Controllable and Reversible Assembly of Nanofiber from Natural Macromolecules via Protonation and Deprotonation.

Nanofiber is the critical building block for many biological systems to perform various functions. Artificial assembly of molecules into nanofibers in a controllable and reversible manner will create "smart" functions to mimic those of their natural analogues and fabricate new functional materials, but remains an open challenge especially for nature macromolecules. Herein, the controllable and reversible assembly of nanofiber (CSNF) from natural macromolecules with oppositely charged groups are successfully realized by protonation and deprotonation of charged groups. By controlling the electrostatic interaction via protonation and deprotonation, the size and morphology of the assembled nanostructures can be precisely controlled. A strong electrostatic interaction contributes to large nanofiber with high strength, while poor electrostatic interaction produces finer nanofiber or nanoparticle. And especially, the assembly, disassembly, and reassembly of the nanofiber occurs reversibly through protonation and deprotonation, thereby paving a new way for precisely controlling the assembly process and structure of nanofiber. The reversible assembly allows the nanostructure to dynamically reorganize in response to subtle perturbation of environment. The as-prepared CSNF is mechanical strong and can be used as a nano building block to fabricate high-strength film, wire, and straw. This study offers many opportunities for the biomimetic synthesis of new functional materials.

Proteomics analysis of enzyme systems and pathway changes during the moromi fermentation of soy sauce mash.

BACKGROUND: During the brewing of soy sauce, the conversion of multiple substances is driven by various microorganisms and their secreted enzyme systems. Soy sauce mash is an important source of enzyme systems during moromi fermentation, but the changes of enzyme systems in soy sauce mash during moromi fermentation are poorly understood. In order to explore the predominant enzyme systems existing during moromi fermentation and to explain the characteristics of the enzyme system changes, an enzymatic activities assay and 4D-label-free proteomics analysis were conducted on soy sauce mash at different stages of fermentation. RESULTS: The activities of hydrolytic enzymes in soy sauce mash decreased continuously throughout the fermentation process, while most of the characteristic physicochemical substances in soy sauce mash supernatant had already accumulated at the early stage of fermentation. Four hydrolytic enzymes were found to be positively correlated with important physicochemical indexes by principal component analysis and Pearson correlation analysis. The proteomics analysis revealed three highly upregulated enzymes and two enzymes that were present in important metabolic pathways throughout the fermentation process. Furthermore, it was found that Aspergillus oryzae was able to accumulate various nutrients in the soy sauce mash by downregulating most of its metabolic pathways. CONCLUSION: Enzymes present with excellent properties during the moromi fermentation period could be obtained from these results. Meanwhile, the characterization of the metabolic pathways of microorganisms during the moromi fermentation period was revealed. The results provide a basis for more scientific and purposeful improvement of moromi fermentation in the future. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

The skeletal safety of milk-derived proteins: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

PURPOSE: There has been a persistent claim that dairy products contain calcium-leaching proteins, although the soundness of such a claim has been challenged. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of milk-derived protein supplementation on bone health indices in adults was performed to reconcile the controversy surrounding the potential skeletal safety concerns of proteins of dairy origin. METHODS: The PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched for relevant RCTs. A random-effects model was used to generate pooled effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Milk-derived protein supplementation did not significantly affect whole-body BMD (n = 7 RCTs) and BMD at the lumbar spine (n = 10), hip (n = 8), femoral neck (n = 9), trochanter (n = 5), intertrochanter (n = 2), and ultradistal radius (n = 2). The concentrations of bone formation markers (bone-specific alkaline phosphatase [n = 11], osteocalcin [n = 6], procollagen type 1 amino-terminal propeptide [n = 5]), bone resorption markers (N-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen [n = 7], C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen [n = 7], deoxypyridinoline [n = 4]), and parathyroid hormone (n = 7) were not significantly affected. However, increased insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) concentrations (n = 13) were observed. Reduced IGF-1 concentrations were observed when soy protein was used as a comparator, and increased IGF-1 concentrations were observed when carbohydrate was used. CONCLUSION: Our findings do not support the claim that proteins of dairy origin are detrimental to bone health.

The Construction of Biologically Relevant Fiber-Reinforced Hydrogel Geometries Using Air-Assisted Dual-Polarity Electrospinning.

