The presence of mycotoxins in herbal medicines is an established problem throughout the entire world. The sensitive and accurate analysis of mycotoxin in complicated matrices (e.g., herbs) typically ...involves challenging sample pretreatment procedures and an efficient detection instrument. However, although numerous reviews have been published regarding the occurrence of mycotoxins in herbal medicines, few of them provided a detailed summary of related analytical methods for mycotoxin determination. This review focuses on analytical techniques including sampling, extraction, cleanup, and detection for mycotoxin determination in herbal medicines established within the past ten years. Dedicated sections of this article address the significant developments in sample preparation, and highlight the importance of this procedure in the analytical technology. This review also summarizes conventional chromatographic techniques for mycotoxin qualification or quantitation, as well as recent studies regarding the development and application of screening assays such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, lateral flow immunoassays, aptamer-based lateral flow assays, and cytometric bead arrays. The present work provides a good insight regarding the advanced research that has been done and closes with an indication of future demand for the emerging technologies.
Abstract Background & aims Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 1 (TRAF1) is an important adapter protein that is largely implicated in molecular events regulating immunity/inflammation ...and cell death. Although inflammation is closely related to and forms a vicious circle with insulin dysfunction and hepatic lipid accumulation, the role of TRAF1 in hepatic steatosis and the related metabolic disorders remains unclear. Methods The participation of TRAF1 in the initiation and progression of hepatic steatosis was evaluated in high fat diet (HFD)-induced and genetic obesity. Mice with global TRAF1 knockout or liver-specific TRAF1 overexpression were employed to investigate the role of TRAF1 in insulin resistance, inflammation, and hepatic steatosis based on various phenotypic examinations. Molecular mechanisms underlying TRAF1-regulated hepatic steatosis were further explored in vivo and in vitro. Results TRAF1 expression was significantly upregulated in the livers of NAFLD patients and obese mice and in palmitate-treated hepatocytes. In response to HFD administration or in ob/ob mice, TRAF1 deficiency was hepatoprotective, whereas the overexpression of TRAF1 in hepatocytes contributed to the pathological development of insulin resistance, inflammatory response and hepatic steatosis. Mechanistically, hepatocyte TRAF1 promotes hepatic steatosis through enhancing the activation of ASK1-mediated P38/JNK cascades, as evidenced by the fact that ASK1 inhibition abolished the exacerbated effect of TRAF1 on insulin dysfunction, inflammation, and hepatic lipid accumulation. Conclusion TRAF1 functions as a positive regulator of insulin resistance, inflammation, and hepatic steatosis dependent on the activation of ASK1- P38/JNK axis.
Obesity can affect periodontal tissues and exacerbate periodontitis. Pyroptosis, a newly identified type of inflammatory cell death, is involved in the development of periodontal inflammation. The ...saturated fatty acid palmitic acid (PA) is elevated in obese patients. The effect of PA on pyroptosis in periodontal ligament cells (PDLCs) and its underlying mechanisms remain unknown.
Human PDLCs were isolated from healthy individuals and cultured for experiments. The effects of PA on PDLC pyroptosis and the underlying mechanisms were examined by transmission electron microscopy, quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting.
The morphology of PDLCs in the PA group indicated pyroptotic characteristics, including swollen cells, plasma membrane rupture and changes in subcellular organelles. PA induced inflammatory responses in PDLCs, as indicated by an increase in IL-1β in the cell culture supernatant. Furthermore, we found that the pyroptosis-related proteins caspase-1, caspase-4 and GSDMD were involved in PA-induced cell death. GSDMD and caspase-4 inhibitors alleviated pyroptotic death of PDLCs. Moreover, PA promoted NF-κB P65 phosphorylation. A NF-κB inhibitor decreased IL-1β expression and partly rescued cell death induced by PA.
PA activated the NF-κB pathway and induced the inflammatory response in PDLCs. Caspase-4/GSDMD mediated PDLC pyroptosis induced by PA.
