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2.
Brain Res ; : 149051, 2024 Jun 01.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38830564

BACKGROUND: Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PND) is a neurological complication in the perioperative period, which may lead to severe poor prognosis. Dexmedetomidine (Dex) is a commonly used sedative in the perioperative period. However, the effect of intraoperative anesthetic Dex on PND remain complicated and confusing. METHODS: PND model was established using aged male mice, treated with Dex, and subjected to behavioral tests. The effect of Dex on pyroptosis was assessed by western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunofluorescence. In addition, the miRNA expression profile of PND mice was identified by small RNA sequencing and performed PCR to detect miRNAs. Finally, the effect of miRNA on mice neuron pyroptosis was verified in vitro. RESULTS: We found postoperative cognitive was declined in PND mice compared with control group, while preoperative injection of Dex improved short-term working memory and anxious exploration behavior, alleviated the cognitive impairment. Intriguingly, Dex ameliorated hippocampal inflammation and neuron pyroptosis in PND mice as evidenced by the reduced GSDMD, NLRP3, IL-1ß and IL-18. The miRNA expression profile of PND mice hippocampus was disordered, including 5 miRNAs up-regulated and 17 miRNAs down-regulated, compared to the sham group. Dysregulated miRNAs were mainly enriched in biological functions related to neuronal development and signaling pathways related to pyroptosis. MiR-184-3p was the key miRNA, overexpression of miR-184-3p blocked the inhibitory effect of Dex on neuron pyroptosis, which was manifested as increased expression of GSDMD and NLRP3, increased inflammatory factors IL-1ß and IL-18. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that miR-184-3p may mediate NLRP3 to prevent the alleviate effect of Dex on PND, which provides a new potential way to improve the therapeutic intervention of PND.

3.
Future Sci OA ; 10(1): FSO901, 2024.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38827805

Aim: To examine both predictive and clinicopathological importance underlying FOXD1 in malignant tumors, our study adopts meta-analysis. Methods: We searched from PubMed, Embase, WOS, Wanfang and CNKI. Stata SE15.1 was used to calculate the risk ratio (HR) as well as relative risk (RR) with 95% of overall CIs to assess FOXD1 and overall survival rate (OS), disease-free survival rate as well as clinicopathological parameters. Results: 3808 individuals throughout 17 trials showed high FOXD1 expression was linked to disadvantaged OS (p < 0.001) and disease-free survival (p < 0.001) and higher TNM stage (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Elevated FOXD1 had worse predictions and clinicopathological parameters in most cancers. The GEPIA database findings also support our results.


FOXD1 is a gene linked to a variety of cancers. In our article, we analyzed the results of several clinical trials in patients with different cancers. We found that when this gene is expressed in large amounts, it is often indicative of poor survival rates. From this study we can use FOXD1 to predict the course of the disease and at the same time study its upper and lower pathways to find therapeutic drugs to treat the cancer.

4.
Sci Total Environ ; 935: 173438, 2024 Jul 20.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38782270

Seagrass meadows are one of the most important coastal ecosystems that provide essential ecological and economic services. The contamination levels of antibiotic and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in coastal ecosystems are severely elevated owing to anthropogenic disturbances, such as terrestrial input, aquaculture effluent, and sewage discharge. However, few studies have focused on the occurrence and distribution of antibiotics and their corresponding ARGs in this habitat. Thus, we investigated the antibiotic and ARGs profiles, microbial communities, and ARG-carrying host bacteria in typical seagrass meadow sediments collected from Swan Lake, Caofeidian shoal harbor, Qingdao Bay, and Sishili Bay in the Bohai Sea and northern Yellow Sea. The total concentrations of 30 detected antibiotics ranged from 99.35 to 478.02 µg/kg, tetracyclines were more prevalent than other antibiotics. Metagenomic analyses showed that 342 ARG subtypes associated with 22 ARG types were identified in the seagrass meadow sediments. Multidrug resistance genes and RanA were the most dominant ARG types and subtypes, respectively. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that Halioglobus, Zeaxanthinibacter, and Aureitalea may be potential hosts at the genus level, and the relative abundances of these bacteria were higher in Sishili Bay than those in other areas. This study provided important insights into the pollution status of antibiotics and ARGs in typical seagrass meadow sediments. Effective management should be performed to control the potential ecological health risks in seagrass meadow ecosystems.


