Functional proteins in breast milk and their correlation with the development of the infant gut microbiota: a study of mother-infant pairs.

Introduction: Proteins in breast milk play an important role in the growth and development of infants. This study aims to explore the correlation between functional proteins in breast milk and the infant gut microbiota. Methods: Twenty-three mothers and their infants were enrolled and breast milk samples and infant fecal samples were collected. Breast milk protein content was determined by UPLC-MS/MS, and 16S rRNA sequencing was employed to analyze the gut microbiota of infant. Results: The results indicated that the secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) content in breast milk was positively correlated with the abundance of Veillonella parvula. The κ-casein content was positively correlated with the abundance of Clostridium butyricum. The osteopontin (OPN) and lactalbumin contents were positively correlated with the abundance of Parabacteroides distasonis at 42 days. Functional pathway analysis showed that the OPN and κ-casein contents in breast milk were significantly correlated with amino acid, pyruvate, propionic acid, linoleic acid, and alpha-linolenic acid metabolic pathways in early life. Discussion: The results of this study suggest that specific proteins in breast milk can influence the abundance of certain gut microbes in infants, playing an important role in early immune and metabolic development.

The Association between Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Male Pattern Hair Loss in Young Men.

We performed this study to investigate the association between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and male pattern hair loss (MPHL) in young men. We conducted this cross-sectional study from January to April 2022 in mainland China. Young people aged 18-45 years (n = 1951) were recruited from 31 provinces in China. We used a self-reported online survey for data collection. We explored the associations between the amount/frequency of SSB consumption and MPHL by using a binary logistic regression model, with adjustments for sociodemographic, hair status, dietary intake, lifestyle, and psychological factors. Among the 1028 participants (27.8 ± 7.2 years) in the final analysis, we found that high SSB consumption is associated with a higher risk of MPHL. We recommend more support to decrease SSB consumption among young people to minimize negative health outcomes.

A magnetic protein biocompass.

The notion that animals can detect the Earth's magnetic field was once ridiculed, but is now well established. Yet the biological nature of such magnetosensing phenomenon remains unknown. Here, we report a putative magnetic receptor (Drosophila CG8198, here named MagR) and a multimeric magnetosensing rod-like protein complex, identified by theoretical postulation and genome-wide screening, and validated with cellular, biochemical, structural and biophysical methods. The magnetosensing complex consists of the identified putative magnetoreceptor and known magnetoreception-related photoreceptor cryptochromes (Cry), has the attributes of both Cry- and iron-based systems, and exhibits spontaneous alignment in magnetic fields, including that of the Earth. Such a protein complex may form the basis of magnetoreception in animals, and may lead to applications across multiple fields.

MicroRNA-373 is upregulated and targets TNFAIP1 in human gastric cancer, contributing to tumorigenesis.

The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating gene expression is currently an area of intense interest. Previous studies have shown that miRNA-372 plays crucial roles in gastric tumorigenesis by targeting the mRNA of tumor necrosis factor, α-induced protein 1 (TNFAIP1). The present study showed that miR-373 is upregulated in gastric adenocarcinoma tissue and gastric carcinoma cell lines when compared to normal gastric tissues. The overexpression of miR-373 in the gastric cancer cells increased cell proliferation. A bioinformatics search revealed a conserved target site within the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of TNFAIP1, an immediate-early response gene of the endothelium induced by TNF-α. The overexpression of miR-373 caused the suppression of a luciferase reporter containing the TNFAIP1 3'UTR in the HEK293 cells and reduced the levels of TNFAIP1 protein in the AGS cells. The mRNA levels of TNFAIP1 in the gastric cancer and normal gastric tissues were negatively correlated with the expression levels of miR-373 in these tissues. Moreover, the knockdown of TNFAIP1 had a similar effect to the overexpression of miR-373. The overexpression of TNFAIP1 may partly rescue the inhibition of proliferation caused by the inhibitor, miR-373-ASO. Taken together, these findings demonstrate an oncogenic role for miR-373, similar to that of miR-372, in controlling cell growth through the downregulation of TNFAIP1.

Caudatin induces cell apoptosis in gastric cancer cells through modulation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling.

Caudatin has been reported to trigger apoptosis in several types of cancer cell lines. In the present study, we investigated whether caudatin has therapeutic value in gastric cancer and examined the effects of caudatin on the expression of ß-catenin in human gastric carcinoma cell lines. Here, we showed that caudatin treatment resulted in a dose- and time­dependent inhibition of proliferation of the gastric carcinoma cell lines. Cell cycle analysis demonstrated that caudatin induced G0/G1 arrest and downregulated CDK2 levels. In contrast, the expression of the p21 protein was increased. AGS cells treated with caudatin exhibited typical characteristics of apoptosis, which were accompanied by activation of caspase­3, ­8, ­9 and PARP. Western blot analysis and immunocytochemical staining showed that caudatin induced a reduction in ß­catenin expression and this reduction was due to proteosome-mediated degradation. This reduction in ß­catenin activation was due to the downregulation of its downstream targets cyclinD1 and c­MYC in all gastric carcinoma cell lines. Furthermore, we demonstrated that gastric adenocarcinoma tissues and AGS cells exhibited abnormal expression of miR­372. Additionally, caudatin downregulated the expression of oncomir miR­372 and miR­21, and upregulated tumor suppressor let­7a miRNA expression. These data revealed that inhibition of Wnt/ß­catenin signaling is a novel mechanism of action for caudatin during therapeutic intervention in gastric cancers.

microRNA-372 maintains oncogene characteristics by targeting TNFAIP1 and affects NFκB signaling in human gastric carcinoma cells.

Aberrant microRNA (miRNA) expression has been investigated in gastric cancer, which is one of the most common malignancies. However, the roles of miRNAs in gastric cancer remain largely unknown. In the present study, we found that microRNA-372 (miR-372) directly targets tumor necrosis factor, α-induced protein 1 (TNFAIP1), and is involved in the regulation of the NFκB signaling pathway. Furthermore, overexpression of TNFAIP1 induced changes in AGS cells similar to those in AGS cells treated with miR-372-ASO. Collectively, these findings demonstrate an oncogenic role for miR-372 in controlling cell growth and apoptosis through downregulation of TNFAIP1. This novel molecular basis provides new insights into the etiology of gastric cancer.