DNA adsorption onto polypyrrole (PPy) powder, a colloidal silica sol, and three polypyrrole-silica nanocomposite particles (untreated and amine- or carboxylic acid-functionalized) was investigated at neutral pH using sodium phosphate buffer. The extent of DNA adsorption was found to be 32 and 22 mg/g for the aminated silica sol and aminated PPy-silica particles respectively, and 6.5 mg/g for the carboxylated particles. DNA adsorption onto the unfunctionalized PPy-silica particles occurs to a lesser extent, whereas no adsorption was detected for the colloidal silica sol. Our results suggest that DNA adsorption is mainly governed by electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. DNA is adsorbed onto polypyrrole chloride bulk powder and also onto the aminated PPy-silica particles, which both have cationic binding sites. The silica sol and the unfunctionalized PPy-silica particles both possess a net negative surface charge at this pH, which probably accounts for the zero or very low adsorbed amounts of DNA on these substrates. DNA adsorption onto the carboxylated PPy-silica particles may be enhanced by hydrogen bonding relative to the unfunctionalized polypyrrole-silica particles.

The in situ potentiostatic electropolymerization of pyrrole (Py) on a Pt electrode in a thin-layer amperometric cell and the entrapment of the enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx) for the determination of glucose are reported. Polypyrrole (PPy) is directly formed by continuous passage of a buffered solution of the monomer (0.4 M) and enzyme (250 U mL-1) at pH 7 at a flow rate of 0.05-0.1 mL min-1 under a constant applied potential of +0.85 V vs Ag/AgCl decreases. The electrosynthesis of PPy by injection of 500 microL of a Py + GOx solution in a carrier electrolyte consisting of 0.05 M phosphate buffer and 0.1 M KCl at pH 7.0 was also assayed. The influence of the electropolymerization conditions on the analytical response of the sensor to glucose was investigated. The analytical performance of the PPy/GOx sensor was also studied in terms of durability and storage life, as well as selectivity against electroactive species such as ascorbic acid and uric acid as a function of the thickness of the polymer film formed.

Emerging evidences have pointed out that the release of cytochrome c (cyt c) from mitochondria into cytosol is a critical step in the activation of apoptosis. This article presents a novel approach for the detection of mitochondrial cyt c release for the first time using cytochrome c reductase (CcR) immobilized on nanoparticles decorated electrodes. Two kinds of nanomaterial-based biosensor platforms were used: (a) carbon nanotubes (CNT) incorporated polypyrrole (PPy) matrix on Pt electrode and (b) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNP) in PPy-Pt. Scanning electron microscope was used to characterize the surface morphologies of the nanomaterial modified electrodes. Cyclic voltammograms of both the biosensors showed reversible redox peaks at -0.45 and -0.34 V vs Ag/AgCl, characteristic of CcR. In comparison, the CcR-CNT biosensor gave a detection limit of 0.5±0.03 μM cyt c, which was 4-fold better than the CcR-GNP biosensor (2±0.03 μM). Moreover, the CcR-CNT biosensor achieved a much larger linear range (1-1000 μM) over the CcR-GNP biosensor (5-600 μM) with 2-fold better sensitivity. The CcR-CNT-PPy-Pt biosensor was further applied to quantify the mitochondrial cyt c released in cytosol of A549 cells upon induction of apoptosis with doxorubicin, the results agreed well with standard western blot analysis.

In this study, the functionalization process for nanopillar enhanced electrodes (NEEs) using glucose oxidase (GOx) with polypyrrole (PPY) is optimized for the purpose of achieving enhanced sensing performances for these electrodes in glucose detection. Specifically, an optimal roughness factor for the NEEs and an optimal set of electro-polymerization/deposition parameters for their functionalization using GOx/PPY are identified. Results show that NEEs with a roughness factor of about 60 are optimal for enhancing the amperometric current responses and that for such electrodes an electro-functionalization/deposition process at a deposition current of 50 µA cm(-2) and a total charge of 150 mC cm(-2) will give rise to a high sensing performance with a sensitivity as high as 36 µA cm(-2) mM(-1).

Patterned carbon nanotubes arrays (PCNTA) with reduced density and length were developed with polystyrene sphere masked catalyst dots followed by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. The nanotubes were then uniformly coated with electropolymerized polypyrrole (PPy). The coating thickness was conformally adjustable. Gold nanoparticles (AuNP) together with glucose oxidase (Gox) were doped into the PPy film on the nanotubes to develop a high performance PCNTA glucose sensor. The sensitivity of the sensor was improved by the co-existence of Gox and AuNP on the carbon nanotube. Moreover, in contrast to previous reported PCNTA glucose sensors, the design herein utilized the entire surface of nanotubes as active sensing areas in order to maximize the Faradic currents. This research outlines a practical avenue to fabricate high performance PCNTA sensor chips with multiple molecules and functional nano-architectures.

