Transformation of mulberry polyphenols by Lactobacillus plantarum SC-5: Increasing phenolic acids and enhancement of anti-aging effect.

Fermentation can transform bioactive compounds in food and improve their biological activity. This study aims to explore the transformation of polyphenols in mulberry juice and the improvement of its anti-aging effect. The results demonstrated that Lactobacillus plantarum SC-5 transformed anthocyanin in mulberry juice into more phenolic acids, especially improved 2-hydroxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propanoic acid from 4.16 ± 0.06 to 10.07 ± 0.03. In the D-gal-induced mouse model, fermented mulberry juice significantly raised the abundance of Bifidobacteriaceae (303.7 %) and Lactobacillaceae (237.2 %) and Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in intestine, further reducing the level of oxidative stress (12.3 %). Meanwhile, the expression of Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) and Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) increased, which protected the integrity of hippocampal tissue. Morris water maze results approved that fermented mulberry juice improved cognitive ability in aging mice (30.3 %). This study provides theoretical support for the view that fermentation is an effective means of developing functional foods.

Zearalenone removal using inactivated yeast embedded in porous modified yam starch aerogels and its application in corn silk tea.

Zearalenone contaminates food and poses a threat to human health. It is vital to develop cost-effective and environmentally-friendly adsorbents for its removal. By screening Sporobolomyces pararoseus (SZ4) and modified yam starch (adsorption capacity (qe) of 1.33 and 0.94 mg/g, respectively), this study prepared a novel composite aerogel adsorbent (P-YSA@SZ410). The compressive strength of P-YSA@SZ410 was 1.35-fold higher than unloaded yeast. It contained several functional groups and three-dimensional interconnected channels, achieving a 0° contact angle within 0.18 s, thereby demonstrating excellent water-absorbent properties. With a qe of 2.96 mg/g at 308 K, the adsorption process of P-YSA@SZ410 was spontaneous, endothermic, and matched pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models. The composite adsorbed zearalenone via electrostatic attraction and hydrogen bonding, maintaining a qe of 2.24 mg/g after five cycles. P-YSA@SZ410 was found to remove zearalenone effectively under various conditions and could be applied to corn silk tea, indicating its great potential as an adsorbent material.

Dietary regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors in metabolic syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are a class of ligand-activated nuclear transcription factors, members of the type nuclear receptor superfamily, with three subtypes, namely PPARα, PPARß/δ, and PPARγ, which play a key role in the metabolic syndrome. In the past decades, a large number of studies have shown that natural products can act by regulating metabolic pathways mediated by PPARs. PURPOSE: This work summarizes the physiological importance and clinical significance of PPARs and reviews the experimental evidence that natural products mediate metabolic syndrome via PPARs. METHODS: This study reviews relevant literature on clinical trials, epidemiology, animals, and cell cultures published in NCBI PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and other databases from 2001 to October 2022. Search keywords were "natural product" OR "botanical" OR "phytochemical" AND "PPAR" as well as free text words. RESULTS: The modulatory involvement of PPARs in the metabolic syndrome has been supported by prior research. It has been observed that many natural products can treat metabolic syndrome by altering PPARs. The majority of currently described natural compounds are mild PPAR-selective agonists with therapeutic effects that are equivalent to synthetic medicines but less harmful adverse effects. CONCLUSION: PPAR agonists can be combined with natural products to treat and prevent metabolic syndrome. Further human investigations are required because it is unknown how natural products cause harm and how they might have negative impacts.

Insights into the Mechanisms of Reuterin against Staphylococcus aureus Based on Membrane Damage and Untargeted Metabolomics.

