Dextran sulfate acting as a chaperone-like component on inhibition of amorphous aggregation and enhancing thermal stability of ovotransferrin.

The tendency of ovotransferrin (OVT) to unfold and aggregate under 60 °C severely restricted sterilization temperature during egg processing. Searching for efficient strategies to improve OVT thermal stability is essential for improving egg product quality and processing suitability. Here, we investigated the effect of sulfate polysaccharide (dextran sulfate, DS) on heat-induced aggregation of OVT. We found that DS can effectively suppress amorphous aggregation of OVT at pH 7.0 after heating. Strikingly, the addition of 5 µM DS fully suppressed insoluble aggregates formation of 0.5 mg/mL OVT. Structure analysis confirmed that DS preserves nearly the entire secondary and tertiary structure of OVT during heating. The steric hindrance effect arising from strong electrostatic interactions between OVT and DS, coupled with reduced OVT hydrophobicity, is the underlying mechanism in suppressing protein-protein interactions, thus enhancing thermal stability. These findings suggest DS could act as protein stabilizers and chaperones, enhancing the thermostability of heat-sensitive proteins.

The level of sulfate substitution of polysaccharide regulates thermal-induced egg white protein gel properties: The characterization of gel structure and intermolecular forces.

Sulfated polysaccharides exhibit great potential for regulating protein-protein interactions. In the present study, three sulfated microcrystalline cellulose (MCS) with different degrees of sulfate substitution (DSS: 0.33, 0.51, 0.61) were synthesized and the effects of DSS on the regulation of egg white protein (EWP) aggregation and gelation properties were investigated. The results found that the improvement of protein mechanical properties by MCS is closely related to the level of sulfate substitution. The higher the DSS, the more ordered protein aggregates and compact gel network formed during heating as compared to that of pure EWP. Lower DSS (0.33) shows little effect on the mechanical properties of EWP. Furthermore, all the MCSs could significantly destroy the tertiary structure of protein molecules during heating, while for the secondary structure, MCS with higher DSS (0.51 and 0.61) could effectively control the decreasing tendency of α-helix and increasing tendency of ß-sheet. Hydrophobic interactions were recognized as the major intermolecular force in the compact mixed gels (EWP/MCS2 and EWP/MCS3 gels, DSS was 0.51 and 0.61, respectively). These findings provide a vital understanding of the gelling mechanism of the protein-polysaccharide system and the application of sulfated polysaccharides in protein-based food products.

Perilla frutescens: A traditional medicine and food homologous plant.

Perilla frutescens, an annual herb of the Labiatae family, has been cultivated in China for more than 2000 years. P. frutescens is the one of the first medicinal and edible plant published by the Ministry of Health. Its leaves, stems and seeds can be used as medicine and edible food. Because of the abundant nutrients and bioactive components in this plant, P. frutescens has been studied extensively in medicine, food, health care and chemical fields with great prospects for development. This paper reviews the cultivation history, chemical compositions and pharmacological activities of P. frutescens, which provides a reference for the development and utilization of P. frutescens resources.

Designation and characterization of cold-set egg white protein/dextran sulfate hydrogel for curcumin entrapment.

This study aimed to design a cold-set hydrogel of egg white protein (EWP) with good mechanical properties for encapsulating curcumin. Dextran sulfate (DS) and transglutaminase (TGase) were used to control the aggregation and gelation behavior of EWP at preheating step and gelation step, respectively. The optimum soluble protein aggregate size was obtained in the EWP/DS mixture at a mass ratio of 10 under 85 °C preheated (HED10). The presence of TGase further enhanced the cross-linking degree between protein aggregates during the gelation step. The highest gel hardness was found in HED10 hydrogel with TGase, which is almost 10 times the pure EWP gel. Besides, the HED hydrogels effectively slowed down the release rate of curcumin in gastrointestinal digestion. This work provides a theoretical basis for the development of cold-set EWP hydrogel with good mechanical strength by sulfated polysaccharide addition and TGase cross-linking as encapsulation delivery systems.

A chromosome-scale genome assembly of Artemisia argyi reveals unbiased subgenome evolution and key contributions of gene duplication to volatile terpenoid diversity.