Fiber-reinforced hydrogels are a class of soft composite materials that have seen increased use across a wide variety of biomedical applications. However, existing fabrication techniques for these hydrogels are unable to realize biologically relevant macro/mesoscale geometries. To address this limitation, this paper presents a novel air-assisted, dual-polarity electrospinning printhead that converges high-strength electric fields, with low velocity air flow to remove the collector dependency seen with traditional far-field electrospinning setups. The use of this printhead in conjunction with different configurations of deformable collection templates has resulted in the production of three classes of fiber-reinforced hydrogel prototype geometries, viz., (i) tubular geometries with bifurcations and mesoscale texturing; (ii) hollow, nontubular geometries with single and dual-entrances; and (iii) three-dimensional (3D) printed flat geometries with varying fiber density. All three classes of prototype geometries were mechanically characterized to have properties that were in line with those observed in living soft tissues. With the realization of this printhead, biologically relevant macro/mesoscale geometries can be realized using fiber-reinforced hydrogels to aid a wide array of biomedical applications.

Broadband Vibration-Based Energy Harvesting for Wireless Sensor Applications Using Frequency Upconversion.

Silicon-based kinetic energy converters employing variable capacitors, also known as electrostatic vibration energy harvesters, hold promise as power sources for Internet of Things devices. However, for most wireless applications, such as wearable technology or environmental and structural monitoring, the ambient vibration is often at relatively low frequencies (1-100 Hz). Since the power output of electrostatic harvesters is positively correlated to the frequency of capacitance oscillation, typical electrostatic energy harvesters, designed to match the natural frequency of ambient vibrations, do not produce sufficient power output. Moreover, energy conversion is limited to a narrow range of input frequencies. To address these shortcomings, an impacted-based electrostatic energy harvester is explored experimentally. The impact refers to electrode collision and it triggers frequency upconversion, namely a secondary high-frequency free oscillation of the electrodes overlapping with primary device oscillation tuned to input vibration frequency. The main purpose of high-frequency oscillation is to enable additional energy conversion cycles since this will increase the energy output. The devices investigated were fabricated using a commercial microfabrication foundry process and were experimentally studied. These devices exhibit non-uniform cross-section electrodes and a springless mass. The non-uniform width electrodes were used to prevent pull-in following electrode collision. Springless masses from different materials and sizes, such as 0.5 mm diameter Tungsten carbide, 0.8 mm diameter Tungsten carbide, zirconium dioxide, and silicon nitride, were added in an attempt to force collisions over a range of applied frequencies that would not otherwise result in collisions. The results show that the system operates over a relatively wide frequency range (up to 700 Hz frequency range), with the lower limit far below the natural frequency of the device. The addition of the springless mass successfully increased the device bandwidth. For example, at a low peak-to-peak vibration acceleration of 0.5 g (peak-to-peak), the addition of a zirconium dioxide ball doubled the device's bandwidth. Testing with different balls indicates that the different sizes and material properties have different effects on the device's performance, altering its mechanical and electrical damping.

Preparation of Carbon-Based Solid Acid Catalyst from High-Sulfur Petroleum Coke with Nitric Acid and Ball Milling, and a Computational Evaluation of Inherent Sulfur Conversion Pathways.

A series of petroleum coke (petcoke)-derived solid acid catalysts were prepared via nitric acid treatment with or without ball milling pretreatment. The inherent sulfur in petcoke was converted to sulfonic groups, which were active sites for the esterification of octanoic acid and methanol at 60 °C, with ester yields of 14-43%. More specifically, samples without ball milling treated at 120 °C for 3 h had a total acidity of 4.67 mmol/g, which was 1.6 times that of the samples treated at 80 °C, despite their -SO3H acidities being similar (~0.08 mmol/g). The samples treated for 24 h had higher -SO3H (0.10 mmol/g) and total acidity (5.25 mmol/g) but not increased catalytic activity. Ball milling increased the defects and exposed aromatic hydrogen groups on petcoke, which facilitated further acid oxidation (0.12 mmol -SO3H/g for both materials and total acidity of 5.18 mmol/g and 5.01 mmol/g for BP-N-3/120 and BP-N-8/90, respectively) and an increased ester yield. DFT calculations were used to analyze the pathways of sulfonic acid group formation, and the reaction pathway with NO2• was the most thermodynamically and kinetically favourable. The activities of the prepared catalysts were related to the number of -SO3H acid sites, the total acidity, and the oxygen content, with the latter two factors having a negative impact.

Flavor differences of soybean and defatted soybean fermented soy sauce and its correlation with the enzyme profiles of the kojis.

