Isocyanides have drawn increasing attention in biological applications due to their attractive properties and unique reactivities, which can undergo various reactions, such as multicomponent reactions, α-addition reactions, [4 + 1] cycloaddition reactions, and the reaction scope keeps expanding. In addition to acting as reactants for the preparation of structurally interesting and diverse N-heterocycles or peptidomimetics, this type of functionality may be a good choice in the labeling and modulation of biomolecules due to the high biocompatibility and small size to minimize modifications on the parent molecule. selleck products It has been demonstrated that isocyanides can participate in biomolecule labeling through three strategies, including the two-component bioorthogonal reaction, multicomponent reaction, and metal chelation. Among them, the isocyanide-tetrazine reaction has been better studied recently, augmenting the potency of isocyanide as a bioorthogonal handle. This review will focus on the recent progress in isocyanide chemistry for labeling of biomolecules. Meanwhile, methods to introduce isocyano groups into biomacromolecules are also described to facilitate wider applications of this unique functionality.Human zinc transporter 1 (hZnT1) belongs to the cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) family. It plays a major role in transporting zinc (Zn2+) from the cytoplasm across the plasma membrane and into the extracellular space thereby protecting cells from Zn2+ toxicity. Through homology with other CDF family members, ZnT1 is predicted to contain a transmembrane region and a soluble C-terminal domain though little is known about its biochemistry. Here, we demonstrate that human ZnT1 and a variant can be produced by heterologous expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells and purified in the presence of detergent and cholesteryl hemisuccinate. We show that the purified hZnT1 variant has Zn2+/H+ antiporter activity. Furthermore, we expressed, purified and characterized the soluble C-terminal domain of hZnT1 (hZnT1-CTD) in a bacterial expression system. We found that the hZnT1-CTD melting temperature increases at acidic pH, thus, we used an acetate buffer at pH 4.5 for purifications and concentration of the protein up to 12 mg/mL. Small-angle X-ray scattering analysis of hZnT1-CTD is consistent with the formation of a dimer in solution with a V-shaped core.The high price of catalyst and poor durability still restrict the development of fuel cells. In this work, core-shell structured PtxMoy@TiO2 nanoparticles with low Pt content are prepared by a reverse microemulsion method. The morphologies, particle size, structure, and composition of PtxMoy@TiO2 nanoparticles are examined by several techniques such as X-ray Diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, etc. The PtxMoy@TiO2 electrocatalysts show significantly higher catalytic activity and better durability for methanol oxidation than the commercial Pt/C (ETEK). Compared to Pt/C catalyst, the enhancement of the electrochemical performance of PtxMoy@TiO2 electrocatalysts can be attributed to the core-shell structure and the shift of the d-band center of Pt atoms, which can weaken the adsorption strength toward CO molecules, facilitate the removal of the CO groups and improve electrocatalytic activity. The development of PtxMoy@TiO2 electrocatalysts is promising to reduce the use of noble metal Pt and has a great potential for application in fuel cells.Inspired by the natural phospholipid structures for cell membrane, a synthetic phospholipid LC with an ion recognition group benzo-18-crown-6 (B18C6) moiety was prepared which has been demonstrated to be able to transport ions across the lipid bilayers. Fluorescent vesicle assay shows that LC has an excellent transport activity, and the EC50 value for K+ is 11.2 μM. The voltage clamp measurement exhibits regular square-like current signals with considerably long opening times, which indicates that LC achieves efficient ion transport through a channel mechanism and its single channel conductivity is 17 pS. Both of the vesicle assay and patch clamp tests indicate that LC has selectivity for Rb+, whose ionic radius is larger than the cavity of crown ether. It suggests that the sandwich interaction may play a key role in the ion transport across lipid bilayers. All these results help us to speculate that LC transports ions via a channel mechanism with a tetrameric aggregate as the active structure. In addition, LC had obvious toxicity to HeLa cells, and the IC50 was 100.0 μM after coculture for 36 h. We hope that this simple synthetic phospholipid will offer novel perspectives in the development of more efficient and selective ion transporters.Droplet-based microfluidics has been widely applied in enzyme directed evolution (DE), in either cell or cell-free system, due to its low cost and high throughput. As the isolation principles are based on the labeled or label-free characteristics in the droplets, sorting method contributes mostly to the efficiency of the whole system. Fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS) is the mostly applied labeled method but faces challenges of target enzyme scope. Label-free sorting methods show potential to greatly broaden the microfluidic application range. Here, we review the developments of droplet sorting methods through a comprehensive literature survey, including labeled detections [FADS and absorbance-activated droplet sorting (AADS)] and label-free detections [electrochemical-based droplet sorting (ECDS), mass-activated droplet sorting (MADS), Raman-activated droplet sorting (RADS), and nuclear magnetic resonance-based droplet sorting (NMR-DS)]. We highlight recent cases in the last 5 years in which novel enzymes or highly efficient variants are generated by microfluidic DE. In addition, the advantages and challenges of different sorting methods are briefly discussed to provide an outlook for future applications in enzyme DE.Vaccaria segetalis is a dry mature seed of Vaccaria hispanica (Mill.) Rauschert, which belongs to the genus V. segetalis (Neck.) Garcke. There are multiple medicinal parts of V. segetalis, according to the records, including roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds, which should be used together. Currently, V. segetalis is most frequently used in the treatment of menstruation, dysmenorrhea, breast milk stoppages, and chylorrhea. Numerous studies present historical evidence of the use of V. segetalis to treat several diseases and describe its beneficial effects including prolactin- (PRL-) like, estrogen-like, antitumor, antiangiogenesis, and antioxidant activity. We summarized the period from January 1980 to December 2019 regarding V. segetalis. This review paper indicates that V. segetalis has promising clinical applications. The main active ingredients of the plant have been elucidated in recent years. We summarized the previously and newly discovered pharmacological effects of V. segetalis in addition to its active ingredients, ethnopharmacological uses, and toxicological properties, and provided a focus for future research.