Artemisia argyi Lévl. et Vant., a perennial Artemisia herb with an intense fragrance, is widely used in traditional medicine in China and many other Asian countries. Here, we present a chromosome-scale genome assembly of A. argyi comprising 3.89 Gb assembled into 17 pseudochromosomes. Phylogenetic and comparative genomic analyses revealed that A. argyi underwent a recent lineage-specific whole-genome duplication (WGD) event after divergence from Artemisia annua, resulting in two subgenomes. We deciphered the diploid ancestral genome of A. argyi, and unbiased subgenome evolution was observed. The recent WGD led to a large number of duplicated genes in the A. argyi genome. Expansion of the terpene synthase (TPS) gene family through various types of gene duplication may have greatly contributed to the diversity of volatile terpenoids in A. argyi. In particular, we identified a typical germacrene D synthase gene cluster within the expanded TPS gene family. The entire biosynthetic pathways of germacrenes, (+)-borneol, and (+)-camphor were elucidated in A. argyi. In addition, partial deletion of the amorpha-4,11-diene synthase (ADS) gene and loss of function of ADS homologs may have resulted in the lack of artemisinin production in A. argyi. Our study provides new insights into the genome evolution of Artemisia and lays a foundation for further improvement of the quality of this important medicinal plant.

Teaching Mode Based on Educational Big Data Mining and Digital Twins.

Data mining technology has gradually become an important data analysis and knowledge discovery technology widely used in many modern industries. Data mining is a technique to find its regularity from a large amount of data by analyzing each data. It mainly includes three steps: data preparation, regularity search, and regularity representation. Data preparation is to select the required data from relevant data sources and integrate them into a data set for data mining; regular search is to find out the regularity contained in the data set by a certain method; regular expression is to be as user-readable as possible. The way of understanding (such as visualization) will represent the found patterns. This research mainly discusses the improvement of teaching mode based on digital twin-based education big data mining. Through the research on the basic principles of data mining and digital twin technology, the student evaluation tool module based on digital twin and the relevant data analysis tool module of students based on digital twin education big data mining are developed. Data mining is carried out from the data of student performance, personal basic information, and evaluation information to find the correlation between various factors, find the hidden laws, and provide support for teaching decision-making. This paper also solves the problem of frequent communication with remote databases according to the characteristics of the database data required by students and improves the efficiency and scalability of education big data mining technology based on digital twins. The goal of the virtual interactive system of the digital twin-based CNC platform is to have both three-dimensional real-time monitoring and remote control functions based on a three-dimensional virtual CNC panel. This research integrates the three-dimensional real-time monitoring and remote control of the virtual interactive system, analyzes the system operation process, develops the system interface, and improves the system sub-functions; it builds an experimental environment, conducts example tests on various functions of the digital twin platform virtual interactive system, and performs virtual interactions system performance indicators are analyzed. 60% of students believe that their innovation ability has been improved after the implementation of the digital twin teaching model; 50% of students believe that their self-evaluation ability has been improved. Applying digital twin's educational big data mining to student information management, university teaching evaluation, student performance analysis, and examination system, it has played a very good guiding role in improving the level of school teaching management.

UV-C treatment inhibits browning, inactivates Pseudomonas tolaasii and reduces associated chemical and enzymatic changes of button mushrooms.

BACKGROUND: Button mushrooms with completely white appearance are popular with consumers. However, button mushrooms are susceptible to infection with Pseudomonas tolaasii, which results in browning. This study evaluates the effects of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) treatment on the inactivation of P. tolaasii in vitro and in vivo and on the physiological and chemical changes of button mushrooms during storage for 21 days at 4 °C. RESULTS: UV-C doses of 0.5 to 9.0 kJ m-2 resulted in 3.91-6.26 log CFU mL-1 reduction of P. tolaasii populations in vitro, and UV-C treatment reduced P. tolaasii populations inoculated on mushroom cap surfaces and browning severity. Moreover, P. tolaasii increased polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, and decreased phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity, the accumulation of phenolics and contents of brown melanin precursors, including γ-l-glutaminyl-4-hydroxybenzene (GHB), γ-l-glutaminyl-3,4-dihydroxybenzene (GDHB), and tyrosine in button mushrooms. UV-C treatment was found to reduce the negative changes due to P. tolaasii infection. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that the application of UV-C treatment inhibited browning, inactivated P. tolaasii and reduced P. tolaasii - associated chemical and enzymatic changes of button mushrooms. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

l-Arginine/l-lysine functionalized chitosan-casein core-shell and pH-responsive nanoparticles: fabrication, characterization and bioavailability enhancement of hydrophobic and hydrophilic bioactive compounds.

