Soluble Components Research Articles

Eimeria falciformis secretes extracellular vesicles to modulate proinflammatory response during interaction with mouse intestinal epithelial cells

BackgroundProtozoan parasite secretions can be triggered by various modified media and diverse physicochemical stressors. Equally, host-parasite interactions are known to co-opt the exchange and secretion of soluble biochemical components. Analysis of Eimeria falciformis sporozoite secretions in response to interaction with mouse intestinal epithelial cells (MIECs) may reveal parasite secretory motifs, protein composition and inflammatory activities of E. falciformis extracellular vesicles (EVs).MethodsEimeria falciformis sporozoites were allowed to interact with inactivated MIECs. Parasite secretions were separated into EV and vesicle-free (VF) fractions by discontinuous centrifugation and ultracentrifugation. Secreted EVs were purified in an iodixanol density gradient medium and the protein composition of both EV and VF fractions were analyzed by liquid chromatoraphy-tandem mass spectroscopy. The inflammatory activities of E. falciformis sporozoite EV on MIECs were then investigated.ResultsDuring the interaction of E. falciformis sporozoites with inactivated MIECs, the parasite secreted VF and vesicle-bound molecules. Eimeria falciformis vesicles are typical pathogenic protozoan EVs with a mean diameter of 264 ± 2 nm, and enclosed heat shock protein (Hsp) 70 as classical EV marker. Refractile body-associated aspartyl proteinase (or eimepsin), GAP45 and aminopeptidase were the main components of E. falciformis sporozoite EVs, while VF proteins include Hsp90, actin, Vps54 and kinases, among others. Proteomic data revealed that E. falciformis EV and VF proteins are aggregates of bioactive, antigenic and immunogenic molecules which act in concert for E. falciformis sporozoite motility, pathogenesis and survival. Moreover, in MIECs, E. falciformis EVs induced upregulation of gene expression and secretion of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17, IL-18, MCP1 as well as pyroptosis-dependent caspase 11 and NLRP6 inflammasomes with the concomitant secretion of lactate dehydrogenase.ConclusionsEimeria falciformis sporozoite interaction with MIECs triggered the secretion of immunogenic and antigenic proteins. In addition, E. falciformis sporozoite EVs constitute parasite-associated molecular pattern that induced inflammatory response and cell death. This study offers additional insight in the secretion and protein composition of E. falciformis secretomes as well as the proinflammatory functions of E. falciformis sporozoite EVs.Graphical

Modulation of obesity associated metabolic dysfunction by novel lipophilic fraction obtained from Agaricus bisporus

AimThe present study aimed to prepare a novel lipophilic fraction rich in fat soluble bioactive from Agaricus bisporus and investigated its impact through in vitro and in vivo assessments since the prospective biological activities of fat soluble components from mushrooms are limited. MethodsErgosterol concentrate fraction (ECF) preparation followed by subsequent characterization of the extract using various analytical techniques (HPLC-UV, Mass spectroscopy, NMR). Furthermore, the fraction has been evaluated for antioxidant activity, DNA protection ability, hypolipidemic properties by in vitro specific enzyme inhibition and in vivo animal model (C57BL/6). Key findingsThe fraction majorly contains ergosterol (504 mg/100 g dw) and linoleic acid (71.92 %). In vitro studies showed that the fraction limited free radicals induced DNA damage, exhibited significant free radical scavenging activities (IC50 of DPPH 15.64; ABTS 8.28 mg/ml), and inhibited HMG-CoA reductase activity (IC50 5.03 mg/ml). Further, in vivo study showed that ECF treatment significantly (p < 0.05) improved insulin sensitivity (reduced plasma glucose & insulin, increased adiponectin) and reduced inflammatory markers (CRP & TNF-α) in comparison to high fat fed mice. Furthermore, ECF has significantly reduced plasma lipid profile and accumulation of lipids in liver. This could be due to down regulation of mRNA expression of lipogenic transcription factors such as SREBP-1c and SREBP-2, and key lipogenic enzyme ACC. Moreover, ECF treatment has suppressed protein expression of FAS, induced cholesterol clearance by enhancing LDL-R protein expression. SignificanceThe present work for the first time evaluated the synergistic potential of ergosterol and linoleic acid to improve antioxidant defense system and ameliorate obesity associated metabolic dysfunction.

