Compositional analyses reveal correlations between taxon-level gut bacterial abundance and peripheral T cell marker expression in African infants

ABSTRACT

Although exclusive breastfeeding has been linked to lower rates of postnatal HIV transmission compared to nonexclusive breastfeeding, mechanisms underlying this are unclear. Across a longitudinally sampled cohort of South African infants, we showed that exclusively breastfed (EBF) infants had altered gut bacterial communities when compared to nonexclusively breastfed (NEBF) infants, as well as reduced peripheral CD4 + T cell activation and lowered chemokine and chemokine receptor expression in the oral mucosa. We further demonstrated that the relative abundance of key taxa was correlated with peripheral CD4 + T cell activation. Here, we supplement those findings by using compositional data analyses to identify shifts in the abundance of several Bifidobacteria strains relative to select strains of Escherichia, Bacteroides, and others that are associated with the transition to NEBF. We illustrate that the abundance ratio of these taxa is tightly correlated with feeding modality and is a strong predictor of peripheral T cell activation. More broadly, we discuss our study in the context of novel developments and explore future directions for the field.     

Design and synthesis of novel organometallic complexes using boronated phenylalanine derivatives as potential anticancer agents

Drug design and discovery studies are important because of the prevalence of diseases without available medical cures. New anticancer agents are particularly urgent because of the high mortality rate associated with cancer. A series of mononuclear gold (III) and platinum (II) complexes based on boronated phenylalanine (BPA) were designed and synthesized using 4,4’-dimethyl-2,2’-dipyridyl (L1) or 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dion (L2) ligands to obtain promising anticancer drug candidates. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared, mass spectrometry, and elemental analyses were utilized for chemical characterizations. Cell viability, cancer cell colony formation, endothelial tube formation, and cytoskeleton staining assays were performed using A549 lung adenocarcinoma and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to investigate preliminary pharmacological activities. L1-based platinum (II) complex (BPA-L1-Pt) was the most promising complex, and has similar activity with the approved chemotherapy drug cis-platinum. Half maximal inhibitory concentration values for BPA-L1-Pt were 9.15 µM on A549s and 16.61 µM on HUVECs; the values for cis-platinum were 5.24 µM on A549s and 23.14 µM on HUVECs. Consequently, further synthesis studies should be performed to boost the cancer cell selectivity feature of BPA by varying metal and ligand types.     

羌活中的香豆素类成分及其抑制脂多糖诱导的RAW 264.7细胞NO生成活性的研究

目的研究羌活Notopterygium incisum的香豆素类成分及其抗炎活性。方法采用硅胶、HPLC等柱色谱方法进行分离纯化,通过质谱、核磁共振波谱数据鉴定化合物的结构;采用脂多糖(LPS)诱导的小鼠巨噬细胞RAW 264.7炎症反应模型,考察羌活中香豆素类成分对炎症反应模型一氧化氮(NO)生成的影响。结果从羌活甲醇提取物分离得到24个香豆素类化合物,分别鉴定为异欧前胡素(1)、川白芷素(2)、补骨脂素(3)、香柑内酯(4)、茵陈素(5)、欧芹酚(6)、5-去氢羌活醇(7)、环氧脱水羌活醇(8)、7″-O-甲基异羌活醇(9)、佛手柑素(10)、7-异戊烯氧基-6-甲氧基-香豆素(11)、栓翅芹烯醇(12)、羌活醇(13)、去甲呋喃羽叶芸香素(14)、异羌活醇(15)、蛇床夫内酯(16)、6-异戊烯氧基伞形花内酯(17)、紫花前胡苷元(18)、异虎耳草素(19)、紫花前胡苷(20)、前胡苷V(21)、前胡苷I(22)、印枳苷元-11-O-β-D-吡喃葡萄糖基-(1→6)-β-D-吡喃葡萄糖苷(23)、羌活苷(24)。化合物7～10、13和15抑制LPS诱导的RAW 264.7细胞NO生成活性最强,最大半数抑制浓度(IC_(50))值为8.50～35.12μmol/L。结论化合物7为新的天然产物,化合物17为首次从羌活中分离得到;C-5位上具有多烯烃结构的香豆素抑制LPS诱导的RAW 264.7细胞NO生成活性较强。     

高效液相色谱串联质谱法测定氯沙坦钾中的遗传毒性杂质N-亚硝基-N-甲基-4-氨基丁酸

目的建立了一种高效液相色谱-三重四极杆串联质谱法,对氯沙坦钾原料药中遗传毒性杂质N-亚硝基-N-甲基-4-氨基丁酸(NMBA)进行测定。方法色谱柱为岛津Shim-pack XR-ODSⅡ色谱柱(2.0 mm×150 mm,2.2μm),流动相为0.1%甲酸水溶液(A)和甲醇(B),进行梯度洗脱,流速0.3 mL·min^-1,柱温为40℃,采用ESI离子化-三重四极杆质谱多反应监测(MRM)正离子模式检测,碰撞电压分别为-11,-13和-13 V,碰撞气氩气270 kPa,NMBA的离子对分别为m/z 147.15→117.10,147.15→87.10和147.15→44.10。结果该方法中NMBA在1~100 ng·mL^-1内线性关系良好,日内和日间的保留时间和峰面积的重复性良好(RSD均小于1.10%,n=6和n=18),低、中、高3个浓度的平均回收率在94.40%~98.04%之间。结论本方法简单方便,可快速有效的对氯沙坦钾原料药中NMBA进行限度检查并实现定量分析。     

Peripheral whole blood FOXP3 TSDR methylation: a potential marker in severity assessment of autoimmune diseases and chronic infections

Immune dysregulation is a cardinal feature of autoimmune diseases and chronic microbial infections. In particular, regulatory T cells are downregulated in autoimmune diseases while upregulated in chronic microbial infections. FOXP3 is the master regulator of Treg development. Treg-specific demethylated region (TSDR) is a highly conserved locus on the FOXP3 gene that is fully demethylated in natural Tregs but methylated in effector T cells. In our study, we used high resolution melt-polymerase chain reaction (HRM-PCR) to determine the FOXP3 TSDR methylation status in autoimmune diseases and chronic microbial infections. We found that FOXP3 TSDR to have the highest mean melting temperature (highly methylated) in active SLE patients compared to all the other groups (p?<?0.001). The psoriasis group also had a significantly high mean melting temperature (78.62?±?0.20) when compared with the inactive SLE group (78.49?±?0.29, p?<?0.05) and control group (78.44?±?0.25, p?<?0.01). There was no significant difference in melting temperature between inactive SLE and healthy controls. Disease activity in SLE was directly associated with methylation of the FOXP3 TSDR. On the other hand, patients with chronic microbial infections had significantly lower FOXP3 TSDR mean melting temperature (demethylated) when compared with healthy controls (78.28?±?0.21 vs 78.44?±?0.25, p?<?0.05). Our results suggest that the use of HRM-PCR to detect FOXP3 TSDR methylation status is a reliable and easy method to predict natural regulatory T cell levels in peripheral blood in different disease conditions. Determining FOXP3 TSDR methylation status can be a useful tool in diagnosis, and monitoring the severity of autoimmune diseases and chronic microbial infections.