This study aimed at developing novel oral self-assembled delivery systems for the encapsulation, protection, and controlled release of hydrophobic and hydrophilic bioactive compounds based on l-arginine (Arg)- or l-lysine (Lys)-functionalized chitosan-casein nanoparticles (NPs). The assembled casein (CA) was modified by NaOH and used as a template core for affinity binding with hydrophobic curcumin and hydrophilic egg white-derived peptides (EWDP) and then coated with Arg- or Lys-functionalized chitosan (CS) to stabilize the systems via electrostatic interaction. Dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy examination revealed Arg/Lys-CS-CA NPs with the smallest particle size of 110/82 nm, pH-responsive properties, excellent storage stability until 28 days, and spherical shape. The encapsulation efficiency of curcumin and EWDP in the NPs ranged from 81-91%, 35-74% in Arg-CS-CA NPs, and 76-87%, 48-87% in Lys-CS-CA NPs varying with different pH values. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry analysis were conducted to fully characterize the interaction mechanism of Arg/Lys-CS with CA, as well as the NP incorporation with curcumin and EWDP. The in vitro controlled release profile of the core-shell NPs was obtained up to 24 and 48 h for curcumin and EWDP, respectively. The simulated gastrointestinal digestion experiments confirmed that curcumin and EWDP had higher bioaccessibility in Arg/Lys-CS-CA NPs. This work offers a novel approach for producing core-shell and pH-responsive nanocarriers for oral delivery and bioavailability enhancement of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic bioactive compounds.

N-Acetyl-l-cysteine/l-Cysteine-Functionalized Chitosan-ß-Lactoglobulin Self-Assembly Nanoparticles: A Promising Way for Oral Delivery of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Bioactive Compounds.

Self-assembled and cross-linked hybrid hydrogels for entrapment and delivery of hydrophilic and hydrophobic bioactive compounds were developed based on N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC)- or l-cysteine (CYS)-functionalized chitosan-ß-lactoglobulin nanoparticles (NPs). In both the systems, amphiphilic protein ß-lactoglobulin (ß-lg) was self-assembled by using glutaraldehyde for affinity binding with egg white-derived peptides (EWDP) and curcumin and then coated with NAC- or CYS-functionalized chitosan (CS) by electrostatic interaction. The resulting NPs were characterized in terms of size, polydispersity, and surface charge by dynamic light scattering. Results corroborated pH-sensitive properties of NAC-CS-ß-lg NPs and CYS-CS-ß-lg NPs with the particle size as small as 118 and 48 nm, respectively. The two kinds of NPs also showed excellent entrapment of EWDP and curcumin with the entrapment efficiency (EE) of EWDP and curcumin ranging from 51 to 89% and 42 to 57% in NAC-CS-ß-lg NPs, as well as 50-81% and 41-57% in CYS-CS-ß-lg NPs under different pH values. Fourier transform infrared and molecular docking studies provided support for the interaction mechanism of NAC/CYS-CS with ß-lg as well as the NPs with EWDP and curcumin. Strikingly, the in vitro release kinetics of EWDP and curcumin exhibited the controlled and sustained release properties up to 58 and 70 h from the NPs, respectively. Note that the permeability of QIGLF (pentapeptide, isolated from EWDP) and curcumin passing through Caco-2 cell monolayers were all improved after the entrapment in the NPs. This work offers promising methods for effective entrapment and oral delivery of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic bioactive compounds.

Clinical characteristics and epilepsy outcomes following surgery caused by focal cortical dysplasia (type IIa) in 110 adult epileptic patients.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of surgical intervention of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) IIa on the outcome of epilepsy, and to evaluate the prognostic factors of seizure freedom. Patient data from epilepsy surgeries were retrospectively reviewed at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University between 2007 and 2015. A total of 110 patients with a definite pathological diagnosis of FCD IIa were included. Moreover, the clinical characteristics, seizure outcome and quality of life in adults with FCD IIa were evaluated. The Engel seizure outcome achievements were class I in 72, class II in 20, class III in 11 and class IV in 7 patients. In addition, the Engel seizure outcome was relevant with the resection range of the lesions (P=0.028). The assessments of electrocorticography (ECoG) patterns and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are relevant to determining the extent of the resection, which may influence the surgery outcome (P=0.001 and P=0.023). Using multivariate regression analyses, the extent of resection, seizure frequency, preoperative ECoG and location of resection were the most important risk factors for seizure recurrence. The results of quality of life in epilepsy-10 scoring revealed that the quality of life improved significantly following surgery (P<0.01). Moreover, surgical intervention, EcoG, MRI positioning and complete resection helped to have improved seizure control, relief of anxiety and quality of life. All these observations strongly recommend an early consideration of epilepsy surgery in FCD IIa patients.