Anti-Bacterial Agents , Drug Resistance, Microbial , Environmental Monitoring , Geologic Sediments , Metagenomics , Water Pollutants, Chemical , Anti-Bacterial Agents/analysis , Geologic Sediments/microbiology , Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis , Drug Resistance, Microbial/genetics , China , Genes, Bacterial , Bacteria/genetics , Bacteria/classification
5.
Int J Biol Macromol ; 270(Pt 1): 132242, 2024 Jun.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38729487

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF reporter (VEGFR) are essential molecules in VEGF signalling pathway. Although the functions of VEGF and VEGFR have been well reported in vertebrates, their functions are still poorly understood in invertebrates. In this study, the open reading frame sequences of EsVEGF1 and EsVEGFR4 were cloned from Eriocheir sinensis, and their corresponding proteins shared typical structure characteristics with their counterparts in other species. EsVEGF1 were predominantly expressed in hepatopancreas and muscle while EsVEGFR4 mainly expressed in hemocytes and intestine. The expression levels of EsVEGF1 in hemocytes were rapidly induced by Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and it also increased rapidly in hepatopancreas after being challenged with V. parahaemolyticus. The expression levels of EsVEGFR4 only increased in hepatopancreas of crabs injected with S. aureus. The extracellular immunoglobulin domain of EsVEGFR4 could bind with Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria as well as lipopolysaccharide and peptidoglycan. EsVEGF1 could act as the ligand for EsVEGFR4 and Toll-like receptor and regulate the expression of crustins and lysozyme with a tissue-specific manner, while have no regulatory function on that of anti-lipopolysaccharide factors. This study will provide new insights into the immune defense mechanisms mediated by VEGF and VEGFR in crustaceans.


Brachyura , Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A , Animals , Brachyura/metabolism , Brachyura/microbiology , Brachyura/genetics , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/metabolism , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/genetics , Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor/metabolism , Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor/genetics , Antimicrobial Peptides/metabolism , Antimicrobial Peptides/genetics , Antimicrobial Peptides/chemistry , Amino Acid Sequence , Staphylococcus aureus , Gene Expression Regulation , Vibrio parahaemolyticus , Phylogeny , Hepatopancreas/metabolism , Hemocytes/metabolism
7.
Phytochemistry ; 224: 114163, 2024 May 28.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38815883

Stereochemical investigations on the twigs and leaves of Solanum erianthum afforded five pairs of lignanamide enantiomers and a previously undescribed phenolic amide (3). Particularly, two pairs of previously undescribed lignanamide racemates (1a/1b-2a/2b) represent the first case of natural products that feature an unreported 5/5-fused N/O-biheterocyclic core. Their structures, including the absolute configurations, were determined unambiguously by using spectroscopic analyses and electronic circular dichroism calculations. A speculative biogenetic pathway for 1-3 was proposed. Interestingly, these lignanamides exhibited enantioselective antiplasmodial activities against drug-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 strain and chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum Dd2 strain, pointing out that chirality plays an important role in drug development.

8.
Sci Total Environ ; 934: 173277, 2024 Jul 15.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38754510

As an important precursor of secondary inorganic aerosols (SIAs), ammonia (NH3) plays a key role in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) formation. In order to investigate its impacts on haze formation in the North China Plain (NCP) during winter, NH3 concentrations were observed at a high-temporal resolution of 1 min by using the SP-DOAS in Tai'an from December 2021 to February 2022. During the observation period, the average NH3 concentration was 11.84 ± 5.9 ppbv, and it was determined as an ammonia-rich environment during different air quality conditions. Furthermore, the average concentrations of sulfate (SO42-), nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+) were 9.54 ± 5.97 µg/m3, 19.09 ± 14.18 µg/m3 and 10.72 ± 6.53 µg/m3, respectively. Under the nitrate-dominated atmospheric environment, aerosol liquid water content (ALWC) was crucial for NH3 particle transformation during haze aggravation, and the gas-particle partitioning of ammonia played an important role in the SIAs formation. The reconstruction of the molecular composition further indicated that ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) plays a dominant role in the increase of PM2.5 during haze events. Consequently, future efforts to mitigate fine particulate pollution in this region should focus on controlling NH4NO3 levels. In ammonia-rich environments, NO3- formation is more dependent on the concentration of nitric acid (HNO3). The sensitive analysis of TNO3 (HNO3 + NO3-) and NHX (NH3 + NH4+) reduction using the thermodynamic model suggested that the NO3- concentration decreases linearly with the reduction of TNO3. And the concentration of NO3- decreases rapidly only when NHX is reduced by 50-60 %. Reducing NOX emissions is the most effective way to alleviate nitrate pollution in this region.

