Incorporation of postconsumer polyurethane foam into a polymer/clay aerogel matrix

The feasibility of incorporating ground recycled polyurethane (PU) foam into clay/polymer aerogels was demonstrated, and a range of compositions were prepared and characterized to determine the effect of variation in the formulations on density and mechanical properties of the resulting materials. This study followed a modified combinatorial approach. Initially, experiments were performed in water using either sodium exchanged montmorillonite or laponite clay, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH) solution as the polymer binder, and the recycled PU foam. Freezing and freeze‐drying the aqueous gels produced aerogels, which were characterized through density and mechanical testing, scanning electron microscopy, and thermal gravimetric analysis. The study was expanded by exploring alternative binder chemistries, including the use of an alginate polymer in place of the PVOH or adding a polyisocyanate as a crosslinking agent for PVOH. The effect of recycled PU foam content, clay type and level, and binder type and level on the mechanical properties of the aerogels were determined and will be discussed herein. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42586.     

Transition Metal‐Free Direct C?H (Hetero)arylation of Heteroarenes: A Sustainable Methodology to Access (Hetero)aryl‐Substituted Heteroarenes

In recent years, environmental and economic reasons have motivated the development of transition metal‐free carbon‐carbon bond forming reactions and some excellent reviews have covered this research area of particular interest for the pharmaceutical industry. However, none of these reviews has been specifically dedicated to summarize and discuss the results achieved in the rapidly growing field of the transition metal‐free direct (hetero)arylation reactions of heteroarenes. This review, which covers the literature from 2008 to 2014, aims to provide a thorough insight into the synthetic and mechanistic aspects of these atom economic and environmentally benign reactions also highlighting their advantages and possible disadvantages compared to conventional methods for the synthesis of arylheteroarenes and biheteroaryls via transition metal‐catalyzed reactions.

     

The Effect of Electrospun Gelatin Fibers Alignment on Schwann Cell and Axon Behavior and Organization in the Perspective of Artificial Nerve Design

Electrospun fibrous substrates mimicking extracellular matrices can be prepared by electrospinning, yielding aligned fibrous matrices as internal fillers to manufacture artificial nerves. Gelatin aligned nano-fibers were prepared by electrospinning after tuning the collector rotation speed. The effect of alignment on cell adhesion and proliferation was tested in vitro using primary cultures, the Schwann cell line, RT4-D6P2T, and the sensory neuron-like cell line, 50B11. Cell adhesion and proliferation were assessed by quantifying at several time-points. Aligned nano-fibers reduced adhesion and proliferation rate compared with random fibers. Schwann cell morphology and organization were investigated by immunostaining of the cytoskeleton. Cells were elongated with their longitudinal body parallel to the aligned fibers. B5011 neuron-like cells were aligned and had parallel axon growth when cultured on the aligned gelatin fibers. The data show that the alignment of electrospun gelatin fibers can modulate Schwann cells and axon organization in vitro, suggesting that this substrate shows promise as an internal filler for the design of artificial nerves for peripheral nerve reconstruction.     

Residual Stresses in Alumina/Zirconia Composites: Effect of Cooling Rate and Grain Size

Alumina/zirconia composites with various compositions at the zirconia-rich part of the phase diagram have been prepared with various grain sizes of the starting alumina powders. After firing under identical conditions, the pellets have been cooled systematically, changing the cooling rates from 0.5 to 8000 K/min. Subsequently, the residual stresses in alumina have been determined by monitoring the frequency shifts of the R ₂ luminescence line of alumina (14 430 cm⁻¹). The data indicate that the stress in alumina is compressive in all cases, with increasing absolute values of the stress with decreasing alumina content. Within the same composition, the residual stress as a function of the cooling rate presents a minimum for values between 10 and 100 K/min, with no clear dependence on the alumina or zirconia grain size. An interpretation of the experimental data in terms of a Coble-type diffusional relaxation applies for intermediate cooling rates (from 10 to 800 K/min), but it fails to account for the large stresses at low cooling rates. The width of the stress distribution is narrow (∼150 MPa) and constant for all compositions and grain sizes at low cooling rates, but it increases for cooling rates >10 K/min, depending on the grain size but not on the composition. For fast cooling rates, a correlation is found when reporting the average width of the stress distribution as function of the average sintered grain-size distribution of alumina. Overall, zirconia grain size seems to influence the average stress, whereas alumina grain size determines the stress distribution.     

