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Food-derived angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory peptide (ACEIP) has an effect in supportive therapeutic on hypertension. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model transporter protein to explore the interaction mechanisms with casein-hydrolyzed ACEIP Val-Ala-Pro (VAP) by multi-spectroscopic, biolayer interferometry (BLI), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulations. Multi-spectroscopic analysis showed that the non-covalent complexes formed by VAP and BSA resulted in decreased hydrophobicity and α-helix contents on BSA, revealing the unfolding of the BSA structure. BLI revealed the reversible binding process of BSA to VAP. ITC confirmed that the combination of VAP to BSA was a spontaneous process mainly driven by entropy. Molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations showed that VAP was primarily bound in site II of BSA by hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, van der Waals force, and electrostatic force. This study provides a systematic method to reveal the structure-activity relationship of ACEIPs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the impact of using orthokeratology lenses (OK lenses) for one year on the axial length (AL) and choroidal thickness (ChT) in the 6 mm concentric central retinal region., Methods: 36 myopic children (36 eyes) aged 8 to 16 years were enrolled. For the duration of one year, the OK group (18 subjects) utilized OK lenses, while the spectacles group (18 subjects) utilized single-vision spectacles as a control. Only their right eyes were used for analysis. ChT in nine regions of the retina was evaluated using optical coherence tomography. AL and other ocular parameters were measured using optical biometry. The measurements were obtained at baseline, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months., Results: After 12 months of treatment, the OK group showed a reduced rate of AL elongation. The first interval (baseline to 3 months) saw the most notable alteration (p < 0.0001). ChT increased in most regions after wearing OK lenses, except for the nasal retinal region. However, the alteration in nasal ChT exhibited the strongest association with the alteration in AL., Conclusion: The efficacy of myopia control with OK lenses is most pronounced during the initial months of wear. Alterations in the thickness of the nasal choroidal region may correlate with the elongation of the AL, implying its potential role as a biomarker for assessing the efficacy of OK lenses in myopia control., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: With the rapid development of industrialization, the excessive emission of S 2- have become increasingly serious, leading to a surge in the content of S 2- in nature. Rapid and accurate detection of S 2- contamination in natural adaptogens is crucial for food safety. Annually, discarded eggshell waste, rich in organic and inorganic materials, poses environmental risks if landfilled. Utilizing waste eggshell membrane biomass for S 2- detection is cost-effective, yet designing biochar materials for sensors requires balancing catalytic enhancement and anti-interference capabilities. Improving the catalytic performance of biochar for colorimetric S 2- detection without metal ion interference presents a challenging issue., Results: We first modified biochar (EBc) derived from waste eggshell membranes using a combination of thiourea and ZnS nanoparticles, fabricating ZnS-decorated, S-N co-doped biochar (ZnS-SN-EBc) nanozymes, which were applied for the colorimetric assay detection of S 2- contamination. The addition of thiourea significantly increases the proportion of pyridinic-N in biochar, enhancing the peroxidase-like activity of the nanozyme. The growth of ZnS nanoparticles on the biochar not only enhances the catalytic performance by increasing the S content but also reduces the content of oxidized S, thereby improving resistance to interference. The detection range for S 2- was expanded from 0.1 to 45 μM for EBc to 0.05-225 μM for ZnS-SN-EBc, and the limit of detection improved to 0.0397 μM. Additionally, ZnS-SN-EBc significantly enhanced metal ion interference resistance. S 2- detection in five types of adaptogenic herbs verified the accuracy and practicality of the colorimetric assay, with recovery rates comparable to national standards., Significance: We innovatively repurposed waste eggshell membranes to develop a selective and catalytic peroxidase-like nanozyme, ZnS-decorated S-N co-doped biochar (ZnS-SN-EBc). The developed colorimetric assay utilizing ZnS-SN-EBc demonstrates significant potential