Highly intergrown mordenite membranes were rapidly prepared on seeded aluminum supports by microwave-assisted synthesis. Both the thicknesses of the zeolite layer and the sizes of the zeolite ...crystals of the mordenite membranes were highly dependent on the synthesis time. With a SiO2:0.08Al2O3:0.2Na2O:0.1NaF:35H2O precursor synthesis gel, a compact and 0.75 μm thick mordenite crystal layer was successfully prepared on the aluminum support at 170 °C for 3 h. The as-synthesized mordenite membrane exhibited excellent water perm-selectivity and long-term stability for dehydration of alcohol/water, acetic acid/water, and acetic acid/ethanol/water/ethyl ester mixtures by pervaporation. For dehydration of 90 wt % acetic acid/water solution, the corresponding flux and separation factor (water over acetic acid) of the membrane remained at 0.44 kg·m–2·h–1 and 2300, respectively, at 75 °C even after 59 days of immersion.
Abstract
Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are common life-threatening lung diseases associated with acute and severe inflammation. Both have high mortality ...rates, and despite decades of research on clinical ALI/ARDS, there are no effective therapeutic strategies. Disruption of alveolar-capillary barrier integrity or activation of inflammatory responses leads to lung inflammation and injury. Recently, studies on the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in regulating normal and pathophysiologic cell activities, including inflammation and injury responses, have attracted attention. Injured and dysfunctional cells often secrete EVs into serum or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid with altered cargoes, which can be used to diagnose and predict the development of ALI/ARDS. EVs secreted by mesenchymal stem cells can also attenuate inflammatory reactions associated with cell dysfunction and injury to preserve or restore cell function, and thereby promote cell proliferation and tissue regeneration. This review focuses on the roles of EVs in the pathogenesis of pulmonary inflammation, particularly ALI/ARDS.
Gliomas are a group of brain cancers with high mortality and morbidity. Understanding the molecular mechanisms is important for the prevention or treatment of gliomas. The present study was to ...investigate the effects and mechanisms of long noncoding RNA TRPM2‐AS in gliomas proliferation, migration, and invasion. We first compared the levels of TRPM2‐AS in 111 patients with glioma to that of the normal control group by a quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results indicated a significant increase of TRPM2‐AS in patients with glioma (2.43 folds of control, p = .0135). MTT methods, wound healing assays, transwell analysis, and clone formation analysis indicated the overexpression of TRPM2‐AS promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasion of U251 and U87 cells, while downregulation of TRPM2‐AS inhibited the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion significantly (p < .05). To further uncover the mechanisms, bioinformatics analysis was conducted on the expression profiles, GSE40687 and GSE4290, from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. One hundred fifty‐six genes were differentially expressed in both datasets (FC > 2.0; p = .05). Among these differentially expressed genes, the level of RGS4 messenger RNA was drastically regulated by TRPM2‐AS. Further western‐blot analysis indicated the increase of RGS4 protein expression and decrease of p‐JNK/JNK and p‐c‐Jun/c‐Jun ratio after TRPM2‐AS overexpression. On the other hand, inhibition of TRPM2‐AS by small interfering RNA suppressed the expression of RGS4 and promoted the ratios of p‐JNK/JNK and p‐c‐Jun/c‐Jun. The present work indicated the mechanisms of the participation of TRPM2‐AS in the progression of gliomas might, at least partly, be related to JNK, c‐Jun, and RGS4. Our work provided new insights into the underlying mechanisms of glioma cellular functions.
TRPM2‐AS was increased significantly in patients with glioma, especially in older patients and higher‐grade cancer. TRPM2‐AS upregulation promotes glioma cell line U251 and U87 proliferation, migration, and invasion. The mechanisms of TRPM2‐AS might, at least partly, be related to JNK, c‐Jun, and RGS4. Our present work provided a new insight into the mechanism of gliomas.
