Effect of Soy Protein Products on Growth and Metabolism of Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus lactis, and Streptomyces clavuligerus.

Microbial nitrogen sources are promising, and soy protein as a plant-based nitrogen source has absolute advantages in creating microbial culture medium in terms of renewability, eco-friendliness, and greater safety. Soy protein is rich in variety due to different extraction technologies and significantly different in the cell growth and metabolism of microorganisms as nitrogen source. Therefore, different soy proteins (soy meal powder, SMP; soy peptone, SP; soy protein concentrate, SPC; soy protein isolate, SPI; and soy protein hydrolysate, SPH) were used as nitrogen sources to culture Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus lactis, and Streptomyces clavuligerus to evaluate the suitable soy nitrogen sources of the above strains. The results showed that B. subtilis had the highest bacteria density in SMP medium; S. lactis had the highest bacteria density in SPI medium; and S. clavuligerus had the highest PMV in SPI medium. Nattokinase activity was the highest in SP medium; the bacteriostatic effect of nisin was the best in SPI medium; and the clavulanic acid concentration was the highest in SMP medium. Based on analyzing the correlation between the nutritional composition and growth metabolism of the strains, the results indicated that the protein content and amino acid composition were the key factors influencing the cell growth and metabolism of the strains. These findings present a new, high-value application opportunity for soybean protein.

An Interpretable Population Graph Network to Identify Rapid Progression of Alzheimer's Disease Using UK Biobank.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) manifests with varying progression rates across individuals, necessitating the understanding of their intricate patterns of cognition decline that could contribute to effective strategies for risk monitoring. In this study, we propose an innovative interpretable population graph network framework for identifying rapid progressors of AD by utilizing patient information from electronic health-related records in the UK Biobank. To achieve this, we first created a patient similarity graph, in which each AD patient is represented as a node; and an edge is established by patient clinical characteristics distance. We used graph neural networks (GNNs) to predict rapid progressors of AD and created a GNN Explainer with SHAP analysis for interpretability. The proposed model demonstrates superior predictive performance over the existing benchmark approaches. We also revealed several clinical features significantly associated with the prediction, which can be used to aid in effective interventions for the progression of AD patients.

Study on the quality of soybean proteins fermented by Bacillus subtilis BSNK-5: Insights into nutritional, functional, safety, and flavor properties.

Microbial fermentation emerges as a promising strategy to elevate the quality of soybean proteins in food industry. This study conducted a comprehensive assessment of the biotransformation of four types of soybean proteins by Bacillus subtilis BSNK-5, a proteinase-rich bacterium. BSNK-5 had good adaptability to each protein. Soluble protein, peptides and free amino acids increased in fermented soybean proteins (FSPs) and dominant after 48-84 h fermentation, enhancing nutritional value. Extensive proteolysis of BSNK-5 also improved antioxidant and antihypertensive activities, reaching peak level after 48 h fermentation. Furthermore, excessive proteolysis effectively enhanced the generation of beneficial spermidine without producing toxic histamine after fermentation, and formed the flavor profile with 56 volatiles in 48 h FSPs. Further degradation of amino acids showed a positive correlation with off-flavors, particularly the enrichment of 3-methylbutanoic acid. These findings establish a theoretical foundation for regulating moderate fermentation by BSNK-5 to enabling the high-value utilization of soybean protein.

Improvement in CO2 Capture of Polyamine with Micro-Interfacial System.

Polyamines have emerged as a promising class of CO2 absorbents due to their remarkable sequestration capacity. However, their potential industrial application as aqueous absorbents is significantly hindered by a low regeneration efficiency and high energy consumption. To address these issues, this study investigates the use of triethylenetetramine (TETA) and ethylene glycol (EG) to develop a nonaqueous absorbent. The incorporation of EG enhances absorption performance and reduces the regeneration energy needed for TETA, whereas the high viscosity of the absorbent impedes absorption rate, amine efficiency, and regeneration efficiency. In order to enhance CO2 capture, micron-sized reaction units (SiO2@TETA-EG) were developed by encapsulating TETA solution with nanosilica. The SiO2@TETA-EG composite exhibits a large specific surface area (99 m2/g), with a porous shell structure and improved fluidity, which effectively counteracts the negative effects caused by high viscosity. Notably, SiO2@TETA-EG indicates a noticeably higher apparent rate constant of 4.29 min-1 at 323.2 K compared to the TETA-EG solution. Furthermore, SiO2@TETA-EG displays a 28.4% boost in regeneration efficiency while maintaining favorable stability in pore size and shape after regeneration.

CeRNA network identified hsa-miR-17-5p, hsa-miR-106a-5p and hsa-miR-2355-5p as potential diagnostic biomarkers for tuberculosis.

