Search

The role of the pregnane X receptor (PXR) extended beyond regulating drug metabolism and transport, it also played a crucial part in lipid metabolism. Baicalein, a flavonoid derived from Scutellaria baicalensis, was demonstrated anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-oxidative stress properties. Recent investigations reported its capacity to enhance lipid metabolism disorders. This study aimed to clarify the mechanism via which baicalein exerted its positive effects on lipid metabolism disorders by targeting PXR. The findings indicated that baicalein facilitated the nuclear translocation of PXR and controlled the expression of its target genes. In HepG2 cells with oleic acid and palmitic acid-induced lipid accumulation, baicalein treatment reduced the production of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and lipid droplets. In addition, it decreased the expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1), as well as lipogenic enzymes fatty acid synthase (FAS) and stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1). The results of computer simulation indicated that baicalein was a natural ligand of PXR. In conclusion, baicalein might potentially alleviate lipid metabolism disorders by targeting the PXR pathway.

Corn starch played an important role in the food industries, while traditional extraction method involved using sulfur dioxide that could easily cause environmental pollution and equipment corrosion. Based on these drawbacks, the main objective of this study was to develop a feasible two-step enzymatic extraction method that could isolate starch from corn kernels and evaluate the properties of corn starch. The physicochemical components of steep liquor during enzymatic extraction were researched, the single-factor experiments and response surface methodology were used to optimize the steeping conditions. As a result, optimized steeping parameters of which the first step time was 30 h, the lactic acid solution concentration was 0.45%, the protease content was 480 U/g, the l-cysteine content was 0.45 g, and the second step time was 4 h. The corn starch yield (65.18%) with enzymatic extraction was higher than that of traditional extraction (54.73%). The solubility and swelling power of all starch samples were raised with the temperature increasing. The starch extracted using the enzymatic method had a higher amylose content (35.18%) and mean diameter (30.99 μm). Compared with commercial corn starch, the starch samples presented nearly identical FT-IR spectra, the same A-type crystalline pattern and morphology, furthermore, a higher resistant starch content was detected in corn starch obtained through extraction methods. This finding will provide useful information to food industries for extraction of corn starch.

As the main metabolites of ginsenosides, 20(S, R)-protopanaxadiol [PPD(S, R)] and 20(S, R)-protopanaxatriol [PPT(S, R)] are the structural basis response to a series of pharmacological effects of their parent components. Although the estrogenicity of several ginsenosides has been confirmed, however, the underlying mechanisms of their estrogenic effects are still largely unclear. In this work, PPD(S, R) and PPT(S, R) were assessed for their ability to bind and activate human estrogen receptor α (hERα) by a combination of in vitroand in silicoanalysis.

Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous(X. dendrorhous), previously known as Phaffia rhodozyma, is a red yeast that is widely recognized as a rich source of carotenoids, particularly astaxanthin, which exhibits potent antioxidant activity and other health-promoting functions. However, there is currently a lack of research on the safety of consuming X. dendrorhous. To address this, we conducted an acute toxicity study followed by a 90-day subchronic toxicity trial to evaluate the safety of X. dendrorhousand investigate its in vivoantioxidant activity. In the acute toxicity study, Sprague–Dawley rats were administered a maximum of 12 g/kg body weight of X. dendrorhouspowder by gavage and survived without any adverse effects for 14 days. In the subsequent subchronic toxicity test, the rats were randomly divided into five groups, each with free access to their diet adulterated with 0% (control), 2.5% (low), 5% (middle), 10% (high), and 20% (extreme high) X. dendrorhouspowder. The rats’ behavior, body weight, and food intake were monitored during the 90-day experiment. At the end of the experiment, urine, blood, and organs were collected from the rats for biochemical testing. Additionally, the antioxidant activity in rat sera was evaluated. The results of the acute toxicity test demonstrated that the LD50 of X. dendrorhouswas greater than 12 g/kg body weight, indicating that the substance was not toxic. Throughout the 90-day period of subchronic toxicity, the triglyceride levels of male rats fed with 10 and 20% X. dendrorhousincreased to 1.54 ± 0.17 and 1.55 ± 0.25 mmol/L (P< 0.05), respectively. This may be attributed to the elevated fat content of the diet in the high-dose and extreme high-dose groups, which was 5.5 and 2.5% higher than that in the control, respectively. Additionally, the white pulp in the spleen exhibited an increase, and the number of white blood cells in the extreme high-dose group increased by 2.41 × 109/L (P< 0.05), which may contribute to enhanced immunity. Finally, the body weight, food intake, blood and urine indexes, and histopathological examination results of the organs of the rats did not demonstrate any regular toxic effects. With the adulteration of X. dendrorhous, the activity of GSH-Px in male rats increased by 16–36.32%. The activity of GSH-Px in female rats of the extreme high-dose group increased by 14.70% (P< 0.05). The free radical scavenging ability of ABTS in male rats in the two high-dose groups exhibited an increase of 6.5 and 11.41% (P< 0.05). In contrast, the MDA content of male rats in the extreme high-dose group demonstrated a reduction of 2.73 nmol/mL (P< 0.05). These findings indicate that X. dendrorhoushas no toxic effects, can be taken in high doses, and has a beneficial antioxidant effect that may enhance the body’s immunity.