BACKGROUND: Soybeans and defatted soybeans, commonly used as protein ingredients, have different flavors of their fermented soy sauce. Clarifying the differences between the two soy sauces, as well as the formation mechanism, is an important prerequisite for improving the flavor of defatted soybean soy sauce. To this goal, the aroma characteristics of two soy sauces and their volatile profiles were compared by sensory evaluation and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and eight enzyme activities and volatile profiles of matured koji were determined. RESULTS: Sensory results showed that the acids, fruity and cooked potato-like attributes were higher in whole soybean fermented soy sauce, whereas defatted soybean soy sauce exhibited higher smoky and malty attributes, closely related to the contents of aroma-active compounds in soy sauce, such as isobutyl acetate, 2/3-methylbutanal, acetic acid and 2/3-methylbutanoic acid. The content of most volatiles in the matured kojis showed a consistent trend with that of soy sauce: alcohols, acids, furan(one)s and ketones. Interestingly, acid protease and cellulase activities were 3.3 and 1.6 times higher in the whole soybean koji than in defatted soybean koji, respectively, whereas neutral protease, aminopeptidase, glucoamylase and ß-glucosidase were approximately 2.0 times higher in defatted soybean koji. CONCLUSION: In summary, the flavor differences between soybean and defatted soybean fermented soy sauce were not only caused by the differences in the content of flavor precursors in the materials, but also closely related to the differences in the enzymatic profiles accumulated during the koji-making process. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

[Protective effect and mechanism of Maiwei Yangfei Decoction on pulmonary fibrosis mice based on Nrf2 regulation of oxidative stress].

This study explored the effect and mechanism of Maiwei Yangfei Decoction(MWYF) on pulmonary fibrosis(PF) mice. MWYF was prepared, and its main components were detected by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-MS/MS). Male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into a control group, a model group, a pirfenidone(PFD) group, and low-, medium-, and high-dose MWYF groups, with 10 mice in each group. The PF model was induced in mice except for those in the control group by intratracheal instillation of bleomycin(BLM), and model mice were treated with saline or MWYF or PFD by gavage the next day. The water consumption, food intake, hair, and activity of mice were observed daily. The pathological changes in lung tissues were observed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining, Masson staining, and CT scanning. The level of hydroxyproline(HYP) in lung tissues was detected by alkaline hydrolysis. Immunohistochemistry was used to observe the expression of collagen type Ⅲ(COL3) and fibronectin. The mRNA expression levels of α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA), type Ⅰ collagen α1(COL1α1), COL3, and vimentin were detected by reverse transcription real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR). Superoxide dismutase(SOD) and malondialdehyde(MDA) kits were used to detect oxidative stress indicators in lung tissues and serum. The nuclear translocation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2(Nrf2) protein was detected by immunofluorescence. The protein and mRNA expression levels of Nrf2, catalase(CAT), and heme oxygenase 1(HO-1) in lung tissues were detected by Western blot and RT-qPCR. Twelve chemical components were detected by UPLC-MS/MS. Animal experiments showed that MWYF could improve alveolar inflammation, collagen deposition, and fibrosis in PF mice, increase body weight of mice, and down-regulate the expression of fibrosis indexes such as HYP, α-SMA, COL1α1, COL3, fibronectin, and vimentin in lung tissues. In addition, MWYF could potentiate the activity of SOD in lung tissues and serum of PF mice, up-regulate the expression level of Nrf2, and promote its transfer to the nucleus, up-regulate the levels of downstream antioxidant target genes CAT and HO-1, and then reduce the accumulation of lipid metabolite MDA. In summary, MWYF can significantly improve the pathological damage and fibrosis of lung tissues in PF mice, and its mechanism may be related to the activation of the Nrf2 pathway to regulate oxidative stress.

[Regulation of vascular endothelial cell activator expression by tanshinone â ¡_A based on PI3K/Akt signaling pathway].