An optical sensing probe has been developed by taking advantage of the polypyrrole (PPy) chromophore. The absorbance of the oxidation product of pyrrole, i.e., solubilized PPy colloids, is shown to be directly proportional to the concentration of hydrogen peroxide, when H2O2 is used as an oxidant for pyrrole in the presence of a surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and Fe(II) in a slightly acidic aqueous solution. Based on this result, a new optical sensing method has been developed for the determination of H2O2. The probe has also been applied to optical sensing of ethanol by biocatalyzed generation of H2O2 in the presence of O2, ethanol, and alcohol oxidase. The novel methodology is expected to provide a general protocol for the determination of H2O2 as well as for numerous other oxidase-based reactions producing H2O2 as a product.

Metallamacrocycles 1, 2, and 3 of the general formula [{Ir(ppy)(2)}(2)(μ-BL)(2)](OTf)(2) (ppyH = 2-phenyl pyridine; BL = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane (bpa) (1), 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane (bpp) (2), and trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (bpe) (3)) have been synthesized by the reaction of [{(ppy)(2)Ir}(2)(μ-Cl)(2)], first with AgOTf to effect dechlorination and later with various bridging ligands. Open-frame dimers [{Ir(ppy)(2)}(2)(μ-BL)](OTf)(2) were obtained in a similar manner by utilizing N,N'-bis(2-pyridyl)methylene-hydrazine (abp) and N,N'-(bis(2-pyridyl)formylidene)ethane-1,2-diamine (bpfd) (for compounds 4 and 5, respectively) as bridging ligands. Molecular structures of 1, 3, 4, and 5 were established by X-ray crystallography. Cyclic voltammetry experiments reveal weakly interacting "Ir(ppy)(2)" units bridged by ethylene-linked bpe ligand in 3; on the contrary the metal centers are electronically isolated in 1 and 2 where the bridging ligands are based on ethane and propane linkers. The dimer 4 exhibits two accessible reversible reduction couples separated by 570 mV indicating the stability of the one-electron reduced species located on the diimine-based bridge abp. The "Ir(ppy)(2)" units in compound 5 are noninteracting as the electronic conduit is truncated by the ethane spacer in the bpfd bridge. The dinuclear compounds 1-5 show ligand centered (LC) transitions involving ppy ligands and mixed metal to ligand/ligand to ligand charge transfer (MLCT/LLCT) transitions involving both the cyclometalating ppy and bridging ligands (BL) in the UV-vis spectra. For the conjugated bridge bpe in compound 3 and abp in compound 4, the lowest-energy charge-transfer absorptions are red-shifted with enhanced intensity. In accordance with their similar electronic structures, compounds 1 and 2 exhibit identical emissions. The presence of vibronic structures in these compounds indicates a predominantly (3)LC excited states. On the contrary, broad and unstructured phosphorescence bands in compounds 3-5 strongly suggest emissive states of mixed (3)MLCT/(3)LLCT character. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been carried out to gain insight on the frontier orbitals, and to rationalize the electrochemical and photophysical properties of the compounds based on their electronic structures.

Today, significant attention has been brought to the development of sensitive, specific, cheap, and reliable sensors for real-time monitoring. Molecular imprinting technology is a versatile and promising technology for practical applications in many areas, particularly chemical sensors. Here, we present a chemical sensor for detecting formaldehyde, a toxic common indoor pollutant gas. Polypyrrole-based molecularly-imprinted polymer (PPy-based MIP) is employed as the sensing recognition layer and synthesized on a titanium dioxide nanotube array (TiO₂-NTA) for increasing its surface-to-volume ratio, thereby improving the sensor performance. Our sensor selectively detects formaldehyde in the parts per million (ppm) range at room temperature. It also shows a long-term stability and small fluctuation to humidity variations. These are attributed to the thin fishnet-like structure of the PPy-based MIP on the highly-ordered and vertically-aligned TiO₂-NTA.