A solution-based homogeneous assay with fluorescence polarization combined with receptor recognition was developed for the determination of zearalenone analogues (zeranols). Firstly, a recombinant human estrogen receptor α ligand binding domain (hERα-LBD) was expressed as a soluble protein in Escherichia coliBL21(DE3)pLysS. In the fluorescence polarization assay, hERα-LBD and coumestrol were employed as the recognition element and fluorescent tracer, respectively. Zearalenone and its derivatives exhibit dose-dependent binding to hERα-LBD, suggesting that the proposed method can potentially be applied for high-throughput monitoring of multiple zeranols. In addition, the structural basis for the estrogenicity of zeranols was demonstrated by molecular docking studies. From a structural point of view, zeranols share a similar orientation and binding mode to those observed for 17β-estradiol, an endogenous estrogen. Comparison of the docking scores with the apo and holo forms of hERα-LBD shows that zeranols in the agonistic receptor conformation exhibit higher binding energies than those in other conformations. Both hydrophobic and hydrogen-bonding interactions are the dominant forces to stabilize binding of zeranols in the pocket. Structure–activity relationship analysis suggests that the keto/hydroxyl group and the transdouble bond of the macrolide ring, as well as the two hydroxyl groups of the aromatic ring, are critical functional groups participating in the zeranols–hERα-LBD binding. These results suggest the possibility to employ molecular modeling techniques to preliminarily evaluate the estrogenic potency of potential xenoestrogens. In summary, this work may provide an understanding of the molecular mechanism involved in zeranols–hERα-LBD binding interactions.

The native corn starch and corn amylose were used to prepared starch nanoparticles through two kinds of nanoprecipitation methods. The mainly property of these starch nanoparticles was the crystalline property, at the same time, the particle size, morphology, FT-IR spectra and contact angle of the starch nanoparticles were also investigated. Results showed that the mean size values of native corn starch nanoparticles were smaller than that of corn amylose nanoparticles prepared by the two methods. The nanoprecipitation methods had no significant difference on crystalline structure for all the starch nanoparticles, while the corn amylose nanoparticles prepared by dropping ethanol into the amylose paste had a higher crystallinity of 52.49%, and the water contact angle of which increased to 38.72° than that of corn amylose. Pickering emulsions stabilized by the above amylose nanoparticles showed a more concentrated particle size distribution and the nanoparticles could be well dispersed on the surface of the oil droplets. The results of this study demonstrated that corn amylose nanoparticles prepared by dropping ethanol into the amylose paste had a potential application in stabilizing Pickering emulsions.

In 2021, the global market for non-phthalate plasticizers reached $3.1 billion, and it is projected to grow by 25.8% by 2025. These plasticizers have gained substantial attention as substitutes for phthalates in various industrial applications due to their potential health and environmental risks, particularly in agroecosystems where they have emerged as contaminants. Furthermore, recent studies have demonstrated that non-phthalate plasticizers can exert endocrine-disrupting effects through mechanisms mediated by nuclear receptors. This review aims to summarize the present understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which non-phthalate plasticizers modulate the activity of nuclear receptors, including estrogen receptor, androgen receptor, glucocorticoid receptor, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors. Furthermore, the potential health impacts of exposure to conventional phthalate plasticizers are discussed, with a particular emphasis on developmental and reproductive toxicity, metabolic disorders, and carcinogenesis. Overall, this review underscores the significance of evaluating the endocrine-disrupting effects of non-phthalate plasticizers and lays the foundation for the development of safer alternatives within the plastic industry.