Reuterin is a dynamic small-molecule complex produced through glycerol fermentation by Limosilactobacillus reuteri and has potential as a food biopreservative. Despite its broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, the underlying mechanism of action of reuterin is still elusive. The present paper aimed to explore the antibacterial mechanism of reuterin and its effects on membrane damage and the intracellular metabolome of S. aureus. Our results showed that reuterin has a minimum inhibitory concentration of 18.25 mM against S. aureus, based on the 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde level. Key indicators such as extracellular electrical conductivity, membrane potential and permeability were significantly increased, while intracellular pH, ATP and DNA were markedly decreased, implying that reuterin causes a disruption to the structure of the cell membrane. The morphological damage to the cells was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Subsequent metabolomic analysis identified significant alterations in metabolites primarily involved in lipid, amino acid, carbohydrate metabolism and phosphotransferase system, which is crucial for cell membrane regulation and energy supply. Consequently, these findings indicated that the antibacterial mechanism of reuterin initially targets lipid and amino acid metabolism, leading to cell membrane damage, which subsequently results in energy metabolism disorder and, ultimately, cell death. This paper offers innovative perspectives on the antibacterial mechanism of reuterin, contributing to its potential application as a food preservative.

Recent advances in nuclear receptors-mediated health benefits of blueberry.

BACKGROUND: Blueberry is rich in bioactive substances and has anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, anti-cancer, neuroprotective, and other activities. Blueberry has been shown to treat diseases by mediating the transcription of nuclear receptors. However, evidence for nuclear receptor-mediated health benefits of blueberry has not been systematically reviewed. PURPOSE: This review aims to summarize the nuclear receptor-mediated health benefits of blueberry. METHODS: This study reviews all relevant literature published in NCBI PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar by January 2022. The relevant literature was extracted from the databases with the following keyword combinations: "biological activities" OR "nuclear receptors" OR "phytochemicals" AND "blueberry" OR "Vaccinium corymbosum" as well as free-text words. RESULTS: In vivo and in vitro experimental results and clinical evidence have demonstrated that blueberry has health-promoting effects. Supplementing blueberry is beneficial to the treatment of cancer, the alleviation of metabolic syndrome, and liver protection. Blueberry can regulate the transcription of PPARs, ERs, AR, GR, MR, LXRs, and FXR and mediate the expressions of Akt, CYP 1Al, p53, and Bcl-2. CONCLUSION: Blueberry can be targeted to treat various diseases by mediating the transcription of nuclear receptors. Nevertheless, further human research is needed.

Glycated modification of the protein from Rana chensinensis eggs by Millard reaction and its stability analysis in curcumin encapsulated emulsion system.

Forest frog (Rana chensinensis) eggs contain high-quality protein but have not been well utilized. In this study, the total protein of forest frog eggs was extracted and 4491 protein/peptides were identified by HPLC-MS/MS. The egg protein was glycated using monosaccharides (lactose, fructose, xylose and glucose). The xylose modified egg protein showed excellent emulsifying ability, high viscosity and uniform structure under the laser confocal microscope in a concentration dependent way (1-3%, w/v). We next used xylose glycated egg protein to encapsulate curcumin to determine the stability of its emulsion system. This emulsion system showed low particle size (< 400 nm) and high Zeta-potential (> 30 mV with absolute value) at pH > 6. The system was stable under 4 °C, 25℃ and 37 °C after seven weeks' storage, especially for the emulsions at 3% and 5% concentrations. Therefore, the glycated frog egg protein can be used to encapsulate hydrophobic nutrients.

Water distribution and moisture-absorption in egg-white derived peptides: Effects on their physicochemical, conformational, thermostable, and self-assembled properties.

Three egg-white derived peptides (DHTKE, MPDAHL, and FFGFN) were characterized with hydrophilia and water distributions. The effect of moisture exposure on their properties at 75% relative humidity for 30 h were further investigated. LF-NMR tests revealed that strong bound-water (relaxation time < 10 ms) accounted for more than 80% of total water in peptides after moisture-absorption. The absorbed water led to the pH of three peptides increase, antioxidant activities in vitro decrease, and diverse changes in their functional group vibrations, molecular hydrophobicity, and phase transformation properties. Compared to dried samples, the hydrated-DHTKE was pyrolyzed and hydrated-MPDAHL was oxidized over 160 °C, while the glass transition, melting, and crosslink temperatures of FFGFN all decreased after moisture-absorption. Moreover, the results indicated that moisture-absorption in FFGFN powder enhanced the surface-hydrophobicity of FFGFN-hydrogel and accelerated its self-organizations. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of moisture-absorption effects on peptides, with these changes potentially impacting storage recommendations and scientific interpretations.

