Molecules, Volume 21, Issue 11

Hepatic fibrosis is a naturally occurring wound-healing reaction, with an imbalance of extracellular matrix (ECM) during tissue repair response, which can further deteriorate to hepatocellular carcinoma without timely treatment. Inhibiting activated...

(1) Background: A new family of nanosystems able to discern between normal and tumor cells and to release a therapeutic agent in controlled way were synthetized by e-beam irradiation. This technique permits to obtain biocompatible, sterile, carboxyl-...

1-Deoxynojirimycin (DNJ, C₆H₁₃NO₄, 163.17 g/mol), an alkaloid azasugar or iminosugar, is a biologically active natural compound that exists in mulberry leaves and Commelina communis (dayflower) as well as from several bacterial strains such as Bacill...

Two new amicoumacins, named Damxungmacin A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the culture broth of a soil-derived bacterium Bacillus subtilis XZ-7. Their chemical structures were elucidated by spectroscopic studies (UV, IR, NMR and HR-ESI-MS). Compoun...

Heparanase is the only known endoglycosidase able to cleave heparan sulfate. Roneparstat and necuparanib, heparanase inhibitors obtained from heparin and currently being tested in man as a potential drugs against cancer, contain in their structure gl...

After UV excitation, gas phase thymine returns to a ground state in 5 to 7 ps, showing multiple time constants. There is no consensus on the assignment of these processes, with a dispute between models claiming that thymine is trapped either in the f...

The partitioned n-hexane, CHCl₃, and EtOAc extracts from the crude MeOH extract of Phaius mishmensis showed considerable cytotoxicities against the human breast carcinoma (MCF-7), lung carcinoma (NCI-H460), and central nervous system carcinoma (SF-26...

Two novel and convenient routes to obtain enantiomerically enriched trans-β-aryl-δ-hydroxy-γ-lactones 5a–d with potential antifeedant and anticancer activity were developed. In the first method starting from corresponding enantiomers of γ,δ-unsaturat...

In this study, a new series of 16 methyl salicylate derivatives bearing a piperazine moiety were synthesized and characterized. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activities of target compounds were investigated against xylol-induced ear edema and carrage...

Water plays a significant role in the binding process between protein and ligand. However, the thermodynamics of water molecules are often underestimated, or even ignored, in protein-ligand docking. Usually, the free energies of active-site water mol...

We report the draft genome sequence of Actinokineospora bangkokensis 44EHW^T, the producer of the antifungal polyene compounds, thailandins A and B. The sequence contains 7.45 Mb, 74.1% GC content and 35 putative gene clusters for the biosynthesis of...

Linarin (LA), luteolin (LE), chlorogenic acid (CA) and apigenin (AP) are four major flavonoids with various promising bioactivities found in Compositae (COP) species. A reliable, reproducible and accurate method for the simultaneous and quantitative...

The photocorrosion of a nanoporous carbon photoanode, with low surface functionalization and high performance towards the photoelectrochemical oxidation of water using simulated solar light, was investigated. Two different light configurations were u...

The remarkable complexity of cancer involving multiple mechanisms of action and specific organs led researchers Hanahan and Weinberg to distinguish biological capabilities acquired by cancer cells during the multistep development of human tumors to s...

Two novel thiosemicarbazones and eight novel 2-{[1-(5-alkyl/arylalkylpyrazin-2-yl)ethylidene]hydrazono}-1,3-thiazolidin-4-ones were prepared and tested against a panel of eight fungal strains–Candida albicans ATCC 44859, Candida tropicalis 156, Candi...

Bacterial sortases are cysteine transpeptidases that regulate the covalent linkage of several surface protein virulence factors in Gram-positive bacteria. Virulence factors play significant roles in adhesion, invasion of host tissues, biofilm formati...

In this study, we synthesised a morpholino nucleoside-uridine (MNA-U) phosphoramidite and evaluated the potential of a MNA-modified antisense oligonucleotide (AO) sequences to induce exon 23 skipping in mdx mouse myotubes in vitro towards extending t...

Icariin, an ingredient in the medicinal herb Epimedium brevicornum Maxim (EbM), has been considered as a potential therapeutic agent for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Hyperhomocysteinaemia is a risk factor for AD and ot...

The focus of this contribution is a comparative investigation of enantioseparations of 19 N^α-Fmoc proteinogenic amino acids on Quinine-based zwitterionic and anion-exchanger type chiral stationary phases employing hydro-organic and polar-ionic liquid...

Obesity and insulin resistance (IR) are interdependent multifactorial processes that cannot be understood separately. Obesity leads to systemic inflammation and increased levels of free fatty acids that provoke IR and lipotoxicity. At the same time,...

In the context of the dangerous phenomenon of fungal resistance to the available therapies, we present here the chemical synthesis of a new series of thiazolyl-triazole Schiff bases B1–B15, which were in vitro assessed for their anti-Candida potentia...

Cobalt pi-complexes, previously described in the literature and specially synthesized and characterized in this work, were used as catalysts in homogeneous oxidation of organic compounds with peroxides. These complexes contain pi-butadienyl and pi-cy...

Defects in the gut epithelial barrier have now been recognized to be responsible for diabetic endotoxemia. In everyday life, Mulberry leaf tea is widely used in Asian nations due to its proposed benefits to health and control of diabetes. Evidence in...

New benzodioxole-based thiosemicarbazone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic effects on A549 human lung adenocarcinoma, C6 rat glioma and NIH/3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblast cells. In order to examine the correlation between...

