Improved antimelanogenesis and antioxidant effects of polysaccharide from Cuscuta chinensis Lam seeds after enzymatic hydrolysis

<div><p>Cuscuta chinensis polysaccharide (CPS) was extracted using hot water and enzymatically hydrolyzed C. chinensis polysaccharide (ECPS) was produced by the mannase enzymatic hydrolysis process. The purpose of this research was to investigate the antimelanogenic activity of ECPS and CPS in B16F10 melanoma cells. The in vitro antioxidant activity was assessed by their ferric iron reducing power and DPPH free radical scavenging activities. The molecular mass distribution of polysaccharides was determined using SEC-MALLS-RI. CPS was successfully enzymatically degraded using mannase and the weighted average molecular weights of CPS and ECPS were 434.6 kDa and 211.7 kDa. The results of biological activity assays suggested that the enzymatically hydrolyzed polysaccharide had superior antimelanogenic activity and antioxidant effect than the original polysaccharide. ECPS exhibited antimelanogenic activity by down-regulating the expression of tyrosinase, MITF, and TRP-1 without cytotoxic effects in B16F10 melanoma cells. In conclusion, ECPS have the potential to become a skin whitening product.</p></div

Koninginins R-S from the endophytic fungus <i>Trichoderma koningiopsis</i>

<p>Two new metabolites named koninginins R-S (<b>1</b>–<b>2</b>) were isolated from the culture of <i>Trichoderma koningiopsis</i> YIM PH30002. Their chemical structures were elucidated by the extensive spectroscopic analysis. These isolated compounds showed certain antifungal activities against phytopathogens, <i>Fusarium flocciferum</i> and <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i>.</p

Synthesis of Nitrogen-Conjugated 2,4,6-Tris(pyrazinyl)-1,3,5-triazine Molecules and Electrochemical Lithium Storage Mechanism

Organic anode materials for lithium-ion battery have attracted widespread attention due to their diversity in organic linker functional species and the ability to tune their molecular levels. However, the rational design of advanced organic anodes with high reversible capacity and intentional organic molecular design requires a deep understanding of their mechanism for use in small-molecule organic rechargeable batteries. Herein, an optimized small-molecule-based organic anode material containing highly efficient active sites was developed for use in an organic lithium-ion battery. A small-molecule organic compound, 2,4,6-tris(pyrazinyl)-1,3,5-triazine (TPT), was formed by the trimerization of the 2-cyanopyrazine monomer. This molecule was rationally designed and evaluated as a lithium-ion battery organic anode material. TPT has a relatively small structure, but a superior reversible specific capacity was still achieved. Excitingly, TPT2 (liquid-phase synthetic) released a reversible capacity of 622 mAh g–1 at 100 mA g–1. Moreover, impressive long-term cycling performance was obtained, with a storage capacity of 541 mAh g–1 at 800 mA g–1 after 500 cycles. This demonstrated the durable cyclic stability of TPT2, which also achieved excellent rate performance at different current densities from 100 mA g–1 to 1.6 A g–1. The lithium storage mechanism of TPT was studied by theoretical calculations and ex situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) combined with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization, which demonstrated that multiple active sites consisting of −C–N and −CN groups were responsible for its superior lithium storage performance. This study provides a new understanding of the energy storage mechanism in small-molecule organic-based anode electrodes