The correlation between the Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in non-diabetics and cardiovascular risk factors.

This study aimed to discuss the relativity between the glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in non-diabetics and cardiovascular risk factors and definite the significance of predicting the cardiovascular risk factors through cross-sectional research method. There were 2007 cases volunteers (including 650 cases of male, 1357 cases of female) from city community with complete information involved in the research of diabetes. The value of HbA1c 6.5% was set as the diagnose boundary of the diabetes. Differences were considered to be statistically significant at P<0.05. Hypertension, dyslipidemi, being overweight or obesity, age (male was over 45 years old and female was over 55 years old.), HbA1c 6.0% and fasting blood glucose (FBG) 6.1mmol/L were regarded as cardiovascular risk factors. Then we analyzed the number of risk factors for individuals in different HbA1c groups. Meanwhile, patients were grouped into zero, one, two, three, four or more groups with reference to the number of risk factors they had in order to compare the values of risk factors in different groups through Logistic regression. The results showed that (1) For those people who had no less than three risk factors, the frequency of risk factors was on the rise with the increase of HbA1c levels. (2) The value of HbA1c in different groups of risk factors rose with the increasing number of risk factors. There was a significant difference (P<0.001) between groups. (3) The Regression analysis showed that there was a stronger correlation between HbA1c levels and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), fasting blood glucose (FBG) rather than age. So Non-diabetics whose HbA1c levels ranged from 6.0% to 6.5% were at high risk of cardiovascular risk factors. HbA1c levels, which can be a prediction index for cardiovascular risk factors dependent from other cardiovascular risk factors for non-diabetics, and it were highly relevant with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting blood glucose (FBG).

Sesamol suppresses the inflammatory response by inhibiting NF-κB/MAPK activation and upregulating AMP kinase signaling in RAW 264.7 macrophages.

OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN: Sesamol is a lignan isolated from sesame seed oil. In recent years, it was found that sesamol could decrease lung inflammation and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung injury in rats. In this study, we investigated whether sesamol exhibited anti-inflammatory activity in LPS-stimulated macrophages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: RAW 264.7 cells were treated with sesamol, then treated with LPS to induce inflammation. The levels of proinflammatory cytokines were analyzed with ELISA. The gene and protein expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) were evaluated with real-time PCR and Western blots, respectively. We also examined inflammatory signaling pathways, including nuclear transcription factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. RESULTS: Sesamol inhibited production of nitric oxide, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and proinflammatory cytokines. Sesamol markedly suppressed mRNA and protein expression of iNOS and COX-2. Sesamol enhanced the protective antioxidant pathway represented by Nrf2 and HO-1. Moreover, sesamol suppressed NF-κB transport into the nucleus and decreased MAPK activation, but it promoted adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggested that sesamol ameliorated inflammatory and oxidative damage by upregulating AMPK activation and Nrf2 signaling and blocking the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways.

Casticin inhibits COX-2 and iNOS expression via suppression of NF-κB and MAPK signaling in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated mouse macrophages.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The fruits of Vitex rotundifolia L. are widely used to treat inflammation of the airway in Traditional Chinese medicine. Previous studies found that casticin, isolated from Vitex rotundifolia, could induce apoptosis of tumor cells. In this study, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory effects of casticin and its underlying molecular mechanism in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: RAW264.7 cells were pretreated with various concentrations of casticin (0.3-10µM), and then treated with LPS to induce inflammation. We assayed the levels of proinflammatory cytokines and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) using ELISA, and examined the protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, and heme oxygenase (HO)-1 by Western blot. We also investigated the anti-inflammatory molecular mechanism by analyzing inflammatory-associated signaling pathways, including the nuclear transcription factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. RESULTS: We found casticin inhibited the levels of nitric oxide and PGE2, and decreased the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). In addition, iNOS and COX-2 expression levels were suppressed and casticin increased HO-1 and Nrf2 production in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, casticin significantly inhibited NF-κB subunit p65 proteins in the nucleus and decreased Akt and MAPK activation. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the anti-inflammatory effect of casticin is due to inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines and mediators by blocking the NF-κB, Akt, and MAPK signaling pathways.