Significant refinement and spheroidization of harmful Fe-rich phases in Al–Cu–Mg alloys by small Sn addition

Solidification phases of conventional cast aerospace Al–Cu–Mg alloys and their evolution during homogenization were comprehensively studied. Significant refinement and spheroidization of solidification phases were found by the addition of 0.04, 0.15, and 1.00 mass % Sn to Al–Cu–Mg alloys. The soluble Sn component is dissolved in the Al matrix as solute atoms, while Sn in excess of the solid solubility segregates in the intradendrites in the form of Sn pools with a size (diameter) of one-half to several micrometers. These solute Sn atoms and Sn pools can capture Cu, Mg, and Fe atoms or hinder their diffusion into the residual liquid phase in the interdendritic region during solidification. Owing to the Sn addition, the contents of the Al2Cu, Al2CuMg, and Al7Cu2Fe phases in the interdendritic region are greatly reduced, thereby leading to significant refinement and spheroidization of these solidification phases. The formation of proeutectoid Mg2Sn phases is also found to be effective for the refinement of solidification phases.

Effects of aqueous-phase speciation on Portland cement and supplementary cementitious materials as reflected using zeta potential of powder suspensions

The zeta-potential of cementitious powder suspension is significant for its cement hydration and highly depends on its soluble components. In this work, the suspension zeta-potentials of Portland cement (PC), ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF) were examined in pure-water (PW) and saturated calcium-hydroxide (CH) along with 0 ∼ 24 h. The corresponding ion-concentration was examined for analyzing its effects on zeta-potential. The results manifested that the inchoative-charges of PC, GGBS, FA and SF in PW respectively were +1.50 mV, −0.28 mV, +0.48 mV and −0.27 mV while the inchoative charge-reversal occurred when their powders were dispersed in CH. The ion-strength magnitude of PC, GGBS, FA and SF in PW and CH were both in the decreasing order of PC > FA > SF > GGBS, and CH solvent improved their ion-strengths. The Zeta-potential of PC suspension reduced with the increasing ion-strength while the relationships between Zeta-potential and ion-strength of SCMs increased first and then decreased with the threshold of approximately 40 mmol/L.

Abstract 2527: Ovarian cancer ascites display altered immune environment featured by enhanced soluble factors and suppressive cellular context

Abstract Background: Tumor microenvironment (TME) of epithelial ovarian cancer is unique among solid tumors as tumor cells create their "malignant ascites" TME. These ascites, acting as a complex mixture of soluble factors and cell components, are known to be rich in macrophages which were suggested to skew to a M2-like phenotype involved in resistance and metastases. However, while macrophages can adopt different phenotypes, it's now postulated that tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) from ovarian cancer patient ascites may even acquire mixed M1/M2 properties, providing a particular pro-inflammatory and tumor-promoting microenvironment. Characterization of cell composition along with the growth factors present in the microenvironment is thus crucial to understand ovarian cancer biology and more particularly the immunosuppressive pathways that would underlie the altered immune cell activity. Methods &amp; Results: Through flow cytometry-based marker expression analysis and quantitation of soluble mediators in ovarian cancer ascites, we investigated here the cell component nature as well as the presence of several growth factors. While these ascites were interestingly enriched in major "immunosuppressive" cell subsets including T and myeloid populations, TAM were intriguingly shown to display a mixed phenotype characterized by high expression of CD163, unrelated to M1/M2 categorization since also expressing Arg1, CD80, and iNOS markers. The immunosuppressive phenotype was also linked to IL6, LIF and IL10 among other factors present in the ascitic environment. In order to assess their role in the occurrence of such an immunosuppressive cell status, soluble mediators were then investigated on healthy monocytes undergoing M1 polarization. We demonstrated that, while LIF did not directly affect IL6 and IL10 levels released by the cells, interestingly IL6 alone or in co-presence with LIF decreased IL6 supernatant content, with respect to the control. These changes were concomitant with a decrease and increase in the expression of CD80 and CD163, respectively. Furthermore, CD14 and CD206 were found to increase in the presence of IL6+/-LIF. Conclusion: All these data highlight a switching activity of IL6 skewing cells from M1 polarization and resulting in a proper macrophage phenotype exhibiting a mixed M1/M2 status and would suggest these ascite-containing factors as keys conferring an immunosuppressive cell phenotype. Altogether, these translational findings highlight ovarian patient-derived ascites as a valuable tool to understand the mechanisms of suppression and to allow for the identification of novel markers to develop innovative targeted therapies. Citation Format: Imane Nafia, Assia Chaibi, Christophe Rey, Jean-Philippe Guegan, Alban Bessede, Coriolan Lebreton, Antoine Italiano. Ovarian cancer ascites display altered immune environment featured by enhanced soluble factors and suppressive cellular context [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 2527.