Probiotic Properties of a Spaceflight-induced Mutant Lactobacillus Plant- arum SS18-50 in Mice.

BACKGROUND: Probiotics are a group of bacteria that play a critical role in intestinal microbiota homeostasis and may help adjunctively treat certain diseases like metabolic and immune disorders. OBJECTIVE: We recently generated a space-flight mutated Lactobacillus plantarum SS18-50 with good in vitro probiotic characteristics. In the current research, we designed two in vivo experiments to evaluate whether L. plantarum SS18-50 had the ability to increase beneficial gut bacteria, regulate oxidative status and ameliorate inflammation in mice. METHODS: Experiments I: the ICR mice were gavaged with L. plantarum SS18-50 or its wild type L. plantarum GS18 at 107 or 109 CFU/kg BW daily for one month, during which the body weight was recorded weekly. The feces were collected to determine the abundance of two main beneficial bacterial groups including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium by selective culturing, while the total triglycerides and cholesterols in sera were determined using commercial kits. Experiment II: the mice were gavaged with loperamide hydrochloride (Lop) to develop oxidative stress and inflammation phenotypes. At the same time, the experimental mice were gavaged with L. plantarum SS18-50 or wild type L. plantarum GS18 at 107 or 109 CFU/kg BW daily for one month. At the end of the experiment, oxidative indicators (SOD and MDA) and inflammatory cytokines (IL-17A and IL-10) were measured by commercial kits. RESULTS: Results showed that L. plantarum SS18-50 increased the abundance of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in mice after one month's administration. L. plantarum SS18-50 also showed the anti-oxidant activity by increasing SOD and decreasing MDA and exerted the anti-inflammatory effect by increasing IL-10 and decreasing IL-17A in Lop treated mice. Both the wild type stain and the space mutant had such biomedical effects, but L. plantarum SS18-50 was better in increasing gut beneficial bacteria and oxidative regulation than the wild type (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: We conclude that L. plantarum SS18-50 has a great potential to serve as a dietary functional probiotic supplement and/or adjunctive treatment strategy.

The interaction between Lactobacillus plantarum SC-5 and its biogenic amine formation with different salt concentrations in Chinese Dongbei Suancai.

Dongbei Suancai (DBSC) - a Chinese cabbage-based sauerkraut is a traditional fermented food which is popular in Asian countries. The biogenic amines that are usually generated during spontaneous fermentation have raised public health concern, while inoculation technology may solve this problem. In the current research, the biogenic amines, as well as their interactions with the microbial community in DBSC inoculated with Lactobacillus plantarum SC-5 or spontaneously fermented without inoculation were systematically investigated throughout 60 d fermentation. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that the predominant biogenic amines in DBSC including putrescine, tyramine, spermidine, cadaverine and histamine increased during fermentation. Inoculated DBSC had a significantly lower content of total biogenic amines than the spontaneously fermented DBSC (216.72-237.33 mg/kg vs. 234.62-266.81 mg/kg) during 60 days' fermentation (P < 0.05). High throughput sequencing based on 16S rDNA identified 70 species in the bacterial community belonging to 7 genera of lactic acid bacteria, of which Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc and Lactococcus were dominant. Furthermore, six common genera of bacteria were positively correlated with biogenic amines based on Spearman's rank correlation test. Notably, the abundance of Lactobacillus plantarum SC-5 was negatively correlated with the content of biogenic amines in DBSC. In conclusion, inoculation of the proper starter like Lactobacillus plantarum SC-5 can reduce total biogenic amines in DBSC possibly by modifying the microbial communities in the fermented sauerkraut, which provides practical guidance for industrial production of high quality DBSC.

