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Zhang, Chong

Publications and source records attributed to Zhang, Chong.

Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase as a metabolic valve advances Methylobacterium/Methylorubrum phyllosphere colonization and plant growth

The proficiency of phyllosphere microbiomes in efficiently utilizing plant-provided nutrients is pivotal for their successful colonization of plants. The methylotrophic capabilities of Methylobacterium/Methylorubrum play a crucial role in this process. However, the precise mechanisms facilitating efficient colonization remain elusive. In the present study, we investigate the significance of methanol assimilation in shaping the success of mutualistic relationships between methylotrophs and plants. A set of strains originating from Methylorubrum extorquens AM1 are subjected to evolutionary pressures to thrive under low methanol conditions. A mutation in the phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase gene is identified, which converts it into a metabolic valve. This valve redirects limited C1-carbon resources towards the synthesis of biomass by up-regulating a non-essential phosphoketolase pathway. These newly acquired bacterial traits demonstrate superior colonization capabilities, even at low abundance, leading to increased growth of inoculated plants. This function is prevalent in Methylobacterium/Methylorubrum strains. In summary, our findings offer insights that could guide the selection of Methylobacterium/Methylorubrum strains for advantageous agricultural applications.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

The electrolyte comprising more robust water and superhalides transforms Zn-metal anode reversibly and dendrite-free

A great challenge for all aqueous batteries, including Zn-metal batteries, is the parasitic hydrogen evolution reaction on the low-potential anode. Herein, we report the formula of a highly concentrated aqueous electrolyte that mitigates hydrogen evolution by transforming water molecules more inert. The electrolyte comprises primarily ZnCl 2 and LiCl as an additive, both of which are inexpensive salts. The O–H covalent bonds in water get strengthened in a chemical environment that has fewer hydrogen bonding interactions and a greater number of Zn–Cl superhalides, as suggested by integrated characterization and simulation. As a result, the average Coulombic efficiency of zinc-metal anode is raised to an unprecedented >99.7% at 1 mA cm –2 . In the new electrolyte, the plating/stripping processes leave the zinc-metal anode dendrite-free, and the zinc-metal anode delivers stable plating/stripping cycles for 4000 hours with an areal capacity of 4 mAh cm –2 at 2 mA cm –2 . Furthermore, the high Coulombic efficiency of zinc-metal anode in the ZnCl 2 -LiCl mixture electrolyte is demonstrated in full cells with a limited anode. The V 2 O 5 ·H 2 O| |Zn full cell with an N/P mass ratio of 1.2 delivers a stable life of more than 2500 cycles, and the LiMn 2 O 4 | |Zn hybrid cell with an N/P mass ratio of 0.6 exhibits 1500 cycles in its stable life.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Discovery of 3-(thiophen/thiazole-2-ylthio)pyridine derivatives as multitarget anticancer agents

A series of novel 3-(thiophen/thiazole-2-ylthio)pyridine derivatives were designed and synthesized as IGF-1R tyrosine kinase inhibitors. All the target compounds were tested for their IGF-1R kinase inhibitory activities and cytotoxicities against five cancer cell lines (K562, Hep-G2, HCT-116, WSU-DLCL2, and A549). Although all these compounds exhibited moderate to potent cancer cell proliferation inhibitory activities (the most potent compound 43 showed IC{sub 50} value of 1.3 ± 0.9 μM against WSU-DLCL2 cell line), IGF-1R inhibition were not observed. In order to identify the exact target of these analogues, selected compounds were further screened for various kinases. The results indicated that this series of compounds may exert their anticancer activities through inhibiting various kinases including FGFR 3, EGFR, JAK, and RON. In addition, cell cycle analysis of compound 43 on Hep-G2 cells showed cell cycle arrest at G1/G0 phase. All the experiments validated the potential of 3-(thiophen/thiazole-2-ylthio)pyridine analogues as multi-target anticancer agents.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Design and Synthesis of Selective Phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) Allosteric Inhibitors for the Treatment of Fragile X Syndrome and Other Brain Disorders

Novel pyridine- and pyrimidine-based allosteric inhibitors are reported that achieve PDE4D subtype selectivity through recognition of a single amino acid difference on a key regulatory domain, known as UCR2, that opens and closes over the catalytic site for cAMP hydrolysis. The design and optimization of lead compounds was based on iterative analysis of X-ray crystal structures combined with metabolite identification. Selectivity for the activated, dimeric form of PDE4D provided potent memory enhancing effects in a mouse model of novel object recognition with improved tolerability and reduced vascular toxicity over earlier PDE4 inhibitors that lack subtype selectivity. The lead compound, 28 (BPN14770), has entered midstage, human phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of Fragile X Syndrome.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Reverse Dual-Ion Battery via a ZnCl 2 Water-in-Salt Electrolyte

Dual-ion batteries are known for anion storage in the cathode coupled to cation incorporation in the anode. We flip the sequence of the anion/cation-storage chemistries of the anode and the cathode in dual-ion batteries (DIBs) by allowing the anode to take in anions and a cation-deficient cathode to host cations, thus operating as a reverse dual-ion battery (RDIB). The anion-insertion anode is a nano-composite having ferrocene encapsulated inside a micro-porous carbon, and the cathode is a Zn-insertion Prussian blue, Zn-3[Fe(CN)(6)](2). This unique battery configuration benefits from the usage of a 30 m ZnCl2 "water-in-salt" electrolyte. This electrolyte minimizes the dissolution of ferrocene; it raises the cation-insertion potential in the cathode, and it depresses the anion-insertion potential in the anode, thus widening the full cell's voltage by 0.35 V compared with a dilute ZnCl2 electrolyte. RDIBs provide a configuration-based solution to exploit the practicality of cation-deficient cathode materials in aqueous electrolytes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

