Ergothioneine, a sulfur-containing micromolecular histidine derivative, has attracted increasing attention from scholars since it was confirmed in the human body. In the human body, ergothioneine is ...transported and accumulated specifically through OCTN-1, especially in the mitochondria and nucleus, suggesting that it can target damaged cells and tissues as an antioxidant. It shows excellent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects, and anti-aging properties, and inhibits melanin production. It is a mega antioxidant that may participate in the antioxidant network system and promote the reducing glutathione regeneration cycle. This review summarizes studies on the antioxidant effects of ergothioneine on various free radicals in vitro to date and systematically introduces its biological activities and potential mechanisms, mostly in dermatology. Additionally, the application of ergothioneine in cosmetics is briefly summarized. Lastly, we propose some problems that require solutions to understand the mechanism of action of ergothioneine. We believe that ergothioneine has good prospects in the food and cosmetics industries, and can thus meet some needs of the health and beauty industry.
Metabolic reprogramming is a common phenomenon in cancers. Thus, glycolytic enzymes could be exploited to selectively target cancer cells in cancer therapy. Hexokinase 2 (HK2) converts glucose to ...glucose-6-phosphate, the first committed step in glucose metabolism. Here, we demonstrated that HK2 was overexpressed in ovarian cancer and displayed significantly higher expression in ascites and metastatic foci. HK2 expression was significantly associated with advanced stage and high-grade cancers, and was an independent prognostic factor. Functionally, knockdown of HK2 in ovarian cancer cell lines and ascites-derived tumor cells hindered lactate production, cell migration and invasion, and cell stemness properties, along with reduced FAK/ERK1/2 activation and metastasis- and stemness-related genes. 2-DG, a glycolysis inhibitor, retarded cell migration and invasion and reduced stemness properties. Inversely, overexpression of HK2 promoted cell migration and invasion through the FAK/ERK1/2/MMP9 pathway, and enhanced stemness properties via the FAK/ERK1/2/NANOG/SOX9 cascade. HK2 abrogation impeded in vivo tumor growth and dissemination. Notably, ovarian cancer-associated fibroblast-derived IL-6 contributed to its up-regulation. In conclusion, HK2, which is regulated by the tumor microenvironment, controls lactate production and contributes to ovarian cancer metastasis and stemness regulation via FAK/ERK1/2 signaling pathway-mediated MMP9/NANOG/SOX9 expression. HK2 could be a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for ovarian cancer.
Pores in a solid can effectively reduce thermal conduction, but they are not favored in thermoelectric materials due to simultaneous deterioration of electrical conductivity. Conceivably, creating a ...porous structure may endow thermoelectric performance enhancement provided that overwhelming reduction of electrical conductivity can be suppressed. This work demonstrates such an example, in which a porous structure is formed leading to a significant enhancement in the thermoelectric figure of merit (zT). By a unique BiI3 sublimation technique, pore networks can be introduced into tetrahedrite Cu12Sb4S13‐based materials, accompanied by changes in their hierarchical structures. The addition of a small quantity of BiI3 (0.7 vol%) results in a ≈72% reduction in the lattice thermal conductivity, whereas the electrical conductivity is improved due to unexpected enhanced carrier mobility. As a result, an enhanced zT of 1.15 at 723 K in porous tetrahedrite and a high conversion efficiency of 6% at ΔT = 419 K in a fabricated segmented single‐leg based on this porous material are achieved. This work offers an effective way to concurrently modulate the electrical and thermal properties during the synthesis of high‐performance porous thermoelectric materials.
A porous network structure with excellent electrical properties can enhance the thermoelectric performance of solid materials. This work demonstrates that a porous structure can be introduced into tetrahedrite‐based synthetic minerals by a unique BiI3 sublimation technique. The multiscale architectures simultaneously disrupt phonon transport and trigger energy‐dependent scattering of holes, leading to a superior zT value of 1.15 at 723 K.
