Publisher Correction: A new antagonist for CCR4 attenuates allergic lung inflammation in a mouse model of asthma.

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In vitro and in vivo antifungal activities and mechanism of heteropolytungstates against Candida species.

The antifungal activities of heteropolytungstates, α-1,2,3-K6H[SiW9V3O40] (SiW-3), K13[Ce(SiW11O39)2]·17H2O (SiW-5), K13[Eu(SiW11O39)2]·25H2O (SiW-10), K6PV3W9O40 (PW-6), α-K4PVW11O40 (PW-8), were screened in 29 Candida albicans, 8 Candida glabrata, 3 Candida krusei, 2 Candida parapsilosis, 1 Candida tropicalis, and 1 Cryptococcus neoformans strains using the CLSI M27-A3 method. SiW-5 had the highest efficacy with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of <0.2-10.2 µM in vitro. The antifungal mechanism, acute toxicity and in vivo antifungal activity of SiW-5 were then evaluated in C. albicans. The results showed that SiW-5 damaged the fungal cell membrane, reduce the ergosterol content and its main mode of action was through inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis. Real-time PCR showed that ERG1, ERG7, ERG11 and ERG28 were all significantly upregulated by SiW-5. An acute toxicity study showed the 50% lethal dose (LD50) of SiW-5 for ICR mice was 1651.5 mg/kg. And in vivo antifungal studies demonstrated that SiW-5 reduced both the morbidity and fungal burden of mice infected with C. albicans. This study demonstrates that SiW-5 is a potential antifungal candidate against the Candida species.

A new antagonist for CCR4 attenuates allergic lung inflammation in a mouse model of asthma.

CCR4 is highly expressed on Th2 cells. CCR4 ligands include CCL22 and CCL17. Chemokine-like factor 1 can also mediate chemotaxis via CCR4. We designed and synthetized novel CCR4 antagonists, which were piperazinyl pyridine derivatives, for disrupting the interaction between three ligands and CCR4. We also determined whether these novel CCR4 antagonists could alleviate allergic asthma in a mouse. For identifying the potent compounds in vitro, we used chemotaxis inhibition and competition binding assays induced by CCL22, CCL17 and one of CKLF1's C-terminal peptides, C27. We found compound 8a which showed excellent potency in blocking the interaction of CCR4 and its three ligands. For studying the specificity of compounds, we chose chemotaxis inhibition assays with different receptors and ligands. We found compound 8a had excellent receptor specificity and exerted few influence on the interaction of other receptors and their ligands. In the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, compound 8a had no obvious cytotoxicity till the higher concentration (16 µM). For determining the potency of compounds in blocking the interaction of CCR4 in vivo, we used the ovalbumin induced allergic asthma model in mice. Our study demonstrated that CCR4 blockaded by compound 8a effectively attenuated airway hyperresponsiveness, airway eosinophilia and Th2 cytokines.

Reversing drug resistance of soft tumor-repopulating cells by tumor cell-derived chemotherapeutic microparticles.

Developing novel approaches to reverse the drug resistance of tumor-repopulating cells (TRCs) or stem cell-like cancer cells is an urgent clinical need to improve outcomes of cancer patients. Here we show an innovative approach that reverses drug resistance of TRCs using tumor cell-derived microparticles (T-MPs) containing anti-tumor drugs. TRCs, by virtue of being more deformable than differentiated cancer cells, preferentially take up T-MPs that release anti-tumor drugs after entering cells, which in turn lead to death of TRCs. The underlying mechanisms include interfering with drug efflux and promoting nuclear entry of the drugs. Our findings demonstrate the importance of tumor cell softness in uptake of T-MPs and effectiveness of a novel approach in reversing drug resistance of TRCs with promising clinical applications.

Label-free electrochemical nucleic acid biosensing by tandem polymerization and cleavage-mediated cascade target recycling and DNAzyme amplification.

Owing to the intrinsic importance of nucleic acid as bio-targets, the achievement of its simple and sensitive detection with high confidence is very essential for biological studies and diagnostic purposes. Herein, a label-free, isothermal, and ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of target DNA was developed by using a tandem polymerization and cleavage-mediated cascade target recycling and DNAzyme releasing amplification strategy. Upon sensing of the nucleic acid analyte for the assembled hairpin-like probe DNA on the electrode, the DNA polymerase guided the target recycling and simultaneously triggered the lambda exonuclease cleavage, accompanied by the cascade recycling of the released new complementary strand and the amplified liberation of the G-rich sequence of the HRP-mimicking DNAzyme. The electrocatalytic reduction of H2O2 by the generated hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzyme was used for the signal readout and further amplification toward target response. Such tandem functional operation by DNA polymerase, lambda exonuclease and DNAzyme endows the developed biosensor with a high sensitivity and also a high confidence. A low detection limit of 5 fM with an excellent selectivity toward target DNA could be achieved. It also exhibits the distinct advantages of simplicity in probe design and biosensor fabrication, and label-free electrochemical detection, thus may offer a promising avenue for the applications in disease diagnosis and clinical biomedicine.

A programmable Y-shaped junction scaffold-mediated modular and cascade amplification strategy for the one-step, isothermal and ultrasensitive detection of target DNA.

