Dichlorido(4′-ferrocenyl-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine-κ3 N,N′,N′′)zinc acetonitrile monosolvate

The title complex, [FeZn(C5H5)Cl2(C20H14N3)]·CH3CN, is composed of one ZnII atom, one 4′-ferrocenyl-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine (fctpy) ligand, two Cl atoms and one acetonitrile solvent mol­ecule. The ZnII atom is five-coordinated in a trigonal–bipyramidal geometry by the tridentate chelating fctpy ligand and two Cl atoms

1-(2-Naphth­yl)-3-phenyl­prop-2-en-1-one

The title compound, C19H14O, contains two independent mol­ecules with the same s-cis conformation for the ketone unit. Both mol­ecules are non-planar with dihedral angles of 51.9 (1) and 48.0 (1)° between the benzene ring and the naphthalene ring system. In the crystal, neighboring mol­ecules are stabilized by intermolecular C—H⋯π inter­actions, giving a two-dimensional supra­molecular array parallel to the ab plane

(4′-Ferrocenyl-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine-κ3 N 1,N 1′,N 1′′)(1,10-phenanthroline-κ2 N,N′)zinc(II) bis­(perchlorate) acetonitrile monosolvate

In the title complex, [FeZn(C5H5)(C20H14N3)(C12H8N2)](ClO4)2·CH3CN, the ZnII atom is five-coordinated by a tridentate chelating 4′-ferrocenyl-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine (fctpy) ligand and a bidentate chelating 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) ligand in a distorted square-pyramidal environment with a phen N atom located at the apical position [Zn—N = 2.259 (4) Å]. The terpyridyl motif in each fctpy ligand is coplanar, but the cyclo­penta­dienyl ring is twisted by 9.5 (2)° out of coplanarity with each central pyridine. The two cyclo­penta­dienyl rings of the ferrocenyl group are almost eclipsed with a deviation of 4.5 (1)°. In addition, inter­molecular π–π inter­actions [centroid–centroid distance 3.753 (2) Å] are present between the cyclo­penta­dienyl and outer pyridyl rings of the fctpy ligands. One of the perchlorate anions is equally disordered over two positions

(4′-Ferrocenyl-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine-κ3 N,N′,N′′)(1,10-phenanthroline-κ2 N,N′)copper(II) bis(perchlorate) acetonitrile solvate

The title complex, [CuFe(C5H5)(C20H14N3)(C12H8N2)](ClO4)2·C2H3N, consists of a mononuclear [Cu(C12H8N2)(C25H19FeN3)]2+ cation, two ClO4 − anions (one of which is disordered over two positions with equal occupancy) and one CH3CN solvent mol­ecule. The CuII center has a distorted square-pyramidal coordination with three N atoms of the 4′-ferrocenyl-2,2′:6′,2′′- terpyridine (fctpy) ligand and one 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) N atom in the basal plane and a second phen N atom in the apical position with an axial distance of 2.254 (4) Å. The disordered ClO4 − anion is weakly coordin­ated to the CuII ion with a Cu—O distance of 2.766 (11) Å. The two cyclo­penta­dienyl rings of the ferrocenyl group are almost eclipsed with a deviation of 4.7 (1) °, and are involved in inter­molecular π–π inter­actions with the outer pyridyl rings of the fctpy ligands [centroid–centroid distance = 3.759 (2) Å.]

2,4,6-Tri-p-tolyl­pyridine

In the title compound, C26H23N, the complete molecule is generated by crystallographic mirror symmetry, with the N atom and four C atoms lying on the reflection plane. The dihedral angles between the pyridine ring and pendant benzene rings are 2.9 (1), 14.1 (1) and 14.1 (1)°. Neighbouring mol­ecules are stabilized through inter­molecular π–π inter­actions along the c axis [centroid-to-centroid distance = 3.804 (2) Å], forming one-dimensional chains

ART1 promotes starvation-induced autophagy: a possible protective role in the development of colon carcinoma.