Background
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), an Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) associated cancer, exhibits an extremely high incidence in southern Chinese. Given that human leukocyte antigen (HLA) plays ...critical roles in antigen presentation and relates to NPC susceptibility, it is speculated that certain HLA variants may affect EBV reactivation, which is a key pathogenic factor of NPC. Therefore, we attempted to identify HLA alleles associated with the indicator of EBV reactivation, Zta‐IgA, in healthy males from NPC endemic area.
Methods
HLA alleles of 1078 healthy males in southern China from the 21‐RCCP study were imputed using genome‐wide single nucleotide polymorphism data. EBV Zta‐IgA in blood samples were measured using an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the effect of HLA allele on Zta‐IgA serological status and its potential joint association with smoking. The binding affinity for Zta‐peptide was predicted using NetMHCIIpan 4.0.
Results
HLA‐DRB1*09:01 was found to be associated with a higher risk of Zta‐IgA seropositivity (odds ratio = 1.80, 95% confidence interval = 1.32–2.45; p = 1.82 × 10−4). Compared with non‐smokers without HLA‐DRB1*09:01, the effect size increased to 2.19‐ and 3.70‐fold for the light and heavy smokers carrying HLA‐DRB1*09:01, respectively. Furthermore, HLA‐DRB1*09:01 showed a stronger binding affinity to Zta peptide than other HLA‐DRB1 alleles.
Conclusions
Our study highlighted the pivotal role of genetic HLA variants in EBV reactivation and the etiology of NPC. Smokers with HLA‐DRB1*09:01 have a significantly higher risk of being Zta‐IgA seropositive, which indicates the necessity of smoking cessation in certain high‐risk populations and also provide clues for further research on the etiology of NPC.
We conducted an association study for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and Epstein–Barr virus Zta‐IgA serological status in healthy males from a nasopharyngeal carcinoma endemic area. We found that HLA‐DRB1*09:01 was associated with a high risk of Zta‐IgA seropositivity and the effect increased when combined with smoking. In silico prediction indicated that HLA‐DRB1*09:01 had a distinctive binding motif pattern and a stronger binding affinity to Zta peptide in comparison with other HLA‐DRB1 alleles.
Pancreatic cancer (PDAC) is a highly invasive cancer with poor prognosis. Recent research has found that the transcription factor Yin Yang 1 (YY1) plays an inhibitory role in the development of ...pancreatic cancer. It has been reported that tubulin polymerisation-promoting protein (TPPP) plays an indispensable role in a variety of tumours, but its expression and role in pancreatic cancer have not yet been elucidated.
In this study, we performed ChIP-sequencing and found that YY1 directly binds to the promoter region of TPPP. The expression of TPPP in pancreatic cancer was detected by western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Four-week-old male BALB/c-nude mice were used to assess the effect of TPPP on pancreatic cancer.
Immunohistochemistry revealed that TPPP was expressed at low levels in pancreatic cancer tissues, and was associated with blood vessel invasion. The results from vivo experiments have showed that TPPP could enhance the migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer. Further experiments showed that YY1 could inhibit the migration, invasion and angiogenesis of pancreatic cancer cells by downregulating TPPP via p38/MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways.
Our study demonstrates that TPPP may act as a promoter and may serve as a novel target for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Although there are considerable reports of magnetic field effects (MFE) on organisms, very little is known so far about the MFE-related signal transduction pathways. Here we establish a manipulative ...near-zero magnetic field (NZMF) to investigate the potential signal transduction pathways involved in MFE. We show that exposure of migratory white-backed planthopper, Sogatella furcifera, to the NZMF results in delayed egg and nymphal development, increased frequency of brachypterous females, and reduced longevity of macropterous female adults. To understand the changes in gene expression underlying these phenotypes, we examined the temporal patterns of gene expression of (i) CRY1 and CRY2 as putative magnetosensors, (ii) JHAMT, FAMeT and JHEH in the juvenile hormone pathway, (iii) CYP307A1 in the ecdysone pathway, and (iv) reproduction-related Vitellogenin (Vg). The significantly altered gene expression of CRY1 and CRY2 under the NZMF suggest their developmental stage-specific patterns and potential upstream location in magnetic response. Gene expression patterns of JHAMT, JHEH and CYP307A1 were consistent with the NZMF-triggered delay in nymphal development, higher proportion of brachypterous female adults, and the shortened longevity of macropterous female adults, which show feasible links between hormone signal transduction and phenotypic MFE. By conducting manipulative NZMF experiments, our study suggests an important role of the geomagnetic field (GMF) in modulating development and physiology of insects, provides new insights into the complexity of MFE-magnetosensitivity interactions, and represents an initial but crucial step forward in understanding the molecular basis of cryptochromes and hormone signal transduction involved in MFE.
