Artemisinin inhibits neuronal ferroptosis in Alzheimer's disease models by targeting KEAP1.

Ferroptosis, a form of cell death characterized by lipid peroxidation, is involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer´s disease (AD). Recent studies have shown that a first-line antimalarial drug artemisinin is effective to counteract AD pathology. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of artemisinin against neuronal ferroptosis and the underlying mechanisms.

Maresin1 Alleviates Metabolic Dysfunction in Septic Mice: A H NMR-Based Metabolomics Analysis.

Maresin1 (MaR1), a new anti-inflammatory and proresolving lipid mediator, has been proven to exert organ-protective effects in septic animal models. However, the potential mechanisms are still not fully elucidated. In this study, we sought to explore the impact of MaR1 on metabolic dysfunction in cecal ligation and puncture- (CLP-) induced septic mice.

Metabolic alterations in the rat cerebellum following acute middle cerebral artery occlusion, as determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy.

Supratentorial focal ischemia may reduce cerebral blood volume and cerebellar glucose metabolic rate contralateral to the region of ischemia. The present study investigated the effects of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) on cerebral metabolism in the ischemic cerebral hemisphere and the non‑ischemic cerebellum in rats 1, 3, 9 and 24 h following ischemia using ex vivo proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that focal ischemia induced increases in the levels of lactate and alanine, and a decrease in succinate, as early as 1 h following ischemia in the left cerebral hemisphere and the right cerebellum.

Metabolite changes in the ipsilateral and contralateral cerebral hemispheres in rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion.

Cerebral ischemia not only causes pathological changes in the ischemic areas but also induces a series of secondary changes in more distal brain regions (such as the contralateral cerebral hemisphere). The impact of supratentorial lesions, which are the most common type of lesion, on the contralateral cerebellum has been studied in patients by positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging. In the present study, we investigated metabolite changes in the contralateral cerebral hemisphere after supratentorial unilateral ischemia using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy-based metabonomics.

A 1H-NMR Based Study on Hemolymph Metabolomics in Eri Silkworm after Oral Administration of 1-Deoxynojirimycin.

We aimed to investigate whether 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) modulates glycometabolism and has toxicity in Eri silkworm (Samia cynthia ricini, Saturniidae). In this paper, hemolymph metabolites were used to explore metabolic changes after oral administration of DNJ or mulberry latex and to characterize the biological function of DNJ at the metabolic and systemic levels. Hemolymph samples were collected from fourth-instar larvae of Eri silkworm and ex-vivo high-resolution 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra were acquired from the collected hemolymph samples.

Alteration of interaction between astrocytes and neurons in different stages of diabetes: a nuclear magnetic resonance study using [1-(13)C]glucose and [2-(13)C]acetate.

Increasing evidence has shown that the brain is a site of diabetic end-organ damage. This study investigates cerebral metabolism and the interactions between astrocytes and neurons at different stages of diabetes to identify the potential pathogenesis of diabetic encephalopathy. [1-(13)C]glucose or [2-(13)C]acetate is infused into 1- and 15-week diabetic rats, the brain extracts of which are analyzed by using (1)H and (13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Neurochemical changes in the rat occipital cortex and hippocampus after repetitive and profound hypoglycemia during the neonatal period: an ex vivo ¹H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

The brain of a human neonate is more vulnerable to hypoglycemia than that of pediatric and adult patients. Repetitive and profound hypoglycemia during the neonatal period (RPHN) causes brain damage and leads to severe neurologic sequelae. Ex vivo high-resolution (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was carried out in the present study to detect metabolite alterations in newborn and adolescent rats and investigate the effects of RPHN on their occipital cortex and hippocampus.

Metabolic changes detected by ex vivo high resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy in the striatum of 6-OHDA-induced Parkinson's rat.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the progressive loss of the dopaminergic neurons; however, its crucial mechanism of the metabolic changes of neurotransmitters remains ambiguous. The pathological mechanism of PD might involve cerebral metabolism perturbations. In this study, ex vivo proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) was used to determine the level changes of 13 metabolites in the bilateral striatum of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced PD rats.

A metabonomic comparison of urinary changes in Zucker and GK rats.

