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Aging is a process that represents the accumulation of changes in organism overtime. In biological level, accumulations of molecular and cellular damage in aging lead to an increasing risk of diseases like sarcopenia. Sarcopenia reduces mobility, leads to fall‐related injuries, and diminishes life quality. Thus, it is meaningful to find out novel therapeutic strategies for sarcopenia intervention that may help the elderly maintain their functional ability. Oxidative damage‐induced dysfunctional mitochondria are considered as a culprit of muscle wasting during aging. Herein, we aimed to demonstrate whether myricanol (MY) protects aged mice against muscle wasting through alleviating oxidative damage in mitochondria and identify the direct protein target and its underlying mechanism. We discovered that MY protects aged mice against the loss of muscle mass and strength through scavenging reactive oxygen species accumulation to rebuild the redox homeostasis. Taking advantage of biophysical assays, peroxiredoxin 5 was discovered and validated as the direct target of MY. Through activating peroxiredoxin 5, MY reduced reactive oxygen species accumulation and damaged mitochondrial DNA in C2C12 myotubes. Our findings provide an insight for therapy against sarcopenia through alleviating oxidative damage‐induced dysfunctional mitochondria by targeting peroxiredoxin 5, which may contribute an insight for healthy aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria continues to pose a serious global health threat, and artemisinin remains the core drug for global malaria control. However, the situation of malaria resistance has become increasingly severe due to the emergence and spread of artemisinin resistance. In recent years, significant progress has been made in understanding the mechanism of action (MoA) of artemisinin. Prior research on the MoA of artemisinin mainly focused on covalently bound targets that are alkylated by artemisinin‐free radicals. However, less attention has been given to the reversible noncovalent binding targets, and there is a paucity of information regarding artemisinin targets at different life cycle stages of the parasite. In this study, we identified the protein targets of artemisinin at different stages of the parasite's intraerythrocytic developmental cycle using a photoaffinity probe. Our findings demonstrate that artemisinin interacts with parasite proteins in vivo through both covalent and noncovalent modes. Extensive mechanistic studies were then conducted by integrating target validation, phenotypic studies, and untargeted metabolomics. The results suggest that protein synthesis, glycolysis, and oxidative homeostasis are critically involved in the antimalarial activities of artemisinin. In summary, this study provides fresh insights into the mechanisms underlying artemisinin's antimalarial effects and its protein targets. Highlights: We identified the targets of artemisinin at different stages of the intraerythrocytic cycle of Plasmodium falciparum using a photoaffinity probe of artemisinin.Artemisinin can interact with parasite proteins in vivo through both covalent and noncovalent mechanisms.Artemisinin may exert its antimalarial effects by interfering with the parasite's protein synthesis, glycolysis, and oxidative homeostasis pathways.This study provides fresh insights into the mechanisms underlying artemisinin's antimalarial effects and its protein targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkaloids represent a large family of natural products with diverse structures and bioactivities. These compounds and their derivatives have been widely used in clinics to treat various diseases. The endophytic Aspergillus is a filamentous fungus renowned for its extraordinary ability to produce active natural products of high therapeutic value and economic importance. This review is the first to focus on Aspergillus-derived alkaloids. Through an extensive literature review and data analysis, 263 alkaloids are categorized according to their structural features into those containing cytochalasans, diketopiperazine alkaloids, quinazoline alkaloids, quinoline alkaloids, indole alkaloids, pyrrolidine alkaloids, and others. These metabolites exhibited diverse biological activities, such as antibacterial activity, cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory activity, and α-glucosidase, ACE, and DPPH inhibitory activities. The bioactivity, structural diversity, and occurrence of these alkaloids are reviewed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the flexible photovoltaic (PV) industry, increment of the metal‐organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) deposition zone is crucial to reducing the cost of ownership and increasing the power conversion efficiency (PCE). This implies that the larger closed coupled showerhead (CCS) of MOCVD system should be used in the manufacture of flexible gallium arsenide (GaAs) PV thin‐film solar cells. Currently, Aixtron Crius II is the largest commercial CCS reactor for GaAs deposition with 55 × 2 inches circular wafers. As the size of the carrier and showerhead increases, the deposition uniformity and gas flow stability become more difficult to control. To address these issues, previous studies have investigated the effects of geometric and process parameters of MOCVD on the vertical process gas inlet, with either a rotating carrier model represented by Veeco using high‐speed rotating carrier (Turbo Disc), and Aixtron using low‐speed rotating planetary carrier, or a horizontal process gas injector with a rotating carrier. However, these efforts have limited further capacity scale‐up. In this study, numerical simulations and fluid visualization experiments are conducted, based on previous research on thermal uniformity, for design optimization of a gas distribution system in a large square GaAs‐MOCVD reactor. The achieved reactor capacity is 36 × 4 inches square wafers in one process cycle, and the optimal average deposition rate and deposition uniformity of GaAs film are ≈0.430 µm min−1 and 0.93%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]