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Sarcopenia, a decrease in skeletal muscle mass and function caused by aging, impairs mobility, raises the risk of fractures, diabetes, and other illnesses, and severely affects a senior’s quality of life. Nobiletin (Nob), polymethoxyl flavonoid, has various biological effects, such as anti-diabetic, anti-atherogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and anti-tumor properties. In this investigation, we hypothesized that Nob potentially regulates protein homeostasis to prevent and treat sarcopenia. To investigate whether Nob could block skeletal muscle atrophy and elucidate its underlying molecular mechanism, we used the D-galactose-induced (D-gal-induced) C57BL/6J mice for 10 weeks to establish a skeletal muscle atrophy model. The findings demonstrated that Nob increased body weight, hindlimb muscle mass, lean mass and improved the function of skeletal muscle in D-gal-induced aging mice. Nob improved myofiber sizes and increased skeletal muscle main proteins composition in D-gal-induced aging mice. Notably, Nob activated mTOR/Akt signaling to increase protein synthesis and inhibited FOXO3a-MAFbx/MuRF1 pathway and inflammatory cytokines, thereby reducing protein degradation in D-gal-induced aging mice. In conclusion, Nob attenuated D-gal-induced skeletal muscle atrophy. It is a promising candidate for preventing and treating age-associated atrophy of skeletal muscles.

Increasing hepcidin expression is a vital factor in iron homeostasis imbalance among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Recent studies have elucidated that abnormal serum steroid levels might cause the elevation of hepcidin. Glycochenodeoxycholate (GCDCA), a steroid, is significantly elevated in patients with CKD. However, the correlation between GCDCA and hepcidin has not been elucidated. Decreased serum iron levels and increased hepcidin levels were both detected in patients with CKD in this study. Additionally, the concentrations of GCDCA in nephropathy patients were found to be higher than those in healthy subjects. HepG2 cells were used to investigate the effect of GCDCA on hepcidin in vitro. The results showed that hepcidin expression increased by nearly two-fold against control under 200 μM GCDCA treatment. The phosphorylation of SMAD1/5/8 increased remarkably, while STAT3 and CREBH remained unchanged. GCDCA triggered the expression of farnesoid X receptor (FXR), followed with the transcription and expression of both BMP6 and ALK3 (upward regulators of SMAD1/5/8). Thus, GCDCA is a potential regulator for hepcidin, which possibly acts by triggering FXR and the BMP6/ALK3-SMAD signaling pathway. Furthermore, 40 C57/BL6 mice were treated with 100 mg/kg/d, 200 mg/kg/d, and 300 mg/kg/d GCDCA to investigate its effect on hepcidin in vivo. The serum level of hepcidin increased in mice treated with 200 mg/kg/d and 300 mg/kg/d GCDCA, while hemoglobin and serum iron levels decreased. Similarly, the FXR-mediated SMAD signaling pathway was also responsible for activating hepcidin in liver. Overall, it was concluded that GCDCA could induce the expression of hepcidin and reduce serum iron level, in which FXR activation-related SMAD signaling was the main target for GCDCA. Thus, abnormal GCDCA level indicates a potential risk of iron homeostasis imbalance.

Fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) acts as a novel factor in the regulation of skeletal muscle mass in animal models by regulating energy expenditure. People with obesity have a lower content of FGF19 and lose muscle mass easily. However, as the main energy metabolism organelles, the involvement of mitochondria in the protective effect of FGF19 is still unknown. In this study, the protective effects of FGF19 on palmitate-induced damages in differentiated mouse myoblast cells (C2C12) were studied, including myotube morphology, mitochondrial function and the regulation of pathways and genes. Excessive palmitate resulted in myotube atrophy and activation of the mitochondria-mediated apoptosis pathway in C2C12 cells. Palmitate also inhibited glucose uptake and induced insulin resistance. FGF19 addition during the differentiation of C2C12 cells, returned the palmitate-induced mitochondrial respiration and apoptosis to the control levels and improved the insulin sensitivity. The palmitate-induced upregulation of genes involved in β-oxidation (PPARβ/δ, PPARγ, UCP-1, MCAD) and the downregulation of genes related to myotube atrophy (PPARα, PGC-1α and PGC-1β) were also alleviated by FGF19. In summary, FGF19 prevented excessive palmitate-induced dysfunction of C2C12 cells by protecting mitochondrial overload and apoptosis and maintaining normal insulin signaling.