This study aims to analyze the regulatory non-coding RNAs in the pathological process of tuberculosis (TB), and identify novel diagnostic biomarkers. A longitudinal study was conducted in 5 newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients, peripheral blood samples were collected before and after anti-TB treatment for 6 months, separately. After whole transcriptome sequencing, the differentially expressed RNAs (DE RNAs) were filtrated with |log2 (fold change) | > log2(1.5) and P value < .05 as screening criteria. Then functional annotation was actualized by gene ontology enrichment analysis, and enrichment pathway analysis was conducted by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database. And finally, the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network was established according to the interaction of ceRNA pairs and miRNA-mRNA pairs. Five young women were recruited and completed this study. Based on the differential expression analysis, a total of 1469 mRNAs, 996 long non-coding RNAs, 468 circular RNAs, and 86 miRNAs were filtrated as DE RNAs. Functional annotation demonstrated that those DE-mRNAs were strongly involved in the cellular process (n = 624), metabolic process (n = 513), single-organism process (n = 505), cell (n = 651), cell part (n = 650), organelle (n = 569), and binding (n = 629). Enrichment pathway analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in HTLV-l infection, T cell receptor signaling pathway, glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis-heparan sulfate/heparin, and Hippo signaling pathway. CeRNA networks revealed that hsa-miR-17-5p, hsa-miR-106a-5p and hsa-miR-2355-5p might be regarded as potential diagnostic biomarkers for TB. Immunomodulation-related genes are differentially expressed in TB patients, and hsa-miR-106a-5p, hsa-miR-17-5p, hsa-miR-2355-5p might serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers.

A functional polymorphism at the miR­491­5p binding site in the 3'­untranslated region of the MMP­9 gene increases the risk of developing ventilator­associated pneumonia.

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)­9 is associated with the severity of ventilator­associated pneumonia (VAP), while an rs1056629 SNP located in the 3'­untranslated region (UTR) of MMP­9 affects the microRNA (miRNA/miR)­491­mediated regulation of MMP­9 expression. In the present study, the effect of rs1056629 on the development of VAP in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was investigated. Patients with COPD were enrolled in the study and their genotypes of rs1056629 (CC, CA or AA) were determined. ELISA was used to analyze the levels of TNF­α and IL­6 in the monocytes of patients with COPD carrying differential genotypes of rs1056629. Reverse transcription­quantitative PCR was carried out to evaluate the expression of miR­491 and MMP­9 mRNA in the different groups of patients with COPD. Luciferase assay was used to confirm the inhibitory role of miR­491 in MMP­9 expression. Western blot analysis was carried out to assess the expression of MMP­9 protein in A549 and H1299 cells transfected with miR­491 mimics. The risk and severity of VAP were significantly elevated in patients with COPD carrying the CC and AC genotypes of rs1056629. Although there was no difference in the expression of miR­491 in patients carrying different genotypes of rs1056629, the expression levels of TNF­α, IL­6 and MMP­9 were increased in patients with COPD carrying the CC and AC genotypes of rs1056629. The results of luciferase assay revealed that miR­491 inhibited the expression of MMP­9 through direct binding to the 3'UTR of MMP­9. Transfection of miR­491 mimics into A549 and H1299 cells markedly suppressed the expression of MMP­9 in a concentration­dependent manner. On the whole, the findings of the present study confirm that the CC and AC genotypes of rs1056629 increase the risk of developing VAP in patients with COPD by increasing the expression of MMP­9.

[Autosomal dominant congenital golden crystal nuclear cataract caused by a missense mutation in gammaD crystallin gene (CRYGD) in a Chinese family].

OBJECTIVE: To identify genetic defects associated with autosomal dominant congenital golden crystal nuclear cataract (ADCC) in a Chinese pedigree of northern China. METHODS: Clinical data were collected and the lens changes of the affected members in this family were recorded by slit lamp photography. Genomic DNA was obtained from blood leucocytes. Linkage analyses was conducted using polymorphisms of 21 microsatellite markers and mutational analyses of candidate genes was studied by direct sequencing. RESULTS: The maximum LOD score (1.505 at recombination fraction theta = 0.00) was obtained at markers D2S1782, D2S1384 and D2S1385 near the gamma-crystallin gene (CRYG) cluster within 2q33 - q35. Sequencing analysis of the coding regions of the CRYGA. B, C, and D genes showed that the there was a heterozygous C-->A transversion at position 109 (R36S) in exon 2 of CRYGD gene, which was co-segregated with the affected members. CONCLUSIONS: R36S mutation in CRYGD gene results in an ADCC phenotype that is different from previous reports. This finding indicates that the presence of phenotypic heterogeneity of cataract, especially in different races. This is the first report of congenital cataract caused by R36S mutation in CRYGD gene.