The chitosan-Zn nanoparticles were prepared used the TPP as ionic crosslinking agent and the properties of chitosan-Zn nanoparticles were studied. EDS and XPS results showed that when the chitosan molecular weight was 200 KDa, Zn element had a higher content in chitosan-Zn nanoparticles, which indicated the coordination reaction between Zn2+and chitosan at –NH2and –OH. Chitosan with larger molecular weight resulted a larger mean size and zeta potential, the mean size of chitosan-200-Zn was 865.9 nm and the system of chitosan-200-Zn tended to be a stable system with zeta potential of 29.3 mV. The molecular weight of chitosan affected the wettability of chitosan-Zn nanoparticles. While the molecular weight of chitosan had no effect on the crystalline structure of chitosan-Zn nanoparticles. The findings of this study had illustrated the effect of chitosan molecular weight on the properties of chitosan-Zn nanoparticles.

Lactoferrin (LF) shows good anticancer biological activity. Lactoferrin can combine with chlorogenic acid (CGA) in dairy drinks like milk coffee and milk tea. However, the nature and functional changes of LF after binding of CGA are not clear. The stability and binding properties of CGA on LF and its antiproliferative effect on colorectal cancer SW480 cells were investigated by spectroscopic and cell experiments. The results showed that CGA could stabilize LF solution by reducing particle size (below 90 nm) and increasing zeta potential (over 14 in the absolute value). With addition of CGA, the UV absorption peak of LF solution changed (from 287 nm shifted to 290 nm) and fluorescence quenching occurred at the same time. By molecular dynamics calculation, the binding site number of CGA to LF was between 2 and 3 sites. Negative Gibbs free energy of (△G = −25.75 ± 0.84) indicated that the interaction between LF and CGA can occur spontaneously and effectively. Cell viability and apoptosis test showed that CGA and LF inhibited the growth of colorectal cancer SW480 cells in a synergistic way. Most of cells were arrested at G0/G1phase by the CGA-LF complex. We conclude that CGA can bind to LF to form a relatively stable complex under natural conditions, which increases their antiproliferative function on colorectal cancer cells.

Polymerized whey protein (PWP) is whey protein aggregates formed by heating whey protein at certain conditions. PWP has been successfully used as thickening agent, fat replacer and microcapsule wall material. However, the digestion properties of PWP have not been systematically investigated. This study aims to analyze zeta potential, particle size, peptide composition, and antioxidative property of digested PWP (prepared by heating at 70–85 °C for 10–30 min) obtained by hydrolyzing with pepsin and trypsin sequentially using in vitrodigestion model. Digestive products of PWP heated at 85 °C showed more significantly negative zeta potential in comparison with that of control sample (p < 0.05). Heating temperature up to 80 °C and 85 °C resulted in significantly boarder size distribution and lower particle size of digestive products of PWP than other samples (p < 0.05). Compared with control sample, PWP samples released more peptides after digestion and the increased number depended on heating temperature and time. Heating increased the sequence coverage of the main whey proteins by generating some new peptides. Compared with control sample, digested PWP showed improved 2,2′-azinobis(2-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) scavenging ability. Data indicated that digestion property of whey protein can be changed by manipulating protein conformation with heat treatment before digestion.

Non-covalent binding interactions between three whey proteins β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg), α-lactalbumin (α-La) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) with chlorogenic acid (CA) were investigated using spectroscopic analysis and molecular docking. Fluorescence study showed that CA quenched the fluorescence of three whey proteins through static mode. The binding number was equal to 1 for three proteins and binding affinity in declined order was: α-La > β-Lg > BSA. Thermodynamic parameters revealed contribution of hydrophobic force in three systems. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements indicated that energy transfer occurs between three proteins and CA in probability of α-La > BSA > β-Lg. Variation in surface charge indicated the involvement of electrostatic interaction. Surface hydrophobicity (H0) were declined with decrease degree of α-La > β-Lg > BSA. α-La and β-Lg were unfolded with more flexible structure while BSA skeleton was more compact after interacting with CA. Modeling study revealed that the most likely binding sites for the three proteins were outer surface, cleft and subdomain I for β-Lg, α-La and BSA respectively. Docking results also suggested the contribution of hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bond (β-Lg, α-La) for formation of molecular nano complexes between whey proteins and CA.

