DTX3L Enhances Type I Interferon Antiviral Response by Promoting the Ubiquitination and Phosphorylation of TBK1.

Studies already revealed that some E3 ubiquitin ligases participated in the immune response after viral infection by regulating the type I interferon (IFN) pathway. Here, we demonstrated that type I interferon signaling enhanced the translocation of ETS1 to the nucleus and the promoter activity of E3 ubiquitin ligase DTX3L (deltex E3 ubiquitin ligase 3L) after virus infection and thus increased the expression of DTX3L. Further experiments suggested that DTX3L ubiquitinated TBK1 at K30 and K401 sites on K63-linked ubiquitination pathway. DTX3L was also necessary for mediating the phosphorylation of TBK1 through binding with the tyrosine kinase SRC: both together enhanced the activation of TBK1. Therefore, DTX3L, being an important positive-feedback regulator of type I interferon, exerted a key role in antiviral response. IMPORTANCE Our present study evaluated DTX3L as an antiviral molecule by promoting IFN production and establishing an IFN-ß-ETS1-DTX3L-TBK1 positive-feedback loop as a novel immunomodulatory step to enhance interferon signaling and inhibit respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Our finding enriches and complements the biological function of DTX3L and provides a new strategy to protect against lung diseases such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia that develop with RSV.

Detection of trace amounts of citrinin in dried orange peel by using an optimized extraction method coupled with ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

A fast and sensitive method involving ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was introduced to detect citrinin in dried orange peel. A series of extraction, purification and chromatographic conditions was also systematically examined. With the proposed method, the obtained calibration graph was linear, with an R of 0.9996 within a concentration range of 0.5-10 ng/mL. The estimated limits of detection and quantification were 0.05 and 0.17 ng/mL, respectively. Under the selected conditions, the relative recoveries in different citrus products spiked with 1-10 ng/mL citrinin were 89.4-98.7% with RSDs of <2.5%. Compared with previously reported analytical methods, the newly developed UPLC-MS/MS method showed excellent sensitivity and good precision in detecting citrinin. The results indicated that it is a reliable and effective technique for the detection of trace citrinin in dried orange peel.

Hedgehog signaling pathway regulates Th17 cell differentiation in asthma via IL-6/STAT3 signaling.

Asthma is the most prevalent chronic inflammatory disease of the airways in children. The most prevalent phenotype of asthma is eosinophilic asthma, which is driven by a Th2 immune response and can be effectively managed by inhaled corticosteroid therapy. However, there are phenotypes of asthma with Th17 immune response that are insensitive to corticosteroid therapy and manifest a more severe phenotype. The treatment of this corticosteroid-insensitive asthma is currently immature and requires further attention. The objective of this study is to elucidate the regulation of the Hedgehog signaling pathway in Th17 cell differentiation in asthma. The study demonstrated that both Smo and Gli3, key components of the Hedgehog signaling pathway, were upregulated in Th17 polarization in vitro and in a Th17-dominant asthma model in vivo. Inhibiting Smo with a small molecule inhibitor or genetically knocking down Gli3 was found to suppress Th17 polarization. Smo was found to increase in Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg polarization, while Gli3 specifically increased in Th17 polarization. ChIP-qPCR analyses indicated that Gli3 can directly interact with IL-6 in T cells, inducing STAT3 phosphorylation and promoting Th17 cell differentiation. Furthermore, the study demonstrated a correlation between elevated Gli3 expression and IL-17A and IL-6 expression in children with asthma. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that the Hedgehog signaling pathway plays an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma, as it regulates the differentiation of Th17 cells through the IL-6/STAT3 signaling. This may provide a potential therapeutic target for corticosteroid-insensitive asthma driven by Th17 cells.

Phosphatidylethanolamine functionalized biomimetic monolith for immobilized artificial membrane chromatography.

In this research, a new phospholipid based monolith was fabricated by in situ co-polymerization of 1-dodecanoyl-2-(11-methacrylamidoundecanoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine and ethylene dimethacrylate to mimick bio-membrane environment. Excellent physicochemical properties of this novel monolith that were achieved included column efficiency, stability, and permeability. Moreover, the biomimetic monolith showed outstanding separation capability for a series of intact proteins and small molecules. In particular, it exhibited good potential as an alternative to the commercial immobilized artificial membrane (IAM) column (IAM.PC.DD2) for studying drug-membrane interactions. This study not only enriched the types of IAM stationary phases, but also provided a simple model for the prediction of phosphatidylethanolamine related properties of drug candidates.

