Exploring isoxsuprine hydrochloride binding with human serum albumin in the presence of folic acid and ascorbic acid using multispectroscopic and molecular modeling methods

MOFs as Versatile Catalysts: Synthesis Strategies and Applications in Value-Added Compound Production

Catalysts played a crucial role in advancing modern human civilization, from ancient times to the industrial revolution. Due to high cost and limited availability of traditional catalysts, there is a need to develop cost-effective, high-activity, and nonprecious metal-based electrocatalysts. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as an ideal candidate for heterogeneous catalysis due to their physicochemical properties, hybrid inorganic/organic structures, uncoordinated metal sites, and accessible organic sections. MOFs are high nanoporous crystalline materials that can be used as catalysts to facilitate polymerization reactions. Their chemical and structural diversity make them effective for various reactions compared to traditional catalysts. MOFs have been applied in gas storage and separation, ion-exchange, drug delivery, luminescence, sensing, nanofilters, water purification, and catalysis. The review focuses on MOF-enabled heterogeneous catalysis for value-added compound production, including alcohol oxidation, olefin oligomerization, and polymerization reactions. MOFs offer tunable porosity, high spatial density, and single-crystal XRD control over catalyst properties. In this review, MOFs were focused on reactions of CO2 fixation, CO2 reduction, and photoelectrochemical water splitting. Overall, MOFs have great potential as versatile catalysts for diverse applications in the future.

Metal Complexes in Target-Specific Anticancer Therapy: Recent Trends and Challenges

Cancer is characterized by abnormal cell differentiation in or on the part of the body. The most commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs are developed to target rapidly dividing cells, such as cancer cells, but they also damage healthy epithelial cells. This has serious consequences for normal cells and become responsible for the development of various disorders. Several strategies for delivering the cytotoxic drugs to cancerous sites that limit systemic toxicity and other adverse effects have recently been evolved. Among them, biomolecule-conjugated metal complexes-based cancer targeting strategies have shown tremendous advantages in cancer therapy. This review focuses on several chemoselective biomolecules-bound metal complexes as prospective cancer therapy-targeted agents. In this review, we presented the details of the various extra- and intracellular targeting mechanisms in cancer therapy. We also addressed the current clinical issues and recent therapeutic strategies in targeted cancer therapy that may pave a way for the future direction of metal complexes-based targeted cancer therapy.

Effect of ascorbic acid and citric acid on bioavailability of iron from Tegillarca granosa via an in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell culture system

Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) has been receiving worldwide attention. Developing safe and effective iron supplements is of great significance for IDA treatment. Tegillarca granosa (T. granosa), a traditional aquaculture bivalve species in China, is considered to be an excellent source of micronutrients, but the distribution and bioavailability of these minerals have yet to be investigated. The present research was conducted to determine the contents and in vitro enzymatic digestibility of minerals in T. granosa, using beef and wheat flour as reference foods. Meanwhile, two iron-binding proteins, hemoglobin and ferritin, were extracted from T. granosa, and their structures, iron accessibility and bioavailability were investigated. Moreover, the effects of ascorbic acid (AA) and citric acid (CA), two commonly applied dietary factors, on these parameters were evaluated. Our results indicated that the mineral levels varied significantly among different food matrices, with T. granosa showing the highest contents of the tested elements. Comparison of iron absorption of meat versus wheat flour and hemoglobin versus ferritin confirmed that heme iron exhibited higher bioavailability than non-heme iron. The addition of the two organic acids notably enhanced the cellular iron uptake of T. granosa-derived proteins. This could be because AA/CA weakened hydrogen bonds within proteins and caused disordered secondary structures, thereby improving their enzymatic digestibility and releasing more soluble iron to be available for absorption. The results of this study provided a basis for the development of T. granosa-derived protein-based iron supplements, promoting the diverse utilization of marine aquatic resources.

In vitro and in silico pharmaceutical activities of the methylated cyclic pentapeptide, persipeptides

AIMS

The persipeptides were recognized as a promising source of multiple pharmaceutical activities which were revealed following structure-activity prediction and examination in experimental analysis.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The profile of toxicity, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic and anti-ageing activity of persipeptides and the crude extract were evaluated experimentally. The pure Persipeptide A and B revealed a moderate xanthine oxidase inhibition activity at the concentration of 10 µg/ml. Persipeptide exhibited α-glucosidase inhibition activity (~10% inhibition) and less than 2% tyrosinase inhibition activity at the concentration of 10 µg/ml. The extract exhibited the inhibition of less than 2% acetylcholine esterase inhibition activity, but the pure persipeptide showed 6%-14% inhibition activity at the concentration of 10 µg/ml. The molecular docking analysis revealed that the activities of Persipeptide A and B are due to interaction with xanthin oxidase, α-amylase, α-glucosidase, tyrosinase and acetylcholine esterase enzymes.

