Novel role of COX6c in the regulation of oxidative phosphorylation and diseases

Lamb Performance and Meat Quality: The Impact of Chromium in High-Concentrate Diets and Its Molecular Effects on Skeletal Muscle During Finishing Phase

Chromium is an essential trace mineral in insulin-mediated glucose metabolism, potentially affecting protein synthesis and improving performance and meat quality. This study aimed to assess the impact of chromium on performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, and the gene expression in the skeletal muscle of lambs fed a high-concentrate diet. Sixteen just just-weaned Dorper × Santa Inês crossbred lambs, weighing 24.95 ± 1.97 kg, were allocated into a control group, a basal diet without chromium in the diet supplementation (CTL) or chromium supplementation (Cr3.0), with the addition of 3.0 mg of chromium per kg of dry matter (Cr3.0DM). The animals were housed in individual pens and fed a diet comprising 6% forage and 94% concentrate for 60 days. We evaluated average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI), feed efficiency (FE), carcass characteristics, meat quality, and muscle transcriptome. Chromium supplementation increased ADG (P = 0.048) and tended to improve FE (P = 0.08). Further, chromium supplementation increased kidney, pelvic, and heart fat (P ≤ 0.05). In meat, a reduction in cooking losses and an increase in shear force were observed in the meat of lambs treated with chromium-treated lambs (P ≤ 0.05). Transcriptome analysis revealed 21 differentially expressed genes, with 9 downregulated genes, including COX6C, TMED5, ODC1, HNRNPA1, and 12 upregulated genes, such as RPL39, RPL35A, RPS25, NSA2, RRM2, GCNT1, associated with pathways of ribosome biogenesis, protein synthesis, collagen remodeling, and fat metabolism. In conclusion, dietary chromium supplementation at 3.0 mg/kg DM can improve performance and efficiency without affecting carcass characteristics. In meat, chromium reduced cooking losses, potentially increasing its juiciness, but reduced its juiciness-related tenderness, negatively impacting the tenderness of the meat.

Role of COX6C and NDUFB3 in septic shock and stroke

Background

Septic shock is a clinical syndrome characterized by acute circulatory disturbance. Stroke is an acute cerebrovascular disease caused by brain tissue damage. However, the relationship of COX6C and NDUFB3 to them is unclear.

Method

The stroke dataset GSE58294 and the septic shock dataset GSE15491 were downloaded from the gene expression omnibus database. Screening of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), weighted gene co-expression network analysis, construction and analysis of protein-protein interaction network, functional enrichment analysis, gene set enrichment analysis, immune infiltration analysis, and comparative toxicogenomics database (CTD) analysis were performed. Gene expression heat map was drawn. TargetScan screened miRNAs regulating central DEGs.

Results

A total of 664 DEGs were obtained. Gene ontology analysis showed that they were mainly enriched in leukocyte activation, intracellular vesicle, neutrophil activation, and cytokine receptor activity. According to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis, they are mainly enriched in metabolic pathways, phagosomes, and Staphylococcus aureus infection. Core genes (UQCRQ, USMG5 [ATP5MD], COX6C, NDUFB3, ATP5L [ATP5MG], COX7C, NDUFA1, NDUFA4) were highly expressed in septic shock and stroke samples. CTD analysis found that eight core genes are associated with liver enlargement, inflammation, proliferation, fibrosis, and necrosis.

Conclusion

COX6C and NDUFB3 genes are highly expressed in septic shock and stroke. The higher the COX6C and NDUFB3 genes, the worse the prognosis.

TMT-based proteomics reveals methylprotodioscin alleviates oxidative stress and inflammation via COX6C in myocardial infraction

