Raunkirkland4222
In this study, the fucoxanthin (FUC)-loaded gliadin nanoparticles (Gli NPs) stabilized by chondroitin sulfate (ChS) were fabricated. Results showed that the particle size and turbidity of Gli-ChS NPs were highly pH-dependent. Hydrogen bond, electrostatic interaction and hydrophobic interaction were involved in the formation of Gli-ChS NPs. The surface hydrophobicity of Gli NPs decreased remarkably after coating with ChS. FUC-Gli-ChS NPs increased the stability of FUC against heating and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Adding ChS to FUC-Gli NPs enhanced their stabilities to ionic strength and thermal treatment, especially in an acidic environment. Furthermore, FUC-loaded Gli-ChS NPs inhibited the FUC release in simulated gastric fluid (SGF), while enhanced the release of FUC in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) and simulated colonic fluid (SCF). In summary, this work has important practical significance for the development of Gli NPs as nano-delivery systems for FUC or other hydrophobic compounds.Epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) possesses various biological functions, including anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. EGCG is an abundant polyphenolic component originating from green tea extract that has exhibited versatile bioactivities in combating several cancers. This review highlights the pharmacological features of EGCG and its therapeutic implications in cancer and other metabolic diseases. It modulates numerous signaling pathways, regulating cells' undesired survival and proliferation, thus imparting strong tumor chemopreventive and therapeutic effects. EGCG initiates cell death through the intrinsic pathway and causes inhibition of EGFR, STAT3, and ERK pathways in several cancers. EGCG alters and inhibits ERK1/2, NF-κB, and Akt-mediated signaling, altering the Bcl-2 family proteins ratio and activating caspases in tumor cells. This review focuses on anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenesis, and apoptotic effects of EGCG. We further highlighted the potential of EGCG in different types of cancer, emphasizing clinical trials formulations that further improve our understanding of the therapeutic management of cancer and inflammatory diseases.Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional whey protein with numerous health benefits and is recommended to supplement Infant Milk Formula (IMF) with it. For the first time, the denaturation kinetics and storage stability of bovine OPN were studied in reconstituted IMF. The effect of thermal treatments (63-90 °C) and High Pressure Processing (HPP) were investigated. OPN showed higher retention (around 90%) after both LTLT (Low Temperature Long Time) and HTST (High Temperature Short Time) treatments, however higher temperature and longer treatment induced substantial denaturation indicating UHT may not suit OPN-added items. Significant denaturation occurred at higher pressure (>400 MPa), and more pronounced OPN denaturation was observed after HPP at elevated temperature. OPN remained stable during4 °Cstorage for 14 days. This investigation deduced thermal stability of OPN as α-Lac > OPN > LF, whereas the pressure resistance observed as α-Lac > LF > OPN > β-Lg.New polyphenol-protein conjugates were successfully prepared by covalently crosslinking soluble Antarctic krill proteins with rutin (SAKPs-rutin). The physico-chemical and functional properties of SAKPs-rutin conjugates were systematically evaluated by measuring the changes in interfacial tension, structural conformation, and emulsifying ability, etc. The results showed that SAKPs-rutin conjugates possessed higher surface hydrophobicity, surface charge, and thermal denaturation temperature, and lower β-sheet conformation compared to native SAKPs. On this basis, the interfacial tension of SAKPs-rutin conjugates was reduced, which greatly contributed to the formation of denser and more ordered networks at the oil-water interface. Meanwhile, the emulsifier endowed the fabricated high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) with excellent physical performance and oxidative stability, evidenced by low peroxide values (POV) and malondialdehyde (MDA) after the treatment of long-term storage (15d), heating (65 °C) and UV light treatment. These findings suggest that SAKPs-rutin conjugates are a novel and promising food resource for preparing food-grade emulsions.Cyanide (CN-) is one of the most lethal chemical substance and exists in the organisms and environment. Due to the CN- and CN--containing chemicals being widely applied in industrial fields and threatening human health, the sensitive and selective detection techniques towards CN- are still essential. Based on this, a "turn-on" fluorescent probe 2-(4-(5,5-dimethyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-3H-4,6-methanobenzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)styryl)-3-ethylbenzo[d]thiazol-3-ium iodide (NCy) was designed and synthesized for monitoring CN-. NCy had a distinguishable color change towards CN- from colorless to yellow under 365 nm UV-light. NCy possessed the merits including low LOD (75 nM), good selectivity, and wide suitable pH range (4-10). The sensing mechanism of NCy towards CN- was proved by HRMS, 1H NMR titration and DFT analysis. Furthermore, the probe NCy was successfully utilized in detecting endogenous CN- in three food samples (green potato, cassava, and bitter almond) quantitatively. In bioimaging aspect, NCy was also successfully applied in detecting the exogenous CN- in living zebrafish.Torreya grandis has high economic and nutritional value due to the high nutrients in its kernels. The kernels of different development stages