Changes in Volatile Profiles and Activity of Hydroperoxide Lyase and Alcohol Dehydrogenase During the Development of Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes (Vitis vinifera L.)

In this study we focused on the development of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and investigated changes in theactivity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and hydroperoxide lyase (HPL) in different tissues. We sampledgrape skin at four, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 12, 14 and 16 weeks after anthesis; developing flowers whenblooming at 0%, 5%, 50%, and 90%; and leaves at two and four weeks before anthesis and at two, four,six, eight, nine, and 10 weeks after anthesis. We also examined the type and fluctuation of volatile contents.ADH activity increased with the development of flowers and grape skins, which led to the increasing oftypes and concentration of alcohols. Low levels of 9-HPL led to low concentrations of C9 compounds.According to this paper, C6 compounds became abundant with the development of grape berries, while theactivity of 13-HPL kept at a low level in the flowers and grape skins. There might have been a high level of13-HPL activity from the end of flowering until fruit setting that we did not detect. Furthermore, similarC6 and C5 compounds were detected across all tissues, including hexanal, (E)-2-hexenal, (Z)-3-hexenal,(Z)-2-penten-1-ol, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, 1-hexanol and 3-hexen-1-ol. Generally speaking, the concentrations ofC6 and C5 compounds could be used as the criterion of maturation of the three grape tissues

Comparative study of mesenchymal stem cells from C57BL/10 and mdx mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been studied and applied extensively because of their ability to self-renew and differentiate into various cell types. Since most human diseases models are murine, mouse MSCs should have been studied in detail. The mdx mouse – a Duchenne muscular dystrophy model – was produced by introducing a point mutation in the dystrophin gene. To understand the role of dystrophin in MSCs, we compared MSCs from mdx and C57BL/10 mice, focusing particularly on the aspects of light and electron microscopic morphology, immunophenotyping, and differentiation potential.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our study showed that at passage 10, mdx-MSCs exhibited increased heterochromatin, larger vacuoles, and more lysosomes under electron microscopy compared to C57BL/10-MSCs. C57BL/10-MSCs formed a few myotubes, while mdx-MSCs did not at the same passages. By passage 21, mdx-MSCs but not C57BL/10-MSCs had gradually lost their proliferative ability. In addition, a significant difference in the expression of CD34, not Sca-1 and CD11b, was observed between the MSCs from the 2 mice.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our current study reveals that the MSCs from the 2 mice, namely, C57BL/10 and mdx, exhibit differences in proliferative and myogenic abilities. The results suggest that the changes in mouse MSC behavior may be influenced by lack of dystrophin protein in mdx mouse.</p

Isolation and characterization of ZZ1, a novel lytic phage that infects Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates

BACKGROUND: Acinetobacter baumannii, a significant nosocomial pathogen, has evolved resistance to almost all conventional antimicrobial drugs. Bacteriophage therapy is a potential alternative treatment for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. In this study, one lytic bacteriophage, ZZ1, which infects A. baumannii and has a broad host range, was selected for characterization. RESULTS: Phage ZZ1 and 3 of its natural hosts, A. baumanni clinical isolates AB09V, AB0902, and AB0901, are described in this study. The 3 strains have different sensitivities to ZZ1, but they have the same sensitivity to antibiotics. They are resistant to almost all of the antibiotics tested, except for polymyxin. Several aspects of the life cycle of ZZ1 were investigated using the sensitive strain AB09V under optimal growth conditions. ZZ1 is highly infectious with a short latent period (9 min) and a large burst size (200 PFU/cell). It exhibited the most powerful antibacterial activity at temperatures ranging from 35°C to 39°C. Moreover, when ZZ1 alone was incubated at different pHs and different temperatures, the phage was stable over a wide pH range (4 to 9) and at extreme temperatures (between 50°C and 60°C). ZZ1 possesses a 100-nm icosahedral head containing double-stranded DNA with a total length of 166,682 bp and a 120-nm long contractile tail. Morphologically, it could be classified as a member of the Myoviridae family and the Caudovirales order. Bioinformatic analysis of the phage whole genome sequence further suggested that ZZ1 was more likely to be a new member of the Myoviridae phages. Most of the predicted ORFs of the phage were similar to the predicted ORFs from other Acinetobacter phages. CONCLUSION: The phage ZZ1 has a relatively broad lytic spectrum, high pH stability, strong heat resistance, and efficient antibacterial potential at body temperature. These characteristics greatly increase the utility of this phage as an antibacterial agent; thus, it should be further investigated

Selection of Pru p 3 hypoallergenic peach and nectarine varieties

To the Editor, Peach is an important fruit consumed worldwide. However, it is also one of the most frequently reported allergenic fruits.1 Component diagnosis of peach allergy indicates Pru p 1, Pru p 2, Pru p 3, Pru p 4, Pru p 7, and Pru p 9 are involved.2, 3 Pru p 3 is the dominant allergen responsible for severe allergic reaction,4 and it is considered to be the primary sensitizer to other LTPs in Mediterranean and Central Europe.5 The levels of Pru p 3 differ between varieties.6 To date, measurement of Pru p 3 in a limited number of peach and nectarines from Spain, United States, and Italy has been reported.7 Significant variation of allergen concentration in processed foods containing peach has also been observed.8 The content of Pru p 3 of peach/nectarine determines the potential risk for peach allergic patients. China is the origin of peach with representative genetic diversity to be explored for hypoallergenic varieties.9 A core collection of 103 varieties cultivated in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province were selected to represent this diversity, including 23 nectarines and 80 peach varieties (with fruit hair, round or flat, 77 cultivated, three wild) (Table S1). The soluble solid content (SSC), ripening date, and peach aroma intensity were recorded. Specific methods are detailed in the Supporting Information. Pru p 3 was quantified by ELISA based on our previous research.6info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Chlorine disinfection increases both intracellular and extracellular antibiotic resistance genes in a full-scale wastewater treatment plant

