Search Results (95)

An ethyl acetate extract from the deep-sea bacterium Galbibacter orientalis strain ROD011 (GOEE), collected from international waters, was investigated as a potential anti-inflammatory agent. In lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine macrophages, nitric oxide (NO) production fell by 72–87% at 5–20 µg/mL GOEE without detectable cytotoxicity. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2 protein abundance decreased in a dose-dependent manner and was nearly absent at 20 µg/mL. In zebrafish embryos, survival was maintained up to 40 µg/mL, and LPS-induced signals were attenuated; the cell-death rate declined from 10 µg/mL onward, and at 20 µg/mL GOEE, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and NO decreased by 85% and 27%, respectively. To explain these effects, untargeted metabolomics with pathway enrichment and network mapping were performed in LPS-driven macrophages. Of the 58 KEGG pathways evaluated, 18 reached significance, notably purine and pyrimidine metabolism, vitamin B6 metabolism, and the one-carbon pool via folate. Coordinated shifts also involved amino-acid/tricarboxylic acid (TCA)-cycle linkages, glutathione and glyoxylate/dicarboxylate, and sphingolipid pathways. Network analysis identified hubs that were concomitantly reprogrammed. Collectively, GOEE achieved multi-level suppression of inflammatory outputs while preserving viability, and the metabolomic signature provides a mechanistic scaffold for its action. These findings nominate a deep-sea microbial extract as a promising anti-inflammatory lead and motivate fractionation and targeted validation of the highlighted metabolic nodes. Full article

Background/Objectives: Poor glycemic control is reaching an epidemic prevalence globally. It is associated with significantly morbid health concerns including retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Probiotics have shown promise in reducing health complications associated with poor blood glucose control. We tested a novel approach to designing a precision probiotic cocktail for improving blood glucose homeostasis. Methods: We tested the in vitro glucose consumption rate of twelve mouse microbiome bacterial strains and selected three with the greatest glucose consumption for the probiotic cocktail. The in vivo metabolic impact of ingesting the selected probiotic cocktail was evaluated in twelve C57BL/6J male mice fed a high-fat diet for eight weeks. Results: Compared to a control group, the probiotic group (L. rhamnosus, L. reuteri, and L. salivarius) exhibited significantly lower blood glucose levels, body weight, and body fat percentage. Moreover, the probiotic cocktail also demonstrated the ability to reduce serum insulin, total cholesterol, very-low-density lipoprotein/low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein ratio. For further mechanistic investigation, untargeted metabolomics analyses uncovered overall downregulations in energy substrates and producing pathways like gluconeogenesis, acylcarnitine synthesis, glycolysis, the mitochondrial electron transport chain, the TCA cycle, and the building blocks for ATP formation. Partial least squares-discriminant analyses also confirmed clear group differences in metabolic activity. 16S rRNA sequencing from extracted gut microbiota also showed significant increases in Faith’s phylogenetic diversity, Lachnospiraceae bacterium 609-strain, and the genus Muribaculaceae as well as group β-diversity differences after probiotic intake. Conclusions: As such, we successfully developed a blend of three probiotics to effectively reduce blood glucose levels in male mice, which could further mitigate adverse health effects in the host. Full article

Background: Adverse environmental conditions and an ever-increasing world population require devising and designing a roadmap for the next generation of wheat crops for high productivity and resilience to climate change. As such, a fundamental understanding of wheat metabolism and molecular descriptors of wheat seed potentials and quality is a sine qua non step. Objectives: In this study we investigated the seed metabolomes of five wheat cultivars to identify differential metabolic profiles and cultivar-related metabolic markers. Methods: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) combined with computational strategies and functional analyses was applied. Metabolites were extracted using methanol, and samples were analysed on an LC-MS/MS system. Results: The results revealed that the extracted wheat cultivar seed metabolomes spanned a broad range of metabolite classes, including alkaloids, sugars, phenolics, amino acids, hormones, TCA compounds and lipids. Furthermore, the results also revealed key metabolic markers differentiating the wheat cultivars from one another, such as lipids (i.e., MGMG and 13-HODE) and flavonoids (i.e., rutin, tricin and vitexin), amongst many others. Conclusions: Such insights are important in assessing seed quality as well as in the selection of markers for seed nutrient and quality trait improvement in wheat breeding programmes. As such, this work generates novel actionable knowledge, a comprehensive metabolomic landscape of wheat seeds and potential markers for cultivar differentiation and quality assessment, which is essential for sustainable and improved wheat production. Thus, the study contributes towards the realisation of sustainable food security, an urgent call for action in a global partnership, as articulated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly zero hunger. Full article

