Influence of germination on the bioactivity, structural, functional and volatile characteristics of different chickpea flours.

In this paper, the objective was to evaluated the impact of germination of chickpea cultivars (Muying1, Y2-514 and YZ-364) on the bioactivity, volatiles and functional properties. The results showed that the Vitamin C content of Muying1, Y2-514 and YZ-364 after germination significantly increased (p < 0.05). Moreover, the germination also caused a significant decrease in lower transition temperatures and enthalpy values in chickpea flours (p < 0.05). After germination treatment, ß-sheet and random coils in protein secondary structures increased and ß-turn decreased in YZ-364; α-helix, ß-sheet and random coil in Y2-514 and Muying1 decreased, while ß-turn increased. The germination significantly enhanced the functional properties of three chickpea flours (p < 0.05). It was proved that the germination significantly enhanced the total phenolic and flavonoids content, antioxidant activity and in vitro protein digestibility. The GC-IMS revealed that the germination could affect the contents of volatile compounds of chickpea flours.

Industrializable and pH-tolerant electropositive imidazolium chloride polymer for high-efficiency removal of perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids from aqueous solution.

In recent years, various materials have been used to adsorb and remove perfluoroalkyl compounds from water. However, most of these materials have limited applications due to their high cost, complex synthesis, inadequate selectivity and sensitivity, and, even worse, the possibility of introducing secondary pollution. Here, under mild conditions, we prepared an inexpensive imidazolium chloride and nitrogen-rich polymer (TAGX-Cl) with a high cationic loading rate and a high yield (>82%). The adsorbent exhibits excellent pH tolerance (pH=1-9) and achieves nearly 99.9% removal of nine perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) within 120 min. Experimental data and theoretical simulations confirmed that synergistic electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonds, and P-π interactions control the adsorptive ability of TAGX-Cl. This work provides a practical strategy for PFCAs removal.

Sulfonic acid functionalized monolithic column for high selectivity capillary electrochromatography separation.

A new nano-scale spherical vinyl-functionalized covalent organic polymer (TAPT-DVA-COP) with uniform sizes around 300 nm was initially constructed using 2,5-divinyl-1,4-benzaldehyde (DVA) and 2,4,6-tris(4-aminophenyl)-1,3,5-triazine (TAPT) as monomers. Then, a sulfonic acid (-SO3H) modified COP termed COP-SO3H was developed based on post-sythesis method employing TAPT-DVA-COP as precursor. Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) monolithic columns were fabricated using the physical doping technique to exhibit the application potential of TAPT-DVA-COP and COP-SO3H. Compared to the TAPT-DVA-COP monolithic column, the COP-SO3H monolithic column achieved a highly selective separation between analytes with different properties, including monosubstituted benzenes, alkylbenzenes, hydroxybenzoates, nucleoside bases, and biogenic amines. Non-covalent interaction (NCI) analysis and experimental data show that the synergism of the sulfonic acid group and aromatic moieties on COP-SO3H endows the new stationary phase with diverse interactions, including ion exchange, hydrophobic, π-π and hydrogen bonding. In addition, the COP-SO3H monolithic column exhibited good reproducibility and excellent potential for the determination of hydroxybenzoates in compact powders and alkylbenzenes in effluent samples.

Response to HIV-1 gp160-carrying recombinant virus HSV-1 and HIV-1 VLP combined vaccine in BALB/c mice.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) induced AIDS causes a large number of infections and deaths worldwide every year, still no vaccines are available to prevent infection. Recombinant herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) vector-based vaccines coding the target proteins of other pathogens have been widely used for disease control. Here, a recombinant virus with HIV-1 gp160 gene integration into the internal reverse (IR) region-deleted HSV-1 vector (HSV-BAC), was obtained by bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) technology, and its immunogenicity investigated in BALB/c mice. The result showed similar replication ability of the HSV-BAC-based recombinant virus and wild type. Furthermore, humoral and cellular immune response showed superiority of intraperitoneal (IP) administration, compared to intranasally (IN), subcutaneous (SC) and intramuscularly (IM), that evidenced by production of significant antibody and T cell responses. More importantly, in a prime-boost combination study murine model, the recombinant viruses prime followed by HIV-1 VLP boost induced stronger and broader immune responses than single virus or protein vaccination in a similar vaccination regimen. Antibody production was sufficient with huge potential for viral clearance, along with efficient T-cell activation, which were evaluated by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and flow cytometry (FC). Overall, these findings expose the value of combining different vaccine vectors and modalities to improve immunogenicity and breadth against different HIV-1 antigens.

