KIT-13, a novel plasmalogen derivative, attenuates neuroinflammation and amplifies cognition.

Plasmalogens (Pls) are specialized phospholipids integral to brain health, whose decline due to aging and stress contributes to cognitive impairment and neuroinflammation. This study explores the potential of a novel Pls derivative, KIT-13 (1-O-octadecyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphoethanolamine), in mitigating neuroinflammation and enhancing cognition. When administered to mice, KIT-13 exhibited potent memory enhancement attributed to upregulated brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a key player in cognitive processes.

The isolation of sclerotinin A as an anti-malarial compound by utilization of a global secondary metabolism regulator, laeA gene.

Previously, we successfully introduced laeA gene into a fungal strain in order to significantly increase the production of a bioactive compound, allowing use to discover novel biological activity. To demonstrate the universal applicability of the laeA gene introduction strategy for taping the potential of fungal secondary metabolism, in this present study, we created a library of microorganisms which we had the laeA gene inserted, and from that library we aimed to isolate compounds which are produced at significantly greater quantities compared to the respective wild type strains. From this investigation, we were able to isolate sclerotinin A (1) from Pochonia sp.

Isolation of microorganisms from the feces of Kitasato Yakumo beef cattle as bioactive natural product producers.

We envisioned that the rumen of Kitasato Yakumo beef cattle would contain unique microorganisms which produce bioactive compounds as their defense response to the external environment. The variety of microorganisms were collected from the feces of Kitasato Yakumo beef cattle. We evaluated the biological activity of the culture broth of the isolated strains, proving the utility of our approach.