Selective recognization of dicyandiamide in bovine milk by mesoporous silica SBA-15 supported dicyandiamide imprinted polymer based on surface molecularly imprinting technique.

In this work, a highly selective molecular imprinted polymer (SBA-15@MIP) was prepared using dicyandiamide (DCD) as the template molecule and mesoporous silica SBA-15 as the carrier. The resulting polymers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and FT-IR spectra. A highly ordered mesoporous nanostructure was observed for the fabricated polymer. The performance tests showed that the adsorption capacity of SBA-15@MIP for DCD was higher than those of non-imprinted mesoporous silica polymer (SBA-15@NIP) and SBA-15. SBA-15@MIP was successfully used as the solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbent coupled with HPLC for trace DCD determination in bovine milk and milk powder. Under selected conditions, a favorable linearity between 1µg/mL and 100µg/mL was obtained and the detection limit was estimated to be 0.08µg/mL (bovine milk) and 0.10µg/mL (milk powder). These results indicated that SBA-15@MIP could be used as an efficient SPE adsorbent for enrichment of DCD in bovine milk and milk powder.

Biomimetic small peptide functionalized affinity monoliths for monoclonal antibody purification.

The rapid development of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in therapeutic and diagnostic applications has necessitated the advancement of mAbs purification technologies. In this study, a biomimetic small peptide ligand 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid-Arg-Arg-Gly (DAAG) functionalized monolith was fabricated through a metal ion chelation-based multi-step approach. The resulting monolith showed good chromatographic performance. Compared with the Ni2+ based IMAC monolith, the DAAG functionalized monolith exhibited not only excellent specificity but also higher dynamic binding capacity (DBC). The 10% DBC and 50% DBC for hIgG reached as high values as 26.0 and 34.6 mg/mL, respectively, at a ligand density of 8.8 µmol/mL, due to the high porosity and accessibility of the monolithic matrix. Moreover, the stability of the DAAG functionalized monolith in successive breakthrough experiments indicates that it has a promising potential for long-term use in mAbs purification. Finally, the DAAG functionalized monolith was successfully applied to the purification of trastuzumab or human immunoglobulin G (hIgG) from biological samples.

Development of double chain phosphatidylcholine functionalized polymeric monoliths for immobilized artificial membrane chromatography.

This study described a simple synthetic methodology for preparing biomembrane mimicking monolithic column. The suggested approach not only simplifies the preparation procedure but also improves the stability of double chain phosphatidylcholine (PC) functionalized monolithic column. The physicochemical properties of the optimized monolithic column were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, and nano-LC. Satisfactory column permeability, efficiency, stability and reproducibility were obtained on this double chain PC functionalized monolithic column. It is worth noting that the resulting polymeric monolith exhibits great potential as a useful alternative of commercial immobilized artificial membrane (IAM) columns for in vitro predication of drug-membrane interactions. Furthermore, the comparative study of both double chain and single chain PC functionalized monoliths indicates that the presence or absence of glycerol backbone and the number of acyl chains are not decisive for the predictive ability of IAM monoliths on drug-membrane interactions. This novel PC functionalized monolithic column also exhibited good selectivity for a protein mixture and a set of pharmaceutical compounds.

Enantioseparation of N-derivatized amino acids by micro-liquid chromatography/laser induced fluorescence detection using quinidine-based monolithic columns.

A novel carbamoylated quinidine based monolith, namely poly(O-9-[2-(methacryloyloxy)-ethylcarbamoyl]-10,11-dihydroquinidine-co-ethylene dimethacrylate (poly(MQD-co-EDMA)), was prepared for the micro-LC enantioseparation of N-derivatized amino acids. The influence of the mobile phase composition, including the organic modifier proportion, the apparent pH and the buffer concentration, on the enantioresolution of N-derivatized amino acids was systematically investigated. Satisfactory column performance in terms of permeability, efficiency and reproducibility was obtained in most cases. The majority of the enantiomers of the tested N-protected amino acids, including 3,5-DNB, 3,5-DClB, FMOC, 3,5-DMB, p-NB, m-ClB, p-ClB and B derivatives, could be baseline separated on the poly(MQD-co-EDMA) monolithic column within 25min. A self-assembled laser induced fluorescence (LIF) detector was employed to improve sensitivity when analyzing 7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD) derivatives of amino acids. Ten NBD-derivatized amino acids, including arginine and histidine whose enantioseparation on quinidine carbamate based CSPs has not been reported so far, were enantioresolved on the poly(MQD-co-EDMA) monolith column. It is worth noting that the d-enantiomers of NBD-derivatized amino acids eluted first, except in the case of glutamic acid. The LOD values obtained with the LIF detector were comparable to those reported using conventional LC-FL methods. The prepared poly(MQD-co-EDMA) monolithic column coupled with the LIF detector opens up interesting perspectives to the determination of trace D-amino acids in biological samples.

