Oral Limonite Supplement Ameliorates Glucose Intolerance in Diabetic and Obese Mice.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus is a serious threat to public health worldwide. It causes a substantial economic burden, mental and physical disabilities, poor quality of life, and high mortality. Limonite is formed when iron-rich materials from the underground emerge and oxidized on the ground surface. It is currently used to purify contaminated water, absorption of irritant gases, and improve livestock breeding. Limonite can change the composition of environmental microbial communities. In the present study, we evaluated whether limonite can ameliorate glucose metabolism abnormalities by remodeling the gut microbiome. METHODS: The investigation was performed using mouse models of streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus and high-calorie diet-induced metabolic syndrome. RESULTS: Oral limonite supplement was associated with significant body weight recovery, reduced glycemia with improved insulin secretion, increased number of regulatory T cells, and abundant beneficial gut microbial populations in mice with diabetes mellitus compared to control. Similarly, mice with obesity fed with limonite supplements had significantly reduced body weight, insulin resistance, steatohepatitis, and systemic inflammatory response with significant gut microbiome remodeling. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that limonite supplement ameliorates abnormal glucose metabolism in diabetes mellitus and obesity. Gut microbiome remodeling, inhibition of inflammatory cytokines, and the host immune response regulation may explain the limonite's beneficial activity under pathological conditions in vivo.

Investigation on phase separation kinetics of polyolefin blends through combination of viscoelasticity and morphology.

Phase separation kinetics of polyethylene copolymer blends polyethylene-co-hexene (PEH)/polyethylene-co-butene (PEB) at a phase separation temperature of 130 degrees C have been investigated through the combination of rheological measurements and optical microscope observation. When the blends are located in the unstable region, i.e., PEH/PEB 40/60 blend (H40), 50/50 blend (H50), and 60/40 blend (H60), due to the coeffect of the fast decay of concentration fluctuations and the reduced interfacial area, the stroage modulus, G', behaves dramatically, decreasing at the early or intermediate stages; while when the blends are located in the metastable region, i.e., PEH/PEB 70/30 blend (H70), G' decreases slightly and slowly during the whole time sweep process. During the cyclic frequency sweeps, G' evolutions of H50 and H70 show similar trends. Obviously different from the strong phase segregation systems, the increase of G' with time in the metastable region has not been observed, possibly due to the entanglement effects and weak interaction between the components of polyethylene blends. The interfacial tension-driven or diffusion-limited morphological evolutions of H50 and H70 during phase separation give direct interpretations to the viscoelastic difference between the two blends, which is dominated by different phase separation kinetics. The relatively low interfacial tensions at the late stage of phase separation for H50 (0.5-0.38 mN/m varying with time) and H70 (1.2 mN/m) can be estimated by using the Gramespacher-Meissner model.

Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction study on pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase TTHA1771 from Thermus thermophilus HB8.

Pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase (PYNP) catalyzes the reversible phosphorolysis of pyrimidines in the nucleotide-synthesis salvage pathway. In order to study the structure-thermostability relationship of this enzyme, PYNP from the extreme thermophile Thermus thermophilus HB8 (TTHA1771) has been cloned, overexpressed and purified. The TTHA1771 protein was crystallized at 291 K using the oil-microbatch method with PEG 4000 as a precipitant. A native data set was collected to 1.8 A resolution using synchrotron radiation. The crystal belongs to the monoclinic space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 58.83, b = 76.23, c = 103.86 A, beta = 91.3 degrees.

Feasibility of a Respiratory Movement Evaluation Tool to Quantify Thoracoabdominal Movement for Neuromuscular Diseases.

