Prevalence of vitamin A and vitamin D deficiency in hospitalized neonates in Xi'an, China.

Background And Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of vitamin A and vitamin D deficiency and the associated factors in hospitalized neonates in Xi'an, China.

Methods And Study Design: A total of 524 hospitalized neonates were collected in this study. Serum vitamin A and D concentrations were detected in neonates within two weeks of birth.

[Levels of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E and their influencing factors in children with obesity].

Objectives: To investigate the levels of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E in children with obesity and their influencing factors.

Methods: A total of 273 children with obesity who attended the Department of Clinical Nutrition, Xi'an Children's Hospital, from January 2019 to April 2021 were enrolled as the obesity group. A total of 226 children with normal body weight who underwent physical examination during the same period were enrolled as the control group.

A two-dimensional G-CoP/N,P-co-doped carbon nanowire electrode for the simultaneous determination of hydroquinone and catechol in domestic wastewater.

Hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CC) are important chemical raw materials in the modern industry, unfortunately, which are also high toxic phenolic pollutants. So how to achieve highly sensitive and selective determination HQ and CC is the challenge we face. In the present work, we report a facile strategy to obtain nitrogen and phosphorous co-doped glucose-derived carbon coated CoP nanowires (G-CoP/N,P-C NWs), in which nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) was as the chelating reagent, glucose was as carbon source, and the precursors were subsequently experienced carbonization and phosphorization process.

Activation of TLR4 induces inflammatory muscle injury via mTOR and NF-κB pathways in experimental autoimmune myositis mice.

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) is an autoimmune disease that invades skeletal muscle; however, the etiology of IIM is still poorly understood. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 has been widely reported to take part in the autoimmune inflammation of IIMs. The mammalian target of rapamycin, mTOR, is a key central substance which mediates immune responses and metabolic changes, and also has been confirmed to be involved in the pathogenesis of IIMs.

Serum vitamin A, D and E concentrations and status in children in Shaanxi Province, Northwest China.

Background And Objectives: To investigate the vitamin A, D, E concentrations and status, and analyse the associated risk factors for vitamin A, D, E deficiency in children in Shaanxi Province, Northwest China.

Methods And Study Design: The study included a total of 25,806 children admitted to hospitals in Shaanxi province from January 2019 to December 2019. Fasting venous blood samples were collected to measure serum vitamin A, D, E concentrations.

Diverse Krill Lipid Fractions Differentially Reduce LPS-Induced Inflammatory Markers in RAW264.7 Macrophages In Vitro.

Antarctic krill oil is an emerging marine lipid and expected to be a potential functional food due to its diverse nutrients, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), phospholipids, astaxanthin and tocopherols. Although krill oil has been previously proved to have anti-inflammatory activity, there is little information about the relationship between its chemical compositions and anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, the RAW264.

Structure-guided insights into heterocyclic ring-cleavage catalysis of the non-heme Fe (II) dioxygenase NicX.

Biodegradation of aromatic and heterocyclic compounds requires an oxidative ring cleavage enzymatic step. Extensive biochemical research has yielded mechanistic insights about catabolism of aromatic substrates; yet much less is known about the reaction mechanisms underlying the cleavage of heterocyclic compounds such as pyridine-ring-containing ones like 2,5-hydroxy-pyridine (DHP). 2,5-Dihydroxypyridine dioxygenase (NicX) from Pseudomonas putida KT2440 uses a mononuclear nonheme Fe(II) to catalyze the oxidative pyridine ring cleavage reaction by transforming DHP into N-formylmaleamic acid (NFM).

Structural Insights into 6-Hydroxypseudooxynicotine Amine Oxidase from N1, the Key Enzyme Involved in Nicotine Degradation.

Bacteria degrade nicotine mainly using pyridine and pyrrolidine pathways. Previously, we discovered a hybrid of the pyridine and pyrrolidine pathways (the VPP pathway) in N1 and characterized its key enzyme, 6-hydroxypseudooxynicotine amine oxidase (HisD). It catalyzes oxidative deamination of 6-hydroxypseudooxynicotine to 6-hydroxy-3-succinoylsemialdehyde-pyridine, which is the crucial step connecting upstream and downstream portions of the VPP pathway.

Crystal structure of plant PLDα1 reveals catalytic and regulatory mechanisms of eukaryotic phospholipase D.

