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1.
ACS Omega ; 9(20): 22166-22174, 2024 May 21.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38799344

ABSTRACT

Selective surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of target explosives with good reproducibility is very important for monitoring soldiers' health and ecological environment. Here, the specific charge transfer pathway was constructed between a stable nanodiamond-multilayer graphene (MGD) film substrate and the target explosives. Two-step wet chemical oxidation methods of H2O2 (30%) and HNO3 (65%) solutions were used to regulate the terminal structure of MGD films. The experimental results showed that the hydroxyl (-OH) functional groups are successfully modified on the surface of MGD thin films, and the MGD-OH substrates having good selectivity for 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) explosive in mixed solutions of the TATB, 2,2-dinitroethene-1,1-diamine, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine explosives compared with MGD substrates were demonstrated. Finally, first-principles density functional theory simulations revealed that the SERS enhancement of the MGD-OH substrate is mainly attributed to the transferred electrons between the -NO2 groups of TATB and the -OH groups of the MGD-OH substrate.

2.
Orthop Surg ; 2024 May 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38726583

ABSTRACT

The accurate fenestration, screw implantation and assisting stabilizing-plate placement in surgery of benign tumors in the proximal femur needs be defined easily. The aim of this study was to investigate the value of 3D printed multifunctional guides plate (3D-MGP) based on computer aided design. Between January 2020 and June 2022, 17 patients (nine females and eight males) with benign proximal femoral tumor had lesion curettage and allograft combined with internal plate fixation using 3D-MGP. In this study, the patients had CT scans and a technician reconstructed the 3D images of tumor and the femur, a doctor designed the location and margin of the fenestration and screws, and integrated different functions into MGP for benign proximal femoral lesions, which assisted in precise localization, fenestration and screw drilling. Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) scoring was used to evaluate lower extremity function. Bone healing and the screws location was assessed with the radiographs. All patients underwent successful surgery with complete resection of the tumor and internal fixation with using the 3D-MGP. The mean follow-up was 16.4 months. The operative time was 126.47 ± 18.44 min, intraoperative bleeding was 198.23 ± 67.94 mL, intraoperative fluoroscopy was 6.47 ± 0.62, postoperative drainage was 223.82 ± 119.51 mL, and MSTS score was 27.29 ± 1.31 points. There were no unplanned fenestration and improper screw fixation. The 3D-MGP enabled personalized and accurate location of tumor, fenestration, screw placement and assisted stabilizing-plate placement for the treatment of benign tumor of the proximal femur. This technique has the potential to shorten operative times, decrease intraoperative bleeding, and reduce radiation exposure to patients.

3.
Vascular ; : 17085381241254427, 2024 May 13.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38739928

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Blunt thoracic aortic injuries (BTAIs) involving the aortic arch are a challenging condition. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) with fenestration, which expands the proximal landing zone, is able to exclude the injury while preserving blood flow in supra-aortic branches. METHODS: Here we report a case of TEVAR with fenestrations of all supra-aortic branches for traumatic aortic pseudoaneurysm and perform a systematic review. RESULTS: A 24-year-old man suffering a blunt thoracic injury and a left femoral fracture was sent to our hospital. A pseudoaneurysm was found in the aortic arch between the brachiocephalic artery and the left common carotid artery. The patient underwent emergent TEVAR with fenestrations of all supra-aortic branches, which excluded the pseudoaneurysm and preserved the patency of all branches. The orthopedic team then treated the femoral fracture. The patient's recovery was unremarkable. We performed a systematic review on TEVAR with fenestrations for BTAI. Six patients (75%) received TEVAR with single fenestration, 1 patient (12.5%) received TEVAR with two fenestrations, and 1 patient (12.5%) had fenestrations of all supra-aortic branches. Except one patient died in the perioperative, other patients survived without stent-related complications in the short-term follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: TEVAR with fenestration is feasible for treating BTAI involving the aortic arch in selected patients.

