Systematic mapping of DNAzymes research from 1995 to 2019.

DNAzymes (catalytic DNA) have gained significant diagnostic and therapeutic applications with increasing research output over the years. Functional oligonucleotides are used as molecular recognition elements within biosensors for detection of analytes and viral infections such as SARS-CoV-2. DNAzymes are also applied for silencing and regulating cancer specific genes. However, there has not been any report on systematic analysis to track research status, reveal hotspots, and map knowledge in this field. Therefore, in the present study, research articles on DNAzymes from 1995 to 2019 were extracted from Web of Science (SCI-Expanded) after which, 1037 articles were imported into Rstudio (version 3.6.2) and analysed accordingly. The highest number of articles was published in 2019 (n = 138), while the least was in 1995 (n = 1). The articles were published across 216 journals by 2344 authors with 2337 multi-author and 7 single authors. The most prolific authors were Li Y (n = 47), Liu J (n = 46), Wang L (n = 33), Willner I (n = 33) and Zhang L (n = 33). The top three most productive countries were China (n = 2018), USA (n = 447) and Canada (n = 251). The most productive institutions were Hunan University, China (n = 141), University of Illinois, USA (n = 139) and Fuzhou University, China (n = 101). Despite the increasing interest in this field, international collaborations between institutions were very low which requires immediate attention to mitigate challenges such as limited funding, access to facilities, and existing knowledge gap.

Synergistic enhancement of rat intestinal alkaline phosphatase activity by taurine and sodium butyrate protects against endotoxin-induced bowel inflammation.

The effect of sodium butyrate (SB) and taurine on rat intestinal alkaline phosphatase (RIA) and the effect of the interaction of taurine and/or SB with bacterial lipopolysaccharides on ALP activity were investigated. In vitro analysis of the activity of RIA was carried out using various concentrations of SB and/or taurine. Substrate concentration-dependent kinetic study was performed at 1-10 mM of taurine and SB at 5.17 mM of p-nitrophenyl phosphate (p-NPP). The in vivo effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the presence and absence of taurine and SB on the activity of RIA was also evaluated. LPS was administered to rats intraperitoneally and 20 min after; this was followed by oral administration of SB and/or taurine. The hydrolysis of p-NPP by RIA was enhanced by taurine and SB at different concentrations. The in vivo kinetic study revealed that RIA activity was greater (588.23 × 10-3  µmol/min/ml) when taurine and SB were co-administered with bacterial LPS, yielding a low Km (0.12 mM) value. This suggested an increased affinity for the substrate by the enzyme. The degree of activation was highest when SB and taurine were administered together with LPS. The study concluded that SB and taurine are activators of RIA and their positive synergistic interaction in the presence of bacterial LPS may further emphasize the role of both activators in attenuating bacterial LPS-mediated diseases. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The development and progression of a myriad of diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, atherosclerosis, sepsis, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis have been linked to bacterial endotoxin. Taurine is an amino acid derived from cysteine, while sodium butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid. Consumption of food and food supplement rich in taurine and sodium butyrate can help protect against endotoxemic injury and aid tissue repair in the small intestine, digestibility, growth, and overall health of animals.

Blood pressure and sugar regulating potentials of Anarcadium occidentale nut globulin and albumin hydrolysates.

Several novel functional peptides have been successfully extracted from plant storage proteins. This study investigated the degree of hydrolysis, peptide yield, amino acid constituents, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), alpha amylase inhibitory and in vitro antioxidant activities of cashew (Anarcardium occidentale) nut proteins (CNP) hydrolysates (CNPHs). Cashew nut proteins (albumin and globulin) were hydrolysed using pancreatin, Alcalase and trypsin. The peptide yield and degree of hydrolysis (DH) of CNP by pancreatin (75.69 ± 0.84%; 37.39 ± 0.31) was significantly higher than those by Alcalase (61.67 ± 0.55%; 23.87 ± 0.23) and trypsin (43.33 ± 0.45%; 11 ± 0.15). The inhibition of ACE by albumin and globulin hydrolysates was concentration dependent. At 1.2 mg/mL, ACE-inhibitory activity of pancreatic cashew nut globulin (CNGH) hydrolysate (51.65 ± 1.2%) was significantly higher than those of Alcalase (34.603 ± 0.65%) and tryptic (29.92 ± 0.73%) CNGHs. Cashew nut albumin hydrolysate (CNAH) demonstrated concentration-dependent alpha-amylase inhibition (IC50 0.17 ± 0.02-0.41 ± 0.021 mg/mL). The order of inhibition was tryptic > Alcalase > pancreatic CNAHs. The pancreatic hydrolysates of both albumin and globulin fractions displayed the highest DPPH antioxidant activity, while pancreatic CNAH was the most potent superoxide anion scavenger. These findings therefore posit that cashew nut globulin and albumin hydrolysates are laden with useful bioactive peptides that may be further explored for regulation of blood pressure and sugar in hypertensive and diabetic in vivo models.