Monitoring the microbial community succession and diversity of Liangzhou fumigated vinegar during solid-state fermentation with next-generation sequencing

This study reveals the microbial community succession and diversity during the whole solid-fermentation processes of naturally fermented Liangzhou fumigated vinegar (LZFV). Dynamics and diversity of microbial community succession in “Daqu” starter and other fermentation stages (starch saccharification, alcoholic fermentation, and acetic acid fermentation) were monitored using a metagenomic approach involving high-throughput sequencing. Meanwhile, dynamic changes of characteristic flavor compounds of vinegar were determined by gas chromatograph (GC) analysis. The result showed that the microbiota composition exhibited rich diversity. Twenty-five bacterial and 18 fungal genera were found in the whole fermentation process where Lactobacillus, Acetobacter, Aspergillus, Saccharomyces, and Alternaria were the predominant microorganisms. Alpha diversity metrics showed that bacterial diversity in Daqu was greater than that in AF and AAF. By contrast, fungal diversity increased from Daqu to AF and decreased in the initial stage (5–8 days) of AAF then remained relatively steady. Hence, these results could help understand dynamics of microbial community succession in continuous fermentation of traditional Chinese vinegars. The LZFV fermentation is a continuous process with spontaneous growth that affects the dynamics of microbial communities. Continuous changes of micro-environment conditions in substrate affect the diversity and structure of microbiota. Microbial growth and metabolism were closely related to the changes in the physicochemical characteristics of the cultures. The microbial flora composition showed rich diversity, and with the increase in brewing time and the change in micro-ecological environmental conditions; the microbial community showed a complex dynamic changes.

     

A simple FRET system using two‐color CdTe quantum dots assisted by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and its application to Hg(II) detection

In this study, we developed a novel simple fluorescence resonance‐energy transfer (FRET) system between two‐color CdTe quantum dots (QDs) assisted by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Mercaptopropionic (MPA)‐capped CdTe QDs serving as both donors and acceptors were successfully synthesized by changing the refluxing time in aqueous solution. CTAB micelles formed in water and minimized the distance between the donors and acceptors significantly by electrostatic interactions, improving FRET efficiency. Several factors that affected the fluorescence spectra of the FRET system were investigated. The prepared FRET system was feasible as an effective fluorescent probe to detect Hg(II) in aqueous solution. At pH 7.0, a linear relationship between the quenched fluorescence intensity of orange‐emitting acceptors (QDs_(A)) and Hg(II) concentration was acquired in the range 5–250 nmol/L with a detection limit of 1.95 nmol/L. The developed method showed excellent analytical performance for Hg(II) with high sensitivity and acceptable selectivity, reproducibility and stability. This finding indicated that the method has a promising potential application for environmental monitoring. This study demonstrated the great promise of QDs for expedient, low‐cost and high‐sensitivity detection of Hg(II).     

Overexpression of RYBP inhibits proliferation,invasion, and chemoresistance to cisplatin in anaplastic thyroid cancer cells via the EGFR pathway

Ring1 and YY1 binding protein (RYBP), a new member of the polycomb group protein family, has been reported to play an important role in various biological processes. Recently, more and more studies have demonstrated an implication of RYBP in cancer development. However, the specific role of RYBP in anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) remains unknown. In this study, we investigated for the first time the expression pattern and biological functions of RYBP in ATC. We showed that RYBP was lowly expressed in ATC tissues and cell lines. We also found that overexpression of RYBP inhibited ATC cell proliferation, invasion, and cisplatin resistance. Furthermore, we observed that upregulation of RYBP decreased the phosphorylation of EGFR and ERK1/2 in ATC cells. Taken together, our data indicated that RYBP might be considered as a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of ATC.     

Effects of object color stimuli on human brain activities in perception and attention referred to EEG alpha band response

This study was designed to investigate the physiological effects of color in terms of blood pressure and the results of electroencephalogram (EEG) as subjects looked at the sheets of paper of various colors. A questionnaire was also used to assess psychological effects. Three colors (red, green, blue) were shown to each subject in randomized order. The various colors showed distinctly different effects on the mean power of the alpha band, theta band, and on the total power in the theta-beta EEG bandwidth and alpha attenuation coefficient (AAC). Scores of the subjective evaluations concerning heavy, excited, and warm feelings also indicated significant differences between red and blue conditions. Against to our prediction, blue elicited stronger arousal than did red as expressed by the results of AAC and the mean power of the alpha band, which conflicted with the results of the subjective evaluations scores. This phenomenon might be caused by bluish light's biological activating effect. The powers of the alpha band, and the theta band, and the total power of the theta-beta bandwidth as measured by EEG showed larger values while the subjects looked at red paper than while they looked at blue paper. This indicated that red possibly elicited an anxiety state and therefore caused a higher level of brain activity in the areas of perception and attention than did the color blue. Red paper's effect to activate the central cortical region with regard to perception and attention was considerably more distinguishable than was the biological activating effect of bluish light in our study.     

Extracellular micro/nanovesicles rescue kidney from ischemia-reperfusion injury

Acute renal failure (ARF) is a clinical challenge that is highly resistant to treatment, and its high rate of mortality is alarming. Ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI) is the most common cause of ARF. Especially IRI is implicated in kidney transplantation and can determine graft survival. Although the exact pathophysiology of renal IRI is unknown, the role of inflammatory responses has been elucidated. Because mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have strong immunomodulatory properties, they are under extensive investigation as a therapeutic modality for renal IRI. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play an integral role in cell-to-cell communication. Because the regenerative potential of the MSCs can be recapitulated by their EVs, the therapeutic appeal of MSC-derived EVs has dramatically increased in the past decade. Higher safety profile and ease of preservation without losing function are other advantages of EVs compared with their producing cells. In the current review, the preliminary results and potential of MSC-derived EVs to alleviate kidney IRI are summarized. We might be heading toward a cell-free approach to treat renal IRI.