Lactoferrin-thymol complex for the disinfection of gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli.

Seeking all-nature derived antibacterial agents with effective disinfection function, high human safety as well as environment-friendly characteristics are highly required in the food industry. Herein, we report the lactoferrin-thymol (LF-Thy) complex as an effective killing agent against Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). The multi-spectroscopy results clearly demonstrate the combination of LF and Thy to form the LF-Thy complex, accompanied with LF conformation variations including the increase in the hydrophobicity of amino acid residues and changes in the types of secondary conformation distribution in LF. Molecular docking results show that LF exhibits three possible binding sites and five predicted stable binding modes for Thy with the help of hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. Moreover, LF-Thy demonstrated a significantly higher antibacterial ability compared to LF and displays effective disinfection function against E. coli and S. aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of LF toward E. coli and S. aureus is >40 mg mL-1 and 40 mg mL-1, which decreases to 10 mg mL-1 and 5 mg mL-1 after combination with Thy, respectively. This work demonstrates the promising antibacterial activities of the LF-Thy complex and provides an alternative agent for combating bacterial infection in the food industry, which holds great potential for promoting the development of the all-natural healthcare food complex.

A review on pharmacological activities and synergistic effect of quercetin with small molecule agents.

BACKGROUND: Quercetin is a natural flavonoid, which widely exists in nature, such as tea, coffee, apples, and onions. Numerous studies have showed that quercetin has multiple biological activities such as anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging. Hence, quercetin has a significant therapeutic effect on cancers, obesity, diabetes, and other diseases. In the past decades, a large number of studies have shown that quercetin combined with other agents can significantly improve the overall therapeutic effect, compared to single use. PURPOSE: This work reviews the pharmacological activities of quercetin and its derivatives. In addition, this work also summarizes both in vivo and in vitro experimental evidence for the synergistic effect of quercetin against cancers and metabolic diseases. METHODS: An extensive systematic search for pharmacological activities and synergistic effect of quercetin was performed considering all the relevant literatures published until August 2021 through the databases including NCBI PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The relevant literatures were extracted from the databases with following keyword combinations: "pharmacological activities" OR "biological activities" OR "synergistic effect" OR "combined" OR "combination" AND "quercetin" as well as free-text words. RESULTS: Quercetin and its derivatives possess multiple pharmacological activities including anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cardiovascular, anti-aging, and neuroprotective activities. In addition, the synergistic effect of quercetin with small molecule agents against cancers and metabolic diseases has also been confirmed. CONCLUSION: Quercetin cooperates with agents to improve the therapeutic effect by regulating signal molecules and blocking cell cycle. Synergistic therapy can reduce the dose of agents and avoid the possible toxic and side effects in the treatment process. Although quercetin treatment has some potential side effects, it is safe under the expected use conditions. Hence, quercetin has application value and potential strength as a clinical drug. Furthermore, quercetin, as the main effective therapeutic ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, may effectively treat and prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Salidroside alleviates liver inflammation in furan-induced mice by regulating oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress.

