ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Trichosanthis semen, the seeds of Trichosanthes kirilowii Maxim. or Trichosanthes rosthornii Harms, has long been used in Korean medicine to loosen bowels and relieve chronic constipation. Although the fruits and radixes of this medicinal herb and their constituents have been reported to exhibit therapeutic effects in various cancers, the anti-cancer effects of its seeds have been relatively less studied. In this study, we investigated the effects of an ethanolic extract of T. kirilowii seeds (TKSE) against colorectal cancer and its mechanism. METHODS: The anti-tumor effects of the TKSE were evaluated in HT-29 and CT-26 colorectal cancer cells and in a CT-26 tumor-bearing mouse model. RESULTS: TKSE suppressed the growth of HT-29 and CT-26 cells (both colorectal cancer cell lines) and the cytotoxic effect of TKSE was greater than that of 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) in HT-29 cells. TKSE significantly induced mitochondrial membrane potential loss in HT-29 and CT-26 cells and dose-dependently inhibited Bcl-2 expression and induced the cleavages of caspase-3 and PARP. In particular, TKSE at 300 µg/mL induced nuclear condensation and fragmentation in HT-29 cells. Furthermore, TKSE dose-dependently inhibited activations of the Akt/mTOR and ERK pathways, and markedly induced the phosphorylation of AMPK. An AMPKα inhibitor (compound C) effectively blocked the TKSE-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. In addition, TKSE attenuated the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α/vascular endothelial growth factor signaling pathway in HT-29 cells under hypoxic-mimic conditions and inhibited migration and invasion. Oral administration of TKSE (100 or 300 mg/kg) inhibited tumor growth in a mouse CT-26 allograft model but was not as effective as 5-Fu (the positive control), which was administered intraperitoneally. In the same model, 5-Fu caused significant body weight loss, but no such loss was observed in TKSE-treated mice. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these results suggest TKSE has potent anti-tumor effects which might be partly due to the activation of AMPK, and the induction mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells. These findings provide scientific evidence supporting the potential use of TKSE as a complementary and alternative medicine for the treatment of colorectal cancer.
ABSTRACT
Recently, the external quantum efficiency and lifetime of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been dramatically upgraded due to development of organic materials and device structure. In particular, an intramolecular or intermolecular complex based on thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) materials has greatly contributed to improving OLED device performance. Although high external quantum efficiency has been the main objective of the development of TADF materials as hosts and emitters, recent interest has been directed towards the lifetime of TADF-material-based OLEDs. For the past several years, remarkable advances in the lifetime of phosphorescent and TADF OLEDs have been made using TADF materials as hosts or emitters in the emitting layer. Therefore, since TADF materials are useful as both hosts and emitters for a long lifetime, this work discusses the recent progress made in developing TADF materials for long-lifetime OLEDs.
ABSTRACT
Solution-processed high-efficiency fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes with an external quantum efficiency over 18% were developed by engineering a host material and device structure designed for solution process. A high triplet energy host material designed for the solution process, (oxybis(3-(tert-butyl)-6,1-phenylene))bis(diphenylphosphine oxide) (DPOBBPE), worked efficiently as the host of blue fluorescent devices because of good solubility, high photoluminescence quantum yield, and good film properties. The DPOBBPE host enabled a high external quantum efficiency of 18.8% in the fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes by the solution process. Moreover, 25.8% external quantum efficiency in the soluble blue thermally activated delayed fluorescent devices was also realized. The 25.8% external quantum efficiency of the DPOBBPE delayed fluorescent device and 18.8% external quantum efficiency of the fluorescent device are the highest efficiency values achieved in the solution-processed blue fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes. Moreover, the solution-processed fluorescent device showed an improved blue color coordinate of (0.14, 0.20) compared to (0.17, 0.31) of the delayed fluorescent device.
