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Rapid Detection Of Recurrent Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer In Urine Using Atr-Ftir Technology, Abdullah I. El-Falouji, Dalia M. Sabri, Naira M. Lofti, Doaa M. Medany, Samar A. Mohamed, Mai Alaa-Eldin, Amr Mounir Selim, Asmaa A. El Leithy, Haitham F. Kalil, Ahmed El-Tobgy, Ahmed Mohamed Dec 2022

Rapid Detection Of Recurrent Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer In Urine Using Atr-Ftir Technology, Abdullah I. El-Falouji, Dalia M. Sabri, Naira M. Lofti, Doaa M. Medany, Samar A. Mohamed, Mai Alaa-Eldin, Amr Mounir Selim, Asmaa A. El Leithy, Haitham F. Kalil, Ahmed El-Tobgy, Ahmed Mohamed

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Non-muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC) accounts for 80% of all bladder cancers. Although it is mostly low-grade tumors, its high recurrence rate necessitates three-times-monthly follow-ups and cystoscopy examinations to detect and prevent its progression. A rapid liquid biopsy-based assay is needed to improve detection and reduce complications from invasive cystoscopy. Here, we present a rapid spectroscopic method to detect the recurrence of NMIBC in urine. Urine samples from previously-diagnosed NMIBC patients (n = 62) were collected during their follow-up visits before cystoscopy examination. Cystoscopy results were recorded (41 cancer-free and 21 recurrence) and attenuated total refraction Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) …


Are We Building Back Better?, Fabian M. Dayrit Dec 2022

Are We Building Back Better?, Fabian M. Dayrit

Chemistry Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Nucleobase-Modified Nucleosides And Nucleotides: Applications In Biochemistry, Synthetic Biology, And Drug Discovery, Anthony J. Berdis Nov 2022

Nucleobase-Modified Nucleosides And Nucleotides: Applications In Biochemistry, Synthetic Biology, And Drug Discovery, Anthony J. Berdis

Chemistry Faculty Publications

DNA is often referred to as the "molecule of life " since it contains the genetic blueprint for all forms of life on this planet. The core building blocks composing DNA are deoxynucleotides. While the deoxyribose sugar and phosphate group are ubiquitous, it is the composition and spatial arrangement of the four natural nucleobases, adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T), that provide diversity in the coding information present in DNA. The ability of DNA to function as the genetic blueprint has historically been attributed to the formation of proper hydrogen bonding interactions made between complementary nucleobases. However, …


A Novel Ibuprofen Derivative And Its Complexes: Physicochemical Characterization, Dft Modeling, Docking, In Vitro Anti-Inflammatory Studies, And Dna Interaction, Abbas M. Abbas, Ahmed Aboelmagd, Safaa M. Kishk, Hossam H. Nasrallah, W. Christropher Boyd, Haitham F. Kalil, Adel S. Orabi Nov 2022

A Novel Ibuprofen Derivative And Its Complexes: Physicochemical Characterization, Dft Modeling, Docking, In Vitro Anti-Inflammatory Studies, And Dna Interaction, Abbas M. Abbas, Ahmed Aboelmagd, Safaa M. Kishk, Hossam H. Nasrallah, W. Christropher Boyd, Haitham F. Kalil, Adel S. Orabi

Chemistry Faculty Publications

A novel derivative of ibuprofen and salicylaldehyde N '-(4-hydroxybenzylidene)-2-(4-isobutylphenyl) propane hydrazide (HL) was synthesized, followed by its complexation with Cu, Ni, Co, Gd, and Sm. The compounds obtained were characterized by (HNMR)-H-1, mass spectrometry, UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, thermal analysis (DTA and TGA), conductivity measurements, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The results indicate that the complexes formed were [Cu(L)(H2O)]Cl center dot 2H(2)O, [Ni(L)(2)], [Co(L)(2)]center dot H2O, [Gd(L)(2)(H2O)(2)](NO3)center dot 2H(2)O and [Sm(L)(2)(H2O)(2)](NO3)center dot 2H(2)O. The surface characteristics of the produced compounds were evaluated by DFT calculations using the MOE environment. The docking was performed against the COX2 targeting protein (PDB code: 5IKT …