Dynamic Changes of Fruit Physiological Quality and Sugar Components during Fruit Growth and Development of Actinidia eriantha

‘Ganlv 1’ is a new cultivar of Actinidia eriantha selected from the wild natural population, which has the advantages of moderate taste, high yield, easy peeling and high ascorbic acid (AsA) content. In this study, ‘Ganlv 1’ was used to explore the changes in fruit quality, soluble sugar components, sucrose metabolism-related enzymes activities and sucrose metabolism-related enzyme genes’ expression during the fruit’s development. The results showed that, except for AsA, the changes in the fruit quality index and fruit growth and development during the development of ‘Ganlv 1’ basically exhibited the same trend. The fruit shape index was different in the different development stages of the fruit, and tended to be stable with fruit growth and development. The dynamic changes of the dry matter content indicated that the best time for fruit harvest was about 160 days after full bloom. The main sugar components in the fruit were fructose, glucose and sucrose, and sucrose and glucose were the main sugars in the soft-ripening stage. The trend of sucrose accumulation, the activities of the sucrose metabolism-related enzymes and the expression of the sucrose metabolism-related genes indicated that 130–145 days after full bloom (DAFB) might be the critical period of sucrose metabolism. The results are of great significance for clarifying the developmental characteristics and dynamic changes in the sugar components in A. eriantha fruits, and lay a foundation for further studying of the mechanism of sugar metabolism in A. eriantha.

Oxidation potential and coupling effects of the fractionated components in airborne fine particulate matter

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can induce the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and damage human tissues. Fully understanding the generation mechanism of oxidative toxicity of PM is challenging due to the extremely complex composition. Classification methods may be helpful in understanding the ROS production mechanisms of complex PM. This study used a solvent extraction and solid phase extraction methods to separate five different components from PM2.5 includes non-extractable components that have rarely been studied before, and discussed the coupling effect and heterogeneous characteristics of oxidation activity they produced. It is found that the water-soluble component contribute about half of the PM oxidation activity, and metal ions probably contribute most of the oxidation activity. Experimental results show that oxygen molecules is the main precursor of ROS production, which depends on whether the aerosol component has catalytic conversion ability. After mixing humic-like substance (HULIS) and hydrophilic water-soluble (HP-WSM) PM, the oxidation activity increased, it is most likely to be a synergistic effect between HULIS and metal ions is dominant, but limited contribution to oxidation activity. It turns out that the non-extractable and water-insoluble components have higher oxidation activity than the water-soluble components, and the two components exhibited a more durable ability to produce 1O2. The reaction of soluble components to produce ROS is homogeneous, but it is obviously heterogeneous for these insoluble components. This study suggests that future attention should be paid to the oxidative toxicity of the non-extractable component, and that single PM component or compound cannot simply be studied independently.