9.
Front Plant Sci ; 15: 1331698, 2024.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38756963

Wax gourd wilt is a devastating fungal disease caused by a specialized form of Fusarium oxysporum Schl. f. sp. benincasae (FOB), which severely restricts the development of the wax gourd industry. Resistant rootstock pumpkin grafting is often used to prevent and control wax gourd wilt. The "Haizhan 1" pumpkin has the characteristic of high resistance to wilt, but the mechanism through which grafted pumpkin rootstock plants acquire resistance to wax gourd wilt is still poorly understood. In this study, grafted wax gourd (GW) and self-grafted wax gourd (SW) were cultured at three concentrations [2.8 × 106 Colony Forming Units (CFU)·g-1, 8.0 × 105 CFU·g-1, and 4.0 × 105 CFU·g-1, expressed by H, M, and L]. Three culture times (6 dpi, 10 dpi, and 13 dpi) were used to observe the incidence of wilt disease in the wax gourd and the number of F. oxysporum spores in different parts of the soil and plants. Moreover, the physiological indices of the roots of plants at 5 dpi, 9 dpi, and 12 dpi in soil supplemented with M (8.0 × 105 CFU·g-1) were determined. No wilt symptoms in GW. Wilt symptoms in SW were exacerbated by the amount of FOB in the inoculated soil and culture time. At any culture time, the amount of FOB in the GW soil under the three treatments was greater than that in the roots. However, for the SW treatments, at 10 dpi and 13 dpi, the amount of FOB in the soil was lower than that in the roots. The total phenol (TP) and lignin (LIG) contents and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and chitinase (CHI) activities were significantly increased in the GWM roots. The activities of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and peroxidase (POD) initially decreased but then increased in the GWM roots. When the TP content decreased significantly, the LIG content and PAL and CHI activities increased initially but then decreased, whereas the PPO and POD activities did not change significantly in the SWM roots. The results indicated that the roots of the "Haizhan 1" pumpkin stock plants initiated a self-defense response after being infected with FOB, and the activities of PPO, POD, PAL, and CHI increased, and additional LIG and TP accumulated, which could effectively prevent FOB infection.

11.
Micromachines (Basel) ; 15(5)2024 Apr 30.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38793184

In this paper, high-temperature storage of hydrogen-treated AlGaN/GaN HEMTs is conducted for the first time to study the effect of high temperature on the electrical characteristics of the devices after hydrogen treatment, and it is found that high-temperature storage can effectively reduce the impact of hydrogen on the devices. After hydrogen treatment, the output current and the maximum transconductance of the device increase, and the threshold voltage drifts negatively. However, after high-temperature treatment at 200 °C for 24 h, the output current, threshold voltage, and the maximum transconductance of the device all approach their initial values before hydrogen treatment. By using low-frequency noise analysis technology, the trap density of the hydrogen-treated AlGaN/GaN HEMT is determined to be 8.9 × 1023 cm-3·eV-1, while it changes to 4.46 × 1022 cm-3·eV-1 after high-temperature storage. We believe that the change in the electrical characteristics of the device in hydrogen is due to the passivation of hydrogen on the inherent trap of the device, and the variation in the electrical properties of the device in the process of high-temperature storage involves the influence of two effects, namely the dehydrogenation effect and the improvement of the metal-semiconductor interface caused by high temperatures.