Sialidase Inhibitors With Different Mechanisms, Joseph M. Keil, Garrett R. Rafn, Isaac M. Turan, Majdi A. Aljohani, Reza Sahebjam-Atabaki, Xue-Long Sun Oct 2022

Sialidase Inhibitors With Different Mechanisms, Joseph M. Keil, Garrett R. Rafn, Isaac M. Turan, Majdi A. Aljohani, Reza Sahebjam-Atabaki, Xue-Long Sun

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Sialidases, or neuraminidases, are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of sialic acid (Sia)-containing molecules, mostly removal of the terminal Sia (desialylation). By desialylation, sialidase can modulate the functionality of the target compound and is thus often involved in biological pathways. Inhibition of sialidases with inhibitors is an important approach for under-standing sialidase function and the underlying mechanisms and could serve as a therapeutic approach as well. Transition-state analogues, such as anti-influenza drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir, are major sialidase inhibitors. In addition, difluoro-sialic acids were developed as mechanism-based sialidase inhibitors. Further, fluorinated quinone methide-based suicide substrates were reported. Sialidase product analogue …


Direct Ink 3d Printing Of Porous Carbon Monoliths For Gas Separations, Marisa L. Comroe, Kurt W. Kolasinski, Dipendu Saha Sep 2022

Direct Ink 3d Printing Of Porous Carbon Monoliths For Gas Separations, Marisa L. Comroe, Kurt W. Kolasinski, Dipendu Saha

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is the advanced method of manufacturing monolithic adsorbent materials. Unlike beads or pellets, 3D monolithic adsorbents possess the advantages of widespread structural varieties, low heat and mass transfer resistance, and low channeling of fluids. Despite a large volume of research on 3D printing of adsorbents having been reported, such studies on porous carbons are highly limited. In this work, we have reported direct ink 3D printing of porous carbon; the ink consisted of commercial activated carbon, a gel of poly(4-vinylphenol) and Pluronic F127 as plasticizer, and bentonite as the binder. The 3D printing was performed …


Multimodal Cotranslational Interactions Direct Assembly Of The Human Multi-Trna Synthetase Complex, Krishnendu Khan, Briana Long, Valentin Gogonea, Gauravi M. Deshpande, Kommireddy Vasu, Paul L. Fox Sep 2022

Multimodal Cotranslational Interactions Direct Assembly Of The Human Multi-Trna Synthetase Complex, Krishnendu Khan, Briana Long, Valentin Gogonea, Gauravi M. Deshpande, Kommireddy Vasu, Paul L. Fox

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Amino acid ligation to cognate transfer RNAs (tRNAs) is catalyzed by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs)-essential interpreters of the genetic code during translation. Mammalian cells harbor 20 cytoplasmic aaRSs, out of which 9 (in 8 proteins), with 3 non-aaRS proteins, AIMPs 1 to 3, form the similar to 1.25-MDa multi-tRNA synthetase complex (MSC). The function of MSC remains uncertain, as does its mechanism of assembly. Constituents of multiprotein complexes encounter obstacles during assembly, including inappropriate interactions, topological constraints, premature degradation of unassembled subunits, and suboptimal stoichiometry. To facilitate orderly and efficient complex formation, some complexes are assembled cotranslationally by a mechanism in …


Towards Upcycling Biomass-Derived Crosslinked Polymers With Light, Ravichandranath Singathi, Ramya Raghunathan, Retheesh Krishnan, Saravana Kumar Rajendran, Sruthy Baburaj, Mukund P. Sibi, Dean C. Webster, Jayaraman Sivaguru May 2022

Towards Upcycling Biomass-Derived Crosslinked Polymers With Light, Ravichandranath Singathi, Ramya Raghunathan, Retheesh Krishnan, Saravana Kumar Rajendran, Sruthy Baburaj, Mukund P. Sibi, Dean C. Webster, Jayaraman Sivaguru

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Photodegradable, recyclable, and renewable, crosslinked polymers from bioresources show promise towards developing a sustainable strategy to address the issue of plastics degradability and recyclability. Photo processes are not widely exploited for upcycling polymers in spite of the potential to have spatial and temporal control of the degradation in addition to being a green process. In this report we highlight a methodology in which biomass-derived crosslinked polymers can be programmed to degrade at ≈300 nm with ≈60 % recovery of the monomer. The recovered monomer was recycled back to the crosslinked polymer.


