Protective effect of co-enzyme Q10 on testicular tissue and sperm parameters in adult male rats treated with Sunset Yellow FCF

Objective:To determine the protective effect of co-enzyme Q10(CoQ10)on testicular tissue and sperm parameters in male rats treated with SunsetYellow FCF.Methods:Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 6 groups of the control,CoQ10(10 mg/kg/day),low dose of Sunset Yellow(2.5 mg/kg),high dose of Sunset Yellow(70 mg/kg),low dose of Sunset Yellow(2.5 mg/kg)plus CoQ10,and high dose of Sunset Yellow(70 mg/kg)plus CoQ10.The drugs were administered via daily oral gavages for 6 weeks.At the end of the experiment,sperm analysis,stereological and histological assessments of the testis were carried out.Results:The normal morphology(by 41.1%)and progressive spermatozoa(by 74.8%),testicle volume(by 33.4%),lumen volume(by 38.3%),interstitial tissue volume(by 44.7%),seminiferous tubule volume(by 40.7%),and number of spermatogonia(by 53.9%)and Leydig cells(by 70.7%)reduced in the rats that received high doses of Sunset Yellow in comparison to the control group.Nonetheless,all these alterations were recovered by CoQ10 treatment in the CoQ10 plus high dose of Sunset Yellow group.Furthermore,low doses of Sunset Yellow did not affect different parameters of the testis and sperm.Conclusions:CoQ10 could,to some extent,prevent structural changes of the testis induced by the high dose of SunsetYellow.

Wet environment-induced adhesion and softening of coenzyme-based polymer elastic patch for treating periodontitis

Periodontitis,a common chronic inflammatory disease caused by pathogenic bacteria,can be treated with diverse biomaterials by loading drugs,cytokines or proteins.However,these biomaterials often show unsatisfactory therapeutic efficiency due to their poor adhesion,short residence time in the wet and dynamic oral cavity and emerging drug resistance.Here we report a wet-responsive methacrylated gelatin(GelMA)-stabilized co-enzyme polymer poly(α-lipoic acid)(PolyLA)-based elastic patch with water-induced adhesion and softening features.In PolyLA-GelMA,the multiple covalent and hydrogen-bonding crosslinking between PolyLA and GelMA prevent PolyLA depolymerization and slow down the dissociation of PolyLA in water,allowing durable adhesion to oral periodontal tissue and continuous release of LA-based bioactive small molecule in periodontitis wound without resorting external drugs.Compared with the undifferentiated adhesion behavior of traditional adhesives,this wet-responsive patch demonstrates a favorable periodontal pocket insertion ability due to its non-adhesion and rigidity in dry environment.In vitro studies reveal that PolyLA-GelMA patch exhibits satisfactory wet tissue adhesion,antibacterial,blood compatibility and ROS scavenging abilities.In the model of rat periodontitis,the PolyLA-GelMA patch inhibits alveolar bone resorption and accelerates the periodontitis healing by regulating the inflammatory microenvironment.This biomacromolecule-stabilized coenzyme polymer patch provides a new option to promote periodontitis treatment.

Screening and engineering of high-activity promoter elements through transcriptomics and red fluorescent protein visualization in Rhodobacter sphaeroides

The versatile photosyntheticα-proteobacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides,has recently been extensively engineered as a novel microbial cell factory(MCF)to produce pharmaceuticals,nutraceuticals,commodity chemicals and even hydrogen.However,there are no well-characterized high-activity promoters to modulate gene transcription during the engineering of R.sphaeroides.In this study,several native promoters from R.sphaeroides JDW-710(JDW-710),an industrial strain producing high levels of co-enzyme Q10(Q10)were selected on the basis of transcriptomic analysis.These candidate promoters were then characterized by using gusA as a reporter gene.Two native promoters,Prsp_7571 and Prsp_6124,showed 620%and 800%higher activity,respectively,than the tac promoter,which has previously been used for gene overexpression in R.sphaeroides.In addition,a Prsp_7571-derived synthetic promoter library with strengths ranging from 54%to 3200%of that of the tac promoter,was created on the basis of visualization of red fluorescent protein(RFP)expression in R.sphaeroides.Finally,as a demonstration,the synthetic pathway of Q10 was modulated by the selected promoter T334*in JDW-710;the Q10 yield in shake-flasks increased 28%and the production reached 226 mg/L.These well-characterized promoters should be highly useful in current synthetic biology platforms for refactoring the biosynthetic pathway in R.sphaeroides-derived MCFs.