Background: Skin aging is mainly associated with oxidative stress and enzymatic degradation of collagen and elastin by protease activity. Peptides have antioxidant capacity and inhibitory effects on protease enzymes. Objective: The purpose of this study was to obtain peptides with in vitro anti-aging activity from the enzymatic hydrolysis of bovine casein with actinidin, a protease extracted from the green kiwi fruit (Actinidia deliciosa) Methodology: The enzyme actinidin was extracted from the pulp of the kiwi fruit, purified by ion exchange chromatography and characterized by polyacrylamide electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Subsequently, the extracted enzyme was used to hydrolyze commercial bovine casein at 37 °C for 30 min, precipitating the peptide fraction with trichloroacetic acid (TCA), and centrifuged. To determine the anti-aging potential of the peptides in vitro, antioxidant activity was evaluated using the ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) radical. Additionally, the inhibitory capacity of the peptides against collagenase and elastase enzymes was also studied. To complement the in vitro results, the enzymatic hydrolysis of casein with actinidin was simulated. The binding energy (ΔG) of each of the hydrolysates with the collagenase and elastase enzymes was calculated using molecular docking to predict the peptide sequences with the highest probability of interaction. Results: Actinidin was extracted and purified exhibiting a molecular weight close to 27 kDa. The enzyme hydrolyzed the substrate by 91.6%, and the resulting hydrolysates showed moderate in vitro anti-aging activity: antioxidant (17.5%), anticollagenase (18.55%), and antielastase (28.6%). In silico results revealed 66 peptide sequences of which 30.3% consisted of 4–8 amino acids, a suitable size to facilitate interaction with structural targets. The sequences with the highest affinity were FALPQYLK and VIPYVRYL for collagenase and elastase, respectively. Conclusions: Despite the modest inhibition values, the use of a fruit-derived enzyme and a food-grade substrate is in line with current trends in sustainable and natural cosmetics. These findings highlight the great potential for laying the groundwork for future research into actinidin-derived peptides as multifunctional and eco-conscious ingredients for the development of next-generation anti-aging formulations. Full article

To rapidly evaluate the meshing performance of manufactured face-gear drives, this study proposes an efficiency-optimized tooth contact analysis (TCA) method for measured gear flanks based on Ease-off surface. Initially, mathematical models of the pinion and face-gear tooth flanks are established. A TCA framework leveraging conjugate relationships and Ease-off surfaces is then developed. Subsequently, measured flank data are fitted into continuous error surfaces through Bicubic spline fitting, enabling full-tooth flank error mapping. These error distributions are integrated into the Ease-off surface model to simulate realistic meshing behavior, extracting critical performance metrics including contact paths and transmission errors. Validation through computational TCA, finite element analysis (FEA), and rolling tests confirm the method’s accuracy and computational efficiency. Full article

The article presents the first method based on high-performance liquid chromatography and ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) for the determination of timonacic (thioproline, 1,3-thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid, tPro) in pharmaceutical tablets and face care products (creams, sera, foundations, suncreams). Sample preparation primarily involves solid-liquid extraction (SLE) of tPro with 0.2 mol/L phosphate buffer pH 6, derivatization with 0.25 mol/L 2-chloro-1-methylquinolinium tetrafluoroborate (CMQT), followed by polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane filtration. The chromatographic separation of the stable UV-absorbing 2-S-quinolinium derivative is achieved within 14 min at 25 °C on a Zorbax SB-C18 (150 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) column using gradient elution. The eluent consists of 0.1 mol/L trichloroacetic acid (TCA), pH 1.7, in a mixture with acetonitrile (ACN) delivered at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The analyte is quantified by monitoring at 348 nm. The assay linearity was observed within 0.5–125 μmol/L. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was found to be 0.5 μmol/L. The accuracy ranged from 93.22% to 104.31% and 97.38% to 103.48%, while precision varied from 0.30% to 11.23% and 1.13% to 9.64% for intra- and inter-assay measurements, respectively. The method was successfully applied to commercially available on the Polish market pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Full article

