Fermented Gracilaria lemaneiformis polysaccharides alleviate food allergy by regulating Treg cells and gut microbiota.

Food allergy has a significant impact on the health and well-being of individuals, affecting both their physical and mental states. Research on natural bioactive compounds, such as polysaccharides extracted from seaweeds, holds great promise in the treatment of food allergies. In this study, fermented Gracilaria lemaneiformis polysaccharides (F-GLSP) were prepared using probiotic fermentation. Probiotic fermentation of Gracilaria lemaneiformis reduces the particle size of polysaccharides. To compare the anti-allergic activity of F-GLSP with unfermented Gracilaria lemaneiformis polysaccharides (UF-GLSP), an OVA-induced mouse food allergy model was established. F-GLSP exhibited a significant reduction in OVA-specific IgE and mMCP levels in allergic mice. Moreover, it significantly inhibited Th2 differentiation and IL-4 production and significantly promoted Treg differentiation and IL-10 production in allergic mice. In contrast, UF-GLSP only reduced OVA-specific IgE and mMCP in the serum of allergic mice. Furthermore, F-GLSP demonstrated a more pronounced regulation of intestinal flora abundance compared to UF-GLSP, significantly influencing the populations of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Lactobacillus, and Clostridiales in the intestines of mice with food allergy. These findings suggest that F-GLSP may regulate food allergies in mice through multiple pathways. In summary, this study has promoted further development of functional foods with anti-allergic properties based on red algae polysaccharides.

Ultrafast and Electrically Tunable Rabi Frequency in a Germanium Hut Wire Hole Spin Qubit.

Hole spin qubits based on germanium (Ge) have strong tunable spin-orbit interaction (SOI) and ultrafast qubit operation speed. Here we report that the Rabi frequency (fRabi) of a hole spin qubit in a Ge hut wire (HW) double quantum dot (DQD) is electrically tuned through the detuning energy (ϵ) and middle gate voltage (VM). fRabi gradually decreases with increasing ϵ; on the contrary, fRabi is positively correlated with VM. We attribute our results to the change of electric field on SOI and the contribution of the excited state in quantum dots to fRabi. We further demonstrate an ultrafast fRabi exceeding 1.2 GHz, which indicates the strong SOI in our device. The discovery of an ultrafast and electrically tunable fRabi in a hole spin qubit has potential applications in semiconductor quantum computing.

Long noncoding RNA KCNQ1OT1 promotes apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells by regulating miR-296-5p/Bax axis.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as important regulators of multiple cellular processes such as cell invasion, growth, apoptosis and differentiation. LncRNAs can function as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) which sponge and sequester microRNA (miRNA) to regulate specific targets. Previously, we found that the target genes of several miRNAs, including FADD, Fas, Casp and Bax, are related to neuronal apoptosis and form a regulatory network. Among several factors, microRNA-296-5p expression was found to be negatively correlated with caspase activity and apoptosis. Here, we aimed to investigate the role of miR-296-5p in neuroblastoma (NB) cells. By performing quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), western blot and flow cytometry assays we analysed the expression of apoptotic markers in NB cells transfected with miR-296-5p mimics or inhibitor. Pathway-specific PCR array allowed us to identify the target genes of miR-296-5p. Using LncBase online tool, we predicted lncRNA KCNQ1 opposite strand/antisense transcript 1 (KCNQ1OT1) as an upstream regulator of miR-296-5p. The binding of KCNQ1OT1 and miR-296-5p was validated via RNA immunoprecipitation and Biotin pull-down assays. We also demonstrate that miR-296-5p suppresses apoptosis of NB cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, miR-296-5p directly bound the 3'UTR of Bax mRNA, thus repressing Bax at the mRNA and protein level. Moreover, through bioinformatic analysis and molecular experiments, we showed that KCNQ1OT1 sponged miR-296-5p and impaired its effect on NB cell apoptosis. In summary, KCNQ1OT1 is a potent promoting factor of cell apoptosis, which acts by sponging miR-296-5p and upregulating Bax. Our findings identify a regulatory axis of cell fate in NB cells.

Emerging Roles of NPQ/Spexin in Physiology and Pathology.

Spexin (SPX), also called neuropeptide Q (NPQ), is a novel endogenous neuropeptide. Spexin gene and protein are widely expressed in central nervous system and peripheral tissues in humans, rodents, goldfish, etc. A few of physiological and pathological roles of spexin are gradually emerged recently. This article summarized the roles of spexin in feeding behavior, gastrointestinal motility, obesity, diabetes, energy metabolism, endocrine, mental diseases, and cardiovascular function. Given the broad roles of spexin, this neuropeptide has attracted much interest from investigators and will be as a promising future target for novel therapeutic research and drug design.