Autophagy plays a protective role in colorectal carcinoma. Arginine ADP-ribosyltransferase 1 (ART1) is an important mono-ADP-ribose transferase, which has been shown to play a role in biological processes such as proliferation and invasion of cancer cells. Interestingly, the role of ART1 in the regulation of autophagy is still not clear. We examined effects of overexpression or knockdown of ART1 by lentiviral transfection on starvation-induced autophagy of colon carcinoma CT26 cell lines in vivo and in vitro. The formation of autophagosome was detected by electron microscopy, acridine orange staining and expression of LC3 B. The molecular contributions of ART1 in regulation of autophagy were detected by western blotting or by co-immunoprecipitation. Additionally, inhibitors were used to study further the signaling pathway of ART1 in the regulation of autophagy. CCK8 assay, plate cloning assay, soft agar assay, examination of subcutaneous transplanted carcinoma in BALB/c mice, flow cytometry and Hoechst33342 staining were used to assess survival and apoptotic ability when starvation-induced autophagy modulated by ART1 was inhibited by 3-MA. Overexpression of ART1 promoted starvation-induced autophagy, which related to increases in the expression of Rac1, NF-κB, PARP-1, LKB1 and p-AMPK and a decrease in the expression of p-P70S6K. Correspondingly, knockdown of ART1 caused the opposite effects. ART1 also interacted with integrin α7. Additionally, changes of protein expressions were further validated following inhibition of Rac1 and PARP-1 in the starvation-induced ART1-GFP CT26 cells. Inhibition of ART1-stimulated starvation-induced autophagy restrained the growth and promoted apoptosis. ART1 is thus relevant in starvation-induced autophagy in colorectal carcinoma and may play essential roles in therapeutic anticancer strategies

Ultrasound measurement of vastus lateralis and vastus medialis muscle parameters to identify chronic thyrotoxic myopathy

Introduction: Chronic thyrotoxic myopathy (CTM) is a common, easily neglected complication of hyperthyroidism. There are currently no standard diagnostic criteria for CTM, and the ultrasonic characteristics of CTM-affected skeletal muscle remain unclear. Herein, we aimed to evaluate hyperthyroid patients for CTM by ultrasound and identify ultrasonic muscle parameter cutoffs for CTM diagnosis. Materials and methods: Each participant underwent ultrasonography. The original (muscle thickness (MT), pennation angle (PA), and cross-sectional area (CSA)) and corrected (MT/height (HT), MT/body mass index (BMI), CSA/HT, and CSA/BMI) parameters of the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis (VM) were evaluated. The diagnostic effectiveness of ultrasound for predicting CTM was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Our study included 203 participants: 67 CTM patients (18 males, 49 females), 67 non-CTM patients (28 males, 39 females) and 69 healthy controls (20 males, 49 females). Results: The CTM group had lower muscular ultrasonic and anthropometric parameters, higher thyroid hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibody (TRAb) levels, and a longer duration of hyperthyroidism than the non-CTM group (P < 0.05). The VM-PA, VM-CSA, VM-CSA/HT, and VM-CSA/BMI were lower in females than in males (P < 0.05). Free thyroxine (FT4) and TRAb both showed significant negative correlations with VM-MT, VM-MT/HT, VM-CSA, and VM-CSA/HT (P < 0.05). VM-MT/BMI and VM-CSA/HT, respectively, best predicted male and female CTM (AUC = 0.84, 0.85; cutoff ≤ 0.07, < 4.01). Conclusion: Ultrasound measurement of muscular parameters, especially in the VM, is a valid and feasible way of diagnosing and characterizing possible CTM in hyperthyroidism

Promoting Effect of Layered Titanium Phosphate on the Electrochemical and Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

We reported a composite electrolyte prepared by incorporating layered α-titanium phosphate (α-TiP) into an iodide-based electrolyte using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate(EmimBF4) ionic liquid as solvent. The obtained composite electrolyte exhibited excellent electrochemical and photovoltaic properties compared to pure ionic liquid electrolyte. Both the diffusion coefficient of triiodide (I3−) in the electrolyte and the charge-transfer reaction at the electrode/electrolyte interface were improved markedly. The mechanism for the enhanced electrochemical properties of the composite electrolyte was discussed. The highest conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was obtained for the composite electrolyte containing 1wt% α-TiP, with an improvement of 58% in the conversion efficiency than the blank one, which offered a broad prospect for the fabrication of stable DSSCs with a high conversion efficiency