5.
Food Chem ; 453: 139581, 2024 May 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38754354

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the impact of ultrasound treatment on dioscorin, the primary storage protein found in yam tubers. Three key factors, namely ultrasound power, duration, and frequency, were focused on. The research revealed that ultrasound-induced cavitation effects disrupted non-covalent bonds, resulting in a reduction in α-helix and ß-sheet contents, decreased thermal stability, and a decrease in the apparent hydrodynamic diameter (Dh) of dioscorin. Additionally, previously hidden amino acid groups within the molecule became exposed on its surface, resulting in increased surface hydrophobicity (Ho) and zeta-potential. Under specific ultrasound conditions (200 W, 25 kHz, 30 min), Dh decreased while Ho increased, facilitating the adsorption of dioscorin molecules onto the oil-water interface. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations showed that at lower frequencies and pressures, the structural flexibility of dioscorin's main chain atoms increased, leading to more significant fluctuations between amino acid residues. This transformation improved dioscorin's emulsifying properties and its oil-water interface affinity.

7.
PLoS One ; 19(5): e0301451, 2024.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38743650

ABSTRACT

As an emerging business modality and Internet format, live streaming e-commerce has developed rapidly since its emergence in 2016, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in late 2019, when an increasing number of businesses from other industries attracted participation. However, with the development of the live streaming e-commerce industry, the industry's market environment is becoming increasingly chaotic. Therefore, during this period, government departments continuously formulate and implement relevant industry policies. In order to exploring the cooperation network structure, policy content distribution, and implementation effectiveness characteristics among publishers, this paper constructs a three-dimensional analysis framework of policy from the perspective of policy tools, policy effectiveness evaluation and policy publishers. The results show that in terms of policy tools, the overall structure of policy tools in the live streaming e-commerce industry is unreasonable, and different types of policy tools are significantly diverse. The proportion of environmental policy tools is greater than that of demand-based and supply-based policy tools, accounting for 62.97%, and among them, the tools related to industry regulation and management account for the largest proportion of the total, which greatly suppresses the enthusiasm of various entities in the industry for development. In terms of policy effectiveness evaluation, most of the policies do not formulate detailed long-, medium-, or short-term goals, nor are the policy priorities, incentive measures, or action modes perfect, indicating that the government's pushing and pulling forces for the live streaming e-commerce industry are insufficient. Finally, in the subject dimension of policy release, the synergy of relevant subjects is constantly improving, but there is also a phenomenon of over-concentration in the synergistic departments.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , China , Humans , COVID-19/epidemiology , Industry , Commerce , SARS-CoV-2 , Internet
8.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38728182

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the arteries, and its pathogenesis is related to endothelial dysfunction. It has been found that the protein convertase subtilin/kexin9 type (PCSK9) plays an important role in AS, but its specific mechanism is still unclear. METHODS: In this study, we first cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with 50 or 100µg/ml oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) for 24 hours to establish a coronary atherosclerosis cell model. RESULTS: The results showed that ox-LDL induced HUVEC injury and autophagy and upregulated PCSK9 protein expression in HUVECs in a concentration-dependent manner. Silencing PCSK9 expression with siRNA inhibited ox-LDL-induced HUVEC endothelial dysfunction, inhibited the release of inflammatory factors, promoted HUVEC proliferation and inhibited apoptosis. In addition, ox-LDL increased the expression of LC3B-I and LC3B-II and decreased the expression of p62. However, these processes are reversed by sh-PCSK9. In addition, sh-PCSK9 can inhibit PI3K, AKT and mTOR phosphorylation and promote autophagy. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our research shows that silencing PCSK9 inhibits the PI3K/ATK/mTOR pathway to activate ox-LDL-induced autophagy in vascular endothelial cells, alleviating endothelial cell injury and inflammation.

9.
Anal Chim Acta ; 1306: 342585, 2024 Jun 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38692786

ABSTRACT

Herein, we developed a convenient and versatile dual-mode electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and photoelectrochemistry (PEC) sensing radar for the detection of Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which has important implications for detection of low-abundance disease-associated proteins. Cerium-based metal-organic framework (Ce-MOFs) were firstly modified on the electrode, showing well ECL and PEC property. In particular, a unique multifunctional Au@CdS quantum dots (QDs) probe loaded numerous QDs and antibody was fabricated, not only displaying strong ECL and PEC signals, but also having specific recognition to PSA. After the signal probe was linked to the electrode by immune reaction, much amplified signals of ECL and PEC were generated for double-mode detection of PSA. Therefore, this work proposed a multifunctional Au@CdS QDs signal probe with excellent ECL and PEC performance, and developed an ultrasensitive photoelectric biosensing platform for dual-mode detection, which provides an effective method for health monitoring of cancer patients.