for the detection of sulfur ions in adaptogenic herbs, thus contributing to both waste resource utilization and the advancement of food safety detection technologies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cadmium (Cd) toxicity poses major challenges to rice cultivation, affecting plant growth and development. Wild rice and nanoparticles offer promising strategies to enhance Cd tolerance, yet little is known about their combined effects. This study evaluates the single segment substitution line (SG004) from Oryza glumaepatula (wild rice) and its response to Cd stress compared to cultivated rice (HJX74). Both genotypes were also treated with calcium oxide nanoparticles (np-CaO). Results showed that Cd exposure disrupts reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism in both lines, such as malondialdehyde (MDA) increases by 57 % in HJX74 compared to SG004. Moreover, SG004 exhibited a 26 % reduction in shoot length compared to 41 % in HJX74 and a 42 % decline in chlorophyll ab content versus 53 % in HJX74. Antioxidant activity such as glutathione (GSH) decreased 25 % more in HJX74 than SG004 under Cd toxicity. Additionally, SG004 had lower Cd accumulation in roots (70 %) and shoots (85 %) than HJX74, indicating its enhanced tolerance to Cd toxicity. The root cell cytology reveals several deformations in different organelles of HJX74 but less in SG004. RNAseq analysis identifies key pathways, including energy metabolism, antioxidant defense, metal transport, and ion homeostasis, which may be critical for SG004 enhanced tolerance. Notably, two distinct metallothionein-like genes (BGIOSGA019338, BGIOSGA035982), a peroxidase (BGIOSGA019133), ammonium (BGIOSGA008640, BGIOSGA008641, and potassium transporters (BGIOSGA030867), NRAMP1 (BGIOSGA025476), and an aluminum-activated malate transporter (BGIOSGA014531), showed differential expressions in SG004 under Cd stress. Genes within the substituted fragment, including those for peroxidase 25 (BGIOSGA002866), metallothionein (BGIOSGA002389), and reductase (BGIOSGA002387), are also upregulated in SG004, reinforcing the role of antioxidant and ion homeostasis pathways. The utilization of np-CaO alleviates Cd-induced stress in both genotypes, hence reinforcing the application of wild rice and nanoparticles to improve Cd tolerance., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study combined process simulation and actual measurement to construct a multipath diffusion and spatial accumulation model of Cd in a typical lead-zinc mining area through accuracy and root mean square error(RMSE) analysis. The results indicated that (1) the diffusion of Cd was in a quadratic inverse proportional relationship with the distance from the pollution source within watershed. The average annual atmospheric Cd sedimentation in study area was 0.71 * 10 -6 g and the contribution of runoff diffusion to Cd exceeded 80%. (2) With the increase in the concentration range of Cd content (k) carried by unit runoff sediment, the model accuracy and RMSE showed decreasing trends. However, when the lower and upper limits of k were 10% and 90%, the model accuracy reached 75%. (3) Two sub-watersheds with same dominant wind direction but different runoff directions were selected to verify the model accuracy, indicating that the model construction method can precisely simulate the spatial accumulation of Cd in similar mining areas. The results provide a scientific basis for the prevention of heavy metal diffusion in lead-zinc mines. Future research should focus on the migration pathways of heavy metals through vertical infiltration caused by rainfall to further optimise the model structure and accuracy., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Lead is a very toxic and futile heavy metal for rice plants because of its injurious effects on plant growth and metabolic processes. Polyploidy or whole genome doubling increases the ability of plants to withstand biotic and abiotic stress. Considering the beneficial effects of nanoparticles and tetraploid rice, this research was conducted to examine the effectiveness of tetraploid and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 NPs) in mitigating the toxic effects of lead. A diploid (E22-2x) and it's tetraploid (T-42) rice line were treated with Pb (200 μM) and TiO 2 NPs (15 mg L -1 ). Lead toxicity dramatically reduced shoot length (16 % and 4 %) and root length (17 % and 9 %), biological yield (55 % and 36 %), and photosynthetic activity, as evidenced by lower levels of chlorophyll a and b (30 % and 9 %) in E-22 and T-42 rice cultivars compared to the control rice plants, respectively. Furthermore, lead toxicity amplified