•A Bi drug is derived from 2,6-pyridinedicarboxaldehyde bis(4N-methylthiosemicarbazone).•The drug shows high anticancer activities against human lung cancer cells A549 and H460.•No cytotoxicity is caused by the drug to normal human lung fibroblast (HLF) cell.•The drug effectively inhibits A549 xenograft tumor growth on tumor-bearing mice.•No harmful effect on mouse weight and liver is found after treatment with this drug.The aim of this work is experimental study of an interesting bismuth(III) complex derived from pentadentate 2,6-pyridinedicarboxaldehyde bis(4N-methylthiosemicarbazone), [BiL(NO3)2]NO3 {L = 2,6-pyridinedicarboxaldehyde bis(4N-methylthiosemicarbazone)}. A series of in vitro biological studies indicate that the newly prepared [BiL(NO3)2]NO3 greatly suppressed colony formation, migration and significantly induced apoptosis of human lung cancer cells A549 and H460, but did not obviously decrease the cell viability of non-cancerous human lung fibroblast (HLF) cell line, showing much higher anticancer activities than its parent ligands, especially with half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) < 3.5 μM. Moreover, in vivo study provides enough evidence that the treatment with [BiL(NO3)2]NO3 effectively inhibited A549 xenograft tumor growth on tumor-bearing mice (10 mg kg− 1, tumor volume reduced by 97.92% and tumor weight lightened by 94.44% compared to control) and did not indicate harmful effect on mouse weight and liver. These results suggest that the coordination of free ligand with Bi(III) might be an interesting and potent strategy in the discovery of new anticancer drug candidates.An interesting Bi(III) complex derived from pentadentate 2,6-pyridinedicarboxaldehyde bis(4N-methylthiosemicarbazone) was synthesized. Both in vitro and in vivo biological evaluations indicate the significant anticancer activity of the Bi(III) complex against human lung cancer cell lines A549 and H460 and quite low cytotoxicity toward non-cancerous human lung fibroblast cell line.Download high-res image (171KB)Download full-size image

Single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) sandwiched Ni-Ag hybrid nanoparticle layers were developed as electrocatalyst for glucose (Glu) oxidation. By mixing the carboxylated SWCNTs and Ni/Ag ions, Ni/Ag ions were easily adsorbed on both sides of SWCNTs in good order due to the electrostatic interaction between them, forming the Ni/Ag ion doubly adsorbed SWCNTs. Once the electrode modified with Ni/Ag ion doubly adsorbed SWCNTs was immersed in Ni-Ag solution, the Ni/Ag ion doubly adsorbed SWCNTs were immediately surrounded by a large amount of Ni/Ag ions. As the electrodeposition started, the Ni/Ag ions pre-adsorbed on the walls of SWCNTs were first reduced to very small particles as seeds to induce the further growth of Ni-Ag nanoparticles (NPs) on SWCNTs (seed-induced effect), forming the SWCNTs sandwiched Ni-Ag hybrid nanoparticle layers. Compared with the electrodeposition of Ni-Ag on bare GCE, the proposed Ni-Ag/SWCNTs composite was greatly improved in many properties like the particle size of Ni-Ag NPs, the hydrophilicity, the electron transfer ability and the electrocatalytic activity. For Glu electro-oxidation, Ni-Ag/SWCNTs/GCE demonstrated extraordinary electrocatalytic performance where the good linear current responses were obtained in two Glu concentration ranges of 0-2.5 mM and 0-350 μM with correlation coefficients (R2) of 0.9935 and 0.9985. A high sensitivity of 2946 μA mM−1 cm−2 was achieved with the proposed Ni-Ag/SWCNTs based sensor. More importantly, three excellent linear relations were also achieved in the ranges of 0-11 μM, 10-90 μM and 170-350 μM with R2 as high as 0.9999 and the detection limits of 0.094, 0.076 and 0.062 μM, respectively. The new method was successfully applied to Glu detection in blood samples with preferable accuracy and precision.

•A novel Bi(III) containing thiosemicarbazone derivative, BiL2Cl3, was synthesized.•BiL2Cl3 inhibited the proliferation and migration of A549 and H460 lung cancer cells, induced apoptosis and fairly low cytotoxicity to normal human lung fibroblast (HLF).•BiL2Cl3 exhibited potent anti-cancer activity against cancer cells.By mixing 5-bromo-2-furaldehyde, phenylthiosemicarbazide and Bi(CH3COO)3, a new amorphous bismuth-containing complex, BiL2Cl3, was synthesized under aqueous conditions via a one-pot method and characterized with some analytical techniques, where L was produced by dehydration between 5-bromo-2-furaldehyde, phenylthiosemicarbazide. The obtained complex effectively inhibited the proliferation and migration of A549 and H460 lung cancer cells, induced cell apoptosis and displayed fairly low cytotoxicity to normal human lung fibroblast (HLF). Compared with cisplatin, BiL2Cl3 displayed better anti-cancer activity against tumor cells and lower toxicity to normal cell. Therefore, BiL2Cl3 with potent anti-cancer activity may be a viable drug candidate in anti-cancer therapies.By mixing 5-bromo-2-furaldehyde, phenylthiosemicarbazide and Bi(CH3COO)3, a new amorphous bismuth-containing complex was synthesized under aqueous conditions via a one-pot method, which effectively inhibited the proliferation and migration of A549 and H460 lung cancer cells, induced cell apoptosis and displayed fairly low cytotoxicity to normal human lung fibroblast (HLF), indicative of great potential anti-cancer activity.

•A ultrathin layer of Bi was adsorbed onto Pt surface by self-assembly.•The BiIII-Pt electrode exhibits high electrocatalysis to glucose due to the more OH absorbed by Bi to form active Pt-OH.•The BiIII-Pt electrode gives high sensitivity and excellent linearship of non-enzymatic glucose sensing.Bismuth has been attracting research interest in recent decades due to its unique properties. Especially, there is a great difference for bismuth between its surface and bulk material properties in which the surfaces are much better metals than the bulk. A ultrathin layer of bismuth was adsorbed onto platinum electrode surface by simple self-assembly. Compared with bare platinum electrode, two greatly increased oxidation peaks were observed at negative and positive potential area with the obtained BiIII-Pt electrode, where Bi0 or BiIII tends to adsorb more OH which is shared by the below adjacent platinum atom to form a structure of Pt-OH with high electrocatalytical activity. The BiIII-Pt electrode gives high sensitivity and excellent linearship of non-enzymatic glucose sensing, showing potential application for fuel cell, electrocatalysis and electroanalysis.