Synthesis Of A Novel Ras Farnesyl Protein Transferase Inhibitor, Mark F. Mechelke, Anna Mikolchak May 2022

Synthesis Of A Novel Ras Farnesyl Protein Transferase Inhibitor, Mark F. Mechelke, Anna Mikolchak

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Mutant RAS proteins are associated with 30% of all human cancers. Unregulated cell growth caused by mutant RAS proteins can be prevented by RAS farnesyl protein transferase (FPTase) inhibitors. A novel FPTase inhibitor has been synthesized incorporating a modified farnesyl “tail” and a customized diphosphate “head”. It is anticipated that the modified “tail”, incorporating a phenyl substituent, will bind more tightly to FPTase due to nonbonding interactions between the aromatic ring and ten aromatic amino acid residues that line the enzyme active site. The altered polar “head”, designed from L-aspartic acid, has already been shown to mimic the natural substrate’s …


Characterization Of Mechanochemical Modification Of Porous Silicon With Arginine, Jacklyn A. Dipietro, Kurt W. Kolasinski Mar 2022

Characterization Of Mechanochemical Modification Of Porous Silicon With Arginine, Jacklyn A. Dipietro, Kurt W. Kolasinski

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Mechanochemistry initiated the reaction of hydrogen-terminated porous silicon (H/por-Si) powder with arginine. Samples were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Arginine, which was physisorbed onto the surface of por-Si, blue-shifted the peak PL intensity from similar to 630 nm for the H/por-Si to similar to 565 nm for arginine-coated por-Si. Grinding for 4 h reduced >80% of the initially 2-45 mu m particles to <500 nm, but was observed to quench the PL. With appropriate rinsing and centrifugation, particles in the 100 nm range were isolated. Rinsing ground powder with water was required to remove the unreacted arginine. Without rinsing, excess arginine induced the aggregation of passivated particles. However, water reacted with the freshly ground por-Si powder producing H-2. A zeta potential of +42 mV was measured for arginine-terminated por-Si particles dispersed in deionized water. This positive value was consistent with termination such that NH2 groups extended away from the surface. Furthermore, this result was confirmed by FTIR spectra, which suggested that arginine was bound to silicon through the formation of a covalent Si-O bond.


Characteristics And Assessing Biological Risks Of Airborne Bacteria In Waste Sorting Plant, Abbas Norouzian Baghani, Somayeh Golbaz, Gholamreza Ebrahimzadeh, Marcelo I. Guzman, Mahdieh Delikhoon, Mehdi Jamshidi Rastani, Abdullah Barkhordari, Ramin Nabizadeh Feb 2022

Characteristics And Assessing Biological Risks Of Airborne Bacteria In Waste Sorting Plant, Abbas Norouzian Baghani, Somayeh Golbaz, Gholamreza Ebrahimzadeh, Marcelo I. Guzman, Mahdieh Delikhoon, Mehdi Jamshidi Rastani, Abdullah Barkhordari, Ramin Nabizadeh

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Examining the concentration and types of airborne bacteria in waste paper and cardboard sorting plants (WPCSP) is an urgent matter to inform policy makers about the health impacts on exposed workers. Herein, we collected 20 samples at 9 points of a WPCSP every 6 winter days, and found that the most abundant airborne bacteria were positively and negatively correlated to relative humidity and temperature, respectively. The most abundant airborne bacteria (in units of CFU m−3) were: Staphylococcus sp. (72.4) > Micrococcus sp. (52.2) > Bacillus sp. (30.3) > Enterococcus sp. (24.0) > Serratia marcescens (20.1) > E. coli (19.1) > Pseudomonas sp. (16.0) > Nocardia …


