Arginine as a regulator of antioxidant and gel formation in yak Myofibrillar proteins: Efficacy and mechanistic insights.

Arginine (Arg), a safe basic amino acid, modulates interprotein interactions and impacts the processing characteristics of myofibrillar proteins (MP) in meat products, as numerous studies have demonstrated. This study aimed to explore the effects of varying concentrations of Arg (0.025, 0.050, 0.100, 0.200 %) on the physicochemical properties and gel behavior of yak MP. Utilizing yak MP as the substrate, we assessed and analyzed the physicochemical attributes and gel performance of the MP-Arg composite system. The findings revealed that Arg facilitates MP unfolding and internal group exposure, effectively mitigating oxidative tertiary structure alterations. Arg exerts potent antioxidant activity on MP, augmenting their water-holding capacity, which ameliorates gel properties. In this experiment, 0.05 % Arg maximally inhibited oxidative damage to MP, with protection being concentration-dependent. Collectively, these findings suggest that Arg effectively inhibits the oxidative degradation of MP structure and promotes the formation of enhanced gel characteristics.

Carboxymethyl chitosan-assisted MnOx nanoparticles: Synthesis, characterization, detection and cartilage repair in early osteoarthritis.

While the early detection and repair of cartilage lesions are crucial in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), they remain challenging because neither clinically used medicines nor magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents can achieve detection and repair simultaneously. Here, we conjugated carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) with a cartilage-targeting peptide (WYRGRL, termed WY) and then synthesized CMC-assisted manganese oxide nanoparticles (MnOx NPs). The resultant WY-CMC-MnOx NPs demonstrated an excellent biocompatibility and a good T1 relaxivity of 1.72 mM-1·s-1. Owing to their ultrasmall size and cartilage-targeting ability, the WY-CMC-MnOx NPs considerably increased the MR imaging quality of cartilage lesions compared to non-cartilage-targeting NPs. In contrast, clinically used gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DPTA) failed to detect the cartilage lesions. Furthermore, WY-CMC-MnOx promoted chondrogenesis in mesenchymal stem cells, thereby enhancing OA therapy through efficient cartilage regeneration after intraarticularly injection in destabilization of medial meniscus (DMM) rat models. Our results indicate that WY-CMC-MnOx NPs are promising for use in the diagnosis and treatment of early OA.

Phaeodactylum tricornutum microalgae as a rich source of omega-3 oil: Progress in lipid induction techniques towards industry adoption.

Diatoms are a major group of high omega 3-fatty acid producing algae that play a key role in global climate change and ecosystem function. Phaeodactylum tricornutum is one of only two diatoms whose genomes have been completely sequenced, leading to metabolic engineering of high eicosapentaenoic acid producing strains. Based on its rapid growth, high lipid content, and especially omega-3 long chain unsaturated fatty acids, P. tricornutum exhibits a large commercial potential. However, until now, it is predominately produced as feed for the aquaculture industry, rather than food supplement. This review compares the change of P. tricornutum lipid composition under different treatments, and identifies suitable lipid induction, cultivation and harvesting methods for industry adoption. If produced in a biorefinery setting, P. tricornutum has strong potential for value generation from human health products (omega-3-rich oil and high-value protein) with cost estimates of AU$6.14 per kg dry weight and AU$20.47 for omega-3-rich oil.