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Lactiplantibacillus plantarum is a diverse species that includes nomadic strains isolated from a variety of environmental niches. Several L. plantarum strains are being incorporated in fermented foodstuffs as starter cultures, while some of them have also been characterized as probiotics. In this study, we present the draft genome sequence of L. plantarum L125, a potential probiotic strain presenting biotechnological interest, originally isolated from a traditional fermented meat product. Phylogenetic and comparative genomic analysis with other potential probiotic L. plantarum strains were performed to determine its evolutionary relationships. Furthermore, we located genes involved in the probiotic phenotype by whole genome annotation. Indeed, genes coding for proteins mediating host–microbe interactions and bile salt, heat and cold stress tolerance were identified. Concerning the potential health-promoting attributes of the novel strain, we determined that L. plantarum L125 carries an incomplete plantaricin gene cluster, in agreement with previous in vitro findings, where no bacteriocin-like activity was detected. Moreover, we showed that cell-free culture supernatant (CFCS) of L. plantarum L125 exerts anti-proliferative, anti-clonogenic and anti-migration activity against the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line, HT-29. Conclusively, L. plantarum L125 presents desirable probiotic traits. Future studies will elucidate further its biological and health-related properties.

Breast milk is the ideal food for infants and undoubtedly has immediate and long‑term benefits. Breast milk contains extracellular vesicles (EVs) i.e., exosomes secreted by maternal breast cells. Exosomes carry genetic material, such as long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which possibly participate in cell‑to‑cell communications, as they are known to regulate critical gene pathways. The aim of the present study was to screen human breastmilk exosomes for their lncRNA cargo and to examine exosomal lncRNA levels associated with milk obtained from mothers that gave birth at term or prematurely (

Purpose Understanding the healthy brain aging process is key to uncover the mechanisms that lead to pathologic age-related neurodegeneration, including progression to Alzheimer disease (AD). We aimed to address the issue of pathologic heterogeneity that often underlies a clinical AD diagnosis. Methods We performed a deep whole-genome sequencing study aiming to identify variants that are associated specifically with healthy brain aging. Patients We examined samples from the community-based longitudinal Vienna Transdanubian Aging study comparing neuropathologically "healthy" aging in individuals above 80 years of age with pure AD patients of the same age. Results Focusing on potentially functional variants, we discovered a single variant (rs10149146) that lies on the autophagy-associated TECPR2 gene and was carried by 53.6% of the "healthy" brain elderly individuals (15/28). An additional nonsynonymous variant on the CINP gene (encoding a cell cycle checkpoint protein) was also found in 46% of healthy controls. Both variants are absent from all AD cases. TECPR2 and CINP appear to be "partner" genes in terms of regulation and their associated transcription factors have been previously implicated in AD and neurodegeneration. Conclusions Our study underlines the strength of neuropathology-driven definitions in genetic association studies and points to a potentially neuroprotective effect of key molecules of autophagy and cell cycle control.