Inflammation-induced arterial dysfunction in atherosclerosis; the modulating action of mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – EU funding. Main funding source(s): CNCS-UEFISCDI Background Atherosclerosis is a progressive, chronic inflammatory disease of the large arteries caused by the constant accumulation of cholesterol, followed by endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation. We hypothesised that delivery of extracellular vesicles (EVs), recognized for their potential as therapeutic targets and tools, could restore vascular function in atherosclerosis. Purpose The goal was to evaluate vascular consequences of inflammation along with its key molecular and cellular players as intermediate endpoints for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and to explore ‘in vivo’ the potential beneficial effect of EVs from subcutaneous adipose tissue (EVs-ADSCs) or bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (EVs-MSCs). Methods Our experimental animal model of atherosclerosis (hypertensive-hyperlipidemic hamster-HH) was treated with EVs-ADSCs or EVs-MSCs transfected or not with Smad2/3siRNA. For comparison, healthy animals (control group) or HH group transfected with Smad2/3siRNA alone were used. Results The results showed that compared with the control group, HH group displayed: (1) a marked increase of plasmatic parameter levels (cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides); (2) an amplification of expression of inflammatory markers with role in vascular dysfunction (COL1A, α-SMA, Cx43, VCAM-1, MMP-2); (3) a massive infiltration of total/M1 macrophages and T-cells into thoracic aorta and carotid artery; (4) an increased level of cytosolic ROS production; (5) a significant increase in plasma concentration of TGF-β1 and Ang II proteins; (6) significant structural (thickening of the arterial wall and reduction of the inner diameter) and functional changes (reduced distensibility, increased pulse wave velocity and velocity time integral, and diminished contractile responses to noradrenaline (NA) and reduced relaxation to acetylcholine (ACh)) in both thoracic aorta and carotid artery; (7) an altered protein expression profile (Smad2/3, ATF-2, NF-kBp50/p65) and a significant increase in the expression level of the miRNA panel (miR21, miR-29a, miR-192, miR-200b, miR-210, miR-146a) associated with inflammation-induced endothelial dysfunction. In addition, by comparison with the HH group, all treatment groups showed a significant decrease in the levels of plasma parameters, but also a noticeable improvement in the structure and function of the investigated blood vessels along with a decrease in the key molecules that modulate the inflammatory response through soluble mediators and cellular components. Conclusion We can conclude that the administration for 4 months of atherogenic diet activated key regulatory molecules in the atherosclerotic process, respectively TGF-β1, Ang II and ROS, modulating main orchestrators of inflammation-mediated atherosclerotic CVD progression. Also, EV-based treatment of inflammation, especially the EV-ADSC-based one, led to regression of arterial dysfunction and its key molecular players.

Profiling seed soluble sugar compositions in 1164 Chinese soybean accessions from major growing ecoregions

Soluble sugar is a key quality trait of soybean seeds. We developed rapid and economic extraction and quantification methods for seed soluble sugars using an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography system with a refractive index detector. We evaluated the soluble sugar compositions of 1164 soybean accessions collected from diverse ecoregions and grown in multiple locations and years. Total soluble sugar (TSS) content was influenced by accession type, year of cultivation, and ecoregion. The mean contents of fructose, glucose, sucrose, raffinose, stachyose and TSS were 3.31, 5.21, 55.60, 6.60, 35.47, and 106.19 mg g−1, respectively. The highest mean TSS content (108.71 mg g−1) was observed in accessions from Northern Region of China. Cultivars contained higher contents of sucrose, raffinose, and TSS, whereas landraces had a higher content of stachyose. Fourteen accessions with mean TSS contents >130 mg g−1 were identified as elite soybean resources. TSS was correlated with sucrose, raffinose, stachyose, protein, oil and total tocopherol. The main soluble sugar components were correlated with latitude and longitude, indicating that the geographical origin of the accessions affected their seed soluble sugar compositions. The developed methods and elite identified accessions can be used in the food and feed industry and in soybean breeding programs aimed at improving soybean seed nutrition.

Rain events at maturity severely impact the seed quality of psyllium (Plantago ovata Forssk.)

AbstractPlantago ovata Forssk. is an emerging crop yielding psyllium husk, a material comprised of hydrophilic polysaccharides that form mucilage upon wetting. Psyllium husk has important industrial uses including as a dietary fibre supplement and a textural alternative in gluten‐free bread production. Industrial applications require high‐quality and purity psyllium husk, but consistent supply of uniform quality material is often limited by climatic constraints, especially unseasonable rainfall at crop maturity. Here we compared the seed quality of four P. ovata varieties harvested before and after 26 mm of rain and validated our key findings in the following season. Colourimetry showed that the rain event caused the seeds to be darker and greener, possibly from pigment oxidation and microbial growth. Sugar profiling, water absorption assays and microscopy showed that premature hydration of the husk in rain‐damaged samples caused loss of the most soluble mucilage components and an increase in non‐mucilage contaminants, leading to a reduction in seed water absorption capacity, which is a key indicator of psyllium husk functionality. Germination was also diminished in rain‐affected seeds. In this study we show for the first time the extent that unseasonable rain at maturity has on P. ovata seed quality. We suggest that rain‐damaged seeds are unsuitable for husk production and resowing and outline potential screening methods to identify rain‐damaged seeds before purchase. Additionally, the extensive quality impacts described here may make P. ovata a suitable model or indicator species for studying acute climate effects on seed quality, especially from rain.

