Exercise-promoted adiponectin secretion activates autolysosomes to protect the liver of ApoE-/- mice from a high-fat diet.

Fat is a "double-edged sword": while it is a necessary substance for the body, the long-term intake of excessive fat will cause obesity, with the liver subjected to lipotoxicity as it accumulates. It will then continue to deteriorate, eventually leading to liver failure, which is a negative impact of high-fat food intake. Research has shown that exercise can reverse the side effects of a chronic high-fat diet and help the body to mitigate the harmful effects of lipotoxicity. In our study, it was found that moderate-intensity cardio-training (MICT) and high-intensity interval exercise (HIIT) effectively protected the livers of high-fat diet (HFD) ApoE-/- mice against lipotoxicity. Previous results demonstrated that 12 weeks of HFD resulted in a significant elevation of CD36 in the livers of C57BL/6J mice, while knockdown of CD36 did not reduce the accumulation of fat in the liver. Therefore, we used ApoE-/- mice as experimental subjects. Although HFD caused the development of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis, it is interesting to note that, due to the knockdown of ApoE, the livers of ApoE-/- mice in the non-exercise group did not show significant lipid deposition; however, after 12 weeks of MICT and HIIT, the livers of ApoE-/- mice showed significant lipid deposition. After we analyzed the lipid metabolism in their livers, we found that this was caused by the promotion of transport of peripheral fat into the liver due to exercise. Moreover, 12 weeks of exercise effectively reduced atherosclerosis, and the livers of ApoE-/- mice in the exercise group were not damaged by lipotoxicity. The results showed that a 12-week exercise treatment activated AMPK in the livers of HFD ApoE-/- mice through the APN-AdipoR1 signaling pathway, improved hepatic lipid metabolism disorders, and promoted the nuclear translocation of TFEB to enhance autophagic-lysosomal lipid scavenging. After the peripheral lipid is input into the liver due to exercise, the energy generated through gluconeogenesis can be used to replenish the energy consumed by exercise and maintain the normal operation of various functions in the liver, based on which the high autophagic flux in the liver can be maintained and the lipid clearance rate can be enhanced to protect the liver from lipotoxicity.

High-intensity interval training and medium-intensity continuous training may affect cognitive function through regulation of intestinal microbial composition and its metabolite LPS by the gut-brain axis.

AIMS: The gut-brain axis is the communication mechanism between the gut and the central nervous system, and the intestinal flora and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) play a crucial role in this mechanism. Exercise regulates the gut microbiota composition and metabolite production (i.e., LPS). We aimed to investigate the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on cognitive function in C57BL/6 J mice through gut-brain axis regulation of gut microbiota composition and LPS displacement. MAIN METHODS: C57BL/6 J male mice were randomly divided into sedentary, HIIT, and MICT groups. After 12 weeks of exercise intervention, the cognitive function of the brain and mRNA levels of related inflammatory factors were measured. RNA sequencing, Golgi staining, intestinal microbial 16 s rDNA sequencing, and ELISA were performed. KEY FINDINGS: HIIT and MICT affect brain cognitive function by regulating the gut microbiota composition and its metabolite, LPS, through the gut microbiota-gut-brain axis. HIIT is suspected to have a risk: it can induce "intestinal leakage" by regulating intestinal permeability-related microbiota, resulting in excessive LPS in the blood and brain and activating M1 microglia in the brain, leading to reduced dendritic spine density and affecting cognitive function. SIGNIFICANCE: This study revealed a potential link between changes in the gut microbiota and cognitive function. It highlighted the possible risk of HIIT in reducing dendritic spine density and affecting cognitive function.

A study of the migration behavior of formaldehyde in different concentrations of ethanol in paper food materials.

To ensure the safety of food contact materials, a liquid chromatography method was established to determine the migration of formaldehyde in paper packaging with various food simulants (10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 95% ethanol by volume) and to investigate the migration behavior of formaldehyde after various durations and with various materials. The results showed that the method has good linearity with a correlation coefficient of R2 > 0.9990, a detection limit of 0.0011 ~ 0.0027 mg L-1, and a spiked recovery of 89.7 ~ 103.2% in the range of formaldehyde determination; the migration of formaldehyde in all six paper contact materials showed a trend of gradual increase with time until equilibrium was reached. At the same time and temperature, the migration of formaldehyde in paper packaging was the highest in low-concentration ethanol. With the same food simulants and materials, the maximum migration of formaldehyde in printed materials was greater than that in nonprinted materials; with different materials and the same food simulant, the thickness value was higher, with the use of water-based ink as a printing material, and the maximum migration value of formaldehyde by offset printing technology was low.

