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Overexpression of Cks1 and Cks2 is associated with the aggressive tumour behaviours of HCC, and thus has diagnostic and prognostic value. Further efforts are needed to develop novel biomarkers for HCC based on CKs1 and Cks2 expressions.

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The preparation of two novel multifunctional cyclodextrin (CD) separation materials and their ultimate enantioseparation performances in high performance liquid chromatography are reported. A mild thiol-ene click reaction was used to anchor 1-allylimidazolium-per(p-methyl)phenylcarbamoylated-β-CD and 1-allylimidazolium-per(p-chloride)phenylcarbamoylated-β-CD onto thiol-modified porous silica giving structurally well-defined stable cationic multifunctional CD chiral stationary phases (CSP1 and CSP2 respectively). These covalently bonded CD phases have typical interaction modes such as H-bonding, π-π effect, electrostatic and dipole-dipole interactions as well as steric effects which result in superior chiral resolution for a variety of chiral compounds in different separation modes. In a reverse-phase mode, both CSPs exhibited excellent separation abilities for isoxazolines, flavonoids, β-blockers, and some other neutral and basic racemates. In a polar-organic mode, isoxazolines and flavonoids were well resolved. CSP1 with an electron-rich phenyl substitution on the CD rims gave a better resolution for isoxazolines whereas CSP2 with an electron-deficient phenyl substitution on the CD rims gave better resolution for flavonoids. Among isoxazolines, 4ClPh-OPr gained a high selectivity and resolution up to 18.6 and 38.7, respectively, which is an amazing result for CD enantioseparation materials.

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) sensitize biomolecules to radiation in two ways: by locally increasing the radiation energy absorbed and by modifying the sensitivity of the target biomolecules to radiation. Taking DNA as the biological target, we present the first investigation of the latter chemical mechanism of radiosensitization by irradiating thin films made of GNP-DNA complexes with 10 eV electrons. Naked GNPs of 5 and 15 nm diameters were synthesized and electrostatically bound to DNA. Damage to the GNP-DNA complexes were analyzed, as a function of electron fluence, by electrophoresis. In identical 5-monolayer films, the yield of DNA damage, as well as the enhancement factor due to the presence of 5 nm positively-charged nanoparticles, increased with rising ratio of GNPs to DNA up to 1:1. In comparison, increasing the ratio of negatively-charged 15 nm GNPs to DNA did not increase damage. As verified by XPS and zeta potential measurements, the binding of plasmid DNA to the surface of the two sizes of GNPs varies owing to the characteristics of the GNP surface and electrostatic interaction. The results indicate that strong binding of GNPs to DNA could significantly influence the efficiency of the chemical radiosensitization mechanism. This mechanism appears to be an important component of the overall process of GNP radiosensitization and should be considered when modeling this phenomenon. Our results suggest that small size GNPs (diam. ≤ 5 nm) are more efficient radiosensitizers compared to larger GNPs when delivered into cancerous cells, where their action should be cell-cycle dependent.