the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as malondialdehyde and H 2 O 2 , while decreasing activities of all antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxidase, peroxidase, and glutathione predominately in the diploid cultivar. Transmission electron microscopy and semi-thin section observations revealed that Pb-treated cells in E22-2x had more cell abnormalities than T-42, such as irregularly shaped mitochondria, cell wall, and reduced root cell size. Polyploidy and TiO 2 reduced Pb uptake in rice cultivars and expression levels of metal transporter genes such as OsHMA9 and OsNRAMP5. According to the findings, genome doubling alleviates Pb toxicity by reducing Pb accumulation, ROS, and cell damage. Tetraploid rice can withstand the toxic effect of Pb better than diploid rice, and TiO 2 NPs can alleviate the toxic impact of Pb. Our study findings act as a roadmap for future research endeavours, directing the focus toward risk management and assessing long-term impacts to balance environmental sustainability and agricultural growth., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Genome doubling in plants induces physiological and molecular changes to withstand environmental stress. Diploid rice (D-2x) and its tetraploid (T-4x) plants were treated with 25 μM Arsenic (As) and 15 mg L -1 TiO 2 nanoparticles (NPs), and results indicated decreased growth and photosynthetic activity with high accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to the As-toxicity in rice lines, significantly in D-2x rice plants. The treatment of As-contaminated rice with TiO 2 NPs resulted in increased root length (8.17%) and chlorophyll AB (13.28%) and decreased electrolyte leakage (21.76%) and H 2 O 2 (17.65%) contents than its counterpart diploid rice. Moreover, TiO 2 NPs improved the activity of peroxidase, catalase, glutathione, and superoxide dismutase and reduced lipid peroxidation due to lower ROS production in D-2x and T-4x under As toxicity. Transcriptome analysis revealed abrupt changes in the expression levels of key signaling heat shock proteins, tubulin, aquaporins, As, and metal transporters under As toxicity in T-4x and D-2x lines. The KEGG and GO studies highlighted the striking distinctions between rice lines under As-stress in glutathione metabolism, H 2 O 2 catabolic process, MAPK signaling pathway, and carotenoid biosynthesis terms, revealing consistency between physiological and molecular results. Root cells from D-2x rice were significantly more distorted by As poisoning than those from 4x rice, and cell organelles, such as mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum, were changed or deformed. These findings proved the superiority of tetraploid rice lines over their diploid counterpart in coping with As-stress., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Cd toxicity causes severe perturbations to the plant's growth and development. Here, polyploid and diploid rice lines were treated with zinc-oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and Cd, and physiological, cytological and molecular changes were observed. The Cd toxicity significantly reduced plant's growth attributes (such as shoot length, biological yield, dry matter, and chlorophyll contents, which decreased by 19%, 18%, 16%, 19% in polyploid and 35%, 43%, 45% and 43% in diploid rice, respectively), and disturbed the sugar level through the production of electrolytes, hydrogen peroxide, and malondialdehyde. The application of ZnO-NPs significantly alleviated the Cd toxicity in both lines by improving the antioxidant enzymes activities and physiochemical attributes. Semi-thin sections and transmission electron microscope revealed more and different types of abnormalities in diploid rice compared to polyploid rice under Cd stress. Moreover, RNA-seq analysis identified several differentially expressed genes between polyploid and diploid rice, especially metal and sucrose transporter genes. The GO, COG, and KEGG analyses revealed ploidy-specific pathways associated with plant growth and development. In conclusion, ZnO-NPs application to both rice lines significantly improved plant growth and decreased Cd accumulation in plants. We inferred that polyploid rice is more resistant to Cd stress than diploid rice., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The interaction between angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) and the inhibitory peptide KNFL from Wakame was explored using isothermal titration calorimetry, multiple spectroscopic techniques and molecular dynamics simulations, and an inhibition model was established based on free energy binding theory. The experiments revealed that