© 2020 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Phenol-based macrocyclic arenes have been widely used in supramolecular chemistry, significantly enriching the toolbox of the field. In contrast, naphthol-based macrocyclic arenes are rather underdeveloped. Very recently, Gaeta and co-workers successfully synthesized such macrocycles (referred to as prism[n]arenes) with good guest-binding ability by reacting 2,6-dimethoxynaphthalene with paraformaldehyde under optimized conditions. In view of the simple synthesis and good host-guest chemistry, we anticipate that this macrocycle will find similar success and wide applications as the phenol-based macrocyclic arenes. © 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.Mitochondrial function is critical in energy metabolism. To fully capture how the mitochondrial function changes in metabolic disorders, we investigated mitochondrial function in liver and muscle of animal models mimicking different types and stages of diabetes. Type 1 diabetic mice were induced by streptozotocin (STZ) injection. The db/db mice were used as type 2 diabetic model. High-fat diet-induced obese mice represented pre-diabetic stage of type 2 diabetes. Oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) of isolated mitochondria was measured with Clark-type oxygen electrode. Both in early and late stages of type 1 diabetes, liver mitochondrial OXPHOS increased markedly with complex IV-dependent OXPHOS being the most prominent. However, ATP, ADP and AMP contents in the tissue did not change. In pre-diabetes and early stage of type 2 diabetes, liver mitochondrial complex I and II-dependent OXPHOS increased greatly then declined to almost normal at late stage of type 2 diabetes, among which alteration of complex I-dependent OXPHOS was the most significant. In contrast, muscle mitochondrial OXPHOS in HFD, early-stage type 1 and 2 diabetic mice, did not change. In vitro, among inhibitors to each complex, only complex I inhibitor rotenone decreased glucose output in primary hepatocytes without cytotoxicity both in the absence and presence of oleic acid (OA). Rotenone affected cellular energy state and had no effects on cellular and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production. Taken together, the mitochondrial OXPHOS of liver but not muscle increased in obesity and diabetes, and only complex I inhibition may ameliorate hyperglycaemia via lowering hepatic glucose production. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Renal fibrosis acts as a clinical predictor in patients with chronic kidney disease and is characterized by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation. Our previous study suggested that mindin can function as a mediator for liver steatosis pathogenesis. However, the role of mindin in renal fibrosis remains obscure. Here, tumour necrosis factor (TGF)-β-treated HK-2 cells and global mindin knockout mouse were induced with renal ischaemia reperfusion injury (IRI) to test the relationship between mindin and renal fibrosis. In vitro, mindin overexpression promoted p65-the hub subunit of the NF-κB signalling pathway-translocation from the cytoplasm into the nucleus, resulting in NF-κB pathway activation in TGF-β-treated HK-2 cells. Meanwhile, mindin activated the TGF-β/Smad pathway, thereby causing fibrotic-related protein expression in vitro. Mindin-/- mice exhibited less kidney lesions than controls, with small renal tubular expansion, inflammatory cell infiltration, as well as collagen accumulation, following renal IRI. Mechanistically, mindin-/- mice suppressed p65 translocation and deactivated NF-κB pathway. Simultaneously, mindin disruption inhibited the TGF-β/Smad pathway, alleviating the expression of ECM-related proteins. Hence, mindin may be a novel target of renal IRI in the treatment of renal fibrogenesis.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/gpna.html  © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Perovskite-based oxides have emerged as promising oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts, while the performance is closely related to the lattice, electronic, and defect structure of the oxides, which determine surface and bulk properties and consequent catalytic activity and durability. Further, interfacial interactions between phases in a nanocomposite may affect bulk transportation and surface adsorption properties in a similar manner to phase doping except without solubility limits. Herein, we report the development of a single/double perovskite nanohybrid with limited surface self-reconstruction capability as an OER electrocatalyst. Such superior performance is arises from a structure that maintains high crystallinity post OER catalysis, in addition to forming an amorphous layer following the self-reconstruction of a single perovskite structure during the OER process. In situ X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy and high-resolution synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction reveal an amorphization process in the hybrid single/double perovskite oxide system that is limited in comparison to single perovskite amorphization, ensuring high catalytic activity. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.The paradox of antioxidants is that they protect other more valuable molecules by sacrificial reactions with oxidizers. Their consequential loss in efficacy imposes great challenges to both living organisms and the food industry. Here we show that the host-guest complexation of the carefully designed positively charged amphiphilic guanidinocalix[5]arene pentadodecyl ether (GC5A-12C) and negatively charged oleic acid (OA), a well-known cell membrane antioxidant, prevents the oxidation of a monolayer of the complex at the air-water interface from two potent oxidizers, hydroxyl radicals (OH) and singlet delta oxygen (SDO). OH is generated from the gas phase and attacks from the top of the monolayer, while SDO is generated inside the monolayer and attacks amphiphiles from a lateral direction. Field-induced droplet ionization mass spectrometry results have demonstrated that the host-guest complexation is able to achieve steric shielding and to prevent both types of oxidation as a result of the tight and "sleeved in" physical arrangement, rather than the chemical reactivity, of the complexes.