Novel mechanism by which extracellular vesicles derived from Lactobacillus murinus alleviates deoxynivalenol-induced intestinal barrier disruption.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a common environmental pollutant that poses a serious health risk to humans worldwide. This study was aim to explore whether gut microbiota is involved in DON-induced intestinal toxicity as well as to reveal effect of probiotics derived from gut microbiota in protecting intestinal barrier and to elucidate mechanism. We found that DON caused disturbed gut microbiota, particularly Lactobacillus murinus (L. murinus) deficiency. DON enhanced M1 macrophage polarization and decreased tight junction protein expression. Microbiota transplantation experiments showed that transfer of DON-disrupted microbiota to healthy mice resulted in delivery of DON-induced intestinal toxicity. Besides, DON lost its damaging effect on macrophage and intestinal barrier in antibiotic-treated mice. Further intervention experiments revealed that L. murinus induce macrophage conversion from M1 to M2 phenotype through secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs) to alleviate DON-induced intestinal barrier disruption. Mechanistically, EVs activate TLR2 to promote M2 macrophage polarization and release IL-10, which in turn enhances intestinal barrier function. Upon successful translation of its efficacy into clinical practice, EVs created from L. murinus could be a novel possible treatment strategy for DON-induced gut disease.

Antiaging Effects of Urolithin A on Replicative Senescent Human Skin Fibroblasts.

Although the health benefits attributed to urolithin A, such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects, are based on numerous, diverse studies carried out in vitro, the biological effects of urolith A are still not entirely understood. In this study, we explored the biological effects of urolithin A using senescent human skin fibroblasts (HSFs) to determine whether urolithin A has any antiaging potential. Our results showed that urolithin A significantly increased type I collagen expression and reduced matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1) expression. Urolithin A also reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species, which may be partially due to activation of the Nrf2-mediated antioxidative response. These results indicate that urolithin A is a promising antiaging agent. Meanwhile, we noticed that the 50 µM urolithin A could cause changes in cell morphology and inhibition in cell proliferation, which were due to cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase. However, SA-ß-gal (senescence-associated ß-galactosidase) staining and γH2AX immunofluorescence staining showed cellular senescence status of HSFs did not change. Results of DAPI (4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining (no significant change) increased BCL2 gene expression and mitochondrial membrane potential (no significant change) after urolithin A treatment showed that the cells did not undergo apoptosis. These results provided further insights into the molecular mechanism of urolithin A. In conclusion, urolithin A showed a strong potential of antiaging.

Pd-catalysed direct dehydrogenative carboxylation of alkenes: facile synthesis of vinyl esters.

A novel Pd-catalysed oxidative coupling reaction methodology using readily available carboxylic acids and alkenes for the preparation of vinyl esters has been developed. A broad range of vinyl esters were successfully synthesised. The reactions have demonstrated good efficiency as well as excellent chemo- and regio-selectivity.

Comparison of deformation texture in FePd alloy via X-ray diffraction and electron backscatter diffraction techniques.

In this work, textures measured by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and X-ray diffraction in rolled FePd alloys were compared. The effect of scanning size used for EBSD measurements was investigated. The correlation coefficient was first proposed to quantify the similarity of the orientation density profile along the α- and ß-fibers after cold rolling. The correlation coefficient is approximately 1 for a scanning step range of 1-20 µm after 50% and 88% reduction. A large scanning step can capture the main components of the macrotexture in EBSD measurements. Thus, the macrotexture measured by EBSD provides another method for the quality control of texture.