12.
Vaccines (Basel) ; 12(5)2024 May 07.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38793756

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has evolved into numerous lineages with unique spike mutations and caused multiple epidemics domestically and globally. Although COVID-19 vaccines are available, new variants with the capacity for immune evasion continue to emerge. To understand and characterize the evolution of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiated the National SARS-CoV-2 Strain Surveillance (NS3) program and has received thousands of SARS-CoV-2 clinical specimens from across the nation as part of a genotype to phenotype characterization process. Focus reduction neutralization with various antisera was used to antigenically characterize 143 SARS-CoV-2 Delta, Mu and Omicron subvariants from selected clinical specimens received between May 2021 and February 2023, representing a total of 59 unique spike protein sequences. BA.4/5 subvariants BU.1, BQ.1.1, CR.1.1, CQ.2 and BA.4/5 + D420N + K444T; BA.2.75 subvariants BM.4.1.1, BA.2.75.2, CV.1; and recombinant Omicron variants XBF, XBB.1, XBB.1.5 showed the greatest escape from neutralizing antibodies when analyzed against post third-dose original monovalent vaccinee sera. Post fourth-dose bivalent vaccinee sera provided better protection against those subvariants, but substantial reductions in neutralization titers were still observed, especially among BA.4/5 subvariants with both an N-terminal domain (NTD) deletion and receptor binding domain (RBD) substitutions K444M + N460K and recombinant Omicron variants. This analysis demonstrated a framework for long-term systematic genotype to antigenic characterization of circulating and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants in the U.S., which is critical to assessing their potential impact on the effectiveness of current vaccines and antigen recommendations for future updates.

13.
Med Phys ; 2024 May 27.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38801337

BACKGROUND: Accurate and noninvasive assessment of split renal dysfunction is crucial, while there is lack of corresponding method clinically. PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility of using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-based radiomics models to evaluate split renal dysfunction. METHODS: We enrolled patients with impaired and normal renal function undergoing renal DWI examination. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR, mL/min) was measured using 99mTc-DTPA scintigraphy, which is reference standard of GFR measurement. The kidneys were classified into normal (GFR ≥40), mildly impaired (20≤ GFR < 40), moderately impaired (10≤ GFR < 20), and severely impaired (GFR < 10) renal function groups. Optimized subsets of radiomics features were selected from renal DWI images and radiomics scores (Rad-score) calculated to discriminate groups with different renal function. The radiomics model (Rad-score based) was developed in a training cohort and validated in a test cohort. Evaluations were conducted on the discrimination, calibration, and clinical application of the method. RESULTS: The final analysis included 330 kidneys. Logistic regression was used to develop three radiomics models, model A, B, and C, which were used to distinguish normal from impaired, mild from moderate, and moderate from severe renal function, respectively. The area under the curve of the three models were 0.822, 0.704, and 0.887 in the training cohort and 0.843, 0.717, and 0.897 in the test cohort, respectively, indicating efficient discrimination performance. CONCLUSIONS: DWI-based radiomics models have potential for evaluating split renal dysfunction and discriminating between normal and impaired renal function groups and their subgroups.

14.
Metab Brain Dis ; 2024 May 28.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38805141

Sevoflurane exposure can result in neurotoxicity especially among children, which remains an important complication after surgery. However, its related mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we investigated the biological roles of SHARPIN in sevoflurane-induced neurotoxicity. As detected by qPCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining, SHARPIN and HMGB1 expression was elevated in sevoflurane-stimulated mice as compared with the control mice. SHARPIN depletion attenuated hippocampus injury, repressed the expression of HMGB1 and M1-like macrophage markers (iNOS, TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6), but enhanced the expression of M2-like macrophage markers (ARG-1, IL-10). GST pull-down and Co-IP assays demonstrated that SHARPIN directly interacted with HMGB1 to enhance HMGB1 expression in SH-SY5Y cells. The inhibitory effects of SHARPIN silencing on inflammatory reaction and M1-like macrophages were counteracted by HMGB1 overexpression. Finally, SHARPIN-HMGB1 pathway affected neuroinflammation triggered by sevoflurane via modulating macrophage polarization. Collectively, our data suggested that SHARPIN stimulated sevoflurane-induced neurotoxicity via converting M2-like macrophages to M1-like macrophages by enhancing HMGB1 expression. SHARPIN intervention may be a promising therapeutic method to relieve sevoflurane-induced neurotoxicity.

