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Three undescribed sesquiterpenoids, phaeocaulisguatriol (1) and phaeocaulistriol A-B (19, 20), along with twenty known sesquiterpenoids were isolated from a chloroform-soluble extract of Curcuma phaeocaulis Valeton rhizome. Their structures were determined using comprehensive spectroscopic methods. All isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against five human tumor cell lines Hela, HepG2, MCF-7, BGC823, and A549. Among them, phaeocaulisguatriol (1) and phaeocaulistriol B (20) showed potent cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 (IC50 of 40.7 and 58.8 μM, respectively), by inducing apoptosis. The effectiveness of compounds 1 and 20 was supported by predictive intermolecular interactions in molecular docking. Molecular dynamics simulation studies further probed the interaction mechanism under simulated physiological conditions between the two most active compounds and the TP53 protein, an apoptotic effector protein. Moreover, Western blot experiments confirmed that compound 1 induces apoptosis by activating the expression of TP53 and caspase 3 proteins. This work provides a deep insight into new sesquiterpenoids isolated from C. phaeocaulis Valeton acting as potential antitumor activity inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoparticles modified with aminopropyl group were prepared by a single-step electrospray process and used as a pseudo-stationary phase for the separation of anions, (e.g., organic acids in capillary electrophoresis). The nanoparticles form a uniform suspension which is stable in a buffer without adding other stabilizer. The amino containing nanoparticles have significant impact on the electro-osmotic flow (EOF) of the system, which, in turn, affects the overall separation of other analytes in this system. For example, five organic acids, which were not all separable in zone electrophoresis, were fully resolved in the presence of the nanoparticles in a wide range of pH. Various experimental parameters that are related to the electrophoresis including EOF, pH, organic modifier, voltage, concentration of the running buffer and concentration of the nanoparticles have been investigated. The repeatability of the migration time and peak area in this system are better than 5% for both inter- and intra-day evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Curcumae Rhizoma - Sparganii Rhizoma (CR-SR) is a traditional botanical drug pair that can promote blood circulation, remove blood stasis, and treat tumors in clinics. The aim of the present study was to investigate the therapeutic material basis and potential mechanisms of CR-SR, CR, and SR for the treatment of liver cancer. Method: The chemical profile analyses of CR-SR, CR, and SR were performed by molecular networking and UPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS n . The anti-liver cancer activities of CR-SR, CR, and SR were assessed by using a zebrafish xenograft model in vivo for the first time and detected by the HepG2 cell model in vitro . Combining the network analysis and molecular docking, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) experiments were undertaken to further explore the mechanisms of CR-SR, CR, and SR for the treatment of liver cancer. Results: In total, 65 components were identified in CR-SR, CR, and SR. Based on the clusters of molecular networking, a total of 12 novel diarylheptanoids were identified from CR-SR and CR. By combining our results with information from the literature, 32 sesquiterpenoids and 21 cyclic dipeptides were identified from CR-SR, CR, and SR. The anti-liver cancer activities were observed in both the drug pair and the single botanical drugs in vitro and in vivo , and the order of activity was CR-SR > CR > SR. They could downregulate the expression of proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src (SRC), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), estrogen receptor-α (ESR1), prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), and amyloid precursor protein (APP). Conclusion: Taken together, the present study provided an experimental basis for the therapeutic material basis and potential molecular mechanisms of CR-SR, CR, and SR. This study provided a novel insight for objective clinical treatment of liver cancer., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wei, Wang, Dong, Zhong, Ren, Song, Ma, Yu, Fan, Yao, Shan, Lv, Zheng, Deng, Li, He, Fan, Zhao, Wang, Yuan and She.)

The preparation of thrombin affinity chromatography media is described in this paper. First, the thrombin affinity chromatography media was prepared through thrombin coupled with cyanogen bromide activated agarose. And then the enzyme activity of thrombin on the coupled media was measured by chromogenic substrate method. The conditions were confirmed based on the enzyme activity of thrombin on the coupled media. The optimum conditions were as follows: the use of Na2CO3-NaHCO3 (containing 0.5 mol/L NaCl) solution of pH 8.3 as the reaction solution, 200 U thrombin per 1 g agarose, and reaction for 10 h at room temperature. The prepared affinity chromatography media had good stability, on which 70.6% of the enzyme activity of thrombin existed after 40 days' storage. The thrombin affinity chromatography media can be widely applied in the screening and purification of thrombin inhibitors in natural products.

As the most popular chiral selectors, β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and its derivatives have been widely used in enantiomer separations. Among functionalized β-CDs, sulfated β-CDs are recognized as the most effective chiral additives in capillary electrophoresis (CE) separations. Herein, we describe the preparation of a novel sulfated poly β-CD-modified silica-based monolithic column and its use for the enantioseparation of some chiral compounds in the capillary electrochromatography (CEC) mode.