Poszukiwanie aktywnych związków fotouczulających pod kątem ich aplikacji w fotodynamicznej diagnostyce i terapii nowotworowej

Celem pracy była charakterystyka sześciu nowych, nie badanych wcześniej, fotouczulaczy z grupy chloryn, które zaprojektowano i zsyntezowano z myślą o potencjalnym zastosowaniu w diagnostyce i terapii fotodynamicznej. Aby poprawić ich powinowactwo do komórek nowotworowych, do części z nich przyłączono fragmenty cukrów. W makroskali pozwala to na wykorzystanie wzmożonego metabolizmu i zwiększonej glikolizy szybko proliferujących komórek nowotworowych do wybiórczego transportu związków. W skali bardziej lokalnej umożliwia specyficzne oddziaływanie z komórkami nowotworowymi za pośrednictwem wiążących cukier receptorów lektynowych. Badania wykonane w ramach pracy miały charakter badań podstawowych i pozwoliły na wyjaśnienie wielu kwestii dotyczących aktywności biologicznej i charakterystyki fizykochemicznej proponowanych fotouczulaczy. Jednocześnie ujawniły nowe zagadnienia, które w przyszłości będą wymagały rozwiązania i wyjaśnienia, wskazując dalsze kierunki badań. Ukończenie niniejszej pracy z pewnością nie oznacza zakończenia prac nad możliwością zastosowania omawianych fotouczulaczy w terapii fotodynamicznej, a jedynie otwiera nowy, kolejny etap badań

Insight into properties of sizable glass former from volumetric measurements

Sizable glass formers feature numerous unique properties and potential applications, but many questions regarding their glass transition dynamics have not been resolved yet. Here we analyzed structural relaxation times measured as a function of temperature and pressure in combination with the equation of state obtained from pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) measurements. Despite evidence from previous dielectric studies indicating a remarkable sensitivity of supercooled dynamics to compression, and contrary to intuition, our results demonstrated the temperate proof for the almost equivalent importance of thermal energy and free volume fluctuations in controlling reorientation dynamics of sizable molecules. The found scaling exponent equals 3.0 and Ev/Ep ratio of 0.6 were typical for glass-forming materials with relaxation dynamics determined by both effects with a minor advantage of thermal fluctuations involvement. It shows that the high values of key parameters characterizing the sensitivity of the glass transition dynamics to pressure changes, i.e. activation volume and dTg/dP, are not a valid premise for a remarkable contribution of volume on glass transition dynamics.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

Emergence of a substrate-temperature-dependent dielectric process in a prototypical vapor deposited hole-transport glass

Since the discovery of ultrastability, vapor deposition has emerged as a relevant tool to further understand the nature of glasses. By this route, the density and average orientation of glasses can be tuned by selecting the proper deposition conditions. Dielectric spectroscopy, on the other hand, is a basic technique to study the properties of glasses at a molecular level, probing the dynamics of dipoles or charge carriers. Here, and for the first time, we explore the dielectric behavior of vapor deposited N,N-Diphenyl-N,N’bis(methylphenyl)-1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-diamines (TPD), a prototypical hole-transport material, prepared at different deposition temperatures. We report the emergence of a new relaxation process which is not present in the ordinary glass. We associate this process to the Maxwell-Wagner polarization observed in heterogeneous systems, and induced by the enhanced mobility of charge carriers in the more ordered vapor deposited glasses. Furthermore, the associated activation energy establishes a clear distinction between two families of glasses, depending on the selected substratetemperature range. This finding positions dielectric spectroscopy as a unique tool to investigate the structural and electronic properties of charge transport materials and remarks the importance of controlling the deposition conditions, historically forgotten in the preparation of optoelectronic devices

Electrophoretic deposition of chitosan coatings on the Ti15Mo biomedical alloy from a citric acid solution

Chitosan biocoatings were successfully deposited on the Ti15Mo alloy surface via cataphoretic deposition from a solution of 1 g dm−3 of chitosan in 4% (aq) citric acid. The influence of the cataphoretic deposition parameters on quality and morphology of the obtained coatings were investigated using fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy. The functional groups' presence in chitosan chine were confirmed by ATR-FTIR methods. X-ray analysis revealed the amorphous structure of the chitosan coatings on the Ti15Mo alloy surface. The conducted studies also include assessing the abrasion resistance and adhesion to the substrate of the obtained chitosan coatings. The results show that utilizing the citric acid as a solvent results in the formation of pore free coatings. The yield of the electrophoretic deposition process was in the range of 2–10 mg of deposited chitosan per 1 cm2. The obtained coatings through the unique properties of chitosan are a promising biomaterial for application in medicine

Distinguishing different classes of secondary relaxations from vapour deposited ultrastable glasses