15.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38805143

This study aims to screen for potential probiotic lactic acid bacteria from the intestines of meat-type pigeon squabs. Ligilactobacillus salivarius YZU37 was identified as the best comprehensive performed strain. Being acid- and bile salt-tolerant, it displayed growth-inhibition activities against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923, Escherichia coli ATCC25922, and Salmonella typhimurium SL1344, exhibited sensitivity to 6 commonly used antibiotics, and endowed with good cell surface hydrophobicity, auto-aggregation property, and anti-oxidant activities. Results of in vitro experiments indicated that the bacteriostatic effects of this strain were related to the production of proteinaceous substances that depend on acidic conditions. Whole-genome sequencing of L. salivarius YZU37 was performed to elucidate the genetic basis underlying its probiotic potential. Pangenome analysis of L. salivarius YZU37 and other 212 L. salivarius strains available on NCBI database revealed a pigeon-unique gene coding choloylglycine hydrolase (CGH), which had higher enzyme-substrate binding affinity than that of the common CGH shared by L. salivarius strains of other sources. Annotation of the functional genes in the genome of L. salivarius YZU37 revealed genes involved in responses to acid, bile salt, heat, cold, heavy metal, and oxidative stresses. The whole genome analysis also revealed the absence of virulence and toxin genes and the presence of 65 genes distributed under 4 CAZymes classes, 2 CRISPR-cas regions, and 3 enterolysin A clusters which may confer the acid-dependent antimicrobial potential of L. salivarius YZU37. Altogether, our results highlighted the probiotic potential of L. salivarius YZU37. Further in vivo investigations are required to elucidate its beneficial effects on pigeons.

16.
Front Oncol ; 14: 1235630, 2024.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38803531

Background: Many studies demonstrated the safety and efficacy of SBRT in the treatment of elderly patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, those studies focused on patients with peripheral lung cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy and toxicity of SBRT in elderly patients with stage I-II central NSCLC in single institution. Methods: From April 2009 to January 2020, a retrospective study was conducted on patients ≥ 65 years old with stage I-II NSCLC that was centrally localized and treated with SBRT at a single institution. Absolute C-reactive protein (CRP)/albumin ratio (CAR) and body mass index (BMI) recorded at pretreatment were analyzed. Endpoints included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), cancer-specific death, noncancer-specific death, local progression (LP) and distant progression (DP). Results: Stereotactic body radiation treatment (SBRT) was administered to a total of 44 patients. The most common dose fractionation schedule was 60 Gy given in 5 fractions. The median PFS of the cohort was 31 months (95% CI, 19.47-42.53 months). The median OS of all patients was 69 months (95% CI, 33.8-104.2 months). The median time to noncancer-specific death was 54.5 months. The median time to cancer-specific death was 36 months. The cumulative incidences of cancer-specific death at 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years were 11.63% (95%CI, 4.2-23.23%), 42.99% (95%CI, 27.56-57.53%), and 65.94% (95%CI, 45.76-80.1%), respectively. pre-SBRT BMI of ≤ 22.77 (HR 4.60, 95% CI 1.84-11.51, P=0.001) and pre-SBRT CAR of ≤0.91 (HR 5.19, 95% CI 2.15-12.52, P<0.000) were significant predictors of higher OS on multivariable analysis. The median times to LP and DP were 10 months and 11 months, respectively. In terms of acute toxicity, grade 1 including cough (38.64%), radiation pneumonitis (29.55%), anemia (25%), and fatigue (20.45%) was often observed. There was no evidence of grade 4 or 5 acute toxicity. In terms of late toxicity, 2 patients developed grade 1 pulmonary fibrosis during follow-up. Conclusion: This study showed that SBRT can effectively control local tumor progression, and have acceptable toxicity for elderly patients with centrally located stage I-II NSCLC. Lower pre-SBRT BMI and lower pre-SBRT CAR were associated with a decreased risk of cancer-specific death.

