Glucose Precursors Research Articles

Correlations between the metabolic profile and 18F-FDG-Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography parameters reveal the complexity of the metabolic reprogramming within lung cancer patients

Several studies have demonstrated that the metabolite composition of plasma may indicate the presence of lung cancer. The metabolism of cancer is characterized by an enhanced glucose uptake and glycolysis which is exploited by 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) in the work-up and management of cancer. This study aims to explore relationships between 1H-NMR spectroscopy derived plasma metabolite concentrations and the uptake of labeled glucose (18F-FDG) in lung cancer tissue. PET parameters of interest are standard maximal uptake values (SUVmax), total body metabolic active tumor volumes (MATVWTB) and total body total lesion glycolysis (TLGWTB) values. Patients with high values of these parameters have higher plasma concentrations of N-acetylated glycoproteins which suggest an upregulation of the hexosamines biosynthesis. High MATVWTB and TLGWTB values are associated with higher concentrations of glucose, glycerol, N-acetylated glycoproteins, threonine, aspartate and valine and lower levels of sphingomyelins and phosphatidylcholines appearing at the surface of lipoproteins. These higher concentrations of glucose and non-carbohydrate glucose precursors such as amino acids and glycerol suggests involvement of the gluconeogenesis pathway. The lower plasma concentration of those phospholipids points to a higher need for membrane synthesis. Our results indicate that the metabolic reprogramming in cancer is more complex than the initially described Warburg effect.

Continuous artificial synthesis of glucose precursor using enzyme-immobilized microfluidic reactors

Food production in green crops is severely limited by low activity and poor specificity of D-ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) in natural photosynthesis (NPS). This work presents a scientific solution to overcome this problem by immobilizing RuBisCO into a microfluidic reactor, which demonstrates a continuous production of glucose precursor at 13.8 μmol g−1 RuBisCO min−1 from CO2 and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate. Experiments show that the RuBisCO immobilization significantly enhances enzyme stabilities (7.2 folds in storage stability, 6.7 folds in thermal stability), and also improves the reusability (90.4% activity retained after 5 cycles of reuse and 78.5% after 10 cycles). This work mimics the NPS pathway with scalable microreactors for continuous synthesis of glucose precursor using very small amount of RuBisCO. Although still far from industrial production, this work demonstrates artificial synthesis of basic food materials by replicating the light-independent reactions of NPS, which may hold the key to food crisis relief and future space colonization.

Glucose precursor carbon-doped TiO2 heterojunctions for enhanced efficiency in photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol

An alternative source for carbon-doped TiO2 photocatalysts, synthesized with glucose as precursor, calcined and tested for the reduction of CO2 have been investigated. These samples are characterized using XRD, FTIR, DRUV-Vis, XPS and HR-TEM. Glucose with 6 wt.% loading (6C-TiO2) corresponds to the optimum amount of carbon doped into TiO2 achieving a methanol yield of 19.5 mmol gcat−1 h−1, a more than 2-fold increase from that of bare TiO2 at 9.5 mmol gcat−1 h−1. Moreover, the quantum yield of carbon-doped TiO2 increases by ca. 50% compared to bare TiO2. From XPS results, various surface species with COH, CC and CO functional groups confer the association of ligand-metal-charge-transfer (LMCT) complex between TiO2 and carbon. The low band gap and UV–vis light absorption capacity of carbon-doped TiO2 facilitates the transfer of photo-generated electrons. 6C-TiO2 demonstrates high photostability with constant yield even after five cycles of testing. The mechanism of the carbon-doped TiO2 in reduction of CO2 to methanol is postulated to be consistent with the LMCT complex phenomena. Therefore, 6C-TiO2 photocatalyst provides heterojunction for localization of electrons, hinders the charge recombination rate and narrows the band gap for enhanced photocatalytic activity under UV-VIS light irradiation.