Subject(s)
Cadmium Compounds , Electrochemical Techniques , Metal-Organic Frameworks , Prostate-Specific Antigen , Quantum Dots , Sulfides , Quantum Dots/chemistry , Cadmium Compounds/chemistry , Sulfides/chemistry , Humans , Prostate-Specific Antigen/analysis , Prostate-Specific Antigen/blood , Metal-Organic Frameworks/chemistry , Gold/chemistry , Cerium/chemistry , Biosensing Techniques , Photochemical Processes , Limit of Detection , Electrodes , Luminescent Measurements
10.
Data Brief ; 54: 110465, 2024 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38711736

ABSTRACT

Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is a gut-derived metabolite formed from dietary choline and l-carnitine, known to impede cholesterol metabolism and is implicated in the pathogenesis of thrombosis and atherosclerosis, contributing to the etiology of cardiovascular diseases. We present a dataset derived from an experimental study designed to elucidate the cardiotoxic effects of TMAO. This dataset encompasses echocardiographic assessments from two cohorts of mice: one subjected to a 6-week regimen of 20 mg/kg/day TMAO injections (n = 16) and a control group (n = 18). Each subject's echocardiographic dataset comprises six high-resolution TIFF images, capturing both B-type and M-mode views in standard echocardiographic planes, along with two additional M-mode images enriched with analysed cardiac functional data. Complementing these images, a CSV-formatted report details critical cardiac parameters, including heart rate, ejection fraction, and fractional shortening, among others. In a novel approach to enhance data integrity and permit tailored analyses, we provide the original output files from the echocardiography apparatus, which researchers can reprocess using dedicated analysis software. This dataset is anticipated to be instrumental in advancing our understanding of the mechanistic links between TMAO exposure and cardiac dysfunction.

11.
Adv Sci (Weinh) ; : e2401664, 2024 May 05.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38704673

ABSTRACT

Deep-blue multi-resonance (MR) emitters with stable and narrow full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) are of great importance for widening the color gamut of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, most planar MR emitters are vulnerable to intermolecular interactions from both the host and guest, causing spectral broadening and exciton quenching in thin films. Their emission in the solid state is environmentally sensitive, and the color purity is often inferior to that in solutions. Herein, a molecular design strategy is presented that simultaneously narrows the FWHM and suppresses intermolecular interactions by combining intramolecular locking and peripheral shielding within a carbonyl/nitrogen-based MR core. Intramolecularly locking carbonyl/nitrogen-based bears narrower emission of 2,10-dimethyl-12,12-diphenyl-4H-benzo[9,1]quinolizino[3,4,5,6,7-defg]acridine-4,8(12H)-dione in solution and further with peripheral-shielding groups, deep-blue emitter (12,12-diphenyl-2,10-bis(9-phenyl-9H-fluoren-9-yl)-4H-benzo[9,1]quinolizino[3,4,5,6,7-defg]acridine-4,8(12H)-dione, DPQAO-F) exhibits ultra-pure emission with narrow FWHM (c.a., 24 nm) with minimal variations (∆FWHM ≤ 3 nm) from solution to thin films over a wide doping range. An OLED based on DPQAO-F presents a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax) of 19.9% and color index of (0.134, 0.118). Furthermore, the hyper-device of DPQAO-F exhibits a record-high EQEmax of 32.7% in the deep-blue region, representing the first example of carbonyl/nitrogen-based OLED that can concurrently achieve narrow bandwidth in the deep-blue region and a high electroluminescent efficiency surpassing 30%.