To further investigate pathogenesis and pathogenic process of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), we compared the urinary metabolic profiling of Zucker obese and Goto-kakizaki (GK) rats by NMR-based metabonomics. Principal component analysis (PCA) on urine samples of both models rats indicates markedly elevated levels of creatine/creatinine, dimethylamine, and acetoacetate, with concomitantly declined levels of citrate, 2-ketoglurarate, lactate, hippurate, and succinate compared with control rats, respectively. Simultaneously, compared with Zucker obese rats, the GK rats show decreased levels of trimethylamine, acetate, and choline, as well as increased levels of creatine/creatinine, acetoacetate, alanine, citrate, 2-ketoglutarate, succinate, lactate, and hippurate.

A user-friendly alternative to formaldehyde-based DNA silver-staining method on polyacrylamide gels.

We have developed a practical, cost-effective and user-friendly protocol to meet the needs of nucleic acids research, particularly in respect of DNA detection on polyacrylamide gels. In this method, the most commonly used alkaline formaldehyde developer in DNA silver stain, which does harm to operator, is first replaced by glucose in alkaline borate buffer. In addition, the effects of six reducing sugars on the quality of DNA visualization were investigated.

Structural basis for ubiquitin recognition by a novel domain from human phospholipase A2-activating protein.

Ubiquitin (Ub) is an essential modifier conserved in all eukaryotes from yeast to human. Phospholipase A(2)-activating protein (PLAA), a mammalian homolog of yeast DOA1/UFD3, has been proposed to be able to bind with Ub, which plays important roles in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation, vesicle formation, and DNA damage response. We have identified a core domain from the PLAA family ubiquitin-binding region of human PLAA (residues 386-465, namely PFUC) that can bind Ub and elucidated its solution structure and Ub-binding mode by NMR approaches.

Differential ubiquitin binding of the UBA domains from human c-Cbl and Cbl-b: NMR structural and biochemical insights.

The Cbl proteins, RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases, are responsible for ubiquitinating the activated tyrosine kinases and targeting them for degradation. Both c-Cbl and Cbl-b have a UBA (ubiquitin-associated) domain at their C-terminal ends, and these two UBA domains share a high sequence similarity (75%). However, only the UBA from Cbl-b, but not from c-Cbl, can bind ubiquitin (Ub).

[Applications of 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabonomics in tumour studies].

1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy has found widespread applications in tumour studies. Several complementary NMR techniques have provided valuable information concerning tumours, including in vivo localized 1H NMR spectroscopy, ex vivo high-resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy of extracts of intact tissue biopsy samples, high-resolution magic angle spinning 1H NMR spectroscopy of intact tissue biopsy samples, and in vitro high-resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy of body fluids. On the basis of the combination of NMR measurements with multivariate data analysis, 1H NMR-based metabonomics has become a promisingly novel approach in the studies of tumour early diagnosis, processes and prognosis estimate.

Mixed micelles of polyethylene glycol (23) lauryl ether with ionic surfactants studied by proton 1D and 2D NMR.

(1)H NMR chemical shift, spin-lattice relaxation time, spin-spin relaxation time, self-diffusion coefficient, and two-dimensional nuclear Overhauser enhancement (2D NOESY) measurements have been used to study the nonionic-ionic surfactant mixed micelles. Cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were used as the ionic surfactants and polyethylene glycol (23) lauryl ether (Brij-35) as the nonionic surfactant. The two systems are both with varying molar ratios of CTAB/Brij-35 (C/B) and SDS/Brij-35 (S/B) ranging from 0.

Properties of polyethylene glycol (23) lauryl ether with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide in mixed aqueous solutions studied by self-diffusion coefficient NMR.

NMR self-diffusion coefficient measurements have been used to study the properties of polyethylene glycol (23) lauryl ether (Brij-35) with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in the mixed aqueous solutions with different mole fractions of CTAB. By fitting the self-diffusion coefficients to the two-state exchange model, the critical micelle concentrations of the two solutes in the mixed solutions (cmc*1 and cmc*2) were obtained. The critical mixed micelle concentrations (cmc*) were then evaluated by the sum of cmc*1 and cmc*2, which are in good agreement with the results measured by the surface tension method.