No abstract

Whey protein isolate (WPI) has a variety of nutritional benefits. The stability of WPI beverages has attracted a large amount of attention. In this study, Flammulina velutipes polysaccharides (FVPs) interacted with WPI to improve the stability via noncovalent interactions. Multiple light scattering studies showed that FVPs can improve the stability of WPI solutions, with results of radical scavenging activity assays demonstrating that the solutions of the complex had antioxidant activity. The addition of FVPs significantly altered the secondary structures of WPI, including its α-helix and random coil. The results of bio-layer interferometry (BLI) analysis indicated that FVPs interacted with the WPI, and the equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) was calculated as 1.736 × 10−4 M in this study. The in vitro digestibility studies showed that the FVPs protected WPI from pepsin digestion, increasing the satiety. Therefore, FVPs effectively interact with WPI through noncovalent interactions and improve the stability of WPI, with this method expected to be used in protein-enriched and functional beverages.

No abstract

Here, we characterize the activities of two depeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) inhibitory peptides, VLATSGPG and LDKVFER, using the Caco-2 monolayer model for the intestine. VLATSGPG and LDKVFR inhibited the DPP-IV in the cells via a mixed-type inhibition mode, with in situ IC50 values of 207.3 and 148.5 μM, respectively. Furthermore, VLATSGPG and LDKVFR were transported intact across the cells, with P app values of 2.41 ± 0.16 and 4.23 ± 0.29 × 10–7 cm/s, respectively. Fragmented peptides were identified in the basolateral side of the membrane. Two of these, GPG and VLA, exhibited high inhibitory activities of 83.6 ± 3.3 and 58.5 ± 2.5%, respectively, at 100 μM concentration. Although 3 mM VLATSGPG and LDKVFR were transported across the epithelium in a concentration-dependent manner, their transport did not damage the tight junction proteins, ZO-1 and occludin. This study demonstrates that the two peptides potentially regulate DPP-IV activity in the intestine.

Splicing factors (SFs) play critical roles in the pathogenesis of various cancers through regulating tumor-associated alternative splicing (AS) events. However, the clinical value and biological functions of SFs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain obscure. In this study, we identified 40 dysregulated SFs in HCC and established a prognostic model composed of four SFs (DNAJC6, ZC3H13, IGF2BP3, DDX19B). The predictive efficiency and independence of the prognostic model were confirmed to be satisfactory. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) illustrated the risk score calculated by our prognostic model was significantly associated with multiple cancer-related pathways and metabolic processes. Furthermore, we constructed the SFs-AS events regulatory network and extracted 108 protein-coding genes from the network for following functional explorations. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) network delineated the potential interactions among these 108 protein-coding genes. GO and KEGG pathway analyses investigated ontology gene sets and canonical pathways enriched by these 108 protein-coding genes. Overlapping the results of GSEA and KEGG, seven pathways were identified to be potential pathways regulated by our prognostic model through triggering aberrant AS events in HCC. In conclusion, the present study established an effective prognostic model based on SFs for HCC patients. Functional explorations of SFs and SFs-associated AS events provided directions to explore biological functions and mechanisms of SFs in HCC tumorigenesis.

Lactoferrin (LF) exerts a promoting bone health function. The effects of LF on bone formation at the metabolic level have been less explored. Urinary metabolic profiling of growing Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats LF-supplemented (1000 mg/kg bw) for four weeks were explored by Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The serum markers of bone formation and bone resorption, the bone mass, and the osteogenesis markers of femur were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, micro-computerized tomography, and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Compared with the control, LF supplementation improved bone formation (p < 0.05), reduced bone resorption (p < 0.05), enhanced femoral bone mineral density and microarchitecture (p < 0.05), and upregulated osteocalcin, osterix, and Runx-2 expression (p < 0.05) of femur. LF upregulated 69 urinary metabolites. KEGG and pathway enrichment analyses of those urinary metabolites, and the Person’s correlation analyses among those urinary metabolites and bone status revealed that LF impacted on bone formation via regulatory comprehensive pathways including taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, cyanoamino acid metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism, and fatty acid biosynthesis. The present study indicated the metabolomics is a useful and practical tool to elucidate the mechanisms by which LF augments bone mass formation in growing animals.

Whey protein isolate (WPI) is unstable near isoelectric point with simultaneous precipitation or phase separation, which negatively affects its application. In the current study, four kinds of edible fungal polysaccharides were selected to improve the WPI stability through non-covalent interaction. The addition of edible fungal polysaccharides significantly improved the WPI stability. Zeta potential analysis showed that edible fungal polysaccharides reduced the zeta potential of WPI. The analysis of rheological properties showed that complex solutions exhibited higher viscosity and behaved as pseudoplastic fluids. Bio-layer interferometry demonstrated the interactions between edible fungal polysaccharides and WPI, and the K D between Tremella fuciformis (TFP) and WPI was the lowest. LC-MS/MS results indicated that the peptide fragments "VGINYWLAHK" and "TPEVDDEALEKFDK" in α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin were probably binding regions interacted with the four kinds of edible fungal polysaccharides. Furthermore, molecular docking results inferred GLN43 and GLU127 were the major residues in the α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin.

Splicing factors (SFs) play critical roles in the pathogenesis of various cancers through regulating tumor-associated alternative splicing (AS) events. However, the clinical value and biological functions of SFs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain obscure. In this study, we identified 40 dysregulated SFs in HCC and established a prognostic model composed of four SFs (DNAJC6, ZC3H13, IGF2BP3, DDX19B). The predictive efficiency and independence of the prognostic model were confirmed to be satisfactory. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) illustrated the risk score calculated by our prognostic model was significantly associated with multiple cancer-related pathways and metabolic processes. Furthermore, we constructed the SFs-AS events regulatory network and extracted 108 protein-coding genes from the network for following functional explorations. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network delineated the potential interactions among these 108 protein-coding genes. GO and KEGG pathway analyses investigated ontology gene sets and canonical pathways enriched by these 108 protein-coding genes. Overlapping the results of GSEA and KEGG, seven pathways were identified to be potential pathways regulated by our prognostic model through triggering aberrant AS events in HCC. In conclusion, the present study established an effective prognostic model based on SFs for HCC patients. Functional explorations of SFs and SFs-associated AS events provided directions to explore biological functions and mechanisms of SFs in HCC tumorigenesis.