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Solvent‐free atmospheric selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BZA) by molecular oxygen is a promising and green process for the synthesis of benzaldehyde (BZL). Supported Pd nanoparticles have been widely reported in the catalytic selective oxidation of BZA where the activity depends on the chemical valence and dispersion of the Pd nanoparticles. Herein, a series of thermally exfoliated g‐C3N4 (eg‐C3N4) have been synthesized under various gas conditions (air/N2) and then applied as catalyst supports to load Pd nanoparticles. The physicochemical properties of the prepared Pd/eg‐C3N4 materials have been characterized by N2 adsorption–desorption, XRD, FT‐IR, UV‐vis, XPS, and TEM. Pd nanoparticles dispersed well on the supports, and the distributions of Pd and nitrogen species of the catalysts were related to the gas conditions of the supports. In the selective oxidation of BZA, 2.5Pd/eg‐C3N4‐AN catalyst afforded conversion of BZA and the selectivity to BZL of 88 % and 92 %, respectively. The metallic Pd0 species are considered the catalytic sites of Pd/eg‐C3N4 in the catalytic reaction and meanwhile, the basic Nb species of eg‐C3N4 were beneficial to the overall activity of the catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol using molecular oxygen is a sustainable strategy for the green synthesis of benzaldehyde, and an important research topic is developing heterogeneous catalysts that can afford high activity, especially under solvent-free and aerobic conditions. In this work, Pd catalysts supported on carbon nitride–ceria composites were prepared through a simple wet impregnation method, and they were then analyzed in detail using various characterization techniques. The combination of carbon nitride and ceria can not only steadily anchor Pd but it can also provide more active lattice oxygen. The catalytic performance of Pd/carbon nitride/CeO2 (Pd/CN/CeO2) was evaluated during the solvent-free and aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol. Under the same reaction conditions, Pd/CN/CeO2 demonstrated superior activity to both Pd/eg-C3N4 and Pd/CeO2, and the maximum yield of benzaldehyde achieved when using Pd/CN-1.0/CeO2 was 77%. Furthermore, the catalyst can be reused six times without any significant loss of catalytic activity, and it also exhibited good generality, allowing reactions with various substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new di-O-prenylated flavone, named 7,3′-di-(γ,γ-dimethylallyloxy)-5-hydroxy-4′-methoxyflavone (1), was isolated from the culture broth of the endophytic actinomycete Streptomyces sp. MA-12 isolated from the root of the semi-mangrove plant Myoporum bontioides A. Gray. The structure of 1 was determined by comprehensive spectroscopic methods, including 1D and 2D NMR experiments (COSY, HMQC, and HMBC). Primary bioassays showed that 1 at concentration of 0.25 mM had moderate inhibitory activity against three plant pathogenic fungi including Colletotrichum musae, Gibberella zeae (Schweinitz) Petch, and Penicillium citrinum Thom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-invasive preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (niPGT-A) avoids the possible detrimental impact of invasive PGT-A on embryo development and clinical outcomes. Does cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from spent blastocyst culture medium (BCM) reflect embryonic chromosome status better than trophectoderm (TE) biopsy? In this study, 35 donated embryos were used for research and the BCM, TE biopsy, inner cell mass (ICM) and residual blastocyst (RB) were individually picked up from these embryos. Whole genome amplification (WGA) was performed and amplified DNA was subject to next-generation sequencing. Chromosome status concordance was compared among the groups of samples. The WGA success rates were 97.0% (TE biopsy), 100% (ICM), 97.0% (RB) and 88.6% (BCM). Using ICM as the gold standard, the chromosomal ploidy concordance rates for BCM, TE biopsy and RB were 58.33% (14/24), 68.75% (22/32) and 78.57% (22/28); the diagnostic concordance rates were 83.33% (20/24), 87.50% (28/32) and 92.86% (26/28); and the sex concordance rates were 92.31% (24/26), 100% (32/32) and 100% (28/28), respectively. Considering RB the gold standard, the chromosome ploidy concordance rates for BCM and TE biopsy were 61.90% (13/21) and 81.48% (22/27); the diagnostic concordance rates were 71.43% (15/21) and 88.89% (24/27); and the sex concordance rates were 91.30% (21/23) and 100% (27/27), respectively. The results of niPGT-A of cfDNA of spent BCM are comparable to those of invasive PGT-A of TE biopsies. Modifications of embryo culture conditions and testing methods will help reduce maternal DNA contamination and improve the reliability of niPGT-A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The endophytic fungus Nigrospora sphaerica S5 derived from the semi-mangrove plant Myoporum bontioides was fermented. Its metabolites were purified by column chromatography. Nine compounds were obtained and identified as terezine P(1), 3-(1-hydroxyethyl)-4-methyl dihydrofuran-2(3H)-one(2), methylhydroheptelidate(3), hydroheptelidic acid(4), 5, 7-dimethoxy-4, 6-dimethylphthalide(5),(3R,4S)-(-)-4-hydroxymellein(6), pestalopyrone(7), indole-3-formaldehyde(8) and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde(9) by spectroscopic techniques. Terezine P(1) was a new alkaloid belonging to the terezine class with a pyrazine ring. Compounds 2-7 were lactones, of which 3 and 4 belonged to sesquiterpenes. Compounds 8 and 9 were indole alkaloids and phenols, respectively. Compounds 3-6 were purified from Nigrospora sp. for the first time. These compounds showed different degrees of antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli of O6 serotype and E. coli of O78 serotype.