The anti-tumor effect of regorafenib in lung squamous cell carcinoma in vitro

Highlights: • Regorafenib might be a potential therapeutic medicine for LSCC treatment. • GSK3β activation restricted the anti-tumor activity of regorafenib on LSCC. • GSK3β inhibition could sensitize the anti-proliferation effect of regorafenib. Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is a common type of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and lacks effective treatment. Regorafenib, an oral multikinase inhibitor, has demonstrated promising anti-tumor activity in various solid tumors. To study whether regorafenib inhibits LSCC cells, we investigate the compound in several LSCC cell lines and explore the possible mechanism. In this study, we confirmed that regorafenib had anti-proliferation effect on LSCC cell lines by inducing G0/G1 arrest. In addition, glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) remained at the same level and Ser9 phosphorylation of GSK3β decreased with increasing incubation time and increasing regorafenib concentration in LSCC cells. GSK3β inhibition enhanced the anti-tumor activity of regorafenib. Thus, GSK3β activation restricted the anti-cancer effect of regorafenib on LSCC. In conclusion, regorafenib might be a promising drug for LSCC therapy. GSK3β might be a potential target to increase the anti-tumor effect of regorafenib in LSCC cells.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Deformable complex network for refining low-resolution X-ray structures

A new refinement algorithm called the deformable complex network that combines a novel angular network-based restraint with a deformable elastic network model in the target function has been developed to aid in structural refinement in macromolecular X-ray crystallography. In macromolecular X-ray crystallography, building more accurate atomic models based on lower resolution experimental diffraction data remains a great challenge. Previous studies have used a deformable elastic network (DEN) model to aid in low-resolution structural refinement. In this study, the development of a new refinement algorithm called the deformable complex network (DCN) is reported that combines a novel angular network-based restraint with the DEN model in the target function. Testing of DCN on a wide range of low-resolution structures demonstrated that it constantly leads to significantly improved structural models as judged by multiple refinement criteria, thus representing a new effective refinement tool for low-resolution structural determination.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Parallel continuous simulated tempering and its applications in large-scale molecular simulations

In this paper, we introduce a parallel continuous simulated tempering (PCST) method for enhanced sampling in studying large complex systems. It mainly inherits the continuous simulated tempering (CST) method in our previous studies [C. Zhang and J. Ma, J. Chem. Phys. 130, 194112 (2009); C. Zhang and J. Ma, J. Chem. Phys. 132, 244101 (2010)], while adopts the spirit of parallel tempering (PT), or replica exchange method, by employing multiple copies with different temperature distributions. Differing from conventional PT methods, despite the large stride of total temperature range, the PCST method requires very few copies of simulations, typically 2–3 copies, yet it is still capable of maintaining a high rate of exchange between neighboring copies. Furthermore, in PCST method, the size of the system does not dramatically affect the number of copy needed because the exchange rate is independent of total potential energy, thus providing an enormous advantage over conventional PT methods in studying very large systems. The sampling efficiency of PCST was tested in two-dimensional Ising model, Lennard-Jones liquid and all-atom folding simulation of a small globular protein trp-cage in explicit solvent. The results demonstrate that the PCST method significantly improves sampling efficiency compared with other methods and it is particularly effective in simulating systems with long relaxation time or correlation time. We expect the PCST method to be a good alternative to parallel tempering methods in simulating large systems such as phase transition and dynamics of macromolecules in explicit solvent.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A new 3D Co(II)–organic framework with acylamide-containing tetracarboxylate ligand: Solvothermal synthesis, crystal structure, gas adsorption and magnetic property

A new cobalt(II)–organic framework, [Co{sub 2}(L)(py){sub 2}(DMSO)]{sub n}• 0.5nDMF• 2nDMSO (1) [H{sub 4}L=5,5'-((naphthalene-2,6-dicarbonyl)bis(azanediyl))diisophthalic acid, py=pyridine, DMSO=dimethyl sulfoxide, DMF=N,N-dimethylformamide], has been solvothermally synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, TGA, PXRD and single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The structural analysis reveals that complex 1 is a 3D framework built from nanosized acylamide-containing tetracarboxylate ligands (L{sup 4−}) and dinuclear [Co{sub 2}(CO{sub 2}){sub 4}] secondary building units (SBUs), exhibiting a uninodal (4,4)-connected crb topology with the Schläfli symbol of (4• 6{sup 5}). The desolvated complex (1a) displays higher adsorption capability for CO{sub 2} than N{sub 2}, which may be due to the relatively strong binding affinity between the CO{sub 2} molecules and acylamide groups in the framework. The magnetic investigation shows that the dominant antiferromagnetic interaction is observed in complex 1. - Graphical abstract: A new 3D Co(II)–organic framework with nanosized acylamide-containing tetracarboxylate ligand was solvothermally synthesized and structurally characterized, its thermal stability, gas adsorption and magnetic property were studied. - Highlights: • A new 3D Co(II)–organic framework with nanosized acylamide-containing tetracarboxylate ligand has been solvothermally synthesized and characterized. • Complex 1 exhibits a uninodal (4,4)-connected crb topology. • The thermal stability, gas adsorption and magnetic property were studied.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

High performance continuous wave 1.3 μm quantum dot lasers on silicon

We demonstrate record performance 1.3 μm InAs quantum dot lasers grown on silicon by molecular beam epitaxy. Ridge waveguide lasers fabricated from the as-grown material achieve room temperature continuous wave thresholds as low as 16 mA, output powers exceeding 176 mW, and lasing up to 119 °C. P-modulation doping of the active region improves T{sub 0} to the range of 100–200 K while maintaining low thresholds and high output powers. Device yield is presented showing repeatable performance across different dies and wafers.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