The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance has posed a major threat to both human health and environmental ecosystem. Although the disinfection has been proved to be efficient to control the occurrence of pathogens, little effort is dedicated to revealing potential impacts of disinfection on transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), particularly for free-living ARGs in final disinfected effluent of urban wastewater treatment plants (UWWTP). Here, we investigated the effects of chlorine disinfection on the occurrence and concentration of both extracellular ARGs (eARGs) and intracellular ARGs (iARGs) in a full-scale UWWTP over a year. We reported that the concentrations of both eARGs and iARGs would be increased by the disinfection with chlorine dioxide (ClO). Specifically, chlorination preferentially increased the abundances of eARGs against macrolide (ermB), tetracycline (tetA, tetB and tetC), sulfonamide (sul1, sul2 and sul3), β-lactam (ampC), aminoglycosides (aph(2')-Id), rifampicin (katG) and vancomycin (vanA) up to 3.8 folds. Similarly, the abundances of iARGs were also increased up to 7.8 folds after chlorination. In terms of correlation analyses, the abundance of Escherichia coli before chlorination showed a strong positive correlation with the total eARG concentration, while lower temperature and higher ammonium concentration were assumed to be associated with the concentration of iARGs. This study suggests the chlorine disinfection could increase the abundances of both iARGs and eARGs, thereby posing risk of the dissemination of antibiotic resistance in environments

Co-expression of NMDA-receptor subunits NR1, NR2A, and NR2B in dysplastic neurons of teratomas in patients with paraneoplastic NMDA-receptor-encephalitis: a retrospective clinico-pathology study of 159 patients

Objective To comprehensively describe the pathological features of neurons in patients with ovarian teratomas and paraneoplastic anti-NMDAR encephalitis (anti-NMDARE), emphasizing on NMDA-receptor expression and infiltrating lymphocytes. Methods A retrospective study was performed in a large series of 159 patients from the West China Hospital. We retrospectively identified 12 patients with paraneoplastic anti-NMDARE (11 case with ovarian teratomas and 1 case with mixed germ cell tumor), which were compared to 35 patients with teratomas and no encephalitis and to 147 patients with anti-NMDARE and no evidence for tumors. Patient history and outcome were reviewed from the clinical charts and compared between all three groups. Histopathological examination, including double-immunofluorescence of NMDAR subunits and IgG was performed in all teratoma tissues. Magnetic Luminex Assay Human Premixed Multi-Analyte Kit was performed to investigate cytokines profile of CSF. Results Patients with paraneoplastic anti-NMDARE had a more severe clinical presentation, i.e. they required more mechanical ventilation and intensive care (p < 0.001). Though immunotherapy was initiated earlier in this group, repeated intravenous immunoglobulin administration (IVIG) was more common (p = 0.002) and with higher cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) antibody titres (p = 0.004). Following tumor resection, the outcome did not differ between groups. A peculiar population of floating-frog like dysplastic neurons were observed only in teratomas of patients with paraneoplastic anti-NMDARE, co-expressing NR1, NR2A, NR2B subunits and IgG. Also, CD20 positive B-cells were more common in anti-NMDARE teratomas. In CSF of paraneoplastic anti-NMDARE patients, TNF-α, IL-10 and GM-CSF concentrations were higher than in negative symptom control and VEGF-A and IL-1a were lower than in anti-NMDARE patients (0.25 < p < 0.05). Conclusions Patients with teratomas and paraneoplastic anti-NMDARE revealed a cellular population of dysplastic neurons co-expressing NMDAR subunits, which were the potential source of autoantigens triggering anti-NMDARE. Some inflammatory cytokines may be involved in pathogenesis of paraneoplastic anti-NMDARE

Anti-inflammatory effect of Yu-Ping-Feng-San via TGF-β1 signaling suppression in rat model of COPD

Objective(s): Yu-Ping-Feng-San (YPFS) is a classical traditional Chinese medicine that is widely used for treatment of the diseases in respiratory systems, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) recognized as chronic inflammatory disease. However, the molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here we detected the factors involved in transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1)/Smad2 signaling pathway and inflammatory cytokines, to clarify whether YPFS could attenuate inflammatory response dependent on TGF-β1/Smad2 signaling in COPD rats or cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-treated human bronchial epithelial (Beas-2B) cells.  Materials and Methods: The COPD rat model was established by exposure to cigarette smoke and intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide, YPFS was administered to the animals. The efficacy of YPFS was evaluated by comparing the severity of pulmonary pathological damage, pro-inflammation cytokines, collagen related genes and the activation of TGF-β1/Smad2 signaling pathway. Furthermore, CSE-treated cells were employed to confirm whether the effect of YPFS was dependent on the TGF-β1/Smad2 signaling via knockdown Smad2 (Si-RNA), or pretreatment with the inhibitor of TGF-β1. Results: Administration of YPFS effectively alleviated injury of lung, suppressed releasing of pro-inflammatory cytokines and collagen deposition in COPD animals (