A series of novel 3-phenoxy-4-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)pyridazines 2-5 were designed, based on the structure of our previous lead compound 1 through the in silico structure-guided optimization approach. The results showed that some of these new compounds showed a good herbicidal activity at the rate of 750 g ai/ha by both pre- and post-emergence applications, especially compound 2a, which displayed a comparable pre-emergence herbicidal activity to diflufenican at 300-750 g ai/ha, and a higher post-emergence herbicidal activity than diflufenican at the rates of 300-750 g ai/ha. Additionally, 2a was safe to wheat by both pre- and post-emergence applications at 300 g ai/ha, showing the compound's potential for weed control in wheat fields. Our molecular simulation studies revealed the important factors involved in the interaction between 2a and Synechococcus PDS. This work provided a lead compound for weed control in wheat fields.

Recent studies have shown that soybean protein and its peptides have cholesterol-lowering activities. However, it is not clear whether these peptides could overcome physiological barriers, such as phase II metabolism in gastrointestinal tract and poor permeability, to reach the blood stream in its intact form. Therefore, the transepithelial transport characteristics of soybean peptide Trp-Gly-Ala-Pro-Ser-Leu (WGAPSL) with cholesterol- lowering activity were investigated in Caco-2 cells. In this study; the transepithelial absorption of WGAPSL was studied using human intestinal Caco-2 cell monolayers. The results showed that WGAPSL had good stability (83.9% ±1.98%) after simulated gastric and intestinal digestion. During the apical (AP) side to basolateral (BL) side transport, WGAPSL was absorbed intact through Caco-2 cell monolayers with apparent permeability coefficient (Papp) values of 4.4 × 10-8 to 1.2 × 10-8 cm/s. Cytochalasin D loosened the tight junctions of Caco-2 cell monolayers and significantly (p < 0.05) improved the transport process. Sodium azide, wortmannin, and Gly-Pro had minimal effects on transport, demonstrating that the major transport route of WGAPVL was paracellular via tight junctions. Finally, LC-MS analysis showed that Gly-Ala-Pro (GAP) was the important part for the intact absorption of WGAPVL and Trp (W) was the most unstable amino acid residue.

Four new gallate derivatives-ornusgallate A, ent-cornusgallate A, cornusgallate B and C (1a, 1b, 2, 3)-were isolated from the wine-processed fruit of Cornus officinalis. Among them, 1a and 1b are new natural compounds with novel skeletons. Their chemical structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopy methods including NMR, IR, HRESIMS, UV, ECD spectra and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of all compounds were assayed in RAW 264.7 cells by assessing LPS-induced NO production. As the result, all compounds exhibited anti-inflammatory activities at attested concentrations. Among the tested compounds, compound 2 exhibited the strongest anti- inflammatory activity.