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Highlights: [•] A novel “on beads method” with limited proteolysis is proposed. [•] A high-throughput system for protein domain identification is constructed. [•] The resulting protease-resistant fragments are analyzed by MALDI-TOF-MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression in eukaryotes. Studies have shown that plant-derived miRNAs can be absorbed through diets and regulate gene expression in mammals. Although soybean-derived miRNAs have been reported, their biological functions are still unclear. In this study, we found that soybean-derived small RNAs (sRNAs) significantly inhibited the proliferation and stimulated the apoptosis of Caco-2 cells. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that the target gene set of soybean miRNAs was extensively enriched in cancer pathways. Besides, we obtained 8 target genes, including Transcription factor 7 (TCF7), associated with colon cancer through prediction. Further studies showed that gma-miR159a inhibited the proliferation of Caco-2 cells and played an important role in the inhibitory effect of sRNAs by inhibiting TCF7 protein, which are upregulated in colon cancer cells but not normal mucosal cells in culture. These findings provide a novel molecular mechanism of soybean-derived miRNAs for potential application in tumor prevention. • Soybean-derived sRNAs inhibit the proliferation of Caco-2 but not NCM460 cells in vitro. • Soybean-derived sRNAs promote the apoptosis of Caco-2 cells. • Target genes of highly expressed soybean miRNAs are enriched in cancer-related pathways. • Gma-miR159a mimic suppresses TCF7 protein levels, resulting in the inhibition of Caco-2 proliferation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat germ derivatives have been shown to inhibit inflammation-related diseases. In this study, a small peptide (YDWPGGRN) isolated from wheat germ was used to study its anti-inflammatory activity and its application in skin wound healing. Both the in vitro and in vivo results clearly showed that YDWPGGRN significantly inhibited the LPS-stimulated NO, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α production but promoted the release of an anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10. In addition, YDWPGGRN directly enhanced the proliferation and migration of HaCaT cells and L929 cells. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that YDWPGGRN was able to stimulate angiogenesis and collagen production in wound areas, consequently accelerating the skin wound-healing processes in a rat model with a full thickness dermal wound. The current findings suggest that YDWPGGRN promotes wound healing by anti-inflammatory reactions and enhances the proliferation and migration of keratinocytes and fibroblasts; therefore, it may be applicable for skin wound therapeutics. • YDWPGGRN promotes the proliferation and migration of L929 fibroblasts and HaCaT. • YDWPGGRN has anti-inflammatory effects. • YDWPGGRN promotes angiogenesis and collagen production and accelerates wound-healing processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apoptosis plays a critical role in normal vascular development and atherosclerosis. However, high glucose has been reported to generate a certain level of ROS that can inhibit vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) apoptosis, with the underlying mechanism remaining unclear. In this study, a synthetic peptide AREGEM (Ala-Arg-Glu-Gly-Glu-Met) exhibited antioxidative effects and was used to investigate its function in VSMCs during hyperglycaemia. MTT assay results demonstrated that AREGEM significantly attenuated high glucose-induced VSMCs proliferation. Flow cytometry displayed that high glucose levels inhibited cell apoptosis, whereas this effect was attenuated by pre-incubation with AREGEM. In addition, the 2′,7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) fluorescent probe assay further demonstrated that AREGEM reduced intracellular ROS accumulation in VSMCs. Furthermore, this peptide was able to prevent the decrease of caspase-3 activity and the increase of the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax protein in VSMCs exposed to high glucose. These findings demonstrated that AREGEM is able to abolish the effects of high glucose in VSMCs; therefore, this peptide can be a potential candidate to develop a novel strategy for curing diabetic related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The influence of the chemical composition of soybean seeds on oil quality was studied. • A model based on soybean traits to predict the overall oil quality was constructed. • Relative predictive errors in the validation varieties were less than 10 %. Various characteristics of soybean play important roles in soybean oil quality. However, the relationship between soybean chemical traits and soybean oil processing quality characteristics is unclear. In this study, the chemical traits of soybean and ten characteristic parameters of soybean oil from 58 genotypes were determined. An evaluation model for the overall soybean oil quality was established according to ten parameters, based on which soybean oil of 58 genotypes was classified into three quality grades by cluster analysis. A prediction model for the quality of soybean oil based on the chemical traits of soybeans was constructed