Latest ArticlesIn the realm of drug discovery, recent advancements have paved the way for innovative approaches and methodologies. This comprehensive review encapsulates six distinct yet interrelated mini-reviews, each shedding light on novel strategies in drug development. (a) The resurgence of covalent drugs is highlighted, focusing on the targeted covalent inhibitors (TCIs) and their role in enhancing selectivity and affinity. (b) The potential of the quantum mechanics-based computational aid drug design (CADD) tool, Cov_DOX, is introduced for predicting protein-covalent ligand binding structures and affinities. (c) The scaffolding function of proteins is proposed as a new avenue for drug design, with a focus on modulating protein-protein interactions through small molecules and proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs). (d) The concept of pro-PROTACs is explored as a promising strategy for cancer therapy, combining the principles of prodrugs and PROTACs to enhance specificity and reduce toxicity. (e) The design of prodrugs through carbon-carbon bond cleavage is discussed, offering a new perspective for the activation of drugs with limited modifiable functional groups. (f) The targeting of programmed cell death pathways in cancer therapies with small molecules is reviewed, emphasizing the induction of autophagy-dependent cell death, ferroptosis, and cuproptosis. These insights collectively contribute to a deeper understanding of the dynamic landscape of drug discovery.
The alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a crucial process for sustainable hydrogen production, yet it requires efficient and stable electrocatalysts to overcome the high activation energy barrier. The article discusses a novel strategy for enhancing the performance of Ni-Fe layered double hydroxide (Ni-Fe LDH) in the alkaline HER by modifying it with a frustrated Lewis acid-base pair (FLP) constructed through vacancy engineering. The study found that the modified Ni-Fe LDH exhibited improved alkaline HER performance. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that the introduction of FLP can activate water and protons more efficiently than monometallic sites, thus reducing the alkaline HER energy barrier and overpotential. In HER under alkaline conditions, the Volmer step involves an additional hydrolysis dissociation compared to acidic conditions, which is one of the factors contributing to the slow reaction kinetics. This paper demonstrates that FLPs can alter the rate-determining step in alkaline HER from the Volmer step to a step with a lower energy barrier, more suitable for hydrogen desorption. The work provides new insights into the role of FLPs in regulating the mechanism and kinetics of HER and opens a new direction for the design and optimization of LDH-based and other electrocatalysts.
Efficient and innovative nano-catalytic oxidation technologies offer a breakthrough in removing emerging contaminants (ECs) from water, surpassing the limitations of traditional methods. Environmental functional materials (EFMs), particularly high-end oxidation systems using eco-friendly nanomaterials, show promise for absorbing and degrading ECs. This literature review presents a comprehensive analysis of diverse traditional restoration techniques-biological, physical, and chemical-assessing their respective applications and limitations in pesticide-contaminated water purification. Through meticulous comparison, we unequivocally advocate for the imperative integration of environmentally benign nanomaterials, notably titanium-based variants, in forthcoming methodologies. Our in-depth exploration scrutinizes the catalytic efficacy, underlying mechanisms, and adaptability of pioneering titanium-based nanomaterials across a spectrum of environmental contexts. Additionally, strategic recommendations are furnished to surmount challenges and propel the frontiers of implementing eco-friendly nanomaterials in practical water treatment scenarios.
Fuel cell electric vehicles hold great promise for a diverse range of applications in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In power fuel cell systems, hydrogen fuel serves as an energy vector. To ensure its suitability, it is necessary for the quality of hydrogen to adhere to the standards set by ISO 14687:2019, which sets maximum limits for 14 impurities in hydrogen, aiming to prevent any degradation of fuel cell performance. Ammonia (NH3) is a prominent pollutant in fuel cells, and accurate measurements of its concentration are crucial for hydrogen fuel cell quantity. In this study, a novel detection platform was developed for determining NH3 in real hydrogen samples. The online analysis platform integrates a self-developed online dilution module with a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (ODM-FTIR). The ODM-FTIR can be operated fully automatically with remote operation. Under the optimum conditions, this method achieved a wide linear range between (50~1000) nmol/mol. The limit of detection (LOD) was as low as 2 nmol/mol with a relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 7) of 3.6% at a content of 50 nmol/mol. To ensure that the quality of the hydrogen products meets the requirement of proton exchange membrane fuel cell vehicles (PEMFCV), the developed ODM-FTIR system was applied to monitor the NH3 content in Chengdu Hydrogen Energy Co., Ltd. for 21 days during Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games. The proposed method retains several unique advantages, including a low detection limit, excellent repeatability, high accuracy, high speed, good stability, and calibration flexibility. It is an effective analytical method for accurately quantifying NH3 in hydrogen, especially suitable for online analysis. It also provides a new idea for the analysis of other impurity components in hydrogen.
