miRNAs as Regulators of Antidiabetic Effects of Fucoidans

open access articleDiabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease with a high mortality rate worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), and other small noncoding RNAs, serve as endogenous gene regulators through binding to specific sequences in RNA and modifying gene expression toward up- or down-regulation. miRNAs have become compelling therapeutic targets and play crucial roles in regulating the process of insulin resistance. Fucoidan has shown potential function as an a-amylase inhibitor, which may be beneficial in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In recent years, many studies on fucoidan focused on the decrease in blood glucose levels caused by ingesting low-glucose food or glucose-lowering components. However, the importance of miRNAs as regulators of antidiabetic effects was rarely recognized. Hence, this review emphasizes the antidiabetic mechanisms of fucoidan through regulation of miRNAs. Fucoidan exerts a vital antidiabetic effect by regulation of miRNA expression and thus provides a novel biological target for future research

Effects of domestic cooking process on the chemical and biological properties of dietary phytochemicals

peer-reviewedFoods are good sources of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibers as well as phytochemicals, which are beneficial for the human body as nutritional supplements. The nutritional value (crude fibers, crude proteins, crude fats, flavonols, carotenoids, polyphenols, glucosinolate, chlorophyll, and ascorbic acid) and biological or functional properties (antioxidant activity, anticancer activity, or anti-mutagenic activity) of foods can be well retained and protected with the appropriate cooking methods. The chemical, physical and enzyme modifications that occur during cooking will alter the dietary phytochemical antioxidant capacity and digestibility. This paper reviewed the recent advances on the effects of domestic cooking process on the chemical and biological properties of dietary phytochemicals. Furthermore, the possible mechanisms underlying these changes were discussed, and additional implications and future research goals were suggested. The domestic cooking process for improving the palatability of foods and increasing the bioavailability of nutrients and bioactive phytochemicals has been well supported

Structural and spectral dynamics of single-crystalline Ruddlesden-Popper phase halide perovskite blue light-emitting diodes.

Achieving perovskite-based high-color purity blue-emitting light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is still challenging. Here, we report successful synthesis of a series of blue-emissive two-dimensional Ruddlesden-Popper phase single crystals and their high-color purity blue-emitting LED demonstrations. Although this approach successfully achieves a series of bandgap emissions based on the different layer thicknesses, it still suffers from a conventional temperature-induced device degradation mechanism during high-voltage operations. To understand the underlying mechanism, we further elucidate temperature-induced device degradation by investigating the crystal structural and spectral evolution dynamics via in situ temperature-dependent single-crystal x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence (PL) characterization, and density functional theory calculation. The PL peak becomes asymmetrically broadened with a marked intensity decay, as temperature increases owing to [PbBr6]4- octahedra tilting and the organic chain disordering, which results in bandgap decrease. This study indicates that careful heat management under LED operation is a key factor to maintain the sharp and intense emission

The genome sequence of the wisent (Bison bonasus)

This work was supported by the Youth Science and Technology Innovation Team of Sichuan Province (2014TD003), Shenzhen Industrial Designation Services Cloud Platform (GGJS20150429172906635), International Collaboration 111 Projects of China, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, 985 and 211 Projects of Sichuan University.The wisent, also known as the European bison, was rescued from extinction approximately 80 years ago through the conservation of 12 individuals. Here, we present the draft genome sequence of a male wisent individual descended from this founding stock. A total of 366 billion base pairs (Gb) of raw reads from whole-genome sequencing of this wisent were generated using the Illumina HiSeq2000 platform. The final genome assembly (2.58 Gb) is composed of 29,074 scaffolds with an N50 of 4.7 Mb. 47.3% of the genome is composed of repetitive elements. We identified 21,542 genes and 58,385 non-coding RNAs. A phylogenetic tree based on nuclear genomes indicated sister relationships between bison and wisent and between the wisent-bison clade and yak. For 75 genes we obtained evidence of positive evolution in the wisent lineage. We provide the first genome sequence and gene annotation for the wisent. The availability of these resources will be of value for the future conservation of this endangered large mammal and for reconstructing the evolutionary history of the Bovini tribe.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe