Niosomes Consisting of Tween-60 and Cholesterol Improve the Chemical Stability and Antioxidant Activity of (−)-Epigallocatechin Gallate under Intestinal Tract Conditions

In order to improve the chemical stability and antioxidant activity of (−)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in the gastrointestinal tract, niosomes composed of Tween-60 and cholesterol were developed to encapsulate EGCG in this investigation. EGCG loaded niosomes with encapsulation efficiency around 76% exhibited a small <i>Z</i>-average diameter about 60 nm. Compared to free EGCG, the EGCG remaining in dialysis tubes was significantly improved for niosomes at pH 2 and 7.4. Meanwhile, the residual EGCG for niosomes increased from 3% to 49% after 2 h incubation in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). Pancreatin was found to impact the stability of niosomes in SIF mainly. Furthermore, the results from ferric reducing antioxidant power and cellular antioxidant activity tests indicated that EGCG loaded niosomes exhibited stronger antioxidant ability than free EGCG during intestinal digestion. Thus, we can infer that niosomal encapsulation might be a promising approach to improve the oral bioavailability of EGCG in the body

Physical and Antimicrobial Properties of Peppermint Oil Nanoemulsions

The mixture of peppermint oil (PO) with medium-chain triacylglycerol was emulsified in water and stabilized with a food-grade biopolymer, modified starch, to form PO nanoemulsions. The effects of emulsifying conditions including homogenization pressure, the number of processing cycles, and oil loading on the mean diameters and viscosities of nanoemulsions were characterized by dynamic light scattering, optical microscopy, and rheological measurements. The formulated PO nanoemulsions with mean diameters normally <200 nm showed high stability over at least 30 days of storage time. Their antimicrobial properties related to those of PO have also been evaluated by two assays, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and time-kill dynamic processes, against two Gram-positive bacterial strains of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. Compared with bulk PO, the PO nanoemulsions showed prolonged antibacterial activities. The results suggest that the nanoemulsion technology can provide novel applications of essential oils in extending the shelf life of aqueous food products

Data_Sheet_1_Time-course adaptive changes in hippocampal transcriptome and synaptic function induced by simulated microgravity associated with cognition.PDF

IntroductionThe investigation of cognitive function in microgravity, both short-term and long-term, remains largely descriptive. And the underlying mechanisms of the changes over time remain unclear.MethodsBehavioral tests, electrophysiological recording, and RNA sequencing were used to observe differences in behavior, synaptic plasticity, and gene expression.ResultsInitially, we measured the performance of spatial cognition exposed to long-term simulated microgravity (SM). Both working memory and advanced cognitive abilities were enhanced. Somewhat surprisingly, the synaptic plasticity of the hippocampal CA3-CA1 synapse was impaired. To gain insight into the mechanism of changing regularity over time, transcriptome sequencing in the hippocampus was performed. The analysis identified 20 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the hippocampus after short-term modeling, 19 of which were up-regulated. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that these up-regulated genes were mainly enriched in synaptic-related processes, such as Stxbp5l and Epha6. This might be related to the enhancement of working memory performance under short-term SM exposure. Under exposure to long-term SM, 7 DEGs were identified in the hippocampus, all of which were up-regulated and related to oxidative stress and metabolism, such as Depp1 and Lrg1. Compensatory effects occurred with increased modeling time.DiscussionTo sum up, our current research indicates that the cognitive function under SM exposure is consistently maintained or potentially even being enhanced over both short and long durations. The underlying mechanisms are intricate and potentially linked to the differential expression of hippocampal-associated genes and alterations in synaptic function, with these effects being time-dependent. The present study will lay the experimental and theoretical foundation of the multi-level mechanism of cognitive function under space flight.</p

microRNA-203 Primer Design.

<p>microRNA-203 Primer Design.</p

Observation of nude mice full-thickness defect model.

<p>(A) Observation of nude mice full-thickness defect model dressed with type I collagen only, C-CBM, or ESCs-C-CBM at 1 d, 1 w, 4 w, and 10 w. Type I collagen group shows that wounds are much slower to heal. Group C-CMB shows the repaired wound skin in the control group was relatively thin and heliotrope with a tendency to bleed; Group ESCs-C-CMB shows the repaired wound in the experimental group was relatively thick and red with re-epithelialization. Scale bar = 1cm. (B) Formation of epidermal nests on the wound surface repaired by epidermal stem cells- collagen-chitin biomimetic (ESCs-C-CBM) membrane compared with C-CBM. Paraffin and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain. Yellow arrows point to chitin and blue arrows point to epidermal nests increased in the ESC-C-CBM group at 2–10 w (100X).</p

Primers used in quantitative real-time PCR.