The present study investigated the regulatory effect of tanshinone Ⅱ_A(TAⅡ_A) on activator expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs) and the effect on the phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3 K)/protein kinase B(Akt) signaling pathway in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome(APS). HUVECs cultured in vitro were divided into a medium group, a blank control group, an APS model group, an APS+LY5 group, an APS+LY10 group, an APS+LY20 group, an APS+TAⅡ_A5 group, an APS+TAⅡ_A10 group, an APS+TAⅡ_A20 group, and an APS+TAⅡ_A10+LY10 group. The effects of LY294002 and TAⅡ_A at different concentrations on the secretion of interleukin-6(IL-6), interleukin-8(IL-8), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1) by HUVECs were investigated. The effects on the mRNA expression of annexin A2(ANXA2), PI3 K, Akt, and E-cadherin(E-cad) were detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qPCR), and Western blot was used to determine the effects on the protein expression of ANXA2, p-PI3 K/PI3 K, p-Akt/Akt, and E-cad. The results revealed that compared with the APS model group, the APS+TAⅡ_A10 group showed statistically reduced IL-6 and MCP-1 and increased IL-8 in a concentration-dependent manner with the increase in TAⅡ_A dose, while the APS+TAⅡ_A10 group showed increased mRNA and protein expression of ANXA2, PI3 K, Akt, and E-cad(P<0.05 or P<0.01) in a concentration-dependent manner with the increase in TAⅡ_A dose. The findings indicated that the serum of APS patients could lead to the decreased mRNA and protein expression levels of ANXA2, PI3 K, Akt, and E-cad in HUVECs, increased secretion of IL-6 and MCP-1, and reduced secretion of IL-8, and activate vascular endothelial cells. In contrast, once the PI3 K/Akt signaling pathway was blocked, the mRNA and protein expression of ANXA2 and E-cad significantly decreased, IL-6 and MCP-1 secretion significantly increased, and IL-8 secretion was significantly reduced. It suggests that TAⅡ_A regulates the activation of vascular endothelial cells in APS patients by activating the PI3 K/Akt signaling pathway.

Reaction of 3-Cl/OMe-Substituted 5-Nitrobenzisothiazoles with Hydrazine: Structural and Computational Evidence for Rearrangement Pathways Implicating Intramolecular Formation of Pivotal Meisenheimer Complexes.

In projected structure-activity relationship studies of the novel diheteroarylamide-based anti-HIV agent 2 (1C8), one objective was to evaluate the influence of incorporating the central amide motif in 2 into a five-membered pyrazolone ring, as found in 3. It was envisaged that compound 3 could be prepared through reaction of 3-hydrazino-5-nitrobenzisothiazole 5 with the methyl ester of 4-chloropyridine-3-carboxylic acid, followed by N-methylation of the pyridine nitrogen. However, the reaction of 3-methoxyl-5-nitrobenzisothiazole with hydrazine resulted in formation of ring-opened hydrazonate product 18. In the corresponding reaction with 3-chloro-5-nitrobenzisothiazole, a different rearrangement product 19 was formed, in which two 2,1-benzisothiazole units are joined by a sulfur bridge. Meisenheimer complex formation, favored by the presence of the 5-nitro substituent on the benzisothiazole ring, was postulated to be a key feature in the formation of these deep-seated rearrangement products. Support for the proposed formation of the pivotal Meisenheimer complexes and their subsequent evolution to the observed products in which the benzisothiazole sulfur atom is either expelled or maintained in the isomeric 2,1-benzisothiazole system was obtained by density function theory calculations.

Comparison of different detection methods for Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children with community-acquired pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Due to the lack of a sensitive, specific and rapid detection method, aetiological diagnosis of pneumonia caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae, MP) is a constantly challenging issue. This retrospective study aimed to compare the diagnostic methods for Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children and evaluate their values. METHODS: From November 2018 to June 2019, 830 children with community-acquired pneumonia were selected from the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shanghai Children's Medical Center. On the first day of hospitalization, sputum, throat swab and venous blood samples were collected to analyse MP-IgM (particle agglutination, PA), MP-IgM (immune colloidal gold technique, GICT), MP-DNA, MP-RNA (simultaneous amplification and testing, SAT) and MP-DNA (real-time polymerase chain reaction, RT-PCR). RESULTS: Among these 830 children, RT-PCR showed that the positive rate was 36.6% (304/830), in which the positive rate of macrolide resistance (A2063G mutation) accounted for 86.2% of cases (262/304). Using RT-PCR as the standard, MP-RNA (SAT) had the highest specificity (97.5%), and MP-IgM (PA) had the highest sensitivity (74.0%) and Youden index (53.7%). If MP-RNA (SAT) was combined with MP-IgM (PA), its Kappa value (0.602), sensitivity (84.2%), specificity (78.7%) and Youden index (62.9%) were higher than those of single M. pneumoniae detection. CONCLUSIONS: Our research indicated that a combination of MP-RNA (SAT) plus MP-IgM (PA) might lead to reliable results as an early diagnostic method for children with clinical manifestations of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia.

