Integrated analysis of the faecal metagenome and serum metabolome reveals the role of gut microbiome-associated metabolites in the detection of colorectal cancer and adenoma.

OBJECTIVE: To profile gut microbiome-associated metabolites in serum and investigate whether these metabolites could distinguish individuals with colorectal cancer (CRC) or adenoma from normal healthy individuals. DESIGN: Integrated analysis of untargeted serum metabolomics by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and metagenome sequencing of paired faecal samples was applied to identify gut microbiome-associated metabolites with significantly altered abundance in patients with CRC and adenoma. The ability of these metabolites to discriminate between CRC and colorectal adenoma was tested by targeted metabolomic analysis. A model based on gut microbiome-associated metabolites was established and evaluated in an independent validation cohort. RESULTS: In total, 885 serum metabolites were significantly altered in both CRC and adenoma, including eight gut microbiome-associated serum metabolites (GMSM panel) that were reproducibly detected by both targeted and untargeted metabolomics analysis and accurately discriminated CRC and adenoma from normal samples. A GMSM panel-based model to predict CRC and colorectal adenoma yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.98 (95% CI 0.94 to 1.00) in the modelling cohort and an AUC of 0.92 (83.5% sensitivity, 84.9% specificity) in the validation cohort. The GMSM model was significantly superior to the clinical marker carcinoembryonic antigen among samples within the validation cohort (AUC 0.92 vs 0.72) and also showed promising diagnostic accuracy for adenomas (AUC=0.84) and early-stage CRC (AUC=0.93). CONCLUSION: Gut microbiome reprogramming in patients with CRC is associated with alterations of the serum metabolome, and GMSMs have potential applications for CRC and adenoma detection.

Antiferromagnetic Interfacial Coupling and Giant Magnetic Hysteresis in La0.5Ca0.5MnO3-SrRuO3 Superlattices.

Superlattices are of great importance due to their potential as new materials genome to synthesize new functional materials. Thus, tuning of the ground state of superlattices is crucial to further control their physical properties. In this study, superlattices (SLs) consisting of alternating layers of SrRuO3 (SRO) (5 nm) and La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (LCMO) (5 nm) are epitaxially grown on SrTiO3 (STO) and LaAlO3 (LAO) substrates with 10-unit-cell periods. A variation in the substrate-induced-strain for this choice of SLs triggers observation of remarkable properties, such as magnetic anisotropy and large magnetic hysteresis. The strain states experienced by LCMO and SRO in these SLs result in strong ferromagnetic interlayer coupling and weak antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling at low temperatures in SLs of LCMO-SRO/STO and a strong antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling in SLs of LCMO-SRO/LAO. Besides, a large magnetic hysteresis resulting from the predominant magnetic anisotropy of SRO together with the strength of magnetic coupling is observed in SLs of LCMO-SRO/LAO along the out-of-plane direction of the LAO substrate. These four different magnetic behaviors along four different directions of substrate orientations are interpreted in terms of preferential orbital occupation and competing magnetic exchange coupling together with magnetic anisotropy. This study demonstrates the subtleties in controlling the strength of magnetic coupling at the interface and stands as a model system to realize fascinating magnetic phenomena in layer-by-layer hetero-epitaxial oxide films.

Identification and characterization of a novel diacylglycerol acyltransferase gene from Mortierella alpina.

OBJECTIVES: To clone and express a diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) gene from Mortierella alpina in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and characterize oil production and fatty acid composition of the resulting recombinant RESULTS: A new, full-length cDNA, putatively encoding a DGAT, was cloned from M. alpina. We subsequently cloned the gene, except the transmembrane-encoding region, termed MaDGAT, its molecular mass was 31.3 kDa. MaDGAT shares 75% identity with a DGAT from Mortierella verticillata NRRL 6337. A recombinant vector expressing MaDGAT, pYES2-DGAT, was constructed and transformed into S. cerevisiae H1246, a neutral, lipid-deficient quadruple mutant. TLC analysis showed that the recombinant vector restored triacylglycerol biosynthesis and its content in the recombinant strain was 3.9%. CONCLUSION: MaDGAT is a novel DGAT gene and could increase TAG biosynthesis in M. alpina or other filamentous fungi, thereby promoting the synthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Enhanced Magnetocaloric Effect Driven by Interfacial Magnetic Coupling in Self-Assembled Mn3O4-La(0.7)Sr(0.3)MnO3 Nanocomposites.

Magnetic refrigeration, resulting from the magnetocaloric effect of a material around the magnetic phase-transition temperature, is a topic of great interest as it is considered to be an alternate energy solution to conventional vapor-compression refrigeration. The viability of a magnetic refrigeration system for magnetic cooling can be tested by exploiting materials in various forms, from bulk to nanostrucutres. In this study, magnetocaloric properties of self-assembled Mn3O4-La(0.7)Sr(0.3)MnO3 nanocomposites, with varying doping concentrations of Mn3O4 in the form of nanocrystals embedded in the La(0.7)Sr(0.3)MnO3 matrix, are investigated. The temperatures corresponding to the paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic transitions are higher, and the values of change in magnetic entropy under a magnetic field of 2 T show an enhancement (highest being ∼130%) for the nanocomposites with low doping concentrations of Mn3O4, compared to that of pure La(0.7)Sr(0.3)MnO3 thin films. Relative cooling power remain close to those of La(0.7)Sr(0.3)MnO3. The enhanced magnetic phase-transition temperature and magnetocaloric effect are interpreted and evidenced in the framework of interfacial coupling between Mn3O4 and La(0.7)Sr(0.3)MnO3. This work demonstrates the potentiality of self-assembled nanostructures for magnetic cooling near room temperature under low magnetic fields.

