Permeation enhancer decorated nanoparticles for oral delivery of insulin: manipulating the surface density of borneol and PEG for absorption barriers.

Oral protein drugs' delivery faces challenges due to multiple absorption barriers for macromolecules. Co-administration with permeation enhancers and encapsulation in nano-carriers are two promising strategies to enhance their oral absorption. Herein, the poly(lactic--glycolic acid) nanoparticles (PLGA NPs) are decorated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and a traditional Chinese medicine-derived permeation enhancer borneol (BO) for oral insulin delivery.

Recent progress in the structural study of ion channels as insecticide targets.

Ion channels, many expressed in insect neural and muscular systems, have drawn huge attention as primary targets of insecticides. With the recent technical breakthroughs in structural biology, especially in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), many new high-resolution structures of ion channel targets, apo or in complex with insecticides, have been solved, shedding light on the molecular mechanism of action of the insecticides and resistance mutations. These structures also provide accurate templates for structure-based insecticide screening and rational design.

The Roles of Optogenetics and Technology in Neurobiology: A Review.

Optogenetic is a technique that combines optics and genetics to control specific neurons. This technique usually uses adenoviruses that encode photosensitive protein. The adenovirus may concentrate in a specific neural region.

Ryanodine Receptor as Insecticide Target.

The ryanodine receptor (RyR) is one of the primary targets of commercial insecticides. The diamide insecticide family, including flubendiamide, chlorantraniliprole, cyantraniliprole, etc., targets insect RyRs and can be used to control a wide range of destructive agricultural pests.

Overcoming physical stromal barriers to cancer immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy has emerged as an unprecedented hope for the treatment of notoriously refractory cancers. Numerous investigational drugs and immunotherapy-including combination regimens are under preclinical and clinical investigation. However, only a small patient subpopulation across different types of cancer responds to the therapy due to the presence of several mechanisms of resistance.

Different carbon and nitrogen sources regulated docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) production of Thraustochytriidae sp. PKU#SW8 through a fully functional polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) synthase gene (pfaB).

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6) production in thraustochytrids is known to be mediated independently through polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) synthase and fatty acid synthase systems. This study elucidates the unresolved effects of different carbon and nitrogen sources on the functionality of PUFA synthase subunit B (pfaB) and corresponding DHA production in Thraustochytriidae sp. PKU#SW8.

Fed-batch fermentation of mixed carbon source significantly enhances the production of docosahexaenoic acid in Thraustochytriidae sp. PKU#Mn16 by differentially regulating fatty acids biosynthetic pathways.

This study reports comparative evaluation of the growth and DHA productivity of the thraustochytrid strain Thraustochytriidae PKU#Mn16 fermented with seven different substrate feeding strategies. Of these strategies, fed-batch fermentation of the mixed substrate (glucose & glycerol) yielded the maximum growth (52.2 ± 1.

Impact of environmental gradients on the abundance and diversity of planktonic fungi across coastal habitats of contrasting trophic status.

Fungal communities in the coastal waters have long been known to be dynamic with a significant role in organic matter cycling. However, the effects of environmental gradients on their community structures are poorly described. Here we studied three coastal sites off the South China Sea, namely Pearl River Estuary (PE), Shenzhen Bay (SB), and Daya Bay (DB) with contrasting trophic status and heterogenous local influences.

Gradients of three coastal environments off the South China Sea and their impacts on the dynamics of heterotrophic microbial communities.

Heterotrophic fungus-like marine protists are recognized to contribute significantly to the coastal carbon cycling largely due to their high biomass and ability to decompose recalcitrant organic matter. Yet, little is known about their dynamics at polluted coastal environments in the context of heterotrophic microbial communities. Here, we present the dynamics of these protists relative to their heterotrophic counterparts in three different environments, namely Pearl River Estuary (ZJK), Shenzhen Bay (SZW) and Daya Bay (DYW) along the coastline of South China Sea.

Bio-based squalene production by Aurantiochytrium sp. through optimization of culture conditions, and elucidation of the putative biosynthetic pathway genes.

Newly-isolated thraustochytrid strains from coastal waters of China were characterized as bioresource of squalene and the culture condition for the top producer was systematically optimized. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that eight squalene-producing isolates were closely related to genus Aurantiochytrium and one to genus Labyrinthula. The top producer, Aurantiochytrium sp.

Culturable Diversity and Lipid Production Profile of Labyrinthulomycete Protists Isolated from Coastal Mangrove Habitats of China.

Labyrinthulomycete protists have gained significant attention in the recent past for their biotechnological importance. Yet, their lipid profiles are poorly described because only a few large-scale isolation attempts have been made so far. Here, we isolated more than 200 strains from mangrove habitats of China and characterized the molecular phylogeny and lipid accumulation potential of 71 strains.

Molecular Detection and Spatiotemporal Characterization of Labyrinthulomycete Protist Diversity in the Coastal Waters Along the Pearl River Delta.