Ambient air pollution and homocysteine: Current epidemiological evidence and a call for further research.

Elevated blood homocysteine (Hcy) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. A growing number of studies have evaluated the link between air pollution and blood Hcy levels, but the results are inconsistent. To date, no systematic review of the published studies has been conducted yet. We aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of these studies. We systematically searched three international databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase) and four Chinese databases (Wanfang, CNKI, CBM, and VIP) for peer-reviewed epidemiological studies investigating associations between ambient air pollutants and Hcy levels published before December 2019. We screened literature, extracted data, assessed methodological quality, and evaluated the risk of bias of the included studies. Of 1157 identified articles, 10 were finally included in this systematic review. Most were cross-sectional studies and were performed in developed countries. Particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and/or 10 µm (PM10) were investigated in all of the included studies. Overall, the evidence generally supports a positive association between higher PM concentrations and elevated Hcy levels. However, high heterogeneity in terms of study participants, study design, exposure duration, and particle components and sources, low methodological quality and probable high risk of bias in some studies, and limited literature number precluded us from drawing a robust conclusion. Associations between Hcy and gaseous pollutants were explored in only one or two studies, and the results were inconclusive. Additional, well-designed studies remain required to validate the association between air pollution and Hcy.

Identification of a 4-miRNA signature as a potential prognostic biomarker for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

An microRNA (miRNA) signature to predict the clinical outcome of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is still lacking. In the current study, we aimed at identifying and evaluating a prognostic miRNA signature for patients with PAAD. The miRNA expression profile and the clinical information regarding patients with PAAD were recruited from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Differentially expressed miRNAs were identified between normal and tumor samples. By means of survival analysis, a 4-miRNA signature for predicting patients' with PAAD overall survival (OS) was constructed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was applied to determine the efficiency of survival prediction. Furthermore, the biological function of the predicted miRNAs was evaluated using a bioinformatics approach. Four (hsa-mir-126, hsa-mir-3613, hsa-mir-424, and hsa-mir-4772) out of 17 differentially expressed miRNAs were associated to the OS of patients with PAAD. Moreover, the area under the curve (AUC) of the constructed 4-miRNA signature associated to patients' with PAAD 2-year survival was 0.789. The multivariate Cox's proportional hazards regression model suggested that this 4-miRNA signature was an independent prognostic factor of other clinical parameters in patients with PAAD. Further pathway enrichment analyses revealed that the miRNAs in the 4-miRNA signature might regulate genes that affect focal adhesion, Wnt signaling pathway, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Thus, these findings indicated that the 4-miRNA signature might be an effective independent prognostic biomarker in the prediction of PAAD patients' survival.

Correction to: Cheese consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease: a meta­analysis of prospective studies.

In the original publication, the funding and conflict of interest statements were not correct.

[Marine fish bone collagen oligopeptide combined with calcium aspartate increases bone mineral density in obariectomized rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of marine fish collagen oligopeptide and calcium aspartate alone or in combination on bone mineral density in ovariectomized rats. METHODS: Sixty three-month-old SPF Wistar female rats were randomly divided into 6 groups according to their body weight: sham operation group, model control group(ovariectomy), calcium aspartate group(ovariectomy), marine fish collagen oligopeptide group(ovariectomy), aspartate calcium + marine fish collagen oligopeptide group(ovariectomy) and calcium carbonate control group(ovariectomy), 10 rats in each group. The sham operation group and the model control group were given the same volume of pure water by gavage, and the other groups were intragastrically administered with calcium aspartate(116. 7 mg/kg), marine fish collagen oligopeptide(250 mg/kg), calcium aspartate(116. 7 mg/kg) + marine fish collagen oligopeptide(250 mg/kg), calcium carbonate(35. 6 mg/kg), and the test substance was continuously administered for 90 days. After 90 days, the animals were sacrificed, and the liver and kidney of the rats were taken to calculate the organ coefficient and pathological examination. The rat femurs were taken to measure bone mineral density and bone calcium content and rat serum was used to determine serum calcium, phosphorus concentration and alkaline phosphatase(ALP) activity. RESULTS: Bone mineral density and bone calcium content in the model group were significantly lower than those in the sham operation group(P<0. 05), indicating that the osteoporosis model was successfully established by oophorectomy. There was no significant difference in the organ index of each group(P>0. 05), liver/kidney HE staining microscopic examination showed no abnormal changes, indicating the safety of the test substances. The bone mineral density of the aspartate calcium + marine fish collagen oligopeptide group was significantly greater than that of the model group(P<0. 05). The bone mineral density of the aspartate calcium group and the marine fish collagen oligopeptide group was larger than that of the model group, but there was no significant difference(P>0. 05). Compared with that in the model group, the calcium content of calcium aspartate + marine fish collagen oligopeptide group was significantly higher(P<0. 05). Compared with that in the calcium aspartate group, the calcium content of calcium aspartate + marine fish collagen oligopeptide group was higher(P<0. 05), there was no significant difference in serum calcium concentration between groups(P>0. 05). Compared with that in the model group, serum phosphorus concentration in the aspartate calcium group, marine fish collagen oligopeptide group, aspartate calcium + marine fish collagen oligopeptide group was significantly higher(P<0. 05) and ALP activity was significantly reduced(P<0. 05). CONCLUSION: The combination of calcium aspartate and marine fish collagen oligopeptide has a significant effect on increasing bone mineral density, also indicating that marine fish bone collagen oligopeptide could promote absorption of calcium aspartate.

