, thus displaying significant fluorescence changes. In addition, the FP2 detection system can show a significant color change from colorless to yellow within seconds when detecting fluoride anions in THF detection solutions, and from yellow to light blue when detecting thiols in EtOH/HEPES solutions, which will facilitate visual detection by emergency responders at the scene of an incident involving a nerve agent.

Fe3O4 hard templating to assemble highly wrinkled graphene sheets into hierarchical porous film for compact capacitive energy storage.

Highly wrinkled graphene film (HWGF) with high packing density was synthesized by combining an electrostatically self-assembling process, a vacuum filtration-induced film assembling process and capillary compression. Fe3O4 nanoparticles were used as a low-cost and environment-friendly hard template. Hierarchical porosity and high packing density were achieved with the aid of capillary compression in the presence of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. This strategy enables integration of highly wrinkled graphene sheets to form highly compact carbon electrodes with a continuous ion transport network. The generated HWGF exhibited a high packing density of 1.53 g cm-3, a high specific surface area of 383 m2 g-1 and a hierarchically porous structure. The HWGF delivered a high capacitance of 242 F g-1 and 370 F cm-3 at 0.2 A g-1 in 6 M KOH aqueous electrolyte system with excellent rate capability (202 F g-1 and 309 F cm-3 retained at 20 A g-1). The capacity retention rate reached 97% after 10 000 cycles at 1 A g-1. The HWGF-based supercapacitor exhibited a high energy density of 17 W h kg-1 at the power density of 49 W kg-1. Such high capacitive performances could be attributed to the highly dense but porous graphene assemblies composed of highly wrinkled graphene sheets.

Fluorogenic and chromogenic probe for rapid detection of a nerve agent simulant DCP.

A fluorogenic and visual probe was devised to detect diethyl chlorophosphate (DCP), a nerve agent simulant. The probe, N-(rhodamine B)-lactam-2-aminoethanol (RB-AE), undergoes oxazoline formation following phosphorylation in the presence of DCP, which gives rapid and clear fluorescence and color change in the assay solutions.