Furan is a genotoxic and carcinogenic toxicant formed during the food thermal processing. Our previous studies confirmed that salidroside (SAL) displayed excellent protective effects against furan-induced hepatotoxicity and inflammation, whereas the underlying mechanism was still unclear. In the current study, Balb/c mice were divided to the control group (CON), the furan model group (FUR8, 8 mg/kg BW furan for 30 days) and SAL intervention groups (SAL10/20/40, 8 mg/kg BW furan for 30 days + 10/20/40 mg/kg BW SAL from day 16 to day 30). The alleviative effects and the mechanisms of SAL against furan-induced liver inflammation in mice were investigated through oxidative stress (OS) and endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS). Liver metabonomics data, molecular docking and Western-blotting results implied that SAL suppressed the activity and the high expression of hepatic CYP2E1, and alleviated liver OS induced by furan. Levels of key markers (GRP78, CHOP and Caspase-12) of ERS and proteins in IRE1α pathway of the UPR branch increased by furan were prominently reduced after SAL treatment. Levels of phosphorylated proteins JNK, ERK, p38, IKKα/ß, IκB and p65 in MAPK and NF-κB pathways were also suppressed by SAL. We further confirmed that SAL inhibited furan-induced inflammation by reducing the levels of NLRP3, ASC, Cleaved Caspase-1 and IL-1ß and decreasing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Our results shed light into the alleviating mechanisms behind furan-induced liver inflammation, and suggested that SAL inhibited OS, ERS and related MAPK and NF-κB pathways and therefore inhibited the NLRP3 inflammasome activation, which may be its potential mechanism of alleviating liver inflammation.

Lactobacillus paracasei ameliorates cognitive impairment in high-fat induced obese mice via insulin signaling and neuroinflammation pathways.

Long-term consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) can cause glucose and lipid metabolism disorders, damage the brain and nervous system and result in cognitive impairment. The objective of this study was to investigate the preventative effects of Lactobacillus paracasei (Jlus66, a probiotic extracted from cheese in Northeast China) on cognitive impairment associated with HFD. The water maze was used to compare memory changes in mice fed HFD with or without Jlus66. Hippocampal tissue morphology was examined using H&E staining. The expression of neurotrophic factors BDNF, PSD95 and SNAP25, insulin resistance related proteins IRS-1, AKT and GSK3ß, and inflammatory related proteins JNK and p38 were detected using western blotting. The results showed that Jlus66 significantly increased the expression of BDNF, PSD95 and SNAP25 (p < 0.01, respectively), increased expression of p-AKT (p < 0.05), p-IRS-1Y612 and p-GSK3ß (p < 0.01, respectively), and reduced the expression of p-IRS-1S307, p-JNK and p-p38 (p < 0.05) compared with the HFD group. We conclude that Jlus66 can ameliorate cognitive impairment via insulin signaling and neuroinflammation pathways.

Effect of ultrasound pretreatment on structural, physicochemical, rheological and gelation properties of transglutaminase cross-linked whey protein soluble aggregates.

A solution (10%, w/v) of whey protein soluble aggregates (WPISA) was pretreated with high-intensity ultrasound (HUS, 20 kHz) for different durations (10-40 min) before incubation with transglutaminase (TGase) to investigate the effect of HUS on the structural, physicochemical, rheological, and gelation properties of TGase cross-linked WPISA. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) results showed that HUS increased the amounts of high-molecular-weight polymers/aggregates in WPISA after incubation with TGase. HUS significantly increased (P < 0.05) the degree of TGase-mediated cross-linking in WPISA, as demonstrated by a reduction in free amino group contents. HUS significantly increased (P < 0.05) the particle size, intrinsic fluorescence intensity, and surface hydrophobicity of TGase cross-linked WPISA, but had no significant impact (P > 0.05) on the zeta-potential or total free sulfhydryl group content of TGase cross-linked WPISA. The apparent viscosity and the consistency index of TGase cross-linked WPISA were significantly increased by HUS (P < 0.05), which indicated that HUS facilitated the formation of more high-molecular-weight polymers. HUS significantly increased (P < 0.05) the water holding capacity and gel strength of glucono-δ-lactone (GDL)-induced TGase cross-linked WPISA gels. The results indicated that HUS could be an efficient tool for modifying WPISA to improve its degree of TGase-mediated cross-linking, which would lead to improved rheological and gelation properties.

Value added immunoregulatory polysaccharides of Hericium erinaceus and their effect on the gut microbiota.

