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The effect of MDANP effects on ER stress signalling not well known or elucidated. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress plays a critical role in necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) pathogenesis through the PERK-eIF2ɑ-QRICH1 axis. The present study aimed to explore the protective effects of MDANP in NEC development. Firstly, a function screening was designed to identify the candidate peptides in human milk, and then the identified peptides were validated in NEC patients. In vivo, NEC was induced in mice pups and divided into four groups: (1) control group, (2) NEC group, (3) MDANP + NEC group, and (4) NS + NEC group. In vitro, lentivirus-mediated QRICH1 silencing, was used to transfect NCM460 cell lines, then stimulated with LPS. After LPS stimulation, cells were treated with chemically synthesized MDANP, and the essential proteins in the QRICH1 signalling pathway in cells were tested and compared. After the small-scale screening, a peptide (SKSKKFRRPDIQYPDATDED) named MDANP was determined as the principal peptide. Its protective effect against NEC through inhibiting the expression of ERS key proteins and impeding the intestinal cells' apoptosis was observed in the animal models. Furthermore, the inhibitive effect of MDANP on apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells through modulating the PERK-eIF2ɑ-QRICH1 ERS pathway was also confirmed in vitro. Taken together, our data suggest that MDANP effectively ameliorates apoptosis in NEC through attenuating PERK-eIF2ɑ-QRICH1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the devastating impact of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) on newborns, the research on its intervention is particularly important. Although exosomes from human amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSC) and human breast milk (HBM) can protect against NEC, their mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we intend to compare the intervention effects of two types of exosomes on NEC mouse model and reveal their respective regulatory mechanisms. In general, both AFSC-derived exosomes (AFSC-exos) and HBM-derived exosomes (HBM- exos) can alleviate NEC- associated intestinal injury, significantly reduce NEC score, and reduce systemic and ileal inflammation and NEC related brain injury during experimental NEC. However, the mode and mechanism of action of the two sources of exosomes were not identical. In vivo, the number of ileal crypts was more significantly restored after HBM-exos intervention than AFSC-exos, and in vitro, HBM-exos preferentially inhibited the inflammatory response of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs), whereas AFSC-exos preferentially regulated the migration of IECs. Mechanistically, GO and KEGG analyses revealed the different therapeutic mechanisms of AFSC-exos and HBM-exos in NEC. Taken together, our results illustrate that AFSC-exos and HBM-exos reduce the severity of experimental NEC and intestinal damage through different mechanisms, supporting the potential of cell-free or breast milk free exosome therapy for NEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achnatherum inebrians is rich in alkaloids (ergonovine and ergine) with analgesic activities and insect resistance activities and prevents animal feeding. Many studies have focused on the effects of abiotic stresses on alkaloid accumulation. However, the ergot alkaloids differences of plants from environmentally distinct sites remain unclear. The Epichloë endophyte usually regulates plant hormone pathways; meanwhile, JA and SA indirectly manipulate the production of metabolites, while the relationship between the concentrations of ergot alkaloids and endogenous hormones still lacks advanced studies. The present study identified ergot alkaloids and endogenous hormones of A. inebrians from different sites using HPLC and ELISA, respectively. The original geographical location of the germplasm determines the change of alkaloid and hormone content. Redundancy analysis indicated that the altitude and mean month temperature were the major factors affecting alkaloids and endogenous hormones levels. Principal component analysis indicated that there were difference in the relationship between alkaloids and endogenous hormones at low and high altitude. These results improve our understanding of the variation in ergot alkaloids of A. inebrians from different sites and will serve as a reference for evaluating the medicinal, forage, slope protection grass, and airport turfgrass value of A. inebrians in different environments. In addition, it provides a new understanding of the relationship among altitude with ergot alkaloids and endogenous hormones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hardware security primitives that preserve secrets are playing a crucial role in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) era. Existing physical unclonable function (PUF) instantiations, exploiting static randomness, generate challenge-response pairings (CRPs) to produce unique security keys that can be used to authenticate devices linked to the IoT. Reconfigurable PUFs (RPUFs) with dynamically refreshable CRPs can enhance the security and robustness of conventional PUFs. The in-plane current-driven perpendicular polarized nanomagnet switching via spin-orbit torque (SOT) possesses great potential for application to memory and logic, as the write-current path is separate from the read-current path, which naturally resolves the write-read interference. However, the stochastic switching of perpendicular magnetization, without an additional symmetry-breaking field, would significantly hinder the technological viability of commercial implementations. Here, we report an initialization-free