BACKGROUND Ectopic fat accumulation in skeletal muscle results in dysfunction and atrophy, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a high-fat diet (HFD) in modulating the structure and energy metabolism of skeletal muscle and the underlying mechanisms in mice. METHODS Four-week-old male C57BL/6 J mice (n = 30) were allowed 1 wk for acclimatization. After 6 mice with low body weight were removed from the study, the remaining 24 mice were fed with a normal-fat diet (NFD; 10% energy from fat, n = 12) or an HFD (60% energy from fat, n = 12) for 24 wk. At the end of the experiment, serum glucose and lipid concentrations were measured, and skeletal muscle was collected for atrophy analysis, inflammation measurements, and phosphoproteomic analysis. RESULTS Compared with the NFD, the HFD increased (P

Age-associated loss of skeletal muscle mass and function is one of the main causes of the loss of independence and physical incapacitation in the geriatric population. This study used the D-galactose-induced C2C12 myoblast aging model to explore whether nobiletin (Nob) could delay skeletal muscle aging and determine the associated mechanism. The results showed that Nob intervention improved mitochondrial function, increased ATP production, reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, inhibited inflammation, and prevented apoptosis as well as aging. In addition, Nob improved autophagy function, removed misfolded proteins and damaged organelles, cleared ROS, reduced mitochondrial damage, and improved skeletal muscle atrophy. Moreover, our results illustrated that Nob can not only enhance mitochondrial function, but can also enhance autophagy function and the protein synthesis pathway to inhibit skeletal muscle atrophy. Therefore, Nob may be a potential candidate for the prevention and treatment of age-related muscle decline.

Detecting pesticide residues in human serum is a challenging process due to trace-level chronic exposure. Several methods using magnetic adsorbents have been developed for analyzing pesticide residue levels in human serum, but it is still difficult to achieve lower quantitative levels, and the adsorption mechanism for extracting pesticides is unclear. Herein, we propose a feasibility concept of using C

Chlorpyrifos is a commonly-used pesticide which was reported to interfere with hormone signaling and metabolism, however, little is known about its effect on gut microbiota. In this study, adult male rats fed a normal (NF) or high fat (HF) diet were exposed to 0.3 or 3.0 mg chlorpyrifos/kg bodyweight/day or vehicle alone for 9 weeks. Effects on bodyweight, serum levels of glucose, lipid, cytokines, and gut microbiome community structure were measured. The effects of chlorpyrifos on metabolism were dose- and diet-dependent, with NF-fed rats administered the low dose showing the largest metabolic changes. NF-fed rats exposed to chlorpyrifos exhibited a pro-obesity phenotype compared with their controls, whereas there was no difference in pro-obesity phenotype between HF-fed groups. Chlorpyrifos exposure significantly reduced serum insulin, C-peptide, and amylin concentrations in NF- and HF-fed rats, leaving serum glucose and lipid profiles unaffected. Chlorpyrifos exposure also significantly altered gut microbiota composition, including the abundance of opportunistic pathogens, short chain fatty acid-producing bacteria and other bacteria previously associated with obese and diabetic phenotypes. The abundance of bacteria associated with neurotoxicity and islet injury was also significantly increased by chlorpyrifos. Our results suggest risk assessments for chlorpyrifos exposure should consider other effects in addition to neurotoxicity.