Hericium erinaceus polysaccharides (HEPs) were isolated from the fruiting bodies of H. erinaceus with 53.36 % total carbohydrates and 32.56 % uronic acid. To examine whether HEPs can alter the diversity and the abundance of gut microbiota, adult mice and middle-aged and old mice were fed with HEPs for 28 days. Based on the result of 16S sequencing of gut microbiota it was found that the relative abundances of Lachnospiraceae and Akkermansiaceae significantly increased, while the relative abundance of Rikenellaceae and Bacteroidaceae appeared to decrease. Bacterial solutions from different murine intestinal segments and feces were collected to ferment HEPs in vitro. It was found that HEPs remarkably promoted the production of NO, IL-6, IL-10, INF-γ and TNF-α. Moreover, HEPs significantly increased phosphorylation of signaling molecules, indicating that the immunomodulatory activity was completed via NF-кB, MAPK and PI3K/Akt pathways. Collectively, HEPs have potential to be developed as functional ingredients or foods to promote health.

Spectroscopic and in silico investigation of the interaction between GH1 ß-glucosidase and ginsenoside Rb1.

The function and application of ß-glucosidase attract attention nowadays. ß-glucosidase was confirmed of transforming ginsenoside Rb1 to rare ginsenoside, but the interaction mechanism remains not clear. In this work, ß-glucosidase from GH1 family of Paenibacillus polymyxa was selected, and its gene sequence bglB was synthesized by codon. Then, recombinant plasmid was transferred into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and expressed. The UV-visible spectrum showed that ginsenoside Rb1 decreased the polarity of the corresponding structure of hydrophobic aromatic amino acids (Trp) in ß-glucosidase and increased new π-π* transition. The fluorescence quenching spectrum showed that ginsenoside Rb1 inhibited intrinsic fluorescence, formed static quenching, reduced the surface hydrophobicity of ß-glucosidase, and KSV was 8.37 × 103 L/M (298K). Circular dichroism (CD) showed that secondary structure of ß-glucosidase was changed by the binding action. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) showed that ß-glucosidase and Rb1 had strong binding power which KD value was 5.24 × 10-4 (±2.35 × 10-5) M. Molecular docking simulation evaluated the binding site, hydrophobic force, hydrogen bond, and key amino acids of ß-glucosidase with ginsenoside Rb1 in the process. Thus, this work could provide basic mechanisms of the binding and interaction between ß-glucosidase and ginsenoside Rb1.

Effect of microorganisms on the fingerprint of the volatile compounds in pine nut (Pinus koraiensis) peptide powder during storage.

Pine nut (Pinus koraiensis) peptide (PNP) powder possesses promising bioactivities. However, the powder may have the quality problem of becoming sticky and smelly. Therefore, the volatile compounds' fingerprint of PNP powder was established by headspace-gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS). The essential spoilage microorganisms were confirmed by 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing. The antioxidant activity, which presents PNP powder's quality, decreased during storage with the highest value of (1.88 ± 0.18) × 1014 at day 30. Fifty-nine significantly changed signals were detected; eight compounds were considered as volatile marker compounds. Besides, Firmicutes and Cyanobacteria were the essential spoilage microorganisms in PNP powder at the phylum level. Significantly, unidentified_Chloroplast, which belongs to Cyanobacteria, had a positive correlation with volatile marker compounds. The results proved that microorganisms indeed affect volatile compounds of PNP powder and induced off-flavor, including hexanal, which can be used as the detection indicator for the quality control of PNP powder. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: In the present study, we controlled the influence of moisture migration on PNP powder and investigated microorganisms' effects on volatile compounds of PNP powder. HS-GC-IMS could be used to establish fingerprints of volatile compounds in PNP powder. 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing method could be used to screen the dominant spoilage bacteria in PNP powder and established essential spoilage microorganisms of PNP powder. This work provides a reference for category identification of PNP powder, which was infected by spoilage bacteria or not, and stored at day 0 or 30 days. Hexanal can be considered as the volatile marker compound generated from microorganisms. It helps to realize the controllability of PNP powder storage and prolongs the shelf life of PNP powder.

MiR-193b-5p protects BRL-3A cells from acrylamide-induced cell cycle arrest by targeting FoxO3.