Network-Based Pharmacology Study Reveals Protein Targets For Medical Benefits And Harms Of Cannabinoids In Humans, Xingyu Li, Amit Madhukar Kudke, Felix Joseph Nepveux V, Yan Xu Feb 2022

Network-Based Pharmacology Study Reveals Protein Targets For Medical Benefits And Harms Of Cannabinoids In Humans, Xingyu Li, Amit Madhukar Kudke, Felix Joseph Nepveux V, Yan Xu

Chemistry Faculty Publications

This network-based pharmacology study intends to uncover the underlying mechanisms of cannabis leading to a therapeutic benefit and the pathogenesis for a wide range of diseases claimed to benefit from or be caused by the use of the cannabis plant. Cannabis contains more than 600 chemical components. Among these components, cannabinoids are well-known to have multifarious pharmacological activities. In this work, twelve cannabinoids were selected as active compounds through text mining and drug-like properties screening and used for initial protein-target prediction. The disease-associated biological functions and pathways were enriched through GO and KEGG databases. Various biological networks [i.e., protein-protein interaction, …


All-Atom Simulations Uncover Structural And Dynamical Properties Of Sting Proteins In The Membrane System, Rachel Payne, Silvia Crivelli, Masakatsu Watanabe Ph.D. Feb 2022

All-Atom Simulations Uncover Structural And Dynamical Properties Of Sting Proteins In The Membrane System, Rachel Payne, Silvia Crivelli, Masakatsu Watanabe Ph.D.

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Recent studies have shown that the stimulator of interferon gene (STING) protein plays a central role in the immune system by facilitating the production of Type I interferons in cells. The STING signaling pathway is also a prominent activator of cancer-killing T cells that initiates a powerful adaptive immune response. Since biomolecular signaling pathways are complicated and not easily identified through traditional experiments, molecular dynamics (MD) has often been used to study these biological pathways’ structural and dynamical responses. Here, we carried out MD simulations for full-length chicken and human STING (chSTING and hSTING) proteins. Specifically, we investigated ligand-bound closed …


Metabolic Features Of Brain Function With Relevance To Clinical Features Of Alzheimer And Parkinson Diseases, David Allan Butterfield, Maria Favia, Iolanda Spera, Annalisa Campanella, Martina Lanza, Alessandra Castegna Jan 2022

Metabolic Features Of Brain Function With Relevance To Clinical Features Of Alzheimer And Parkinson Diseases, David Allan Butterfield, Maria Favia, Iolanda Spera, Annalisa Campanella, Martina Lanza, Alessandra Castegna

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Brain metabolism is comprised in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Since the brain primarily relies on metabolism of glucose, ketone bodies, and amino acids, aspects of these metabolic processes in these disorders—and particularly how these altered metabolic processes are related to oxidative and/or nitrosative stress and the resulting damaged targets—are reviewed in this paper. Greater understanding of the decreased functions in brain metabolism in AD and PD is posited to lead to potentially important therapeutic strategies to address both of these disorders, which cause relatively long-lasting decreased quality of life in patients.


Synthesis Of Β,Β-Disubstituted Styrenes Via Trimethylsilyl Trifluoromethanesulfonate-Promoted Aldehyde-Aldehyde Aldol Addition-Deformylative Elimination., Grant J. Dixon, Michael R. Rodriguez, Tyler G. Chong, Kevin Y. Kim, C. Wade Downey Jan 2022

Synthesis Of Β,Β-Disubstituted Styrenes Via Trimethylsilyl Trifluoromethanesulfonate-Promoted Aldehyde-Aldehyde Aldol Addition-Deformylative Elimination., Grant J. Dixon, Michael R. Rodriguez, Tyler G. Chong, Kevin Y. Kim, C. Wade Downey

Chemistry Faculty Publications

In the presence of trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (TMSOTf) and 2,6-lutidine, α,α-disubstituted aldehydes condense with electron-rich aromatic aldehydes to yield β, β- disubstituted styrenes. More electron-rich aromatic aldehydes react more rapidly and in higher yield. Preliminary results suggest that the reaction may proceed via the ionization and formal deformylation of an aldol intermediate.