Organic Trace Elements Improve the Eggshell Quality via Eggshell Formation Regulation during the Late Phase of the Laying Cycle.

The quality of eggshells is critical to the egg production industry. The addition of trace elements has been shown to be involved in eggshell formation. Organic trace elements have been found to have higher biological availability than inorganic trace elements. However, the effects of organic trace elements additive doses on eggshell quality during the laying period of commercial laying hens required further investigation. This experiment aims to explore the potential mechanisms of different doses of organic trace elements replacing inorganic elements to remodel the eggshell quality of egg-laying hens during the laying period. A total of 360 healthy hens (Lohmann Pink, 45-week-old) were randomly divided into four treatments, with six replications per treatment and 15 birds per replication. The dietary treatments included a basal diet supplemented with inorganic iron, copper, zinc and manganese at commercial levels (CON), a basal diet supplemented with organic iron, copper, zinc and manganese at 20% commercial levels (LOT), a basal diet supplemented with organic iron, copper, zinc and manganese at 30% commercial levels (MOT), and a basal diet supplemented with organic iron, copper, zinc and manganese at 40% commercial levels (HOT). The trial lasted for 8 weeks. The results of the experiment showed that the replacement of organic trace elements did not significantly affect the production performance of laying hens (p > 0.05). Compared with inorganic trace elements, the MOT and HOT groups improved the structure of the eggshells, enhanced the hardness and thickness of the eggshells, increased the Haugh unit of the eggs, reduced the proportion of the mammillary layer in the eggshell, and increased the proportion of the palisade layer (p < 0.05). In addition, the MOT and HOT groups also increased the enzyme activity related to carbonate transport in the blood, the expression of uterine shell gland-related genes (CA2, OC116, and OCX32), and the calcium and phosphorus content in the eggshells (p < 0.05). We also found that the MOT group effectively reduced element discharge in the feces and enhanced the transportation of iron (p < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation with 30-40% organic micronutrients were able to improve eggshell quality in aged laying hens by modulating the activity of serum carbonate transport-related enzymes and the expression of eggshell deposition-related genes.

Mesoporous nanoperforators as membranolytic agents via nano- and molecular-scale multi-patterning.

Plasma membrane lysis is an effective anticancer strategy, which mostly relying on soluble molecular membranolytic agents. However, nanomaterial-based membranolytic agents has been largely unexplored. Herein, we introduce a mesoporous membranolytic nanoperforators (MLNPs) via a nano- and molecular-scale multi-patterning strategy, featuring a spiky surface topography (nanoscale patterning) and molecular-level periodicity in the spikes with a benzene-bridged organosilica composition (molecular-scale patterning), which cooperatively endow an intrinsic membranolytic activity. Computational modelling reveals a nanospike-mediated multivalent perforation behaviour, i.e., multiple spikes induce nonlinearly enlarged membrane pores compared to a single spike, and that benzene groups aligned parallelly to a phospholipid molecule show considerably higher binding energy than other alignments, underpinning the importance of molecular ordering in phospholipid extraction for membranolysis. Finally, the antitumour activity of MLNPs is demonstrated in female Balb/c mouse models. This work demonstrates assembly of organosilica based bioactive nanostructures, enabling new understandings on nano-/molecular patterns co-governed nano-bio interaction.