Acrylamide (AA), an important by-product of the Maillard reaction, has been reported to be genotoxic and carcinogenic. The present study employed miRNAs to investigate the toxic mechanism of AA and their role against AA toxicity. Deep sequencing of small RNA libraries was performed and miR-193b-5p was applied for further study. AA significantly reduced the level of miR-193b-5p and its ectopic expression promoted cell cycle G1/S transition and cell proliferation by upregulating the cyclin-dependent kinase regulator Cyclin D1 and downregulating the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21, while miR-193b-5p inhibitor led to the opposite results. Dual luciferase assay demonstrated miR-193b-5p regulated the expression of FoxO3 by directly targeting the FoxO3 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR). Knockdown of FoxO3 induced cell cycle G1/S transition and cell proliferation, which was suppressed by the inhibition of miR-193b-5p but promoted by miR-193b-5p mimics. MiR-193b-5p inhibitor strengthened the effect of FoxO3, contrary to the effect of miR-193b-5p mimics. In conclusion, miR-193b-5p acted as a regulator of cell cycle G1/S transition and cell proliferation by targeting FoxO3 to mediate the expression of p21 and Cyclin D1.

Allicin alleviated acrylamide-induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation via oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress in Kupffer cells and SD rats liver.

Acrylamide (AA) in heat-processed food leads to widespread concerns due to its hepatotoxicity. Allicin, a plant-derived antioxidant, possesses a significant protective effect on AA-induced hepatotoxicity, but the mechanism is still unclear. Herein, we investigated the mechanism in Kupffer cells and SD rats liver. Molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation and LigPlus software speculated that allicin inhibited the activity of CYP2E1 expression by binding to its amino acid residues Phe116, Phe207, Leu210, Phe298, Ala299, Thr303, Val364 and Phe478 through hydrophobic interactions. Allicin decreased the reactive oxygen species (ROS) release and CYP2E1 protein expression and then alleviated the appearance of OS. Meanwhile, allicin significantly reduced ERS characteristic proteins GRP78, CHOP and UPR branch IRE1α pathway key proteins p-IRE, p-ASK, TRAF2 and XBP-1s expression. Simultaneously, allicin ameliorated OS and ERS activation, which inhibited the activation of the MAPK and NF-κB pathways, and down-regulated JNK, ERK, p38, p65 and IκBα phosphorylation. Allicin pre-treatment inhibited AA-induced inflammation as evidenced by reducing NLRP3 inflammasome activation, decreasing Cleaved-Caspase-1 expression as well as IL-1ß, IL-18, IL-6 and TNF-α secretion. Taken together, our data provide new insights into possible signaling pathways involved in allicin attenuating AA-induced hepatotoxicity in vivo and in vitro.

In vitro probiotic screening and evaluation of space-induced mutant Lactobacillus plantarum.

Space mutation is an efficient tool in microbial breeding. The aim of the present study was to screen out space-induced mutants of Lactobacillus plantarum with potent probiotic properties. The wild-type Lactobacillus plantarum GS18 was subjected to 31 days and 18.5 hr of space flight, in which 13 isolates were selected for analysis. These mutants were assayed for milk fermentation performance, low pH resistance, bile salt tolerance, hydrophobicity, and antimicrobial activity. The 16S rDNA sequencing was applied to identify the stain and compare it with the wild type. Results showed that the isolate L. plantarum SS18-50 had the strongest probiotic properties with no mutation in 16S rRNA sequence compared to the wild type. Specifically, L. plantarum SS18-50 had good milk fermentation performance. The viscosity of fermented milk, acid tolerance, and bile salt tolerance were increased by approximately 10%, 8%, and 9%, respectively (p < .05). The antibacterial activity (Escherichia Coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria Monocytogenes) was also increased significantly compared to the wild type (p < .05). This study indicates that L. plantarum SS18-50 has the great potential to serve as a probiotic for dairy products.