A series of benzimidazole phenylhydrazone derivatives (6a–6ai) were synthesized and characterized by ¹H-NMR, ESI-MS, and elemental analysis. The structure of 6b was further confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction as (E)-configuration. All the c...

Biodegradable, stimuli-responsive polymers are essential platforms in the field of drug delivery and injectable biomaterials for application of bone tissue engineering. Various thermo-responsive hydrogels display water-based homogenous properties to...

This review presents synthetic procedures applied to the preparation of chiral (mainly optically active) pentacoordinated, hypervalent mono and bicyclic phosphoranes. The mechanisms of their stereoisomerization and their selected interconversions are...

A phenylacetylene containing the l-valine ethyl ester pendant (PAA-Val) was synthesized and polymerized by an organorhodium catalyst (Rh(nbd)BPh₄) to produce the corresponding one-handed helical cis-poly(phenylacetylene) (PPAA-Val). PPAA-Val showed a...

Xylan-type polysaccharides were isolated from the leaves of Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels collected in the Tindouf area (southwestern Algeria). Xylan fractions were obtained by sequential alkaline extractions and purified on Sepharose CL-4B. The xylan...

The roots of the South American vine Herreria montevidensis Klotzsch ex Griseb. (Herreriaceae) are used in traditional medicine by several Amerindian groups of the Paraguayan Chaco. Little is known on the chemistry of the plant, despite its widesprea...

Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) including ricin, Shiga toxin, and trichosanthin, are RNA N-glycosidases that depurinate a specific adenine residue (A-4324 in rat 28S ribosomal RNA, rRNA) in the conserved α-sarcin/ricin loop (α-SRL) of rRNA. RI...

Common spruce (Picea abies L.) is a fast-growing coniferous tree, widely used in several countries for the production of sawn wood, timber and pulp. During this industrial exploitation, large quantities of barks are generated as waste materials. The...

This work provides an evaluation of an ultrasound-assisted, combined extraction, centrifugation and ultrafiltration process for the optimal recovery of polyphenols. A purple sweet potato (PSP) extract has been obtained using ultrasonic circulating ex...

Carbon-based nanomaterials serve as a type of smart material for photo-triggered disease theranostics. The inherent physicochemical properties of these nanomaterials facilitate their use for less invasive treatments. This review summarizes the proper...

The chromatographic resolution of pregabalin enantiomers has been often achieved by derivatization of the molecule, in order to reach enough sensitivity at low concentrations of the minor enantiomer present in the active principle. In the present art...

We investigated the protective and antioxidative effects of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) in streptozotocin STZ-induced diabetic rats. STZ-diabetic rats were exposed daily to treatments with SeNPs and/or insulin and then the effect of these treatmen...

Agarose is a polysaccharide obtained from some seaweeds, with a quite particular structure that allows spontaneous gelation. Agarose-based beads are highly porous, mechanically resistant, chemically and physically inert, and sharply hydrophilic. Thes...

The human Epidermal Growth Factor (EGFR) plays an important role in signaling pathways, such as cell proliferation and migration. Mutations like G719S, L858R, T790M, G719S/T790M or T790M/L858R can alter its conformation, and, therefore, drug response...

A series of novel amide derivatives of cembranoid neocrotocembraneic acid were designed and synthesized. The antiproliferative activities of these derivatives were evaluated against three human tumor cell lines (the human cervical cancer cell line He...

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the phytochemical profile of a proprietary rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) extract rich in carnosic acid. A characterization of the (poly)phenolic and volatile fractions of the extract was carried...

The molecular hosts cyclodextrins form inclusion complexes with a wide variety of guests, resulting in complexes with various host:guest stoichiometries. In the case of a series of 19 1,4-naphthoquinolines as guests with either β- or γ-cyclodextrin s...

Cytokines are key immunoregulatory molecules that regulate T lymphocyte-mediated immune responses and inflammatory reactions. We determined whether there is aberrant expression of interleukin-27 (IL-27) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and inves...

Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are enzymes that deadenylate nucleic acids and are broadly distributed in the plant kingdom. Many plants that contain RIPs are listed in the pharmacopoeias of folk medicine all over the world, mostly because of t...

Two novel series of diaryl urea derivatives 5a–i and 13a–l were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxicity against H-460, HT-29, A549, and MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines in vitro. Therein, 4-aminoquinazolinyl-diaryl urea derivatives 5a–i demonstr...

This study deals with a new and efficient metal-free regioselective synthesis of pyrimido-fused indazoles with nitrogen ring junction motifs. We have developed a metal-free domino type reaction between 3-aminoindazole, aryl aldehydes and aceotophenon...

Catalytic RNAs, or ribozymes, are involved in a number of essential biological processes, such as replication of RNA genomes and mobile genetic elements, RNA splicing, translation, and RNA degradation. The function of ribozymes requires the formation...

In clinical practice polysaccharides from herbal medicines are conventionally prepared by boiling water extraction (BWE), while ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) has often been used instead employed in laboratory research due to its strong extract...

Green tea catechin and green tea extract are now recognized as non-toxic cancer preventives for humans. We first review our brief historical development of green tea cancer prevention. Based on exciting evidence that green tea catechin, (−)-epigalloc...

Power ultrasound (US) could potentially be used in the food industry in the future. However, the extent of anthocyanin degradation by US requires investigation. Cyanidin-3-glucoside (Cy-3-glu) obtained from blueberry extracts was used as research mat...

Sinomenine is extracted from Sinomenii caulis (a traditional Chinese medicine), and it is used as the active ingredient in rheumatic arthritis treatments. It has been used in clinical applications for decades. However, there are some disadvantages, i...