Influences of granule properties on the performance of autotrophic nitrogen removal granular reactor: A model-based evaluation

This work studied the impacts of key granule properties on the granular reactor performing partial nitritation/anammox from the modeling perspective. The results could guide not only future reliable modeling but also practical startup/operation of the reactor. To achieve high total nitrogen (TN) removal whilst avoiding significant N2O production, inoculated granules should be big and anammox-enriched. The optimum boundary layer thickness for maximum TN removal increased with the decreasing diffusivity of soluble components in the granule structure. Even though a thick boundary layer could protect anammox bacteria from elevated dissolved oxygen (DO) (e.g., 0.5 g-O2/m3) and obtain high TN removal (>90.0%) and low N2O production (<1.8%), even complete removal of the boundary layer would fail to provide sufficient substrate for anammox and therefore couldn’t increase TN removal to 90.0% and decrease N2O production to <2.4% at insufficient DO (e.g., 0.3 g-O2/m3 in the presence of lifted influent NH4+ concentration).

Comparative transcriptomic analysis of the super hybrid rice Chaoyouqianhao under salt stress

BackgroundSoil salinization is a threat to food security. China is rich in saline land resources for potential and current utilization. The cultivation and promotion of salt-tolerant rice varieties can greatly improve the utilization of this saline land. The super hybrid rice Chaoyouqianhao (CY1000) is one of the most salt-tolerant rice varieties and is widely used, but the molecular mechanism underlying its salt tolerance is not clear.ResultsIn this study, the characteristics of CY1000 and its parents were evaluated in the field and laboratory. The results showed that aboveground parts of CY1000 were barely influenced by salt stress, while the roots were less affected than those of its parents. A comparative transcriptomic strategy was used to analyze the differences in the response to salt stress among the male and female parents of CY1000 at the seedling stage and the model indica rice 93–11. We found that the salt tolerance of CY1000 was mainly inherited from its male parent R900, and its female parent GX24S showed hardly any salt tolerance. To adapt to salt stress, CY1000 and R900 upregulated the expression of genes associated with soluble component synthesis and cell wall synthesis and other related genes and downregulated the expression of most genes related to growth material acquisition and consumption. In CY1000 and R900, the expression of genes encoding some novel key proteins in the ubiquitination pathway was significantly upregulated. After treatment with MG-132, the salt tolerance of CY1000 and R900 was significantly decreased and was almost the same as that of the wild type after salt stress treatment, indicating that ubiquitination played an important role in the salt tolerance mechanism of CY1000. At the same time, we found that some transcription factors were also involved in the salt stress response, with some transcription factors responding only in hybrid CY1000, suggesting that salt tolerance heterosis might be regulated by transcription factors in rice.ConclusionOur results revealed that the ubiquitination pathway is important for salt tolerance in rice, and several novel candidate genes were identified to reveal a novel salt tolerance regulation network. Additionally, our work will help clarify the mechanism of heterosis in rice. Further exploration of the molecular mechanism underlying the salt tolerance of CY1000 can provide a theoretical basis for breeding new salt-tolerant rice varieties.

Phytotoxicity and Accumulation of Copper-Based Nanoparticles in Brassica under Cadmium Stress.