The effect of methylprotodioscin (MPD), a steroidal saponin obtained from medicinal plants, on myocardial infarction (MI) remains elusive. In this study, HL-1 and AC16 cells were subjected to injury induced by hypoxic environment, and a mouse model of MI was established by ligating the left anterior descending. MPD significantly increased viabilities and proliferations, improved the stability of MMP, reduced ROS and inflammatory factor levels in hypoxia cardiomyocytes. Moreover, MPD significantly improved cardiac functions, increased the ventricular ejection fraction and short axis shortening rate of mice with MI, reduced the infarction area, alleviated oxidative stress and increased ATPase activities. Then, differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were discovered and evaluated using tandem mass tag (TMT)-based proteomics and bioinformatics approaches. Compared with sham group, there were 420 DEPs in the cardiac tissue of MI group, likewise, 163 DEPs in MPD group were identified compared to MI group. By validating, the expression of COX6C was elevated in MI group and declined in MPD groups, consistent with the TMT-based proteomics results. Correspondingly, p-NF-κB expression was downregulated, while Nrf2 and SOD expressions were upregulated by MPD. Moreover, si-COX6C transfection blocked the regulatory effects of MPD on COX6C-mediated inflammation and oxidative stress in MI. Our findings indicate that MPD, a naturally occurring active ingredient, could effectively improve cardiac function. Its ability may result from regulating COX6C to reduce oxidative stress and suppress inflammation, suggesting that MPD is very attractive for the treatment of MI.

Integrated multi-omics approaches reveal the neurotoxicity of triclocarban in mouse brain

Triclocarban (TCC) is an antimicrobial ingredient that commonly incorporated in many household and personal care products, raising public concerns about its potential health risks. Previous research has showed that TCC could cross the blood-brain barrier, but to date our understanding of its potential neurotoxicity at human-relevant concentrations remains lacking. In this study, we observed anxiety-like behaviors in mice with continuous percutaneous exposure to TCC. Subsequently, we combined lipidomic, proteomic, and metabolic landscapes to investigate the underlying mechanisms of TCC-related neurotoxicity. The results showed that TCC exposure dysregulated the proteins involved in endocytosis and neurodegenerative disorders in mouse cerebrum. Brain energy homeostasis was also altered, as evidenced by the perturbation of pyruvate metabolism, TCA cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation, which in turn caused mitochondrial dysfunction. Meanwhile, the changing trends of sphingolipid signaling pathway and overproduction of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS) could enhance the neural apoptosis. The in vitro approach further demonstrated that TCC exposure promoted apoptosis, accompanied by the overproduction of mROS and alteration in the mitochondrial membrane potential in N2A cells. Together, dysregulated endocytosis, mROS-related mitochondrial dysfunction and neural cell apoptosis are considered to be crucial factors for TCC-induced neurotoxicity, which may contribute to the occurrence and development of neurodegenerative disorders. Our findings provide novel perspectives for the mechanisms of TCC-triggered neurotoxicity.

iIMPACT: integrating image and molecular profiles for spatial transcriptomics analysis

Current clustering analysis of spatial transcriptomics data primarily relies on molecular information and fails to fully exploit the morphological features present in histology images, leading to compromised accuracy and interpretability. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a multi-stage statistical method called iIMPACT. It identifies and defines histology-based spatial domains based on AI-reconstructed histology images and spatial context of gene expression measurements, and detects domain-specific differentially expressed genes. Through multiple case studies, we demonstrate iIMPACT outperforms existing methods in accuracy and interpretability and provides insights into the cellular spatial organization and landscape of functional genes within spatial transcriptomics data.

Proteomics revealed composition- and size-related regulators for hepatic impairments induced by silica nanoparticles

Along with the growing production and application of silica nanoparticles (SiNPs), increased human exposure and ensuing safety evaluation have progressively attracted concern. Accumulative data evidenced the hepatic injuries upon SiNPs inhalation. Still, the understanding of the hepatic outcomes resulting from SiNPs exposure, and underlying mechanisms are incompletely elucidated. Here, SiNPs of two sizes (60 nm and 300 nm) were applied to investigate their composition- and size-related impacts on livers of ApoE-/- mice via intratracheal instillation. Histopathological and biochemical analysis indicated SiNPs promoted inflammation, lipid deposition and fibrosis in the hepatic tissue, accompanied by increased ALT, AST, TC and TG. Oxidative stress was activated upon SiNPs stimuli, as evidenced by the increased hepatic ROS, MDA and declined GSH/GSSG. Of note, these alterations were more dramatic in SiNPs with a smaller size (SiNPs-60) but the same dosage. LC-MS/MS-based quantitative proteomics unveiled changes in mice liver protein profiles, and filtered out particle composition- or size-related molecules. Interestingly, altered lipid metabolism and oxidative damage served as two critical biological processes. In accordance with correlation analysis and liver disease-targeting prediction, a final of 10 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were selected as key potential targets attributable to composition- (4 molecules) and size-related (6 molecules) liver impairments upon SiNPs stimuli. Overall, our study provided strong laboratory evidence for a comprehensive understanding of the harmful biological effects of SiNPs, which was crucial for toxicological evaluation to ensure nanosafety.

