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Interleukin (IL)-33, a member of the IL-1 cytokine family, plays a vital role in immune system regulation and inflammation, with oxidative stress being implicated in its expression. During the search for compounds from natural sources with potential as therapeutic agents for allergic diseases via IL-33 signal modulation, we discovered significant IL-33 inhibitory activity in the methanol extract of Canavalia gladiata (sword bean) pods. Through chromatographic separation and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, we isolated 11 compounds ( 1 - 11 ) from the methanol extract. Furthermore, we assessed the inhibitory effects of these substances on IL-33/ST2 signaling in processes related to inflammatory and autoimmune diseases using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Among them, compounds 7 , 10 , and 11 exhibited substantial IL-33 inhibitory efficacy, with values reaching 78%, 86%, and 79% at 100 µM, respectively. Remarkably, compounds 7 , 10 , and 11 demonstrated significant and dose-dependent inhibition of IL-33 signaling at concentrations of 10, 50, and 100 µM. Computational molecular docking and dynamic simulations further elucidated the underlying mechanisms. These findings have promising pharmacological implications for allergy prevention and treatment associated with flavonoid glycosides derived from C. gladiata.

Germanium, a promising electrode material for high-capacity lithium ion batteries (LIBs) anodes, attracted much attention because of its large capacity and remarkably fast charge/discharge kinetics. Multivalent-ion batteries are of interest as potential alternatives to LIBs because they have a higher energy density and are less prone to safety hazards. In this study, we probed the potential of amorphous Ge anodes for use in multivalent-ion batteries. Although alloying Al and Zn in Ge anodes is thermodynamically unstable, Mg and Ca alloys with Ge form stable compounds, Mg 2.3 Ge and Ca 2.4 Ge that exhibit higher capacities than those obtained by alloying Li, Na, or K with Ge, corresponding to 1697 and 1771 mA·h·g -1 , respectively. Despite having a slightly lower capacity than Ca-Ge, Mg-Ge shows an approximately 150% smaller volume expansion ratio (231% vs. 389%) and three orders of magnitude higher ion diffusivity (3.0 × 10 -8 vs. 1.1 × 10 -11 cm 2 s -1 ) than Ca-Ge. Furthermore, ion diffusion in Mg-Ge occurs at a rate comparable to that of monovalent ions, such as Li + , Na + , and K + . The outstanding performance of the Mg-Ge system may originate from the coordination number of the Ge host atoms and the smaller atomic size of Mg. Therefore, Ge anodes could be applied in multivalent-ion batteries using Mg 2+ as the carrier ion because its properties can compete with or surpass monovalent ions. Here, we report that the maximum capacity, volume expansion ratio, and ion diffusivities of the alloying electrode materials can be understood using atomic-scale structural properties, such as the host-host and host-ion coordination numbers, as valuable indicators.

Cordycepin, also known as 3'-deoxyadenosine, is a major active ingredient of Cordyceps militaris with diverse pharmacological effects. Due to its limited supply, many attempts have been conducted to enhance the cordycepin content. As part of this study, eight medicinal plants were supplemented with cultivation substrates of Cordyceps to increase the cordycepin content. Cordyceps cultivated on brown rice supplemented with Mori Folium, Curcumae Rhizoma, Saururi Herba, and Angelicae Gigantis Radix exhibited increased cordycepin content compared to a brown rice control. Among them, the addition of 25% Mori Folium increased the cordycepin content up to 4 times. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) modulates the deamination of adenosine and deoxyadenosine, and the inhibitors have therapeutic potential with anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory properties. As ADA is also known to be involved in converting cordycepin to 3'-deoxyinosine, the inhibitory activity of medicinal plants on ADA was measured by spectrophotometric analysis using cordycepin as a substrate. As expected, Mori Folium, Curcumae Rhizoma, Saururi Herba, and Angelicae Gigas Radix strongly inhibited ADA activity. Molecular docking analysis also showed the correlation between ADA and the major components of these medicinal plants. Conclusively, our research suggests a new strategy of using medicinal plants to enhance cordycepin production in C. militaris .

