Bacteria and bacterial components have been widely used as bionanocarriers to deliver drugs to treat tumors. In this study, we isolated bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) with good stability and high yield for macrophage polarization and cell recruitment. Using ultrasound baths, these bacterial OMVs were combined with curcumin nanoparticles (OMV CUR NPs), following which these nanoparticles were modified with bovine serum albumin (BSA) to achieve high biosafety and tumor-targeting effects. The particle size, PDI, and zeta potential of the BSA-OMV CUR NPs were 157.9 nm, 0.233, and -15.1 mV, respectively. The BSA-OMV CUR NPs exhibited high storage stability, low cytotoxicity, sustained release, enhanced cellular uptake of CUR, induction of tumor cell apoptosis, and inhibition of tumor cell proliferation and migration. By determining the survival rate, body length, heart rate, head size, eye size, and pericardium size of the zebrafish, we found that the BSA-OMV CUR NPs were safe for application in vivo. Moreover, an increase in antiproliferation, antiangiogenic and antimetastatic effects of BSA-OMV CUR NPs was demonstrated in wild-type and transgenic tumor-transplanted zebrafish embryos.

Browning is a common problem that occurs during potato processing; it is typically resolved by adding chemicals during the production process. However, there is a need to develop potato varieties that are resistant to browning due to a growing consumer interest in healthier diets. This study initially identified 275 potato varieties that are resistant to browning; these were narrowed down to eight varieties, with four of them being highly resistant. A hybrid population was developed by crossing the highly resistant CIP395109.29 with the easily browned Kexin 23. Bulked segregant analysis (BSA) was conducted, which identified 21 potato genes associated with anti-browning properties through sequencing data analysis and organization. The findings of this study lay a solid groundwork for future research on breeding potatoes with anti-browning traits, offer molecular markers for identifying anti-browning varieties, and serve as a valuable reference for further investigations into potato browning mechanisms.

In this work, the terahertz time-domain spectroscopy method analyzed solutions of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in two high concentrations (50 and 334 mg/mL) at three pH values (2.5, 6.5, 8.5) and the same solvents without protein, at 25°C. The spectra of dry BSA were also recorded. For the first time, a method for determining the complex dielectric permittivity of protein molecules in aqueous solutions, without the dielectric contribution of the aqueous phase, is proposed. It is shown that the dielectric permittivity of dissolved and dry BSA (lyophilized, in the native conformation) differ significantly in the terahertz frequency range. These differences are small near 70 cm-1, but they increase greatly with decreasing frequency. It was found that the dielectric losses of protein molecules in solution are close to the dielectric losses of the aqueous environment, which in this frequency range are determined by intermolecular relaxation processes of water. Since dielectric losses are directly related to molecular dynamics, this fact shows that the intramolecular dynamics of the protein completely adjusts to the intermolecular dynamics of the aqueous environment. It also indicates that the native conformation does not determine all the fundamental characteristics of a protein molecule, in particular, it does not determine the dynamics of the protein, which significantly depends on the water environment.

Cancer is unquestionably a global healthcare challenge, spurring the exporation of novel treatment approaches. In recent years, nanomaterials have garnered significant interest with the greatest hopes for targeted nanoformulations due to their cell-specific delivery, improved therapeutic efficacy, and reduced systemic toxicity for the organism. The problem of successful clinical translation of nanoparticles may be related to the fact that most in vitro tests are performed at pH values of normal cells and tissues, ranging from 7.2 to 7.4. The extracellular pH values of tumors are characterized by a shift to a more acidic region in the range of 5.6-7.0 and represent a crucial target for enhancing nanoparticle delivery to cancer cells. Here we show the method of non-active protein incorporation into the surface of HER2-targeted nanoparticles to achieve optimal cellular uptake within the pH range of the tumor microenvironment. The method efficacy was confirmed in vitro and in vivo showing the maximum binding of nanoparticles to cells at a pH value 6.4. Namely, fluorescent magnetic nanoparticles, modified with HER2-recognising affibody ZHER2:342, with proven specificity in terms of HER2 recognition (with 62-fold higher cellular uptake compared to control nanoparticles) were designed for targeting cancer cells at slightly acidic pH values. The stabilizing protein, namely, bovine serum albumin, one of the major blood components with widespread availability and biocompatibility, was used for the decoration of the nanoparticle surface to alter the pH response of the targeting magnetic conjugates. The optimally designed nanoparticles showed a bell-shaped dependency of interaction with cancer cells in the pH range of 5.6-8.0 with maximum cellular uptake at pH value 6.4 close to that of the tumor microenvironment. In vivo experiments revealed that after i.v. administration, BSA-decorated nanoparticles exhibited 2 times higher accumulation in tumors compared to magnetic nanoparticles modified with affibody only. Thus, we demonstrated a valid method for enhancing the specificity of targeted nanoparticle delivery to cancer cells without changing the functional components of nanoparticles.

OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies have indicated that increased obesity in patients with established peripheral artery disease (PAD) is inversely associated with disease prognosis, a phenomenon coined as the \"obesity paradox\". A major cause of criticism in studies investigating the obesity paradox is the use of body mass index (BMI) as a surrogate marker in defining and quantifying the degree or severity of obesity. We conducted a retrospective review to verify whether the obesity paradox persists in patients with PAD when using body surface area (BSA) as an alternative anthropometric measure.
METHODS: Patients undergoing surgery (open or endovascular) for PAD between January 2009 and March 2020 were identified from the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) national database. The association between BSA/BMI and risk of post-operative complications was evaluated using logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analysis, both of which adjusted for demographic and comorbid risk predictors. When analyzing BSA and BMI as categorical variables, patients were grouped according to BSA quintiles and the World Health Organization (WHO) BMI categories.
RESULTS: A total of 130,428 patients were included based on our eligibility criteria, of which 85,394 (65.5%) were men. Patients were typically hypertensive (87.8%), diabetic (50.4%), and overweight (63.0% over 25 kg/m2). Patients with a high BMI or BSA typically presented at a younger age and with greater pre-operative administration of drugs (statin, ACE-inhibitor, anticoagulant, and beta blocker). Our results indicate that BSA and BMI are inversely associated with post-operative risk of all-cause morbidity, mortality, and cardiac complications. This finding was displayed when analyzing BMI/BSA as a continuous variable, or when indexing patients into BMI/BSA groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggests that the obesity paradox persists in patients with PAD when using either BMI or BSA as anthropometric measures. Future studies with a prospective design and utilizing newer anthropometric indices should be conducted to fully verify the presence of this phenomenon.

Recently, the 5-HT7 receptor has achieved greater attention in research fraternity due to the involvement of neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in several neurological disorders. Targeting this neuroreceptor, we have synthesized six compounds named as butyl-benzoxazolone substituted piperazinium derivatives (BBOP) derivatives, abbreviated as L1-L6. These compounds have been evaluated for their binding interaction with BSA through photophysical and in-silico approaches. The UV absorption of these compounds with BSA at λmax = 280 nm, showed an optical density (O.D.) in the range of 0.5-0.9, i.e., 21%-53% (L1max = 1.4, L5min = 0.7385) at varied concentrations (17 μM-114 μM). For fluorescence studies, the Ksv value varied inversely with temperature, which confirmed the static mechanism of quenching with L1 showing maximum quenching. The parameters (ΔH, ΔS) obtained from the thermodynamic study for interaction between BSA and L1-L6 were correlated with in-silico (molecular docking) data. The in-silico docking study showed hydrophobic and the Van der Waals forces were the most significant forces. Amino acid residues ARG 217 & TRP 213 (Sudlow Site I) and LYS 116 & GLU 125 (Sudlow Site II) of BSA were primarily involved in H-bonding.Furthermore, the catalytic activity of BSA for hydrolyzingdifferent chemical entities have monitored in the presence of L1-L6 through esterase-like assay with p-NPA as a substrate, to get more insight about the interaction with catalytic residues (LYS 414, LYS 413, and TYR 411) in BSA at site II. These findings showed the potential of these 5-HT7 markers as promising ligands with appropriate drug likeliness characteristics.

Pyridoxal-S-methyl-isothiosemicarbazone (PLITSC) is a member of an important group of ligands characterized by different complexation modes to various transition metals. In this contribution, a new complex containing two differently protonated PLITSC ligands ([Fe(PLITSC-H)(PLITSC)]SO4)∙2.5H2O was obtained. The crystal structure was solved by the X-ray analysis and used further for the optimization at B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)(H,C,N,O,S)/def2-TZVP(Fe) level of theory. Changes in the interaction strength and bond distance due to protonation were observed upon examination by the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules. The protein binding affinity of [Fe(PLITSC-H)(PLITSC)]SO4 towards transport proteins (Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) and Human Serum Albumin (HSA)) was investigated by the spectrofluorimetric titration and molecular docking. The interactions with the active pocket containing fluorescent amino acids were examined in detail, which explained the fluorescence quenching. The interactions between complex and DNA were followed by the ethidium-bromide displacement titration and molecular docking. The binding along the minor groove was the dominant process involving complex in the proximity of DNA.

Through molecular recognition, drugs can interact and complex with macromolecules circulating in the body. The serum albumin transport protein, found in several mammals, has several interaction sites where these molecules can be located. The drug sulfasalazine (SSZ) is known in the literature to complex at drug site 1 (DS1) in human serum (HSA) and bovine serum (BSA) proteins. This complexation can be studied using various spectroscopic techniques. With the techniques used in this work, absorption in the ultraviolet and visible regions (UV-Vis) and electronic circular dichroism (ECD), a significant difference was observed in the results involving HSA and BSA. The application of theoretical methodologies, such as TD-DFT and molecular docking, suggests that the conformation that SSZ assumes in DS1 of the two proteins is different, which exposes it to different amino acid residues and different hydrophobicities. This difference in conformation may be related to the location of DS1 where the drug interacts or to the possibility of SSZ moving in the BSA site, due to its larger size, and moving less freely in HSA.

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Biofouling is a great challenge for engineering material in medical-, marine-, and pharmaceutical-related applications. In this study, a novel trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO)-analog monomer, 3-(2-methylacrylamido)-N,N-dimethylpropylamine N-oxide (MADMPAO), was synthesized and applied for the grafting of poly(MADMPAO) (pMPAO) brushes on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) chips by the combination of bio-inspired poly-dopamine (pDA) and surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization technology. The result of ion adsorption exhibited that a sequential pDA and pMPAO arrangement from the chip surface had different characteristics from a simple pDA layer. Ion adsorption on pMPAO-grafted chips was greatly inhibited at low salt concentrations of 1 and 10 mmol/L due to strong surface hydration in the presence of charged N+ and O- of zwitterionic pMPAO brushes on the outer layer on the chip surface, well known as the \"anti-polyelectrolyte\" effect. During BSA adsorption, pMPAO grafting also led to a marked decrease in frequency shift, indicating great inhibition of protein adsorption. It was attributed to weaker BSA-pMPAO interaction. In this study, the Au@pDA-4-pMPAO chip with the highest coating concentration of DA kept stable dissipation in BSA adsorption, signifying that the chip had a good antifouling property. The research provided a novel monomer for zwitterionic polymer and demonstrated the potential of pMPAO brushes in the development and modification of antifouling materials.