A solvated complex of alpha-H(4)SiW(12)O(40).4HMPA.2H(2)O composed the heteropolytungstate alpha-H(4)SiW(12)O(40) and the organic substrate hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA) has been synthesised, purified, and characterized. The electronic spectra (lambda = 220-500 nm) as well as the (1)H NMR spectra for the title compound dissolved in CD(3)CN establish that this complex dissociates into free SiW(12)O(40)(4)(-) and HMPA moieties in solution unless the organic substrate HMPA is present in very high concentrations. The solid reflectance electronic spectra and IR spectra indicate that there is interaction between the alpha-H(4)SiW(12)O(40) and the organic substrate. The complex has no photosensitivity under irradiation of sunlight, but under the near-UV light result in a charge transfer by oxidation of the HMPA and the reduction of the polyoxometalate. Light yellow polyhedrons of the title compound crystallize from the aqueous solvent of acetonitrile and aqueous solution as the formula of alpha-H(4)SiW(12)O(40).4HMPA.2H(2)O in the monoclinic, space group P2(1). The unit cell has a = 12.791(3) Å, b = 22.103(6) Å, c = 15.532(4) Å, beta = 102.860(10) degrees, and Z = 2. From the bond-valence parameters, it was found that the four hydrogen atoms of the polyoxometalate were combined with the N atoms of the four HMPA respectively. The title compound shows a certain second-order and third-order nonlinear optical response of I(2)(omega) = 0.7I(2)(omega)(KDP) and chi((3)) = 2.63 x 10(-)(11) esu, respectively.
Five new limonoids, swieteliacates A-E (1-5) and a tirucallane-type triterpenoid, swietesenin (6), together with four known compounds (7-10) were isolated from fruit of Swietenia macrophylla. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analyses. The new compounds were tested in vitro for their cytotoxic effects against five human cancer cell lines. Compound 2 exhibited moderate cytotoxic activities against SW480 and HL-60 cancer cell lines with IC50 values of 30.6 and 32.9μM, respectively.
In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.