The global antimicrobial resistance crisis demands innovative strategies to combat bacterial infections, including those caused by drug-sensitive pathogens that evade treatment through biofilm formation or metabolic adaptations. Here, we demonstrate that Squama Manitis extract (SME)—a traditional Chinese medicine component—exhibits broad-spectrum bactericidal activity against clinically significant pathogens, including both Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) species (MIC = 31.25 mg/mL), achieving significant reduction in bacterial viability within 24 h. Through integrated multi-omics analysis combining scanning electron microscopy and RNA sequencing, we reveal SME’s unprecedented tripartite mechanism of action: (1) direct membrane disruption causing cell envelope collapse, (2) metabolic paralysis through coordinated suppression of TCA cycle and fatty acid degradation pathways, and (3) inhibition of DNA repair systems (SOS response and recombination downregulation). Despite its potent activity, SME shows low cytotoxicity toward mammalian cells (>90% viability) and can penetrate Gram-negative outer membranes. These features highlight SME’s potential to address drug-resistant infections through synthetic lethality across stress response, energy metabolism, and DNA integrity pathways. While advocating for synthetic alternatives to endangered animal products, this study establishes SME as a polypharmacological template for resistance-resilient antimicrobial design, demonstrating how traditional knowledge and modern systems biology can converge to guide sustainable anti-infective development. Full article

The increasing popularity of “superseeds” such as flax, sesame, amaranth and quinoa as functional foods raises the need for robust analytical methods for authentication purposes. In this work, a standardized workflow for the extraction, characterization and identification of unique peptides that may be used as markers to distinguish superseed species was investigated. Ammonium bicarbonate/urea (Ambi/urea) extraction, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) buffer and trichloroacetic acid (TCA) precipitation were initially implemented and, based on the level and composition of the extracted proteins, the SDS buffer protocol was selected. Electrophoresis analysis revealed consistent protein profiles between biological replicates from each of the eleven seed species, confirming the reproducibility of the SDS buffer protocol. Targeted mass spectrometry successfully identified species-specific peptide markers for six of eleven superseeds investigated, including peptides from conlinins in flaxseed (WVQQAK), 11S globulins in sesame (LVYIER), oleosin in quinoa (DVGQTIESK), agglutin-like lectins in amaranth (CAGVSVIR), as well as cupin-like proteins in poppy seeds (INIVNSQK) and edestins in hemp seeds (FLQLSAER). Moreover, proteome cross-analysis allowed us to disqualify the isomeric peptide LTALEPTNR from 11S globulins present in amaranth and quinoa. However, no reliable markers were identified for chia, canihua, basil, black cumin, and psyllium seeds under current conditions. While this targeted proteomics approach shows promise for superseed authentication, comprehensive method validation and alternative strategies for marker-deficient species are required before routine implementation. Full article

Helicobacter pylori is a gastric pathogen implicated in peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains underscores the urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies. In this study, we investigated the chemical composition and antibacterial activity of an aqueous extract from Caulerpa lentillifera (sea grape), a farm-cultivated edible green seaweed collected from Krabi Province, Thailand. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) revealed that the extract was enriched in bioactive nucleosides and phenolic compounds. In vitro assays demonstrated dose-dependent inhibition of H. pylori growth following exposure to sea grape extract. Furthermore, untargeted intracellular metabolomic profiling of H. pylori cells treated with the extract uncovered significant perturbations in central carbon and nitrogen metabolism, including pathways associated with the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, one-carbon metabolism, and alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism. Pyrimidine biosynthesis was selectively upregulated, indicating a potential stress-induced shift toward nucleotide salvage and DNA repair. Of particular note, succinate levels were markedly reduced despite accumulation of other TCA intermediates, suggesting disruption of electron transport-linked respiration. These findings suggest that bioactive metabolites from C. lentillifera impair essential metabolic processes in H. pylori, highlighting its potential as a natural source of antimicrobial agents targeting bacterial physiology. Full article