The programmable DNA polymerization across the two branches of the assembled Y-shaped junction was ingeniously manipulated for modular target recycling and cascade lambda exonuclease cleavage, which afforded the one-pot, isothermal and ultrasensitive detection of target DNA. A low detection limit of 28.2 fM of target DNA with an excellent selectivity could be obtained.

Programmable Mg(2+)-dependent DNAzyme switch by the catalytic hairpin DNA assembly for dual-signal amplification toward homogeneous analysis of protein and DNA.

The catalytic hairpin DNA assembly-programmed active Mg(2+)-dependent DNAzyme was proposed for dual-signal amplified detection toward protein and DNA. The protein detection was implemented with the further combination of an additional terminal protection strategy. The detection limit toward avidin and target DNA could be achieved as 2 pM and 0.5 pM, respectively, with a high selectivity.

Highly sensitive fluorescence detection of target DNA by coupling exonuclease-assisted cascade target recycling and DNAzyme amplification.

Because of the intrinsic importance of nucleic acid as bio-targets, the simple and sensitive detection of nucleic acid is very essential for biological studies and medical diagnostics. Herein, a simple, isothermal and highly sensitive fluorescence detection of target DNA was developed with the combination of exonuclease III (Exo III)-assisted cascade target recycling and DNAzyme amplification. A hairpin DNA probe was designed, which contained the 3'-protruding DNA fragment as target recognition unit, the caged DNA fragment in the stem region as target analogue, and the caged 8-17 DNAzyme sequence in the loop region as signal response unit. Upon sensing of target DNA, the 3'-strand of hairpin DNA probe could be stepwise removed by Exo III, accompanied by the releasing of target DNA and autonomous generation of new target analogues for the successive hybridization and cleavage process. Simultaneously, the 8-17 DNAzyme unit could be exponentially released from this hairpin DNA probe and activated for the cyclic cleavage toward the ribonucleotide-containing molecular beacon substrate, inducing a remarkable fluorescence signal amplification for target detection. A low detection limit of 20 fM with an excellent selectivity toward target DNA could be achieved. The developed cascade amplification strategy may be further extended for the detection of a wide spectrum of analytes including protein and biological small molecules by combining DNA aptamer technology.

Design and synthesis of a series of pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives as CCR4 antagonists.

A series of pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives were designed and synthesized based on known CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) antagonists. The activities of all the newly synthesized compounds were evaluated using a chemotaxis inhibition assay. Compound 6b was proven to be a potent CCR4 antagonist that can block cell chemotaxis induced by macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC), thymus and activation regulated chemokine (TARC), and CKLF1, the natural ligands of CCR4. In addition, compound 6b is more effective than budesonide in the murine rhinitis model. The intravenous injection LD50 of compound 6b is 175 mg/kg and the oral LD50 is greater than 2,000 mg/kg.

Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks for kinetic separation of propane and propene.

Propane/propene separation by cryogenic distillation is one of the most energy and cost intensive industrial processes. Adsorptive separation is a more energy-efficient alternative. Three isostructural zinc imidazolate zeolitic framework materials are found, for the first time, to be very promising in the separation of propene and propane based on their different diffusion rates. Fine-tuning of the pore opening size is critical for this type of separation.

Theoretical investigation of the reaction of CF(3)CHFOCH(3) with OH radical.

A direct ab initio dynamics method was used to study the mechanism and kinetics of the reaction CF(3)CHFOCH(3) + OH. Two reaction channels, R1 and R2, were found, corresponding to H-abstraction from a CH(3) group and a CHF group, respectively. The potential energy surface (PES) information was obtained at the G3(MP2)//MP2/6-311G(d,p) level. The standard enthalpies of formation for the reactant (CF(3)CHFOCH(3)) and products (CF(3)CHFOCH(2) and CF(3)CFOCH(3)) were evaluated via isodesmic reactions at the same level. Furthermore, the rate constants of two channels were calculated using the canonical variational transition state theory (CVT) with small-curvature tunneling (SCT) contributions over a wide temperature range of 200-3000 K. The dynamic calculations demonstrate that reaction R1 dominates the overall reaction when the temperature is lower than 800 K whereas reaction R2 becomes more competitive in the higher temperature range. The calculated rate constants and branching ratios are both in good agreement with the available experimental values.

[Exon polymorphism of human RHD gene].

OBJECTIVE: To study exon polymorphism of human RHD gene and investigate the genetic mechanism of RhD-negative individuals. METHODS: PCR using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) was performed on 40 RhD-positive, 120 RhD-negative and 2 weak D blood samples. RESULTS: All 10 exons could be detected in the 40 RhD-positive and 2 weak D samples. Out of the 120 RhD-negative samples, 28 (23.33%) carried 10 exons, 19 (15.83%) lost most of the 10 exons (with mainly intermediate deletion), and 73 (60.83%) had deletion of all the 10 exons; 19 samples of Del phenotype identified from the 120 RhD-negative samples had all the 10 exons. CONCLUSION: Polymorphism of the exon structure of RHD gene is present in RhD-negative individuals, characterized chiefly by gross deletion, partial deletion and non-deletion.