To elucidate the intervention effects of Jiaotai pills(JTP) on p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA)-induced insomnia in rats and its underlying mechanism, the insomnia model was established by single intraperitoneal injection with PCPA in rats. The locomotor activity of rats was observed, and the levels of nerve growth factor(NGF) in hypothalamus, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and serum of rats were determined by using ELISA. Moreover, a proton nuclear magnetic resonance(¹H-NMR)-based metabonomic approach was developed to profile insomnia-related metabolites in rat serum and hippocampus and analyze the intervention effects of JTP on changes in underlying biomarkers related to locomotor activity, NGF and insomnia. According to the results, JTP could significantly suppress the locomotor activity of insomnia rats, and increase the NGF levels in hypothalamus, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and serum of rats with insomnia. The disturbed metabolic state associated with PCPA-induced insomnia in rat serum and hippocampus could be intervened by JTP. Meanwhile, six and five potential biomarkers related to insomnia in rat serum and hippocampus were reversed by administration of JTP. In conclusion, the current study demonstrated that JTP had protective effects against PCPA-induced insomnia in rats, which was probably correlated with regulation of NGF level and metabolism of amino acids, lipids and choline., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.)

Unlike other members of the polycomb group protein family, EZH1 has been shown to positively associate with active transcription on a genome-wide scale. However, the underlying mechanism for this behavior still remains elusive. Here, we report that EZH1 physically interacts with UXT, a small chaperon-like transcription co-activator. UXT specifically interacts with EZH1 and SUZ12, but not EED. Similar to upon knockdown of UXT, knockdown of EZH1 or SUZ12 through RNA interference in the cell impairs the transcriptional activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB target genes induced by TNFα. EZH1 deficiency also increases TNFα-induced cell death. Interestingly, chromatin immunoprecipitation and the following next-generation sequencing analysis show that H3K27 mono-, di- and tri-methylation on NF-κB target genes are not affected in EZH1- or UXT-deficient cells. EZH1 also does not affect the translocation of the p65 subunit of NF-κB (also known as RELA) from the cytosol to the nucleus. Instead, EZH1 and SUZ12 regulate the recruitment of p65 and RNA Pol II to target genes. Taken together, our study shows that EZH1 and SUZ12 act as positive regulators for NF-κB signaling and demonstrates that EZH1, SUZ12 and UXT work synergistically to regulate pathway activation in the nucleus., (© 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

The title compound, C(10)H(8)O(4), was isolated from the fermentation culture of the endophytic fungus Cephalo-sporium sp. In the crystal structure, mol-ecules are connected into a one-dimensional chain along [101] by inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds involving the hydroxyl and carbonyl functionalities. The chains are linked by non-classical C-H⋯O inter-actions, forming extended two-dimensional layers approximately parallel to (11).

The metabolites of a marine mangrove fungus (Penicillium sp. No. 2556) were studied in this paper and six compounds were isolated from the fermentation liquid. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopy methods as Sch54796 (1), Sch54794 (2), 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (3), urail (4), succinic acid (5), Vermopyrone (6). Among them, compounds 1, 2 and 6 were firstly isolated from Penicillium sp., Coumpounds 1 and 2 remarkably inhibited the growth of cancer cell lines hep2 and hepG2.

The metabolites of a marine streptomyces sp. actinomycete (No. 195-02) were studied and eight compounds were isolated from the fermentation liquid, structures were elucidated by spectroscopy methods as p-hydroxy-benzonitrile (1), 2-methyl-furan-3-carboxylic acid(2), furan-2-carboxylic acid (3), cyclo(Phe-Phe) (4), cyclo(Leu-Ileu) (5), nicotinic acid (6), 2-(1H-indol-3-yl) acetic acid (7) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (8). The compounds 1, 3 and 8 were firstly isolated from Streptomyces sp., compounds 4 -7 were firstly found from marine actinomycetes. Coumpouds 4 and 5 evidently inhibited the growth of cancer cell lines hepG2 and hep2 at the concentration of 50 microg/ml.