One-step synthesis of metallic Ni–C/Al2O3 directly applied for CO2 reforming of CH4

In this work, the vacuum co-impregnation of glucose and nickel precursor followed by the carbonization in an inert gas was developed as a new method for the preparation of the directly reduced Ni-based catalysts (Ni–C/Al2O3), which can be directly applied for CO2 reforming of CH4 (CRM) without any reduction. The materials were characterized by XRD, TEM, and N2 adsorption-desorption at low temperature. The results showed that H2 and CH4 derived from the decomposition of the glucose acted as the reducing agents for synthesizing metallic Ni from Ni precursors, and the reduction content of nickel was strongly dependent on the amount the glucose. The introduction of carbon derived from decomposition of glucose decreased the interaction between Ni and Al2O3 and then resulting in bigger Ni particle. Under the same CRM reaction conditions, the as-prepared Ni-0.35C/Al2O3 catalyst without further reduction showed highest catalytic activity and stability. The use of the directly reduced Ni-based catalyst without further high-temperature reduction is promising for the development of a more efficient CRM process.

Efficient Nitrogen-Doped Carbon for Zinc-Bromine Flow Battery.

The zinc-bromine flow battery (ZBFB) is one of the most promising technologies for large-scale energy storage. Here, nitrogen-doped carbon is synthesized and investigated as the positive electrode material in ZBFBs. The synthesis includes the carbonization of the glucose precursor and nitrogen doping by etching in ammonia gas. Physicochemical characterizations reveal that the resultant carbon exhibits high electronic conductivity, large specific surface area, and abundant heteroatom-containing functional groups, which benefit the formation and exposure of the active sites toward the Br2 /Br- redox couple. As a result, the assembled ZBFB achieves a voltage efficiency of 83.0% and an energy efficiency of 82.5% at a current density of 80 mA cm-2 , which are among the top values in literature. Finally, the ZBFB does not yield any detectable degradation in performance after a 200-cycle charging/discharging test, revealing its high stability. In summary, this work provides a highly efficient electrode material for the zinc-bromine flow battery.

Spectral tracing of deuterium for imaging glucose metabolism.

Cells and tissues often display pronounced spatial and dynamical metabolic heterogeneity. Prevalent glucose-imaging techniques report glucose uptake or catabolism activity, yet do not trace the functional utilization of glucose-derived anabolic products. Here, we report a microscopy technique for the optical imaging, via the spectral tracing of deuterium (referred to as STRIDE), of diverse macromolecules derived from glucose. Based on stimulated-Raman-scattering imaging, STRIDE visualizes the metabolic dynamics of newly synthesized macromolecules, such as DNA, protein, lipids and glycogen, via the enrichment and distinct spectra of carbon–deuterium bonds transferred from the deuterated glucose precursor. STRIDE can also use spectral differences derived from different glucose isotopologues to visualize temporally separated glucose populations in a pulse–chase manner. We also show that STRIDE can be used to image glucose metabolism in many mouse tissues, including tumours, the brain, the intestine and the liver, at a detection limit of 10 mM of carbon–deuterium bonds. STRIDE provides a high-resolution and chemically informative assessment of glucose anabolic utilization.

Antibiotic treatment triggers gut dysbiosis and modulates metabolism in a chicken model of gastro-intestinal infection

BackgroundInfection of the digestive track by gastro-intestinal pathogens results in the development of symptoms ranging from mild diarrhea to more severe clinical signs such as dysentery, severe dehydration and potentially death. Although, antibiotics are efficient to tackle infections, they also trigger dysbiosis that has been suggested to result in variation in weight gain in animal production systems.ResultsHere is the first study demonstrating the metabolic impact of infection by a gastro-intestinal pathogen (Brachyspira pilosicoli) and its resolution by antibiotic treatment (tiamulin) on the host (chicken) systemic metabolism and gut microbiota composition using high-resolution 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and 16S rDNA next generation sequencing (NGS). Clear systemic metabolic markers of infections such as glycerol and betaine were identified. Weight loss in untreated animals was in part explained by the observation of a modification of systemic host energy metabolism characterized by the utilization of glycerol as a glucose precursor. However, antibiotic treatment triggered an increased VLDL/HDL ratio in plasma that may contribute to reducing weight loss observed in treated birds. All metabolic responses co-occurred with significant shift of the microbiota upon infection or antibiotic treatment.ConclusionThis study indicates that infection and antibiotic treatment trigger dysbiosis that may impact host systemic energy metabolism and cause phenotypic and health modifications.

