Abnormal postcentral gyrus voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity as a biomarker of mild cognitive impairment: A resting-state fMRI and support vector machine analysis.

Background: While patients affected by mild cognitive impairment (MCI) exhibit characteristic voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) alterations, the ability of such VMHC abnormalities to predict the diagnosis of MCI in these patients remains uncertain. As such, this study was performed to evaluate the potential role of VMHC abnormalities in the diagnosis of MCI.

Methods: MCI patients and healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled and subjected to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and neuropsychological testing.

A Gene Controls the Locule Number of Tomato Fruit.

Tomato () fruits are derived from fertilized ovaries formed during flower development. Thus, fruit morphology is tightly linked to carpel number and identity. The () gene is a key transcription repressor to define the stamen-carpel boundary and to control floral meristem determinacy.

Effect of Soluble Dietary Fiber of Navel Orange Peel Prepared by Mixed Solid-State Fermentation on the Quality of Jelly.

The aim of this work was to prepare soluble dietary fibers (SDFs) from insoluble dietary fiber of navel orange peel (NOP-IDF) by mixed solid-state fermentation (M-SDF) and to investigate the influence of fermentation modification on the structural and functional characteristics of SDF in comparison with untreated soluble dietary fiber (U-SDF) of NOP-IDF. Based on this, the contribution of two kinds of SDF to the texture and microstructure of jelly was further examined. The analysis of scanning electron microscopy indicated that M-SDF exhibited a loose structure.

An overview on marine anti-allergic active substances for alleviating food-induced allergy.

Food provides energy and various nutrients and is the most important substance for the survival of living beings. However, for allergic people, certain foods cause strong reactions, and sometimes even cause shock or death. Food allergy has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a major global food safety issue which affect the quality of life of nearly 5% of adults and 8% of children, and the incidence continues to rise but there is no effective cure.

Effect of tyrosinase and caffeic acid crosslinking of turbot parvalbumin on the digestibility, and release of mediators and cytokines from activated RBL-2H3 cells.

Turbot can induce allergy in susceptible individuals due to the presence of parvalbumin (PV), a major fish allergen. This study aimed at evaluating the digestibility and the ability of PV to elicit the release of cellular degranulation, following treatment with tyrosinase (PV-Tyr), caffeic acid (PV-CA) and in combination (PV-Tyr/CA), using in vitro digestion and RBL-2H3 (passive rat basophil leukemia) cell line. The digestion assay products revealed that the stability of PV in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) was stronger, while in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) was rather weak.

Effect of laccase-catalyzed cross-linking on the structure and allergenicity of Paralichthys olivaceus parvalbumin mediated by propyl gallate.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate Paralichthys olivaceus parvalbumin (PV) following treatment by laccase (LAC) in the presence of propyl gallate (PG) on the structure and potential allergenicity. The structure of LAC + PG treated PV was analyzed through SDS-PAGE, CD, fluorescence, and allergenicity was analyzed by immunological and cell model. Our results showed that LAC + PG treatment can induce structural changes through PV cross-linking.

Effect of tyrosinase-catalyzed crosslinking on the structure and allergenicity of turbot parvalbumin mediated by caffeic acid.

Background: Enzymatic treatment of allergenic protein can alter their functional properties under a mild reaction condition due to specificity of enzymes. Phenolic compounds act as mediators and enhance the crosslinking reactions. The study aimed to assess the changes in the structure and immunoglobulin G (IgG) binding capacity of turbot parvalbumin (PV) upon crosslinking with tyrosinase (Tyr) in the absence and presence of caffeic acid.

Structural changes of 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) treated shrimp tropomyosin decrease allergenicity.

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of AAPH on the conformational structure and allergenicity of shrimp tropomyosin (TM). The structure of AAPH-TM was evaluated by SDS-PAGE, fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD) and ultraviolet light (UV), and the allergenicity was evaluated by in vivo and in vitro methods. Results showed that AAPH can induce structural changes through TM aggregations.

Methionine attenuates the intensity of rheumatoid arthritis by downregulating NF-κB and iNOS expression in neonatal rats.

The present study investigated the anti-arthritic effects of methionine in neonatal rats. Rats were divided into four groups, with six rats in each group. The rats were administered methionine (150- or 300-mg/kg body weight) orally for 45 consecutive days.

Impacts of glycation and transglutaminase-catalyzed glycosylation with glucosamine on the conformational structure and allergenicity of bovine β-lactoglobulin.

β-Lactoglobulin (β-LG) is recognized as the major milk allergen. In this study, the effects of transglutaminase (TGase) and glucosamine (GlcN)-catalyzed glycosylation and glycation on the conformational structure and allergenicity of β-LG were investigated. The formations of cross-linked peptides were demonstrated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and GlcN-conjugated modification was identified using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS).

Targeting mitochondrial respiration as a therapeutic strategy for cervical cancer.

Targeting mitochondrial respiration has been documented as an effective therapeutic strategy in cancer. However, the impact of mitochondrial respiration inhibition on cervical cancer cells are not well elucidated. Using a panel of cervical cancer cell lines, we show that an existing drug atovaquone is active against the cervical cancer cells with high profiling of mitochondrial biogenesis.

Emodin Attenuates Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis via Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Oxidative Activities in Rats.

BACKGROUND Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) can severely damage lung function, which may result in death. Emodin is a major ingredient of rhubarb and has been proven to protect against lung disruptions. Our study focused on the potential medicinal effect of emodin against IPF.

Inhibition of advanced glycation endproducts during fish sausage preparation by transglutaminase and chitosan oligosaccharides induced enzymatic glycosylation.

Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) are the harmful products of non-enzymatic reactions in foods formed during the heating process. In order to reduce the content of AGEs in foods, the inhibitory effect of different proportions of transglutaminase (TGase) and chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) on the AGEs of seabream fish meat sausage was studied. The results indicated that the TGase/COS ratio of 1 : 1 could inhibit the formation of AGEs, showing especially a decreased N-carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) content and a twice higher inhibition rate (36.