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In Chinese dairy products, various saccharides including sugar substitutes are often added to modified milk or milk beverages to enhance flavor or increase benefits. That might result in the formation of furfural compounds due to the Maillard reaction between reducing sugars and proteins during heat treatment of milk. The contents of furfural compounds in dairy products vary depending on the type and proportion of sugars added, as well as the strength of heat treatment. Three monosaccharides, four disaccharides and two polysaccharides were selected to study the influences of saccharides on furfurals in modified milk. Kinetics parameters for the formation of furfural compounds were also studied under pilot processing conditions. The contents of furfurals in milk increased with the addition of monosaccharide, in the following order (from high to low) of type: fructose > galactose > glucose, and increased with the decrease in the polymerization degree of the added saccharides. The resulted prediction equations could be used to estimate the contents of furfurals in modified milk added with glucose, maltose or glucan after heat treatment at 115 °C–135 °C. This paper could provide a reference for the prediction and control of furfurals when applying saccharides in the dairy industry. • Furfural compounds in modified milk added with various saccharides were studied. • The influences of saccharide type, addition ratio and heat processing were studied. • Contents of furfurals in modified milk could be estimated by prediction equations. • It may be helpful for control of furfurals in modified milk added with saccharides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophage receptor with collagenous structure (MARCO) is a member of the class A scavenger receptor family which is expressed on the cell surface of macrophages. It is well known that MARCO avidly binds to unopsonized pathogens, leading to its ingestion by macrophages. However, the role of MARCO in the recognition and phagocytosis of tumor cells by macrophages remains poorly understood. In this study, we used lentiviral technology to knockdown and overexpress MARCO and investigated the ability of macrophages to phagocytose tumor cells. Our results showed that MARCO expression was correlated with the ability of macrophages to carry on phagocytosis. MARCO knockdown led to significant decreases in the number of engulfment pseudopodia of macrophages and inhibition of the phagocytosis of tumor cells. On the other hand, MARCO overexpression elevated activity of SYK, PI3K and Rac1 in macrophages, which led to changes in macrophage morphology and enhanced phagocytosis by promoting formation of stress fibers and pseudopodia. By Co-IP analysis we showed that MARCO directly binds to the β5 integrin of SL4 tumor cells. In summary, these results demonstrated the important role for MARCO in demonstrated tumor cells uptake and clearance by macrophages. • The MARCO receptor on macrophages was positively correlated with the ability to phagocyte tumor cells. • Macrophage MARCO affects cytoskeleton rearrangement and pseudopodia formation through the SYK-PI3K-Rac1 pathway. • Integrin is the ligand of MARCO on the tumor cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]