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A novel optically pure dinuclear copper(II) complex of a rosin derivative dehydroabietic acid (DHA, HL) was synthesized and fully characterized. The in vitro antitumor activities of the copper(II) complex Cu2(µ2-O)(L)4(DMF)2 (1) were explored and compared with those of a trinuclear iron(III) complex [Fe3(µ3-O)(L)6(CH3OH)2(CH3O)]·H2O (2). 1 was more cytotoxic than 2, and the in vitro cytotoxicity of 1 was comparable to that of cisplatin and oxaliplatin. The metal coordination improved the cytotoxicity of DHA. 1 could arrest cycle in G1 phase and induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cell. 1 increased reactive oxygen species level, GSSG/GSH ratio, and Ca2+ production, and caused the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) in MCF-7 cells. The up-regulated Bax and down-regulated Bcl-2 expression levels, caspase-9/caspase-3 activation, and the release of Cyt c demonstrate that 1 triggered mitochondria-mediated intrinsic apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. Caspase-8/caspase-4 activation and up-regulated Fas expression indicate that death receptor-mediated extrinsic apoptosis was included. Comet assay and up-regulated γ-H2AX and p53 expressions confirmed that 1 caused DNA damage in MCF-7 cells. Moreover, 1 led to enhancement of the biomarker of lipid peroxidation and the indicator of protein carbonylation in MCF-7 cells. All the results suggest that 1 could kill MCF-7 cells by generating oxidative stress, impairing DNA, promoting lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation, and inducing apoptosis and autophagy. Furthermore, 1 also displayed antimetastatic activities with inhibition of cell invasion and migration, together with antiangiogenesis properties. On the whole, copper complex based on rosin derivatives is worth developing as metal-based antitumor drugs.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the value of apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) histogram analysis for assessing World Health Organization (WHO) pathological classification and Masaoka clinical stages of thymic epithelial tumours. METHODS: 37 patients with histologically confirmed thymic epithelial tumours were enrolled. ADC measurements were performed using hot-spot ROI (ADC(HS-ROI)) and histogram-based approach. ADC histogram parameters included mean ADC (ADC(mean)), median ADC (ADC(median)), 10 and 90 percentile of ADC (ADC(10) and ADC(90)), kurtosis and skewness. One-way ANOVA, independent-sample t-test, and receiver operating characteristic were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: There were significant differences in ADC(mean), ADC(median), ADC(10), ADC(90) and ADC(HS-ROI) among low-risk thymoma (type A, AB, B1; n = 14), high-risk thymoma (type B2, B3; n = 9) and thymic carcinoma (type C, n = 14) groups (all p-values

Objective To assess the performance of a whole-tumor histogram analysis of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps in differentiating thymic carcinoma from lymphoma, and compare it with that of a commonly used hot-spot region-of-interest (ROI)-based ADC measurement. Materials and Methods Diffusion weighted imaging data of 15 patients with thymic carcinoma and 13 patients with lymphoma were retrospectively collected and processed with a mono-exponential model. ADC measurements were performed by using a histogram-based and hot-spot-ROI-based approach. In the histogram-based approach, the following parameters were generated: mean ADC (ADCmean), median ADC (ADCmedian), 10th and 90th percentile of ADC (ADC10 and ADC90), kurtosis, and skewness. The difference in ADCs between thymic carcinoma and lymphoma was compared using a t test. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were conducted to determine and compare the differentiating performance of ADCs. Results Lymphoma demonstrated significantly lower ADCmean, ADCmedian, ADC10, ADC90, and hot-spot-ROI-based mean ADC than those found in thymic carcinoma (all p values < 0.05). There were no differences found in the kurtosis (p = 0.412) and skewness (p = 0.273). The ADC10 demonstrated optimal differentiating performance (cut-off value, 0.403 × 10−3 mm2/s; area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC], 0.977; sensitivity, 92.3%; specificity, 93.3%), followed by the ADCmean, ADCmedian, ADC90, and hot-spot-ROI-based mean ADC. The AUC of ADC10 was significantly higher than that of the hot spot ROI based ADC (0.977 vs. 0.797, p = 0.036). Conclusion Compared with the commonly used hot spot ROI based ADC measurement, a histogram analysis of ADC maps can improve the differentiating performance between thymic carcinoma and lymphoma.

