The Fruit Proteome Response to the Ripening Stages in Three Tomato Genotypes.

The tomato is a horticultural crop that appears in various colors as it ripens. Differences in the proteome expression abundance of a tomato depend on its genotype and ripening stage. Thus, this study aimed to confirm the differences in changes in the proteome according to four ripening stages (green, breaker, turning, and mature) of three tomato genotypes, i.e., yellow, black, and red tomatoes, using a gel-based proteomic technique. The number of protein spots shown as two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gels differed according to tomato genotype and ripening stage. A total of 286 variant proteins were determined using matrix-assisted laser desorption-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) analysis, confirming 233 identified protein functions. In three tomato genotypes in each ripening stage, grouping according to the Munich Information Center for Protein Sequences (MIPS) functional categories confirmed the variant proteins involved in the following: energy processes (21%); metabolism (20%); protein fate (15%); protein synthesis (10%); a protein with a binding function or cofactor requirement (8%); cell rescue, defense, and virulence (8%); cellular transport, transport facilitation, and transport routes (6%); the biogenesis of cellular components (5%); cell cycle and DNA processing (2%); others (5%). Among the identified protein spots in the function category, two proteins related to metabolism, four related to energy, four related to protein synthesis, and two related to interaction with the cellular environment showed significantly different changes according to the fruit color by the ripening stage. This study reveals the physiological changes in different types of tomatoes according to their ripening stage and provides information on the proteome for further improvement.

Correlation Among Phenotypic Parameters Related to the Growth and Photosynthesis of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) Grown Under Various Light Intensity Conditions.

The objective of this study was to investigate characteristics of phenotypic parameters such as physiology, yield, and fruit quality responses of strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) to various light intensity conditions (VLICs), and to determine the correlations among these phenotypic parameters. Strawberry plants were cultivated in a smart greenhouse separated into four areas, three of which were completely shaded by curtains from 20:00 until 10:00 (3 hS), 12:00 (5 hS), and 14:00 (7 hS), respectively. The fourth area was a non-shaded control treatment (0 hS). The ambient light intensities during the experimental period for the 0, 3, 5, and 7 hS treatments were 1,285, 1,139, 770, and 364 mol⋅m-2, respectively. Strawberry plants grown under low light intensity conditions experienced decreases in photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and sugar accumulation compared to the 0 hS. Petiole generation and fruit yield were also sharply decreased in proportion to the degree of decrease in light intensity. In contrast, photosynthetic pigment content was shown to increase under low light conditions. Organic acid contents (excluding acetic acid) and leaflet size did not change significantly under low light conditions compared to the 0 hS. Changes to light intensity are considered to induce changes to the phenotypic characteristics of strawberry plants to favor growth using the energy and carbon skeletons obtained through respiration and photosynthesis. In the 7 hS treatment, where light intensity was drastically reduced, NPQ, qP, and R Fd values as chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters were significantly lowered, which could indicate their measurement as an important technique to check the stress response of plants grown in low light conditions.

Effect of Opioids on All-cause Mortality and Opioid Addiction in Total Hip Arthroplasty: a Korea Nationwide Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of opioids before and after total hip arthroplasty (THA), to find out the effect of opioid use on mortality in patients with THA, and to analyze whether preoperative opioid use is a risk factor for sustained opioid use after surgery using Korean nationwide cohort data. METHODS: This retrospective nationwide study identified subjects from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Sample cohort (NHIS-Sample) compiled by the Korean NHIS. The index date (time zero) was defined as 90 days after an admission to a hospital to fulfill the eligibility criteria of the THA. RESULTS: In the comparison of death risk according to current use and the defined daily dose of tramadol and strong opioids in each patient group according to past opioid use, there were no statistically significant differences in the adjusted hazard ratio for death compared to the current non-users in all groups (P > 0.05). Past tramadol and strong opioid use in current users increased the risk of the sustained use of tramadol and strong opioids 1.45-fold (adjusted rate ratio [aRR]; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-1.87; P = 0.004) and 1.65-fold (aRR; 95% CI, 1.43-1.91; P < 0.001), respectively, compared to past non-users. CONCLUSION: In THA patients, the use of opioids within 6 months before surgery and within 3 months after surgery does not affect postoperative mortality, but a past-use history of opioid is a risk factor for sustained opioid use. Even after THA, the use of strong opioids is observed to increase compared to before surgery.

Mitochondrial thioredoxin-responding off-on fluorescent probe.

We synthesized a new probe, Mito-Naph, to visualize mitochondrial thioredoxin (Trx) activity in cells. A fluorescence off-on change is induced by disulfide cleavage of the probe, resulting from a reaction with Trx and subsequent intramolecular cyclization by the released thiolate to give a fluorescent product. By measuring the fluorescence at 540 nm, Trx activity can be detected at nanomolar concentrations (down to 50 nM) well below its physiological levels. The in vitro and in vivo Trx preference of Mito-Naph was demonstrated by fluorometric and confocal microscopic experiments. In vitro kinetic analysis of the disulfide bond cleavage revealed that the second-order rate constant for Trx is (4.04 ± 0.26) × 10(3) (M s)(-1), approximately 5000 times faster than that for GSH. The inhibition experiments involving PX-12, a selective inhibitor of Trx, also revealed that the emission from Mito-Naph significantly decreased in PX-12 dose-dependent manners, both in living cells and in cellular protein extracts. The Trx preference was further supported by an observation that the fluorescence intensity of rat liver extract was decreased according to the Trx depletion by immunoprecipitation. On the basis of these results, it is concluded that Mito-Naph preferentially reacts with Trx, compared with other biological thiols containing amino acids in vitro and in vivo.