Magnesium metal is an ideal rechargeable battery anode material because of its high volumetric energy density, high negative reduction potential and natural abundance. Coupling Mg with high capacity, low-cost cathode materials such as electrophilic sulphur is only possible with a non-nucleophilic electrolyte. Here we show how the crystallization of the electrochemically active species formed from the reaction between hexamethyldisilazide magnesium chloride and aluminum trichloride enables the synthesis of a non-nucleophilic electrolyte. Furthermore, crystallization was essential in the identification of the electroactive species, [Mg2(μ-Cl)3·6THF]+, and vital to improvements in the voltage stability and coulombic efficiency of the electrolyte. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the sulphur electrode confirmed that the electrochemical conversion between sulphur and magnesium sulfide can be successfully performed using this electrolyte.

No abstract

The reactions of all seven Escherichia coli lytic transglycosylases with purified bacterial sacculus were characterized in a quantitative manner. These reactions, which initiate recycling of the bacterial cell wall, exhibit significant redundancy in the activities of these enzymes along with some complementarity. These discoveries underscore the importance of the functions of these enzymes for recycling of the cell wall.

Many antibiotics lack activity against Gram-negative bacteria because they cannot permeate the outer membrane or suffer from efflux and, in the case of β-lactams, are degraded by β-lactamases. Herein, we describe the synthesis and studies of a dual drug conjugate (1) of a siderophore linked to a cephalosporin with an attached oxazolidinone. The cephalosporin component of 1 is rapidly hydrolyzed by purified ADC-1 β-lactamase to release the oxazolidinone. Conjugate 1 is active against clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii as well as strains producing large amounts of ADC-1 β-lactamase. Overall, the results are consistent with siderophore-mediated active uptake, inherent activity of the delivered dual drug, and in the presence of β-lactamases, intracellular release of the oxazolidinone upon cleavage of the cephalosporin to allow the freed oxazolidinone to inactivate its target. The ultimate result demonstrates that Gram-positive oxazolidinone antibiotics can be made to be effective against Gram-negative bacteria by β-lactamase triggered release.

A complication of diabetes is the inability of wounds to heal in diabetic patients. Diabetic wounds are refractory to healing due to the involvement of activated matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which remodel the tissue resulting in apoptosis. There are no readily available methods that identify active unregulated MMPs. With the use of a novel inhibitor-tethered resin that binds exclusively to the active forms of MMPs, coupled with proteomics, we quantified MMP-8 and MMP-9 in a mouse model of diabetic wounds. Topical treatment with a selective MMP-9 inhibitor led to acceleration of wound healing, re-epithelialization, and significantly attenuated apoptosis. In contrast, selective pharmacological inhibition of MMP-8 delayed wound healing, decreased re-epithelialization, and exhibited high apoptosis. The MMP-9 activity makes the wounds refractory to healing, whereas that of MMP-8 is beneficial. The treatment of diabetic wounds with a selective MMP-9 inhibitor holds great promise in providing heretofore-unavailable opportunities for intervention of this disease.