Month: July 2023

Technology

Effects of mixed oligosaccharides on cucumber growth and its rhizosphere

A group from Institute of Analysis and Testing, Beijing Academy of Science and Technology, Beijing, China, etc. has reported about mixed oligosaccharides-induced changes in bacterial assembly during cucumber growth.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37492253/

it was shown that mixed oligisaccharides (in detail, chitin origosaccharides) effectively delayed cucumber leaf senescence and significantly increased cucumber production, and increased the abundance of Methylorubrum spp. and Lechevalieria spp., although bacterial communities in the rhizosphere and bulk soil remained relatively stable across different treatments and sampling periods.
It is known that Methylobacterium produce growth-promoting metabolites by consuming methanol secreted by plants.

Technology

Comparison of Lectin microarrays from a view point of Quality: LecChip has the world highest Quality

Lectin microarrays are extremely powerful in comparative glycan profiling analysis. Furthermore, by using the evanescent-field fluorescence excitation method for lectin microarray analysis, it is possible to monitor weak interactions between lectins and glycans non-destructively, making it possible to perform comparative glycan profiling at the world’s highest quality level.
For details of this technology, please refer to the following.

Products & Services

As of today, there are some lectin microarrays in the world whose manufacturers are unknown, but there are also several products that are manufactured and sold on a commercial basis (PSS, RayBiotech, etc.).
Therefore, I would like to compare their quality from published images refering to papers that have used lectin microarrays in the past few years.
In conclusion, it can be said that there is no lectin microarray with quality superior to LecChip.

LecChip made by GlycoTechnica（Currently LecChips are manufactured by PSS）

Lectin microarray made by RayBiotech (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10348014/)
Spot sizes are irregular,
Some spots are very small,
There are also irregular spots that are hollow and have ring shapes

Lectin microarray, unknown manufacturer (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6636412/)
Probably this was manufactured with a pin-type spotter,
Spot inside is heavily ununiform

Lectin microarray, unknown manufacturer (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8798758/)
Intense voids in the spots

Lectin microarray, unknown manufacturer (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9772556/)
Spot sizes are irregular,
Intense void in the spots,
Spot inside is strongly ununiform,
Some spots are probaly missing

Lectin microarray, unknown manufacturer (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.637730/full)
Relatively acceptable except for voids in the spots,

Lectin microarray, unknown manufacturer (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7840895/)
Spot sizes are irregular,
Spot inside is heavily ununiform

Nature, Technology

Methanotrophic bacteria can reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promote plant growth at the same time

A group from Institute for Water Research and Department of Microbiology, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain, etc. has reported that methanotrophic bacteria can reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promote plant growth at the same time.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10347144/

Although carbon dioxide (CO2) receives the most attention as a global warming factor, there are other gases to consider, for instance methane (CH4). It is thought that methane is the cause of at least one-fourth of the current gross warming. Atmospheric concentrations of methane are rising rapidly, principally due to anthropogenic contributions, with wastewater treatment facilities, landfills, and livestock considered to be the key producers. The removal of atmospheric methane is needed to offset the steady release of methane, thereby limiting the contribution of this potent greenhouse gas to climate change.

This paper explores the potential of methanotrophic bacteria as plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) to save plants from droughts and also to reduce greenhouse gas, methain, at the same time. Since methane oxidation leads to water production as a byproduct (i.e., CH4 + O2 = [CH2O] + H2O), it was thought that methane-consuming microbes produce water intracellularly and are capable of surviving with a limited external water supply, releasing excess water into its environment.
Actually, the highest values of relative humidity in vermiculite used as a soil were detected in some methanotrophic innoculated samples, with values of 72.29 ~ 62.26%. It is noteworthy that in the absence of methane, its relative humidity was drastically reduced by almost half. These results suggest that the methanotrophic bacteria could efficiently preserve water using methane-derived metabolic water. And interestingly, the PGPR effect was maximized with the same methanotrophic bacteria, which can help water preservation, at the same time.

Technology

Potential glycan biomarkers of Traumatic Brain Injury in children

A group from Medicortex Finland Plc, 20520 Turku, Finland, etc. has reported about potential glycan biomarkers of Traumatic Brain Injury in children.
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/13/13/2181

Using either saliva or urine instead of blood for testing is a potential advantage in clinical practice. This study intended to demonstrate the possibility of using saliva or urine as a source of glycan biomarkers for detecting traumatic brain injury (TBI). Using lectin microarrays, the following differences were found between TBI and Health controls.

Nature

Aberrant serum protein N-glycome patterns with endometrial cancer

A group from Medical Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China, etc. has reported about aberrant serum protein N-glycome patterns with endometrial cancer (EC).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10331720/

In this paper, serum N-glycome patterns of endometrial cancer (EC) were investigated using MALDI-TOF-MS to identify candidate biomarkers.

As a result, the following changes in glycosylation were identified.
(1) The ratio of high-mannose to hybrid glycans increased greatly in EC compared with controls.
(2) The fucosylation decreased significantly in EC.
(3) The sialylation in bi-antennary and tri-antennary glycans increased significantly in EC than in controls, mainly due to the increase of α2,6-linked glycan species.

