Dose and enantiospecific responses of white pine cone beetles,Conophthorus coniperda,to alpha-Pinene in an eastern white pine seed orchard

The white pine cone beetle, Conophthorus coniperda, exhibited dose and enantiospecific responses to -pinene in stands of mature eastern white pine, Pinus strobus, in a seed orchard near Murphy, North Carolina, USA. (–)--Pinene significantly increased catches of cone beetles to traps baited with (± )-trans-pityol. (+)--Pinene did not increase catches of beetles to pityol-baited traps and interrupted the response of beetles to traps baited with (±)-trans-pityol and (–)--pinene. Maximal attraction of cone beetles to pityol-baited traps was obtained with lures releasing (–)--pinene at a rate of 103 mg/day at 23^°C. Lures releasing (–)--pinene at rates lower or higher than 103 mg/day resulted in reduced catches to traps baited with (±)-trans-pityol. The sex ratio in all catches was heavily male biased. Attraction of the clerid predator, Thanasimus dubius, to traps baited with (±)-trans-pityol increased significantly with the presence of -pinene, irrespective of enantiomeric composition. Maximal attraction of T. dubius to pityol-baited traps occurred with devices releasing (–)--pinene at the highest rate tested, 579 mg/d at 23^°C, a sub optimal rate for cone beetles.     

季戊四醇的超分子化学

介绍季戊四醇的超分子化学,包括超分子网状结构、螺环冠醚、非常规液晶、富勒烯衍生物、固相光催化反应、Janus树枝状分子等等。     

pH sensitive supramolecular vesicles from cyclodextrin graft copolymer and benzimidazole ended block copolymer as dual drug carriers

Supramolecular assemblies from chitosan-graft-β-cyclodextrin (CS-g-CD) and benzimidazole ended poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PEG-b-PCL-BM) were formed based on the inclusion complexation between β-cyclodextrin and benzimidazole. The supra-amphiphiles self-assembled into complex vesicles with PCL/β-CD as the hydrophobic membrane, hydrophilic PEG and CS as the corona. The hydrophobic membrane and aqueous lumen of vesicles exhibited efficient entrapment both for hydrophobic curcumin (CUR) and hydrophilic doxorubicin (DOX). The drug loading of vesicles was more than 20.2% and 38.4% for CUR and DOX, respectively. Decreasing pH to acidic condition or increasing temperature, more controllable and rapid release of two drugs was observed. Cytotoxicity assays revealed that dual drug-loaded vesicles retained high cell proliferation inhibition efficiency than free drugs.GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT     

Metallo-Supramolecular Polymerization: A Route to Easy-To-Process Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Materials

The self-assembly polymerization of ditopic macromolecules via metal–ligand binding is a facile route for the preparation of metallo-supramolecular polymers (MSPs). We herein review our recent work focused on the synthesis and investigation of metallo-supramolecular polymers based on 2,6-bis(1′-methylbenzimidazolyl)pyridine endcapped poly(p-phenylene ethynylene) and poly(p-xylene) macromonomers. These materials are readily solution-processable and display appreciable mechanical properties as well as other attractive properties such as specific opto/electrical functions or high thermal stability. Our work illustrates that metallosupramolecular polymerization offers an attractive approach to assemble high-molecular-weight macromolecules from well-defined, easy to process precursors. Variation of the ditopic ligands and metal ions allows one to easily tailor the desired properties. This paper is dedicated to Professor Ian Manners and his scientific accomplishments.     

Sex phermone components of mulberry looper,Hemerophila atrilineata butler (lepidoptera: Geometridae)

(6Z-9S, 10R)-Epoxy-octadecene (SR-1) and (3Z, 6Z-9S, 10R)-epoxy-octadecadiene (SR-2) are sex pheromone components of the mulberry looper (MBL),Hemerophila atrilineata Butler. Compounds extracted from female MBL pheromone glands were identified by coupled gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) and GC-mass spectrometry. In field experiments in China,SR-2,RS-2, or both combined were hardly attractive, butSR-2 in combination withSR-1 attracted significant numbers of MBL males. Synergistic behavioral activity ofSR-1 plusSR-2, but not of corresponding antipode mixtures, indicates enantiospecificity of MBL pheromone communication. Because blends of racemic and enantiospecific (SR)1 plus2 were similarly attractive, racemic1 plus2 may have potential for mass trapping or confusion of MBL males in commercial mulberry plantations.     

