Cytoprotective activity of extract of roasted coffee residue on mouse embryonic fibroblasts cells against apoptosis induced by oxidative stress

This study was conducted to evaluate the cytoprotective activity of roasted coffee residues (RCRs) extract on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells. RCRs originated from Colombia and Honduras are relatively nontoxic to cell growth and even stimulate cell proliferation. Colombian RCRs showed most efficient protective effects on MEF cells against oxidative damage induced by H₂O₂ compared among the extracts prepared under the same roasting time. The most significant radical scavenging activity was measured in RCR with roasting time of 8.5 min. Phenolic and nonphenolic compounds in RCRs were chlorogenic acid, caffeine, caffeic acid, nicotinic acid, trigonelline, and 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfuralolehyde. Effect of Colombian RCRs on apoptosis occurred by oxidative damage was evaluated by morphological and flow cytometric analysis. Apoptotic cell accumulation was decreased by cotreatment of MEF cells with Colombian RCRs. These results suggested that antioxidant potency of RCRs suppresses the cytotoxicity which is induced by H₂O₂ and has a protective effect on MEF cell against oxidative stress.     

Multiple-Cycle Polymeric Extracellular Vesicle Precipitation and Its Evaluation by Targeted Mass Spectrometry

The multiple roles of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in pathogenesis have received much attention, as they are valuable as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. We employed polymeric EV precipitation to isolate EVs from clinical specimens to overcome the limitations of ultracentrifugation (UC), such as low protein yields, a large volume of specimens used, and time requirements. Multiple-cycle polymeric EV precipitation was applied to enhance the purity of the EV fractions with a small sample volume. Then, the purity was assessed using a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) panel consisting of alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2M), thrombospondin 1 (THBS 1), galectin 3 binding protein (LGALS3BP), and serum albumin (ALB). For purity evaluation, the EV fractions isolated from blood specimens were subjected to shotgun proteomics and MRM-based targeted proteomics analyses. We demonstrate that the modified method is an easy and convenient method compared with UC. In the shotgun proteomics analysis, the proteome profile of EV fraction contains 89% EV-related proteins by matching with the EVpedia database. In conclusion, we suggest that multiple-cycle polymeric EV precipitation is not only a more effective method for EV isolation for further proteomics-based experiments, but may also be useful for further clinical applications due to the higher EV yield and low sample requirements.     

Antioxidative mechanisms of sea buckthorn fruit extract in mouse embryonic fibroblast cells

This study was conducted to define the antioxidant properties and cytoprotective mechanisms of sea buckthorn fruit extract (SFE) against cellular oxidative stress in mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells. Cell viability of MEF cells damaged by H₂O₂ was significantly increased by addition of SFE in a concentration dependent manner. Cytoprotective effect of SFE against oxidative damage was observed to be co-related with regulation of cell cycle progression. Induction of cell cycle arrest in G₂/ M checkpoint was mediated by oxidative stress, but significantly reduced by treatment of MEF cells with SFE. Analysis of key regulatory proteins involved in G₂/M arrest showed that SFE treatment leads to down-regulation of both phosphorylated Chk1 and cyclin B, which play important roles in cell cycle arrest of oxidatively damaged cells. Effect of SFE on apoptosis was evaluated by morphological and flow cytometric analysis. Apoptotic cell accumulation occurred by H₂O₂ treatment was decreased by co-treatment of MEF cells with SFE. Early apoptotic process involved in DNA fragmentation and condensation was also inhibited by additional treatment with SFE. Overall results suggest that cytoprotective effect of SFE is mediated by effective radical scavenging activity as well as altered cell cycle regulation which prevent apoptotic cell death induced by cellular oxidative stress.

     

Proteomic Analysis of the Meniscus Cartilage in Osteoarthritis

The distribution of differential extracellular matrix (ECM) in the lateral and medial menisci can contribute to knee instability, and changes in the meniscus tissue can lead to joint disease. Thus, deep proteomic identification of the lateral and medial meniscus cartilage is expected to provide important information for treatment and diagnosis of various knee joint diseases. We investigated the proteomic profiles of 12 lateral/medial meniscus pairs obtained from excess tissue of osteoarthritis patients who underwent knee arthroscopy surgery using mass spectrometry-based techniques and measured 75 ECM protein levels in the lesions using a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) assay we developed. A total of 906 meniscus proteins with a 1% false discovery rate (FDR) was identified through a tandem mass tag (TMT) analysis showing that the lateral and medial menisci had similar protein expression profiles. A total of 131 ECM-related proteins was included in meniscus tissues such as collagen, fibronectin, and laminin. Our data showed that 14 ECM protein levels were differentially expressed in lateral and medial lesions (p < 0.05). We present the proteomic characterization of meniscal tissue with mass spectrometry-based comparative proteomic analysis and developed an MRM-based assay of ECM proteins correlated with tissue regeneration. The mass spectrometry dataset has been deposited to the MassIVE repository with the dataset identifier MSV000087753.     

