Preparation,characterization,and antifungal evaluation of a new type of aminourea chitooligosaccharide derivatives

Phytopathogenic fungi cause heavy negative impact on the agricultural economy,but most existing fungicides are toxic and pose a threat to both human health and environments.A green and efficient fungicide is urgently needed.Chitooligosaccharides(COSs),the degradation products of natural polysaccharide chitosan,are nontoxic and biodegradable antifungal substances.In this study,a novel type of aminourea chitooligosaccharide derivatives(AUCOS)was synthesized by successively grafting a hydrazine group and an amine-carbonyl group onto a chitooligosaccharide backbone to enhance the antifungal capability of COSs.The structures of the target compounds were identified by FTIR,1H NMR,and 13C NMR,and the degree of substitution of each product was calculated from the results of the elemental analysis.The antifungal activities of the prepared chitooligosaccharide derivatives against Fusarium solani,Verticillium albo-atrum and Phytophthora capsici were tested in vitro.The AUCOSs had better inhibitory efficiencies against the three plant pathogen fungi than that of chitooligosaccharide,of which aminourea chitooligosaccharide 2(AUCOS2)was the most promising antifungal compound,whose highest inhibition rates were 60.12%,82.95%,and 85.23%against F.solani,V.albo-atrum and P.capsici,respectively.The synthesized derivatives have good application prospects in crop protection and deserve further research.

PI3K/Akt pathway is involved in the activation of RAW 264.7 cells induced by hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan

We previously demonstrated that 2-hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan(HACC)promoted the production of nitric oxide(NO)and proinflammatory cytokines by activating the mitogen-activated protein kinases(MAPK)and Janus kinase(JAK)/STAT pathways in RAW 264.7 cells,indicating good immunomodulatory activity of HACC.In this study,to further investigate the immunomodulatory mechanisms of HACC,we determined the roles of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)/Akt,activating protein(AP-1)and nuclear factor kappa B(NF-κB)in HACC-induced activation of RAW 264.7 cells by the western blotting.The results suggest that HACC promoted the phosphorylation of p85 and Akt.Furthermore,c-Jun and p65 were also increased after the treatment of RAW 264.7 cells with HACC,indicating the translocation of NF-κB and AP-1 from cytoplasm to nucleus.In addition,as scanning electron microscopy(SEM)analysis shows,the cell morphology changed after HACC treatment.These findings indicate that HACC activated MAPK,JAK/STAT,and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways dependent on AP-1 and NF-κB activation in RAW 264.7 cells,ultimately leading to the increase of NO and cytokines.