α-Glucosidase, α-amylase inhibition kinetics,in vitro gastro-intestinal digestion,and apoptosis inducing abilities of Ficus microcarpa L. f. and Ficus racemosa L. fruit polysaccharides

Food Science and Biotechnology - A rich source of nutrients, figs have a number of clinically validated benefits. This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion, and...     

Selection of anionic exchange resins for removal of natural organic matter (NOM) fractions

Early elimination of natural organic matter (NOM) by ion exchange (IEX) in water treatment is expected to improve subsequent water treatment processes and the final drinking water quality. Nine anionic exchange resins were investigated to remove NOM and specific NOM fractions determined by liquid chromatography in combination with organic carbon detection (LC-OCD) and fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEM). Breakthrough of NOM was predicted by model calculations using Freundlich isotherms and IEX rate experiments. The time to breakthrough varied from 4 to 38 days. Removal of specific NOM fractions proved to vary considerably for the different types of IEX resins, ranging from 1% to almost 60%. The removal of NOM fractions, specifically humic substances, increased with an increase in water content of the investigated IEX resins and with a decrease in resin size. The best-performing IEX resins consisted of the smallest resins and/or those with the highest water content. The worst-performing IEX resins reflected the highest exchanging capacities and the lowest water contents.     

Discovery and Biosynthesis of Ureidopeptide Natural Products Macrocyclized via Indole N-acylation in Marine Microbulbifer spp. Bacteria

Commensal bacteria associated with marine invertebrates are underappreciated sources of chemically novel natural products. Using mass spectrometry, we had previously detected the presence of peptidic natural products in obligate marine bacteria of the genus Microbulbifer cultured from marine sponges. In this report, the isolation and structural characterization of a panel of ureidohexapeptide natural products, termed the bulbiferamides, from Microbulbifer strains is reported wherein the tryptophan side chain indole participates in a macrocyclizing peptide bond formation. Genome sequencing identifies biosynthetic gene clusters encoding production of the bulbiferamides and implicates the involvement of a thioesterase in the indolic macrocycle formation. The structural diversity and widespread presence of bulbiferamides in commensal microbiomes of marine invertebrates point toward a possible ecological role for these natural products.     

Effect of GNP functionalisation and multiple N ‐methylation of β ‐amyloid residue (32–37) on Gram‐positive bacterium

In the previous report, the authors showed the gold nanoparticle (GNP) functionalised multiple N ‐methylated fragments of the residue (32–37) of beta (β)‐amyloid protein (1–42), CGGIGLMVG and CGGGGGIGLMVG toward disruption of β ‐amyloid (1–42), the predominant component of senile plaques. Herein the in vitro antimicrobial activities of both normal and multiple N ‐methylated sequences of CGGIGLMVG and CGGGGGIGLMVG were screened and it was found that all the eight sequences including four (non‐functionalised with GNP) to possess activity against both Gram‐positive [Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 43300) and Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 5129)] and Gram‐negative [Escherichia coli (ATCC 35218), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 700603)] bacteria. Among them, N ‐methylated sequences CGGIGLMVG and CGGGGGIGLMVG shown remarkable activity against Gram‐positive bacteria.Inspec keywords: microorganisms, gold, nanoparticles, nanomedicineOther keywords: GNP functionalisation, N‐methylation, β‐amyloid residue, Gram‐positive bacterium, gold nanoparticle functionalised multiple N‐methylated fragments, beta β‐amyloid protein, CGGGGGIGLMVG, Staphylococcus aureus, ATCC 43300, Enterococcus faecalis, ATCC 5129, Escherichia coli, ATCC 35218, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, ATCC 27853, Klebsiella pneumoniae, ATCC 700603, Au     

Frequent allocation of rotationally grazed dairy cows changes grazing behavior and improves productivity