[Depression and anxiety caused by pegylated interferon treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B and the therapeutic effects of escitalopram and alprazolam].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the incidence of depression and anxiety caused by pegylated interferon α (PegIFN-α) treatment for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and assess the efficacy of intervention with escitalopram and alprazolam. METHODS: A total of 165 CHB patients receiving PegIFN-α-based treatment for 12 weeks were assessed for moderate to severe depression and anxiety using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7)]. The patients identified to have moderate to severe depression and anxiety treated with escitalopram or alprazolam and the psychological condition of the patients was assessed at the 2nd, 4th and 8th weeks of the treatments. RESULTS: In the 165 patients receiving PegIFN-α treatment, 51 patients developed moderate to severe psychiatric symptoms, incuding 37 (22.4%) with depression, 31 (18.8%) with anxiety, and 17 (10.3%) with both. The symptoms of depression and anxiety was both significantly improved by intervention with escitalopram (P=0.000); alprazolam was effective for anxiety (P=0.001) but did not produce obvious effects on depression (P=0.904). Nevertheless, alprazolam had a much better therapeutic effect than escitalopram on anxiety in these patients (t=-3.198, P=0.010). CONCLUSION: Psychological symptoms are common in CHB patients receiving PegIFN-α treatment. The symptoms of depression and anxiety can be ameliorated by intervention with escitalopram and alprazolam, respectively.

[Entecavir combined with Fufang Biejia Ruangan tablet in treatment of chronic hepatitis B patients with liver fibrosis: 96-week efficacy analyses].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of long-term therapy with entecavir and Fufang Biejia Ruangan tablet in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-associated fibrosis and explore the synergistic therapy that accelerates the reversion of liver fibrosis. METHODS: A total of 197 patients with CHB-associated fibrosis were recruited from Nanfang Hospital between June, 2010 and June, 2015. The patients were divided into two groups after matching for age, gender and liver stiffness measurement (LSM), namely group A (n=98) treated with Fufang Biejia Ruangan Tablet plus entecavir, and group B (n=99) to receive entecavir only. HBV DNA quantification, HBV serological indicators, blood biochemical indexes, and results of abdominal ultrasound and FibroScan were recorded every 12 weeks. FibroScan values were converted to Metavir staging. RESULTS: Both groups showed significant decreases in serum levels of HBV DNA, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and LSM value from baseline (all P<0.05). The median time to achieve Metavir fibrosis staging improvement were 72 weeks in group A and 96 weeks in group B (P<0.05), and the median time to achieve ALT and AST normalization were 12 and 24 weeks in Group A, respectively, significantly shorter than the time in group B (P<0.05). No significant difference was found between the two groups in HBV DNA undetectable rate and HBeAg seroconversion rate. CONCLUSION: The combination therapy with Fufang Biejia Ruangan tablet and entecavir produces a stronger efficacy than entecavir alone in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B patients with liver fibrosis, and Fufang Biejia Ruangan tablet shows an obvious hepatoprotective effect in these patients.

Inheritance and expression of stripe rust resistance in common wheat (Triticum aestivum) transferred from Aegilops tauschii and its utilization.

Stripe rust is one of the most destructive diseases for wheat crops in China. Two stripe rust physiological strains, i.e. CYR30 (intern. name: 175E191) and CYR31 (intern. name: 293E175) have been the dominant and epidemic physiological strains since 1994. One Aegilops tauschii accession (SQ-214) from CIMMYT was found immune from or highly resistant to Chinese new stripe rust races CYR30 and CYR31 at adult stage. SQ-214 was crossed with a highly susceptible Ae. tauschii accession As-80. Analysis of data from F1-F2 populations of SQ-214/As-80 revealed that the resistance was controlled by a single dominant gene. To exploit the resistance for wheat breeding, SQ-214 was crossed with Chinese Spring (CS) and backcrossed by two Chinese commercial wheat varieties MY26 and SW3243. The resistance from SQ-214 was suppressed in the F1 hybrids (CS/SQ-214) and the F2 population of CS/SQ-214//MY26. However, the resistance of SQ-214 was expressed in several F2 individuals of CS/SQ-214//SW3243. Eleven advanced lines with high level of resistance to the Chinese stripe rust CYR30 and CYR31 have been developed. This result suggested that SW3243 does not suppress the expression of the Chinese stripe rust and should be used as wheat germplasm for exploiting resistance of Ae. tauschii in wheat breeding. The gliadin electrophoretic pattern of the eleven advanced lines with high stripe rust resistances was compared with their parents SQ-214, CS and SW3243 by acid polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The omega-gliadin bands of Gli-Dt1 in Ae. tauschii SQ-214 were transferred to some advanced lines and freely expressed in common wheat genetic background. One of advanced lines possesses a null Gli-D1 allele, where the omega-gliadin bands encoding by the Gli-D1 allele were absent. The potential utilization of this advanced line for wheat quality and stripe rust resistance breeding is also discussed in this paper.