Butyltin(IV) Benzoates: Inhibition of Thioredoxin Reductase,Tumor Cell Growth Inhibition,and Interactions with Proteins

Thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) is overexpressed in cancer cells and is therefore a putative cancer target. Inhibition of this enzyme is considered an important strategy for the development of new chemotherapeutic agents with a specific mechanism of action. Organotin compounds have been described as experimental antitumor agents, yet their mechanism of action remains largely unknown. Based on the outcome of a virtual screening study, various di‐ and tri‐n‐butyltin(IV) carboxylates were synthesized, and their biological properties were evaluated. All synthesized compounds were able to inhibit TrxR selectively within the micromolar range and showed potent antitumor activity against HT‐29 and MCF‐7 cancer cell lines. Moreover, tin(IV) organometallics were found to strongly induce apoptosis in the BJAB lymphoma cell line. Mass spectrometry and atomic absorption spectroscopy experiments revealed metal binding to proteins, and efficient cellular uptake was observed using a di‐n‐butyltin(IV) complex as an example.     

Identification of Hck Inhibitors As Hits for the Development of Antileukemia and Anti‐HIV Agents

Hematopoietic cell kinase (Hck) is a member of the Src family of non‐receptor protein tyrosine kinases. High levels of Hck are associated with drug resistance in chronic myeloid leukemia. Furthermore, Hck activity has been connected with HIV‐1. Herein, structure‐based drug design efforts were aimed at identifying novel Hck inhibitors. First, an in‐house library of pyrazolo[3,4‐d]pyrimidine derivatives, which were previously shown to be dual Abl and c‐Src inhibitors, was analyzed by docking studies within the ATP binding site of Hck to select the best candidates to be tested in a cell‐free assay. Next, the same computational protocol was applied to screen a database of commercially available compounds. As a result, most of the selected compounds were found active against Hck, with K_i values ranging from 0.14 to 18.4 μM , confirming the suitability of the computational approach adopted. Furthermore, selected compounds showed an interesting antiproliferative activity profile against the human leukemia cell line KU‐812, and one compound was found to block HIV‐1 replication at sub‐toxic concentrations.     

Multifunctional Silk?Tropoelastin Biomaterial Systems

New multifunctional, degradable, polymeric biomaterial systems would provide versatile platforms to address cell and tissue needs in both in vitro and in vivo environments. While protein-based composites or alloys are the building blocks of biological organisms, similar systems have not been largely exploited, to date, to generate ad hoc biomaterials able to control and direct biological functions by recapitulating their inherent structural and mechanical complexities. Therefore, we have recently proposed silk tropoelastin material platforms that are able to conjugate a mechanically robust and durable protein, silk, to a highly flexible and biologically active protein, tropoelastin. This review focuses on the elucidation of the interactions between silk and tropoelastin to control the structure of the material its properties, and ultimately functions. In addition, an approach is provided for novel material designs to provide tools to control biological outcomes through surface roughness, elasticity, and net charge for neuronal and mesenchymal stem-cell-based tissue engineering.     

New Evidence for Cross Talk between Melatonin and Mitochondria Mediated by a Circadian-Compatible Interaction with Nitric Oxide

Extending our previous observations, we have shown on HaCat cells that melatonin, at ~10⁻⁹ M concentration, transiently raises not only the expression of the neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) mRNA, but also the nNOS protein synthesis and the nitric oxide oxidation products, nitrite and nitrate. Interestingly, from the cell bioenergetic point of view, the activated NO-related chemistry induces a mild decrease of the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) efficiency, paralleled by a depression of the mitochondrial membrane potential. The OXPHOS depression is apparently balanced by glycolysis. The mitochondrial effects described have been detected only at nanomolar concentration of melatonin and within a time window of a few hours’ incubation; both findings compatible with the melatonin circadian cycle.     

β-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex to Improve Physicochemical Properties of Pipemidic Acid: Characterization and Bioactivity Evaluation

The aptitude of cyclodextrins (CDs) to form host-guest complexes has prompted an increase in the development of new drug formulations. In this study, the inclusion complexes of pipemidic acid (HPPA), a therapeutic agent for urinary tract infections, with native β-CD were prepared in solid state by kneading method and confirmed by FT-IR and ¹H NMR. The inclusion complex formation was also characterized in aqueous solution at different pH via UV-Vis titration and phase solubility studies obtaining the stability constant. The 1:1 stoichiometry was established by a Job plot and the inclusion mechanism was clarified using docking experiments. Finally, the antibacterial activity of HPPA and its inclusion complex was tested on P. aeruginosa, E. coli and S. aureus to determine the respective EC_50s and EC_90s. The results showed that the antibacterial activity of HPPA:β-CD against E. coli and S. aureus is higher than that of HPPA. Furthermore, HPPA and HPPA:β-CD, tested on human hepatoblastoma HepG2 and MCF-7 cell lines by MTT assay, exhibited, for the first time, antitumor activities, and the complex revealed a higher activity than that of HPPA. The use of β-CD allows an increase in the aqueous solubility of the drug, its bioavailability and then its bioactivity.