The heterotrophic labyrinthulomycete protists have long been known to play an important role in the nutrient cycling of coastal seawater. Yet, their spatiotemporal abundance and diversity in polluted coastal waters remain poorly discussed, due in part to the paucity of a rapid detection method. To this end, we developed a qPCR detection method based on a newly designed primer pair targeting their 18S rRNA gene.

Comparative analysis reveals unexpected genome features of newly isolated Thraustochytrids strains: on ecological function and PUFAs biosynthesis.

Background: Thraustochytrids are unicellular fungal-like marine protists with ubiquitous existence in marine environments. They are well-known for their ability to produce high-valued omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3-PUFAs) (e.g.

Improved production of docosahexaenoic acid in batch fermentation by newly-isolated strains of sp. and sp. through bioprocess optimization.

Thraustochytrids, rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6ω3), represent a potential source of dietary fatty acids. Yet, the effect of culture conditions on growth and fatty acid composition vary widely among different thraustochytrid strains. Two different thraustochytrid strains, sp.

Alleviation of reactive oxygen species enhances PUFA accumulation in sp. through regulating genes involved in lipid metabolism.

The unicellular heterotrophic thraustochytrids are attractive candidates for commercial polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) production. However, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in their aerobic fermentation process often limits their PUFA titer. Yet, the specific mechanisms of ROS involvement in the crosstalk between oxidative stress and intracellular lipid synthesis remain poorly described.

Enhanced saturated fatty acids accumulation in cultures of newly-isolated strains of Schizochytrium sp. and Thraustochytriidae sp. for large-scale biodiesel production.

Heterotrophic marine protists (Thraustochytrids) have received increasingly global attention as a renewable, sustainable and alternative source of biodiesel because of their high ability of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) accumulation. Yet, the influence of extrinsic factors (nutrients and environmental conditions) on thraustochytrid culture and optimal conditions for high SFAs production are poorly described. In the present study, two different thraustochytrid strains, Schizochytrium sp.

Mining terpenoids production and biosynthetic pathway in thraustochytrids.

Terpenoids are major bioactive compounds produced by microalgae and other eukaryotic microorganisms. Mining metabolic potential of marine microalgae for commercial production of terpenoids suggest thraustochytrids as one of the promising cell factories. The identification of potential thraustochytrid strains and relevant laboratory scale bioprocesses has been pursued largely.

Toward a better guard of coastal water safety-Microbial distribution in coastal water and their facile detection.

Prosperous development in marine-based tourism has raised increasing concerns over the sanitary quality of coastal waters with potential microbial contamination. The World Health Organization has set stringent standards over a list of pathogenic microorganisms posing potential threats to people with frequent coastal water exposure and has asked for efficient detection procedures for pathogen facile identification. Inspection of survey events regarding the occurrence of marine pathogens in recreational beaches in recent years has reinforced the need for the development of a rapid identification procedure.

Mechanisms of fatty acid synthesis in marine fungus-like protists.

Thraustochytrids are unicellular fungus-like protists and are well known for their ability to produce interesting nutraceutical compounds. Significant efforts have been made to improve their efficient production of important fatty acids (FAs), mostly by optimizing fermentation conditions and selecting highly productive thraustochytrid strains. Furthermore, noticeable improvements have been made in understanding the mechanism of FA biosynthesis, allowing for a better understanding of how thraustochytrids assemble these unique metabolites and how their biosynthesis is coupled with other related pathways.

Iterative assembly of two separate polyketide chains by the same single-module bacterial polyketide synthase in the biosynthesis of HSAF.

Antifungal HSAF (heat-stable antifungal factor, dihydromaltophilin) is a polycyclic tetramate macrolactam from the biocontrol agent Lysobacter enzymogenes. Its biosynthetic gene cluster contains only a single-module polyketide synthase-nonribosomal peptide synthetase (PKS-NRPS), although two separate hexaketide chains are required to assemble the skeleton. To address the unusual biosynthetic mechanism, we expressed the biosynthetic genes in two "clean" strains of Streptomyces and showed the production of HSAF analogues and a polyene tetramate intermediate.

Bioactive natural products from Lysobacter.

The gliding Gram-negative Lysobacter bacteria are emerging as a promising source of new bioactive natural products. These ubiquitous freshwater and soil microorganisms are fast growing, simple to use and maintain, and genetically amenable for biosynthetic engineering. This Highlight reviews a group of biologically active and structurally distinct natural products from the genus Lysobacter, with a focus on their biosyntheses.

Biosynthesis of HSAF, a tetramic acid-containing macrolactam from Lysobacter enzymogenes.

HSAF was isolated from Lysobacter enzymogenes , a bacterium used in the biological control of fungal diseases of plants. Structurally, it is a tetramic acid-containing macrolactam fused to a tricyclic system. HSAF exhibits a novel mode of action by disrupting sphingolipids important to the polarized growth of filamentous fungi.