13.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38785397

ABSTRACT

Patchouli oil has exhibited remarkable efficacy in the treatment of colitis. However, its volatility and potential irritancy are often drawbacks when extensively used in clinical applications. Oil gel is a semisolid and thermoreversible system that has received extensive interest for its solubility enhancement, inhibition of bioactive component recrystallization, and the facilitation of controlled bioactive release. Therefore, we present a strategy to develop an oil gel formulation that addresses this multifaceted problem. Notably, a patchouli oil gel formulation was designed to solidify and trap patchouli oil into a spatially stable crystal-particle structure and colonic released delivery, which has an advantage of the stable structure and viscosity. The patchouli oil gel treatment of zebrafish with colitis improved goblet cells and decreased macrophages. Additionally, patchouli oil gel showed superior advantages for restoring the tissue barrier. Furthermore, our investigative efforts unveiled patchouli oil's influence on TRP channels, providing evidence for its potential role in mechanisms of anti-inflammatory action. While the journey continues, these preliminary revelations provide a robust foundation for considering the adoption of patchouli oil gel as a pragmatic intervention for managing colitis.

14.
Lab Invest ; : 102087, 2024 May 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38797344

ABSTRACT

Addressing the existing gaps in our understanding of sex- and strain-dependent disparities in renal microhemodynamics, this study conducts an investigation into the variations in renal function and related biological oscillators. Utilizing the genetically diverse mouse models BALB/c, C57BL/6, and KM, which serve as established proxies for the study of renal pathophysiology, we implemented laser Doppler flowmetry conjoined with wavelet transform analyses to interrogate the dynamic renal microcirculation. Creatinine, urea, uric acid, glucose, and cystatin C, were quantified to investigate potential divergences attributable to sex and genetic lineage. Our findings reveal marked sexual dimorphism in metabolite concentrations, as well as strain-specific variances, particularly in creatinine and cystatin C levels. Through the combination of Mantel tests and Pearson's correlation coefficients, we delineated the associations between renal functional metrics and microhemodynamics, uncovering interactions in female BALB/c mice for creatinine and uric acid, and in male C57BL/6 mice for cystatin C. Histopathological examination confirmed an augmented microvascular density in females and elucidating variations in the expression of estrogen receptor ß amongst the strains. These data collectively highlight the influence of both sex and genetic constitution on renal microcirculation, providing an understanding that may inform the etiological exploration of renal ailments.

15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38804900

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Substantial evidence indicates that leadership plays a critical role in an organization's success. Our study aims to conduct case studies on leadership attributes among China's five top-performing hospitals, examining their common practices. METHODS: A semi-structured interview was conducted with 8 leaders, 39 managers, 19 doctors, and 16 nurses from the five sample hospitals in China. We collected information from these hospitals on the role of senior leadership, organizational governance, and social responsibility, aligning with the leadership assessment guidelines in the Baldrige Excellence Framework. Qualitative data underwent interpretation through content analysis, thematic analysis, and comparative analysis. This study adhered to the COREQ guidelines for reporting qualitative research. RESULTS: Our study revealed that the leaders of the five top-performing hospitals in China consistently established "Patient Needs First" as the core element of the hospital culture. Striving to build world-renowned hospitals with Chinese characteristics, the interviewees all believed strongly in scientific vigor, professionalism, and cooperative culture. The leaders adhered to a staff-centered approach, placing special emphasis on talent recruitment and development; creating a compensation system; and fostering a supportive environment conducive to enhancing medical knowledge, skills, and professional ethics. In terms of organizational governance, they continuously enhanced the communication between various departments and levels of staff, improved the quality and safety of medical care, and focused on innovative medical and scientific research, thereby establishing evidence-based, standardized hospital management with a feedback loop. Meanwhile, regarding social responsibility, they prioritized improvements in the quality of healthcare by providing international and domestic medical assistance, community outreach, and other programs. CONCLUSION: To a large extent, the excellent leadership of China's top-performing hospitals can be attributed to their commitment to a "Two Pillared Hospital Culture", which prioritizes putting patient needs first and adopting a staff-centered approach. Furthermore, the leaders of these hospitals emphasize hospital performance, operations management, and social responsibility.