A facile method for precipitating of dispersed carbon particles prepared by microwave heating and its application for dye removal

Dispersed carbon particles were prepared by microwave heating of aqueous solution of poly ethylene glycol and glucose precursors. Then, a facile method was presented to precipitate the stable dispersed carbon particles, using H2O and Al(NO3)3. The obtained carbon powder was characterized by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis methods.The adsorption of methyl violet and cationic blue onto the prepared carbon was investigated from both equilibrium and kinetic point of view. The adsorption rate of methyl violet and cationic blue onto the obtained carbon is very fast and it takes just few seconds. The equilibrium and kinetic data were modeled using different isotherms and kinetic models respectively.

Metabolic tracing unravels pathways of fungal and bacterial amino sugar formation in soil

SummaryThe present study aimed to reveal the steps in the formation of fungal and bacterial amino sugars (AS) from glucose. Glucose labelled uniformly and position‐specifically at C‐1, C‐2, C‐4 and C‐6 was applied to an agricultural soil. Fungal and bacterial pathways of AS formation were reconstructed by a new approach: 13C recovery from individual C positions of glucose in AS by IC‐O‐IRMS. Only 0.75% of 13C from initially applied glucose was incorporated into AS within 10 days and followed the order: glucosamine > galactosamine > muramic acid. Relative incorporation of 13C (% of AS‐C) had the largest values for bacterial muramic acid and the smallest for fungal galactosamine. This reflects faster turnover of bacterial than fungal cell walls. A maximum of 55% ± 19% of the 13C incorporated in glucosamine was derived from intact, untransformed glucose. The smallest recovery was observed for C‐1 and C‐4. Recovery of C‐1 even decreased from day 3 to day 10, reflecting the metabolization by the pentose phosphate pathway. To be incorporated into AS, metabolites resulting from either the pentose phosphate pathway or glycolysis needed to be reconstructed to glucose by the reversible pathways of gluconeogenesis. The direct formation of AS (e.g. intact recovery of the glucose precursor), as well as amino sugar formation from recycled metabolites allocated to the hexose pool by back flux, occurred in parallel. Bacterial muramic acid showed the most variation in the recovery of individual C positions during 10 days, which reflects its intensive transformation by glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway and gluconeogenesis. It is explained by the lower metabolic activity of fungi than bacteria at steady‐state conditions. The present approach enabled us to analyse the biochemical pathways in bacteria and fungi, which will considerably improve our understanding of the formation and stabilization of microbially derived SOM compounds.Highlights Fungal and bacterial pathways of the formation of amino sugars from glucose are reconstructed Intact use of glucose is distinguished from recycling by a metabolic tracing approach Half of the precursor (glucose) is metabolized prior to incorporation into amino sugars Intracellular recycling plays a crucial role in microbial SOM formation

Oxygen enriched network-type carbon spheres for multipurpose water purification applications

Abstract Potassium hydroxide (KOH) modified network-type carbon spheres (CSs) with abundant oxygen-rich groups were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of glucose precursor and utilized for the adsorptive removal of cadmium(II) heavy metal and congo red (CR) dye as well as photocatalytic degradation of CR. Characterizations on the samples using SEM, FT-IR, TGA, XPS and BET surface area confirmed the presence of porous activated CSs with large surface area of 1125.91 m2. Adsorbent with KOH to CS ratio of 1:1 exhibited maximum adsorption capacities of 276.09 and 382.15 mg/g for Cd(II) and CR respectively. Adsorption data corroborated well with Freundlich isotherm revealing that the multi-layer sorption was predominant. Pseudo-second-order kinetics model described the adsorption process well implying chemisorption was the major contributor for the adsorption capacity. Photocatalytic degradation of CR was achieved with 95% removal efficiency within 90 min proving that adsorbent was a promising multipurpose water treatment material.