Nature

Gal-3+ Macrophages and Osteopontin are upregulated in skeletal muscle fibrosis

A group from Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA, etc. has reported about an unique macrophage population associated with skeletal muscle fibrosis.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10328414/

Macrophages have a central role in innate immunity and contribute to tissue homeostasis by regulating tissue repair and remodeling of the extracellular matrix. There are two types of macrophagese, M1 and M2. In acute muscle trauma, proinflammatory M1 macrophages initially infiltrate injured muscle to phagocytose cellular debris and activate muscle stem cells. The subsequent transition to M2 macrophages in the regenerative phase promotes muscle stem cell differentiation and the resolution of inflammation.

In the case of skelectal muscle fibrosis, it was found that gal-3+ macrophages are are chronically activated during muscular dystrophy. Spatial transcriptomic analysis of dystrophic muscle revealed that areas enriched in gal-3+ macrophages and stromal cells expressed genes associated with muscle fibrosis. Furthermore, gal-3+ macrophages colocalize with stromal cells in dystrophic lesions, and osteopontin (Spp1) mediates communication between these cell types.

Technology

Glycan Profiler GlycoStation Reader 2300 (GSR2300) is able to take its glycan profile from only three cells.

A group from Molecular and Cellular Glycoproteomics Research Group, Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology Research Institute, AIST, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, etc. has reported about the high performance of an evanescent-field fluorescence excitation scanner (glycan profiler), GSR2300.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00216-023-04824-2

In this paper, the latest model GSR2300 was called as mGSR1200-CMOS scanner, and the old model GSR1200 was called as mGSR1200 (CCD) scanner.

As a result, it was shown that the evanescent-field fuorescence scanner，GSR2300, showed superior performance compared to GSR1200, which was equipped with a high NA 1× infnity correction optical system and a high-end sCMOS image sensor in the digital binning mode.

In detail, GSR2300 enabled a better analysis with a higher sensitivity, accuracy, and reproducibility, leading to reliable glycomic profles, even with a small number of samples, such as purifed and crude glycoproteins from cells and tissues, in a shorter scanning time (min. 15 seconds). Notably, the lower limit of linearity range of GSR2300 was at least four times higher than that of GSR1200. With this feature, GSR2300 allows for the glycomic profling of only three cells, facilitating the detection of inter- and intra-heterogeneity among cell subpopulations.

It is no exaggeration to say that the world’s highest performance evanecent-filed fluorescence excitation scanner (glycan profiler) has appeared.

Technology

Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 using polyvalent Nano-Lectin

A group from School of Chemistry and Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, etc. has reported about neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 using polyvalent Nano-Lectin.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10302749/

The SARS-CoV-2 S protein trimer is heavily glycosylated with 22 N-linked glycans on each monomer subunit, consisting of oligomannose, hybrid, and complex glycans. Mutations in spike (S) protein epitopes allow SARS-CoV-2 variants to evade antibody responses induced by infection and/or vaccination. In contrast, mutations in glycosylation sites across SARS-CoV-2 variants are very rare, making glycans a potential robust target for developing antivirals. So, it was thought that lectins could be potentially potent antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants.

It is know that DC-SIGN carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) binds specifically to mannose- and fucose-containing glycans found on virus surfaces, including SARS-CoV-2, with low to moderate monovalent affinities (Kd’s: 0.1–3 mM). In order to increase the affinity of the lectin DC-SIGN, the DC-SIGN CRDs were conjugated with Gold nanoparticles (GNP). 13 nm Gold nanoparticles (G13) were synthesized by citrate reduction of H[AuCl4], and first partially PEGylated. Then, these G13s were incubated with linker-labeled DC-SIGN CRDs.

As a result, it was shown that G13-DC-SIGN CRD, as the 1st polyvalent nano-lectin, has broad activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Technology

Mannose- and Mannan-coated fucoidan/chitosan nanoparticles can activate macrophages

A group from LAQV, REQUIMTE, Departamento de Ciências Químicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, Porto, Portugal, etc. has reported that mannose- and mannan-coated fucoidan/chitosan nanoparticles can activate macrophages.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10298651/

In order to activate macrophages, mannose receptors on the macrophage surface were stimulated by drug-free fucoidan/chitosan (F/C) nanoparticles functionalized using mannose (M) and mannan (Mn). The polyelectrolyte complexed nanoparticles were electrostatically self-assembled through Coulombic interactions between cationic chitosan and anionic fucoidan.

A significant increase in CD11b expression on macrophages occurs in the presence of mannan and mannose-coated F/C nanoparticles, similar to exposure to LPS, and has a statistically significant difference compared to the non-stimulated (NS) and uncoated-F/C nanoparticles cases. Thus, it was demonstrated that the carbohydrate-coated nanoparticles elicit the activation of macrophages as observed for the LPS stimulation.

As a result, it was shown that targeting macrophage receptors via the functionalization of drug-free polymeric nanoparticles represents a promising approach to modulate the immune system.