Visible‐light driven photoconversion of CO2 into energy carriers is highly important to the natural carbon balance and sustainable development. Demonstrated here is the adenine‐dependent CO2 ...photoreduction performance in green biomimetic metal–organic frameworks. Photocatalytic results indicate that AD‐MOF‐2 exhibited a very high HCOOH production rate of 443.2 μmol g−1 h−1 in pure aqueous solution, and is more than two times higher than that of AD‐MOF‐1 (179.0 μmol g−1h−1) in acetonitrile solution. Significantly, experimental and theoretical evidence reveal that the CO2 photoreduction reaction mainly takes place at the aromatic nitrogen atom of adenine molecules through a unique o‐amino‐assisted activation rather than at the metal center. This work not only serves as an important case study for the development of green biomimetic photocatalysts used for artificial photosynthesis, but also proposes a new catalytic strategy for efficient CO2 photoconversion.
Eco‐friendly terms: Two biomimetic metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) were assembled with eco‐friendly components and used as photocatalysts for CO2‐to‐HCOOH conversion. One of the synthesized MOFs exhibited a very high HCOOH production rate of 443.2 μmol g−1 h−1 in pure aqueous solution.
Visible-light driven photoconversion of CO
into energy carriers is highly important to the natural carbon balance and sustainable development. Demonstrated here is the adenine-dependent CO
...photoreduction performance in green biomimetic metal-organic frameworks. Photocatalytic results indicate that AD-MOF-2 exhibited a very high HCOOH production rate of 443.2 μmol g
h
in pure aqueous solution, and is more than two times higher than that of AD-MOF-1 (179.0 μmol g
h
) in acetonitrile solution. Significantly, experimental and theoretical evidence reveal that the CO
photoreduction reaction mainly takes place at the aromatic nitrogen atom of adenine molecules through a unique o-amino-assisted activation rather than at the metal center. This work not only serves as an important case study for the development of green biomimetic photocatalysts used for artificial photosynthesis, but also proposes a new catalytic strategy for efficient CO
photoconversion.
Objectives
To develop a new Chinese medicine (CM)-based drug and to evaluate its safety and effect for suppressing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients.
Methods
A putative ...ARDS-suppressing drug Keguan-1 was first developed and then evaluated by a randomized, controlled two-arm trial. The two arms of the trial consist of a control therapy (alpha interferon inhalation, 50 µg twice daily; and lopinavir/ritonavir, 400 and 100 mg twice daily, respectively) and a testing therapy (control therapy plus Keguan-1 19.4 g twice daily) by random number table at 1:1 ratio with 24 cases each group. After 2-week treatment, adverse events, time to fever resolution, ARDS development, and lung injury on newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients were assessed.
Results
An analysis of the data from the first 30 participants showed that the control arm and the testing arm did not exhibit any significant differences in terms of adverse events. Based on this result, the study was expanded to include a total of 48 participants (24 cases each arm). The results show that compared with the control arm, the testing arm exhibited a significant improvement in time to fever resolution (
P
=0.035), and a significant reduction in the development of ARDS (
P
=0.048).
Conclusions
Keguan-1-based integrative therapy was safe and superior to the standard therapy in suppressing the development of ARDS in COVID-19 patients. (Trial registration No. NCT 04251871 at
www.clinicaltrials.gov
)
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