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Luminescent Carbon Dots from Glucose and Birch Bark Soot

Carbon dots were prepared by the method of hydrothermal synthesis from carbon precursors of glucose and birch bark soot in aqueous ammonia. The distribution of lateral sizes of carbon dots testifies their average size to be 10–12 nm for glucose and 20–22 nm for soot. Infrared absorption spectra indicate oxygen groups on the surfaces of obtained carbon dots. Aqueous suspensions with glucose-based carbon dots exhibit strong absorption in the visible region from 300 nm to 500 nm. Soot-based carbon dots demonstrate strong absorption in the ultraviolet region, but are transparent in the visible region. The luminescence spectra exhibit that carbon dots synthesized from glucose and soot are luminescent in the same spectral region, their wavelengths of radiation depend on the wavelengths of excitation, and the intensity of luminescence depends on the presence of oxygen groups on the surface of carbon dots. Carbon dots synthesized from glucose and soot have great prospects in terms of their application in biology and medicine.

Time course of fractional gluconeogenesis after meat ingestion in healthy adults: a D2O study

In the postprandial state, glucose homeostasis is challenged by macronutrient intake, including proteins that trigger insulin secretion and provide glucose precursors. However, little is known about the postprandial response of gluconeogenesis to a protein meal. We aimed to quantify the evolution of fractional gluconeogenesis after a meat meal. Thirteen healthy subjects received oral doses of D2O. After fasting overnight, they ingested a steak (120 g). Glycemia, insulinemia, and 2H enrichments in glucose and plasma water were measured for 8 h after the meal. Fractional gluconeogenesis was assessed using the average method. Glucose was stable for 5 h and then decreased. There was a slight increase of insulin 1 h after the meal. 2H enrichment in the carbon 5 position of glucose (C5) increased after 2 h, whereas it decreased in plasma water. Consequently, fractional gluconeogenesis increased from 68.2 ± 7.2% before the meal to 75.5 ± 5.8% 8 h after the meal, the latter corresponding to 22 h without a glucose supply. These values are consistent with the exhaustion of glycogen stores after 24 h but represent the highest among values in the literature. The impact of methodological conditions is discussed.

Genetic engineering of Escherichia coli to improve L-phenylalanine production

BackgroundL-phenylalanine (L-Phe) is an essential amino acid for mammals and applications expand into human health and nutritional products. In this study, a system level engineering was conducted to enhance L-Phe biosynthesis in Escherichia coli.ResultsWe inactivated the PTS system and recruited glucose uptake via combinatorial modulation of galP and glk to increase PEP supply in the Xllp01 strain. In addition, the HTH domain of the transcription factor TyrR was engineered to decrease the repression on the transcriptional levels of L-Phe pathway enzymes. Finally, proteomics analysis demonstrated the third step of the SHIK pathway (catalyzed via AroD) as the rate-limiting step for L-Phe production. After optimization of the aroD promoter strength, the titer of L-Phe increased by 13.3%. Analysis of the transcriptional level of genes involved in the central metabolic pathways and L-Phe biosynthesis via RT-PCR showed that the recombinant L-Phe producer exhibited a great capability in the glucose utilization and precursor (PEP and E4P) generation. Via systems level engineering, the L-Phe titer of Xllp21 strain reached 72.9 g/L in a 5 L fermenter under the non-optimized fermentation conditions, which was 1.62-times that of the original strain Xllp01.ConclusionThe metabolic engineering strategy reported here can be broadly employed for developing genetically defined organisms for the efficient production of other aromatic amino acids and derived compounds.

Halloysite-derived nitrogen doped carbon electrocatalysts for anion exchange membrane fuel cells

Developing the low-cost, highly active carbonaceous materials for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts has been a high-priority research direction for durable fuel cells. In this paper, two novel N-doped carbonaceous materials with flaky and rod-like morphology using the natural halloysite as template are obtained from urea nitrogen source as well as glucose (denoted as GU) and furfural (denoted as FU) carbon precursors, respectively, which can be directly applied as metal-free electrocatalysts for ORR in alkaline electrolyte. Importantly, compared with a benchmark Pt/C (20wt%) catalyst, the as-prepared carbon catalysts demonstrate higher retention in diffusion limiting current density (after 3000 cycles) and enhanced methanol tolerances with only 50-60mV negative shift in half-wave potentials. In addition, electrocatalytic activity, durability and methanol tolerant capability of the two N-doped carbon catalysts are systematically evaluated, and the underneath reasons of the outperformance of rod-like catalysts over the flaky are revealed. At last, the produced carbonaceous catalysts are also used as cathodes in the single cell H2/O2 anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC), in which the rod-like FU delivers a peak power density as high as 703 mW cm−2 (vs. 1106 mW cm−2 with a Pt/C benchmark cathode catalyst).

