Portable devices with the advantages of rapid, on-site, user-friendly, and cost-effective assessment are widely applied in daily life. However, only a limited number of quantitative portable devices are commercially available, among which the personal glucose meter (PGM) is the most successful example and has been the most widely used. However, PGMs can detect only blood glucose as the unique target. Here we describe a novel design that combines a glucoamylase-trapped aptamer-cross-linked hydrogel with a PGM for portable and quantitative detection of non-glucose targets. Upon target introduction, the hydrogel collapses to release glucoamylase, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of amylose to produce a large amount of glucose for quantitative readout by the PGM. With the advantages of low cost, rapidity, portability, and ease of use, the method reported here has the potential to be used by the public for portable and quantitative detection of a wide range of non-glucose targets.

Because of their ability to greatly enhance the low natural peroxidase activity of hemin, G-quadruplex-based DNAzymes have been widely used as an alternative to peroxidases for many colorimetric, chemiluminescent, or visual detections of metal ions, small molecules, nucleic acids, proteins, and cancer cells. To obtain G-quadruplex-based DNAzymes with better peroxidase activity, we designed three 81-nt ssDNA libraries containing 25%, 35%, and 45% guanine bases, respectively, at the 45-nt random regions to evolve hemin-binding DNA aptamers using hemin-agarose beads by SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment). Some G-rich sequences were obtained after 6 rounds of selection and optimized for stronger binding affinity to hemin and higher peroxidase activity. Our results show that the truncated aptamer [B7]-3-0 folds into compact parallel G-quadruplex structure and exhibits the highest peroxidase activity and strong binding affinity to hemin with 29 ± 4 nM of K(d). It was found that the core G-motifs sequences with 5'-flanking nucleotides exhibit higher peroxidase activity than those with 3'-flanking nucleotides. The numbers of 5'-flanking nucleotides also influence peroxidase activity. In addition, 2'-O-methyl modification facilitates the self-assembly of parallel G-quadruplex [B7]-3-0 and significantly promotes peroxidase activity. This study identifies a G-quadruplex sequence with peroxidase-like activity higher than any other sequences reported so far, which could be potentially used to improve the analytical performance of a wide variety of peroxidase-based bioassays.

BackgroundThe nutrient composition of corn is variable. To prevent unforeseen reductions in growth performance, grading and analytical methods are used to minimize nutrient variability between calculated and analyzed values. This experiment was carried out to define the sources of variation in the energy content of corn and to develop a practical method to accurately estimate the digestible energy (DE) and metabolisable energy (ME) content of individual corn samples for growing pigs. Twenty samples were taken from each of five provinces in China (Jilin, Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, and Henan) to obtain a range of quality.ResultsThe DE and ME contents of the 100 corn samples were measured in 35.3 ± 1.92 kg growing pigs (six pigs per corn sample). Sixty corn samples were used to build the prediction model; the remaining forty samples were used to test the suitability of these models. The chemical composition of each corn sample was determined, and the results were used to establish prediction equations for DE or ME content from chemical characteristics. The mean DE and ME content of the 100 samples were 4,053 and 3,923 kcal/kg (dry matter basis), respectively. The physical characteristics were determined, as well, and the results indicated that the bulk weight and 1,000-kernel weight were not associated with energy content. The DE and ME values could be accurately predicted from chemical characteristics. The best fit equations were as follows: DE, kcal/kg of DM = 1062.68 + (49.72 × EE) + (0.54 × GE) + (9.11 × starch), with R2 = 0.62, residual standard deviation (RSD) = 48 kcal/kg, and P < 0.01; ME, kcal/kg of dry matter basis (DM) = 671.54 + (0.89 × DE) – (5.57 × NDF) – (191.39 × ash), with R2 = 0.87, RSD = 18 kcal/kg, and P < 0.01.ConclusionThis experiment confirms the large variation in the energy content of corn, describes the factors that influence this variation, and presents equations based on chemical measurements that may be used to predict the DE and ME content of individual corn samples.

The current study was performed to investigate mitochondrial protection and anti-aging activity of Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) and the potential underlying mechanism. Lipid peroxidation of liver and brain mitochondria was induced by Fe2+–Vit C in vitro. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) colorimetry was used to measure the content of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Mouse liver mitochondrial permeability transition (PT) was induced by calcium overload in vitro and spectrophotometry was used to measure it. The scavenging activities of APS on superoxide anion (O2•−) and hydroxyl radical (•OH), which were produced by reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)—N-Methylphenazonium methyl sulfate (PMS) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)–Fe2+ system respectively, were measured by 4-nitrobluetetrazolium chloride (NBT) reduction and Fenton reaction colorimetry respectively. The Na2S2O3 titration method was used to measure the scavenging activities of APS on H2O2. APS could inhibit TBARS production, protect mitochondria from PT, and scavenge O2•−, •OH and H2O2 significantly in a concentration-dependent manner respectively. The back of the neck of mice was injected subcutaneously with D-galactose to induce aging at a dose of 100 mg/kg/d for seven weeks. Moreover, the activities of catalase (CAT), surperoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and anti-hydroxyl radical which were assayed by using commercial monitoring kits were increased significantly in vivo by APS. According to this research, APS protects mitochondria by scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), inhibiting mitochondrial PT and increasing the activities of antioxidases. Therefore, APS has the effect of promoting health.