Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory intestinal disorder, and its complex etiology makes prevention and treatment challenging. Research on new drugs and treatment strategies is ...currently a focal point. Phenolic acids are widely present in plant-based diets and have demonstrated the potential to alleviate colitis due to their powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In this review, we provide an overview of the structures and main dietary sources of phenolic acids, encompassing benzoic acid and cinnamic acid. Additionally, we explore the potential of phenolic acids as a nutritional therapy for preventing and treating IBD. In animal and cell experiments, phenolic acids effectively alleviate IBD induced by drug exposure or genetic defects. The mechanisms include improving intestinal mucosal barrier function, reducing oxidative stress, inhibiting excessive activation of the immune response, and regulating the balance of the intestinal microbiota. Our observation points towards the need for additional basic and clinical investigations on phenolic acids and their derivatives as potential novel therapeutic agents for IBD.
Owing to the increasing environmental concerns and requirements for high-quality foods, edible films and coatings (based on proteins, polysaccharides, natural phenolic active substances, etc.) are ...being developed as effective alternatives to traditional plastic packaging. Gelatin is extracted from collagen. It is an ideal material for food packaging due to its versatile advantages such as low price, polymerization, biodegradability, good antibacterial and antioxidant properties, etc. However, gelatin film exists poor waterproof and mechanical properties, which limit its developments and applications in food packaging. Previous studies show that pure gelatin can be modified by adding active ingredients and incorporating them with bio-polymers to improve its mechanical properties, aiming to achieve the desirable effect of preservation. This review mainly shows the preparation and molding ways of gelatin-based edible films and the applications of gelatin modified with other biopolymers. Furthermore, this review provides the latest advances in gelatin-based biodegradable packaging and food applications that exhibit outstanding advantages in food preservation.
•A hydrazine-specific fluorescent probe on the modulation of intramolecular charge transfer process was developed.•Leaving of 4-bromotutylate moiety reduced a marked NIR fluorescent emission at 715nm ...induced by hydrazine.•The probe is also successfully applied to visualize hydrazine in living both cells and mice.
Hydrazine is an important reactive base in chemistry, pharmacy and agriculture and an effective propellant in aeronautics and astronautics. However, tiny leakage might induce serious environmental contamination and fatal biological damage. Thus, how to rapidly detect hydrazine with high selectivity and sensitivity is of significance and challenge. In this report, we demonstrate a hydrazine-specific fluorescent probe on the modulation of intramolecular charge transfer process. This probe contains a 4-bromobutyl group as a recognition site for hydrazine anchored on the fluorescent dye. Leaving of 4-bromotutylate moiety leads to a marked NIR fluorescent emission at 715nm induced by hydrazine. Additionally, presence of hydrazine leads to a color change from green to blue-purple and a ratiometric UV–vis absorption change with a clear isosbestic point at 635nm. The good linear relationship between fluorescence intensity and concentration of hydrazine results in a low detection limit of 5.09ppb. The color and fluorescence two-output signals are preferable for qualitative and quantitative detection of hydrazine with high sensitivity and specificity. More importantly, the probe is also successfully applied to visualize hydrazine in living both cells and mice.
Long noncoding RNA HULC is highly up-regulation in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the functions of HULC in hepatocarcinogenesis remains unclear.
RT-PCR, Western blotting, Chromatin ...immunoprecipitation (CHIP) assay, RNA Immunoprecipitation (RIP) and tumorignesis test in vitro and in vivo were performed.
HULC is negatively associated with expression of PTEN or miR15a in patients of human liver cancer. Moreover, HULC accelerates malignant progression of liver cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, HULC increasesthe expression of P62 via decreasing mature miR15a. On the other hand, excessive HULC increases the expression of LC3 on the level of transcription and then activates LC3 through Sirt1 (a deacetylase). Notably, HULC enhanced the interplay between LC3 and ATG3. Furthermore, HULC also increases the expression of becline-1(autophagy related gene). Therefore, HULC increases the cellular autophagy by increasing LC3II dependent on Sirt1.Noteworthy, excessive HULC reduces the expression of PTEN, β-catenin and enhances the expression of SAPK/JUNK, PKM2, CDK2, NOTCH1, C-Jun in liver cancer cells. Of significance, our observations also revealed that HULC inhibited PTEN through ubiquitin-proteasome system mediated by autophagy-P62.Ultimately,HULC activates AKT-PI3K-mTOR pathway through inhibiting PTEN in human liver cancer cells.
