Palladium-Catalyzed Desymmetric Intermolecular C-N Coupling Enabled by a Chiral Monophosphine Ligand Derived from Anthracene Photodimer.

The development of chiral ligands with privileged scaffolds plays an important role in transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric reactions. Herein we present anthracene-photodimer-derived chiral monophosphine ligand 1, which features dual chirality and a rigid scaffold. This ligand exhibits remarkable efficiency in Pd-catalyzed desymmetric intermolecular C-N coupling under mild conditions with excellent chemo- and enantioselectivity.

miR-874-3p inhibits cell migration through targeting RGS4 in osteosarcoma.

BACKGROUND: The present study explored the role and mechanism of microRNA-874-3p (miR-874-3p) in the migration of the osteosarcoma cell line, U-2 OS. METHODS: The expression profile of osteosarcoma (OS) microRNA (GSE65071) datasets was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo) to identify differentially expressed miRNAs in OS and its biological functions. A quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect the expression of miR-874-3p and its target gene regulator of G protein 4 (RGS4) in human osteosarcoma cells U-2 OS and normal osteoblast hFOB1.19. Plasmid overexpression miR-874-3p and pcDNA-RGS4 were transfected into U-2 OS using Lipofectamine 2000 (Thermo Fisher, Waltham, MA, USA). Cell migration was measured using Transwell migration assays. Bioinformatic analysis and luciferase reporter assay were conducted to search for the target gene of miR-874-3p. RESULTS: In total, 167 differentially expressed miRNAs were detected after the analysis of GSE65071; of which 78 were up-regulated genes and 89 were down-regulated. miR-874-3p was down-regulated and selected for further analysis. The expression level of miR-874-3p in U-2 OS cells was significantly decreased compared to the hFOB1.19 cell line (p < 0.05). Overexpression of miR-874-3p significantly inhibited the proliferation and migration of U-2 OS cells and overexpression of RGS4 reversed the inhibitory effect of miR-874-3p on U-2 OS cells. Through luciferase report analyses and bioinformatic analysis, RGS4 may be the candidate target gene of miR-874-3p. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, overexpression of miR-874-3p suppressed OS cell proliferation and migration. Thus, miR-874-3p might present a therapeutic agent for the treatment of OS.

A Monophosphine Ligand Derived from Anthracene Photodimer: Synthetic Applications for Palladium-Catalyzed Coupling Reactions.

Herein, we present an air-stable dianthracenyl monophosphine ligand (diAnthPhos) which can be prepared in two steps from commercially available anthracene derivatives. The ligand exhibits excellent efficiency for palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions. In particular, Miyaura borylation of heterocycle-containing electrophiles can be facilitated employing the diAnthPhos ligand with a broad substrate scope and low catalyst loading. The valuable synthetic utility of the new ligand is further demonstrated by a one-pot Miyaura borylation/Suzuki coupling protocol for heteroaryl-containing substrates.

LncRNA UCA1 promotes renal cell carcinoma proliferation through epigenetically repressing p21 expression and negatively regulating miR-495.

Long non-coding RNAs have recently emerged as important regulators in the pathogenesis and progression of cancers. The long non-coding RNA urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 is reportedly upregulated and functions as an oncogene in some tumors. However, the role of urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 in renal cell carcinoma is not well elucidated so far. In this study, we found that urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 was overexpressed in renal cell carcinoma tissues compared with the adjacent normal tissues, and higher urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 expression levels were positively associated with advanced tumor stage and poor survival time in renal cell carcinoma patients. Further studies showed that knockdown of urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 suppressed renal cell carcinoma cell proliferation and S-phase cell number in vitro. Moreover, urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 was found to be associated with enhancer of zeste homolog 2, which suppressed p21 expression through histone methylation (H3K27me3) on p21 promoter. We also showed that knockdown of urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 increased the p21 protein expression through regulating enhancer of zeste homolog 2. In addition, bioinformatics analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assays confirmed that miR-495 was a target of urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 in renal cell carcinoma, and urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 promoted cell proliferation by negatively regulating miR-495. These findings illuminated that urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 promoted renal cell carcinoma progression through enhancer of zeste homolog 2 and interacted with miR-495. Overall, overexpression of urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 functions as an oncogene in renal cell carcinoma that may offer a novel therapeutic target for renal cell carcinoma patients.

[Study on 3-nitrophenol wastewater treatment in UASB].

Characteristics of anaerobic granules before and after acclimation, removal efficiencies of 3-nitrophenol (3-NP) and performance of 3-NP wastewater treatment were investigated in a lab-scale upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB). The results showed that granular sludge acclimatized to 3-NP rapidly during acclimation. Using SEM, the filamentous bacteria was the predominant bacteria on the surface of granules. Throughout the study of 3-NP wastewater anaerobic degradation, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and input COD concentration were kept constant as 26 h and 2 500 mg/L, respectively. While 3-NP concentrations increasing from 20 mg/L to 250 mg/L gradually, COD removal decreased from 95.2% to 85.1% and 3-NP removal efficiencies were always more than 99%. 3-AP was found to be the major intermediate during the degradation of 3-NP. Out of the total input of 3-NP concentration, on molar basis, about 58.7% - 111.9% of 3-NP was recovered in the form of 3-AP. With increasing 3-NP concentration, the variations of gas production were minimal. The minimum methane percentage was 65% and the maximum was 74%.