The widespread use of copper-based nanoparticles expands the possibility that they enter the soil combined with heavy metals, having a toxic effect and posing a threat to the safety of vegetables. In this study, single and combined treatments of 2 mg/L Cd, 20 mg/L Cu NPs and 20 mg/L CuO NPs were added into Hoagland nutrient solution by hydroponics experiments. The experimental results show that copper-based Nanoparticles (NPs) can increase the photosynthetic rate of plants and increase the biomass of Brassica. Cu NPs treatment increased the Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activities of Brassica, and both NPs inhibited ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity. We observed that Cd + Cu NPs exhibited antagonistic effects on Cd accumulation, inhibiting it by 12.6% in leaf and 38.6% in root, while Cd + CuO NPs increased Cd uptake by 73.1% in leaves and 22.5% in roots of Brassica. The Cu content in the shoots was significantly negatively correlated with Cd uptake. The Cd content of each component in plant subcellular is soluble component > cytoplasm > cell wall. Cu NPs + Cd inhibited the uptake of Zn, Ca, Fe, Mg, K and Mn elements, while CuO NPs + Cd promoted the uptake of Mn and Na elements. The results show that copper-based nanoparticles can increase the oxidative damage of plants under cadmium stress and reduce the nutritional value of plants.

Sol-Gel ceramic glazes with photocatalytic activity

A frit is a glassy ceramic composition that has been fused, quenched, and granulated. A single frit or a mixture of frits and ceramic materials forms a ceramic glaze. The purpose of this pre-fusion is to render any soluble and/or toxic components insoluble by rendering it inert in a glassy composition with silica and other added oxides. The ceramic glaze dispersed in water (ceramic slip) is deposited on a ceramic body and fired for waterproofing and aesthetic purposes. Multicomponent frits (zinc-potassium borosilicate system) with similar behavior to conventional ceramic frits for single-firing ceramic glazes (“monoporosa” glazes fired at 1080 °C) were prepared by Sol-Gel methods (monophasic and polyphasic gels) avoiding the pre-fusion and characterized as photocatalytic agents (showing high degradation activity on Orange II). The effect of doping with bandgap modifiers (V2O5, Sb2O5 and SnO2) and also with devitrification agents (ZrO2 to crystallize zircon, Al2O3 to anorthite, Mo2O3 to powellite and ZnO to gahnite ZnAl2O4) were analyzed.Multicomponent frits (zinc-potassium borosilicate system) with similar behavior to conventional ceramic frits for single-firing glazes (1080 °C) prepared by Sol-Gel methods (monophasic and polyphasic gels), without pre-fusion, shows photocatalytic activity.

Investigation on the erosion mechanism of simulated salt conditions on bitumen

Bitumen, a widely used adhesive material in the construction of asphalt pavement, can be eroded by the aqueous solution present in the service environment. In addition, different solutes are present in the aqueous solution under different service environments, which influences the erosion of bitumen. Hence, the erosion mechanism of bitumen under various salt erosion conditions (de-icing brine solution, sea fog, seawater, saline-alkali solution) was investigated in this paper. Several solutes (NaCl, Na2SO4, Na2CO3, and NaHCO3), which are most commonly presented in various salt erosion conditions, were utilized to prepare the simulated salt conditions. Virgin bitumen was immersed in salt solutions. Furthermore, virgin bitumen without immersion and immersed in deionized (DI) water used as control groups. After the immersion, the residual solution and treated bitumen were analyzed. The residual solution was characterized through pH value and total organic carbon (TOC) tests. The morphology, functional groups, molecular weight, rheological properties, and surface free energy of bitumen treated by various erosion conditions were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), and contact angle tests. The results indicated that erosion of bitumen is accelerated under salt erosion conditions. The characteristics of bitumen after erosion are manifested as: accelerated dissolution of soluble components in bitumen, accelerated aging of bitumen, increased composite modulus and viscosity of bitumen, increased polar components and surface free energy of bitumen. The severity of salt erosion conditions on the characteristics of bitumen decreased as follows: Na2CO3 > NaHCO3 > Na2SO4 > NaCl > H2O. The newly proposed mechanism of salt erosion consists of migration, dissolution, penetration, and reaction.

New Insights into the Chemical Composition of Ayahuasca.