Poultry and Fish Consumption in Relation to Total Cancer Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies.

Observational studies on the association between fish and poultry intake and the risk of total cancer mortality have been reported with mixed results. Thus, we aimed to assess this association by conducting a meta-analysis of prospective studies. We performed a literature search on PubMed database through February 1, 2017 to identify relative prospective studies. A random-effects model was used to calculate the summary estimates. We identified fourteen prospective studies involving 2,378,204 participants and 96,712 cancer mortality events. Comparing the highest category of consumption with lowest category, pooled relative risk (RR) of total cancer mortality was 0.99 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94-1.05) for fish (10 studies) and 0.96 (95% CI, 0.93-1.00) for poultry (8 studies), respectively. However, we failed to identify any dose-response association based on a limited number of eligible studies, with a pooled RR of 0.98 (95% CI, 0.92-1.05) and 0.97 (95% CI, 0.88-1.07) for each 100 g per day increment in fish and poultry consumption, respectively. In summary, this meta-analysis indicates that consumption of either fish or poultry is not substantially associated with lower risk of total cancer mortality. The observed weak inverse association for high poultry consumption needs to be verified in additional large prospective studies.

[Wogonoside reverses cisplatin resistance in SGC7901/cDDP cells through inhibition of PI3K/Akt/Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway].

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of wogonoside (WGS) on the cisplatin (cDDP) resistance in human gastric carcinoma SGC7901/cDDP cells and its possible mechanism. The drug-resistant SGC7901/cDDP cells were established by stepwise exposure to cDDP. CCK-8 assay was employed to detect the cytotoxic effect of WGS and cDDP on SGC7901/cDDP cells, and the combined effect of WGS and cDDP was analyzed by Chou-Talalay method. Flow cytometry was used to determine the apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) gene was knocked down by using the short hairpin RNA (shRNA) approach. The protein levels of Nrf2, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), glutathione S transferase-π (GST-π), multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1), cleaved Capase-3, p-Akt and Akt were detected by Western blotting. The result showed that after various concentrations of WGS and/or cDDP treatment for 48 h, the cell viability was remarkably reduced in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05). When the inhibition rate exceeded 16%, the combination of WGS and cDDP produced a synergistic effect. The protein levels of p-Akt, Nrf2 and MRP1 in SGC7901/cDDP cells were higher than those in SGC7901 cells (P < 0.05). WGS and LY294002 (PI3K inhibitor) both remarkably decreased the phosphorylation level of Akt (P < 0.05), down-regulated the protein level of Nrf2 (P < 0.05), increased the content of ROS (P < 0.05), up-regulated the protein level of cleaved Caspase-3 (P < 0.05), and induced apoptosis (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) decreased apoptosis and oxidative stress reaction induced by WGS (P < 0.05). WGS and Nrf2 gene silencing both down-regulated the protein levels of NQO1, GST-π and MRP1 (P < 0.05). These results suggest that WGS may reverse cDDP resistance in SGC7901/cDDP cells through blocking the PI3K/Akt/Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway, thus enhancing the cytotoxicity of cDDP and inducing oxidative stress reaction and apoptosis.