Lactate-driven macrophage polarization in the inflammatory microenvironment alleviates intestinal inflammation.

Background: Lactate has long been considered an intermediate by-product of glucose metabolism. However, in recent years, accumulating evidence reveals that lactate has unique biological activities. In previous studies, lactate signaling was shown to inhibit inflammation. Furthermore, in vitro experiments have shown that lactate can promote the transformation of pro-inflammatory macrophages into anti-inflammatory macrophages. However, no in vivo studies have shown whether lactate can alleviate inflammation. Methods: RAW 264.7 macrophages were stimulated by LPS to induce an M1 phenotype, and cultured with low and high concentrations of lactate. The cells were then observed for phenotypic transformations and expression of inflammatory mediators and surface markers. The expression of inflammatory factors was also analyzed in the cell-free supernatant fraction. Further, a mouse model of DSS-induced colitis was established and treated with lactate. Colonic tissue injury was monitored by histopathological examinations. Results: The in vitro experiments showed that lactate promoted the transformation of activated macrophages to M2 phenotype and decreased the expression of TLR4-mediated NF-κB signaling proteins and inflammatory factors. In the DSS-induced colitis mouse model, lactate promoted the phenotypic transformation of macrophages in colonic tissue, reduced inflammation and organ damage, inhibited the activation of TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway, decreased the serum levels of pro-inflammatory factors, increased the expression of anti-inflammatory factors, promoted the repair of the intestinal mucosal barrier and reduced the severity of colitis. Conclusions: Lactate inhibits the TLR/NF-κB signaling pathway and the production of pro-inflammatory factors by promoting polarization of macrophages. In addition, lactate promotesthe repair of the intestinal mucosal barrier and protects intestinal tissue in inflammation. Furthermore, lactate is relatively safe. Therefore, lactate is a promising and effective drug for treating inflammation through immunometabolism regulation.

Self-floating capsule of algicidal bacteria Bacillus sp. HL and its performance in the dissolution of Microcystis aeruginosa.

Algicidal bacteria is considered as an efficient and environmentally friendly approach to suppress Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa). However, algicidal bacteria in natural water is limited during the practical application due to the interference of external factors and the low reuse capability. In this study, a bio-degradation capsule for M. aeruginosa is prepared by bio-compatible sodium alginate (SA) compositing with eco-friendly ethyl cellulose (EC) to improve the property and reuse capability of algicidal bacteria. Bacterial strain HL was well immobilized and the capsule was obtained with 2% of SA, 3% of calcium chloride (CaCl2) and 3% of EC. It has been proved that capsules immobilizing bacteria HL shows considerable advantage over traditional bio-treatment systems (free-living bacteria) and good reusable performance. A better algicidal rate of 77.67% ± 1.14% at 7th day was obtained with the use of capsule embedding 50 mL of algicidal bacteria, enhanced by 11.05% comparing with same amount of free-living bacteria. Moreover, the algicidal rate of M. aeruginosa still reached 68.57% ± 2.88% after three times repetitive use. The effect of capsules on the fluorescence and antioxidant system of M. aeruginosa indicated that the photosystems were irreversibly damaged and the antioxidant response of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) were significantly induced. Overall, capsules prepared in this study can provide a desirable environment for algicidal bacteria HL and ensure algicidal bacteria to in-situ work well in inhibiting booms of algae.