Ayahuasca is a psychedelic beverage originally from the Amazon rainforest used in different shamanic settings for medicinal, spiritual, and cultural purposes. It is prepared by boiling in water an admixture of the Amazonian vine Banisteriopsis caapi, which is a source of β-carboline alkaloids, with plants containing N,N-dimethyltryptamine, usually Psychotria viridis. While previous studies have focused on the detection and quantification of the alkaloids present in the drink, less attention has been given to other nonalkaloid components or the composition of the solids suspended in the beverage, which may also affect its psychoactive properties. In this study, we used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to study the composition of ayahuasca samples, to determine their alkaloid qualitative and quantitative profiles, as well as other major soluble and nonsoluble components. For the first time, fructose was detected as a major component of the samples, while harmine (a β-carboline previously described as an abundant alkaloid in ayahuasca) was found to be present in the solids suspended in the beverage. In addition, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), harmine, tetrahydroharmine, harmaline, and harmol were identified as the major alkaloids present in extracts of all samples. Finally, a novel, easy, and fast method using quantitative NMR was developed and validated to simultaneously quantify the content of these alkaloids found in each ayahuasca sample.

Immune correlates of clinical parameters in patients with HPV-associated malignancies treated with bintrafusp alfa

PurposeBintrafusp alfa is a bifunctional agent consisting of an anti-human PD-L1 antibody linked to two TGFβRII. It is designed to act both as a checkpoint inhibitor and to ‘trap’ TGFβ...

Combinatorial Power of cfDNA, CTCs and EVs in Oncology.

Liquid biopsy is a promising technique for clinical management of oncological patients. The diversity of analytes circulating in the blood useable for liquid biopsy testing is enormous. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and extracellular vesicles (EVs), as well as blood cells and other soluble components in the plasma, were shown as liquid biopsy analytes. A few studies directly comparing two liquid biopsy analytes showed a benefit of one analyte over the other, while most authors concluded the benefit of the additional analyte. Only three years ago, the first studies to examine the value of a characterization of more than two liquid biopsy analytes from the same sample were conducted. We attempt to reflect on the recent development of multimodal liquid biopsy testing in this review. Although the analytes and clinical purposes of the published multimodal studies differed significantly, the additive value of the analytes was concluded in almost all projects. Thus, the blood components, as liquid biopsy reservoirs, are complementary rather than competitive, and orthogonal data sets were even shown to harbor synergistic effects. The unmistakable potential of multimodal liquid biopsy testing, however, is dampened by its clinical utility, which is yet to be proven, the lack of methodical standardization and insufficiently mature reimbursement, logistics and data handling.

Experimental Study for The Effect of Changing Flow on Absorption in Wetted Wall Column.

Gas absorption is the unit operation in which one or more soluble components of gas mixture are dissolved in a liquid. The absorption may be a purely physical phenomenon or may involve chemical reaction with one or more constituents in the liquid solution. In order to obtain the highest rate of absorption, gas and liquid streams flow in opposite directions in counter-current flow. The unit in this work has been designed to help grasp the basic principles of the chemical and physical aspects involved in absorption. This study unit is made of borosilicate transparent glass in order to show the water spread in the column and get the visual distribution of fluids behavior which helps to fully understand the phenomenon. In this work, the wetted wall column is used to determine gas/liquid mass transfer coefficients, which is essential to design absorption towers. This study investigates the absorption of oxygen from air into deoxygenated water (prepared by nitrogen sparing) in liquid film controlled absorption experiment. The liquid film mass transfer coefficient is calculated at various mass flow rates of water and air. This work also studies the effect of water flow and air flow on oxygen concentration in the oxygenation and de-oxygenation process so affect on absorption process .

Experimental Study for The Effect of Changing Flow on Absorption in Wetted Wall Column.

Gas absorption is the unit operation in which one or more soluble components of gas mixture are dissolved in a liquid. The absorption may be a purely physical phenomenon or may involve chemical reaction with one or more constituents in the liquid solution. In order to obtain the highest rate of absorption, gas and liquid streams flow in opposite directions in counter-current flow. The unit in this work has been designed to help grasp the basic principles of the chemical and physical aspects involved in absorption. This study unit is made of borosilicate transparent glass in order to show the water spread in the column and get the visual distribution of fluids behavior which helps to fully understand the phenomenon. In this work, the wetted wall column is used to determine gas/liquid mass transfer coefficients, which is essential to design absorption towers. This study investigates the absorption of oxygen from air into deoxygenated water (prepared by nitrogen sparing) in liquid film controlled absorption experiment. The liquid film mass transfer coefficient is calculated at various mass flow rates of water and air. This work also studies the effect of water flow and air flow on oxygen concentration in the oxygenation and de-oxygenation process so affect on absorption process .