Current Research in Biotechnology最新文献

Smart colorimetric sensor for the naked-eye detection of food freshness is considered as the most attractive tool in food safety. Herein, we prepared curcumin (CUR) coated electrospun regenerated cellulose nanofiber (RCA) composites (CUR-Cot), to monitor the real-time spoilage of raw chicken. The physicochemical properties of the CUR-Cot sensor were completely studied. The surface modification, morphology, crystalline nature, and thermal stability of CUR-Cot were investigated by using various spectral, analytical, and microscopic techniques. Based on the results, the successful coating of CUR on the surface of RCA was confirmed. Interestingly, the CUR-Cot showed a significant change in total color difference value (ΔE, 0 days − 0.0–14.93, after 1 day – 14.93–23.64, after 2 days – 23.64–44.78, after 3 days- 44.78–55.22, and after 4 days – 55.22–60.96, detectable by the naked eye) in the real-time monitoring for chicken freshness. In addition, the present CUR-Cot smart colorimetric sensor is reversible with change in pH, and the reversed sensor can be reused. Furthermore, the hydrophobic nature of the CUR-Cot was confirmed by water contact angle analysis (WCA, contact angle of 90 ± 3.00), which increases its application and adaptability. Good antibacterial, barrier, and optical properties of the present CUR-Cot were also found. Overall, the results confirm that the usage of CUR-Cot sensor can be highly efficient, user-friendly, and non-destructive for the real-time monitoring of chicken freshness.

The integrated Vegetation-Activated Sludge Process (V-ASP) has emerged as a promising solution for decentralized wastewater treatment, offering a unique combination of landscape vegetation with the traditional Anaerobic-Anoxic-Oxic process (AAO). The experiments displayed that V-ASP consistently demonstrated remarkable treatment performance, maintaining stable removal efficiency exceeding 90 % for COD, NH₄⁺-N, and TP. The vegetation growth is helpful for the removal of pollutants and the microbial community in the allocated vegetation root, while the bulk suspended sludge was changed significantly by using PCR test. To comprehensively evaluate the environmental footprint of V-ASP, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted. The mass balance calculation containing wastewater treatment performance, energy consumption, vegetation growth behavior, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, treated water, and sludge discharge was carried out to establish the life cycle inventories (LCI). SimaPro 9.0 software and the ReCiPe (H) midpoint impact assessment method were employed, which revealed that the V-ASP system boasts low GHG emissions and freshwater eutrophication potential compared to the traditional AAO process. In essence, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the V-ASP system, especially the environmental impacts, guiding its potential for sustainable decentralized sewage treatment applications.

Severe inflammation in joints caused by the detrimental effects of the immune system is termed Rheumatoid arthritis. The unconstrained proliferation of immune cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines deteriorates Synovium which secretes synovial fluid to lubricate joints and cartilage. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the only therapeutics for treating rheumatoid arthritis, and long-term intake causes serious side effects on the organs. Fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide found on the cell walls of brown algae shows bioactive potential. In our study, fucoidan was extracted from Padina pavonica (PD), Stoechospermum marginatum (StM), Spatolossum macrodontum (SpM), Dictyota bartayresiana (DD), and Turbinaria decurrens (TD) and evaluated for anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritis activities. Fucoidan was extracted and evaluated for anti-inflammatory activity in vitro using RAW 264.7 macrophage cell lines, followed by in vivo anti-arthritis activity on Wistar male rats. Nitric oxide suppression was comparatively high in fucoidan from TD (IC₅₀ − 12.93 µg/mL). Purified fucoidan from TD, significantly reduced inflammation, size of paw edema, downregulated proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α), and upregulated anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL10) in CFA-induced arthritis in Wistar male rats. Biochemical parameters like SOD, CAT, GSH, GPX, and GST and haematological parameters like total-protein, albumin, haemoglobin, and RBC were upregulated, and other parameters like urea, uric acid, creatinine, bilirubin, SGOT, SGPT, ALP, WBC, ESR, RF, and CRP were downregulated. Histopathology of the liver, kidney, and ankle joints reveals that fucoidan intake restrained inflammation and tissue damage. Therefore, fucoidan extracted from TD is a potential candidate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

In vitro studies of stone-related crystals and crystals-cell interactions have been extensively done to investigate cellular, molecular and pathogenic mechanisms leading to renal calculi. Effective preparation of various types of stone-related crystals is thus crucial for such studies. Nevertheless, various protocols for preparing these stone-related crystals were scatteredly reported without comparative analysis of their efficacies and yields. Herein, we systematically compared our protocols (with the suffix “-Si”) for preparing calcium oxalate (CaOx) monohydrate (COM), CaOx dihydrate (COD), magnesium ammonium phosphate (struvite), uric acid (UA), calcium phosphate dihydrate (brushite), hydroxyapatite (HAP), and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) crystals with other protocols published previously. The morphological evaluation revealed that our protocols provided the most homogeneous and most typical monoclinic prismatic, bipyramidal, coffin lid and rectangle shapes of COM, COD, struvite and UA crystals, respectively. There were comparable morphological results for brushite, HAP and CaCO₃ crystals generated by different protocols. Our protocols provided the greatest yield for generating brushite crystals but with lower yields for others. Chemical analysis by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed comparable results among different protocols to generate each crystal type. In summary, all these protocols can be used to generate each crystal type. But our protocols offer the best quality, in terms of homogeneity and typical shape, for generating COM, COD, struvite and UA crystals.