16.
Int J Mol Sci ; 25(10)2024 May 07.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38791141

ABSTRACT

B-cell receptor-associated protein 31 (BAP31) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein involved in apoptosis and autophagy by communication with ER and mitochondria. BAP31 is cleaved by caspase-8 and generates a proapoptotic fragment, p20BAP31, which has shown to induce ER stress and apoptosis through multiple pathways. In this study, we found that p20BAP31 significantly increased the agglomeration of LC3 puncta, suggesting the occurrence of autophagy. Therefore, it is meaningful to explore the mechanism of p20BAP31-induced autophagy, and further analyze the relationships among p20BAP31-induced autophagy, ER stress and apoptosis. The data showed that p20BAP31 induced autophagy by inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling in colorectal cells. ER stress inhibitor 4-PBA and PERK siRNA alleviated p20BAP31-induced autophagy; in turn, autophagy inhibitors 3-MA and CQ did not affect p20BAP31-induced ER stress, suggesting that p20BAP31-induced ER stress is the upstream of autophagy. We also discovered that ROS inhibitor NAC inhibited p20BAP31-induced autophagy. Furthermore, inhibition of autophagy by CQ suppressed p20BAP31-induced apoptosis and ameliorated cell proliferation. Importantly, p20BAP31 markedly reduced the tumor size in vivo, and significantly enhanced the autophagy levels in the tumor tissues. Collectively, p20BAP31 initiates autophagy by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling and activating the PERK-mediated ROS accumulation, further promotes p20BAP31-induced apoptosis and ultimately results in cell death. This study comprehensively reveals the potential mechanism of p20BAP31-induced cell death, which may provide new strategies for antitumor therapy.


Subject(s)
Apoptosis , Autophagy , Colorectal Neoplasms , Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress , Signal Transduction , eIF-2 Kinase , Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress/drug effects , Autophagy/drug effects , Colorectal Neoplasms/metabolism , Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology , Colorectal Neoplasms/genetics , Humans , eIF-2 Kinase/metabolism , eIF-2 Kinase/genetics , Animals , Mice , Signal Transduction/drug effects , Apoptosis/drug effects , Cell Line, Tumor , TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism , Mice, Nude , Membrane Proteins/metabolism , Membrane Proteins/genetics
17.
Molecules ; 29(10)2024 May 13.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38792148

ABSTRACT

With the escalating demand for Astragalus polysaccharides products developed from Radix Astragali (RA), the necessity for quality control of polysaccharides in RA has become increasingly urgent. In this study, a specific method for the simultaneous determination of seven monosaccharides in polysaccharides extracted from Radix Astragali (RA) has been developed and validated using ultra-performance liquid chromatography equipped with an ultraviolet detector (UHPLC-UV) for the first time. The 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP) derivatizations were separated on a C18 column (Waters ACQUITYTM, Milfor, MA, USA, 1.8 µm, 2.1 × 100 mm) using gradient elution with a binary system of 5 mm ammonium formate (0.1% formic acid)-acetonitrile for 24 min. Additionally, seven monosaccharides showed good linear relationships (R2, 0.9971-0.9995), adequate precision (RSD < 4.21%), and high recoveries (RSD < 4.70%). The established method was used to analyze 109 batches of RA. Results showed that the Astragalus polysaccharides (APSs) mainly consist of mannose (Man), rhamnose (Rha), glucose (Glu), galactose (Gal), arabinose (Ara), xylose (Xyl); and fucose (Fuc); however, their composition was different among RA samples from different growth patterns, species, growth years, and origins, and the growth mode of RA and the age of wild-simulated RA can be accurately distinguished by principal component analysis (PCA). In addition, the immunological activity of APSs were also evaluated jointly by measurement of the NO release with RAW264.7, with the results showing that APSs have a promoting effect on the release of NO and exhibit a significant correlation with Man, Glu, Xyl, and Fuc contents. Accordingly, the new established monosaccharides analytical method and APS-immune activity determination in this study can provide a reference for quality evaluation and the establishment of quality standards for RA.


Subject(s)
Astragalus propinquus , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Monosaccharides , Polysaccharides , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods , Monosaccharides/analysis , Polysaccharides/chemistry , Polysaccharides/analysis , Astragalus propinquus/chemistry , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/analysis , Mice , Animals , RAW 264.7 Cells , Astragalus Plant/chemistry , Immunologic Factors/analysis , Immunologic Factors/chemistry
18.
Medicine (Baltimore) ; 103(21): e38203, 2024 May 24.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38788018