Twenty Holstein cows were blocked in 2 groups according to milk yield to evaluate the effect of frequency of allocation to new grazing plots on pasture intake, grazing behavior, rumen characteristics, and milk yield. The 2 treatments, daily allocation to 0.125-ha plots (1D) or allocation every 4 d to 0.5-ha plots (4D) of Lolium perenne L., were tested in a randomized block design (2 rotations with 3 or 4 measuring periods of 4 d each) with mixed model analysis accounting for repeated measures. There were no differences in the chemical composition of offered pasture and in pasture dry matter intake (DMI) between 1D and 4D. However, an interaction between treatment and rotation indicated a difference in pasture DMI between treatments during the first rotation (4D, 16.5 vs. 1D, 18.3 kg/d) but not during the second rotation (4D, 15.0 vs. 1D, 14.7 kg/d), possibly a result of a greater pasture mass in the first rotation. Grazing time (average 562 min/d) and ruminating time (average 468 min/d), observed using IGER graze recorders, were similar between treatments, but grazing time increased numerically (549 to 568 min/d), and ruminating time decreased linearly (471 to 450 min/d) within periods in the 4D treatment. Mean rumen pH (6.16 vs. 6.05) and rumen NH₃-N concentration (113.7 vs. 90.1 mg/L) were higher in 4D than in 1D, and total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations did not differ. Molar proportions of VFA, except butyrate, differed between treatments, causing the nonglucogenic to glucogenic VFA ratio to be greater in 4D than in 1D. Within days in the 4D treatment, the molar proportion of acetate increased and those of all other VFA decreased linearly. Rumen NH₃-N concentration within the 4D treatment declined quadratically from 170.3 mg/L on d 1 to 80.7 mg/L on d 4. In contrast to rumen NH₃-N concentration, milk urea content did not differ between treatments, but decreased quadratically from d 1 to 4 in the 4D treatment (from 26.7 to 20.7 mg/dL). Mean fat- and protein-corrected milk was greater in 1D than in 4D (23.5 vs. 22.8 kg/d), mainly due to a difference in milk yield (24.5 vs. 23.7 kg/d). Fat and protein content were slightly lower in the 1D than in the 4D treatment (3.66 vs. 3.76% and 3.28 vs. 3.34%, respectively). This study confirmed that increasing pasture allocation frequency from once every 4 d to every day improved milk production in grazing dairy cows, especially when offered pasture was high.     

Targeted Nanoparticle Photodynamic Diagnosis and Therapy of Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an aggressive cancer that remains a challenge to diagnose and treat. Photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) and therapy (PDT) are novel alternative techniques, which can enhance early diagnosis, as well as elicit tumor cell death. This is accomplished through photosensitizer (PS) mediated fluorescence and cytotoxic reactive oxygen species activation upon laser light irradiation excitation at specific low and high range wavelengths, respectively. However, the lack of PS target tumor tissue specificity often hampers these techniques. This study successfully fabricated a bioactive nanoconjugate, ZnPcS₄-AuNP-S-PEG5000-NH₂-Anti-GCC mAb (BNC), based upon a polyethylene glycol-gold nanoparticle, which was multi-functionalized with a fluorescent PDT metalated zinc phthalocyanine PS, and specific anti-GCC targeting antibodies, to overcome CRC PDD and PDT challenges. The BNC was found to be stable and showed selectively improved subcellular accumulation within targeted CRC for improved PDD and PDT outcomes in comparison to healthy in vitro cultured cells. Additionally, the BNC reported significantly higher late apoptotic PDT-induced CRC cell death rates (34% ***) when compared to PDT PS administration alone (15% *). These results indicated that the improved PDD and PDT outcomes were due to the specific PS accumulation in CRC cells through nanoparticle carriage and bioactive anti-GCC targeting.     

The Effect of Silage and Concentrate Type on Intake Behavior, Rumen Function, and Milk Production in Dairy Cows in Early and Late Lactation

