A ternary metal catalyst system based on Pd/C‐Pt/C‐Ru/C and molecular oxygen is found to be very effective and robust in oxidizing alcohols to carboxylic acids. Using the ternary catalyst and a flow‐setup, the conversion of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF, 1) to 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA, 2), a bioplastics precursor, proceeded quite rapidly with a residence time of 1 min at 120 °C under 0.28 MPa of molecular oxygen. Catalyst activity remains stable for at least 2 weeks, giving 66.8 g (60% yield) of the analytically pure FDCA (2). The ternary catalyst system combined with a flow setup is successfully applied to the rapid conversion of ordinary alcohols 3 to aromatic and aliphatic carboxylic acids 4 in good yields.

In search of a reliable flow polymerization, group transfer polymerization (GTP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) using gas-liquid droplet flow by argon and fully continuous flow was compared. The & Dstrok; values of polyMMA under the argon droplet flow were consistently lower than those of the fully continuous flow.

The formyl C−H thiolation of aldehydes using thiosulfonates and the decatungstate anion as a photocatalyst is reported. Using this photocatalytic protocol together with a CO atmosphere, both aromatic and aliphatic thioesters can be synthesized in good yields. The transformation consists of a cascade of double SH2 reactions, HAT and an ArS group transfer. CO atmosphere effectively limits the extent of decarbonylation of acyl radicals that are generated in the reaction.

The selective deprotection of tertiary-butyl (tert-Bu) esters in diblock copolymers of polyesters was studied via heterogeneous acid catalysts and flow reactors. Diblock copolymers composed of n-butyl methacrylate (nBMA) as the 1st block and tert-butyl methacrylate (tBMA) as the 2nd block were prepared by group transfer polymerization (GTP) using diisobutyl ketone (DIBK) as the solvent. The selective deprotection of the tert-Bu ester in the poly(nBMA-b-tBMA) under flow conditions was examined. The results show that the selective deprotection of the tert-Bu ester was achieved successfully via an acidic macroreticular polymeric catalyst, Amberlyst 35DRY, packed in a flow reactor. The deprotection process required 15 min of residence at 180 °C to yield acidic poly(nBMA-b-methacrylic acid) with a polydispersity index (Ð) value as low as 1.28. The durability of the catalyst was also examined during a continuous process for 1500 min by an HPLC pump. Selective deprotection of tertiary-butyl (tert-Bu) ester in poly(n-butyl methacrylate-b-tert-butyl methacrylate) was studied via heterogeneous acid catalysts and flow reactors. We found that selective deprotection of tert-Bu ester was achieved successfully using an acidic macroreticular polymeric catalyst, Amberlyst 35DRY, packed in a flow reactor. The deprotection process required 15 min of residence time at 180 °C to give an acidic poly(n-butyl methacrylate-b-methacrylic acid) with a small polydispersity index (Ð) value such as 1.28.

The oxidative cleavage of C═C bonds with molecular oxygen was promoted effectively by a catalytic amount of a decatungstate photocatalyst using black light irradiation (365 nm). Not only aromatic ketones but also aliphatic ketones were obtained by the photocatalytic protocol. The continuous flow reaction of α-methylstyrene using a high-power ultraviolet light-emitting diode (365 nm) dramatically decreased the reaction time.

Site-selective C(sp3)-H thiolation using thiosulfonates has been achieved using the decatungstate anion as a photocatalyst. Using the protocol, a variety of thiolated compounds were synthesized in good yields. The transformation consists of a cascade of double SH2 reactions, HAT and ArS group transfer, and PCET (proton-coupled electron transfer) of the leaving arylsulfonyl radical to arylsulfinic acid thus allowing the catalyst, W10O324-, to be recovered.

Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) blockade combination to other drugs have attracted the interest of scientists for treating tumors resistant to PD-1 blockade. In this study, the impact of the interval, order of administration, and number of cycles of immunotherapeutic combination of stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway agonist loaded lipid nanoparticle (STING-LNP) and PD-1 antibody for inducing the optimal combined antitumor activity against a melanoma lung metastasis is reported. One cycle had no effect, but two and three cycles resulted in a combined antitumor effect. The interval between the administration was found to influence the induction of the combined effect. The second and third doses increased the gene expression of the NK cell activation marker, interferon γ (IFN-γ), PD-1 and a ligand of PD-1 (PD-L1), whereas the first dose failed. NK cells in the lung showed an increase in the expression of the activation markers and PD-1 after the second dose. The combined antitumor effect of this combination therapy against melanoma lung metastasis model could be dependent on the interval as well as the number of doses of STING-LNP. These findings suggest the importance of the protocol setting when combining a nano system loaded with an immune adjuvant and PD-1 antibody.

Since the effect of cancer immunotherapy is largely dependent on the status of the immune system in the tumor microenvironment (TME), choice of therapy and the development of new therapies based on the immune status in the TME would be predicted to be effective. Unfortunately, the development of delivery systems for such therapy has been slow. Here, we defined a parameter of immune status in TME showing antitumor effects and demonstrated the cancer immunotherapy with an adjuvant loaded lipid nanoparticle (LNP), which was taken advantage the parameter. An analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between antitumor effects and gene expression (22 target genes) in tumors (MC38 and E.G7-OVA) that respond to the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) antibody and non-responding tumors (B16-F10 and 4T1). The immune status showing an effective antitumor effect, which consisted of 10 genes, was then extracted. Treatment with the adjuvant loaded LNP caused a significant antitumor effect against an E.G7-OVA tumor, and the gene expression in the E.G7-OVA tumor was completely within the range of gene expression for showing an effective antitumor effect, as defined by the identified immune status panel (IS-panel-10). Although the treatment with the adjuvant loaded LNP failed to induce a sufficient antitumor effect against the 4T1 tumor, we succeeded in enhancing the antitumor effect by using a combination therapy that was adopted based on the analysis by the IS-panel-10 in the TME. The 10 genes were found to affect the prognosis in a variety of human cancers. Collectively, the findings reported herein demonstrate the potential of immune status analysis in the TME for developing cancer immunotherapies using a delivery system.

In this article, we discuss how effective photo-induced organic reactions became when applied evolving photo flow technologies through our experiences over these two last decades. We started with the flow update of traditional [2 + 2] cycloaddition using Mikroglas Dwell device as a flow reactor and a compact light source, such as blacklight, instead of a high-pressure mercury lamp. Then we examined Barton nitrite reaction using a photo flow reactor consisting of stainless-steel channels and a quartz glass top provided by DNS. Again the use of blacklight was successful. However, the energy profile of these reactions was improved further by the use of LED lights. We used a photo-flow set-up, consisting of stainless steel engraved microchannels covered by a quartz top (MiChS L-1) and a sodium lamp, for the isomerization of a fulleroid to PCBM. Photo-redox-catalyzed alkene alkylation proceeded within a shortened reaction time when the same photo flow reactor and white LED were used instead of a batch reactor. Photo-induced reductive 5-exo-dig radical cyclization and reduction of alkenyl halides proceeded smoothly, thanks to the combination of a photo flow reactor and low-pressure Hg lamp. We also applied flow technologies for photo-bromination and chlorination of C–H bonds. Photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol by molecular oxygen became quick when high-power LED irradiation was employed.

Aminocarbonylation of alkenyl iodides with CO and amines proceeded under heating to produce α,β-unsaturated amides in good yields (23 examples, 71% average yield). This catalyst-free method exhibited good functional-group tolerance, and open a straightforward access to functionalized acrylamides, as illustrated by the synthesis of Ilepcimide. A hybrid radical/ionic mechanism involving chain electron transfer is proposed for this transformation.

