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Water-insoluble β-glucan has been reported to have beneficial effects on human health. However, no studies have thoroughly characterized the structure and function of water-insoluble β-glucan in oat bran. Thus, the structure and effect of water-insoluble β-glucan on weight gain and lipid metabolism in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice were analyzed. First, water-insoluble β-glucan was isolated and purified from oat bran. Compared with water-soluble β-glucan, water-insoluble β-glucan had higher DP3:DP4 molar ratio (2.12 and 1.67, respectively) and molecular weight (123,800 and 119,200 g/mol, respectively). Notably, water-insoluble β-glucan exhibited more fibrous sheet-like structure and greater swelling power than water-soluble β-glucan. Animal experiments have shown that oral administration of water-insoluble β-glucan tended to lower the final body weight of obese mice after 10 weeks treatment. In addition, water-insoluble β-glucan administration significantly improved the serum lipid profile (triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels) and epididymal adipocytes size. What is more, water-insoluble β-glucan reduced the accumulation and accelerated the decomposition of lipid in liver. In conclusion, water-insoluble β-glucan (oat bran) could alleviate obesity in HFD-fed mice by improving blood lipid level and accelerating the decomposition of lipid.

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The dynamic disulfide linkage plays a vital role in various biological processes as well as drugs and biomaterials. Oxidation of thiols is a widely utilized approach for disulfide synthesis; however, achieving both optimal reactivity and selectivity continues to pose a significant challenge. Here, we report the redox-click chemistry for disulfide formation from thiols by sulfonyl fluorides in both batch and flow-mode. Sulfuryl fluoride is a potent oxidant with exceptional selectivity toward thiols. This reaction's unique characteristics satisfy click chemistry's stringent criteria with its high thermodynamic driving force, simple reaction conditions, wide scope, quantitative yields, exceptional chemoselectivity, and non-chromatographic purification process. Furthermore, the redox click chemistry's ability to joining various modular thiol units was showcased in the synthesis of symmetrical, unsymmetrical and cyclic disulfides, poly(disulfide)s, and the in vivo disulfide cross-linked biomedical hydrogels.