Evaluation of NO Oxidation Properties over a Mn-Ce/ γ

With the purpose of studying the effect of diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) on the NO oxidation activity, a series of xMn10Ce/γ-Al2O3 (x = 4, 6, 8, and 10) catalysts were synthesized by acid-aided sol-gel method. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Result showed that the crystalline size of MnOx and CeO2 ranges from 5 nm to 30 nm and manganese existed mainly in the catalysts in the form of manganese dioxide. Moreover, NO oxidation experiments were carried out to evaluate the activity of the catalysts; according to the results, 6Mn10Ce/γ-Al2O3 catalyst showed the supreme NO oxidation activity with a NO to NO2 conversion rate of 83.5% at 300°C. Compared to 500 ppm NO inlet concentration, the NO conversion was higher than that of 750 and 1000 ppm NO over 6Mn10Ce/γ-Al2O3 catalyst in the temperature range of 150–300°C

A Probe for the Detection of Hypoxic Cancer Cells.

Hypoxia is a common feature of tumor cells. Nitroreductase (NTR), a common biomarker of hypoxia, has been widely used to evaluate the extent of tumor hypoxia. In this study, three fluorescent probes (FBN-1-3) were synthesized to monitor the extent of hypoxia in cancer cells in real time. FBN-1-3 were composed of a fluorescein analogue and one of three different aromatic nitro groups. Of these probes, FBN-1 showed excellent sensitivity and selectivity in detecting hypoxia via a reduction in O2 concentration. Confocal fluorescence imaging and flow cytometry demonstrated that HepG-2, A549, and SKOV-3 cells incubated with FBN-1 under reduced oxygen conditions showed significantly enhanced fluorescence. A mouse HepG-2 tumor model confirmed that FBN-1 responds rapidly to NTR and can be used to evaluate the degree of tumor hypoxia. The changes in intra- and extracellular NTR in tumor cells were also concurrently monitored, which did not reveal a link between NTR concentration and degree of hypoxia. Our work provides a functional probe for tumor hypoxia, and our results suggest the fluorescent response of our probe is due to a decrease in O2 concentration, and not NTR concentration

A Scalable Total Synthesis of Portimine A and B Reveals the Basis of Their Potent and Selective Anti-cancer Activity

Marine derived cyclic imine toxins, portimine A and B, have attracted extensive attention owing to their intriguing chemical structure and promising anti-cancer therapeutic potential. However, access to large quantities is currently unfeasible and the molecular mechanism behind their potent activity is unknown. To address this, a scalable 15-step total synthesis of portimines is presented, which benefits from the logic used in two-phase terpenoid synthesis along with unique tactics such as exploiting ring-chain tautomerization and skeletal reorganization to minimize protecting group chemistry through “self-protection”. Critically, this total synthesis enabled a structural reassignment of portimine B and an in-depth functional evaluation of portimine A, revealing that it induces apoptosis selectively in human cancer cell lines with high potency. Finally, practical access to the portimines and analogs thereof simplified the development of photoaffinity analogs, which were used in chemical proteomic experiments to identify a primary target of portimine A as the 60S ribosomal export protein NMD3