During embryo implantation, the blastocyst interacts with and regulates the endometrium, and endometrial fluid secreted by the endometrial epithelium nurtures the embryo. Here, we propose that ...maternal microRNAs (miRNAs) might act as transcriptomic modifier of the pre-implantation embryo. Microarray profiling revealed that six of 27 specific, maternal miRNAs were differentially expressed in the human endometrial epithelium during the window of implantation--a brief phase of endometrial receptivity to the blastocyst--and were released into the endometrial fluid. Further investigation revealed that hsa-miR-30d, the expression levels of which were most significantly upregulated, was secreted as an exosome-associated molecule. Exosome-associated and free hsa-miR-30d was internalized by mouse embryos via the trophectoderm, resulting in an indirect overexpression of genes encoding for certain molecules involved in the murine embryonic adhesion phenomenon--Itgb3, Itga7 and Cdh5. Indeed, this finding was supported by evidence in vitro: treating murine embryos with miR-30d resulted in a notable increase in embryo adhesion. Our results suggest a model in which maternal endometrial miRNAs act as transcriptomic modifiers of the pre-implantation embryo.
The composition of evolved slow pyrolysis products under inert and oxidising atmospheres of reference tobacco from the University of Kentucky and its mixture with an SBA-15 mesoporous silica have ...been measured using a multishot pyrolyser attached directly to a gas chromatography/mass spectrometer. The results obtained show that under an inert atmosphere, the main decomposition rate occurs between 200 and 400 °C, with the evolution of nicotine and the generation of compound's characteristic of the decomposition of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and other constituents. The addition of SBA-15 to tobacco produces a reduction in most evolved gases at temperatures below 300 °C, markedly decreasing the formation of quinic acid, neophytadiene, nicotyrine and so on. In contrast, at temperatures above 300 °C, the opposite effect occurs and the generation of compounds is higher, increasing mainly the formation of acetaldehyde, chloromethane and aromatics. Under an oxidising atmosphere, at temperatures below 300 °C, almost all compounds are reduced when SBA-15 is added to tobacco, such as glycerol, neophytadiene and nicotine. The combustion processes occur between 400 and 500 °C with the generation of mainly CO
2
and H
2
O. At temperatures above 300 °C, there is also a significant reduction in the evolved gases like acid acetic, acetonitrile and some aromatics. The application of this type of material could be interesting for heat-not-burn tobaccos to further reduce their toxicity for the consumer.
Plasmodium vivax is the most widely distributed human malaria parasite. Previous studies have shown that circulating microparticles during P. vivax acute attacks are indirectly associated with ...severity. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are therefore major components of circulating plasma holding insights into pathological processes. Here, we demonstrate that plasma-derived EVs from Plasmodium vivax patients (PvEVs) are preferentially uptaken by human spleen fibroblasts (hSFs) as compared to the uptake of EVs from healthy individuals. Moreover, this uptake induces specific upregulation of ICAM-1 associated with the translocation of NF-kB to the nucleus. After this uptake, P. vivax-infected reticulocytes obtained from patients show specific adhesion properties to hSFs, reversed by inhibiting NF-kB translocation to the nucleus. Together, these data provide physiological EV-based insights into the mechanisms of human malaria pathology and support the existence of P. vivax-adherent parasite subpopulations in the microvasculature of the human spleen.
•HTL process as a promising alternative to animal by-products treatment.•Temperature, water content and pH greatly affect HTL yields obtained.•High yields of valuable biocrude are obtained at ...moderate temperatures.•Process water recycling is crucial for the viability of ABP HTL process.
Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of Animal By-Products (ABP) is a promising technology for their recycling and disposal. Different operating parameters have been studied to determine their influence on the process. Higher heating values of biocrudes ranging between 35 and 39 MJ/kg have been obtained showing a maximum yield of 61% at 225 °C. At low HTL temperature, the products are similar to those of rendering process and the biocrude is mainly formed by triglycerides and fatty acids in a 90:10 ratio, approximately. By increasing temperature, the free fatty acid yield increases, as well as amides and heterocyclic compounds as a result of the triglycerides and protein reactions. Between 250 and 290 °C a great difference in the composition of the biocrude obtained is observed. Water content also showed significant effects on the product yields. Large amounts of foams were obtained at low water contents that were minimised when it is increased. This is a very important feature to be considered for scaling up the phase separation process. Glycerine amount in the aqueous phase was remarkable, as a consequence of fat hydrolysis. Increasing pH to 9 increases the extraction of organics into the aqueous phase, whereas operating at pH 5 yields similar amounts of biocrude as compared with neutral pH, with a higher percentage of fatty acids. Reusing of the aqueous phase is necessary for the viability of the process and leads to increasing amounts of dissolved organics in the aqueous phase with the number of cycles, reaching a saturation level after three-four recycling rounds.
The adequate correlation of experimental phase equilibrium data by using any thermodynamic model represents a key point for the rigorous design of the chemical processes. However, this data ...correlation process remains a challenging problem, due to the high nonlinearity of the models used and the consequent problems of convergence. The present work analyzes the nonrandom two‐liquids mode (NRTL) model to check the relation between the values of the binary interaction parameters and the corresponding phase equilibria that the NRTL model can or cannot reproduce. Additionally, in the case of the LLE, empirical equations have been established as a function of the nonrandomness parameter, to model the trajectory of the different miscibility boundaries observed. These functions can be used as constraints in the experimental data correlation procedure to reduce the search space and guarantee the consistency of the obtained binary interaction parameters with the experimental behavior of the system under study.
Recent research has demonstrated that all body fluids assessed contain substantial amounts of vesicles that range in size from 30 to 1000 nm and that are surrounded by phospholipid membranes ...containing different membrane microdomains such as lipid rafts and caveolae. The most prominent representatives of these so-called extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanosized exosomes (70-150 nm), which are derivatives of the endosomal system, and microvesicles (100-1000 nm), which are produced by outward budding of the plasma membrane. Nanosized EVs are released by almost all cell types and mediate targeted intercellular communication under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Containing cell-type-specific signatures, EVs have been proposed as biomarkers in a variety of diseases. Furthermore, according to their physical functions, EVs of selected cell types have been used as therapeutic agents in immune therapy, vaccination trials, regenerative medicine, and drug delivery. Undoubtedly, the rapidly emerging field of basic and applied EV research will significantly influence the biomedicinal landscape in the future. In this Perspective, we, a network of European scientists from clinical, academic, and industry settings collaborating through the H2020 European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program European Network on Microvesicles and Exosomes in Health and Disease (ME-HAD), demonstrate the high potential of nanosized EVs for both diagnostic and therapeutic (i.e., theranostic) areas of nanomedicine.
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•Protein and microRNA (miRNA) cargo data was compared across helminth groups.•EF-hand proteins are present in extracellular vesicles (EVs) from all platyhelminthes.•M13 ...metallopeptidases were common to EVs from all nematodes.•Nematodes shared two miRNA families, while five were found in all trematode EVs.•We discuss the heterogeneity of methods used for helminth EV isolation.
Helminth parasites have a remarkable ability to persist within their mammalian hosts, which is largely due to their secretion of molecules with immunomodulatory properties. Although the soluble components of helminth secretions have been extensively studied, the discovery that helminths release extracellular vesicles (EVs) has added further complexity to the host-parasite interaction. Whilst several studies have begun to characterise the molecules carried by helminth EVs, work aimed at investigating their biological functions has been hindered by a lack of helminth-specific EV markers. To begin to address this, we summarised helminth EV literature to date. With a focus on the protein and microRNA (miRNA) cargo, we aimed to detect similarities and differences across those major groups of helminths for which data are available; namely nematodes, trematodes and cestodes. Pfam analysis revealed that although there is no universal EV marker for all helminth species, the EF-hand protein family was present in all EV datasets from cestodes and trematodes, and could serve as a platyhelminth EV biomarker. In contrast, M13 metallopeptidases and actin may have potential as markers for nematode EVs. As with proteins, many miRNA families appeared to be species-, stage-, or dataset-specific. Two miRNA families were common to nematode EVs (mir-10 and let-7); the miRNA cargo of EVs secreted by clade I species appeared somewhat different from species from other clades. Five miRNA families (mir-71, mir-10, mir-190, let-7 and mir-2) were shared by all trematode species examined. Our analysis has identified novel markers that may be used in studies aimed at characterising helminth EVs and interrogating their function at the host-parasite interface. In addition, we discuss the heterogeneity of methods used for helminth EV isolation and emphasise the need for a standardised approach in reporting on helminth EV data.