Molecular and biochemical characterization of a potato collection with contrasting tuber carotenoid content

After wheat and rice, potato is the third most important staple food worldwide. A collection of ten tetraploid (Solanum tuberosum) and diploid (S. phureja and S. chacoense) genotypes with contrasting carotenoid content was subjected to molecular characterization with respect to candidate carotenoid loci and metabolic profiling using LC-HRMS. Irrespective of ploidy and taxonomy, tubers of these genotypes fell into three groups: yellow-fleshed, characterized by high levels of epoxy-xanthophylls and xanthophyll esters and by the presence of at least one copy of a dominant allele of the β-Carotene Hydroxylase 2 (CHY2) gene; white-fleshed, characterized by low carotenoid levels and by the presence of recessive chy2 alleles; and orange-fleshed, characterized by high levels of zeaxanthin but low levels of xanthophyll esters, and homozygosity for a Zeaxanthin Epoxidase (ZEP) recessive allele. Novel CHY2 and ZEP alleles were identified in the collection. Multivariate analysis identified several groups of co-regulated non-polar compounds, and resulted in the grouping of the genotypes according to flesh color, suggesting that extensive cross-talk exists between the carotenoid pathway and other metabolite pathways in tubers. Postharvest traits like tuber dormancy and weight loss during storage showed little correlation with tuber carotenoid content, with the exception of zeaxanthin and its esters. Other tuber metabolites, such as glucose, monogalactosyldiacyglycerol (a glycolipid), or suberin precursors, showed instead significant correlations with both traits.

Making co-condensed amorphous carbon/g-C3N4 composites with improved visible-light photocatalytic H2-production performance using Pt as cocatalyst

Novel composites comprising amorphous carbon and graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) were fabricated via facial one-step thermal condensation of glucose and urea precursors. The as-prepared composites were systematically characterized. The photocatalytic activity towards H2 production under visible light was examined. By fine-tuning the weight ratio of precursors, the composites exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of optimal composite was 212.8 μmol h−1g−1, about 10-fold larger than that of pure g-C3N4. The intimate interface between the amorphous carbon and g-C3N4 plays the key role for prolonging the charge carrier lifetime and accelerating the charge transfer kinetics, which benefit the photocatalytic performance. Besides, the enhanced photocatalytic performance is also attributed to the improved visible-light absorption and enlarged surface area. Apart from H2 production, the high-performance gC3N4based photocatalysts are potentially applicable for CO2 reduction, organic synthesis and environmental remediation.

Long-term liquid storage and reproductive evaluation of an innovative boar semen extender (Formula12®) containing a non-reducing disaccharide and an enzymatic agent

There are no reports of saccharolytic enzymes being used in the preparation of formulations for animal semen extenders. In the present study, the use of an innovative semen extender (Formula12®) in the long-term liquid storage of boar semen at 17°C was evaluated. The formulation included use of a disaccharide (sucrose) as the energy source precursor coupled to an enzymatic agent (invertase). The innovative extender was evaluated and compared in vitro to a commercial extender (Vitasem LD®) for the following variables: Total Motility (TM), Forward Progressive Motility (FPM), sperm morphology, membrane integrity, acrosome integrity, and chromatin instability. Boar sperm diluted in Formula12® and stored for 12 days at 17°C maintained a commercially acceptable FPM (>70%). Using the results from the in vitro study, an AI field trial was performed. A total of 170 females were inseminated (135 with Formula12® and 35 with Vitasem LD®). The pregnancy rates were 97.8% compared with 91.4%, and the farrowing rates were 96.3% compared with 88.6% when Formula12® and Vitasem LD® were used, respectively. The mean number of piglets born/sow were 14.92±0.46 compared with 13.83±0.70, and the number of piglets born alive/sow were 14.07±0.46 compared with 12.12±0.70 (P<0.05). The results obtained in this study demonstrated that use of the innovative concept to provide a precursor of glucose and fructose as energy sources for an enzymatic agent in an extender allowed for meeting the metabolic requirements of boar sperm during storage at 17°C. It is suggested that there was a beneficial effect on fertilizing capacity of boar sperm in the female reproductive tract with use of these technologies.