physical RPUF implemented by SOT-induced stochastic switching of perpendicularly magnetized Ta/CoFeB/MgO nanodevices. Using a 15 × 15 nanomagnet array, we experimentally demonstrate a security primitive that offers a near-ideal 50% uniqueness over 100 reconfiguration cycles, as well as a low correlation coefficient between every two reconfiguration cycles. Our results show that current-induced nanomagnets switching paves the way for developing highly reliable and energy-efficient reconfigurable cryptographic primitives with a smaller footprint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Low nutrient soil is a major limiting factor for normal growth and high yield of plants. Epichloë endophyte infection has been shown to increase host growth, nutrient uptake and balance. This study was done to determine the impact of Epichloë endophyte on growth, survival and elemental nutrient content of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) under low fertility conditions. Methods: endophyte-infected and endophyte-free plants of L. perenne were grown without fertilization in a greenhouse environment. Plant survival rate, dry weight of leaves and roots, root metabolic activity and nutrient element (C, N, P, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn) contents were determined after 0 d, 45 d, 90 d, 135 d and 180 d. Results: The presence of Epichloë endophyte relieved the withering and yellowing of plants in the short term (0 to 90 d). The possible mechanisms by which E. festucae var. lolii infection enhances survival of plants includes improved root growth and metabolic activity (i.e., cellular metabolism), increased biomass production, and increased concentration of many nutrient elements in leaves and roots. The endophyte had positive direct and indirect effects on plants in multiple ways, including: increased organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and Mn content in leaves, increased K content in leaves and roots, and improved root growth and activity. Conclusions: The presence of endophyte E. festucae var. lolii played a key role in improving the survival of L. perenne plants by increasing root growth and metabolic activity, promoting plant biomass and altering nutrient content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: In many grasslands under grazing pressure, unpalatable plants have become abundant and these areas are refuges for plant diversity. We hypothesize that unpalatable plants may also serve as refuges for soil microbes. Methods: We tested this hypothesis by investigating soil fungal diversity and community composition, soil properties, and plant parameters in areas dominated by the unpalatable drunken horse grass (Achnatherum inebrians), and areas without this toxic grass, in three types of natural rangelands in northern China. Results: Our results showed that the areas dominated by A. inebrians had a higher fungal diversity, higher microbial biomass, higher abundance of plant pathogens in soil, and higher plant biomass than areas that did not contain A. inebrians. Soil fungal community composition was positively correlated with plant community composition across the three study sites. Fungal diversity and microbial biomass were positively correlated with higher plant biomass. Abundance of soil plant pathogens was positively correlated with coverage of A. inebrians. Conclusions: The results indicated that plant community composition significantly correlated with soil fungal community composition, and refuge effects of A. inebrians drive higher fungal diversity, microbial biomass and abundance of plant pathogens in the soil. Increased abundance of A. inebrians potentially has considerable effects on the soil fungal community in grasslands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Low temperature stress is a common hazard during plant growth. Endophyte infection has been shown to increase cold tolerance in host plants. Many Lolium perenne cultivars contain low to moderate levels of endophyte. This study was done to explore cultivar improvement by segregation of endophyte containing individuals from the original cultivar to create a high endophyte subpopulation. Methods: Endophyte-infected plants were segregated over the first 3 years to produce high-endophyte subpopulation, and field and greenhouse experiments were carried out in the forth and fifth to determine the cold tolerance of the L. perenne subpopulation with high endophyte infection rates (N), the parent (F), the control endophyte-free subpopulation (E) and the control local variety (L). Results: (1) After 3 years of screening, high endophyte infection rates in the tillers and seeds of plants were still observed (96.5%), and agronomic traits (crown width, plant height, panicle number, withering, regreen-up, the growth cycle and the over-wintering rate) was also improved with increased Epichloë colonization of host plant. (2) The subpopulation with high endophyte infection rates and improved agronomic traits had better cold tolerance than the parent, the control endophyte-free subpopulation and the control local variety. The possible mechanisms by which high endophyte infection enhances cold resistance in the field include increased root system, increased the over-wintering rate, reduced regrowth periods with the sowing date being October 15th. (3) The high-endophyte subpopulation significantly increased SOD, POD, CAT, and APX activities at 0, 5, and 10 °C by 11.8%–44.6%, compared with the parent population. Conclusions: The subpopulation had a high endophyte infection rate, improved agronomic traits and higher enzymatic activities. These results indicate that increasing endophyte infection rates by selection, effectively improved agronomic traits and cold tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]