Heat-induced conversion of gingerols to shogaols in ginger as affected by heat type (dry or moist heat), sample type (fresh or dried), temperature and time

The impact of heat type, sample type, temperature and time on the heat-induced conversion of gingerols to shogaols in ginger were studied by an UHPLC–ESI–MS/MS. Heat treatments greatly induced the conversion of gingerols to shogaols in ginger. As the temperature increased, the faster conversion of gingerols into shogaols were observed. However, the efficiency of the heat-induced conversion differed greatly with the heat types. Moist heat treatment induced significantly higher quantity of shogaols than dry heat treatment. The moist heat treatment at 120 °C for 360 min induced the highest conversion, reaching to 2991 mg 6-shogaol per kg ginger. In addition, dry-heat induced conversion was affected by the sample type. The dry-heat treatment on dried powder induced significantly higher quantity of shogaols than that on sliced fresh ginger. This represents the first systematic comparative study on the heat and sample types on the heat-induced conversion of gingerols into shogaols in ginger.     

Benzoselenadiazole-core asymmetric D-A-A small molecule for solution processed bulk heterojunction organic solar cells

The present work is accounted on the designing of a new and efficient asymmetric organic chromophore, named 4-(3,5-bis [trifluoromethyl] phenyl)-7-(5′-hexyl-[2,2′-bithiophen]-5-yl)-benzo[c [1, 2, 5]selenadiazole, (RT-BSe-F), based on benzoselenadiazole central acceptor building blocks. The acceptor unit of 3,5-bis (trifluoromethyl) benzene and donor unit of alkyl bithiophene attached with benzoselenadiazole central unit showed large impacts on the optical and electrochemical properties. The reasonable optical band gap of ~2.02 eV and HOMO of −5.33 eV were obtained by RT-BSe-F chromophore due to a strong electron accepting nature of fluorine based compound. With 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) benzene unit, the absorption of RT-BSe-F chromophore was considerably increased to higher wavelength which might enhance the crystallinity of thin film with high hole mobility. RT-BSe-F chromophore was effectively applied to fabricate the solution-processed bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells (BHJ-OSCs) and attained a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ~3.75% accompanying high J_SC of ~12.56 mA cm⁻², FF of ~0.42 and V_OC of ~0.71 V. The obtained high PCE might be associated to a high surface energy of TiO₂ layer as buffer and the use of high mobility organic RT-BSe-F chromophore.     

An exploration of 3-methoxypropionitrile chemical sensor based on layered hexagonal NiCo2O4 nanoplates as electrode material

Binary metal oxide, nickel-cobalt oxide (NiCo₂O₄), was hydrothermally synthesized for the successful utilization as electrochemical electrode in chemical sensor. Benefited from the large surface area, binary NiCo₂O₄ stacked hexagonal nanoplates (HNPs) based electrode was utilized for the electrochemical sensing application towards teratogenic chemical i.e. 3-methoxypropionitrile (3-MPN). The sensing results displayed a reproducible sensitivity of ~605 μAμM^?1cm^?2, detection limit of ~11.8 μM with the correlation coefficient (R) of ~0.99502 and good linearity from ~10 μM to ~100 μM. Stability and repeatability of binary NiCo₂O₄ stacked HNPs based electrode was investigated with satisfactory results. Our synthesized binary NiCo₂O₄ stacked HNPs based electrode is promising for sensor applications and thus, enlightens the possibility of synthesizing other binary oxide materials.     

Phenolic from apple blossom “Hongro” inhibits the expression of proteins related to melanogenesis in B16F10 melanoma cells

Food Science and Biotechnology - This study aimed to assess apple blossom extracts as potential natural whitening agents due to their ability to inhibit melanogenesis. Ethanol extracts of apple...