Selective Detection of Nucleotides in Infant Formula Using an N-Rich Covalent Triazine Porous Polymer.

The aromatic structure and the rich nitrogen content of polymers based on covalent triazine-based frameworks (CTF) and their unique hydrophilic-lipophilic-balanced adsorption properties make them promising candidates for an adsorbent that can be used for sample pretreatment. Herein, a new covalent triazine-based framework (CTF-DBF) synthesized by a Friedel−Crafts reaction was used for the determination of the content of nucleotides in commercial infant formula. It was shown that the synthetic materials had an amorphous microporous structure, a BET surface area of up to 595.59 m2/g, and 0.39 nm and 0.54 nm micropores. The versatile adsorption properties of this material were evaluated by quantum chemistry theory calculations and batch adsorption experiments using five nucleotides as probes. The quantum chemistry results demonstrated that CTF-DBF can participate in multiple interactions with nucleotides. All the analyses performed present good linearity with R2 > 0.9993. The detection limits of targets ranged from 0.3 to 0.5 mg/kg, the spiked recoveries were between 85.8 and 105.3% and the relative standard deviations (RSD, n = 6) were between 1.1 and 4.5%. All these results suggest that this versatile CTF-DBF has great potential for sample pretreatment.

Metformin and survival of women with breast cancer: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Metformin has been suggested to confer anticancer efficacy. However, it remains uncertain whether additional use of metformin could improve survival of women with breast cancer. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the influence of metformin on survival outcome in women with breast cancer. METHODS: Relevant RCTs were obtained by search of PubMed, Embase and Cochrane's Library databases from inception to 15 May 2021. A random-effects model incorporating the potential publication bias was used to pool the results. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Five phase II RCTs including 396 non-diabetic women with breast cancer were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled results showed that additional use of metformin was not associated with improved progression-free survival (PFS, hazard ratio [HR]: 1.00, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70 to 1.43, p = 0.98; I2  = 32%) or overall survival (OS, HR: 1.00, 95% CI: 0.71 to 1.39, p = 0.98; I2  = 0%). Sensitivity analysis by excluding one study at a time showed consistent results (HR for PFS: 0.91 to 1.14, p all >0.05; HR for OS: 0.88 to 1.21, P all >0.05). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Current evidence from phase II clinical trials does not support that additional use of metformin could improve the survival outcome in women with breast cancer.

Proteomic and metabolomic analysis of Nicotiana benthamiana under dark stress.

Exposure to extended periods of darkness is a common source of abiotic stress that significantly affects plant growth and development. To understand how Nicotiana benthamiana responds to dark stress, the proteomes and metabolomes of leaves treated with darkness were studied. In total, 5763 proteins and 165 primary metabolites were identified following dark treatment. Additionally, the expression of autophagy-related gene (ATG) proteins was transiently upregulated. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) was utilized to find the protein modules associated with the response to dark stress. A total of four coexpression modules were obtained. The results indicated that heat-shock protein (HSP70), SnRK1-interacting protein 1, 2A phosphatase-associated protein of 46 kDa (Tap46), and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) might play crucial roles in N. benthamiana's response to dark stress. Furthermore, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed and top-degreed proteins were predicted to identify potential key factors in the response to dark stress. These proteins include isopropylmalate isomerase (IPMI), eukaryotic elongation factor 5A (ELF5A), and ribosomal protein 5A (RPS5A). Finally, metabolic analysis suggested that some amino acids and sugars were involved in the dark-responsive pathways. Thus, these results provide a new avenue for understanding the defensive mechanism against dark stress at the protein and metabolic levels in N. benthamiana.

