Necroptosis-associated long noncoding RNAs can predict prognosis and differentiate between cold and hot tumors in ovarian cancer.

Objective: The mortality rate of ovarian cancer (OC) is the highest among all gynecologic cancers. To predict the prognosis and the efficacy of immunotherapy, we identified new biomarkers. Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Genotype-Tissue Expression Project (GTEx) databases were used to extract ovarian cancer transcriptomes. By performing the co-expression analysis, we identified necroptosis-associated long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). We used the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) to build the risk model. The qRT-PCR assay was conducted to confirm the differential expression of lncRNAs in the ovarian cancer cell line SK-OV-3. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and the nomogram were used to determine the lncRNAs model. Additionally, the risk model was estimated to evaluate the efficacy of immunotherapy and chemotherapy. We classified necroptosis-associated IncRNAs into two clusters to distinguish between cold and hot tumors. Results: The model was constructed using six necroptosis-associated lncRNAs. The calibration plots from the model showed good consistency with the prognostic predictions. The overall survival of one, three, and five-year areas under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.691, 0.678, and 0.691, respectively. There were significant differences in the IC50 between the risk groups, which could serve as a guide to systemic treatment. The results of the qRT-PCR assay showed that AL928654.1, AL133371.2, AC007991.4, and LINC00996 were significantly higher in the SK-OV-3 cell line than in the Iose-80 cell line (P < 0.05). The clusters could be applied to differentiate between cold and hot tumors more accurately and assist in accurate mediation. Cluster 2 was more vulnerable to immunotherapies and was identified as the hot tumor. Conclusion: Necroptosis-associated lncRNAs are reliable predictors of prognosis and can provide a treatment strategy by screening for hot tumors.

Multi-phase extraction of ephedrine from Pinellia ternata and herbal medicine using molecular imprinted polymer coated ionic liquid-based silica.

INTRODUCTION: Ephedrine is a typical compound found in lots of plant species that is used in several medicines for the treatment of asthma and bronchitis. However, excess amounts are harmful to humans, so it needs to be removed. OBJECTIVE: This study developed a multi-phase extraction (MPE) method with a molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) coated ionic liquid (IL)-based silica (SiO2 @IL@MIP) to simultaneously extract and separate ephedrine from Pinellia ternata, 10 medicines, and urine samples. METHODS: IL was immobilized on silica. Subsequently, the IL was combined with the functional monomer, followed by the addition of the crosslinker and template. The resulting sorbent was applied to the MPE, and the extraction, washing and elution solvents were evaluated. RESULTS: Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the synthesis of SiO2 @IL@MIP. A maximum adsorption amount of 5.76 mg/g was obtained at 30°C at a neutral pH. In MPE, 10.00 mL of methanol could extract all the ephedrine from Pinellia ternata. The interference was removed by washing with 4.00 mL of water, ethanol, and acetonitrile. Finally, 8.00 mL of methanol/acetic acid (99:1, v/v) was applied as the elution solvent. The following were extracted: 5.50 µg/g of ephedrine from Pinellia ternata, 0.00-46.50 µg/g from the 10 herbal medicines, and 68.70-102.80 µg/mL in the urine samples. CONCLUSION: The proposed method was applied successfully to the simultaneously extraction and separation of ephedrine from plants and medicines. These results are expected to provide important data for the development of new methods for the separation and purification of bioactive compounds.

Determination of Heavy Metal Ions and Organic Pollutants in Water Samples Using Ionic Liquids and Ionic Liquid-Modified Sorbents.

Water pollution, especially by inorganic and organic substances, is considered as a critical problem worldwide. Several governmental agencies are listing an increasing number of compounds as serious problems in water because of their toxicity, bioaccumulation, and persistence. In recent decades, there has been considerable research on developing analytical methods of heavy metal ions and organic pollutants from water. Ionic liquids, as the environment-friendly solvents, have been applied in the analytical process owing to their unique physicochemical properties. This review summarizes the applications of ionic liquids in the determination of heavy metal ions and organic pollutants in water samples. In addition, some sorbents that were modified physically or chemically by ionic liquids were applied in the adsorption of pollutants. According to the results in all references, the application of new designed ionic liquids and related sorbents is expected to increase in the future.

Isolation of aristolochic acid I from herbal plant using molecular imprinted polymer composited ionic liquid-based zeolitic imidazolate framework-67.

Aristolochic acid I is a toxic compound found in the genus of Aristolochia plants, which are commonly used as herbal cough treatment medicines. To remove the aristolochic acid I in extract efficiently and selectively, a molecularly imprinted polymer composed of ethylimidazole ionic liquid-based zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 was synthesized and used as the adsorbent. Under the conditions optimized by the software design expert, the sorbent showed highest adsorption amount of 34.25 mg/g in methanol/water (95:5, v/v) at 39°C for 138 min. The sorbent was then applied to solid phase extraction to isolate aristolochic acid I from the extract of the herbal plant Fibraurea Recisa Pierre. 0.043 mg/g of aristolochic acid I was obtained after the loading, washing, and elution processes. The limit of detection of 2.41 × 10-5  mg/mL and good recoveries provided evidence for the accuracy of this method.

Dual ionic liquid-immobilized silicas for multi-phase extraction of aristolochic acid from plants and herbal medicines.

A convenient, and efficient multi-phase extraction method was used to isolate aristolochic acid from real samples. To increase the efficiency, a new dual ionic liquid-immobilized silica was used as a sorbent and the effects of the adsorption conditions were investigated. IM-BIM@Sil in a methanol/water (60:40, v/v) solution at 60 °C extracted the highest amount of aristolochic acid (16.69 mg/g) compared to the other sorbents examined. The sorbent was then applied to the multi-phase extraction of aristolochic acid. After extraction eight times, 2.4-70.9 × 10-3 mg/g of aristolochic acid was isolated from nine real samples after several washing and elution steps. The recoveries of aristolochic acid ranged from 70.0% to 110.6% with relative standard deviations of 3.5%-9.1%, highlighting the accuracy of this method.

Isolation of Aflatoxin B1 from Moldy Foods by Solid-Phase Extraction Combined with Bifunctional Ionic Liquid-Based Silicas.

A solid-phase extraction method was developed by using new bifunctional ionic liquid-based silicas as sorbents to isolate aflatoxin B1 from moldy corn and peanut. Firstly, according to the adsorption efficiency, two sorbents imidazolium chloride-butylimidazolium chloride-based silica (Sil@BIm-Im) and imidazolium chloride-hexylimidazolium chloride-based silica (Sil@HIm-Im) were selected. The RSM was introduced to optimize adsorption conditions such as methanol/water ratio, time, and pH. Sil@HIm-Im, which had the highest adsorption efficiency, was used in SPE as a sorbent. After 2.0 mL of loading samples, washing solvents were optimized as 6.0 mL and 4.0 mL of water for corn and peanut, 2.0 mL of acetonitrile, and 3.0 mL of methanol. 3.0 mL of methanol/acetic acid (2.0% vol.) was investigated as an elution solvent. Finally, 0.009 µg/g and 0.023 µg/g of aflatoxin B1 were obtained in corn and peanut extract with recoveries of 80.0%-103.3% and RSDs of 2.37%-6.58%.