一个簇基无机-有机杂化材料的合成与表征

对簇基无机-有机杂化材料的制备方法及表征手段进行了研究。利用水热合成技术制备了一个具有新颖结构的簇聚物(H_2en)_2(H_3O)_(12)[Si_2Mo_(14)~(VI)Mo_2~VV_2~VV_(10)~(IV)O_(84)](1,en=乙二胺),采用元素分析、红外光谱、X射线光电子能谱、电子顺磁共振、TG及X射线单晶衍射等技术对晶体结构进行了分析。结构分析显示,簇基杂化材料是由两个高还原态的二帽Keggin型簇阴离子[Si(1)Mo_6~(VI)Mo_2~VV_6~(IV)O_(42)]~(10-)和[Si(2)Mo_8~(VI)V_2~VV_4~(IV)O_(42)]~(6-)通过(μ_2-O)_2双桥氧原子连接成以簇阴离子二聚体为结构单元的1-D链,相邻的1-D链再经质子化的水分子通过氢键连接成新颖的3-D簇阴离子超分子网络,质子化的乙二胺和水分子填充于网络之中。磁性研究表明化合物1金属离子间存在反铁磁性相互作用。     

Kinetic analysis of cellular internalization and expulsion of unstructured D-chirality cell penetrating peptides

Most cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) are unstructured and susceptible to proteolytic degradation. One alternative is to incorporate D-chirality amino acids into unstructured CPPs to allow for enhanced uptake and intracellular stability. This work investigates CPP internalization using a series of time, concentration, temperature, and energy dependent studies, resulting in a three-fold increase in uptake and 50-fold increase in stability of D-chirality peptides over L-chirality counterparts. CPP internalization occurred via a combination of direct penetration and endocytosis, with a percentage of internalized CPP expelling from cells in a time-dependent manner. Mechanistic studies identified that cells exported the intact internalized D-chirality CPPs via an exocytosis independent pathway, analogous to a direct penetration method out of the cells. These findings highlight the potential of a D-chirality CPP as bio-vector in therapeutic and biosensing applications, but also identify a new expulsion method suggesting a relationship between uptake kinetics, intracellular stability, and export kinetics.     

Frontiers in Circularly Polarized Phosphorescent Materials

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials have received increasing attention in recent years. Amongst various CPL materials, circularly polarized phosphorescence (CPP) materials featuring long life-time represent a novel research frontier and exhibit promising applications in various fields. Herein, the state-of-the-art advances of CPP materials are systematically summarized, as classified into transition metal complexes, organic small molecules, polymers, and organic/inorganic hybrid materials. Besides, the recent applications of CPP materials in organic light-emitting diodes and encryption display are also summarized. Furthermore, the current challenges and future perspectives are put forward. It is expected that this review will offer more inspirations for the future rational design of advanced CPP materials, thus further promoting their future practical applications.     

A NIR-II AIEgen-Based Supramolecular Nanodot for Peroxynitrite-Potentiated Mild-Temperature Photothermal Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Compared to conventional photothermal therapy (PTT) which requires hyperthermia higher than 50 °C, mild-temperature PTT is a more promising antitumor strategy with much lower phototoxicity to neighboring normal tissues. However, the therapeutic efficacy of mild-temperature PTT is always restricted by the thermoresistance of cancer cells. To address this issue, a supramolecular drug nanocarrier is fabricated to co-deliver nitric oxide (NO) and photothermal agent DCTBT with NIR-II aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristic for mild-temperature PTT. NO can be effectively released from the nanocarriers in intracellular reductive environment and DCTBT is capable of simultaneously producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hyperthermia upon 808 nm laser irradiation. The generated ROS can further react with NO to produce peroxynitrite (ONOOˉ) bearing strong oxidization and nitration capability. ONOOˉ can inhibit the expression of heat shock proteins (HSP) to reduce the thermoresistance of cancer cells, which is necessary to achieve excellent therapeutic efficacy of DCTBT-based PTT at mild temperature (<50 °C). The antitumor performance of ONOOˉ-potentiated mild-temperature PTT is validated on subcutaneous and orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) models. This research puts forward an innovative strategy to overcome thermoresistance for mild-temperature PTT, which provides new inspirations to explore ONOOˉ-sensitized tumor therapy strategies.