Differences in the metabolic profiles and antioxidant activities of wild and cultivated black soybeans evaluated by correlation analysis.

Wild soybeans are considered a potential resource for soybean domestication and an important source of genetic diversity for soybean crop improvement. Understanding metabolite-caused bioactivity differences between cultivated and wild soybeans is essential for designing a soybean with enhanced nutritional traits. In this study, the non-targeted metabolic profiling of 26 soybean varieties, 15 wild black soybeans (WBS) and 11 cultivated black soybeans (CBS), using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in combination with multivariate analysis revealed significant differences in 25 differential metabolites. Among these, the soyasaponins Ab and Bb were found to be characteristic metabolites expressed more substantially in CBS than in WBS. Three different antioxidant assays and correlation analysis identified major and minor antioxidants that contributed to WBS having an antioxidant activity 4- to 8-fold stronger than that of CBS. Epicatechin, procyanidin B2, and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside were identified by both association analysis and the online LC-ABTS radical scavenging assay as being major antioxidants.

Direct analysis of prostaglandin-E2 and -D2 produced in an inflammatory cell reaction and its application for activity screening and potency evaluation using turbulent flow chromatography liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry.

Direct analysis of prostaglandin-E2 (PGE2) and -D2 (PGD2) produced from a RAW264.7 cell-based reaction was performed by liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), which was online coupled with turbulent flow chromatography (TFC). The capability of this method to accurately measure PG levels in cell reaction medium containing cytokines or proteins as a reaction byproduct was cross-validated by two conventional methods. Two methods, including an LC-HRMS method after liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) of the sample and a commercial PGE2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), showed PGE2 and/or PGD2 levels almost similar to those obtained by TFC LC-HRMS over the reaction time after LPS stimulation. After the cross-validation, significant analytical throughputs, allowing simultaneous screening and potency evaluation of 80 natural products including 60 phytochemicals and 20 natural product extracts for the inhibition of the PGD2 produced in the cell-based inflammatory reaction, were achieved using the TFC LC-HRMS method developed. Among the 60 phytochemicals screened, licochalcone A and formononetin inhibited PGD2 production the most with IC50 values of 126 and 151nM, respectively. For a reference activity, indomethacin and diclofenac were used, measuring IC50 values of 0.64 and 0.21nM, respectively. This method also found a butanol extract of Akebia quinata Decne (AQ) stem as a promising natural product for PGD2 inhibition. Direct and accurate analysis of PGs in the inflammatory cell reaction using the TFC LC-HRMS method developed enables the high-throughput screening and potency evaluation of as many as 320 samples in less than 48h without changing a TFC column.

Left ventricular hypertrophy on long-term cardiovascular outcomes in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) had been associated with increased adverse cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients. Prognostic significance of LVH in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is not established. This study aimed to investigate prognostic impact of LVH on the patients with STEMI. METHODS: We analyzed the data and clinical outcomes of 30-day survivors with STEMI who underwent successful coronary intervention from 2003 to 2009. Definition of LVH was LV mass index (LVMI) >115 g/m(2) in male and >95 g/m(2) in female. Patients were classified into a LVH group and a non-LVH group. Occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; death, recurrent MI, target vessel revascularization (TVR)) within 5 years was evaluated. RESULTS: We enrolled 418 patients and mean follow-up duration was 43 ± 17 months. Two hundred and fourteen patients (51%) had LVH. The survival of the patients with LVH was significantly worse than the patients without LVH (log-rank p = 0.024). In a multivariate regression model, the presence of LVH was independently associated with increased risk for all-cause mortality (OR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.096-5.123, p = 0.028). When the end points were analyzed based on LVH severity, all-cause mortality was significantly correlated with LVH severity (p = 0.011). The severe LVH was independently associated with increased risk for all-cause mortality (OR, 5.110; 95% CI, 1.454-17.9, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: LVH was associated with increased rate of adverse clinical outcomes in 30-day survivors after STEMI, who underwent successful coronary intervention.

Spinophilin participates in information transfer at immunological synapses.

The adaptive immune response is initiated by the presentation of peptides bound to major histocompatibility complex molecules on dendritic cells (DCs) to antigen-specific T lymphocytes at a junction termed the immunological synapse. Although much attention has been paid to cytoplasmic events on the T cell side of the synapse, little is known concerning events on the DC side. We have sought signal transduction components of the neuronal synapse that were also expressed by DCs. One such protein is spinophilin, a scaffolding protein of neuronal dendritic spines that regulates synaptic transmission. In inactive, immature DCs, spinophilin is located throughout the cytoplasm but redistributes to the plasma membrane upon stimulus-induced maturation. In DCs interacting with T cells, spinophilin is polarized dynamically to contact sites in an antigen-dependent manner. It is also required for optimal T cell activation because DCs derived from mice lacking spinophilin exhibit defects in antigen presentation both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, spinophilin may play analogous roles in information transfer at both neuronal and immunological synapses.