Zinc alpha2 glycoprotein protects against obesity-induced hepatic steatosis.

Background/aim: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by hepatic steatosis, impaired insulin sensitivity, and chronic low-grade inflammation. Our previous studies indicated that zinc alpha2 glycoprotein (ZAG) alleviates palmitate (PA)-induced intracellular lipid accumulation in hepatocytes. This study is to further characterize the roles of ZAG on the development of hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance (IR), and inflammation.

Aptamer-functionalized Fe O magnetic nanoparticles as a solid-phase extraction adsorbent for the selective extraction of berberine from Cortex phellodendri.

The extraction adsorbent was fabricated by immobilizing the highly specific recognition and binding of aptamer onto the surface of Fe O magnetic nanoparticles, which not only acted as recognition elements to recognize and capture the target molecule berberine from the extract of Cortex phellodendri, but also could favor the rapid separation and purification of the bound berberine by using an external magnet. The developed solid-phase extraction method in this work was useful for the selective extraction and determination of berberine in Cortex phellodendri extracts. Various conditions such as the amount of aptamer-functionalized Fe O magnetic nanoparticles, extraction time, temperature, pH value, Mg concentration, elution time and solvent were optimized for the solid-phase extraction of berberine.

Detection of Aβ oligomers based on magnetic-field-assisted separation of aptamer-functionalized FeO magnetic nanoparticles and BaYF:Yb,Er nanoparticles as upconversion fluorescence labels.

A sensitive and stable bioassay for the detection of Aβ oligomer (Aβo), a potentially promising candidate biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis, was developed using FeO magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) as the recognition and concentration elements and BaYF:Yb,Er upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) as highly sensitive labels, conjugated with the Aβo aptamer (DNA1) and the complementary oligonucleotide of the Aβo aptamer (DNA2), respectively. The DNA1 hybridized with DNA2 to form the duplex structure on the surface of the MNPs/UCNPs nanocomposites probe. When the target Aβo was introduced, the aptamer DNA1 preferentially bound with Aβo and caused the dissociation of some complementary DNA2, liberating some UCNP-labeled complementary DNA2 and leading to a decreased upconversion fluorescent intensity on the surface of MNPs.

Investigation on the aggregation behaviors and filament morphology of tau protein by a simple 90° angle light-scattering assay.

The in vitro aggregation of tau constructs was monitored by a simple 90° angle light-scattering (LS) approach which was conducted directly on fluorescence instrument. At the optimum incident wavelength (550 nm, unpolarized), the sensitivity of LS was high enough to detect tau aggregation at micromolar range. The nucleation and elongation, different events in the aggregation process of 4RMBD construct (corresponding with the four repeated units of tau Microtubule Binding Domain) could be observed by this approach, as compared with ThS fluorescence assay.

Potential prevention and treatment of maifanite for Alzheimer's disease based on behavior test, oxidative stress assay, and trace element analysis in hippocampus of Aβ(₂₅₋₃₅)-induced AD rats.

This study aimed to assess whether maifanite can improve the learning and memory, and antioxidant abilities of Alzheimer's disease (AD) rats. The 70 rats were divided into seven groups: [A] normal control group, [B] AD model group, [C] sham group, [D] positive control group (donepezil), [E] low-dose maifanite group, [F] middle-dose maifanite group, [G] high-dose maifanite group. For [B], [D], [E], [F], and [G] groups, Aβ(25-35) ventricle injection was carried out, then respective medicine were administered once a day for 60 consecutive days.