vary enormously in their amino acids content. However, the molecular basis and the regulatory mechanism of amino acid biosynthesis remain unclear. Here, transcriptome and metabolome analysis were performed. Correlation analysis result showed that 4 unigenes were significantly and positively correlated with at least 10 amino acids. The full length CDS of 2 unigenes (TgDAHP2 and TgASA1) were successfully cloned from the 4 unigenes for DAHP, ASA and CITS. Subcelluar localization analysis showed that both TgDAHP2 and TgASA1 were localized to the chloroplast. Overexpression of TgDAHP2 and TgASA1 in Arabidopsis can greatly increase the content of most amino acids. Rolipram Moreover, 3 transcription factors were found to positively regulate the expression of TgASA1. This research contributes to understand the molecular regulatory mechanisms of amino acid biosynthesis in T. grandis.For the first time, Hg2+ and methylmercury speciation analysis was accomplished by in-line SPE-LC-AFS. After modification with 0.1 mL of 0.001% (mv) sodium diethyldithiocarbamate, a C18 microcolumn retained Hg2+ and MetHg in rice extract within 3 min; the captured Hg species were separated within 12 min in 0.25% (vv) 2-mercaptoethanol + 60 mmol L-1 (mv) ammonium acetate + 4% (vv) acetonitrile. Under optimized conditions, the detection limits were 0.3 ng L-1 for Hg2+ and 0.2 ng L-1 for MetHg, respectively, with 10 mL injection vs. 0.1 mL eluent; in-line SPE achieved ∼ 100x enrichment. Method precision and accuracy were satisfactory at less then 2% relative standard deviations (RSDs) for 20 ng L-1 of Hg2+ and MetHg and 95-102% recoveries for real rice samples. In-line SPE obviated human involvement and avoided invalid transportation between interfaces, rendering this SPE-LC-AFS method easy, compact, robust, yet sensitive in mercury speciation analysis to uphold food safety.The 36 kDa antigenic protein of a fish-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb), 8F5, previously developed to detect fish in foodstuffs to protect fish allergic individuals, was characterized to establish its identity and to identify the fish-specific epitope. We hypothesized that this antigenic protein is tropomyosin based on its thermal stability and molecular weight. Western blot showed that both the 36 kDa protein and fish tropomyosin were recognized by mAb 8F5, and their molecular weight migration in urea gel electrophoresis was identical. In addition to matching the amino acid composition profile, this 36 kDa protein's sequences precisely correspond to those in fish tropomyosin fragments. Further analysis revealed the sequence of the fish-specific epitope bound by mAb 8F5 to be EDDLVALQKK. These results confirm that the 36 kDa protein is indeed tropomyosin and will be a suitable biomarker for the immunodetection of fish in cooked food.Thiocyanate (SCN-) concentration monitoring in food is important to ensure the health and safety of the consumers.A colorimetric detection of thiocyanate (SCN-) based on the nanozymatic activity of gold nanoparticle-graphene quantum dots (GQDs-Au NPs) hybrids in the presence of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and H2O2 has been proposed. Here, a new synthesis method of GQDs directly from graphite was introduced. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed that the size of the GQDs was 3-5 nm, and the emission peak appeared at 450 nm. As-synthesized GQDs was utilized to produce GQDs-Au NPs hybrids without additional chemicals. However, the presence of SCN- inhibits the growth of Au NPs, the resulting Au NPs are smaller in size. Moreover, SCN- group is well-known for hydroxyl radical (OH) scavenging activity that could oxidize TMB. Both effects boosted the nanozymatic activity of GQDs-Au NPs to detect SCN- under optimized conditions with a limit of detection (LOD) of 3 nM. Present study also validates the methodology to detect SCN- in raw milk.Adaptation to the sensory environment is essential in everyday life, to anticipate future events and quickly detect and respond to changes; and to distinguish vocal variations in congeners, for communication. The aim of the current study was to explore the effects of the nature (vocal/non-vocal) of the information to be encoded, on the establishment of auditory regularities. In electrophysiology, neural adaptation is measured by the 'Repetition Positivity' (RP), which refers to an increase in positive potential, with the increasing number of repetitions of a same stimulus. The RP results from the combined variation of several ERP components; the P1, the first positivity (∼100 ms) may reflect the onset of repetition effects. We recorded auditory evoked potentials during a roving paradigm in which trains of 4, 8 or 16 repetitions of the same stimulus were presented. Sequences of vocal and non-vocal complex stimuli were delivered, to study the influence of the type of stimulation on the characteristics of the brain responses. The P1 to each train length, and the RP responses were recorded between 90 and 200 ms, reflecting adaptation for both vocal and non-vocal stimuli. RP was not different between vocal and non-vocal sequences (in latency, amplitude and spatial organization) and was found to be similar to that found in previous studies using pure tones, suggesting that the repetition suppression phenomena is somehow independent of the nature of the stimulus. However, results showed faster stabilization of the P1 amplitude for non-vocal stimuli than for vocal stimuli, which require more repetitions. This revealed different dynamics for the establishment of regularity encoding for non-vocal and vocal stimuli, indicating that the richness of vocal sounds may require further processing before full neural adaptation occurs.