Charge Transfer Complex-Enabled Synthesis of (Hetero)arylated m-Carboranes from m-Carborane Phosphonium Salts.

A photoinduced charge transfer complex (CTC)-enabled photoreduction of carborane phosphonium salts for the cage carbon (hetero)arylation of carboranes was developed. It offers a convenient approach for introducing a wide range of aryl and heteroaryl groups, such as pyrroles, thiophenes, indoles, thianaphthenes, benzofurans, pyridines, and benzenes, into carboranes. This strategy offers operational simplicity, mild reaction conditions, and a broad substrate scope, making it highly advantageous.

The positive effects of postbiotic (SWF concentration®) supplemented diet on skin mucus, liver, gut health, the structure and function of gut microbiota of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fed with high-fat diet.

Postbiotics are an emerging research interest in recent years, which shows that metabolites, lysate extracts, cell wall components and even culture supernatants of probiotics can also exhibit significant prebiotic effects. In this study postbiotic stress worry free concentration® (SWFC) were prepared from the composition of culture supernatant of Cetobacterium somerae and Lactococcus lactis. The positive effects of SWFC supplemented diets on the growth performance, skin mucus, liver and gut health, and intestinal microbiota profile of Cyprinus carpio fed with high fat diets were investigated. 180 C. carpio with an average body weight of (3.01 ± 0.01) g were selected and randomly divided into three groups. They were fed with one of the three experimental diets supplemented with SWFC of 0 (control), 0.2 and 0.3 g/kg for 98 days, afterwards indexes were detected. The results revealed that, addition of SWFC had no significant effect on growth performance of C. carpio, while it can improve the health of the fish remarkably. In addition, SWFC improved mucosal C3, T-AOC, SOD activities, and decreased lipid peroxidation product MDA level, which were notably better than those in the control group (P < 0.05). In terms of the liver health systems, C. carpio fed on the diet supplemented with 0.2 g/kg of SWFC, showed significant improvement of the liver injured by HFD and reduce the contents of serum ALT and AST, and liver TAG (P < 0.05; P < 0.01). The expression of inflammation-related and lipid synthesis genes revealed that SWFC0.2 group could noteworthy enhance antioxidant capacity, reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-1ß) and lipid synthesis genes (ACC, FAS, PPAR-ß, PPAR-γ), and up-regulated the expression of anti-inflammatory factors (TGF-ß). Additionally, intestinal morphology arose inflammatory cell infiltration, while intestinal integrity was better in SWFC groups compared with the control. Furthermore, the contents of serum LPS and LBP were remarkably lower in the SWFC0.2 group compared with the control (P < 0.01). The mRNA expression of genes related to gut health indicated that SWFC supplementation noteworthy up-regulated the expression of antioxidant (Nrf2, CAT, GPX), immune (Hepcidin, IL-10) and tight junction protein-related (ZO-1, Occludin). Simultaneously, the results of GF-zebrafish showed that the relative expression of anti-inflammatory genes (IL-1ß, TGF-ß) and antioxidant related genes (Nrf2, HO-1) were significantly up-regulated in SWFC groups. Data on intestinal microbiota profile verified that, at the phylum level, the abundance of Fusobacteria was remarkably elevated in the SWFC groups (P < 0.05), whereas the abundance of Firmicutes was declined noteworthy in SWFC0.2 and SWFC0.3 compared to the control group (P < 0.05; P < 0.01) respectively. At the genus level, the abundance of Cetobacterium in the SWFC groups were notably higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05), while the Vibrio content in the SWFC groups was significantly decreased (P < 0.05). PCoA result indicated that the intestinal microflora of SWFC0.2 group was abundant and diverse. Our results elucidate that dietary supplementation of SWFC protects C. carpio from HFD induced inflammatory response and oxidative stress, ameliorate skin mucus, liver and gut health, and improve the gut microbiota balance. Therefore, SWFC could be considered as an improving-fish-health additive, when supplemented to aquatic animal feed. With regards to how SWFC regulates the immunity and inflammatory responses and which signal transductions are involved remains unclear and more scientific evidences are needed to address these issues.

Influences of dietary Eucommia ulmoides leaf extract on the hepatic lipid metabolism, inflammation response, intestinal antioxidant capacity, intestinal microbiota, and disease resistance of the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus).

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of Eucommia ulmoides leaf extract (ELE) on the common occurrence of liver steatosis, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, disturbance of gut microbiota, and disease susceptibility in high-fat diet-fed channel catfish. Channel catfish fed three diets, including a high-fat diet (11% crude fat) and ELE-supplemented diets containing 1‰ or 2‰ ELE for 4 weeks. The results showed the contents of liver triacylglycerol of 1‰ and 2‰ ELE groups were reduced, and ELE treatments decreased the expression of lipogenesis related genes (srebp-1c, pparγ, and acc-1), and increased the expression of lipolysis related genes (pparα). In addition, the supplementation of ELE improved the inflammatory response of the liver and intestine. ELE could improve the destruction of intestinal morphology structure and increase the expression level of hif-1a and tight junction proteins (Occludin, Claudin2, Claudin15). 2‰ ELE significantly enhanced the antioxidant capacity of intestine by increasing the activity of SOD enzyme. Moreover, the supplement of ELE significantly increased the abundance of Cetobacterium and Romboutsia (p < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the expression of immune factor nf-κb had a significant decrease, and il-1ß showed a tendency to decrease in the ELE supplement groups after pathogenic bacteria challenge. In conclusion, the ELE alleviated fatty liver disease and inflammation response, improved the oxidative capacity and physiological structure of intestine, and improved the structure of intestinal microbiota and disease resistance in HFD-fed channel catfish.

Iso-suillin from Suillus flavus Induces Apoptosis in Human Small Cell Lung Cancer H446 Cell Line.

BACKGROUND: The suillin isoform iso-suillin is a natural substance isolated from a petroleum ether extract of the fruiting bodies of the mushroom Suillus flavus. Previous studies have found its inhibition effect on some cancer cells, and we aimed to study its effects on human small cell lung cancer H446 cell line. METHODS: Cell viability was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide assay. Cellular morphological changes (apoptosis and necrosis) were evaluated using an electron microscope and Hoechst 33258 staining detected by the inverted microscope. Flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis, cell cycle distribution, and mitochondrial membrane potential. Protein expression was determined by Western blotting analysis. RESULTS: Here, we describe the ability of iso-suillin to inhibit the growth of H446 cells in time- and dose-dependent way. Iso-suillin had no obvious impact on normal human lymphocyte proliferation at low concentrations (9.09, 18.17, or 36.35 µmol/L) but promoted lymphocyte proliferation at a high concentration (72.70 µmol/L). After treatment of different concentrations of iso-suillin (6.82, 13.63, or 20.45 µmol/L), the apoptosis rate of H446 cells increased with increasing concentrations of iso-suillin (16.70%, 35.54%, and 49.20%, respectively, all P < 0.05 compared with the control), and the expression of related apoptotic proteins in the mitochondrial pathway including cytochrome c and caspase-9 were up-regulated compared with the control (all P < 0.05). On the contrary, Bcl-2/Bax ratio was down-regulated compared with the control. Besides, the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins in the death receptor apoptosis pathway, including Fas-associating protein with a novel death domain and caspase-8, and the expression of caspase-3, a downstream regulatory protein of apoptosis, were also increased compared with the control (all P < 0.05). Inhibitors of caspase-9 and caspase-8 reversed the apoptosis process in H446 cells to varying degrees. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that iso-suillin could induce H446 cell apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway and the death-receptor pathway. Therefore, iso-suillin might have a potential application as a novel drug for lung cancer treatment.