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Background Acne vulgaris is a prevalent skin disease lacking effective and well-tolerated treatment. An earlier study indicated that resveratrol (RVT) has therapeutic effects in acne patients through unknown mechanisms. Objectives To evaluate the effects of RVT on linoleic acid (LA)-induced lipogenesis and peptidoglycan (PGN)-induced inflammation in cultured SZ95 sebocytes in vitro, and to investigate the underlying mechanisms. Methods RNA-sequencing was used to analyze the whole transcriptome. Nile red staining was used to detect intracellular neutral lipids, whereas lipidomics was used to investigate changes in the lipid profile in sebocytes. Interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 mRNA and protein levels were assessed through quantitative real-time PCR and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Western blot was used to evaluate the expression of lipogenesis-related proteins, the inflammatory signaling pathway, and the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway. Further, specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to knockdown sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) expression. Results RVT inhibited the lipogenesis-related pathway and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway in SZ95 sebocytes. It also downregulated LA-induced lipogenesis, the expression of lipid-related proteins, and the contents of unsaturated fatty acids. Besides, RVT promoted SIRT1 expression and deacetylation of the NF-κB p65 subunit, thereby lowering IL-1β and IL-6 secretion under PGN induction. Furthermore, pretreatment with AMPK inhibitor Compound C abolished RVT-mediated sebosuppressive and anti-inflammation effects. Meanwhile, SIRT1 silencing abrogated the anti-inflammatory potential of RVT. Conclusion In human SZ95 sebocytes, RVT exhibits sebosuppressive and anti-inflammatory effects partially through the AMPK pathway, which may justify the role of RVT treatment in acne vulgaris.

The competing mechanisms of silver-/aminolithium-catalyzed hydrofunctionalization of α,β-unsaturated ester with an amino alcohol have been systematically studied with the DFT methods. Here, the acidity of a weaker nucleophile OH group of an amino alcohol is significantly higher than that of NH2 group, so it is easy to deprotonate by Ag(HMDS)/dppe. However, the generated Ag–O bond is more stable than the corresponding Ag–N bond. Therefore, the OH group shows higher reactivity than the NH2 group in the presence of a Lewis acid/Bronsted base pair catalyst. Then, α,β-unsaturated esters can be inserted into corresponding Ag–O bonds to obtain alkyl silver species. Alkyl silver can be protonated by bis(trimethylsilyl)amines to obtain hydrogen functionalized products and regenerate silver amino active compounds Ag(HMDS)/dppe.

A Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, mesophilic, milky white-pigmented, aerobic, non-spore-forming and non-flagellated bacterium, designated strain X16T, was isolated from urban soil of Zibo, Shandong, China. According to 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the isolate showed highest similarities with Paraflavitalea soli 5GH32-13T (97.6 %), Pseudoflavitalea soli KIS20-3T (96.2 %), Pseudobacter ginsenosidimutans Gsoil 221T (96.0 %) and Pseudoflavitalea rhizosphaerae T16R-265T (95.8 %). The neighbour-joining tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain X16T formed a subcluster with Paraflavitalea soli 5GH32-13T, and the subcluster was closely related to Pseudoflavitalea soli KIS20-3T, Pseudobacter ginsenosidimutans Gsoil 221T and Pseudoflavitalea rhizosphaerae T16R-265T. Strain X16T also formed a subcluster with Paraflavitalea soli 5GH32-13T in phylogenetic tree based on genomic sequences. The polar lipids are phosphatidylethanolamine, two unknown aminolipids, two unknown aminophospholipids, two unknown lipids and two unknown phospholipids. The major quinone of strain X16T is menaquinone-7 and the main fatty acids (>10 % of total fatty acids) of strain X16T are iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH and iso-C15 : 1 G. The genome length of strain X16T is 8.7 Mb with a DNA G+C content of 47.4 %. ANI values among strain X16T and strain Paraflavitalea soli 5GH32-13T, Pseudobacter ginsenosidimutans Gsoil 221T, and Pseudoflavitalea rhizosphaerae T16R-265T are 78.1, 70.7, 70.6 %, respectively. On the basis of the results of the polyphasic characterization presented in this study, it is concluded that strain X16T represents a novel species. Besides, strain X16T can detoxify high toxicity selenite [Se(IV)] to low toxicity elemental selenium [Se(0)], for which the name Paraflavitale devenefica sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is X16T (=KACC 21698T=GDMCC1.1757T).

The effects of three phosphate salts (PS) on the secondary structure, microstructure of gluten, rheological properties of dough and water status of noodles were investigated to determine the mechanisms underlying the changes in the quality of noodles. Changes in the secondary structure detected were the increased number of β-sheet and decreased number of random coil structures. PS reduced the content of free sulfhydryl (SH) and increased the content of disulfide (SS) bonds. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis indicated that the band density of the high molecular regions of the gluten was reduced. The results showed that adding PS induced a more compact microstructure and improved the G' and G'' values of the dough. After adding PS, the water-solids interaction in noodles was enhanced by the decreased water mobility. It was concluded that PS promoted the water holding capacity of the noodles and strengthened the gluten network.