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In order to colonize the human gastrointestinal tract and exert their beneficial effects, bifidobacteria must effectively cope with the toxic bile salts in the intestine, but the molecular mechanism underlying bile tolerance is poorly understood. In this study, heterologous expression of a MarR family transcriptional regulator BmrR significantly reduced ox-bile resistance ofLactococcus lactisNZ9000, suggesting that it might play a role in bile stress response.In silicoanalysis combined with RT-PCR assay demonstrated thatbmrRwas co-transcribed withbmrAandbmrB,which encoded multidrug resistance (MDR) ABC transporters. Promoter prediction and EMSA assay revealed that BmrR could autoregulate thebmrRABoperon by binding tobmrbox (ATTGTTG-6nt-CAACAAT) in the promoter region. Moreover, heterologous expression ofbmrAandbmrBinL. lactisshowed 20.77-fold higher tolerance to 0.10% ox-bile compared to wild type strain. In addition, ox-bile could disrupt the DNA binding activity of BmrR as a ligand. Taken together, our findings indicate thatbmrRABoperon is autoregulated by transcriptional regulator BmrR and ox-bile serves as an inducer to activate the bile efflux transporter BmrAB in response to bile stress inB. longumBBMN68.ImportanceBifidobacteria are natural inhabitants of the human intestinal tract. Some bifidobacterial strains are used as probiotics in fermented dairy production because of their health-promoting effects. Following consumption, bifidobacteria finally colonize the lower intestinal tract where the concentration of bile salts remains nearly 0.05% to 2.0%. Bile salts as detergent-like antimicrobial compounds can cause disruption of the cellular membrane, protein misfolding and DNA damage. Therefore, tolerance to physiological bile stress is indeed essential for bifidobacteria to survive and exert the probiotic effects in gastrointestinal tract. InB. longumBBMN68, the MarR-type regulator BmrR was involved in bile stress response by auto-regulatingbmrRABoperon and ox-bile as an inducer could increase the expression of BmrAB transporter to enhance the bile tolerance of BBMN68.This is the first report about functional analysis ofbmrRABoperon in bile stress response, which will provide new insight into bile tolerance mechanisms inBifidobacteriumand other bacteria.

An efficient electrochemical protocol for the synthesis of α-amino ketones via the oxidative cross-dehydrogenative coupling of ketones and secondary amines has been developed. The electrochemistry performs in a simple undivided cell using NH4I as a redox catalyst and a cheap graphite plate as electrodes under constant current conditions. Gram-scale reaction demonstrates the practicality of the protocol. The reaction is proposed to procced through an initial α-iodination of ketone, followed by a nucleophilic substitution of amines.

Efficient electrochemical amino-oxygenation of styrenes has been developed for the synthesis of 3-methoxyindolines and 3-ethoxyindoline, using a simple beaker-type undivided cell with n-Bu4NI serving as a redox catalyst under constant current electrolysis (CCE) conditions. The chemistry proceeds in a paired electrolysis mode, avoiding the utilization of external oxidants and bases and therefore represents an environmentally benign means. The process also works in the absence of an additional conducting salt. Gram-scale reaction further demonstrates the practicability of the protocol. Proton NMR spectroscopy was used to demonstrate that the amino-oxygenation of N-(2-vinylphenyl)sulfonamides likely involves the initial iodoamination of the alkene, followed by nucleophilic substitution of the methoxide/ethoxide generated at the cathode.

The synergistic antioxidant mechanism of chlorogenic acids (CQAs) was studied in this paper through cyclic voltammograms (CV), oil-water partition coefficient (P), FT-IR, XRD and circular dichroism (CD). The antioxidant capability of CQAs isomers and their mixture was determined by using ABTS free radical quenching ability assay. The results showed that the bigger the antioxidant activity disparity between the CQAs molecules was, the higher the content of high antioxidant activity CQAs was, the better the synergistic effect of the CQAs combination mixture became; The oxidation potential (Epa) of CQAs combination mixture kept constant in the synergistic experiments, which indicted the oxidative coupling interaction don’t exist between the CQAs; The charge transferred (Q) and antioxidant activity exhibited high correlation (0.92); the practical Q was higher than the theoretical Q in the synergistic process and this confirmed that the CQAs (dicaffeoylquinic acids) regeneration of high antioxidant activity happened; the CQAs mixture with the absolute difference value of oil-water partition coefficient of 0.13 gave the good interface effect and high synergistic degree; the interaction and the regular arrangement between the CQAs combination were not discovered through FT-IR, XRD and CD. Therefore, the regeneration mechanism of CQAs molecules and the interface effect of reaction system were the main cause of the phenomenon of the synergistic antioxidant of CQAs.