<p>Primers used in quantitative real-time PCR.</p

CD34 and CD200 were early-stage markers of hair follicle stem cells by Immunohistochemistry (100X).

<p>(A) ESCs-C-CBM shows CD34 expressed in the hair follicle bulge cells at d3 after surgery and maintained from d3 to 4 w, and then decreased after 6 w compare to group C-CBM, which shows CD34 was expressed 4 w after surgery; (B) CD200 was located at the hair follicle group ESCs-C-CMB. It was expressed at d3 after surgery and maintained until 6w compare the control group C-CMB which CD200 was expressed at d 7 and the expression decreased from 4w. (C) Measurement of early-stage <i>in vivo</i> CD34/CD200 markers of hair follicle stem cells in the epidermal nests. Hair follicle longitudinal sections and hair follicle transverse sections are both shown. (D) CD34 and CD200 present on ESCs during early stage <i>in vivo</i>. CD34 was strongly expressed in the hair bulb at d5. CD200 was highly expressed at the outer hair root sheath at d3.</p

Diverse endometrial mRNA signatures during the window of implantation in patients with repeated implantation failure

<p>High endometrial receptivity in the window of implantation (WOI) is essential for successful implantation. However, a diagnostic tool with high specificity for impaired endometrial receptivity remains to be developed. We collected endometrium specimens during the WOI from patients with RIF and women who conceived after one IVF/ICSI attempt. We conducted mRNA microarray on the samples followed by relevant comparative and functional analysis. Microarray analysis revealed 357 dysregulated mRNAs between the two groups. The majority of these mRNAs were found to encode membrane proteins by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis. The major functional biological pathways associated with the down-regulated mRNAs were cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, the p53 signalling pathway and the complement and coagulation cascades. Up-regulated mRNAs were found mainly to participate in pathways such as PPAR signalling, hematopoietic cell lineage, phosphatidylinositol signalling system, ECM-receptor interaction and notch signalling. AQP3, DPP4 and TIMP3 whose expression patterns were down-regulated in RIF patients both by microarray and real-time PCR had a high correspondence with previous studies demonstrating that these genes may contribute to the defects in endometrial receptivity in RIF patients. Overall, these RIF-associated mRNAs may help devise new diagnostic tools for endometrial receptivity.</p

CD177 expression in neutrophils.

<p><b>A.</b> Neutrophils of 5 subjects were gated on CD66b⁺ cells and analysed for surface expression of CD177. Three neutrophil subsets defined by CD177 expression were shown: negative (neg) in black, intermediate (int) in orange and high (hi) in pink, percentages of each subset were indicated as numbers in the same colour. <b>B</b>. Atypical CD177 expression with CD177^int subset >20% of neutrophils. <b>C.</b> A dot plot showing percentages of CD177^hi versus CD177^neg of total neutrophils in healthy subjects, each dot represents one subject. Three major phenotypic groups were marked as CD177^hi, CD177^hi/neg, and CD177^null. <b>D.</b> Contour plots showing neutrophils from a CD177^null subject (left) and a tri-model CD177 expressing donor (right), co-stained with two CD177 specific monoclonal antibodies (MEM-166 and REA258).</p

<i>CD177</i> and <i>CD177P1</i> variations.

<p><b>A</b>. <i>CD177</i> locus on human chromosome 19 and a schematic comparison of <i>CD177</i> and <i>CD177P1</i> genes. <b>B.</b> Current annotation of three copy number variations of <i>CD177</i> and <i>CD177P1</i> gene polymorphisms. <b>C</b>. <i>CD177</i> reference allele frequencies of two polymorphisms, g.1991C in exon 4 and g.7497A in exon 7, of cohort 1. Each dot represents one of 40 tested subjects. 15 out of 40 subjects displayed allele frequencies of g.1991C and g.7497A simultaneously at 50%. 14/40 subjects harboured similarly 50% g.7497A allele but 75% g.1991C. <b>D</b>. Proposed <i>CD177/CD177P1</i> haplotypes in two loci of exon 4 (C/G) and exon 7 (A/T). <i>CD177</i> gene in black line and <i>CD177P1</i> in grey. The most frequent genotype is highlighted.</p