Comparison of I125 seed brachytherapy (radioactive seed brachytherapy) joint three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy and stereotactic ablative radiotherapy on early nonsmall cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study is to compare computed tomography (CT)-based I125 radioactive seed brachytherapy (RSB) joint three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) and stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SBRT) on early nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: The study involved 30 Stage I and II NSCLC patients from March 2014 to June 2017. The patients were divided into two groups: 20 cases with CT-based RSB-3D-CRT (300 cGy × 10) (Group A) and 10 cases with SBRT (8 cGy × 6) (Group B). Their local control rates, 1-year survival rates, and toxic and side effects were compared. RESULTS: The median time of follow-up was 20 months (3-51 months). The 1-year local control rate in Groups A and B was 90% and 80%, respectively (P = 0.70). The 1-year survival rate in Groups A and B was 90% and 90%, respectively (P = 1.00). The indicator of radioactive pneumonia V20 and V30 in Groups A and B was 6.06% and 4.207%, and 11.32% and 7.111%, respectively (P = 0.000024 and 0.00090). CONCLUSION: Compared with SBRT, RSB-3D-CRT was more aggressive on early NSCLC. It remarkably reduced the indicators (V20 and V30) and the incidence of radioactive pneumonia.

Dehydrocostus Lactone Enhances Chemotherapeutic Potential of Doxorubicin in Lung Cancer by Inducing Cell Death and Limiting Metastasis.

BACKGROUND Natural compounds have been utilized in inhibiting metastasis alone or in combination with other anti-tumor agents. Dehydrocostus lactone (DHC), a natural sesquiterpene lactone, was used to investigate its effect on proliferation of lung cancer cells and on the anti-angiogenic efficacy of doxorubicin. MATERIAL AND METHODS Cell proliferation was assessed by MTT assay and clonogenic assay. Apoptosis and migration were assessed by flow cytometry and wound-healing assay, respectively. Western blotting and qPCR were performed for gene and protein expression analysis. Matrigel plug assay was performed for angiogenesis assessment. RESULTS Results of the study show that DHC inhibited the survival and proliferation of lung cancer cells (A549 and H460) and enhanced the growth-inhibitory properties of DOX. Cotreatment of DHC enhanced the apoptosis-inducing effects of DOX by activating caspase-9 and caspase-3 followed by cleavage of PARP. Treatment of A549 and H460 cells with DHC caused suppression of HIF-1α, Akt and pAkt, GSK-3ß and pGSK-3ß, as well as ERK, pERK, mTOR, and p-mTOR. DHC enhanced the effect of DOX by inhibiting migration of A549 cells as observed by wound-healing assay. DHC caused synergistic inhibition of MMP-2 and MMP-9 genes when treated in combination with DOX. DHC further enhanced the anti-angiogenic properties of DOX in mice implanted with Matrigel plugs. DHC suppressed the proliferation of lung cancer cells and enhanced the anti-angiogenic properties of DOX. CONCLUSIONS The putative mechanism behind the metastasis-limiting effects of DHC may involve the suppression of Akt/GSK-3ß and inhibition of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in lung cancer cells.

Expression and immunogenicity of recombinant glycoprotein D of herpes simplex virus 1 in Drosophila S2 cells.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is responsible for cold sores in the general population, but also contributes to the development of other more serious diseases in some circumstances. The viral glycoprotein D (gD) is essential for virus entry into host cells. In the present study, the Drosophila melanogaster Schneider 2 (S2) expression system (DES) was evaluated for the expression of recombinant gD1. The DNA sequences encoding the full-length gD1 (369aa, FLgD1) and a truncated gD1 form corresponding to the ectodomain (314aa, EgD1) were cloned into S2 expression vector pMT/BiP/V5-HisA to generate pMT-EgD1 and pMT-FLgD1, respectively. Two forms of gD1 gene were fitted with a hexahistidine tag to facilitate their purification. Cell populations expressing the highest gD1 levels were selected by using a limiting dilution assay. Western blot, flow cytometry (FACS), and confocal immunofluoresence assay demonstrated that the full-length form is restrained in the lipid membranes of the cell and the ectodomain form is secreted into the medium. Recombinant ectodomain gD1 was scaled up and purified from the culture medium using nickel nitrilotriacetic acid affinity chromatography, and a maximum production level of 56.8 mg/L of recombinant gD1 was obtained in a shake-flask culture of S2 cells after induction with 5 µM CdCl2 for 4 days. Mice were then immunized with recombinant purified gD1 and produced high titers of antibody measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; 1:5,120,000) as well as high plaque neutralization titer (1:320). Overall, the data indicated that stable expression in S2 cells is a practical way of synthesizing gD1 for use in structural and functional studies in the further study.