Polymeric biocomposites (Polyaniline/sugarcane bagasse (Pan/SB), polypyrrole (PPy/SB), polyaniline/chitosan (PAn/Ch), polyaniline/starch (PAn/St) and polypyrrole/starch (PPy/St)) were prepared and applied for Acid Black-234 (AB-234) dye removal as a function of pH, reaction time, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentration and temperature. The optimum pH for the efficient adsorption for SB, PPy/SB, PAn/SB, PPy/Ch, PAn/Ch, PPy/St and PAn/St were 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 3 and 3, respectively using adsorbent dose of 0.05 g for the reaction time of 60 min. The pseudo-first-order-kinetic model better explained the biosorption processes of SB, PAn/SB, PAn/Ch, PPy/St and PAn/St, while pseudo-second-order kinetic model better fitted to the kinetic data of PPy/SB and PPy/Ch. It was observed that the biosorption process of dye adsorption showed the satisfactory fitness for both Langmuir isotherm for the biosorbents with maximum adsorption capacities 52.6, 100, 90.91, 90.0, 71.4, 66.6 and 62.5 for SB, PPy/SB, PAn/SB, PPy/Ch, PAn/Ch, PPy/St and PAn/St, respectively. The thermodynamic study revealed the exothermic nature of adsorption of dye on to biocomposites. Results revealed that polymeric biocomposites are efficient adsorbent and could possibly be used for the adsorption of dyes from textile wastewater.

Two different methods were used to obtain polypyrrole/AuNP (Ppy/AuNP) composites. One through the electrooxidation of the pyrrole monomer in the presence of colloidal gold nanoparticles, referred to as trapping method (T), and the second one by electrodeposition of both components from one solution containing the monomer and a gold salt, referred to as cogeneration method (C). In both cases, electrodeposition was carried out through galvanostatic and potentiostatic methods and using platinum (Pt) or stainless steel (SS) as substrates. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrated that in all cases gold nanoparticles of similar size were uniformly dispersed in the Ppy matrix. The amount of AuNPs incorporated in the Ppy films was higher when electropolymerization was carried out by chronopotentiometry (CP). Besides, cogeneration method allowed for the incorporation of a higher number of AuNPs than trapping. Impedance experiments demonstrated that the insertion of AuNPs increased the conductivity. As an electrochemical sensor, the Ppy/AuNp deposited on platinum exhibited a strong electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of catechol. The effect was higher in films obtained by CP than in films obtained by chronoamperometry (CA). The influence of the method used to introduce the AuNPs (trapping or cogeneration) was not so important. The limits of detection (LOD) were in the range from 10(-5) to 10(-6) mol/L. LODs attained using films deposited on platinum were lower due to a synergy between AuNPs and platinum that facilitates the electron transfer, improving the electrocatalytic properties. Such synergistic effects are not so pronounced on stainless steel, but acceptable LOD are attained with lower price sensors.

Developing new methods to improve the photocatalytic activity of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) for hydrogen (H₂) evolution has attracted intensive research interests. Here, we report that the g-C₃N₄ exhibits photocatalytic activity for H₂ evolution from pure water. And, the activity is dramatically improved by loading highly dispersed conductive polymer nanoparticles. The H₂ evolution rate increases up to 50 times for g-C₃N₄ with 1.5 wt% polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles on the surface. The reaction proceeding in a pure water system excludes the need for sacrificial agents. The role of the highly conductive PPy in enhancing H₂ evolution is as a surface junction to increase the number of photoinduced electrons, and to facilitate electron transfer to the interface.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with high porosity could act as an ideal substitute for supercapacitors, but their poor electrical conductivities limit their electrochemical performances. In order to overcome this problem, conductive polypyrrole (PPy) has been introduced and a novel nanocomposite resulting from polyoxometalate (POM)-based MOFs (NENU-5) and PPy has been reported. It comprises the merits of POMs, MOFs, and PPy. Finally, the highly conductive PPy covering the surfaces of NENU-5 nanocrystallines can effectively improve the electron/ion transfer among NENU-5 nanocrystallines. The optimized NENU-5/PPy nanocomposite (the volume of Py is 0.15 mL) exhibits high specific capacitance (5147 mF·cm-2), larger than that of pristine NENU-5 (432 mF·cm-2). Furthermore, a symmetric supercapacitor device based on a NENU-5/PPy-0.15 nanocomposite possesses an excellent areal capacitance of 1879 mF·cm-2, which is far above other MOF-based supercapacitors.

