Foxtail millet prolamin as an effective encapsulant deliver curcumin by fabricating caseinate stabilized composite nanoparticles.

The development of food proteins as effective delivery systems is of great significance for the encapsulation of active compounds. Foxtail millet prolamin (FP) has a high level of hydrophobic amino acids and proline, meets the basic characteristics of delivery system, and was described here for the first time as an effective delivery system for the encapsulation of curcumin. The interaction between FP and curcumin was confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy, showing the joint driving of hydrophobic forces and hydrogen bonds. Curcumin-loaded caseinate-stabilized FP nanodispersions were prepared by anti-solvent/evaporation method. The mean particle size was about 220-235 nm, sharing features of a spherical shape, uniform particle size, and smooth surfaces. High level of curcumin was encapsulated in the FP-based nanoparticles, exhibiting high particle yield (>88.4%) and encouraging encapsulation efficiency (>71.3%). X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy demonstrated that the encapsulated curcumin was amorphous state and interacted with proteins via non-covalent bonds. The nano-sized particles can effectively prevent the degradation of curcumin during heat treatment, and significantly enhance the antioxidant and anti-tumor properties. This study provides a new encapsulant for effective protection and targeted delivery of hydrophobic active biomolecules.

Cholesterol metabolic enzyme Ggpps regulates epicardium development and ventricular wall architecture integrity in mice.

During embryonic heart development, the progenitor cells in the epicardium would migrate and differentiate into noncardiomyocytes in myocardium and affect the integrity of ventricular wall, but the underlying mechanism has not been well studied. We have found that myocardium geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (Ggpps), a metabolic enzyme for cholesterol biosynthesis, is critical for cardiac cytoarchitecture remodelling during heart development. Here, we further reveal that epicardial Ggpps could also regulate ventricular wall architecture integrity. Epicardium-specific deletion of Ggpps before embryonic day 10.5 (E10.5) is embryonic lethal, whereas after E13.5 is survival but with defects in the epicardium and ventricular wall structure. Ggpps deficiency in the epicardium enhances the proliferation of epicardial cells and disrupts cell‒cell contact, which makes epicardial cells easier to invade into ventricular wall. Thus, the fibroblast proliferation and coronary formation in myocardium were found enhanced that might disturb the coronary vasculature remodelling and ventricular wall integrity. These processes might be associated with the activation of YAP signalling, whose nuclear distribution is blocked by Ggpps deletion. In conclusion, our findings reveal a potential link between the cholesterol metabolism and heart epicardium and myocardium development in mammals, which might provide a new view of the cause for congenital heart diseases and potential therapeutic target in pathological cardiac conditions.

The Genetic Architecture of the Chickens Dropping Moisture by Genetic Parameter Estimation and Genome-Wide Association.

Dropping moisture (DM) refers to the water content of feces. High DM in chickens could be disadvantageous to pathogen control and fecal treatment in chicken farms. DM can be affected by environment, nutrition, disease, and genetics. In the present study, significant individual differences were presented in the DM of Rhode Island Red (RIR) chicken population, indicating that genetics could contribute to DM in the chickens. Subsequently, we estimated the genetic parameters of DM and conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to find the potential genomic regions related to DM. The results showed that the heritability of DM ranged from 0.25 to 0.32. Furthermore, 11 significant loci on chromosome 7 were found to be associated with DM levels by the GWAS. The SNP rs15833816 within the COL6A3 gene was the most significant SNP related to DM. Hens carrying the G allele including GA and GG produced higher DM (P < 0.01) levels than those carrying the other genotype AA. Our results showed that DM is a medium-inheritable trait and that COL6A3 could be a potential candidate gene that regulates DM level in chickens.

Recombinant OX40 attenuates neuronal apoptosis through OX40-OX40L/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway following subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is the most devastating form of stroke. Reducing neuronal apoptosis is an important countermeasure against early brain injury (EBI) after SAH. Recent evidence indicates that OX40-OX40L coupling is critical for cell survival and proliferation. Current study was performed to detect the role of recombinant OX40 (ReOX40) against neuronal apoptosis after SAH. The endovascular perforation model of SAH was performed on Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. ReOX40 was injected intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v) 1 h after SAH induction and the following methods were employed: neurological function evaluation, immunofluorescence staining, fluoro-Jade C staining, and western blot. To study the underlying precise molecular mechanism, small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) for OX40L and a specific inhibitor of PI3K, LY294002, were injected i.c.v. into SAH + ReOX40 rats before induction of SAH. When compared with sham rats, the expression of OX40 and OX40L was seen to decrease in the brain at 24 h after SAH induction. Administration of ReOX40 (5 µg/kg) increased expression of the OX40L, reduced the neuronal apoptosis, and improved short and long-term neurological function deficits. Furthermore, ReOx40 heightened activation of OX40L/PI3K/AKT axis, increased the downstream anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl2, Bcl-XL), and depressed the apoptotic protein (cleaved caspase 3, Bax). However, the protective effects of ReOX40 were abolished by the administration of OX40L siRNA and LY294002, respectively. These results demonstrate that ReOX40 attenuates neuronal apoptosis through OX40-OX40L/PI3K/AKT pathway in EBI after SAH.

Osteopontin attenuates early brain injury through regulating autophagy-apoptosis interaction after subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats.

AIM: To determine the effect of osteopontin (OPN) on autophagy and autophagy-apoptosis interactions after SAH. METHODS: The endovascular perforation model of SAH or sham surgery was performed in a total of 86 Sprague-Dawley male rats. The temporal expressions of endogenous OPN and autophagy-related proteins (Beclin 1, ATG5, LC3 II to I ratio) were measured in sham and SAH rats at different time points (3, 6, 12, 24, and 72 hours). Rats were randomly divided into three groups: Sham, SAH + Vehicle (PBS, phosphate-buffered saline), and SAH + rOPN (5 µg/rat recombinant OPN). Neurobehavioral tests were performed 24 hours after SAH, followed by the collection of brain samples for assessment of autophagy and apoptosis proteins. These tests assessed whether an autophagy-apoptosis relationship existed on the histological level in the brain. RESULTS: Endogenous OPN and autophagy-related proteins all increased after SAH. rOPN administration improved neurological dysfunction, increased the expression of autophagy-related proteins (Beclin 1, ATG5, LC3 II to I ratio) and antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, while decreasing the expression of proapoptotic proteins (cleaved Caspase-3 and Bax). rOPN also regulated autophagy-apoptosis interactions 24 hours after SAH. CONCLUSION: rOPN attenuates early brain injury and inhibits neuronal apoptosis by activating autophagy and regulating autophagy-apoptosis interactions.

Early growth response-1 negative feedback regulates skeletal muscle postprandial insulin sensitivity via activating Ptp1b transcription.

Postprandial insulin desensitization plays a critical role in maintaining whole-body glucose homeostasis by avoiding the excessive absorption of blood glucose; however, the detailed mechanisms that underlie how the major player, skeletal muscle, desensitizes insulin action remain to be elucidated. Herein, we report that early growth response gene-1 ( Egr-1) is activated by insulin in skeletal muscle and provides feedback inhibition that regulates insulin sensitivity after a meal. The inhibition of the transcriptional activity of Egr-1 enhanced the phosphorylation of the insulin receptor (InsR) and Akt, thus increasing glucose uptake in L6 myotubes after insulin stimulation, whereas overexpression of Egr-1 decreased insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, deletion of Egr-1 in the skeletal muscle improved systemic insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, which resulted in lower blood glucose levels after refeeding. Mechanistic analysis demonstrated that EGR-1 inhibited InsR phosphorylation and glucose uptake in skeletal muscle by binding to the proximal promoter region of protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B (PTP1B) and directly activating transcription. PTP1B knockdown largely restored insulin sensitivity and enhanced glucose uptake, even under conditions of EGR-1 overexpression. Our results indicate that EGR-1/PTP1B signaling negatively regulates postprandial insulin sensitivity and suggest a potential therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of excessive glucose absorption.-Wu, J., Tao, W.-W., Chong, D.-Y., Lai, S.-S., Wang, C., Liu, Q., Zhang, T.-Y., Xue, B., Li, C.-J. Early growth response-1 negative feedback regulates skeletal muscle postprandial insulin sensitivity via activating Ptp1b transcription.

Advances in genome-wide association studies for important traits in sheep and goats.

Genome-wide association study (GWAS), an effective strategy to identify genetic variants associated with complex traits, has been used to study candidate genes of economical traits in animals. With the recent completion of sheep and goat genomes, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips of different densities are developed and commercialized. All these advances have enlarged the collection of molecular markers and also shed new light on the genetics of traits of interest in sheep and goats. In this review, we focus on the adoption of GWAS for important traits in sheep and goats, such as horn types, wool, dairy, growth and meat, reproduction and disease types, etc., and summarize the populations, major statistical methods and results of the GWAS analysis. Moreover, we also discuss the current state of GWAS, aiming to provide a reference for further studies on the genetic background of the important traits of sheep and goats by GWAS.