<i>Bifidobacterium animalis</i> subsp. <i>lactis</i> A6 Enhances Fatty Acid β-Oxidation of Adipose Tissue to Ameliorate the Development of Obesity in Mice

Fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) is confirmed to be impaired in obesity, especially in adipose tissues. We previously proved that Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis A6 (BAA6) had protective effects against diet-induced obesity. However, whether BAA6 enhances FAO to ameliorate the development of obesity has not been explored. After being fed with high-fat diet (HFD) for 9 weeks, male C57BL/6J mice were fed HFD or BAA6 for 8 weeks. In vitro study was carried out using 3T3-L1 adipocytes to determine the effect of BAA6 culture supernatant (BAA6-CM). Here, we showed that administration of BAA6 to mice fed with HFD decreased body weight gain (by 5.03 g) and significantly up-regulated FAO in epididymal adipose tissues. In parallel, FAO in 3T3-L1 cells was increased after BAA6-CM treatment. Acetate was identified as a constituent of BAA6-CM that showed a similar effect to BAA6-CM. Furthermore, acetate treatment activated the GPR43-PPARα signaling, thereby promoting FAO in 3T3-L1 cells. The levels of acetate were also elevated in serum and feces (by 1.92- and 2.27-fold) of HFD-fed mice following BAA6 administration. The expression levels of GPR43 and PPARα were increased by 55.45% and 69.84% after BAA6 supplement in the epididymal fat of mice. Together, these data reveal that BAA6 promotes FAO of adipose tissues through the GPR43-PPARα signaling, mainly by increasing acetate levels, leading to alleviating the development of obesity

Surface functionalization of Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIMs) membrane by polyphenol for efficient CO2 separation

Membrane separation technology offers a green, efficient and energy-saving approach for biogas upgrading. Membranes with high selectivity and high permeability are the key to achieve high performance. Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIMs) materials have shown excellent gas permeability but low selectivity which limits their practical application. Herein, a polyphenol, tannic acid, was coated on the PIM-1 membrane surface by a facile dipping method to fabricate composite membranes. Tannic acid containing a large number of polar oxygen-containing groups (quinone, phenolic hydroxyl) self-polymerized on the membrane surface to form a CO2-philic, defect-free and thin layer. The CO2/CH4 selectivity of the resultant composite membranes was increased after tannic acid coating while the permeability remained comparable to or even higher than pristine PIM-1 membrane, exceeding the reported 2008 upper bound

Growing ZIF-8 Seeds on Charged COF Substrates toward Efficient Propylene-Propane Separation Membranes

10.1002/anie.202302355Angewandte Chemie International Edition6222e20230235