Meta-analysis of the relationship between common type 2 diabetes risk gene variants with gestational diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: A number of case-control studies were conducted to investigate the association of common type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk gene polymorphisms with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). However, these studies have yielded contradictory results. We therefore performed a meta-analysis to derive a more precise estimation of the association between these polymorphisms and GDM, hence achieve a better understanding to the relationship between T2D and GDM. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, ISI web of science and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were systematically searched to identify relevant studies. Data were abstracted independently by two reviewers. A meta-analysis was performed to examine the association between 9 polymorphisms from 8 genes and susceptibility to GDM. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated. Heterogeneity among articles and their publication bias were also tested. RESULTS: We identified 22 eligible studies including a total of 10,336 GDM cases and 17,445 controls. We found 8 genetic polymorphisms were significantly associated with GDM in a random-effects meta-analysis. These polymorphisms were in or near the following genes: TCF7L2 (rs7903146), MTNR1B (rs10830963), IGF2BP2 (rs4402960), KCNJ11 (rs5219), CDKAL1 (rs7754840), KCNQ1 (rs2237892 and rs2237895) and GCK (rs4607517); while no association was found for PPARG with GDM risk. Similar results were also observed under dominant genetic model for these polymorphisms. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis found 8 genetic variants associated with GDM. The relative contribution and relevance of the identified genes in the pathogenesis of GDM should be the focus of future studies.

New types of the flexible self-assembled metal-organic coordination polymers constructed by aliphatic dicarboxylates and rigid bidentate nitrogen ligands.

The reaction of metal ions, flexible aliphatic dicarboxylates and rigid bidentate linear ligands under mild conditions in water afford four novel metal-organic coordination polymers, [Cd(mu-mal)(mu-pyz)(0.5)(H(2)O)](n) 1 (mal = malonate dianion, pyz = pyrazine), [Cd(2)(mu-suc)(2)(mu-pyz)(H(2)O)(2)](n) 2 (suc = succinate dianion), and ([M(mu-bipy)(H(2)O)4][suc].4H(2)O)(n)(M = Co, 3, M = Zn, 4, bipy = 4,4'-bipyridine). The molecular structures of 1-4 have been established by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. 1 is a 3D network being composed of layers of octahedrally coordinated Cd atoms bridged by malonate anions in syn-anti configurations within the layers and pyz molecules between layers. Unlike that in 1, each Cd atom in 2 displays uncommon pentagonal-bipyramidal geometry to form 2D infinite grid sheets with square grid dimensions of ca. 7.936 x 7.936 [Angstrom]. Both 3 and 4 exhibit 1D linear -M-bipy-M-bipy- chain polymers, and these chains were packed as ...ABCABC... layered structures. The bridging succinate ligands in 2 adopt the syn-anti mode with a torsion angle of 60.8(7) degrees, while the solvated succinate ligands in 3 and 4 adopt the anti-anti mode with a torsion angle of 180.0 degrees. To our knowledge, compound 2 represents the first example of flexible self-assembled succinate-pyrazine mixed bridging ligand coordination network. 3 and 4 are the first two cases of succinate-bipy polymers with non-coordinated succinate. The magnetic behavior for 3 was studied in the temperature range of 5-300 K. The result indicates the occurrence of a weak antiferromagnetic coupling between the cobalt(II) ions.