New Products

A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers.

In Vitro Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Activity of Selected Metal Compounds and Potential Molecular Basis for Their Actions Based on Computational Study

Metal-based drugs represent a rich source of chemical substances of potential interest for the treatment of COVID-19. To this end, we have developed a small but representative panel of nine metal compounds, including both synthesized and commercially available complexes, suitable for medical application and tested them in vitro against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The screening revealed that three compounds from the panel, i.e., the organogold(III) compound Aubipyc, the ruthenium(III) complex KP1019, and antimony trichloride (SbCl3), are endowed with notable antiviral properties and an acceptable cytotoxicity profile. These initial findings prompted us to perform a computational study to unveil the likely molecular basis of their antiviral actions. Calculations evidenced that the metalation of nucleophile sites in SARS-CoV-2 proteins or nucleobase strands, induced by Aubipyc, SbCl3, and KP1019, is likely to occur. Remarkably, we found that only the deprotonated forms of Cys and Sec residues can react favorably with these metallodrugs. The mechanistic implications of these findings are discussed.

HSRec: Hierarchical self-attention incorporating knowledge graph for sequential recommendation

Modeling user’s fine-grained preferences and dynamic preference evolution from their chronological behaviors are challenging and crucial for sequential recommendation. In this paper, we develop a Hierarchical Self-Attention Incorporating Knowledge Graph for Sequential Recommendation (HSRec). HSRec models not only the user’s intrinsic preferences but also the user’s external potential interests to capture the user’s fine-grained preferences. Specifically, the intrinsic interest module and potential interest module are designed to capture these two preferences respectively. In the intrinsic interest module, user’s sequential patterns are characterized from their behaviors via the self-attention mechanism. As for the potential interest module, high-order paths can be generated with the help of the knowledge graph. Therefore, a hierarchical self-attention mechanism is designed to aggregate the semantic information of user interaction from these paths. Specifically, an entity-level self-attention mechanism is applied to capture the sequential patterns contained in the high-order paths while an interaction-level self-attention mechanism is designed to further capture the semantic information from user interactions. Moreover, according to the high-order semantic relevance, HSRec can explore the user’s dynamic preferences at each time, thus describing the user’s dynamic preference evolution. Finally, experiments conducted on three real world datasets demonstrate the state-of-the-art performance of the HSRec.

Pharyngeal Electrical Stimulation for the Treatment of Dysphagia Associated With Neurologic Conditions

Horizon Scan reports provide brief summaries of information regarding new and emerging health technologies. These technologies are identified through the CADTH Horizon Scanning Service as topics of potential interest to health care decision-makers in Canada. This Horizon Scan summarizes the available information regarding an emerging technology, Phagenyx, a pharyngeal electrical stimulation device for the treatment of difficulty swallowing associated with neurologic conditions.

An abbreviated therapy-dosimetric equation for the companion diagnostic/therapeutic [64/67Cu]Cu-SARTATE

In a preclinical model of neuroblastoma, Dearling et al. recently demonstrated the potential interest for a theranostic approach of [64/67Cu]Cu-SARTATE for the detection and treatment of SSTR2-positive neuroblastoma lesions in pediatric patients whose widespread metastases survive initial therapy as minimal residual disease (MRD). MRD may be detected by [64Cu]Cu-SARTATE and subsequently treated by [67Cu]Cu-SARTATE. Since therapeutic dosimetry estimation of the latter agent from the uptake of the former one in the initial diagnostic scan was not addressed, the present theoretical commentary proposes the derivation of an abbreviated therapy-dosimetric equation for the companion diagnostic/therapeutic [64/67Cu]Cu-SARTATE that might be of interest for future clinical theranostic practice.

ELUM: The Public Communication’s App for Municipal Cultural Indicators

This article presents the result of the research on the articulation between indicators, cultural policies, public communication, and the allocation of resources carried out by the municipal public administrations in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). In the study, the vision of a propositive science is associated with technological resources that create algorithms and model applications with different functionalities. An algorithm associated with a software was developed: Elum. Therefore, it is reported the research trajectory – in which the accessed data were treated (as indicators) and communicated (as public communication) – in intention to generate a cognitive equivalence between those who have them and those who have a potential interest in understanding them.

Metal-Based G-Quadruplex Binders for Cancer Theranostics

The ability of fluorescent small molecules, such as metal complexes, to selectively recognize G-quadruplex (G4) structures has opened a route to develop new probes for the visualization of these DNA structures in cells. The main goal of this review is to update the most recent research efforts towards the development of novel cancer theranostic agents using this type of metal-based probes that specifically recognize G4 structures. This encompassed a comprehensive overview of the most significant progress in the field, namely based on complexes with Cu, Pt, and Ru that are among the most studied metals to obtain this class of molecules. It is also discussed the potential interest of obtaining G4-binders with medical radiometals (e.g., 99mTc, 111In, 64Cu, 195mPt) suitable for diagnostic and/or therapeutic applications within nuclear medicine modalities, in order to enable their theranostic potential.

[3 + n] Cycloaddition Reactions: A Milestone Approach for Elaborating Pyridazine of Potential Interest in Medicinal Chemistry and Optoelectronics

During the last few decades, pyridazine derivatives have emerged as privileged structures in heterocyclic chemistry, both because of their excellent chemistry and because of their potential applications in medicinal chemistry and optoelectronics. This review is focused on the recent advances in [3 + n] cycloaddition reactions in the pyridazine series as well as their medicinal chemistry and optoelectronic applications over the last ten years. The stereochemistry and regiochemistry of the cycloaddition reactions are discussed. Applications in optoelectronics (in particular, as fluorescent materials and sensors) and medicinal chemistry (in particular, antimicrobials and anticancer) are also reviewed.