The increased worldwide commercial cultivation of transgenic crops during the past 20 years is accompanied with potential effects on the soil microbial communities, because many rhizosphere and ...endosphere bacteria play important roles in promoting plant health and growth. Previous studies reported that transgenic plants exert differential effects on soil microbial communities, especially rhizobacteria. Thus, this study compared the soybean root-associated bacterial communities between a 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase -transgenic soybean line (ZUTS31 or simply Z31) and its recipient cultivar (Huachun3 or simply HC3) at the vegetative, flowering, and seed-filling stages. High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene (16S rDNA) V4 hypervariable region amplicons via Illumina MiSeq and real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) were performed. Our results revealed no significant differences in the overall alpha diversity of root-associated bacterial communities at the three developmental stages and in the beta diversity of root-associated bacterial communities at the flowering stage between Z31 and HC3 under field growth. However, significant differences in the beta diversity of rhizosphere bacterial communities were found at the vegetative and seed-filling stages between the two groups. Furthermore, the results of next generation sequencing and qPCR showed that the relative abundances of root-associated main nitrogen-fixing bacterial genera, especially Bradyrhizobium in the roots, evidently changed from the flowering stage to the seed-filling stage. In conclusion, Z31 exerts transitory effects on the taxonomic diversity of rhizosphere bacterial communities at the vegetative and seed-filling stages compared to the control under field conditions. In addition, soybean developmental change evidently influences the main symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacterial genera in the roots from the flowering stage to the seed-filling stage.
Cardiac macrophage contributes to the development of cardiac fibrosis, but factors that regulate cardiac macrophages transition and activation during this process remains elusive. Here we show, by ...single-cell transcriptomics, lineage tracing and parabiosis, that cardiac macrophages from circulating monocytes preferentially commit to macrophage-to-myofibroblast transition (MMT) under angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced hypertension, with accompanying increased expression of the RNA N6-methyladenosine demethylases, ALKBH5. Meanwhile, macrophage-specific knockout of ALKBH5 inhibits Ang II-induced MMT, and subsequently ameliorates cardiac fibrosis and dysfunction. Mechanistically, RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing identifies interlukin-11 (IL-11) mRNA as a target for ALKBH5-mediated m6A demethylation, leading to increased IL-11 mRNA stability and protein levels. By contrast, overexpression of IL11 in circulating macrophages reverses the phenotype in ALKBH5-deficient mice and macrophage. Lastly, targeted delivery of ALKBH5 or IL-11 receptor α (IL11RA1) siRNA to monocytes/macrophages attenuates MMT and cardiac fibrosis under hypertensive stress. Our results thus suggest that the ALKBH5/IL-11/IL11RA1/MMT axis alters cardiac macrophage and contributes to hypertensive cardiac fibrosis and dysfunction in mice, and thereby identify potential targets for cardiac fibrosis therapy in patients.
Lectin-like low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (LOX-1) is a receptor for oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) in endothelial cells. The activation of LOX-1 by oxLDL stimulates the apoptosis and ...dysfunction of endothelial cells, and contributes to atherogenesis. However, the regulatory factors for LOX-1 are still unclear. MicroRNAs are small, endogenous, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expressions at a post-transcriptional level. The let-7 family is the second microRNA been discovered, which plays important roles in cardiovascular diseases. Let-7a and let-7b were predicted to target LOX-1 3'-UTR and be highly expressed in endothelial cells. The present study demonstrated that LOX-1 was a target of let-7a and let-7b. They inhibited the expression of LOX-1 by targeting the positions of 310-316 in LOX-1 3'-UTR. Over-expression of let-7a and let-7b inhibited the oxLDL-induced endothelial cell apoptosis, NO deficiency, ROS over-production, LOX-1 upregulation and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) downregulation. Moreover, we found that oxLDL treatment induced p38MAPK phosphorylation, NF-κB nuclear translocation, IκB degradation and PKB dephosphorylation. Let-7a or let-7b over-expression attenuated these alterations significantly. The present study may provide a new insight into the protective properties of let-7a and let-7b in preventing the endothelial dysfunction associated with cardiovascular disease, such as atherosclerosis.
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