Quality Characteristics of Vegan Mayonnaise Produced Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Processed Defatted Soybean Flour.

Emulsifiers, like egg yolk (EY), are necessary for the formation of mayonnaise, which is an oil-in-water type of colloid. This study aimed to assess the potential of defatted soybean powder treated with supercritical carbon dioxide (DSF) to enhance the quality of plant-based mayonnaise as plant-based alternatives gain popularity. This study involved the production of DSF and the comparison of its quality attributes to those of mayonnaise made with varying amounts of control soy flour (CSF), DSF, and EY. It was found that mayonnaise made with an increased quantity of DSF showed better emulsion stability, viscosity, and a smaller, more uniform particle size when compared with CSF mayonnaise. Additionally, DSF mayonnaise was generally rated higher in sensory evaluation. The addition of approximately 2% DSF positively influenced the emulsion and sensory properties of the vegan mayonnaise, indicating that DSF is a promising plant-based alternative emulsifier for the replacement of animal ingredients.

Effect of different vacuum levels for beef brisket during cold storage: A microbiological and physicochemical analysis.

Effect of packaging at different vacuum levels such as 7.2 Pa (99.99% vacuum), 30 kPa (70.39%), 70 kPa (30.91%), and 101.33 kPa (0%, atmospheric condition) using a specially designed airtight container on physicochemical and microbial properties of beef brisket cuts during cold storage was investigated. Dramatic pH increase was found only in air atmospheric packaging. Higher vacuum level yielded higher water holding capacity and lower volatile basic nitrogen (VBN), 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA), and growth rate of aerobic bacteria and coliforms, whereas the fatty acid composition showed no difference among various vacuum levels. The highest vacuum level (7.2 Pa) yielded no increases in VBN, TBA, and coliform and the least increase in aerobe counts. For bacterial communities, higher vacuum levels yielded higher proportions of Leuconostoc, Carnobacterium, and lactobacilli belonging to the phylum Firmicutes and lower proportions of Pseudomonas belonging to the phylum Proteobacteria. Predictive curves for bacterial communities showed that just a little oxygen significantly affects the bacterial dominance based on different oxygen dependence of individual bacteria and their logarithmic changes by vacuum level.

The Liver X Receptor Is Selectively Modulated to Differentially Alter Female Mammary Metastasis-associated Myeloid Cells.

Dysregulation of cholesterol homeostasis is associated with many diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Liver X receptors (LXRs) are major upstream regulators of cholesterol homeostasis and are activated by endogenous cholesterol metabolites such as 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC). LXRs and various LXR ligands such as 27HC have been described to influence several extra-hepatic biological systems. However, disparate reports of LXR function have emerged, especially with respect to immunology and cancer biology. This would suggest that, similar to steroid nuclear receptors, the LXRs can be selectively modulated by different ligands. Here, we use RNA-sequencing of macrophages and single-cell RNA-sequencing of immune cells from metastasis-bearing murine lungs to provide evidence that LXR satisfies the 2 principles of selective nuclear receptor modulation: (1) different LXR ligands result in overlapping but distinct gene expression profiles within the same cell type, and (2) the same LXR ligands differentially regulate gene expression in a highly context-specific manner, depending on the cell or tissue type. The concept that the LXRs can be selectively modulated provides the foundation for developing precision pharmacology LXR ligands that are tailored to promote those activities that are desirable (proimmune), but at the same time minimizing harmful side effects (such as elevated triglyceride levels).

27-Hydroxycholesterol acts on myeloid immune cells to induce T cell dysfunction, promoting breast cancer progression.

Breast cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer mortality in the US. Elevated cholesterol is a major risk factor for breast cancer onset and recurrence, while cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as statins, are associated with a good prognosis. Previous work in murine models showed that cholesterol increases breast cancer metastasis, and the pro-metastatic effects of cholesterol were due to its primary metabolite, 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC). In our prior work, myeloid cells were found to be required for the pro-metastatic effects of 27HC, but their precise contribution remains unclear. Here we report that 27HC impairs T cell expansion and cytotoxic function through its actions on myeloid cells, including macrophages, in a Liver X receptor (LXR) dependent manner. Many oxysterols and LXR ligands had similar effects on T cell expansion. Moreover, their ability to induce the LXR target gene ABCA1 was associated with their effectiveness in impairing T cell expansion. Induction of T cell apoptosis was likely one mediator of this impairment. Interestingly, the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of 27HC, CYP27A1, is highly expressed in myeloid cells, suggesting that 27HC may have important autocrine or paracrine functions in these cells, a hypothesis supported by our finding that breast cancer metastasis was reduced in mice with a myeloid specific knockout of CYP27A1. Importantly, pharmacologic inhibition of CYP27A1 reduced metastatic growth and improved the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor, anti-PD-L1. Taken together, our work suggests that targeting the CYP27A1 axis in myeloid cells may present therapeutic benefits and improve the response rate to immune therapies in breast cancer.