ABSTRACT

To analyze the correlation between Balthazar CT grading and contrast-enhanced CT necrosis volume and attenuation value and prognosis of patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis. Ninety-two patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis who were treated in the hospital were selected between June 2019 and June 2021, and they were divided into the poor prognosis group and the good prognosis group according to the clinical prognosis at 6 months of follow-up. Balthazar CT, contrast-enhanced CT necrosis volume, and attenuation value were compared between the 2 groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors. Receiver operating characteristic curve was adopted to analyze the predictive value. Among the 92 participants, there were 28 cases with good prognosis (30.43%) and 64 cases with poor prognosis (69.57%). The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, C-reactive protein, urea nitrogen, Balthazar CT, necrotic volume, and average attenuation value of the poor prognosis group were significantly higher than those of the good prognosis group (all P values <.05). The results of the multivariate logistic analysis showed that Balthazar CT grade, necrotic volume, and average attenuation value were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis (all P values <.05). The area under the curve of Balthazar CT grade, necrotic volume, average attenuation value, and the joint detection in predicting the prognosis of patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis were 0.765, 0.624, 0.764, and 0.861, respectively. The Balthazar CT grading, necrosis volume, and average attenuation value are significantly higher among patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis complicated with poor prognosis, and they are also independent risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis, and can help clinically predict the prognosis of patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis, and the combined detection has better application effects.


Subject(s)
Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Humans , Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing/diagnostic imaging , Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing/mortality , Pancreatitis, Acute Necrotizing/pathology , Male , Female , Middle Aged , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods , Prognosis , Adult , Necrosis/diagnostic imaging , ROC Curve , Aged , Severity of Illness Index , Retrospective Studies , Risk Factors , Contrast Media , Predictive Value of Tests
19.
Int J Biol Macromol ; 270(Pt 2): 132497, 2024 May 17.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38763236

ABSTRACT

To alleviate the adverse effects of chemotherapy and bolster immune function, a novel polysaccharide derived from Sargassum fusiforme named as SFP-αII. The structural composition of SFP-αII predominantly consisted of guluronic and mannuronic acids in a molar ratio of 33.8:66.2, with an average molecular weight of 16.5 kDa. Its structure was primarily characterized by →4)-α-GulA-(1 â†’ and →4)-ß-ManA-(1 â†’ linkages confirmed by FT-IR, methylation, and NMR analyses. The absence of a triple-helix structure was in SFP-αII was confirmed using circular dichroism and Congo red dye assays. The dimensions varied with lengths ranging from 20 nm up to 3 µm revealed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). SFP-αII has been found to enhance immunomodulatory activity in cyclophosphamide (CTX)-induced immunosuppressed mice. This was evidenced by improvements in immune organ indices, cytokine levels, and the release of nitric oxide (NO). Specifically, SFP-αII mitigated immunosuppression by upregulating the secretion of IL-1ß (167.3 %) and TNF-α (227.1 %) at a dose of 400 mg/kg, compared with the CTX group in macrophages. Ultimately, SFP-αII may serve as a mechanism for immune enhancement through modulation of TLR4-mediated NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways. This integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, leveraging SFP-αII as a potential functional food could be pivotal in alleviating immunosuppressive side effects in CTX treatment.

20.
Analyst ; 2024 May 20.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38767148

ABSTRACT

The main protease of SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2 Mpro) plays a critical role in the replication and life cycle of the virus. Currently, how to screen SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors from complex traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is the bottleneck for exploring the pharmacodynamic substances of TCM against SARS-CoV-2. In this study, a simple, cost-effective, rapid, and selective fluorescent sensor (TPE-S-TLG sensor) was designed with an AIE (aggregation-induced emission) probe (TPE-Ph-In) and the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro substrate (S-TLG). The TPE-S-TLG sensor was characterized using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), zeta potential, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy techniques. The limit of detection of this method to detect SARS-CoV-2 Mpro was measured to be 5 ng mL-1. Furthermore, the TPE-S-TLG sensor was also successfully applied to screen Mpro inhibitors from Xuebijing injection using the separation and collection of the HPLC-fully automatic partial fraction collector (HPLC-FC). Six active compounds, including protocatechualdehyde, chlorogenic acid, hydroxysafflower yellow A, caffeic acid, isoquercetin, and pentagalloylglucose, were identified using UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS that could achieve 90% of the Mpro inhibition rate for the Xuebijing injection. Accordingly, the strategy can be broadly applied in the detection of disease-related proteases as well as screening active substances from TCM.

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