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of feeding total mixed rations (TMR) that differ in structural and nonstructural carbohydrates to dairy cows in early and late lactation on short-term feed intake, dry matter intake (DMI), rumen fermentation variables, and milk yield. A 5 × 5 Latin square experiment with 15 dairy cows was repeated during early and late lactation. The 5 treatments were a TMR with (all on dry matter basis) 55% roughage (a 50:50 mixture of corn silage and grass silage) and 45% concentrate (a 50:50 mixture of concentrate rich in structural carbohydrates and concentrate rich in nonstructural carbohydrates; treatment CON), a TMR with the concentrate mixture and 55% grass silage (RGS) or 55% corn silage (RCS), and a TMR with the roughage mixture and 45% of the concentrate rich in structural carbohydrates (CSC) or the concentrate rich in nonstructural carbohydrates (CNS). Meal criteria, determined using the Gaussian-Gaussian-Weibull method per animal per treatment, showed an interaction between lactation stage and treatment. Feed intake behavior variables were therefore calculated with meal criteria per treatment-lactation stage combination. Differences in feed intake behavior were more pronounced between treatments differing in roughage composition than between treatments differing in concentrate composition, probably related to larger differences in chemical composition and particle size between corn silage and grass silage than between the 2 concentrates. The number of meals was similar between treatments, but eating time was greater in RGS (227 min/d) and lesser in RCS (177 min/d) than the other treatments. Intake rate increased when the amount of grass silage decreased, whereas meal duration decreased simultaneously. These effects were in line with a decreased DMI of the RGS diet vs. the other treatments, probably related to the high neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content. However, this effect was not found in CSC, although NDF content of the TMR, fractional clearance rate of NDF, and fractional degradation rate of NDF was similar between CSC and RGS. Rumen fluid pH was lesser, and molar proportions of acetic acid and of propionic acid were lesser and greater, respectively, in RCS compared with all other diets. Milk production did not differ between treatments. There was no effect of type of concentrate on milk composition, but diet RCS resulted in a lesser milk fat content and greater milk protein content than diet RGS. Lactation stage did affect short-term feed intake behavior and DMI, although different grass silages were fed during early and late lactation. The results indicate that short-term feed intake behavior is related to DMI and therefore may be a helpful tool in optimizing DMI and milk production in high-production dairy cows.     

Photodynamic Therapy-Mediated Immune Responses in Three-Dimensional Tumor Models

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising non-invasive phototherapeutic approach for cancer therapy that can eliminate local tumor cells and produce systemic antitumor immune responses. In recent years, significant efforts have been made in developing strategies to further investigate the immune mechanisms triggered by PDT. The majority of in vitro experimental models still rely on the two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures that do not mimic a three-dimensional (3D) cellular environment in the human body, such as cellular heterogeneity, nutrient gradient, growth mechanisms, and the interaction between cells as well as the extracellular matrix (ECM) and therapeutic resistance to anticancer treatments. In addition, in vivo animal studies are highly expensive and time consuming, which may also show physiological discrepancies between animals and humans. In this sense, there is growing interest in the utilization of 3D tumor models, since they precisely mimic different features of solid tumors. This review summarizes the characteristics and techniques for 3D tumor model generation. Furthermore, we provide an overview of innate and adaptive immune responses induced by PDT in several in vitro and in vivo tumor models. Future perspectives are highlighted for further enhancing PDT immune responses as well as ideal experimental models for antitumor immune response studies.     

Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Photodynamic Therapy of Metastatic Melanoma: A Review

Metastatic melanoma (MM) is a skin malignancy arising from melanocytes, the incidence of which has been rising in recent years. It poses therapeutic challenges due to its resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation therapy. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an alternative non-invasive modality that requires a photosensitizer (PS), specific wavelength of light, and molecular oxygen. Several studies using conventional PSs have highlighted the need for improved PSs for PDT applications to achieve desired therapeutic outcomes. The incorporation of nanoparticles (NPs) and targeting moieties in PDT have appeared as a promising strategy to circumvent various drawbacks associated with non-specific toxicity, poor water solubility, and low bioavailability of the PSs at targeted tissues. Currently, most studies investigating new developments rely on two-dimensional (2-D) monocultures, which fail to accurately mimic tissue complexity. Therefore, three-dimensional (3-D) cell cultures are ideal models to resemble tumor tissue in terms of architectural and functional properties. This review examines various PS drugs, as well as passive and active targeted PS nanoparticle-mediated platforms for PDT treatment of MM on 2-D and 3-D models. The overall findings of this review concluded that very few PDT studies have been conducted within 3-D models using active PS nanoparticle-mediated platforms, and so require further investigation.