Four-stage dissolved oxygen strategy based on multi-scale analysis for improving spinosad yield by Saccharopolyspora spinosa†ATCC49460.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is an important influencing factor in the process of aerobic microbial fermentation. Spinosad is an aerobic microbial-derived secondary metabolite. In our study, spinosad was used as an example to establish a DO strategy by multi-scale analysis, which included a reactor, cell and gene scales. We changed DO conditions that are related to the characteristics of cell metabolism (glucose consumption rate, biomass accumulation and spinosad production). Consequently, cell growth was promoted by maintaining DO at 40% in the first 24 h and subsequently increasing DO to 50% in 24 h to 96 h. In an in-depth analysis of the key enzyme genes (gtt, spn A, spn K and spn O), expression of spinosad and specific Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), the spinosad yield was increased by regulating DO to 30% within 96 h to 192 h and then changing it to 25% in 192 h to 240 h. Under the four-phase DO strategy, spinosad yield increased by 652.1%, 326.1%, 546.8%, and 781.4% compared with the yield obtained under constant DO control at 50%, 40%, 30%, and 20% respectively. The proposed method provides a novel way to develop a precise DO strategy for fermentation.

Magnetic mesocrystal-assisted magnetoresistance in manganite.

Mesocrystal, a new class of crystals as compared to conventional and well-known single crystals and polycrystalline systems, has captured significant attention in the past decade. Recent studies have been focused on the advance of synthesis mechanisms as well as the potential on device applications. In order to create further opportunities upon functional mesocrystals, we fabricated a self-assembled nanocomposite composed of magnetic CoFe2O4 mesocrystal in Sr-doped manganites. This combination exhibits intriguing structural and magnetic tunabilities. Furthermore, the antiferromagnetic coupling of the mesocrystal and matrix has induced an additional magnetic perturbation to spin-polarized electrons, resulting in a significantly enhanced magnetoresistance in the nanocomposite. Our work demonstrates a new thought toward the enhancement of intrinsic functionalities assisted by mesocrystals and advanced design of novel mesocrystal-embedded nanocomposites.

Utility of the Asia-Pacific colorectal screening scoring system and the presence of metabolic syndrome components in screening for sporadic colorectal cancer.

AIM: To determine the utility of the Asia-Pacific colorectal screening (APCS) scoring system and metabolic syndrome components in individual screening for sporadic colorectal cancer. METHODS: The subjects were patients admitted to the Peking University People's Hospital for colonoscopy between October 2012 and July 2013. Clinical information, including patient willingness to undergo colonoscopy, medical history, endoscopic findings, histology, and other information, was collected, and the patients were grouped according to APCS scores and the presence of metabolic syndrome components. Colorectal tumor detection rates were compared between the groups. RESULTS: A total of 219 patients were included in the study, 108 were male and 111 were female, resulting in a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.03. The average age of the patients was 56.8 ± 13.7 years. According to APCS scores, 88 (40.2%) patients were included in the average-risk (AR) group, 113 (51.6%) patients were included in the moderate-risk (MR) group, and 18 (8.2%) patients were included in the high-risk (HR) group. Colorectal tumors were detected in 69 (31.5%) subjects, and the detection rates in the AR, MR, and HR groups were 15.9%, 36.3%, and 77.8%, respectively. The difference in the detection rates between the three groups was statistically significant (P < 0.01). The combined detection rate of colorectal tumors in the APCS MR and HR groups was 42.0%. However, patients in the MR and HR groups who presented with metabolic syndrome components, in particular obesity, exhibited a significantly higher colorectal tumor detection rate (59.5%) than did those without these components (19.2%, P < 0.01) and those who underwent colonoscopy because of doctor's recommendation (36.5%, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The APCS scoring system can be used in individual screening for sporadic colorectal cancer. The combined use of APCS scores and the metabolic syndrome components, in particular obesity, will significantly improve the efficacy of individual colorectal cancer screening.

Isolation of eicosapentaenoic acid-producing fungi from soil based on polymerase chain reaction amplification.

A method was developed for rapid screening and isolation of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)-producing soil fungi through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. Genes coding for delta6 fatty acid desaturase and delta5 fatty acid desaturase were used as molecular markers for screening these EPA-producing fungi from soil. Three out of 65 soil fungi gave positive results through PCR amplification. Two out of these three strains were found to produce EPA when they had grown in 80 ml potato/dextrose liquid medium at (25 +/- 1) degrees C for 144 h. The EPA yields were 215.81 mg 1(-1) and 263.80 mg 1(-1), respectively. The other positive strain was detected to produce arachidonic acid (AA). This study indicates that molecular detection of genes encoding delta6 and delta5 desaturases is an efficient method for primary screening of EPA- or its related polyunsaturated fatty acids (PuFAs)-producing fungi, which can improve the screening efficiency prominently.