The removal of low-concentration antibiotics from water to alleviate the potential threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes calls for the development of advanced treatment technologies with high efficiency. In this study, a novel graphene modified electro-Fenton (e-Fenton) catalytic membrane (EFCM) was fabricated for in situ degradation of low-concentration antibiotic florfenicol. The removal efficiency was 90%, much higher than that of electrochemical filtration (50%) and single filtration process (27%). This demonstrated that EFCM acted not only as a cathode for e-Fenton oxidation process in a continuous mode but also as a membrane barrier to concentrate and enhance the mass transfer of florfenicol, which increased its oxidation chances. The removal rate of florfenicol by EFCM was much higher (10.2 ± 0.1 mg m h) than single filtration (2.5 ± 0.1 mg m h) or batch e-Fenton processes (4.3 ± 0.05 mg m h). Long-term operation and fouling experiment further demonstrated the durability and antifouling property of EFCM. Four main degradation pathways of florfenicol were proposed by tracking the degradation byproducts. The above results highlighted the feasibility of this integrated membrane catalysis process for advanced water purification.

Intracellular viscosity is an essential microenvironmental parameter and HS is a critical gaseous signaling molecule, which are both related to various physiological processes. It is reported that the change of viscosity and an imbalance of HS production in the mitochondria are both associated with overexpression of amyloid betapeptide (Aβ), which is thought to play a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, to our best knowledge, no fluorescent probe is found for dual detection of mitochondrial viscosity and HS. Herein, a dual-response fluorescent probe (Mito-VS) is designed and synthesized to monitor the level of viscosity and HS, respectively. Mito-VS itself is nonfluorescent due to a free intramolecular rotation between dimethylaniline and pyridine. After the increase of viscosity, the rotation is prohibited and an intense red fluorescence is released. Upon the addition of HS, the probe can react with HS to form compound 3 and a strong green fluorescence can be observed. Moreover, the probe possesses a good mitochondrion-targeting ability and is applied for imaging the change of viscosity on the red channel and visualizing the variation of exogenous and endogenous HS concentration on the green channel in mitochondria. Most importantly, the probe is capable of studying the cross-talk influence of viscosity and HS in mitochondria, which is very beneficial for knowing the pathogenesis of AD.

Chemical investigation of the marine-sponge-derived fungus Penicillium adametzioides AS-53 resulted in the identification of two new bisthiodiketopiperazine derivatives, adametizines A (1) and B (2), from cultivation in a liquid potato-dextrose broth (PDB) culture medium, whereas two new acorane sesquiterpenes, adametacorenols A (3) and B (4), were isolated from a rice solid culture medium. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. The absolute configuration of compound 1 was determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis, and that of 3 was determined by modified Mosher's method. Compound 1 exhibited lethality against brine shrimp (Artemia salina) with an LD50 value of 4.8 μM and inhibitory activities against Staphyloccocus aureus, Aeromonas hydrophilia, Vibrio spp. V. harveyi and V. parahaemolyticus, and Gaeumannomyces graminis with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 8, 8, 32, 8, and 16 μg/mL, respectively. Chlorination at C-7 significantly increased the brine shrimp lethality and antimicrobial activity of the bisthiodiketopiperazines.

Diabetes is one of the metabolic diseases marked by hyperglycemia and is often accompanied by the occurrence of some complications. As a biomarker of oxidative stress, hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) has close association with the occurrence and development of diabetes and its complications. Unfortunately, there is no fluorescent probe reported for imaging H 2 O 2 in diabetic mice. Here, a novel near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe named QX-B was designed and synthesized to detect H 2 O 2 . For the probe, the quinolinium-xanthene dye is used as the fluorophore and borate ester is chosen as the response group. After the addition of H 2 O 2 , a strong NIR fluorescence signal at 772 nm is observed. The probe not only shows high sensitivity with 10-fold enhancement but also displays excellent selectivity to H 2 O 2 over other possible interfering species. In the meantime, the possible response mechanism of QX-B toward H 2 O 2 was proposed and verified by the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) experiment, mass spectra (MS) experiment, and density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Furthermore, based on the low cell cytotoxicity of QX-B, it has been applied in imaging exogenous and endogenous H 2 O 2 in HeLa cells, HCT116 cells, 4T1 cells, and zebrafish successfully. More importantly, inspired by the performance of NIR fluorescence, QX-B has been used in monitoring H 2 O 2 in diabetic mice for the first time. This provides very important information for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and its complications.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a vital gaseous signal molecule and plays an important role in diverse physiological and pathological processes including regulation of vascular functions. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is caused by the accumulation of misfolded or unfolded protein in the ER. Besides, ER stress induced by NO can be involved in the pathogenesis of various vascular diseases. Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge, no ER-targeting probe for NO is reported to study the relationship between ER stress and the level of NO in a biological system. Herein, an ER-targeted fluorescent probe named ER-Nap-NO for imaging of NO is designed and synthesized. ER-Nap-NO consists of three main parts: naphthalimide (two-photon fluorophore), o-phenylenediamino (NO recognition group), and methyl sulfonamide (ER-targetable group). The probe itself is nonfluorescent because a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) process exists. After the addition of NO, the PET process is inhibited and thus strong fluorescence is released. Moreover, the response mechanism is confirmed by 1H NMR and mass spectra and DFT calculation in detail. In addition, from the experimental results, we can conclude that the probe displays several obvious advantages including high sensitivity, selectivity, and ER-targetable ability. Based on these excellent properties, the probe is used for the two-photon imaging of exogenous and endogenous NO in ER of living cells. Most importantly, the ER-targetable probe has potential capability as a tool for investigating the level of NO during tunicamycin-induced ER stress in cells and tissues, which is beneficial for revealing the role of NO in ER-associated vascular diseases.