CONCLUSIONS

The persipeptides showed a similar inhibition rate with positive control that might imply its potential as an anti-diabetic and anti-gout compound among. Only acetylcholine esterase inhibition of persipeptide was higher than the extract. The interacting amino acids of the molecules with different targets show that persipeptides might have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-ageing activity and even other potential pharmaceutical activities that were not investigated in this study.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

This report was presented to find some new pharmaceutical activities of Persipeptide A and B including the α-glucosidase inhibition activity as a molecular target of diabetes mellitus. Persipeptides also exhibited an effective inhibition of xanthine oxidase (XO) which can be a drug-like candidate in the treatment of diseases associated with XO like gout. The binding values indicated the interaction of persipeptides with these enzymes.

The specific binding of a new 1,2,3-triazole to three blood proteins and it's appended rhodamine complex for selective detection of Hg2

A synthesized compound, ethyl 2,5-diphenyl-2H-1,2,3-triazole-4- carboxylate (EDTC) was investigated on its physiochemical parameters and structural properties by using the quantum-chemical method. The results on the theoretical spectrum of EDTC were line with experimental fluorescence and absorption spectrum in large degree. Then EDTC was successfully synthesized to a novel rhodamine-based fluorescent probe (REDTC), which showed a distinct fluorescence enhancement upon the presence of Hg²⁺ in dimethyl formamide-water (DMF-H₂O) buffer solution (pH 7.4). Meanwhile, the triazole appended colorless compound turns to pink upon complex formation with Hg²⁺ ions as 1:2 molar ratios and enables naked-eye detection. The chromogenic mechanism was determined by using spectroscopic measurements and TD DFT calculation. The fluorescence imaging experiments of Hg²⁺ in HeLa cell revealed that the probe REDTC could be labeled and it could be used in biological systems. Also, the intermediate EDTC was developed as a sensitive fluorescent probe for specific studies on the interactions to three kinds of blood proteins including human serum albumin (HSA), human immunoglobulin (HIg) and bovine hemoglobin (BHb) by using a series of spectroscopic methods and molecular docking under the simulative physiological conditions. The interactions between EDTC and these proteins led to the distinct fluorescence enhancement. The thermodynamic measured results further suggested that hydrophobic forces play a dominating role in stabilizing the complexes, which are in correspondence with the results from molecular docking. The UV-visible, synchronous, and three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence measurements demonstrated that EDTC influences the conformational of proteins and the microenvironment surrounding HSA, HIg, or BHb in aqueous solution.

The insight study of SnO pico size particles in an ethanol-water system followed by its biosensing application

Pico sized Stannous oxide particles (SnO PPs) were synthesized in an ethanol-water solvent system on the surface of nitrogen doped graphene oxide (GO). The highly conductive support was a combination of dual interactions between 4-aminomethylbenzylamine (AMBA) and GO. The oppositely positioned -NH₂ linkers of the AMBA were covalently incorporated into the GO matrix through condensation reaction followed by the strong π - π stacking interactions between aromatic rings of AMBA and GO. The change in the local chemical environment of GO via dual interactions provided a suitable atmosphere for the growth and dispersion of SnO PPs on GO-AMBA surface. The possible mechanism for the formation of SnO in an ethanol-water solvent system was evaluated. Furthermore, a light was shed on the factors responsible for the pico size of SnO particles synthesis along with its phenomenal distribution on the GO-AMBA surface. The catalyst containing SnO PPs was deployed as a biosensor for the detection of ascorbic acid (AA) for the very first time. A very wide linear range of 5.0 × 10^-5-7.0 × 10^-3 M, limit of detection (LOD) of 1.19 × 10^-5 M along with excellent practical feasibility, storage stability, repeatability and selectivity towards AA electrooxidation showed the excellent synergy between nitrogen-rich GO surface and SnO PPs. The sensitivity (885.54 µAmM^-1cm^-2) of the catalyst was the most attractive feature, as it was obtained in the presence of 5 and 2-fold higher concentration of UA and DA interfering species respectively.

Rational design of polysorbate 80 stabilized human serum albumin nanoparticles tailored for high drug loading and entrapment of irinotecan

Human serum albumin (HSA) nanoparticles are considered to be versatile carrier of anticancer agents in efficiently delivering the drug to the tumor site without causing any toxicity. The aim of the study was to develop stable HSA nanoparticles (NPs) of drug irinotecan (Iro) having slightly water solubility and moderate HSA binding. A novel strategy of employing a hydrophilic non-ionic surfactant polysorbate 80 which forms protein-polysorbate 80 complex with increased affinity and improvement in Iro-HSA binding has been used to maximize the loading and entrapment efficiency of Iro in HSA-NPs. Bespoke nanoparticles with entrapment efficiency (79.09%) and drug loading of 9.62% could be achieved with spherical shape and particle size of 77.38 nm, 0.290 polydispersity index and -23.7 mv Zeta potential. The drug entrapment in nanoparticles was confirmed by Differential Scanning Calorimeter, Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectroscopy and Fluorescence Spectroscopy. In vitro release of Iro from NPs showed biphasic-release with initial burst followed by prolonged release upto 24 h. The short-term stability investigation of nanodispersion showed no significant changes in physicochemical properties of NPs. Long-term studies on freeze dried Iro-HSA-NPs indicated good stability of NPs up to 12 months. This is the first report for efficient fabrication of Iro delivery system based on HSA nanoparticles.