BACKGROUND: An objective method to evaluate thoracoabdominal movement is needed in daily clinical practice to detect patients at risk of hypoventilation and to allow for timely interventions in neuromuscular diseases. The clinical feasibility, reliability, and validity of a newly developed method for quantifying respiratory movement using fiber grating sensors, called the Respiratory Movement Evaluation Tool (RMET), was evaluated. METHODS: The time needed to measure respiratory movement and the usability of the measurement were determined by 5 clinicians using the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology (QUEST) 2.0 questionnaire. Thoracoabdominal movement was measured using RMET 3 times in 10 healthy subjects to evaluate intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). The subjects were encouraged to breathe 10 times while voluntarily changing the amount of air during ventilation simultaneously with the RMET and a spirometer, and their correlations were evaluated to test validity using Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients. The same measurements were also performed in 10 subjects with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. RESULTS: Real-time recordings of thoracoabdominal movements were obtained over a mean time of 374 ± 23.9 s. With QUEST 2.0, the median score of each item exceeded 3 (more or less satisfied). In healthy subjects, ICC(1,1) ranged from 0.82 to 0.99, and ICC(2,1) ranged from 0.83 to 0.97. Significant correlations were observed between the respiratory amplitudes measured with RMET, and the amount of air during ventilation was measured with a spirometer (r = 0.995, P < .001). In subjects with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, ICC(1,1) ranged from 0.87 to 0.97, and ICC(2,1) ranged from 0.84 to 0.99. The respiratory amplitudes measured with RMET correlated significantly with the amount of air during ventilation with a spirometer (r = 0.957, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: We developed a novel method of quantifying respiratory movement called RMET that was feasible to use in daily clinical practice.

Structure of peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase 2 from Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3: insight into the functional role of its dimeric state.

Peptidyl-tRNA hydrolases catalyze the hydrolytic removal of the peptidyl moiety from the peptidyl-tRNA molecule to prevent misreading during translation. Here, the expression, purification, crystallization and X-ray diffraction study of peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase 2 from Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3 (PhPth2) are described. The crystal structures were determined as similar biological dimers in two different forms: P4(1)2(1)2 at 1.2 A resolution (form 1) and P4(3)22 at 1.9 A resolution (form 2). In the form 1 structure, the asymmetric unit contains one PhPth2 subunit and a crystallographic twofold axis defines the dimeric association with the cognate subunit. In the form 2 structure, there are two PhPth2 subunits in the asymmetric unit that make a similar dimer with a noncrystallographic twofold axis. In order to evaluate the thermodynamic stability, the intra-protomer and inter-protomer interactions of PhPth2 were analyzed and compared with those of other Pth2-family members. The thermodynamic parameters show that the large number of ion pairs compared with family members from other mesophilic organisms would contribute to the thermostability of PhPth2. The structural difference between the two dimers was quantitatively evaluated by a multiple C(alpha)-atom superposition. A significant structural difference between the two dimers was observed around the putative active site of this enzyme. A rigid-body rotation takes place so as to retain the dimeric twofold symmetry, suggesting positive cooperativity upon tRNA binding. The mechanism of ligand binding was further investigated using a docking model with a tRNA molecule. The docking study suggests that the binding of tRNA requires its simultaneous interaction with both subunits of the PhPth2 dimer.

Structures of two archaeal diphthine synthases: insights into the post-translational modification of elongation factor 2.

The target of diphtheria toxin is the diphthamide residue in translation elongation factor 2 (EF-2), which is generated by a three-step post-translational modification of a specific histidine residue in the EF-2 precursor. In the second modification step, an S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase, diphthine synthase (DS), catalyzes the trimethylation of the EF-2 precursor. The homodimeric crystal structures of the archaeal diphthine synthases from Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3 and Aeropyrum pernix K1 have been determined. These structures share essentially the same overall fold as the cobalt-precorrin-4 methyltransferase CbiF, confirming that DS belongs to the dimeric class III family of methyltransferases. In the P. horikoshii DS dimer, only one of the two active sites binds the reaction product S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (AdoHcy), while the other active site contains no ligand. This asymmetric AdoHcy binding may be a consequence of intra-domain and inter-domain movements upon binding of AdoHcy at one of the two sites. These movements disrupt the twofold dimeric symmetry of the DS dimer and probably cause lower AdoHcy affinity at the other binding site.

High-throughput crystallization-to-structure pipeline at RIKEN SPring-8 Center.

A high-throughput crystallization-to-structure pipeline for structural genomics was recently developed at the Advanced Protein Crystallography Research Group of the RIKEN SPring-8 Center in Japan. The structure determination pipeline includes three newly developed technologies for automating X-ray protein crystallography: the automated crystallization and observation robot system "TERA", the SPring-8 Precise Automatic Cryosample Exchanger "SPACE" for automated data collection, and the Package of Expert Researcher's Operation Network "PERON" for automated crystallographic computation from phasing to model checking. During the 5 years following April, 2002, this pipeline was used by seven researchers to determine 138 independent crystal structures (resulting from 437 purified proteins, 234 cryoloop-mountable crystals, and 175 diffraction data sets). The protocols used in the high-throughput pipeline are described in this paper.