Background: Depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Among pharmacological treatments, fluvoxamine—an early SSRI with a distinct pharmacological profile—has been recently reappraised for its broader clinical relevance. Objective: To assess the efficacy of fluvoxamine in the treatment of depression compared to placebo and other antidepressants through a comprehensive overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in MEDLINE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials evaluating fluvoxamine’s efficacy. Reviews were eligible if they included adults diagnosed with depressive disorders based on the DSM or ICD criteria. Reviews focusing on other psychiatric disorders, comorbidities, tolerability, or economic evaluations were excluded. Data extraction included effect size measures and methodological quality assessments using the AMSTAR-2 tool. Results were synthesized by comparing fluvoxamine to placebo, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), and other antidepressants. Results: A total of 74 reviews were identified, of which 14 systematic reviews met the inclusion criteria after screening and full-text analysis. These reviews, published between 1994 and 2021, predominantly involved nine pairwise meta-analyses and five network meta-analyses, comparing fluvoxamine with placebo and various antidepressants. Fluvoxamine demonstrated consistent superiority over placebo in achieving treatment response and remission outcomes. Comparisons with imipramine, clomipramine, amitriptyline, dothiepin, paroxetine, fluoxetine, citalopram, mianserin, nortriptyline, and moclobemide generally revealed no significant differences in efficacy. However, some reviews indicated that venlafaxine and mirtazapine were superior to fluvoxamine in certain outcomes, while fluvoxamine demonstrated greater efficacy than desipramine in one review. Sertraline and milnacipran showed mixed or review-quality-dependent results, with one low-quality review favoring milnacipran. Most reviews assessed outcomes over a median follow-up of six weeks using standardized depression rating scales. Conclusions: Fluvoxamine is a robust and effective antidepressant, demonstrating consistent efficacy comparable to other antidepressants and superior to placebo. While no single antidepressant was universally superior, fluvoxamine’s unique pharmacological profile and favourable safety characteristics support its clinical utility. Further research is needed to explore its role in personalized treatment strategies and emerging therapeutic contexts, such as comorbid anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Full article

With the increasing complexity of modern industrial processes, fault occurrences may lead to catastrophic consequences, making incipient fault detection crucial for industrial safety. This critical task confronts a key challenge: insufficient cross-domain generalization capacity. To overcome this challenge, a feature adaptive ensemble net (FAENet) is proposed by integrating transfer learning with ensemble learning. The framework comprises a feature adaptive extractor (FAE) utilizing convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) for domain-invariant feature extraction, combined with an information entropy gain-based feature screening to filter out redundant and detrimental features. In addition, the famous benchmark Tennessee Eastman process (TEP) and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) bearing datasets are adopted to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method. For incipient difficult faults 3, 5, 9, 15, 16, and 21 in the TEP, FAENet achieves 99.43% for average fault detection rates (FDRs), exceeding traditional methods of cross-domain fault detection (TCA, JDA, DANN, DTL) by more than 60%. For CWRU’s incipient bearing faults, FAENet achieves 99.4% for FDR, demonstrating significant superiority. This research holds significant practical implications for enhancing the safety and efficiency of industrial systems. It establishes a reliable framework for intelligent fault detection systems across diverse industrial environments, enabling early detection of potential faults to minimize operational risks. Full article

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) involves the formation of embryo-like structures from somatic cells without fertilization and is widely used for clonal propagation and genetic transformation. However, in olive (Olea europaea sp. europaea), SE remains challenging due to the recalcitrant behavior of adult tissues when used as initial explants. Bioactive molecules released into the culture medium (conditioned medium, CM) by embryogenic cultures have been identified as modulators of the SE response. However, their potential role in enhancing SE efficiency in olive and overcoming tissue recalcitrance remains largely unexplored. To investigate the role of these biomolecules in olive SE, a protocol was established using SE cultures of cv. ‘Galega Vulgar’. Proteins and metabolites were separated by filtration, concentrated through lyophilization, and precipitated using three methods: Acetone, TCA/Acetone, and Methanol/Chloroform. The efficiency of these methods was evaluated through total protein quantification and via SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. LC-MS/MS was employed to analyze secretome composition using the TCA/Acetone precipitation method. Additionally, metabolite profiles were analyzed using ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The results led to the identification of 1096 (526 protein groups) Olea europaea proteins, including well-known SE biomarkers such as kinases and peroxidases. NMR spectroscopy identified several metabolites secreted into the medium or resulting from the metabolic activity of secreted enzymes, confirming the applicability of the procedure. Although extracting secreted biomolecules from the culture medium presents significant challenges, the protocol established in this study successfully enabled the isolation and identification of both proteins and metabolites, revealing a valuable workflow for future in-depth analyses of secreted biomolecules in olive SE. Full article