In this study, a novel three-dimensional fluffy PPy conductive fibrous scaffold (3D-cFSs) was fabricated by electrospinning technique combined with situ surface polymerization. Chemical compositions, morphology were characterized by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the average diameter of PPy coated PLLA fibers in the 3D-cFSs was 2.086 microm, the thickness of PPy nano-layer was -45 nm. These PPy coated PLLA fibers were in discrete state, the size of interconnected pores in the 3D-cFSs was from 50 microm to 100 microm, this unique structure ensured that cells can entry into internal of 3D-cFSs smoothly without any other extra help to achieve three-dimensional cell culture (3D-culture). Rat pheochromocytoma 12 (PC12) cells (as model cell) were cultured in the 3D-cFSs to evaluate its potential application for nerve tissue engineering. The interaction between cell and scaffold was test by detecting the cell proliferation, viability, and morphology. After 3 days culture, the number of PC12 in 3D-cFSs were much higher than that on the conductive fibrous meshes (cFMs) and well developed cell-fibers constructs were observed from fluorescence image and SEM of PC12 in the central of 3D-cFSs. These results showed that the 3D-cFSs provided cell 3D-culture, and improved cell growth. Therefore, we suggest that the 3D-cFSs maybe a suitable scaffold for the nerve tissue engineering as cells substrate to apply electrical stimulation.

Electrically conducting polymers (ECPs) are one of the most popular types of materials to interface ion-selective membranes (ISMs) with electron-conducting substrates to construct solid-contact ion-selective electrodes (SCISEs). For optimal ion-to-electron transduction and potential stability, the p-doped ECPs with low oxidation potentials such as PPy need to be generally in their conducting form along with providing a sufficiently hydrophobic interface to counteract the aqueous layer formation. The first criterion requires that the ECPs are in their oxidized state, but the high charge density of this state is detrimental for the prevention of the aqueous layer formation. We offer here a solution to this paradox by implementing a highly hydrophobic perfluorinated anion (perfluorooctanesulfonate, PFOS-) as doping ion by which the oxidized form of the ECP becomes hydrophobic. The proof of concept is shown by using polypyrrole (PPy) films doped with PFOS- (PPy-PFOS) as the solid contact in K+-selective SCISEs (K+-SCISE). Prior to applying the plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) ISM, the oxidation state of the electrodeposited PPy-PFOS was adjusted by polarization to the known open-circuit potential of the solid contact in 0.1 M KCl. We show that the prepolarization results in a hydrophobic PPy-PFOS film with a water contact angle of 97 ± 5°, which effectively prevents the aqueous layer formation under the ISM. Under optimal conditions the K+-SCISEs had a very low standard deviation of E0 of only 501.0 ± 0.7 mV that is the best E0 reproducibility reported for ECP-based SCISEs.

This paper put forward a prospective pre-cleanup method of packed-fiber solid phase extraction by using Polypyrrole (Ppy) electrospun nanofibers as the sorbent to simultaneously extract three water-soluble vitamins (i.e., folic acid, cyanocobalamin and riboflavin) in human urine. Primary extraction of target analytes was carried out by loading samples onto the column along with diphenylboronic acid 2-aminoethylester (DPBA) reagent, and then the column should be rinsed with DPBA solution for three times before eluting. The DPBA was innovatively applied as complexing reagent to retain as much of three analytes as possible on the column based on the multi interaction between three vitamins and the boronate affinity reagent, thus improving hydrophobicity of targets and adsorption efficiency through loading and rinsing steps. Under optimized conditions, sample concentration factor was five times with small amount of organic solvent consumed and recoveries between 84.9% to 125.4%, and the lowest detection limit (LOD) between 0.020 to 0.041 μg/mL were achieved. Finally, the urine samples from a group of healthy children were processed with the optimized method. It proved that the proposed method is applicable in the determination of urinary B-vitamins in big samples of people.

Single-atom nanozymes (SANs) possess unique features of maximum atomic utilization and present highly assembled enzyme-like structure and remarkable enzyme-like activity. By introducing SANs into immunoassay, limitations of ELISA such as low stability of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) can be well addressed, thereby improving the performance of the immunoassays. In this work, we have developed novel Fe-N-C single-atom nanozymes (Fe-N_x SANs) derived from Fe-doped polypyrrole (PPy) nanotube and substituted the enzymes in ELISA kit for enhancing the detection sensitivity of amyloid beta 1-40. Results indicate that the Fe-N_x SANs contain high density of single-atom active sites and comparable enzyme-like properties as HRP, owing to the maximized utilization of Fe atoms and their abundant active sites, which could mimic natural metalloproteases structures. Further designed SAN-linked immunosorbent assay (SAN-LISA) demonstrates the ultralow limit of detection (LOD) of 0.88 pg/mL, much more sensitive than that of commercial ELISA (9.98 pg/mL). The results confirm that the Fe-N_x SANs can serve as a satisfactory replacement of enzyme labels, which show great potential as an ultrasensitive colorimetric immunoassay.