Quantum dots (QDs) have an unparalleled ability to mimic true colors due to their size-tunable optical and electronic properties, which make them the most promising nanoparticles in various fields. Currently, the majority of QDs available in the market are cadmium, indium, and lead-based materials but the toxicity and unstable nature of these QDs restricts their industrial and practical applications. To avoid using heavy metal ions, especially cadmium, the current research is focused on the fabrication of perovskite and vanadate QDs. Herein, we report the facile synthesis of a novel and cost-effective CsVO 3 QDs for the first time. The sizes of the CsVO 3 QDs produced were tuned from 2 to 10 nm by varying the reaction temperature from 140 to 190 °C. On increasing QD size, a continuous red shift was observed in absorption and emission spectra, signifying the presence of quantum confinement. In addition, along with CsVO 3 QDs, the CsVO 3 nanosheets self-assembled microflower-like particles were found as residue after the centrifugation; the X-ray diffraction indicated an orthorhombic structure. Under 365 nm excitation, these CsVO 3 microflower-like particles exhibited broad emission with CIE coordinates in the white emission region. The acquired results suggest that CsVO 3 QDs may represent a new class of cadmium-free materials for optoelectronic and biomedical applications.

In recent times, upconversion nanomaterials with mesoporous hollow structures have gained significant interest as a prospective nano-platform for cancer imaging and therapeutic applications. In this study, we report a highly biocompatible YVO 4 :1Er 3+ /10Yb 3+ upconversion mesoporous hollow nanospheriods (YVO 4 :Er 3+ /Yb 3+ UC-MHNSPs) by a facile and rapid self-sacrificing template method. The Rietveld analysis confirmed their pure phase of tetragonal zircon structure. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms revealed the mesoporous nature of these UC-MHNSPs and the surface area is found to be ~87.46 m 2 /g. Under near-infrared excitation (980 nm), YVO 4 :Er 3+ /Yb 3+ UC-MHNSPs showed interesting color tunability from red to green emission. Initially (at 0.4 W), energy back transfer from Er 3+ to Yb 3+ ions leads to the strong red emission. Whereas at high pump powers (1 W), a fine green emission is observed due to the dominant three-photon excitation process and traditional energy transfer route from Er 3+ to Yb 3+ ions. The bright red light from the membrane of HeLa cells confirmed the effective cellular uptake of YVO 4 :Er 3+ /Yb 3+ UC-MHNSPs. The resonant decrease in cell viability on increasing the concentration of curcumin conjugated YVO 4 :Er 3+ /Yb 3+ UC-MHNSPs established their excellent antitumor activity. Therefore, the acquired results indicate that these YVO 4 :Er 3+ /Yb 3+ UC-MHNSPs are promising drug carriers for bioimaging and various therapeutic applications.

As the leaf of Actinidia arguta has shown antioxidant activity, a study was conducted to identify the active ingredients. Forty-eight compounds were isolated from the leaves of A. arguta through various chromatographic techniques. Further characterization of the structures on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR and MS data identified several aromatic compounds, including phenylpropanoid derivatives, phenolics, coumarins, flavonoids and lignans. Among them, five compounds were newly reported, naturally occurring, and named argutosides A-D ( 1 - 4 ), which consist of phenylpropanoid glycosides that are conjugated with a phenolic moiety, and argutoside E ( 5 ), which is a coumarin glycoside that is conjugated with a phenylpropanoid unit. The isolated compounds showed good antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with differences in activity depending on the structures. Molecular docking analysis demonstrated the interaction between the hydroxyl and carbonyl groups of compounds 1 and 5 with α-glucosidase. Taken together, the leaves of A. arguta are rich in aromatic compounds with diverse structures. Therefore, the leaves of A. arguta and their aromatic components might be beneficial for oxidative stress and glucose-related diseases.

Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) is an enzyme that is considered a potential therapeutic target in human cardiovascular disease. Triterpenes ( 1 - 4 ) and phenylpropanoids ( 5 - 10 ) were isolated from Lycopus lucidus to obtain sEH inhibitors through various chromatographic purificationtechniques. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against sEH, and methyl rosmarinate ( 7 ), martynoside ( 8 ), dimethyl lithospermate ( 9 ) and 9″ methyl lithospermate ( 10 ) showed remarkable inhibitory activity, with the IC 50 values ranging from 10.6 ± 3.2 to 35.7 ± 2.1 µM. Kinetic analysis of these compounds revealed that 7 , 9 and 10 were competitive inhibitors bound to the active site, and 8 was the preferred mixed type inhibitor for allosteric sites. Additionally, molecular modeling has identified interacting catalytic residues and bindings between sEH and inhibitors. The results suggest that these compounds are potential candidates that can be used for further development in the prevention and treatment for cardiovascular risk.

Inflammatory bowel disease is known to be associated with a genetic predisposition involving multiple genes; however, there is growing evidence that abnormal interactions with environmental factors, particularly epigenetic factors, can also significantly contribute to the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although many genome-wide association studies have been performed to identify the genetic changes underlying the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease, the role of epigenetic alterations based on molecular complications arising from Crohn's disease (CD) is poorly understood. We employed an unbiased approach to define DNA methylation alterations in colonoscopy samples from patients with CD using the HumanMethylation450K BeadChip platform. Technical and functional validation was performed by methylation-specific PCR (MSP) and bisulfite sequencing of a validation set of 207 patients with CD samples. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis was performed in the representative sample sets. DNA methylation profile in CD revealed that 135 probes (24 hypermethylated and 111 hypomethylated probes) were differentially methylated. We validated the methylation levels of 19 genes that showed hypermethylation in patients with CD compared with normal controls. We uniquely identified that the fragile histidine triad ( FHIT ) gene was hypermethylated in a disease-specific manner and its protein level was downregulated in patients with CD. Pathway analysis of the hypermethylated candidates further suggested putative molecular interactions relevant to IBD pathology. Our data provide information on the biological and clinical implications of DNA hypermethylated genes in CD, identifying FHIT methylation as a promising new biomarker for CD. Further study of the role of FHIT in IBD pathogenesis may lead to the development of new therapeutic targets.

A flexible asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) with high electrochemical performance was constructed using reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-wrapped redox-active metal oxide-based negative and positive electrodes. Thin layered rGO functionality on the positive and the negative electrode surfaces has promoted the feasible surface-active sites and enhances the electrochemical response with a wide operating voltage window. Herein we report the controlled growth of rGO-wrapped tubular FeMoO 4 nanofibers (NFs) via electrospinning followed by surface functionalization as a negative electrode. The tubular structure offers the ultrathin-layer decoration of rGO inside and outside of the tubular walls with uniform wrapping. The rGO-wrapped tubular FeMoO 4 NF electrode exhibited a high specific capacitance of 135.2 F g -1 in Na 2 SO 4 neutral electrolyte with an excellent rate capability and cycling stability (96.45% in 5000 cycles) at high current density. Meanwhile, the hydrothermally synthesized binder-free rGO/MnO 2 nanorods on carbon cloth (rGO-MnO 2 @CC) were selected as cathode materials due to their high capacitance and high conductivity. Moreover, the ASC device was fabricated using rGO-wrapped FeMoO 4 on carbon cloth (rGO-FeMoO 4 @CC) as the negative electrode and rGO-MnO 2 @CC as the positive electrode (rGO-FeMoO 4 @CC/rGO-MnO 2 @CC). The rationally designed ASC device delivered an excellent energy density of 38.8 W h kg -1 with a wide operating voltage window of 0.0-1.8 V. The hybrid ASC showed excellent cycling stability of 93.37% capacitance retention for 5000 cycles. Thus, the developed rGO-wrapped FeMoO 4 nanotubes and MnO 2 nanorods are promising hybrid electrode materials for the development of wide-potential ASCs with high energy and power density., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.