The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant potential of bovine casein glycomacropeptide (GMP) and its hydrolysate, as well as to determine effects of GMP and its hydrolysate on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative stress in RAW 264.7 macrophages. In comparison with native GMP, GMP hydrolysate obtained with papain for 1 h hydrolysis (GHP) exerted higher free radical-scavenging capacity, ferrous ion (Fe2+)-chelating ability, and ferric reducing (FRAP) activity. GHP significantly blocked H2O2-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation as well as cell death, and the cytoprotective effects of GHP were partially reversed by co-treatment with zinc(II)-protoporphyrin IX (ZnPPIX), a specific inhibitor of HO-1. GHP induced nuclear translocation of the nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages. The chemical antioxidant, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), significantly reduced GHP-induced HO-1 expression and Nrf2 activation by blocking intracellular ROS production. Additionally, pretreatment with GHP enhanced cellular antioxidant enzymes activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT) in H2O2-damaged cells. The antioxidant activity of GHP may be attributed to its amino acid profiles. Compared with native GMP, GHP had higher contents of alanine, glycine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid and branched chain amino acids (BCAAs, leucine, isoleucine and valine). BCAAs-enriched GHP may possess a potential to ameliorate oxidative stress-related diseases.

An efficient electrochemical protocol for the synthesis of α-amino ketones via the oxidative cross-dehydrogenative coupling of ketones and secondary amines has been developed. The electrochemistry performs in a simple undivided cell using NH

Efficient electrochemical amino-oxygenation of styrenes has been developed for the synthesis of 3-methoxyindolines and 3-ethoxyindoline, using a simple beaker-type undivided cell with n-Bu4NI serving as a redox catalyst under constant current electrolysis (CCE) conditions. The chemistry proceeds in a paired electrolysis mode, avoiding the utilization of external oxidants and bases and therefore represents an environmentally benign means. The process also works in the absence of an additional conducting salt. Gram-scale reaction further demonstrates the practicability of the protocol. Proton NMR spectroscopy was used to demonstrate that the amino-oxygenation of N-(2-vinylphenyl)sulfonamides likely involves the initial iodoamination of the alkene, followed by nucleophilic substitution of the methoxide/ethoxide generated at the cathode.

The structure changes of α-lactalbumin after binding oleic acid and linoleic acid, including hydrophobic amino acids, hydrophobic regions, tertiary structure, secondary structure, was studied by intrinsic fluorescence, ANS-binding intrinsic fluorescence and circular dichroism spectrum, respectively. The anti-tumor activity of the lactalbumin-oleic acid complex and lactalbumin-linoleic acid complex was measured using the methylene blue method. It can be seen from the fluorescence spectra that a significant red-shift from 331.07 to 337.67 nm and 337.60 nm of α-lactalbumin occurred after binding of oleic acid and linoleic acid, respectively. Together with the ANS-binding spectra, which exhibited a blue-shift (from 516.20 to 514.10 nm and 508.50 nm, respectively) with an increased fluorescence intensity, it can be indicated that binding of oleic acid and linoleic acid lead to the exposure of hydrophobic amino acids and hydrophobic regions. Results of circular dichroism spectra indicated the partial loss of the tertiary structure, and an decrease of β-turn and random coil, which turn to the β-sheet structure. Furthermore, the anti- tumor activity of the two complexes was verified on the three types of tumor cells. This study laid a theoretical basis for the development of anti-tumor drugs.

Asia differs substantially among and within its regions populated by diverse ethnic groups, which maintain their own respective cultures and dietary habits. To address the diversity in their gut microbiota, we characterized the bacterial community in fecal samples obtained from 303 school-age children living in urban or rural regions in five countries spanning temperate and tropical areas of Asia. The microbiota profiled for the 303 subjects were classified into two enterotype-like clusters, each driven by Prevotella (P-type) or Bifidobacterium/Bacteroides (BB-type), respectively. Majority in China, Japan and Taiwan harbored BB-type, whereas those from Indonesia and Khon Kaen in Thailand mainly harbored P-type. The P-type microbiota was characterized by a more conserved bacterial community sharing a greater number of type-specific phylotypes. Predictive metagenomics suggests higher and lower activity of carbohydrate digestion and bile acid biosynthesis, respectively, in P-type subjects, reflecting their high intake of diets rich in resistant starch. Random-forest analysis classified their fecal species community as mirroring location of resident country, suggesting eco-geographical factors shaping gut microbiota. In particular, children living in Japan harbored a less diversified microbiota with high abundance of Bifidobacterium and less number of potentially pathogenic bacteria, which may reflect their living environment and unique diet.