Electroactive hydrogels were prepared using commercial citric pectin, either raw (PC) or purified through dialysis (dPC), and chemically synthesized polypyrrole (PPy). 1H NMR analyses showed that PC is a low methoxyl pectin (degree of methoxylation, DM=46%) and dPC is a high methoxyl pectin (DM=77%). The pyrrole polymerization was monitored through UV-vis spectroscopy and both samples were observed to be good stabilizers for PPy in aqueous medium. The dispersions were used to prepare the hydrogels h-PC-PPy and h-dPC-PPy. The hydrogel h-dPC-PPy has a higher swelling index (SI≈25%) at pH 1.2 than the hydrogel h-PC-PPy (SI≈7%). Contrastingly, at pH 6.8 both hydrogels lost their mechanical integrity. Raman spectroscopy revealed that PPy is more oxidized in h-PC-PPy. Nevertheless, both hydrogels are electroactive and therefore can be considered for applications in which the control of the degree of swelling is desired.

Perylenebisimide (PBI) was used to prepare C^N cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes that show strong absorption of visible light and it is the first time the long-lived triplet excited state of PBI chromophore was observed in a transition metal complex (τT = 22.3 μs). Previously, the lifetime of the triplet state of PBI in transition metal complexes was usually shorter than 1.0 μs. Long-lived triplet excited states are useful for applications in photocatalysis or other photophysical processes concerning triplet-triplet-energy-transfer. PBI and amino-PBI were used for preparation of cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes (Ir-2 and Ir-3), in which the PBI chromophore was connected to the coordination center via C≡C π-conjugation bond. The new complexes show strong absorption in visible region (ε = 34,200 M(-1) cm(-1) at 541 nm for Ir-2, and ε = 19,000 at 669 nm for Ir-3), compared to the model complex Ir(ppy)(bpy)[PF6] Ir-1 (ε < 5000 M(-1) cm(-1) in the region beyond 400 nm). The nanosecond time-resolved transient absorption and DFT calculations indicated that PBI-localized long-lived (3)IL states were populated for Ir-2 and Ir-3 upon photoexcitation. The complexes were used as triplet photosensitizers for (1)O2-mediated photooxidation of 1,5-dihydronaphthalene to produce juglone, an important intermediate for preparation of anti-cancer compounds. (1)O2 quantum yields (Φ(Δ)) up to 91% were observed for the new Ir(III) complexes and the overall photosensitizing ability is much higher than the conventional Ir(III) complex Ir-1, which shows the typical weak visible light absorption in visible region. Our results are useful for preparation of transition metal complexes that show strong absorption of visible light and long-lived triplet excited state and for the application of these complexes in photocatalysis.

OBJECTIVE

There are acknowledged benefits to continuing metformin when initiating insulin, but there appears to be growing concern over the role of sulphonylureas and thiazolidinediones when used in combination with insulin. This analysis investigates the effects of continuing or discontinuing oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) following the initiation of once-daily insulin detemir.

METHODS

SOLVE is a 24-week, multinational observational study of insulin detemir initiation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with one or more OADs.

RESULTS

In the total cohort (n = 17 374), there were significant improvements in HbA1c (-1·3%, 95% CI -1·34; -1·27%) and weight (-0·6 kg, 95% CI -0·65; -0·47 kg), with an increase in the incidence rate of minor hypoglycaemia (+0·256 events ppy, P < 0·001), but not severe hypoglycaemia (-0·038 events ppy, P < 0·001). Study participants had information on OAD use either prior to (n = 17 086) or during insulin initiation (n = 16 346). HbA1c reductions were significantly greater in patients continuing treatment with metformin (-1·3% vs. -1·1%, P < 0·01), thiazolidinediones (-1·3% vs. -1·0%, P < 0·01) and DPP-IV inhibitors (-1·3% vs. -0·9%, P < 0·001). Final insulin doses were significantly greater in patients discontinuing treatment with sulphonylureas (0·29 vs. 0·26 IU/kg, P < 0·001), glinides (0·28 vs. 0·26 IU/kg, P < 0·01), thiazolidinediones (0·31 vs. 0·26 IU/kg, P < 0·001) and DPP-IV inhibitors (0·35 vs. 0·29 IU/kg, P < 0·001) compared with patients continuing these respective agents. All patient subgroups had a mean weight loss irrespective of OAD continuation, apart from those continuing thiazolidinediones (+0·2 kg). The largest improvements in weight were seen following the withdrawal of sulphonylureas and thiazolidinediones (-1·1 and -1·1 kg, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Discontinuation (or switching) of OADs at the time of insulin initiation appears to be governed principally by concerns about hypoglycaemia and weight. HbA1c improvements were smaller in patients discontinuing OADs at the time of insulin initiation and may be associated with insufficient insulin titration.

Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis (Franch.) Hand.-Mazz (PPY) is used widely as an anthelmintic, antimicrobial, and anti-tumor agent. Multiplicate analytical methods have been employed to discriminate PPY from different regions, as well as to identify regions most beneficial to the growing of this species. In this study, a convenient and accurate method was established using ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) for simultaneous determination of four steroid saponins (Pa, Pb, polyphyllin VI, and chonglou saponin VII). Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) according to UHPLC and UV spectroscopy was applied to analyze 30 samples of PPY from three regions of Yunnan Province in China, and identify significant peaks. The results indicated that the correlation coefficients (r 2) of all calibration curves were above 0.999, and the inter- and intra-day relative standard deviations (RSD) of retention time and peak areas of common peaks were below 1.78 % and 3.40 %, respectively, with recovery rates of 99.6-103.4 % with RSD ≤2 %. Quantitative analysis implied that the average values of total saponins in PPY from south Yunnan Province (19.9 mg/g) were higher than in the central (8.79 mg/g) district. Thus, further investigation could focus on the southern region to seek high quality PPY. The analysis found that PLS-DA for ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, which could separate the samples from three regions, was more appropriate than UHPLC. Retention times during 20-30.75 min of UHPLC, and absorption at 200-300 nm of the UV spectrum were identified as significant peaks for distinguishing PPY from different regions.

In this paper, conducting polymer film modified electrodes were applied to fabricate paper-based chips (PCs), and different concentrations of chloride ions (Cl(-)) in water can be selectively detected based on the potential response towards Cl(-). The three-electrode system was screen-printed on paper and the polypyrrole (PPy) film doped with Cl(-) was electrochemically polymerized on working electrodes through cyclic voltammetry in aqueous solution. Open circuit potential-time method was used to measure the potential response. Based on such PCs, Cl(-) can be selectively detected in the range of 10(-7)-10(-2)M. Moreover, such PCs were utilized for Cl(-) analysis in real water samples and resulted in good results with recoveries between 113% and 124%. Besides, following the strategy we also employed this method to detect F(-) in water to demonstrate its general applicability. In view of its novelty, simplicity, sensitivity and low price, such PCs will potentially be utilized for the monitoring of anions in the environment, and our method made a start for the application of CMEs to PCs to design electrochemical sensors.

An iridium (III) complex [Ir(ppy)2(BDPIP)]PF6 (Ir-1) was reported to show high anticancer activity and may be used as a potent anticancer drug. In the current study, we designed and synthesized a novel iridium (III) complex and evaluated its potential inhibitory effect on the cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. This complex was found to display high cytotoxic activity in vitro and in vivo against A549 cell with a low IC50 value of 3.6 ± 0.3 μM and inhibiting percentage of tumor growth is 63.84% compared with the control. The complex also exhibited potencies superior to that of cisplatin toward A549 cell in vitro and in vivo. Further studies revealed that the complex can induce apoptosis and autophagy, enhance the ROS level, cause a decrease in the mitochondrial membrane potential and inhibit the cell invasion. Our findings indicated that the complex induced apoptosis in A549 through mitochondria dysfunction and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathways.

Phpy bridged homodinuclear Ru-Ru () and heterodinuclear Ir-Ru complexes () have been developed. Complex induces autophagy towards the cisplatin resistant human breast cancer (MCF7) cell line, whereas is inactive.

A rapid method was developed and validated by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectroscopy with ultraviolet detection (UPLC-UV-MS) for simultaneous determination of paris saponin I, paris saponin II, paris saponin VI and paris saponin VII. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) based on UPLC and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was employed to evaluate Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis (PPY) at different harvesting times. Quantitative determination implied that the various contents of bioactive compounds with different harvesting times may lead to different pharmacological effects; the average content of total saponins for PPY harvested at 8 years was higher than that from other samples. The PLS-DA of FT-IR spectra had a better performance than that of UPLC for discrimination of PPY from different harvesting times.