Phospholipase D (PLD) hydrolyzes the phosphodiester bond of glycerophospholipids and produces phosphatidic acid (PA), which acts as a second messenger in many living organisms. A large number of PLDs have been identified in eukaryotes, and are viewed as promising targets for drug design because these enzymes are known to be tightly regulated and to function in the pathophysiology of many human diseases. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of catalysis and regulation of eukaryotic PLD remain elusive.

-Mediated Leucine Catabolism Is Required for Vegetative Growth, Conidiation and Full Virulence of the Rice Blast Fungus .

Isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase (IVD), a member of the acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (ACAD) family, is a key enzyme catalyzing the conversion of isovaleryl-CoA to β-methylcrotonyl-CoA in the third reaction of the leucine catabolism pathway and simultaneously transfers electrons to the electron-transferring flavoprotein (ETF) for ATP synthesis. We previously identified the ETF ortholog in rice blast fungus () and showed that was essential for fungal growth, conidiation and pathogenicity. To further investigate the biological function of electron-transferring proteins and clarify the role of leucine catabolism in growth and pathogenesis, we characterized ( isovaleryl-CoA dehydrogenase).

Toll-Like Receptor 4-Myeloid Differentiation Primary Response Gene 88 Pathway Is Involved in the Inflammatory Development of Polymyositis by Mediating Interferon-γ and Interleukin-17A in Humans and Experimental Autoimmune Myositis Mouse Model.

Objective: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is one of the key players in the development of many autoimmune diseases. To determine the possible role of TLR4 in polymyositis (PM) development, we collected muscle samples from PM patients and mice subjected to an experimental autoimmune myositis (EAM) model.

Methods: We measured TLR4-MyD88 pathway-related factors, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and interleukin-17A (IL-17A) in EAM mice and PM patients.

Structure and mechanism of a group-I cobalt energy coupling factor transporter.

Energy-coupling factor (ECF) transporters are a large family of ATP-binding cassette transporters recently identified in microorganisms. Responsible for micronutrient uptake from the environment, ECF transporters are modular transporters composed of a membrane substrate-binding component EcfS and an ECF module consisting of an integral membrane scaffold component EcfT and two cytoplasmic ATP binding/hydrolysis components EcfA/A'. ECF transporters are classified into groups I and II.

[Tacrolimus down-regulates the mRNA levels of IL-17 and IL-23 in the muscle tissues of mice with experimental autoimmune myositis].

Objective: To measure the expression levels of interleukin-17( IL-17) and IL-23 mRNAs in the muscle tissue of the mice with experimental autoimmune myositis( EAM),and investigate the impact of tacrolimus( TAC) treatment on the mRNA levels of IL-17 and IL-23 and its therapeutic effect in EAM mice.

Methods: Fifteen female BALB / c mice were divided randomly into three groups,a normal control group,an EAM model group and a TAC-treated group. HE staining was used to observe the pathological changes for evaluating muscle inflammation of EAM mice.

Structural basis of intramitochondrial phosphatidic acid transport mediated by Ups1-Mdm35 complex.

Ups1 forms a complex with Mdm35 and is critical for the transport of phosphatidic acid (PA) from the mitochondrial outer membrane to the inner membrane. We report the crystal structure of the Ups1-Mdm35-PA complex and the functional characterization of Ups1-Mdm35 in PA binding and transfer. Ups1 features a barrel-like structure consisting of an antiparallel β-sheet and three α-helices.

Crystal structure of a folate energy-coupling factor transporter from Lactobacillus brevis.

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, composed of importers and exporters, form one of the biggest protein superfamilies that transport a variety of substrates across the membrane, powered by ATP hydrolysis. Most ABC transporters are composed of two transmembrane domains and two cytoplasmic nucleotide-binding domains. Also, importers from prokaryotes usually have extra solute-binding proteins in the periplasm that are responsible for the binding of substrates.

Induction of jasmonate signalling regulators MaMYC2s and their physical interactions with MaICE1 in methyl jasmonate-induced chilling tolerance in banana fruit.

MYC2, a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, is a key regulator in the activation of jasmonate (JA) response. However, the molecular details of MYC2 involving in methyl jasmonate (MeJA)-induced chilling tolerance of fruit remain largely unclear. In the present work, two MYC2 genes, MaMYC2a and MaMYC2b, and one homolog of the inducer of the C-repeat-binding factor (CBF) gene, MaICE1 were isolated and characterized from banana fruit.