the binding of KNFL to ACE was a spontaneous exothermic process driven by enthalpy and entropy and occurred via multiple binding sites to form stable complexes. The complexes may be formed through multiple steps of inducing fit and conformational selection. The peptide KNFL had a fluorescence quenching effect on ACE and its addition not only affected the microenvironment around the ACE Trp and Tyr residues, but also increased the diameter and altered the conformation of ACE. This study should prove useful for improving our understanding of the mechanism of ACE inhibitory peptides., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Papain was immobilized onto Ti 3 C 2 MXene nanosheets by physical adsorption and physical adsorption combined with covalent crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. Ti 3 C 2 MXene nanosheets were prepared by hydrofluoric acid etching method. The resulting products were well characterized by SEM, BET, XRD, FTIR, XPS. The optimized immobilization conditions are pH 6.5, immobilization time of 20 h, immobilization temperature of 10℃, and 10 mL 2 mg mL -1 papain, the amount of papain immobilized was 156 mg g -1 , the activity of the immobilized papain determined was 1701 U∙g -1 . The immobilized papain exhibited enhanced pH and temperature endurances, immobilized papain also showed improved storage stability (39.25 % and 65.57 % after 20 days of storage at 4 °C). papain reusability was significantly improved after immobilization and it retained more than 50 % of its initial activity after 5 repeated cycles. Interestingly, the results of immobilized enzymes demonstrated that the immobilization of enzymes on Ti 3 C 2 MXene is feasible. Such approach could be transferred to other support systems for anchoring enzyme., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Liver pathological angiogenesis is considered to be one of the key events in the development of liver fibrosis. Autophagy is a defense and stress regulation mechanism. However, whether autophagy regulates pathological angiogenesis in liver fibrosis is still questionable. Here, we aimed to study how curcumol regulated liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) angiogenesis through autophagy. We found that curcumol (10, 20 and 40 μM) could inhibit the expression of angiogenesis markers in the LSECs. Importantly, we showed that curcumol might influence LSEC pathological angiogenesis by regulating autophagy level. Furthermore, we indicated that the transcription factor Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) was considered as a key target for curcumol to regulate LSEC angiogenesis. Interestingly, we also suggested that autophagy was as a potential mechanism for curcumol to restrain KLF5 expression. Increased autophagy level could impair the suppression effect of curcumol on KLF5. Fascinatingly, our results indicated that curcumol inhibited autophagy and led to p62 accumulation, which might be a regulation mechanism of KLF5 degradation. Finally, in mice liver fibrosis model, we unanimously showed that curcumol (30 mg/kg) inhibited pathological angiogenesis by reducing LSEC autophagy level and suppressing KLF5 expression. Collectively, these results provided a deeper insight into the molecular mechanism of curcumol to inhibit LSEC pathological angiogenesis during liver fibrosis., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purification of small bioactive peptides from complex biological samples is a difficult task due to the interference of concentrated large biomolecules. In this study, a magnetic immobilized metal affinity chromatography matrix modified by poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether (IMACM@mPEG) was prepared and applied for the rapid purification of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides from casein hydrolysate. The proposed IMACM@mPEG considerably reduced the non-specific adsorption of large proteins and exhibited improved purification efficiency towards ACE inhibitory peptides. A novel peptide with moderate ACE inhibitory activity (IC 50 value of 274 ± 5 μM) was identified as LLYQEPVLGPVR. Lineweaver-Burk plot confirmed the non-competitive inhibition pattern of LLYQEPVLGPVR. The purified peptide was digested after simulated gastrointestinal digestion and produced shorter peptides which contributed to enhanced ACE inhibitory activity. These results indicated that the IMACM@mPEG is an effective method for the prepurification of ACE inhibitory peptide and the purified peptide LLYQEPVLGPVR may have potential as nutraceutical ingredient in functional foods for hypertension treatments., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)