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The production of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α by activated macrophage cells plays an important role in the development of intestinal inflammation. The present study investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of the protein hydrolysates prepared from the jack bean (JBPHs), Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC, using the enzyme Alcalase, in a murine macrophage model, RAW 264.7 cells, which were stimulated by lipopolysaccharides. JBPHs reduced the TNF-α expression at the protein and mRNA levels through the downregulation of cellular signaling pathways involved in nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and p38. A combination of mass spectrometry and in silico approaches identified 10 potential anti-inflammatory peptides in the JBPHs, including LFLLP and DFFL. Interestingly, while LFLLP targeted the NF-κB pathway, DFFL targeted p38 and ERK to suppress the TNF-α production in the RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, LFLLP and DFFL were localized in the cytosol of the cells. These results demonstrated that LFLLP and DFFL were incorporated by RAW 264.7 cells and, at least in part, contributed to the reduction in TNF-α by JBPHs. These peptides isolated from JBPHs may well be utilized as new alternatives to alleviate intestinal inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface tensions of molten oxides depend strongly on the structural relaxation of the surface region. The mechanism of surface structural relaxation for molten oxide slags is complex. The surface tension of calcium aluminate slag is minimal at an intermediate composition, although the critical reason has not been identified. Here, two novel approaches were used to evaluate the features of surface ionic structures in the molten state for the range of 25–50 mol% Al2O3: (1) X‐ray absorption analysis of oxygen and cationic elements in glass samples after surface relaxation treatment, and (2) molecular dynamics simulations, based on a polarizable‐ion model, of the ionic distribution in a molten slag with vacuum/melt interfaces. The results indicate that bridging oxygen (BO) ions are preferred to non‐BOs in the surface region. In calcium aluminate slag, BOs are formed by connecting two AlO4 tetrahedrons with charge compensation of two Al3+ ions with one Ca2+ ion. Additionally, the above approaches were used to qualify the effect on the surface ionic structure of adding 1–20 mol% SiO2 to the calcium aluminate slag. The results indicated that the SiO4 tetrahedrons incorporate the vertex connection with AlO4 tetrahedrons to form BOs in the surface region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dietary fibers regulate intestinal barrier function; however, the precise mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated the effects of psyllium fibers on antimicrobial protein expression, focusing on the type II immunity and tuft cell-group 2 innate lymphoid cell (ILC2) circuit in the small intestine of the mouse. Supplemental psyllium fiber upregulated antimicrobial proteins, such as small proline-rich protein 2A (SPRR2A) and resistin-like beta (RELMβ), in mouse small intestine, evidently affecting cecal microbiota composition. The psyllium fibers also increased the RNA and protein expression of molecules related to ILC2 and tuft cells, such as IL-13, IL-25, DCLK1, Gfi-1b, SH2 domain-containing protein 3C, and Spi-B. In addition, ILC2 inhibitor (disulfiram) and bitter taste receptor blocker administration reduced psyllium-induced SPRR2A and RELMβ expression. Collectively, psyllium supplementation upregulates antimicrobial proteins such as SPRR2A and RELMß via the type II immune response and tuft cell-ILC2 circuit in the mouse small intestine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquatic functional liquid crystals, which are ordered molecular assemblies that work in water environment, are described in this review. Aquatic functional liquid crystals are liquid‐crystalline (LC) materials interacting water molecules or aquatic environment. They include aquatic lyotropic liquid crystals and LC based materials that have aquatic interfaces, for example, nanoporous water treatment membranes that are solids preserving LC order. They can remove ions and viruses with nano‐ and subnano‐porous structures. Columnar, smectic, bicontinuous LC structures are used for fabrication of these 1D, 2D, 3D materials. Design and functionalization of aquatic LC sensors based on aqueous/LC interfaces are also described. The ordering transitions of liquid crystals induced by molecular recognition at the aqueous interfaces provide distinct optical responses. Molecular orientation and dynamic behavior of these aquatic functional LC materials are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The molecular interactions of LC materials and water are key of these investigations. New insights into aquatic functional LC materials contribute to the fields of environment, healthcare, and biotechnology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nematic-isotropic (NI) phase transition of 4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl was simulated using the generalized replica-exchange method (gREM) based on molecular dynamics simulations. The effective temperature is introduced in the gREM, allowing for the enhanced sampling of configurations in the unstable region, which is intrinsic to the first-order phase transition. The sampling performance was analyzed with different system sizes and compared with that of the temperature replica-exchange method (tREM). It was observed that gREM is capable of sampling configurations at sufficient replica-exchange acceptance ratios even around the NI transition temperature. A bimodal distribution of the order parameter at the transition region was found, which is in agreement with the mean-field theory. In contrast, tREM is ineffective around the transition temperature owing to the potential energy gap between the nematic and isotropic phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Stokes-Einstein (SE) relation is examined for hard-sphere (HS) and Weeks-Chandler-Andersen (WCA) fluids by the molecular dynamics method on temperatures and densities corresponding to the saturated vapor line of Lennard-Jones (LJ) liquids. While the self-diffusion coefficient, D, and shear viscosity, ηsv, increases and decreases, respectively, with increasing steepness in interaction potentials, the same SE relation holds for HS and WCA fluids as that obtained for LJ liquids, i.e., Dηsv = (kBT/C)(N/V)1/3, where kB is the Boltzmann constant, T is the temperature, and N is the particle number included in the system volume V. The coefficient C is almost constant at about 6 to 2π for η > 0.3, where η is the packing fraction. The results show that the SE relation for simple liquids and fluids does not need to bear any concepts of both the hydrodynamic particle size and the boundary condition. In light of this SE relation, the Enskog, Eyring-Ree, and Zwanzig theories are quantitatively tested. In addition, the cause of deviation from unity of the exponent in the fractional SE relation for simple fluids is clearly accounted for. The present results show that applying both the original and the fractional SE relations to simple liquids and fluids does not lead to any meaningful discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Re-expansion of a collapsed lung increases the microvascular permeability and causes reexpansion pulmonary edema. Neutrophils and their products have been implicated in the development of this phenomenon. The small GTP-binding proteins Rho and its target Rho-kinase (ROCK) regulate endothelial permeability, although their roles in reexpansion pulmonary edema remain unclear. We studied the contribution of ROCK to pulmonary endothelial and epithelial permeability in a rabbit model of this disorder. Endothelial and epithelial permeability was assessed by measuring the tissue-to-plasma (T/P) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid-to-plasma (B/P) ratios with [sup.125I]-1abeled albumin. After intratracheal instillation of [sup.125I]-albumin, epithelial permeability was also assessed from the plasma leak (PL) index, the ratio of [sup.125I]-albumin in plasma/total amount of instilled [sup.125I]-albumin. T/P, B/P, and PL index were significantly increased in the reexpanded lung. These increases were attenuated by pretreatment with Y-27632, a specific ROCK inhibitor. However, neutrophil influx, neutrophil elastase activity, and malondialdehyde concentrations in BAL fluid collected from the reexpanded lung were not changed by Y-27632. In endothelial monolayers, Y-27632 significantly attenuated the [H.sub.2][O.sub.2]-induced increase in permeability and mitigated the morphological changes in the actin microfilament cytoskeleton of endothelial cells. These in vivo and in vitro observations suggest that the Rho/ ROCK pathway contributes to the increase in alveolar barrier permeability associated with reexpansion pulmonary edema. acute lung injury; acute respiratory distress syndrome; re-expansion pulmonary edema; Rho; Rho-kinase