by stepwise regression. The relative errors between the actual values and the predicted values of the validation genotypes were less than 10 %. The predicted quality for 11 of the 14 tested soybean varieties corresponded to the actual oil quality, suggesting that the model is reliable. Our study provides a method for selecting ideal soybean genotypes for producing high-quality soybean oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of part replacement (0, 15, 30, 45, 60 g/100 g) of rice flour by buckwheat flour (BF) on gel structure, cooking characteristics, nutritional compositions, and in vitro starch digestibility of extruded rice-buckwheat noodles were investigated. The visocity profile of blended flour showed that peak viscosity and setback value significantly increased with increasing substitution levels of BF. Scanning electron microscope images indicated that 30 g/100 g BF replacement induced the formation of more integrated starch gel network. The cooking loss and broken rate of extruded noodles first decreased and then increased with the incorporation of BF. The lowest cooking loss and broken rate were observed at 30 g/100 g BF replacement. BF substitution increased the content of polyphenols and flavonoids in extruded noodles and higher retention rate of polyphenols and flavonoids was found after extrusion cooking when substitution level of BF was at 30 g/100 g. Finally, the predicted glycemic index (p GI), and the amount of rapidly digested starch both decreased, while the amount of resistant starch increased with increasing BF proportions, indicating BF is a suitable ingredient to make low GI products. • BF enrichment greatly affected gel microstructure and quality of rice noodles. • A more integrated starch gel network was obtained at 30 g/100 g BF replacement. • The lowest cooking loss and broken rate were observed at 30 g/100 g BF replacement. • The highest retention rate of TFC and TPC was observed at 30 g/100 g BF level. • BF addition increased content of dietary fiber and decreased p GI values of noodles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed at evaluating the effect of pullulan coating incorporated with cinnamon essential oil (CEO) nanoemulsion on the shelf life and senescence of fresh strawberries during room storage. Pullulan-CEO nanoemulsion prepared using ultrasound treatment had smaller particle size (162.1 nm) and more uniform distribution of oil droplets. After six days of storage, pullulan-CEO nanoemulsion coating remarkably lowered the loss in fruit mass, firmness, total soluble solids and titratable acidity of strawberries. In addition, pullulan-based nanoemulsion coated strawberries showed the strongest antimicrobial activity against bacteria and molds (2.544 and 1.958 log CFU/g, respectively) compared to control and pure pullulan coating groups. It is mainly due to the antimicrobial activities of CEO dispersed in nano size in pullulan matrix. This study revealed that pullulan-CEO nanoemulsion coating showed great potential to prolong the shelf life of fresh strawberries during room storage. • Pullulan-CEO nanoemulsion exhibited smaller particle size and more uniform distribution of oil droplets. • Pullulan-CEO nanoemulsion coating considerably lowered the loss in physicochemical properties of strawberries. • The strongest antimicrobial activity was found in Pullulan-CEO nanoemulsion coated strawberries. • Pullulan-CEO nanoemulsion coating showed great potential to prolong the shelf life of strawberries during room storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various characteristics of soybeans play important roles in tofu quality. In this study, soybean chemical traits and ten parameters of tofu texture and sensory characteristics were evaluated for 48 soybean varieties to determine the relationship of soybean chemical traits with tofu texture and sensory characteristics by correlation analysis. After 6 of 48 tofu variety products were set as outliers by the Box-plot method, an evaluation model for tofu overall quality was established based on ten parameters. Cluster analysis was used to classify 42 tofu varieties into five grades of edible quality based on the tofu quality evaluation model. A predictive model for the edible quality of tofu based on the chemical traits of soybeans was constructed by stepwise regression. The average relative error between the actual value and the predicted value of the validation varieties was 3.48%. The predicted quality for 11 of the 12 tested soybean varieties showed similar results to the actual tofu quality. This study suggested that total protein, glycinin (11S), glutamate, water-soluble protein, α-subunit, linoleic acid and tyrosine contents could be used to predict the quality of tofu. Therefore, our study provides a guideline for generating the ideal soybean varieties for producing high-quality edible tofu. • The relationship of soybean chemical traits with tofu texture and sensory characteristics was determined. • A novel evaluation model for the overall quality of tofu based on texture and sensory indexes was established. • A model based on soybean chemical quality traits to predict the overall quality of tofu was constructed. • The predicted quality of 11 out of 12 tested soybean genotypes showed similar results to the actual tofu quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]