Cheese consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis of prospective studies.

PURPOSE: Cheese contains a high content of saturated fatty acids but also lists of potentially beneficial nutrients. How long-term cheese consumption affects the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is unclear. A meta-analysis of prospective observational studies was conducted to evaluate the risks of total CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke associated with cheese consumption. METHODS: Potentially eligible studies were identified by searching PubMed and EMBASE databases and by carefully reviewing the bibliographies of retrieved publications and related reviews. The summary relative risks (RRs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the random-effects model. RESULTS: The final analyses included 15 prospective studies. Most of the studies excluded prevalent CVD at baseline (14/15) and had a duration >10 years (13/15). The summary RR for high vs. low cheese consumption was 0.90 (95 % CI 0.82-0.99) for total CVD (7 studies, 8076 events), 0.86 (95 % CI 0.77-0.96) for CHD (8 studies, 7631 events), and 0.90 (95 % CI 0.84-0.97) for stroke (7 studies, 10,449 events), respectively. The restricted cubic model indicated evidence of nonlinear relationships between cheese consumption and risks of total CVD (P nonlinearity < 0.001) and stroke (P nonlinearity = 0.015), with the largest risk reductions observed at the consumption of approximately 40 g/d. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis of prospective studies suggests a nonlinear inverse association between cheese consumption and risk of CVD.

Regulation of homologous recombinational repair by lamin B1 in radiation-induced DNA damage.

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are the major lethal lesion induced by ionizing radiation (IR). RAD51-dependent homologous recombination (HR) is one of the most important pathways in DSB repair and genome integrity maintenance. However, the mechanism of HR regulation by RAD51 remains unclear. To understand the mechanism of RAD51-dependent HR, we searched for interacting partners of RAD51 by a proteomics analysis and identified lamin B1 in human cells. Lamins are nuclear lamina proteins that play important roles in the structural organization of the nucleus and the regulation of chromosome functions. Immunoblotting analyses revealed that siRNA-mediated lamin B1 depletion repressed the DNA damage-dependent increase of RAD51 after IR. The repression was abolished by the proteasome inhibitor MG132, suggesting that lamin B1 stabilizes RAD51 by preventing proteasome-mediated degradation in cells with IR-induced DNA damage. We also showed that lamin B1 depletion repressed RAD51 focus formation and decreased the survival rates after IR. On the basis of these results, we propose that lamin B1 promotes DSB repair and cell survival by maintaining the RAD51 protein levels for HR upon DSB induction after IR.

Low-Voltage, High-Pitch Computerized Tomography Angiography of the Infrarenal Aorta and Lower Extremity Vessels: Assessment of Radiation Dose, Image Quality With Hybrid Iterative Reconstruction, and Efficacy of Test Injection Using a Monitoring Scan at Knee Level.

OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to assess image quality and radiation dose of low-voltage high-pitch computed tomography angiography of the infrarenal aorta and lower extremities and evaluate the efficacy of test injection technique using a monitoring scan at knee level. METHODS: A total of 60 patients with suspected peripheral arterial disease were divided into 2 groups: group 1 (30 patients, 80 kVp, high pitch [3.2], and hybrid iterative reconstruction [sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction]) and group 2 (30 patients, 120 kVp, low pitch [1.0], and filtered back projection reconstruction). The test injection technique at knee level was used to determine the scan delay time in group 1. The image quality and radiation exposure were compared. RESULTS: There were significant differences between the 2 groups in mean (SD) arterial attenuation (80 vs 120 kVp: 507.78 [103.01] vs 317.54 [62.03] Hounsfield units, P < 0.001), mean (SD) signal-to-noise ratio (51.04 [20.29] vs 34.66 [9.94], P < 0.001), and contrast-to-noise ratio (44.83 [17.93] vs 28.26 [9.60], P < 0.001). No difference in subjective image quality was found between the 2 groups (all P > 0.05). The imaging time was significantly shorter in group 1 (2.70 [0.11] vs 14.65 [0.90s], P < 0.001). The mean (SD) effective dose was significantly lower in the 80 kVp group (0.76 [0.06] vs 4.29 [0.63] mSv, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The 80-kVp high-pitch computed tomography angiography of the lower limbs using sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction yields reduction of radiation exposure as well as obtains acceptable image quality if acquisition protocols are used in conjunction with the test injection technique using monitoring scan at knee level to determine the delay time.