Our previous work established a continuous-flow synthesis of pristane, which is a saturated branched alkane obtained from a Basking Shark. The dehydration of an allylic alcohol that is the key to a tetraene was carried out using a packed-bed reactor charged by an acid–silica catalyst (HO-SAS) and flow hydrogenation using molecular hydrogen via a Pd/C catalyst followed. The present work relies on the additional propensity of Pd/C to serve as an acid catalyst, which allows us to perform a flow synthesis of pristane from the aforementioned key allylic alcohol in the presence of molecular hydrogen using Pd/C as a single catalyst, which is applied to both dehydration and hydrogenation. The present one-column-two-reaction-flow system could eliminate the use of an acid catalyst such as HO-SAS and lead to a significant simplification of the production process.

High-power UV-LED irradiation (365 nm) effectively accelerated the decatungstate-anion-catalyzed oxidation of benzyl alcohol 1 to benzoic acid 3 via benzaldehyde 2. As the power of the UV-LED light increased, both the selectivity and yield of benzoic acid also increased. The reaction was finished within 1 h to give 3 in a 93% yield using 2 mol% of decatungstate anion catalyst. The combination of a flow photoreactor and high-power irradiation accelerated the oxidation reaction to an interval of only a few minutes.

Background Resistance to an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) is a major obstacle in cancer immunotherapy. The causes of ICI resistance include major histocompatibility complex (MHC)/histocompatibility locus antigen (HLA) class I loss, neoantigen loss, and incomplete antigen presentation. Elimination by natural killer (NK) cells would be expected to be an effective strategy for the treatment of these ICI-resistant tumors. We previously demonstrated that a lipid nanoparticle containing a stimulator of an interferon gene (STING) agonist (STING-LNP) efficiently induced antitumor activity via the activation of NK cells. Thus, we evaluated the potential of reducing ICI resistance by STING-LNPs.Methods Lung metastasis of a B16-F10 mouse melanoma was used as an anti-programmed cell death 1 (anti-PD-1)-resistant mouse model. The mice were intravenously injected with the STING-LNP and the mechanism responsible for the improvement of anti-PD-1 resistance by the STING-LNPs was analyzed by RT-qPCR and flow cytometry. The dynamics of STING-LNP were also investigated.Results Although anti-PD-1 monotherapy failed to induce an antitumor effect, the combination of the STING-LNP and anti-PD-1 exerted a synergistic antitumor effect. Our results indicate that the STING-LNP treatment significantly increased the expression of CD3, CD4, NK1.1, PD-1 and interferon (IFN)-γ in lung metastases. This change appears to be initiated by the type I IFN produced by liver macrophages that contain the internalized STING-LNPs, leading to the systemic activation of NK cells that express PD-1. The activated NK cells appeared to produce IFN-γ, resulting in an increase in the expression of the PD ligand 1 (PD-L1) in cancer cells, thus leading to a synergistic antitumor effect when anti-PD-1 is administered.Conclusions We provide a demonstration to show that a STING-LNP treatment can overcome PD-1 resistance in a B16-F10 lung metastasis model. The mechanism responsible for this indicates that NK cells are activated by stimulating the STING pathway which, in turn, induced the expression of PD-L1 on cancer cells. Based on the findings reported herein, the STING-LNP represents a promising candidate for use in combination therapy with anti-PD-1-resistant tumors.

Bis-(3′–5′)-cyclic dimeric guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) is a second messenger known to control a variety of bacterial processes. The model cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, has a score of genes encoding putative enzymes for c-di-GMP synthesis and degradation. However, most of them have not been functionally characterized. Here, we chose four genes in Synechocystis (dgcA–dgcD), which encode proteins with a GGDEF, diguanylate cyclase (DGC) catalytic domain and multiple Per-ARNT-Sim (PAS) conserved regulatory motifs, for detailed analysis. Purified DgcA, DgcB and DgcC were able to catalyze synthesis of c-di-GMP from two GTPs in vitro. DgcA had the highest activity, compared with DgcB and DgcC. DgcD did not show detectable activity. DgcA activity was specific for GTP and stimulated by the divalent cations, magnesium or manganese. Full activity of DgcA required the presence of the multiple PAS domains, probably because of their role in protein dimerization or stability. Synechocystis mutants carrying single deletions of dgcA–dgcD were not affected in their growth rate or biofilm production during salt stress, suggesting that there was functional redundancy in vivo. In contrast, overexpression of dgcA resulted in increased biofilm formation in the absence of salt stress. In this study, we characterize the enzymatic and physiological function of DgcA–DgcD, and propose that the PAS domains in DgcA function in maintaining the enzyme in its active form.

