Recent progress in agents targeting polo-like kinases: Promising therapeutic strategies.

Polo-like kinases (PLKs) play important roles in regulating multiple aspects of cell cycle and cell proliferation. In many cancer types, PLK family members are often dysregulated, which can lead to uncontrolled cell proliferation and aberrant cell division and has been shown to associate with poor prognosis of cancers. The key roles of PLK kinases in cancers lead to an enhanced interest in them as promising targets for anticancer drug development. In consideration of PLK inhibitors and some other anticancer agents, such as BRD4, EEF2K and Aurora inhibitors, exert synergy effects in cancer cells, dual-targeting of PLK and other cancer-related targets is regarded as an rational and potent strategy to enhance the effectiveness of single-targeting therapy for cancer treatment. This review introduces the PLK family members at first and then focuses on the recent advances of single-target PLK inhibitors and summarizes the corresponding SARs of them. Moreover, we discuss the synergisms between PLK and other anti-tumor targets, and sum up the current dual-target agents based on them.

Transition-metal- and oxidant-free three-component reaction of quinoline N-oxides, sodium metabisulfite and aryldiazonium tetrafluoroborates via a dual radical coupling process.

A convenient and straightforward three-component transformation of quinoline N-oxides, sodium metabisulfite and aryldiazonium tetrafluoroborates has been developed, providing the target products in moderate to good yields. Compared with previous studies, the present methodology avoids the use of transition-metal catalysts and excess oxidants, providing a simple and practical alternative approach for the construction of 2-sulfonylquinolines. Control experiments indicate that a dual radical coupling process is responsible for this reaction.

Visible-Light-Mediated Nickel(II)-Catalyzed C-N Cross-Coupling in Water: Green and Regioselective Access for the Synthesis of Pyrazole-Containing Compounds.

A regioselective green approach for the nickel(II)-catalyzed C-N cross-coupling between arylamines and pyrazoles through a photoredox process is reported. Moderate to good yield was observed for this reaction, performed in water under air at room temperature. This strategy provides a powerful tool for the green synthesis of pyrazole-containing bioactive molecules. In addition, a single-electron-transfer mechanism is proposed in this report.

[Application of NIR Spectroscopy for Nondestructive Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Lotus Seeds].

By extracting the Near Infrared (NIR) diffuse reflectance spectral characteristics from the post-harvest lotus seeds in different storage periods, the quantitative and qualitative analysis were applied to lotus seeds with the Soluble Solids Content (SSC) and dry matter content (DM) as criteria. The results of the Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) and distance discrimination (DA) models showed that the absorption spectra of lotus seeds and lotus kernels has clear relations to their SSC and DM. The PLSR models of SSC and DM of lotus seeds had the best performance in 5 941-12 480 cm(-1) spectral region in this study. Their correlation coefficients of prediction were 0.74 and 0.82, and the correlation coefficients of calibration were 0.82 and 0.84, and the correlation coefficients of leave one out cross validation were 0.72 and 0.71. The PLSR model of SSC of lotus kernels was better in 7 891-9 310 cm(-1) spectral region. Its correlation coefficient of prediction was 0.79, and the correlation coefficient of calibration was 0.84, and the correlation coefficient of leave one out cross validation was 0.77. The PLSR model of DM of lotus kernels is better in the full spectral region. Its correlation coefficient of prediction was 0.92, and the correlation coefficient of calibration was 0.89, and the correlation coefficient of leave one out cross validation was 0.82. For lotus seeds, the DA model in 5 400-7 885 cm(-1) spectral region is the best with a correctness of 84.2%. And for lotus kernels, the DA model in 9 226-12 480 cm(-1) spectral region is the best with a correctness of 90.8%. For dry lotus kernels, the discriminant accuracy of the DA model is 98.9% in the optimal spectral region. All kernels with membrane and plumule were correctly discriminated. This research shows that the NIR spectroscopy technique can be used to determine SSC and DM content of lotus seeds and lotus kernels, as well as to discriminate their freshness and also to discriminate dry lotus kernels of different age and the kernels with membrane and plumule.

Prediction on the inhibition ratio of pyrrolidine derivatives on matrix metalloproteinase based on gene expression programming.

Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) were developed to predict the inhibition ratio of pyrrolidine derivatives on matrix metalloproteinase via heuristic method (HM) and gene expression programming (GEP). The descriptors of 33 pyrrolidine derivatives were calculated by the software CODESSA, which can calculate quantum chemical, topological, geometrical, constitutional, and electrostatic descriptors. HM was also used for the preselection of 5 appropriate molecular descriptors. Linear and nonlinear QSAR models were developed based on the HM and GEP separately and two prediction models lead to a good correlation coefficient (R (2)) of 0.93 and 0.94. The two QSAR models are useful in predicting the inhibition ratio of pyrrolidine derivatives on matrix metalloproteinase during the discovery of new anticancer drugs and providing theory information for studying the new drugs.

11H-Dibenzo[b,e]azepine-6-carbonitrile.

The title compound, C(15)H(10)N(2), crystallizes with two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit. The two benzene rings make dihedral angles of 60.32 (2) and 61.35 (3)°. The crystal packing is stabilized by weak π-π stacking inter-actions [centroid-to-centroid distances = 3.673 (4) and 3.793 (4) Å].