This study elucidates a novel mechanism that lncRNA HULC produces a vital function during hepatocarcinogenesis.
A series of SnS2/ZnIn2S4 (x-SS/ZIS) photocatalysts with different mass ratios of SnS2 were prepared by a hydrothermal method. The resulted composites were used for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution ...under visible light excitation. All the SS/ZIS composites exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity for H2 evolution. Obviously, the highest H2 evolution rate of 769 μmol g−1 h−1 was observed over 2.5-SS/ZIS, which was approximately 10.5 times that of the ZnIn2S4 (73 μmol g−1 h−1). The enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to the successful construction of SnS2/ZnIn2S4 heterojunctions, leading to rapid charge separation and fast transfer of the photo-generated electrons and holes under light irradiation. On the basis of PL, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), photocurrent measurements and the H2 evolution tests, a plausible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed.
•SnS2/ZnIn2S4 composites were synthesized from SnS2 nanosheets and ZnIn2S4 microspheres.•SnS2/ZnIn2S4 heterojunctions enhanced photocatalytic H2 production under visible light.•Efficient charge separation and transfer at the heterojunctions explained the improved performance.
Antibody-based therapeutics and vaccines are essential to combat COVID-19 morbidity and mortality after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Multiple mutations in ...SARS-CoV-2 that could impair antibody defenses propagated in human-to-human transmission and spillover or spillback events between humans and animals. To develop prevention and therapeutic strategies, we formed an international consortium to map the epitope landscape on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, defining and structurally illustrating seven receptor binding domain (RBD)–directed antibody communities with distinct footprints and competition profiles. Pseudovirion-based neutralization assays reveal spike mutations, individually and clustered together in variants, that affect antibody function among the communities. Key classes of RBD-targeted antibodies maintain neutralization activity against these emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. These results provide a framework for selecting antibody treatment cocktails and understanding how viral variants might affect antibody therapeutic efficacy.
In order to solve the problem of poor gas permeability of blast furnace caused by high Al2O3 content in the burden, the softening and melting properties of sinter, pellets and lump ores are studied ...in this paper. The results show the differences between acid and basic iron ore materials. Based on this, this article study the influence of different kinds of pellets and lump ores blending with sinter on the softening and melting properties of comprehensive burdens. The results show that the self-fluxing pellet and porous lump ore with high aluminium content caused the Al2O3 content of comprehensive burden to raise 0.26% compared to acid pellet and dense lump ore with low aluminium content. However, the highest pressure drop of comprehensive burden is reduced from 2.50 kPa to 1.70 kPa, the S-value is decreased from 198 kPa∙°C to 114 kPa∙°C. Therefore, this method of ore blending will improve the softening and melting properties of integrated burden.
Humic acid is a type of polymeric, organic weak acid mixture with a core aromatic structure and main-component oxygen-containing functional group. Fulvic acid is a type of humic substance that can be ...dissolved in acid, alkali, or water. This study discusses the influence of different peptides on the molecular structure of fulvic acid, which was extracted from herbaceous, woody, and mossy peats using alkaline dissolution and acid precipitation methods. Analyses using infrared, UV-Vis, 13C-NMR, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies, as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD), were conducted to compare the effects of different peat types on the content and molecular structure of fulvic acid. The woody peat fulvic acid content was the highest among all peat fulvic acids (0.38%). However, the yield of fulvic acid from herbaceous peat was the highest (2.53%). Herbaceous peat fulvic acid contains significant quantities of carbonyl, amino, methylene, carboxyl, and phenolic hydroxyl groups and ether bonds. Woody peat fulvic acid contains carbonyl and methoxy groups, benzenes, aromatic carbons, aromatic ethers, and phenols. The degree of aromatization of woody peat fulvic acid was the highest. Mossy peat fulvic acid contains high levels of hydroxy, methyl, methylene, and phenol groups and aromatic ethers. The structural differences in fulvic acids in the different types of peat were primarily manifested in the content of functional groups, with little influence from the types of functional groups. XRD analysis of the different peats revealed that their structures all comprised benzene rings. However, mossy peat contained more C=O and –COOH groups, whereas herbaceous peat contained more C–O groups.