The study of host-parasite interactions has increased considerably in the last decades, with many studies focusing on the identification of parasite molecules (i.e. surface or excretory/secretory ...proteins (ESP)) as potential targets for new specific treatments and/or diagnostic tools. In parallel, in the last few years there have been significant advances in the field of extracellular vesicles research. Among these vesicles, exosomes of endocytic origin, with a characteristic size ranging from 30-100 nm, carry several atypical secreted proteins in different organisms, including parasitic protozoa. Here, we present experimental evidence for the existence of exosome-like vesicles in parasitic helminths, specifically the trematodes Echinostoma caproni and Fasciola hepatica. These microvesicles are actively released by the parasites and are taken up by host cells. Trematode extracellular vesicles contain most of the proteins previously identified as components of ESP, as confirmed by proteomic, immunogold labeling and electron microscopy studies. In addition to parasitic proteins, we also identify host proteins in these structures. The existence of extracellular vesicles explains the secretion of atypical proteins in trematodes, and the demonstration of their uptake by host cells suggests an important role for these structures in host-parasite communication, as described for other infectious agents.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are spherical bilayered proteolipids, harboring various bioactive molecules. Due to the complexity of the vesicular nomenclatures and components, online searches for ...EV-related publications and vesicular components are currently challenging.
We present an improved version of EVpedia, a public database for EVs research. This community web portal contains a database of publications and vesicular components, identification of orthologous vesicular components, bioinformatic tools and a personalized function. EVpedia includes 6879 publications, 172 080 vesicular components from 263 high-throughput datasets, and has been accessed more than 65 000 times from more than 750 cities. In addition, about 350 members from 73 international research groups have participated in developing EVpedia. This free web-based database might serve as a useful resource to stimulate the emerging field of EV research.
The web site was implemented in PHP, Java, MySQL and Apache, and is freely available at http://evpedia.info.
•LLE data correlations for type 1 ternary systems can lead to erroneous type 2 behavior.•Inconsistent type 2 parameters are obtained with some frequency in the correlation of type 1 ternary systems ...by using the most popular simulation packages.•The simulation packages should include some strategy to guarantee the type of system.•A mathematical condition has been used to avoid this problem when using the NRTL model.•Some examples are presented to illustrate this problem for some type 1 and island (zero) type ternary systems.
Liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) data correlation of multicomponent mixtures is frequently carried out without using any procedure to ensure that the model parameters obtained for the totally miscible binary mixtures are consistent with such behavior (i.e. they do not lead to two liquid phases in equilibrium). In other words, the behavior of the model beyond the LLE region fitted (experimental tie-lines) is not usually considered in LLE correlations. It seems to be wrongly assumed that the mere absence of tie-lines data in totally miscible regions should guarantee that the parameters resulting from the LLE correlation lead to total miscibility in such homogeneous regions. We have checked that for the correlation of certain type 1 ternary systems (Treybal classification) a high probability exists of obtaining inconsistent model parameters, which lead to type 2 instead type 1 ternary behavior, unless specific restrictions for such parameters are imposed during the correlation. Commercial tools to carry out this type of data fitting, which are frequently included in process simulation packages such as Aspen Plus, do not include the possibility of applying such restrictions and consequently they could provide this type of misleading correlation results with serious consequences in equipment design. In the present paper, LLE data correlation for certain type 1 ternary systems has been carried out using Aspen Plus resulting in inconsistent type 2 results. These same systems have been satisfactorily correlated using our own correlation tools including restrictions to ensure the required miscibility behavior, and thus obtaining consistent parameters. A similar problem could occur in the correlation of the less frequent island (or zero) type ternary systems. Some examples are also presented for such type of systems.
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