Activation of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 and subsequent inflammatory response contribute to lesion development in acne vulgaris. A cross-talk between aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a cytosolic receptor protein that responds to environmental and physiological stress, and TLRs has recently been reported. In this study, we explored the possible role of AhR in the effects induced on cultured human SZ95 sebocytes by peptidoglycan (PGN), a classic TLR2 agonist. PGN-induced secretion of inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-8 in human SZ95 sebocytes was suppressed after knockdown of AhR and pretreatment with the AhR antagonist CH223191. In addition, the AhR agonist 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) enhanced TNF-α and IL-8 secretion in PGN-pretreated sebocytes. Furthermore, PGN-induced expression of myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), phospho-p38MAPK (p-p38MAPK), and p-p65NF-κB was strengthened by TCDD and repressed by CH223191. AhR inhibition by transfecting shRNA blocked the ability of PGN to stimulate phosphorylation of p38MAPK and p65NF-κB in SZ95 sebocytes. Overall, these data demonstrate that AhR is able to modulate PGN-induced expression of TNF-α and IL-8 in human SZ95 sebocytes involving the MyD88-p65NF-κB/p38MAPK signaling pathway, which probably indicates a new mechanism in TLR2-mediated acne.

Wilms' tumor 1 gene (WT1) is essential for the development of kidney and histone acetylation and is involved in its expression regulation in mice. However, whether WT1 expression is associated with histone acetylation in porcine kidney cells is unclear. Here, the effect of histone deacetylase inhibitor sodium butyrate (NaBu)-induced hyperacetylation on WT1 expression in porcine kidney fibroblasts (PKF) was examined.Treatments of NaBu (1, 3, 6 mM) for 24 h increased PKF viability, and 24, 48 h-treatments of 1 mM NaBu enhanced PKF proliferation. WT1 mRNA levels were significantly elevated in NaBu-treated (1, 3 mM for 24, 48 h, respectively) PKF samples. Consistently, strengthened expression of WT1 protein and histone acetylation level were detected in NaBu-treated PKF cells.Together, NaBu-induced hyperacetylation up-regulates WT1 expression in PKF, suggesting the involvement of histone acetylation in the transcriptional modulation of WT1 in porcine kidney cells.

DNA methylation and histone modification play important roles in the development of mammalian embryos. Cytochalasin B (CB) is an actin polymerization inhibitor that can significantly affect cell activity and is often used in studies concerning cytology. In recent years, CB is also commonly being used inin vitroexperiments on mammalian embryos, but few studies have addressed the effect of CB on the epigenetic modification of embryonic development, and the mechanism underlying this process is also unknown. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of CB on DNA methylation and histone modification in the development of parthenogenetically activated porcine embryos. Treatment with 5 μg/mL CB for 4 h significantly increased the cleavage rate, blastocyst rate and total cell number of blastocysts. However, the percentage of apoptotic cells and the expression levels of the apoptosis-related genesBCL-XL,BAXandCASP3were significantly decreased. Treatment with CB significantly decreased the expression levels ofDNMT1,DNMT3a,DNMT3b,HAT1andHDAC1at the pronuclear stage and promoted the conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) into 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). After CB treatment, the level of AcH3K9 was upregulated and the level of H3K9me3 was downregulated. When combined with Scriptaid and 5-Aza-Cdr, CB further improved the embryonic development competence and decreased the expression ofBCL-XL,BAXandCASP3. In conclusion, these results suggest that CB could improve embryonic development and the quality of the blastocyst by improving the epigenetic modification during the development of parthenogenetically activated embryos.

CNTs/PAN nanofibers were electrospun from PAN-based solution for the preparation of carbon nanofiber composites. The as-spun polyacrylonitrile-based nanofibers were hot-stretched by weighing metal in a temperature controlled oven. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the morphology of the nanofibers, which indicated that carbon nanotubes were dispersed well in the composites and were completely wrapped by PAN matrix. Because of the strong interfacial interaction between CNTs and PAN, the CNTs/PAN application performance will be enhanced correspondingly, such as the mechanical properties and the electrical conductivity. It was concluded that the hot-stretched CNTs/PAN nanofibers can be used as a potential precursor to produce high-performance carbon composites.

We report on room-temperature negative transconductance (NTC) in axial Si/Ge hetero-nanowire tunneling field-effect transistors. The NTC produces a current peak-to-valley ratio >45, a high value for a Si-based device. We characterize the NTC over a range of gate VG and drain VD voltages, finding that NTC persists down to VD = −50 mV. The physical mechanism responsible for the NTC is the VG-induced depletion in the p-Ge section that eventually reduces the maximum electric field that triggers the tunneling ID, as confirmed via three-dimensional (3D) technology computer-aided design simulations.