Chiral separation of acidic compounds using an O-9-(tert-butylcarbamoyl)quinidine functionalized monolith in micro-liquid chromatography.

An O-9-(tert-butylcarbamoyl) quinidine (t-BuCQD) functionalized polymeric monolithic capillary column was prepared by the in situ copolymerization method. The physicochemical properties of the optimized monolithic column were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and micro-LC. Satisfactory column permeability, efficiency, stability and reproducibility were obtained for this monolithic column. The chiral recognition ability of the resulting monolith was also evaluated using 47 N-derivatized amino acids, eight N-derivatized dipeptides, and two herbicides. Under the selected conditions, the enantiomers of all chiral analytes were baseline separated with exceptionally high selectivity and resolution using micro-LC. It is worth noting that this chiral stationary phase (CSP) containing quinidine with a tert-butyl carbamate residue as chiral selector exhibits much higher enantioselectivity and diastereoselectivity than the previously developed O-9-[2-(methacryloyloxy)-ethylcarbamoyl]-10,11-dihydroquinidine (MQD) based CSP for N-derivatized amino acids and dipeptides. These results indicate that this novel quinidine-based polymeric monolith can be used as an effective tool for the enantioseparation of chiral acidic compounds.

Separation of N-derivatized di- and tri-peptide stereoisomers by micro-liquid chromatography using a quinidine-based monolithic column - Analysis of l-carnosine in dietary supplements.

In the present study, a new analytical methodology was developed enabling the enantiomeric determination of N-derivatized di- and tri-peptides in dietary supplements using chiral micro-LC on a monolithic column consisting of poly(O-9-[2-(methacryloyloxy)-ethylcarbamoyl]-10,11-dihydroquinidine-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) (poly(MQD-co-HEMA-co-EDMA)). After optimization of the mobile phase conditions, a baseline resolution of the stereoisomers of 24 out of 53 N-derivatized di- and tri-peptides was obtained. 3,5-Dinitrobenzoyl- and 3,5-dichlorobenzoyl-peptide stereoisomers were separated with exceptionally high selectivity and resolution. The monolithic column was then applied to the quantitative analysis of l-carnosine and its enantiomeric impurity in three different commercial dietary supplements. Method validation demonstrated satisfactory results in terms of linearity, precision, selectivity, accuracy and limits of detection and quantification. The determined amounts of l-carnosine in commercial formulations were in agreement with the labeled content for all analyzed samples, and the enantiomeric impurity was found to be below the limit of detection (LOD), showing the potential of the poly(MQD-co-HEMA-co-EDMA) monolithic column as a reliable tool for the quality control of l-carnosine in dietary supplements by micro-LC.

Enantioseparation of N-derivatized amino acids by micro-liquid chromatography using carbamoylated quinidine functionalized monolithic stationary phase.

In order to obtain satisfactory column permeability, efficiency and selectivity for micro-HPLC, a capillary monolithic column containing O-9-[2-(methacryloyloxy)-ethylcarbamoyl]-10,11-dihydroquinidine (MQD) as chiral selector was re-optimized. The monolithic column was used to successfully enantioresolve a wide range of N-derivatized amino acids including alanine, leucine, methionine, threonine, phenylalanine, valine, serine, isoleucine, tryptophan, and cysteine. The influence of mobile phase parameters, such as the organic solvent type and concentration, the apparent pH, and buffer concentration, on retention and enantioseparation of N-derivatized amino acids has been investigated. 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl-amino acids and 3,5-dichlorobenzoyl-amino acids were resolved into enantiomers with exceptionally high selectivity and resolution. The chemoselectivity of the monolithic column for a multicomponent mixture of N-derivatized amino acids was also investigated. A mixture of three pairs of 3,5-dichlorobenzoyl-amino acids could be fully resolved in 22.5 min.