Intensive research on the effectiveness of chemoattractants has been widely explored to improve the feed qualities in expanding crustacean farming. Taste preferences in slipper lobster remained unknown despite their significant contribution to the lobster fisheries. Chemoattractants allow better performance in aquaculture species by increasing food attractiveness and palatability. Amino acids (AA) have been leading in previous research on crustacean feeding behavior. Given that slipper lobster possesses chemoreceptors to detect and orient towards food, this study investigated an approach to identify the AA with the most potent chemoattractant in eliciting a response from slipper lobster. Behavioral assays were performed to evaluate the responses of slipper lobster Thenus orientalis (carapace length, 52.34 ± 1.52 mm) on 15 crystalline AA and three derivatives of AA (DAA) at three concentrations between 10-1 and 10-3 M as test substances (TS). Meretrix sp. extract was used as a positive control and clean filtered seawater as a negative control. The behavioral responses of 14 T. orientalis were evaluated based on their antennular flicking rate, third maxillipeds activity, and substrate probing by the pereiopods. T. orientalis responded to the solutions of single AA down to a concentration of 10-3 M, excluding histidine and serine. The behavioral activity displayed by T. orientalis increased with the TS concentrations. L-glutamic acid monosodium salt monohydrate, betaine, and glycine solutions elicited the most behavioral responses, whereas histidine exhibited the lowest behavioral responses. Conclusively, L-glutamic acid monosodium salt monohydrate, betaine, and glycine can be potential chemoattractants for T. orientalis.
The measurement of α-dicarbonyls and other degradation products of sugars has become important in view of their toxicity. Although there are several methods used for their analysis, most require long reaction times to form UV absorbing or fluorescent derivatives and the nonpolar nature of commonly used derivatives necessitates relatively high concentrations of organic solvents for elution in reverse phase liquid chromatography. The present method describes the use of Girard-T reagent in a simple, one step derivatization of α-dicarbonyls and conjugated aldehydes and analysis using ion-pair reverse phase liquid chromatography. The limit of detection was in the range of 0.06-0.09 μM (4-12 ng/mL) for glyoxal, methylglyoxal, 3-deoxyglucosone and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural with good linear response and reproducibility using UV detection. The hydrazone derivatives were stable for several days in solution. The method was used to study degradation of several sugars and quantification of the target α-dicarbonyls and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in several soft drinks.
Texture and biochemical changes, specifically in moisture, protein content and amino acid profile were studied throughout the molt cycle of Panaeus monodon. This study was initiated to investigate changes that may occur in mass and tissue composition during different molting stages. Molting of Penaeus monodon are classified into 3 main stages; postmolt, intermolt and premolt. Result of biochemical analysis, shows that moisture varies from 78.02-80.88%, indicating a maximum value during postmolt and minimum value during premolt. Total protein content was found to be higher during intermolt (23.48%) and postmolt (22.27%) compared to premolt (23.10%). The result of SDS-PAGE electrophoresis shows a higher intensity of protein band during intermolt which corresponds to higher protein content. Thus, this electrophoresis method is useful as an alternative to determine different stages of shrimp molting. This is based on intensity of the protein band which is referring to protein content of the shrimp at its different stages. The amino acid profile showed that arginine, alanine, glutamic acid, glycine, lycine, and thronine increased during premolt whilst isoleucine and phenylalanine higher during postmolt. Aspartic acid and histidine was higher in intermolt than in premolt and postmolt. Texture analysis carried out give an elastic modulus value that is high during premolt compared to postmolt and intermolt. There are significant changes in texture and biochemical composition through elastic modules value and protein composition of Penaeus monodon during each stages of moltcycle.
Electroacupuncture and moxibustion are traditional Chinese medicine practices that exert therapeutic effects through stimulation of specific meridian acupoints. However, the biological basis of the therapies has been difficult to establish; thus the current practices still rely on ancient TCM references. Here, we used a rat model to study perturbations in cortex, liver, and stomach metabolome and plasma hormones following electroacupuncture or moxibustion treatment on either stomach meridian or gallbladder meridian acupoints. All treatment groups, regardless of meridian and mode of treatment, showed perturbation in cortex metabolome and increased phenylalanine, tyrosine, and branched-chain amino acids in liver. In addition, electroacupuncture was found to increase ATP in cortex, creatine, and dimethylglycine in stomach and GABA in liver. On the other hand, moxibustion increased plasma enkephalin concentration, as well as betaine and fumarate concentrations in stomach. Furthermore, we had observed meridian-specific changes including increased N-acetyl-aspartate in liver and 3-hydroxybutyrate in stomach for gallbladder meridian stimulation and increased noradrenaline concentration in blood plasma following stimulation on stomach meridian. In summary, the current findings may provide insight into the metabolic basis of electroacupuncture and moxibustion, which may contribute towards new application of acupoint stimulation.
We investigated the role of protein arginine methylation (PAM) in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer cells through pharmacological intervention. Tamoxifen (TAM) or adenosine dialdehyde (ADOX), independently, triggered cell cycle arrest and down-regulated PAM, as reduced protein arginine methyltransferase1 (PRMT1) mRNA and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels. Synergistic effect of these compounds elicited potent anti-cancer effect. However, reduction in ADMA was not proportionate with the compound-induced down-regulation of PRMT1 mRNA. We hypothesized that the disproportionate effect is due to the influence of the compounds on other methyltransferases, which catalyze the arginine dimethylation reaction and the diversity in the degree of drug-protein interaction among these methyltransferases. In silico analyses revealed that independently, ADOX or TAM, binds with phosphatidylethanolamine-methyltransferase (PEMT) or betaine homocysteine-methyl transferase (BHMT); and that the binding affinity of ADOX with PEMT or BHMT is prominent than TAM. These observations suggest that in breast cancer, synergistic effect of ADOX + TAM elicits impressive protective function by regulating PAM; and plausibly, restoration of normal enzyme activities of methyltransferases catalyzing arginine dimethylation could have clinical benefits.