ABSTRACT
Excellent color purity with a tunable band gap renders organic-inorganic halide perovskite highly capable of performing as light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Perovskite nanocrystals show a photoluminescence quantum yield exceeding 90%, which, however, decreases to lower than 20% upon formation of a thin film. The limited photoluminescence quantum yield of a perovskite thin film has been a formidable obstacle for development of highly efficient perovskite LEDs. Here, we report a method for highly luminescent MAPbBr3 (MA = CH3NH3) nanocrystals formed in situ in a thin film based on nonstoichiometric adduct and solvent-vacuum drying approaches. Excess MABr with respect to PbBr2 in precursor solution plays a critical role in inhibiting crystal growth of MAPbBr3, thereby forming nanocrystals and creating type I band alignment with core MAPbBr3 by embedding MAPbBr3 nanocrystals in the unreacted wider band gap MABr. A solvent-vacuum drying process was developed to preserve nanocrystals in the film, which realizes a fast photoluminescence lifetime of 3.9 ns along with negligible trapping processes. Based on a highly luminescent nanocrystalline MAPbBr3 thin film, a highly efficient green LED with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 8.21% and a current efficiency of 34.46 cd/A was demonstrated.
ABSTRACT
Highly efficient exciplex type organic light-emitting diodes were developed using thermally activated delayed fluorescent emitters as donors and acceptors of an exciplex. Blue emitting bis[4-(9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroacridine)phenyl]sulfone (DMAC-DPS) was a donor and 9,9'-(5-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-1,3-phenylene)bis(9H-carbazole) (DDCzTrz) and 9,9',9â³-(5-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)benzene-1,2,3-triyl)tris(9H-carbazole) (TCzTrz) were acceptor materials. The exciplexes of DMAC-DPS:TCzTrz and DMAC-DPS:DDCzTrz resulted in high photoluminescence quantum yield and high quantum efficiency in the green exciplex organic light-emitting diodes. High quantum efficiencies of 13.4% and 15.3% were obtained in the DMAC-DPS:DDCzTrz and DMAC-DPS:TCzTrz exciplex devices.
ABSTRACT
High efficiency and color tuning of thermally activated delayed fluorescent emitters were achieved at the same time by designing emitters with a twin emitter molecular design. The control of the interconnect position between two emitters could manage the emission spectrum of the thermally activated delayed fluorescent emitters without affecting the quantum efficiency.
ABSTRACT
Carbazole- and triazine-derived thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) emitters, with three donor units and an even distribution of the highest occupied molecular orbital, achieve high external quantum efficiencies of above 25% in blue and green TADF devices.
ABSTRACT
We synthesized 3-(3-(4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-2-methylphenyl)-9-phenyl-9H-carbazole (TrzmPCz) as a new bipolar host material for blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices and investigated the electro-optical properties of the blue devices fabricated using the TrzmPCz host. We managed the triplet energy of the host by inserting a methyl substituent in the phenyl linkage between triazine and carbazole. The methyl substituent distorted the backbone structure of TrzmPCz and lead to high triplet energy of 2.79 eV. After optimization of the device structure, the TrzmPCz based organic light-emitting diodes achieved the maximum quantum efficiency of 16.4%, a current efficiency of 32 cd A(-1), and a power efficiency of 21.5 lm W(-1).
ABSTRACT
Benzofurocarbazole and benzothienocarbazole were used as electron donors of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters and the performances of the TADF devices were examined. The benzofurocarbazole and benzothienocarbazole donor moieties were better than carbazole as the electron donors of the TADF emitters.
ABSTRACT
Dual emitting cores for thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) emitters were developed. Relative to the corresponding TADF emitter with a single emitting core the TADF emitter with a dual emitting core, 3,3',5,5'-tetra(carbazol-9-yl)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-2,2',6,6'-tetracarbonitrile, showed enhanced light absorption accompanied by a high photoluminescence quantum yield. The quantum and power efficiencies of the TADF devices were enhanced by the dual emitting cores.
ABSTRACT
High quantum efficiency above 18% and extended lifetime three times longer than that of phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are demonstrated in blue thermally activated delayed fluorescent OLEDs.