17.
J Biomed Res ; : 1-14, 2024 May 25.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38807376

The alteration of gene expression is not restricted to transcriptional regulation but includes a variety of post-transcriptional mechanisms, however, the role of the latter underlying many diseases remains relatively unknown. By utilizing an RNA-Seq dataset of 1510 brain samples from individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), bipolar disorder (BD), schizophrenia (SCZ), and controls, we assessed the contribution of post-transcriptional dysregulation and identified top perturbators accountable for transcriptomic changes of expression in neuropsychiatric disorders. Around 30% of the variability in expression can be attributed to post-transcriptional dysregulation. Interestingly, RNA stability tended to decrease in SCZ and BD, leading to the inhibition of neurogenesis and neural differentiation, while the increase in ASD, resulted in enhanced activity of apoptosis. This finding implicated contrasting pathologies involving RNA stability among neuropsychiatric disorders. An RNA binding protein (RBP)-ELAVL3 - is predicted to be significantly involved in the disruption of RNA stability in all three disorders. To validate, we knocked down its expression in cerebral organoids. Not only differentially expressed genes in ELAVL3-knockdown covered a considerable proportion of predicted targets in three disorders, we also found neurogenesis was significantly affected, given the diminished proliferation and consequently the reduced size of the organoids. Our study extends the current understanding of the link between post-transcriptional regulation and neuropsychiatric disorders and provides new therapeutic targets for early intervention.

18.
Nat Prod Rep ; 2024 May 29.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38809164

Covering: 1976 to December 2023Chloranthaceae is comprised of four extant genera (Chloranthus, Sarcandra, Hedyosmum, and Ascarina), totaling about 80 species, many of which have been widely used as herbal medicines for diverse medical purposes. Chloranthaceae plants represent a rich source of structurally interesting and diverse secondary metabolites, with sesquiterpenoids and diterpenoids being the predominant structural types. Lindenane sesquiterpenoids and their oligomers, chemotaxonomical markers of the family Chloranthaceae, have shown a wide spectrum of bioactivities, attracting significant attention from organic chemists and pharmacologists. Recent achievements also demonstrated the research value of two unique structural types in this plant family, sesquiterpenoid-monoterpenoid heterodimers and meroterpenoids. This review systematically summarizes 682 structurally characterized terpenoids from 22 Chloranthaceae plants and their key biological activities as well as the chemical synthesis of selected terpenoids.

19.
Nat Commun ; 15(1): 3893, 2024 May 08.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38719799

Maintaining food safety and quality is critical for public health and food security. Conventional food preservation methods, such as pasteurization and dehydration, often change the overall organoleptic quality of the food products. Herein, we demonstrate a method that affects only a thin surface layer of the food, using beef as a model. In this method, Joule heating is generated by applying high electric power to a carbon substrate in <1 s, which causes a transient increase of the substrate temperature to > ~2000 K. The beef surface in direct contact with the heating substrate is subjected to ultra-high temperature flash heating, leading to the formation of a microbe-inactivated, dehydrated layer of ~100 µm in thickness. Aerobic mesophilic bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, yeast and mold on the treated samples are inactivated to a level below the detection limit and remained low during room temperature storage of 5 days. Meanwhile, the product quality, including visual appearance, texture, and nutrient level of the beef, remains mostly unchanged. In contrast, microorganisms grow rapidly on the untreated control samples, along with a rapid deterioration of the meat quality. This method might serve as a promising preservation technology for securing food safety and quality.


Food Microbiology , Food Preservation , Animals , Cattle , Food Preservation/methods , Food Microbiology/methods , Meat/microbiology , Hot Temperature , Red Meat/microbiology , Heating , Food Safety/methods
20.
ACS Infect Dis ; 2024 May 10.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38728322

SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) proteins undergo extensive glycosylation, aiding in proper folding, enhancing stability, and evading host immune surveillance. In this study, we used mass spectrometric analysis to elucidate the N-glycosylation characteristics and disulfide bonding of recombinant spike proteins derived from the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) in comparison with the D614G spike variant. Furthermore, we conducted microsecond-long molecular dynamics simulations on spike proteins to resolve how the different N-glycans impact spike conformational sampling in the two variants. Our findings reveal that the Omicron spike protein maintains an overall resemblance to the D614G spike variant in terms of site-specific glycan processing and disulfide bond formation. Nonetheless, alterations in glycans were observed at certain N-glycosylation sites. These changes, in synergy with mutations within the Omicron spike protein, result in increased surface accessibility of the macromolecule, including the ectodomain, receptor-binding domain, and N-terminal domain. Additionally, mutagenesis and pull-down assays reveal the role of glycosylation of a specific sequon (N149); furthermore, the correlation of MD simulation and HDX-MS identified several high-dynamic areas of the spike proteins. These insights contribute to our understanding of the interplay between structure and function, thereby advancing effective vaccination and therapeutic strategies.

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