BackgroundBovine serum albumin (BSA) contains high affinity binding sites for several endogenous and exogenous compounds and has been used to replace human serum albumin (HSA), as these two compounds share a similar structure. Naringin palmitate is a modified product of naringin that is produced by an acylation reaction with palmitic acid, which is considered to be an effective substance for enhancing naringin lipophilicity. In this study, the interaction of naringin palmitate with BSA was characterised by spectroscopic and molecular docking techniques.Methodology/Principal FindingsThe goal of this study was to investigate the interactions between naringin palmitate and BSA under physiological conditions, and differences in naringin and naringin palmitate affinities for BSA were further compared and analysed. The formation of naringin palmitate-BSA was revealed by fluorescence quenching, and the Stern-Volmer quenching constant (KSV) was found to decrease with increasing temperature, suggesting that a static quenching mechanism was involved. The changes in enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS) for the interaction were detected at −4.11±0.18 kJ·mol−1 and −76.59±0.32 J·mol−1·K−1, respectively, which indicated that the naringin palmitate-BSA interaction occurred mainly through van der Waals forces and hydrogen bond formation. The negative free energy change (ΔG) values of naringin palmitate at different temperatures suggested a spontaneous interaction. Circular dichroism studies revealed that the α-helical content of BSA decreased after interacting with naringin palmitate. Displacement studies suggested that naringin palmitate was partially bound to site I (subdomain IIA) of the BSA, which was also substantiated by the molecular docking studies.Conclusions/SignificanceIn conclusion, naringin palmitate was transported by BSA and was easily removed afterwards. As a consequence, an extension of naringin applications for use in food, cosmetic and medicinal preparations may be clinically and practically significant, especially in the design of new naringin palmitate-inspired drugs.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play a critical role in cancer biology and are frequently aberrantly expressed. Despite their important role in pathology, little is known mechanistically regarding their role in gastric cancer (GC) pathogenesis. To characterize the role of lncRNAs in GC pathogenesis, 8 paired human GC tissue samples and matched adjacent normal tissue were examined. Large scale expression profiling of lncRNA and mRNA was performed utilizing microarray technology and validated by qPCR. Differentially expressed lncRNAs were subjected to bioinformatic analysis to predict target genes, followed by the integration of differentially expressed mRNA data and GO and network analysis to further characterize potential interactions. In our study, 2,621 lncRNAs and 3,121 mRNAs were identified to be differentially expressed (≥2.0-fold change) in GC samples relative to their matched counterparts. lncRNA target prediction revealed the presence of 221 potential lncRNA-mRNA target pairs for the 75 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 60 differentially expressed genes. KEGG pathway analysis showed that these target genes were significantly enriched in 7 different pathways, of which the p53 signaling pathway was the most significant and has been previously implicated in GC pathogenesis. Construction of a lncRNA-mRNA correlation network revealed 10 differentially expressed lncRNAs potentially regulating the p53 signaling pathway. Overall, this is the first study perform global expression profiling of lncRNAs and mRNAs relating to GC. These results may provide important information for further insights into the pathogenesis of GC and provide potential targets for future therapeutics.

BackgroundPure 1, 3-diacylglycerols (1, 3-DAG) have been considered to be significant surfactants in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, as well as the effect on obesity prevention.MethodsIn this study, a vacuum-driven air bubbling operation mode was developed and evaluated for the enzymatic synthesis of 1, 3-DAG of saturated fatty acids, by direct esterification of glycerol with fatty acids in a solvent-free system. The employed vacuum-driven air bubbling operation mode was comparable to vacuum-driven N2 bubbling protocol, in terms of lauric acid conversion and 1, 3-dilaurin content.ResultsSome operation parameters were optimized, and 95.3% of lauric acid conversion and 80.3% of 1, 3-dilaurin content was obtained after 3-h reaction at 50°C, with 5 wt% of Lipozyme RM IM (based on reactants) amount. Of the lipases studied, both Lipozyme RM IM and Novozym 435 exhibited good performance in terms of lauric acid conversion. Lipozyme TL IM, however, showed low activity. Lipozyme RM IM showed good operational stability in this operation protocol, 80.2% of the original catalytic activity remained after 10 consecutive batch applications. Some other 1, 3-DAG were prepared and high content was obtained after purification: 98.5% for 1, 3-dicaprylin, 99.2% for 1, 3-dicaprin, 99.1% for 1, 3-dilaurin, 99.5 for 1, 3-dipalmitin and 99.4% for 1, 3-disterin.ConclusionThe established vacuum-driven air bubbling operation protocol had been demonstrated to be a simple-operating, cost-effective, application practical and efficient methodology for 1, 3-DAG preparation.

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Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the prototype of complex autoimmune diseases characterized by the production of autoantibodies which results in widespread immunologic abnormalities and immune complex formation. The underlying etiology remains largely unknown. When progressing toward kidney failure, it is becoming a serious public health problem. Kidney transplantation is a feasible therapy, but significant limitations were existed, including shortage of donor organs and lack of funding. To find an alternative proposal for kidney replacement, the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) technology was adopted. We identified typical SLE patients. Lentiviral transduction of OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC, under feeder conditions, resulted in reprogramming of urine-derived renal tubular cells. We investigated the viability of iPSCs generation from patients with SLE by identification of totipotency and pluripotency. SLE patient renal tubular cells-derived iPSCs exhibited properties of human embryonic stem cells, including morphology, growth properties, alkaline phosphatase, expression of pluripotency, genes and surface markers, and teratoma formation. We demonstrated that generation of SLE-specific iPSCs from urine was not only the first time worldwide, but was feasible and efficient. IPSCs from SLE would provide convenient model to study disease pathogenesis, drugs screening, and gene therapy.