Ocean acidification can negatively impact marine bivalves. Pivotal to projecting their fate is the ability to acclimate and adapt to shifts in seawater chemistry. Transgenerational plasticity enables ...marine bivalves to acclimate, yet the underlying mechanisms at different levels of biological organization remain poorly understood. Here, we performed a transgenerational experiment to understand biochemical responses of the Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum, following exposure to moderately reduced seawater pH (from 8.1 to 7.7). Activities of tissue calcification-relevant enzymes, such as carbonic anhydrase (CA), acid phosphatase (ACP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), energy-metabolizing enzymes, such as Na+/K+-ATPase (NKA) and Ca2+/Mg2+-ATPase (CMA), as well as tissue energy reserves (glycogen, lipid and protein) were assayed. With decreasing seawater pH, adult R. philippinarum exhibited significantly increased CA activity, and especially the clams with a history of transgenerational exposure displaying significantly higher CA activity than those spawned from parents exposed to ambient seawater pH. Yet, ACP and ALP activities remained unaffected. Transgenerational exposure to reduced seawater pH led to significant increases of NKA activity, while no transgenerational response of CMA activity was observed. Tissue glycogen and lipid contents were significantly depleted under acidified conditions regardless of transgenerational exposure. Yet, transgenerational alleviation in the net protein degradation was found. These findings suggest that our current understanding of transgenerational responses is still limited by the achievable time-window possible in the laboratory. While the energetic budget is lower under acidified conditions, there is no evidence of transgenerational recovery in term of energetic budget. Therefore, this work demonstrates that the critical basis of ocean acidification resilience can most likely be explained in energetic terms.
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•Transgenerational exposure to seawater acidification significantly increased the activity of carbonic anhydrase.•A significant decrease of Na+/K+-ATPase activity was seen in transgenerationally acclimated clams under acidified conditions.•Tissue protein degradation was alleviated following transgenerational exposure to seawater acidification.
•Neither pH nor transgeneration elicited lipid peroxidation.•Antioxidant responses occurred in CO2-exposed mussels.•Transgenerational effects alleviated oxidative stress responses.•Transgenerational ...immunity may occur rapidly in an acidifying ocean.
Ocean acidification and marine biofouling, which may interact in the future, pose two major threats to global coastal ecosystems. Yet, the fate of highly invasive fouling species in a rapidly acidifying ocean remains poorly understood, due to lack of information on multigenerational consequences at different levels of biological organization. Here, we investigated antioxidant responses of the mussel, Musculista senhousia, a swiftly spreading invasive fouling species in global coastal waters, following transgenerational exposure to elevated pCO2. In the face of seawater acidification, M. senhousia without a prior history of transgenerational exposure to elevated pCO2 showed resistance to lipid peroxidation, but significantly increased activities of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), indicated oxidative stress responses. However, enhanced transgenerational immunity occurred, as exemplified by observations that mussels originating from parents exposed to elevated pCO2 exhibited significantly lower activities of SOD, CAT and GPx in comparison to those spawn from parents exposed to ambient pCO2. Rapid transgenerational acclimation of M. senhousia in terms of reduced oxidative stress responses can likely be linked to the enhanced capacity of maintaining acid-base homeostasis previously demonstrated. These findings provide the first evidence of transgenerational plasticity at the biochemical level in highly invasive fouling bivalve species, and represent a step forward in understanding how they respond and acclimate in an acidifying ocean.
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