Background: Insufficient treatment options are available for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Flavonoids and topiramate have been studied for weight loss but need investigation into their effects on liver metabolism. This study’s aim was to examine the effects of flavonoids or topiramate on glucose metabolic carbon flux in a cell culture model of steatosis. Methods: Steatosis was induced in HepG2 cells through exposure to oleic acid (OA, 0.5 mml/L) conjugated to bovine serum albumin (2:1). Additionally, 50% U¹³C-glucose was supplied in the medium as a stable isotope tracer. Cells were treated with DMSO, 10 μM of naringenin, morin, silibinin, or topiramate (44 μM) for 72 h. A non-steatotic, untreated HepG2 cell control was included. Cell extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and mass isotopomer distribution analysis for glycogen synthesis, de novo fatty acid synthesis, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle activity, and ribose synthesis. Groups were compared by ANOVA with Tukey’s pair-wise testing. Results: Compared to untreated HepG2 controls, OA-exposed steatotic cells exhibited increased lipid accumulation by ORO staining (1.6-fold), enhanced palmitate de novo synthesis, reduced pyruvate carboxylase/pyruvate dehydrogenase (PC/PDH) ratio, and reduced ribose synthesis. Treatment with topiramate or silibinin ameliorated the lipid accumulation (1.3-fold) and mitigated enhancement of de novo synthesis. Morin-treated cells exhibited enhanced de novo synthesis but suppressed ribose synthesis. Conclusions: Potential mechanisms of reduced lipid accumulation by topiramate and silibinin may include suppression of palmitate de novo synthesis and a relative decrease in carbon flux through the PDH pathway. Further studies are needed on potential utility in MASLD based on their specific metabolic effects. Full article

Urban villages (UVs) are the most typical urban informal settlements in China, and the study of an effective identification method for UVs can help to provide a reference for the development of locally adapted UV transformation policies. In order to reduce the cost of labeling and enhance transferability, this study integrates remote sensing and social sensing data and applies sample migration from a labeled area to a less labeled area based on the theory of transfer learning. There are two main results of this study: (1) This study constructed a feature system for UV identification based on multi-feature extraction using a block as a unit, and experiments based on Tianhe District achieved an overall accuracy of 90% and a kappa coefficient of 0.76. (2) Using Tianhe District as the source domain and Jiangan District as the target domain, samples from the source domain were reused based on the KMM, TCA, and CORAL algorithms. The CORAL+RF algorithm showed the best performance, where its overall accuracy reached 97.06% and its kappa coefficient reached 0.89, and its overall accuracy reached 91.17% and its kappa coefficient reached 0.67 in the case of no target domain labeling. To sum up, the identification method for UVs proposed in the present study provides theoretical references for identification methods for UVs in different geographical areas. Full article

Peptidoglycan (PGN) is a unique component of prokaryotic cell walls with immune-enhancing capacities. Here, we extracted PGN from Corynebacterium glutamicum, a by-product of amino acid fermentation, using the trichloroacetic acid (TCA) method. SDS-PAGE analysis confirmed the presence of PGN, with a band of approximately 28 kDa. Further analysis was conducted through amino acid analysis, FTIR, and MALDI-TOF/TOF MS, and the results showed that the chemical structural monomer of PGN is NAG-(β-1,4-)-NAM-l-Ala-d-Glu-l-Lis-d-Ala. The immune activation effects of PGN were evaluated in a RAW264.7 cell model. Our results showed that PGN could increase the secretion level of NO, ROS, and immune regulatory substances, including TNF-α and IL-1β, and up-regulated the mRNA expression of TNF-α and iNOS. In addition, PGN stimulated the expression of ERK2, MyD88, RIP2, and the related receptor NOD1 in the NF-κB and MAPK pathways. Comparative RNA sequencing was conducted to analyze the gene expression profiles in RAW264.7 cells. KEGG analysis indicated that most of the genes were enriched in the NF-κB, MAPK, and TNF signaling pathways. Taken together, these findings suggest that PGN may have immune-activating potential for the development and application of immune adjuvants. Importantly, the application of PGN also provides a new way to utilize amino acid fermentation by-products. Full article