Serum albumin (SA) acts as the carrier protein to transport drugs and plays a crucial role in the pharmacokinetics of distribution. In this work, the cytotoxicities of 20(S, R)-protopanaxadiol [20(S, R)-PPD] and 20(S, R)-protopanaxatriol [20(S, R)-PPT] against HCT-116 cell lines were assessed. 20(S)-PPD, 20(R)-PPD, 20(S)-PPT, and 20(R)-PPT inhibited the cells growth in a concentration-dependent manner with the IC50values of 30.27, 18.80, 68.28, and 14.38 μM, respectively. The result of ABTS assay showed that 20(S, R)-PPD-BSA exhibited a higher antioxidant activity than that of 20(S, R)-PPD alone. Subsequently, the binding affinity and interaction mechanism of ginsenosides with SA were studied by the ultraviolet–visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, which indicated that ginsenosides interfered with the microenvironment around amide bonds in SA. Through the calculation of Stern-Volmer plot, the quenching rate kqvalues of 20(S)-PPD, 20(R)-PPD, 20(S)-PPT, and 20(R)-PPT were 6.75, 4.30, 2.37, and 3.31 ( × 1011 M−1 s−1), respectively. These results suggested that the quenching was not caused by dynamic collision, but the formation of ginsenoside-SA complexes. The results of molecular docking suggested that these compounds tended to bind more strongly to Sudlow's site II of HSA rather than Sudlow's site I. In addition, 20(S)-ginsenosides showed more stable binding to HSA in comparison with 20(R)-ginsenosides, which may help elucidating the mechanisms that account for the stronger bioactivities of 20(S)-ginsenosides.

Selenium is an essential trace element that is involved in the synthesis of various selenoproteins in higher animals including humans. Twenty five selenoproteins have been identified in humans. These selenoproteins have various physiological functions. Organic selenium is safer than inorganic selenium and can be used as a nutritional supplement for people who live in selenium-deficient areas. Supera-nutritional intake of selenium has been claimed to prevent cancer, however, consistent clinical results are lacking. At this time, the use of selenium-rich foods by those in selenium-deficient areas might be the safest and best recommendation. This is a brief overview of the requirements for selenium, the selenium enrichment process in plants and animals, and the preparation of typical selenium-rich foods so as to provide some help for the application and development of selenium fortified products.

Glycosylation is one of the more studied methods used to improve the emulsification properties of proteins, and glycosylation products are often used as transport carriers for nutrients. In this study, we investigated the structure and emulsifying properties of whey protein isolate (WPI)-sugar conjugates formed with different sugars (glucose, lactose, and dextran) under different pH (2–10) conditions. The results show that pH affected the degree of glycosylation (DG), and alkaline environments were conducive to the formation of WPI-sugar conjugates. As the pH increased from 6 to 10, the protein unfolded, DG, apparent viscosity and emulsifying properties increased. At pH 8–10, the free sulfhydryl content of the WPI-sugar conjugates decreased, disulfide bonds formed, aggregation occurred between protein molecules, the DG, surface hydrophobicity and apparent viscosity decreased, thus the emulsion stability decreased. Different sugars had an effect on DG, with glucose increasing the DG and decreasing surface hydrophobicity and free sulfhydryl content. Dextran increases the apparent viscosity and emulsifying properties of the WPI-sugar conjugates. Therefore, it can be concluded that pH affected the structure and emulsifying properties of the WPI-sugar conjugates, pH has a certain effect on the secondary and tertiary structures of the WPI, the DG and emulsifying properties being better for conjugates formed in alkaline environments. Different sugars affected the emulsifying properties and surface structures of the WPI-sugar conjugates, but had little effect on the secondary and tertiary structures.

In the current research, we systematically investigated the physicochemical stability of the nanoemulsions that were formulated with 90% (v/v) whey protein isolate (WPI) aqueous phase and 10% (v/v) medium chain triglyceride oil phase at neutral pH using high intensity ultrasonication. We measured the physicochemical properties of nanoemulsions stabilized by WPI at different concentrations, including particle size, zeta potential, turbidity, centrifugal stability, and rheological behavior. Besides, we also evaluated the influence of processing conditions (ionic strength, freeze-thaw cycle and thermal treatment) on the nanoemulsion stability. The particle size of WPI nanoemulsions increased by approximately 5% at 25 °C and 8% at 37 °C after 7 weeks’ storage, while the particle size and zeta potential of the nanoemulsions at 4 °C were changed. The 1% WPI stabilized nanoemulsion was very sensitive to Na+(0.1–0.5 mol/l) and freeze-thaw treatment (3 cycles) with significant increase in particle size and decrease in the absolute value of zeta potential. The turbidity of nanoemulsions decreased by over 50% after freeze-thaw cycles, especially the 1% WPI stabilized nanoemulsion. All samples were still stable under thermal conditions. Among them, the 5% WPI stabilized nanoemulsion showed the best ionic, freeze-thaw, and thermal stability. All tested nanoemulsions showed typical shear-thinning behavior, and the infinite shear viscosity of 5% WPI stabilized nanoemulsions was highest. In conclusion, the 5% WPI stabilized nanoemulsion has the best physicochemical stability under different processing conditions during storage, which has high potential in use as a delivery system for bioactive substances like ginsenoside Rg3 in food technology.