RNA modifications play vital regulatory roles in biological systems. Dysregulated RNA modifications themselves or their regulators are associated with various diseases, including cancers and immune related diseases. However, to the best of our knowledge, RNA modifications in peripheral white blood cells (immune cells) have not been systematically investigated before. Here we utilized hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS/MS) for the quantification of 19 chemical modifications in total RNA and 17 chemical modifications in small RNA in peripheral white blood cells from breast cancer patients and healthy controls. We found out 13 RNA modifications were up-regulated in total RNA samples of breast cancer patients. For small RNA samples, only N6-methyladenosine (m6A) was down-regulated in breast cancer patients (P < 0.0001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analysis showed that N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) in total RNA had an area under curve (AUC) value of 0.833, and m6A in small RNA had an AUC value of 0.994. Our results further illustrated that RNA modifications may play vital roles in immune cell biology of breast cancer, and may act as novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of breast cancer.
Improper abuse of roxarsone (ROX) in industrial production leads to harmful effects on water, soil, food, and living creatures. It is significant to detect its concentration in the environment and biosystem. Herein, two aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active fluorescence probes, TPE-TPE and TPE-TPE-CN, are successfully synthesized via a sulfur(Ⅵ) fluoride exchange (SuFEx) click reaction and first employed to detect ROX in the environment and living 3T3 cells. These two probes can selectively detect ROX in water due to the synergistic effect of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between the probes and ROX. The detection limit of TPE-TPE and TPE-TPE-CN is 0.154 and 0.385 µmol/L, respectively, much lower than the safety concentration stipulated by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, with the aid of a color discrimination application in a smartphone, these two probes can also detect ROX in real samples (such as water, soil, and cabbage), demonstrating their excellent potential for monitoring ROX in a practical environment.
Photocatalytic NO removal is regarded as an attractive strategy to reduce NO pollution in the air, but the lack of efficient and stable catalysts impedes its applications. Herein, we report on developing Ti3C2 supported on N-defective g-C3N5 nanosheets (CNX/TC) as an efficient photocatalyst toward NO removal. It is noteworthy that TC changed from crystal structure to amorphous structure during the photocatalytic process. Due to the existence of N vacancies and amorphous structure, the designed CNX/TC composites possess abundant unsaturated sites for adsorption and activation of O2 and NO, thus facilitating the removal of NO and inhibiting the generation of NO2. The as-prepared CNX/TC-2% shows the best activity for NO removal and inhibits toxic NO2 generation. The removal rate of NO is up to 48%, which is about 2 and 4 times higher than those of pure CNX and CN, respectively. In addition, the in situ diffused reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate the NO transfer pathway during the photocatalytic process. This work might provide new insights into the catalytic role of N-defect and amorphous, inspiring the rational design of catalysts in the field of photocatalytic NO removal.
The synergistic effect of Se with Fe can enhance the catalytic activities of the system for oxidation reactions. Based on this principle, a series of Se/Fe materials have been invented to develop the heterogeneous catalysts with industrial application potential. However, the present methods suffer from the tedious procedures, the high reaction temperature, and the low synthetic efficiency. In this paper, we report the synthesis of Se/Fe materials just by precipitating Fe(NO3)3 with the in situ prepared aqueous NaSe/NaSeO3 under mild conditions. The concise method may resolve the issues hindering the large-scale applications of Se/Fe materials.
The dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) process remains a highly efficacious approach for constructing chiral amino alcohols via the catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation of α-amino ketones. We report herein a highly efficient and enantioselective anti-selective dynamic kinetic asymmetric hydrogenation of α-amino ketones catalyzed by Ir-(S)-f-phamidol system, providing various chiral amino alcohols and chiral oxazolidin-2-ones divergently with high diastereo- and enantioselectivity (up to 99% yield, up to 99% ee and up to 99:1 dr). In addition, the reaction could be performed on the gram-scale, and the resulting chiral amino alcohols are key intermediates of norephedrine and metaraminol.
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are highly favored for their enhanced safety and reduced cost. However, there exist challenges including zinc dendrite, hydrogen evolution, and surface corrosion to be solved. Using electrolyte additives is a highly convenient approach to solving zinc anode-related issues. Inspired by industrial corrosion protection, a trace amount of the corrosion inhibitor urotropine (URT) is used as an electrolyte additive to protect the zinc anode. Theoretical calculation and experimental analysis confirm the adsorption of URT molecules onto the surface of Zn, which inhibits hydrogen evolution. This adsorption further leads to the formation of an inorganic-organic bilayer solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the surface of the zinc anode, effectively protecting the Zn anode from corrosion, hydrogen evolution and zinc dendrites. The presence of SEI enables symmetrical Zn//Zn cells to exhibit a long cycling performance of 1750 h at 1 mA/cm2 and an average coulombic efficiency of 99.0% at 1 mA/cm2 in Zn//Cu cells. After being coupled with polyaniline (PANI), the Zn//PANI full battery displays excellent cycle stability and specific capacity.
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