Sharp thresholds limit the benefit of defector avoidance in cooperation on networks.

Consider a cooperation game on a spatial network of habitat patches, where players can relocate between patches if they judge the local conditions to be unfavorable. In time, the relocation events may lead to a homogeneous state where all patches harbor the same relative densities of cooperators and defectors, or they may lead to self-organized patterns, where some patches become safe havens that maintain an elevated cooperator density. Here we analyze the transition between these states mathematically. We show that safe havens form once a certain threshold in connectivity is crossed. This threshold can be analytically linked to the structure of the patch network and specifically to certain network motifs. Surprisingly, a forgiving defector avoidance strategy may be most favorable for cooperators. Our results demonstrate that the analysis of cooperation games in ecological metacommunity models is mathematically tractable and has the potential to link topics such as macroecological patterns, behavioral evolution, and network topology.

Modern models of trophic meta-communities.

Dispersal and foodweb dynamics have long been studied in separate models. However, over the past decades, it has become abundantly clear that there are intricate interactions between local dynamics and spatial patterns. Trophic meta-communities, i.e. meta-foodwebs, are very complex systems that exhibit complex and often counterintuitive dynamics. Over the past decade, a broad range of modelling approaches have been used to study these systems. In this paper, we review these approaches and the insights that they have revealed. We focus particularly on recent papers that study trophic interactions in spatially extensive settings and highlight the common themes that emerged in different models. There is overwhelming evidence that dispersal (and particularly intermediate levels of dispersal) benefits the maintenance of biodiversity in several different ways. Moreover, some insights have been gained into the effect of different habitat topologies, but these results also show that the exact relationships are much more complex than previously thought, highlighting the need for further research in this area. This article is part of the theme issue 'Integrative research perspectives on marine conservation'.

Characterization of Guaiene Synthases from Stellera chamaejasme L. Flowers and Their Application in De novo Production of (-)-Rotundone in Yeast.

Four terpene synthases for the biosynthesis of volatile terpenoids were identified from the transcriptome of Stellera chamaejasme L. flowers, including SchTPS1, SchTPS2, SchTPS3, and SchTPS4. Their functions were characterized by synthetic biology approaches in Escherichia coli and in vitro enzymatic assays. SchTPS1, SchTPS2, and SchTPS3 are guaiene synthases, while SchTPS4 is an (E,E)-geranyl linalool synthase. Next, SchTPS1 and α-guaiene 2-oxidase VvSTO2 were co-expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to reconstruct the biosynthetic pathway of (-)-rotundone, which is a unique aroma compound in fruits, vegetables, and wines. This is the first report for the construction of a (-)-rotundone-producing microbial platform.

Focusing on probe-modified peptides: a quick and effective method for target identification.

A new and efficient method focusing on probe-modified peptides was developed to identify the target protein and modification site of a hit compound or a drug. This method exhibited high click conjugation efficiency and few false-positive results. The modification site further facilitated target validation, biological mechanism study and new indications exploration.

Structure-based identification of drug-like inhibitors of p300 histone acetyltransferase.

A growing body of evidence suggests that p300 histone acetyltransferase plays important roles in cancer cell differentiation and proliferation. Here, we employed structure-based hierarchical virtual screening method to identify novel lead compounds of p300 histone acetyltransferase. From a screening library containing approximate 100 000 diverse druglike compounds, 33 compounds were chosen for experimental testing and one compound, 4-acetyl-2-methyl-N-morpholino-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1, 4]thiazine-7-sulfonamide (17), showed as micromolar inhibitor. Based on its predicted binding pose, we investigated its binding characteristics by designing two series of structural modifications. The obtained structure-activity relationship results are consistent with the predicted binding model. We expect that the identified novel p300 histone acetyltransferase inhibitors will serve as starting points for further development of more potent and specific histone acetyltransferase inhibitors.