Secondary relaxations persistent in the glassy state after structural arrest are especially relevant for the properties of the glass. A major thrust in research in dynamics of glass-forming liquids is to identify what secondary relaxations exhibit a connection to the structural relaxation and are hence more relevant. Via the Coupling Model, secondary relaxations having such connection have been identified by properties similar to the primitive relaxation of the Coupling Model and are called the Johari–Goldstein (JG) b-relaxations. They involve the motion of the entire molecule and act as the precursor of the structural a-relaxation. The change in dynamics of the secondary relaxation by aging an ordinary glass is one way to understand the connection between the two relaxations, but the results are often equivocal. Ultrastable glasses, formed by physical vapour deposition, exhibit density and enthalpy levels comparable to ordinary glasses aged for thousands of years, as well as some particular molecular arrangement. Thus, ultrastable glasses enable the monitoring of the evolution of secondary processes in case aging does not provide any definitive information. Here, we study the secondary relaxation of several ultrastable glasses to identify different types of secondary relaxations from their different relationship with the structural relaxation. We show the existence of two clearly differentiated groups of relaxations: those becoming slower in the ultrastable state and those becoming faster, with respect to the ordinary unaged glass. We propose ultrastability as a way to distinguish between secondary processes arising from the particular microstructure of the system and those connected in properties to and acting as the precursor of the structural relaxation in the sense of the Coupling Model

New limits of secondary β-relaxation

Glass is an ultraviscous liquid that ceases to flow on a laboratory timescale but continues to relax on a geological timescale. Quintessentially, it has become hopeless for humans to explore the equilibrium behavior of glass, although the technology of glass making witness a remarkable advance. In this work, we propose a novel thermodynamic path to prepare a high density amorphous state of matter (carvedilol dihydrogen phosphate) using high pressure. In addition, we provide the impeccable experimental evidence of heterogeneous nature of secondary β-relaxation and probe its properties to understand the various aspects of pressure densified glass, such as dynamics, packing and disorder. These features are expected to provide new horizons to glass preparation and functional response to pharmaceutical applications

Design, synthesis and in Vitro activity of anticancer styrylquinolines. The p53 Independent Mechanism of Action

A group of styrylquinolines were synthesized and tested for their anti-proliferative activity. Anti-proliferative activity was evaluated against the human colon carcinoma cell lines that had a normal expression of the p53 protein (HCT116 p53+/+) and mutants with a disabled TP53 gene (HCT116 p53-/-) and against the GM 07492 normal human fibroblast cell line. A SAR study revealed the importance of Cl and OH as substituents in the styryl moiety. Several of the compounds that were tested were found to have a marked anti-proliferative activity that was similar to or better than doxorubicin and were more active against the p53 null than the wild type cells. The cellular localization tests and caspase activity assays suggest a mechanism of action through the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis in a p53-independent manner. The activity of the styrylquinoline compounds may be associated with their DNA intercalating ability

Complex reorientation dynamics of sizable glass-formers with polar rotors revealed by dielectric spectroscopy

We present the results of dielectric measurements for three sizable glass-formers with identical nonpolar cores linked to various dipole-labeled rotors that shed new light on the picture of reorientation of anisotropic systems with significant moment of inertia revealed by broadband dielectric spectroscopy. The dynamics of sizable glass-formers formed by partially rigid molecular cores linked to small polar rotors in many respects differs from that of typical glass-formers. For instance, the extraordinarily large prefactors (τ0 > 10−12 s) in the Vogel− Fulcher−Tammann equation were found. The rich and highly diverse relaxation pattern was governed by the location of a dipole, its ability to rotate freely, and the degree of coupling to the motion of the entire sizable system

Secondary relaxation in ultrastable etoricoxib : evidence of correlation with structural relaxation

Secondary relaxations are fundamental for their impact in the properties of glasses and for their inseparable connection to the structural relaxation. Understanding their density dependence and aging behavior is key to fully address the nature of glasses. Ultrastable glasses establish a new benchmark to study the characteristics of secondary relaxations, since their enthalpy and density levels are unattainable by other routes. Here, we use dielectric spectroscopy at ambient and elevated pressures to study the characteristics of the secondary relaxation in ultrastable etoricoxib, reporting a 71% decrease in dielectric strength and one decade increase in relaxation time compared to the ordinary glass. Interestingly, we find an unprecedented connection between secondary and structural relaxations in ultrastable etoricoxib in exactly the same manner as in the ordinary glass, manifested through different properties, such as aging and devitrification. These results further support and extend the general validity of the connection between the secondary and structural relaxation

The dielectric response of phenothiazine‑based glass‑formers with different molecular complexity

We examined a series of structurally related glass-forming liquids in which a phenothiazine-based tricyclic core (PTZ) was modified by attaching n-alkyl chains of different lengths (n = 4, 8, 10). We systematically disentangled the impact of chemical structure modification on the intermolecular organization and molecular dynamics probed by broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns evidenced that all PTZ-derivatives are not ‘ordinary’ liquids and form nanoscale clusters. The chain length has a decisive impact on properties, exerting a plasticizing effect on the dynamics. Its elongation decreases glass transition temperature with slight impact on fragility. The increase in the medium-range order was manifested as a broadening of the dielectric loss peak reflected in the lower value of stretching parameter βKWW. A disagreement with the behavior observed for non-associating liquids was found as a deviation from the anti-correlation between the value of βKWW and the relaxation strength of the α-process. Besides, to explain the broadening of loss peak in PTZ with the longest (decyl) chain a slow Debye process was postulated. In contrast, the sample with the shortest alkyl chain and a less complex structure with predominant supramolecular assembly through π–π stacking exhibits no clear Debye-mode fingerprints. The possible reasons are also discussed