Effect of the ROCK inhibitor fasudil on the brain proteomic profile in the tau transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Introduction

The goal of this study is to explore the pharmacological potential of the amyloid-reducing vasodilator fasudil, a selective Ras homolog (Rho)-associated kinases (ROCK) inhibitor, in the P301S tau transgenic mouse model (Line PS19) of neurodegenerative tauopathy and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods

We used LC-MS/MS, ELISA and bioinformatic approaches to investigate the effect of treatment with fasudil on the brain proteomic profile in PS19 tau transgenic mice. We also explored the efficacy of fasudil in reducing tau phosphorylation, and the potential beneficial and/or toxic effects of its administration in mice.

Results

Proteomic profiling of mice brains exposed to fasudil revealed the activation of the mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and blood-brain barrier (BBB) gap junction metabolic pathways. We also observed a significant negative correlation between the brain levels of phosphorylated tau (pTau) at residue 396 and both fasudil and its metabolite hydroxyfasudil.

Conclusions

Our results provide evidence on the activation of proteins and pathways related to mitochondria and BBB functions by fasudil treatment and support its further development and therapeutic potential for AD.

Proteomic Analysis of Frozen-Thawed Spermatozoa with Different Levels of Freezability in Dairy Goats

The results of artificial insemination (AI) are adversely affected by changes in sperm motility and function throughout the cryopreservation procedure. The proteome alterations of frozen-thawed spermatozoa with various levels of freezability in dairy goats, however, remain largely unknown. To discover differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) and their roles in dairy goat sperm with high or low freezability (HF or LF), we conducted 4D-DIA quantitative proteomics analysis, the results of which are presented in this work. Additionally, we explored the underlying processes that may lead to the variations in sperm freezing resistance. A total of 263 DEPs (Fold Change > 2.0, p-value < 0.05) were identified between the HF group and LF group in frozen-thawed dairy goat spermatozoa. In our Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, the DEPs were mostly associated with the regulation of biological processes, metabolic processes, and responses to stress and cellular component biogenesis. Our Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis also revealed that the DEPs were predominantly engaged in oxidative phosphorylation, N-Glycan biosythesis, and cysteine and methionien metabolism. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis revealed 14 potential proteins (NUDFB8, SDHC, PDIA4, HSPB1, etc.) that might influence the freezability of dairy goat sperm. These findings shed light on the processes underlying alterations in the proteome and sperm freezability, aiding further research on sperm cryopreservation.

Investigating the fate and toxicity of green synthesized gold nanoparticles in albino mice

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to investigate the acute and chronic adverse effects of ∼50 nm (nanometer) gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) synthesized using Ziziphus zizyphus leaf extract in mice.

SIGNIFICANCE

AuNPs have shown promise for medical applications, but their safety and biocompatibility need to be addressed. Understanding the potential adverse effects of AuNPs is crucial to ensure their safe use in medical applications.

METHODS

The ∼50 nm AuNPs were synthesized using Ziziphus zizyphus leaf extract and characterized using scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and zeta potential analysis. Mice were subjected to a single intraperitoneal injection of AuNPs at a dose of 1 g/mg (grams per milligram) or a daily dose of 1 mg/kg for 28 days. Various parameters, including gold bioaccumulation, survival, behavior, body weight, and blood glucose levels, were measured. Histopathological changes and organ indices were assessed.

RESULTS

Gold levels in the blood and heart did not significantly increase with daily administration of AuNPs. However, there were proportional increases in gold content observed in the liver, spleen, and kidney, indicating effective tissue uptake. Histopathological alterations were predominantly observed in the kidney, suggesting potential tissue injury.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study indicate that ∼50 nm AuNPs synthesized using Z. zizyphus leaf extract can induce adverse effects, particularly in the kidney, in mice. These results highlight the importance of addressing safety concerns when using AuNPs in medical applications. Further investigations that encompass a comprehensive set of toxicological parameters are necessary to confirm the long-term adverse effects of AuNP exposure.