A novel carbon paste electrode based on nitrogen-doped hydrothermal carbon for electrochemical determination of carbendazim

In this work, a new carbon paste electrode, prepared from nitrogen- -doped hydrothermal carbon (CHTCN) was applied for the electrochemical detection and determination of carbendazim fungicide. CHTCN samples with the nominal nitrogen content 0.05?0.5 wt. % in glucose precursor were prepared by simple, low-cost synthesis with the accompanying carbonization to 1273 K. The presence of nitrogen in CHTCN samples was confirmed by elemental analysis. Characterization of CHTCN as material for carbon paste electrode was achieved by cyclic voltammetry measurement of the Fe(CN)6 3-/4- redox couple. The results showed that best electrochemical response was obtained from the sample with a nominal nitrogen concentration of 0.1 wt. % and with tricresyl phosphate as a binder. During the development of a differential pulse stripping voltammetric method for carbendazim determination applying new electrode, the following experimental parameters were studied: the sort and amount of binding liquid, the effect of pH, accumulation potential and accumulation time. Under optimal conditions, the electrode offered linearity in the wide concentration range from 25 to 490 ng cm-3 and an estimated detection limit of 1.21 ng cm-3. Moreover, the electrode showed good stability, high selectivity and satisfactory anti-interference ability. Finally, the developed method was successfully applied for the determination of carbendazim traces in spiked tap and river water samples.

Comparison of ethanol production from corn cobs and switchgrass following a pyrolysis-based biorefinery approach.

BackgroundOne of the main obstacles in lignocellulosic ethanol production is the necessity of pretreatment and fractionation of the biomass feedstocks to produce sufficiently pure fermentable carbohydrates. In addition, the by-products (hemicellulose and lignin fraction) are of low value, when compared to dried distillers grains (DDG), the main by-product of corn ethanol. Fast pyrolysis is an alternative thermal conversion technology for processing biomass. It has recently been optimized to produce a stream rich in levoglucosan, a fermentable glucose precursor for biofuel production. Additional product streams might be of value to the petrochemical industry. However, biomass heterogeneity is known to impact the composition of pyrolytic product streams, as a complex mixture of aromatic compounds is recovered with the sugars, interfering with subsequent fermentation. The present study investigates the feasibility of fast pyrolysis to produce fermentable pyrolytic glucose from two abundant lignocellulosic biomass sources in Ontario, switchgrass (potential energy crop) and corn cobs (by-product of corn industry).ResultsDemineralization of biomass removes catalytic centers and increases the levoglucosan yield during pyrolysis. The ash content of biomass was significantly decreased by 82–90% in corn cobs when demineralized with acetic or nitric acid, respectively. In switchgrass, a reduction of only 50% for both acids could be achieved. Conversely, levoglucosan production increased 9- and 14-fold in corn cobs when rinsed with acetic and nitric acid, respectively, and increased 11-fold in switchgrass regardless of the acid used. After pyrolysis, different configurations for upgrading the pyrolytic sugars were assessed and the presence of potentially inhibitory compounds was approximated at each step as double integral of the UV spectrum signal of an HPLC assay. The results showed that water extraction followed by acid hydrolysis and solvent extraction was the best upgrading strategy. Ethanol yields achieved based on initial cellulose fraction were 27.8% in switchgrass and 27.0% in corn cobs.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that ethanol production from switchgrass and corn cobs is possible following a combined thermochemical and fermentative biorefinery approach, with ethanol yields comparable to results in conventional pretreatments and fermentation processes. The feedstock-independent fermentation ability can easily be assessed with a simple assay.

1453 Glucose precursor supplementation in Holstein and Jersey cows as a preventative treatment for ketosis in the transition period

1453 Glucose precursor supplementation in Holstein and Jersey cows as a preventative treatment for ketosis in the transition period