Biomarkers Screening and Mechanisms Analysis of the Restraint Stress-Induced Myocardial Injury in Hyperlipidemia ApoE-/- Mice.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the biomarkers and potential mechanisms of chronic restraint stress-induced myocardial injury in hyperlipidemia ApoE-/- mice. METHODS: The hyperlipidemia combined with the chronic stress model was established by restraining the ApoE-/- mice. Proteomics and bioinformatics techniques were used to describe the characteristic molecular changes and related regulatory mechanisms of chronic stress-induced myocardial injury in hyperlipidemia mice and to explore potential diagnostic biomarkers. RESULTS: Proteomic analysis showed that there were 43 significantly up-regulated and 58 significantly down-regulated differentially expressed proteins in hyperlipidemia combined with the restraint stress group compared with the hyperlipidemia group. Among them, GBP2, TAOK3, TFR1 and UCP1 were biomarkers with great diagnostic potential. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis indicated that ferroptosis was a significant pathway that accelerated the myocardial injury in hyperlipidemia combined with restraint stress-induced model. The mmu_circ_0001567/miR-7a/Tfr-1 and mmu_circ_0001042/miR-7a/Tfr-1 might be important circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory networks related to ferroptosis in this model. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic restraint stress may aggravate myocardial injury in hyperlipidemia mice via ferroptosis. Four potential biomarkers are selected for myocardial injury diagnosis, providing a new direction for sudden cardiac death (SCD) caused by hyperlipidemia combined with the restraint stress.

Inhibition mechanism of rice glutelin on extruded starch digestion: From the structural properties of starch and enzyme activity.

To increase the anti-digestion ability of extruded rice starch (ERS), the influence of rice glutelin (RG) on digestive and structural characteristics of ERS were investigated. The resistant starch content increased from 4.49 % to 18.08 % as the RG content increased, while the digestion rate and digestion velocity constant were reduced by the incorporation of RG. Morphological observations showed that ERS was adhered and encapsulated by RG, and the specific area of starch granules were decreased after the addition of RG. The results of XRD and FTIR suggested that the long-range and short-range orders of ERS were improved due to the complexation with RG. The thickness of crystalline of ERS was increased while its amorphous region thickness was reduced by the supplementation with RG. The 1H NMR and 13C NMR data revealed that the branching degree and double helix content of ERS was increased by 46.24 % and 52.67 % when RG content reached to 12 %. Additionally, the addition of RG altered the molecular weight and chain length distribution of ERS. The α-amylase activity and glucoamylase activity was inhibited by RG. These results could provide a valuable basis for the application of RG in extruded rice starchy foods with lower glycemic index.

Expression profiling of circular RNAs and their potential role in early­stage diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a severe cardiovascular complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). Detecting DCM during the early stages of the disease remains a challenge, as the molecular mechanisms underlying early­stage DCM are not clearly understood. Circular RNA (circRNA), a type of non­coding RNA, has been confirmed to be associated with numerous diseases. However, it is still unclear how circRNAs are involved in early­stage DCM. In the present study, heart tissues harvested from BKS­db/db knock­out mice were identified through high­throughput RNA sequencing technology. A total of 58 significantly differentially expressed circRNAs were identified in the db/db sample. Among these, six upregulated circRNAs and seven downregulated circRNAs were detected by reverse transcription­quantitative PCR and analyzed using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Furthermore, based on the predicted binding site with microRNAs (miRNAs) involved in DCM, five circRNAs (mmu_circ_0000652, mmu_circ_0000547, mmu_circ_0001058, mmu_circ_0000680 and novel_circ_0004285) were shown to serve as competing endogenous (ce)RNAs. The corresponding miRNAs and mRNAs of the ceRNAs were also verified, and two promising circRNA­miRNA­mRNA regulatory networks were determined. Finally, internal ribosome entry site prediction combined with open reading frame prediction indicated that it was highly possible that mmu_circ_0001160 encoded a protein. In the present study, a comprehensive analysis of the circRNA expression profile during the early phase of DCM was performed, and two promising circRNA­miRNA­mRNA regulatory networks were identified. These results lay the foundation for unravelling the underlying pathogenesis of DCM, and highlight potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for the treatment of DCM at an early stage.

Effectiveness of lysozyme coatings and 1-MCP treatments on storage and preservation of kiwifruit.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of lysozyme coatings and 1-MCP on storage and preservation of kiwifruit stored at 4 ±â€¯1 °C and 90-95% RH for 20 d. Ethylene production, respiratory rate, decay incidence, weight loss, firmness, chlorophyll, soluble solid, titratable acid, ascorbic acid, total bacterial count, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity of treated kiwifruit were examined. The results showed that lysozyme coatings or 1-MCP treatment inhibited ethylene production and respiratory rate, delayed the increase of decay incidence, weight loss, soluble solid and total bacterial count, improved firmness, chlorophyll, titratable acid, ascorbic acid content, APX, SOD and CAT activity during the storage compared with the untreated kiwifruit in different degree. Moreover, the combined effect of lysozyme coatings and 1-MCP was more excellent than that of lysozyme coatings or 1-MCP alone. In conclusion, our present results indicated that the combined treatment of lysozyme coatings and 1-MCP may be an efficient way to improve the postharvest quality and prolong the shelf life of kiwifruit.