Flow Friedel-Crafts alkylation was studied using hydroxy-substituted sulfonic acid-functionalized silica as a catalyst and 1-adamantanol as a model substrate. The reaction of 1-adamantanol (1a) with toluene (2a) proceeded well with 5 min of residence time at 120 degrees C to give good yield of 1-tolyladamantane (3a) as a 1:9 mixture of meta and para isomers. When the flow synthesis was carried out over 2.5 hr of running time, the collected five fractions contain the product 3a in 97-92% yields, suggesting the durability of the catalyst.

Flocculation has been recognized for hundreds of years as an important phenomenon in brewing and wastewater treatment. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. The lack of a distinct phenotype to differentiate between slow-growing mutants and floc-forming mutants prevents the isolation of floc-related gene by conventional mutant screening. To overcome this, we performed a two-step Escherichia coli mutant screen. The initial screen of E. coli for mutants conferring floc production during high salt treatment yielded a mutant containing point mutations in 61 genes. The following screen of the corresponding single-gene mutants identified two genes, mrcB, encoding a peptidoglycan-synthesizing enzyme and cpxA, encoding a histidine kinase of a two-component signal transduction system that contributed to salt tolerance and flocculation prevention. Both single mutants formed flocs during high salt shock, these flocs contained cytosolic proteins. ΔcpxA exhibited decreased growth with increasing floc production and addition of magnesium to ΔcpxA suppressed floc production effectively. In contrast, the growth of ΔmrcB was inconsistent under high salt conditions. In both strains, flocculation was accompanied by the release of membrane vesicles containing inner and outer membrane proteins. Of 25 histidine kinase mutants tested, ΔcpxA produced the highest amount of proteins in floc. Expression of cpxP was up-regulated by high salt in ΔcpxA, suggesting that high salinity and activation of CpxR might promote floc formation. The finding that ΔmrcB or ΔcpxA conferred floc production indicates that cell envelope stress triggered by unfavorable environmental conditions cause the initiation of flocculation in E. coli.

In the active targeting of a drug delivery system (DDS), the density of the ligand on the functionalized liposome determines its affinity for binding to the target. To evaluate these densities on the surface of different sized liposomes, 4 liposomes with various diameters (188, 137, 70, 40 nm) were prepared and their surfaces were modified with fluorescently labeled ligand lipid conjugates by the post-insertion method. Each liposomal mixture was fractionated into a series of fractions using size exclusion chromatography (SEC), and the resulting liposome fractions were precisely analyzed and the surface ligand densities calculated. The data collected using this methodology indicate that the density of the ligand on a particle is greatly dependent on the size of the liposome. This, in turn, indicates that smaller lip osomes (75-40nm) tend to possess higher densities. For developing active targeting systems, size and the density of the ligands are two important and independent factors that can affect the efficiency of a system as it relates to medical use.

Title Hepatic Monoacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 as a Promising Therapeutic Target for Steatosis, Obesity, and Type 2 Diabetes Author(s) Hayashi, Yasuhiro; Suemitsu, Erina; Kajimoto, Kazuaki; Sato, Yusuke; Akhter, Afsana; Sakurai, Yu; Hatakeyama, Hiroto; Hyodo, Mamoru; Kaji, Noritada; Baba, Yoshinobu; Harashima, Hideyoshi Citation Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids, 3: e154 Issue Date 2014-03-18 DOI Doc URL http://hdl.handle.net/2115/57440 Right Type article Additional Information File Information WoS_2661_Kajimoto_mtna20144a.pdf