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Interleukin (IL)-6 has anti- and pro-inflammatory functions, controlled by IL-6 classic and trans-signaling, respectively. Differences in the downstream signaling mechanism between IL-6 classic and trans-signaling have not been identified. Here, we report that IL-6 activates glycolysis to regulate the inflammatory response. IL-6 regulates glucose metabolism by forming a complex containing signal-transducing activators of transcription 3 (STAT3), hexokinase 2 (HK2), and voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1). The IL-6 classic signaling directs glucose flux to oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos), while IL-6 trans-signaling directs glucose flux to anaerobic glycolysis. Classic IL-6 signaling promotes STAT3 translocation into mitochondria to interact with pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-1 (PDK1), leading to pyruvate dehydrogenase α (PDHA) dissociation from PDK1. As a result, PDHA is dephosphorylated, and STAT3 is phosphorylated at Ser727. By contrast, IL-6 trans-signaling promotes the interaction of sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) and lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), leading to the dissociation of STAT3 from SIRT2. As a result, LDHA is deacetylated, and STAT3 is acetylated and phosphorylated at Tyr705. IL-6 classic signaling promotes the differentiation of regulatory T cells via the PDK1/STAT3/PDHA axis, whereas IL-6 trans-signaling promotes the differentiation of Th17 cells via the SIRT2/STAT3/LDHA axis. Conclusion: IL-6 classic signaling generates anti-inflammatory functions by shifting energy metabolism to OxPhos, while IL-6 trans-signaling generates pro-inflammatory functions by shifting energy metabolism to anaerobic glycolysis. • IL-6 regulate glucose metabolism via STAT3/VDAC1/HK2IL-6 classic signaling shifts glucose flux to OxPhosIL-6 trans-signaling shifts glucose flux to anaerobic glycolysisIL-6 classic signaling induce STAT3 interacts with PDK1, to destabilize the interaction between PDK1 and PDHA in mitochondriaIL-6 trans-signaling promote LDHA interacts with SIRT2, to destabilize the interaction between SIRT2 and STAT3 in cytoplasm [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Microbial contamination is a serious challenge in the food industry. With the increasing demand for fresh, nutritious and healthy food, novel techniques for microbial inactivation are highly needed. By absorbing photoenergy, titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) based photocatalyst can produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are capable of inactivating microorganisms. Scope and approach This review summarizes recent research developments of TiO 2 photocatalysis (TPC) for antibacterial applications in liquid, gas and solid systems in the food industry. Basic principles of TPC, the mechanism of photocatalytic inactivation, and strategies for improving photoactivity are described, and applications of TPC for decomposing organic substances are presented. Furthermore, applications of combining TPC with other technologies are also discussed. Conclusions and key findings : The review shows that TPC technology has the ability to inactivate foodborne microorganisms, but with some drawbacks such as catalyst deactivation and low utilization of visible light. Modification can widen the light response into visible range and improve the photoactivity. The combined technologies can enhance the effectiveness of microbial inactivation. However, further study is still needed to improve both photocatalytic disinfection efficiency and food quality maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: According to aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4-Ab), neuromyelitis optica (NMO) can be divided into seropositive and seronegative subgroups. The purpose of this study was to a) compare the distribution of spinal cord and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesions between seropositive and seronegative NMO patients; b) explore occult brain damage in seropositive and seronegative NMO patients; and c) explore the contribution of visible lesions to occult grey and white matter damage in seropositive and seronegative NMO patients.Materials and Methods: Twenty-two AQP4-Ab seropositive and 14 seronegative NMO patients and 30 healthy controls were included in the study. Two neuroradiologists independently measured the brain lesion volume (BLV) and the length of spinal cord lesion (LSCL) and recorded the region of brain lesions. The normal-appearing grey matter volume (NAGM-GMV) and white matter fractional anisotropy (NAWM-FA) were calculated for each subject to evaluate occult brain damage.Results: The seropositive patients displayed more extensive damage in the spinal cord than the seronegative patients, and the seronegative group had a higher proportion of patients with brainstem lesions (28.57%) than the seropositive group (4.55%, P=0.064). Both NMO subgroups exhibited reduced NAGM-GMV and NAWM-FA compared with the healthy controls. NAGM-GMV was negatively correlated with LSCL in the seropositive group (rs=-0.444, P=0.044) and with BLV in the seronegative group (rs=-0.768, P=0.002). NAWM-FA was also negatively correlated with BLV in the seropositive group (rs=-0.682, P<0.001).Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the occult brain damage in these two NMO subgroups may be due to different mechanisms, which need to be further clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The field of microbiota-gut-brain research in animals has progressed, while the exact nature of gut microbiota-brain-cognition relationship in humans is not completely elucidated, likely due to small sample sizes and single neuroimaging modality utilized to delineate limited aspects of the brain. We aimed to comprehensively investigate such association in a large sample using multimodal MRI. Methods Fecal samples were collected from 157 healthy young adults and 16S sequencing was used to assess gut microbial diversity and enterotypes. Five brain imaging measures, including regional homogeneity (ReHo) and functional connectivity density (FCD) from resting-state functional MRI, cerebral blood flow (CBF) from arterial spin labeling, gray matter volume (GMV) from structural MRI, and fractional anisotropy (FA) from diffusion tensor imaging, were jointly analyzed with a data-driven multivariate fusion method. Cognition was evaluated by 3-back and digit span tasks. Results We found significant associations of gut microbial diversity with ReHo, FCD, CBF, and GMV within the frontoparietal, default mode and visual networks, as well as with FA in a distributed set of juxtacortical white matter regions. In addition, there were FCD, CBF, GMV, and FA differences between Prevotella- versus Bacteroides-enterotypes in females and between Prevotella- versus Ruminococcaceae-enterotypes in males. Moreover, the identified neuroimaging fusion biomarkers could mediate the associations between microbial diversity and cognition. Conclusions Our findings not only expand existing knowledge of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, but also have potential clinical and translational implications by exposing the gut microbiota as a promising treatment and prevention target for cognitive impairment and related brain disorders. • Gut microbiota-brain-cognition association was assessed using multimodal MRI. • Multimodal MRI measures were jointly analyzed with a multivariate fusion method. • Gut microbial diversity was correlated with multiple neuroimaging fusion measures. • There were differences in multiple neuroimaging fusion measures between enterotypes. • Fusion biomarkers mediated the relations between microbial diversity and cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amorphous magnesium substituted mesoporous aluminophosphate (AlPO) were prepared, characterized and used as catalysts for the transesterification of diethyl carbonate and dimethyl carbonate in the fixed-bed reactor. The results of FT-IR and XPS confirm the substitution of Mg into the framework of AlPO. Magnesium substituted mesoporous aluminophosphate (MgAPO) have strong basic and weak acid sites according to the results of CO 2 -TPD and NH 3 -TPD. Compared with that of the AlPO catalyst, the pore diameters of the catalysts increased after the introduction of Mg. The activity and stability of the catalysts also improved with the introduction of Mg. The catalytic performance of these catalysts increases in the order of AlPO < Mg 0.1 APO < Mg 0.3 APO < Mg 0.2 APO, which is consistent with the strong basic and weak acid amounts of the catalysts, indicating an acid-base synergistic catalysis in the reaction. The catalyst showed high stability after 960 h of time on stream. As a result, the Mg 0.2 APO presented remarkable activity and durability in the synthesis of ethyl methyl carbonate from dimethyl carbonate and diethyl carbonate in fixed-bed reactor. Image 1 • Magnesium substituted mesoporous aluminophosphate was prepared. • Mg 0.2 APO showed high catalytic performance for the synthesis of ethyl methyl carbonate. • Strong basic and weak acid sites were synergistic catalysis for the transesterification. • The catalyst exhibited high stability after 960 h of time on stream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]