Creatine kinase-MM (CK-MM) is a relatively muscle-specific enzyme with a plasma half-life of approximately 2 h. Total creatine kinase elevation is evident in several conditions associated with acute muscle injury, severe muscular exertion, and myocardial infarction. The presence of a large amount of the CK-MM enzyme in blood serum is a biomarker of muscular injuries and cardiac assault. In this study, we developed a structure-switching aptamer that can be immobilized on a sensor to detect CK-MM. CK-BB was used as a counter-target to ensure the specific targeting of CK-MM. Melting-Off SELEX was employed to develop aptamers exhibiting significant structural changes on binding. The selected aptamer shows a high affinity towards CK-MM with a K_d value of 14.7 nM.

Background

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common invasive malignant tumor that lacks powerful predictive or prognostic biomarkers. Ferroptosis and cuproptosis are two new forms of programmed cell death. Our study was aimed at constructing a prognostic model with a combination of cuproptosis and ferroptosis-related genes (CFRGs) for the early clinical detection of HNSCC.

Methods

We obtained the information of CFRGs, including the RNASeq data and corresponding clinical data in HNSCC patients from the TCGA and GEO databases. We assessed 28 CFRGs, and analyzed the relationship between those genes and their clinical features and prognosis of HNSCC. The consensus cluster analysis was employed to generate three CFRGclusters. Then, we investigated the association of molecular patterns and prognostic significance in these subtypes. The clinical indicators of the prognosis-related genes were identified and prognostic CFRG_score were constructed. We then built a predictive nomogram with confirmed consistency and reliability by calibration curve analysis. At last, we verified the expression of CFRGs in HNSCC tissues by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemical results.

Results

The DEGs were different between the normal and HNSCC tumor tissues and we screened out 28 CFRGs related to the prognosis in HNSCC. Associations between the clinical information and prognosis were found in the molecular subtypes related to prognosis. We utilized enrichment analysis of the differential genes and showed that those DEGs were mostly enriched in the biological processes associated with the pathways of neurodegeneration-multiple diseases, Alzheimer disease, Prion disease, Parkinson disease and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. CFRG_score was established to predict the survival of HNSCC patients and found that higher CFRG_score suggested favorable OS for patients, indicating the prediction of better prognosis. Moreover, we created highly reliable nomogram which could predict well for the expected prognosis. In addition, we confirmed that the expression of EGFR, VEGFA, HSPA5, SLC3A2, CAV1 and CD44 were consistent with qRT-PCR and immunohistochemical analysis in HNSCC tissues by qRT-PCR.

Conclusions

This prognostic model based on prognostic differential CFRG_score is strongly related to clinical characteristics, prognosis, and therapy in HNSCC patients and could be used as a promising tool which is dedicated to guiding the treatment of HNSCC.

Light quality (spectral arrangement) and quantity (photoperiod and intensity) influence plant growth and metabolism and also interact with several factors including environmental parameters in defining the plant behavior. The Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights are extensively utilized in the cultivation of several plant species, especially horticultural plants due to their lower power consumption and higher luminous efficiency compared to the conventional fluorescent lights. The aim of this review paper is to examine the potential of LED technology as it relates to plant lighting in greenhouses and other horticultural environments. It also desires to give an in-depth study of the advantages of LED lighting on plant development, yield, the production of secondary metabolites, and defense mechanisms. Horticultural lighting might undergo a revolution because LEDs are used in solid-state lighting, which would be a tremendous advancement after decades of research. LEDs may be used in a variety of horticulture lighting applications, such as tissue culture lighting, controlled environment research lighting, supplementary lighting, and photoperiod lighting for greenhouses. The primary impacts of light colors on plant performance are shown by the spectrum effects of LEDs as an independent source of light, together with the diverse sensitivity of many plant species and alternatives. LED light influences performance of enzyme, gene expression, cell wall formation, plant defense and postharvest quality. The spectrum reactions are mediated by the ambient lighting in a greenhouse, which also indicates a strong relationship between the additional supplementary lighting and changing environmental factors. LEDs are growing further to become cost-effective for even large-scale horticulture lighting applications as light output increases and device expenditures decrease.

Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is a dire global health crisis, undermining the efficacy of antibiotics and ranking among the top ten public health threats according to the World Health Organization. Despite multifaceted efforts to tackle ABR, complex challenges persist across scientific, economic, behavioral, ethical, and legal dimensions. Artificial intelligence (AI), which encompasses machine capabilities for human-like tasks, offers a wide range of applications in healthcare. Chatbots, a subtype of AI, emerge as a powerful avenue for natural language interaction with users. In healthcare, chatbots have demonstrated value in symptom assessment, mental health support, medication adherence, and patient engagement. In this context, our article will comprehensively examine the opportunities and challenges presented by chatbots in bacterial disease management and ABR mitigation. We will delve into not only the technical considerations but also the ethical, legal, and social complexities accompanying their integration into healthcare. The current consideration will be valuable for healthcare professionals, policymakers, and researchers as they navigate the dynamic intersection of chatbots and the pressing issue of antibiotic resistance.