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Rocha Hoppe opublikował 1 rok, 3 miesiące temu
The natural gums used as high molecular weight oleogelators are mainly polysaccharides that deliver a broad spectrum of possible utilization methods when structuring liquid fats to solid forms. The review discusses a natural gums’ structuring and gelling behavior to capture the oil droplets and form the water/oil gelling emulsions basing on their structural conformation, internal charge, and polymeric characteristics. The specific parameters and characteristics of natural gums based oleogels are also discussed. In the future, oleogels may eliminate saturated and trans fats from food products and allow the production of low-fat products, thus reducing the environmental damage caused by the excessive use of palm oil. The increasing knowledge of molecular interaction in polysaccharide chains of natural gums allows to apply more sustainable and wiser strategies towards product formulation. Innovative solutions for using oleogels based on natural polysaccharide biopolymers let incorporate them into the food matrix and replace fats completely or create blends containing the source of fats and the addition of the oleogel. The profound insight into molecular characteristics of natural gums in the function of being oleogelators is presented.The advent of new insights into phosphate metabolism must urge the endocrinologist to rethink the pathophysiology of widespread disorders, such as primary hyperparathyroidism, and also of rarer endocrine metabolic bone diseases, such as hypoparathyroidism and tumor-induced hypophosphatemia. These rare diseases of mineral metabolism have been and will be a precious source of new information about phosphate and other minerals in the coming years. The parathyroid glands, the kidneys, and the intestine are the main organs affecting phosphate levels in the blood and urine. Parathyroid disorders, renal tubule defects, or phosphatonin-producing tumors might be unveiled from alterations of such a simple and inexpensive mineral as serum phosphate. This review will present all these disorders from a 'phosphate perspective’.STAT3 is a transcription factor that regulates various cellular processes with oncogenic potential, thereby promoting tumorigenesis when activated uncontrolled. STAT3 activation is mediated by its tyrosine phosphorylation, triggering dimerization and nuclear translocation. STAT3 also contains a serine phosphorylation site, with a postulated regulatory role in STAT3 activation and G2/M transition. Interleukin-6, a major activator of STAT3, is present in elevated concentrations in uveal melanomas, suggesting contribution of dysregulated STAT3 activation to their pathogenesis. Here, we studied the impact of chelidonine on STAT3 signaling in human uveal melanoma cells. Chelidonine, an alkaloid isolated from Chelidonium majus, disrupts microtubules, causes mitotic arrest and provokes cell death in numerous tumor cells. According to our flow cytometry and confocal microscopy data, chelidonine abrogated IL-6-induced activation and nuclear translocation, but amplified constitutive serine phosphorylation of STAT3. Both effects were restricted to a fraction of cells only, in an all-or-none fashion. A partial overlap could be observed between the affected subpopulations; however, no direct connection could be proven. This study is the first proof on a cell-by-cell basis for the opposing effects of a microtubule-targeting agent on the two types of STAT3 phosphorylation.Royal jelly (RJ) is secreted by honeybees and has been used as an apitherapy to obtain healthy skin since ancient times. However, the mechanism of the protective effects of RJ against skin aging and skin diseases caused by skin stress and its components have not been clarified. In this study, we attempted to understand the effect of RJ on epidermal function and observed that NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1) is significantly induced by RJ in keratinocytes. The expression of NQO1 was also increased in the 3D epidermal skin model. NQO1 is involved in antioxidation and detoxification metabolism, and we found that RJ protects against the epidermal stress caused by UVB and menadione through the upregulation of NQO1. We identified 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10H2DA), a major fatty acid in RJ, as an active compound in this reaction as it induced the expression of NQO1 and protected the skin against oxidative stress. We demonstrated that the protective effect of RJ against epidermal stress is mediated through the upregulation of NQO1 by 10H2DA.Light and brassinosteroid (BR) are external stimuli and internal cue respectively, that both play critical roles in a wide range of developmental and physiological process. Seedlings grown in the light exhibit photomorphogenesis, while BR promotes seedling etiolation. Light and BR oppositely control the development switch from shotomorphogenesis in the dark to photomorphogenesis in the light. Recent progress report that substantial components have been identified as hubs to integrate light and BR signals. Photomorphogenic repressors including COP1, PIFs, and AGB1 have been reported to elevate BR response, while photomorphogenesis-promoting factors such as HY5, BZS1, and NF-YCs have been proven to repress BR signal. In addition, BR components also modulate light signal. Here, we review the current research on signaling network associated with light and brassinosteroids, with a focus on the integration of light and BR signals enabling plants to thrive in the changeable environment.Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are among the main atmospheric pollutants; therefore, it is important to monitor and detect their presence in the atmosphere. To this end, low-dimensional carbon structures have been widely used as NOx sensors for their outstanding properties. In particular, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely used as toxic-gas sensors owing to their high specific surface area and excellent mechanical properties. Although pristine CNTs have shown promising performance for NOx detection, several strategies have been developed such as surface functionalization and defect engineering to improve the NOx sensing of pristine CNT-based sensors. Through these strategies, the sensing properties of modified CNTs toward NOx gases have been substantially improved. Therefore, in this review, we have analyzed the defect engineering and surface functionalization strategies used in the last decade to modify the sensitivity and the selectivity of CNTs to NOx. First, the different types of surface functionalization and defect engineering were reviewed. Thereafter, we analyzed experimental, theoretical, and coupled experimental-theoretical studies on CNTs modified through surface functionalization and defect engineering to improve the sensitivity and selectivity to NOx. Finally, we presented the conclusions and the future directions of modified CNTs as NOx sensors.Abiotic stresses, including drought, extreme temperatures, salinity, and waterlogging, are the major constraints in crop production. These abiotic stresses are likely to be amplified by climate change with varying temporal and spatial dimensions across the globe. The knowledge about the effects of abiotic stressors on major cereal and legume crops is essential for effective management in unfavorable agro-ecologies. These crops are critical components of cropping systems and the daily diets of millions across the globe. Major cereals like rice, wheat, and maize are highly vulnerable to abiotic stresses, while many grain legumes are grown in abiotic stress-prone areas. Despite extensive investigations, abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants is not fully understood. Current insights into the abiotic stress responses of plants have shown the potential to improve crop tolerance to abiotic stresses. Studies aimed at stress tolerance mechanisms have resulted in the elucidation of traits associated with tolerance in plants, in addition to the molecular control of stress-responsive genes. Some of these studies have paved the way for new opportunities to address the molecular basis of stress responses in plants and identify novel traits and associated genes for the genetic improvement of crop plants. The present review examines the responses of crops under abiotic stresses in terms of changes in morphology, physiology, and biochemistry, focusing on major cereals and legume crops. It also explores emerging opportunities to accelerate our efforts to identify desired traits and genes associated with stress tolerance.Fetal cartilage fully regenerates following injury, while in adult mammals cartilage injury leads to osteoarthritis (OA). Thus, in this study, we compared the in vivo injury response of fetal and adult ovine articular cartilage histologically and proteomically to identify key factors of fetal regeneration. In addition, we compared the secretome of fetal ovine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in vitro with injured fetal cartilage to identify potential MSC-derived therapeutic factors. Cartilage injury caused massive cellular changes in the synovial membrane, with macrophages dominating the fetal, and neutrophils the adult, synovial cellular infiltrate. Correspondingly, proteomics revealed differential regulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators and growth-factors between adult and fetal joints. Neutrophil-related proteins and acute phase proteins were the two major upregulated protein groups in adult compared to fetal cartilage following injury. In contrast, several immunomodulating proteins and growth factors were expressed significantly higher in the fetus than the adult. Comparison of the in vitro MSCs proteome with the in vivo fetal regenerative signature revealed shared upregulation of 17 proteins, suggesting their therapeutic potential. Biomimicry of the fetal paracrine signature to reprogram macrophages and modulate inflammation could be an important future research direction for developing novel therapeutics.Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune condition related to autoantibodies against certain proteins in the postsynaptic membranes in the neuromuscular junction. This disorder has a multifactorial inheritance. The connection between environmental and genetic factors can be established by epigenetic factors, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). XLOC_003810, SNHG16, IFNG-AS1, and MALAT-1 are among the lncRNAs with a possible role in the pathoetiology of MG. Moreover, miR-150-5p, miR-155, miR-146a-5p, miR-20b, miR-21-5p, miR-126, let-7a-5p, and let-7f-5p are among miRNAs whose roles in the pathogenesis of MG has been assessed. In the current review, we summarize the impact of miRNAs and lncRNAs in the development or progression of MG.Peptides inherently feature the favorable properties of being easily synthesized, water-soluble, biocompatible, and typically non-toxic. Thus, boronic acid has been widely integrated with peptides with the goal of discovering peptide ligands with novel biological activities, and this effort has led to broad applications. Taking the integration between boronic acid and peptide as a starting point, we provide an overview of the latest research advances and highlight the versatile and robust functionalities of boronic acid. In this review, we summarize the diverse applications of peptide boronic acids in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology, including the identification of covalent reversible enzyme inhibitors, recognition, and detection of glycans on proteins or cancer cell surface, delivery of siRNAs, development of pH responsive devices, and recognition of RNA or bacterial surfaces. Additionally, we discuss boronic acid-mediated peptide cyclization and peptide modifications, as well as the facile chemical synthesis of peptide boronic acids, which paved the way for developing a growing number of peptide boronic acids.