Three novel coordination polymers [Cd3( L )2(μ-Br)(μ-Cl)Br3Cl] (1), [Cd3( L )2(μ-Cl)2Cl4] (2) and [Cd( L )Cl]2[CdCl4]·H2O (3) were obtained by reactions of an imidazole-containing tripodal ligand N1-(2-aminoethyl)-N1-(2-imidazolethyl)-ethane-1,2-diamine (L) with Cd(II) salts. Their structures were determined by X-ray crystallography. Crystal data for 1, monoclinic system, P21/c, a=7.752(4) A, b=31.70(2) A, c=14.012(7) A, β=109.439(7)°, V=3247(3) A3, Z=4. 2, monoclinic system, P21/c, a=7.6564(15) A, b=31.433(6) A, c=13.925(3) A, β=109.89(3)°, V=3151.1(11) A3, Z=4. 3, orthorhombic system, Pbcn, a=22.950(2) A, b=8.435(7) A, c=17.360(2) A, V=3360.3(51) A3, Z=4. Complexes 1 and 2 have similar one-dimensional (1D) branched-chain structure while complex 3 features a 1D zigzag cationic chain with [CdCl4]2− serving as counter anion. The photoluminescent measurements reveal that all the complexes exhibit blue fluorescence at room temperature in the solid state.

Five novel coordination polymers, [Co(bpb)2Cl2] (1), [Co(bpb)2(SCN)2] (2), [Cd(H4bpb)0.5(dmf)(NO3)2] (3), [Cd2(H4bpb)Br4] (4), and [Hg2(H4bpb)I4] (5) [bpb=N,N′-bis(3-pyridylmethyl)-1,4-benzenedimethyleneimine, H4bpb=N,N′-bis(3-pyridylmethyl)-1,4-benzenedimethylamine], were synthesized and their structures were determined by X-ray crystallography. In the solid state, complex 1 is a 1D hinged chain, while 2 has 2D network structure with the ligand bpb serving as a bridging ligand using its two pyridyl N atoms. The imine N atoms keep free of coordination and bpb acts as a bidentate ligand in both 1 and 2. Complexes 3, 4, and 5 with reduced bpb ligand, i.e. H4bpb, show similar 2D network structure, in which ligand H4bpb serves as a tetradentate ligand. Thermogravimetric analyses for complexes 1–5 were carried out and found that they have high thermal stability. The magnetic susceptibilities of compounds 1, 2 were measured over a temperature range of 75–300 K.

Vibrio mimicus is a pathogen that causes ascites disease in fish. We have previously demonstrated that the outer membrane protein U (OmpU) is an important adhesin in V. mimicus. Here eight specific OmpU-binding phage clones, which presented three different OmpU-binding peptides (designated P1, P2, P3), were screened from a commercially available phage displayed 12-mer peptide library using rOmpU protein as target. Then, synthetic OmpU-binding peptides were measured for their adhesion antagonistic activity and binding affinity via adhesion inhibition test and non-competitive ELISA, respectively. The results showed that after co-incubated with the mixture of rOmpU and P3, visible green fluorescence could be observed on the epithelioma papulosum cyprinidi (EPC) cells surface; while the EPC cells co-incubated with the mixture of rOmpU and P1/P2 exhibited little green fluorescence. The average adhesion number of V. mimicus 04–14 isolate before and after treatment with peptide was 21.4 ± 1.5, 20.8 ± 0.8 (irrelevant peptide), 20.2 ± 0.5 (P3), 5.1 ± 0.7 (P1) and 3.4 ± 0.8 (P2), respectively. There was a significant decrease in the adhesive level of 04–14 isolate treated with P1/ P2 compared to the untreated isolate (p