Association between the microbiomes of tonsil and saliva samples isolated from pediatric patients subjected to tonsillectomy for the treatment of tonsillar hyperplasia

Oral microbes have the capacity to spread throughout the gastrointestinal system and are strongly associated with multiple diseases. Given that tonsils are located between the oral cavity and the laryngopharynx at the gateway of the alimentary and respiratory tracts, tonsillar tissue may also be affected by microbiota from both the oral cavity (saliva) and the alimentary tract. Here, we analyzed the distribution and association of the microbial communities in the saliva and tonsils of Korean children subjected to tonsillectomy because of tonsil hyperplasia (n = 29). The microbiome profiles of saliva and tonsils were established via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Based on the alpha diversity indices, the microbial communities of the two groups showed high similarities. According to Spearman’s ranking correlation analysis, the distribution of Treponema, the causative bacterium of periodontitis, in saliva and tonsils was found to have a significant positive correlation. Two representative microbes, Prevotella in saliva and Alloprevotella in tonsils, were negatively correlated, while Treponema 2 showed a strong positive correlation between saliva and tonsils. Taken together, strong similarities in the microbial communities of the tonsils and saliva are evident in terms of diversity and composition. The saliva microbiome is expected to significantly affect the tonsil microbiome. Furthermore, we suggest that our study creates an opportunity for tonsillar microbiome research to facilitate the development of novel microbiome-based therapeutic strategies.Subject terms: Comparative genomics, Metagenomics     

Zeb1 for RCP-induced oral cancer cell invasion and its suppression by resveratrol

Rab coupling protein (RCP) is upregulated in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and is correlated with the progression and survival of patients. However, the role of RCP in one of the aggressive types of HNSCC, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), remains elusive. In the present study, we identified the important role of Zeb1 in RCP-induced OSCC epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and invasion. RCP induces Zeb1 expression, and silencing Zeb1 expression significantly inhibits RCP-induced OSCC invasion. In addition, Zeb1 upregulates MT1-MMP expression to promote OSCC EMT and invasion. Furthermore, we observed that the β1 integrin/EGFR/β-catenin signaling cascade mediates RCP-induced Zeb1 expression to promote OSCC invasion. Notably, we provide evidence that resveratrol (REV) strongly inhibits RCP-induced Zeb1 expression through blocking β1 integrin endosome recycling and EGFR activation, leading to suppression of RCP-induced OSCC invasion, demonstrating the important role of RCP in OSCC invasion and its reversion by REV. Collectively, the present study provides evidence for the first time that RCP aggravates OSCC invasion through increasing Zeb1 expression and subsequently upregulating MT1-MMP expression and that this process is reversed by REV, providing novel biomarkers and indicating the therapeutic potential of REV in OSCC.Subject terms: Oral cancer, Cell invasion     

Bi2Sn2O7 nanoparticles attached to SnO2 nanowires and used as catalysts

We introduce a simple method of synthesizing SnO₂ nanowire-Bi₂Sn₂O₇ nanoparticle composites based on the principle that SnO₂ nanowires can be grown by using Bi as catalysts. A mixture of Bi and Sn powders was thermally evaporated, and the effects of growth temperature on the morphology and structure of the products were investigated. We obtained Bi₂Sn₂O₇-tipped SnO₂ nanowires at 700 °C through a vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) process, whereas particle-free SnO₂ nanowires were produced at higher temperatures. We have investigated the oxygen sensing properties of the as-synthesized product.     

Lipase-Catalyzed Transesterification of Rapeseed Oil for Biodiesel Production with tert-Butanol

Biodiesel is a fatty acid alkyl ester that can be derived from any vegetable oil or animal fat via the process of transesterification. It is a renewable, biodegradable, and nontoxic fuel. In this paper, we have evaluated the efficacy of a transesterification process for rapeseed oil with methanol in the presence of an enzyme and tert-butanol, which is added to ameliorate the negative effects associated with excess methanol. The application of Novozym 435 was determined to catalyze the transesterification process, and a conversion of 76.1% was achieved under selected conditions (reaction temperature 40 °C, methanol/oil molar ratio 3:1, 5% (w/w) Novozym 435 based on the oil weight, water content 1% (w/w), and reaction time of 24h). It has also been determined that rapeseed oil can be converted to fatty acid methyl ester using this system, and the results of this study contribute to the body of basic data relevant to the development of continuous enzymatic processes.     

Controlled growth of ZnO nanorod templates and TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanotube arrays by using porous TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> film as mask

Silver nanoparticles well dispersed in a spherical Poly(vinylpyrollidone)(PVP) matrix were simply prepared by spray pyrolysis of aqueous solutions of AgNO₃ and PVP without any reducing agent. Highly monodisperse silver particles were obtained above the initial mass ratio of PVP/AgNO₃ ∼ 1 and in a certain narrow temperature range. Below the critical mass ratio the silver particles grew to larger ones polydispersely. As the ratio increased above it, they became smaller maintaining their monodispersity. The use of PVP considerably decreased the reduction temperature of the silver nitrate from 450 °C to 250 °C under the same pyrolysis conditions, due to its reducing nature. As the pyrolysis temperature increased above the decomposition temperature of PVP, the silver particles in the matrix grew to merge to a single particle while their crystallite size did not increase as much. The spherical assemblies of the silver nanoparticles were hardly disengaged even after severe washing off the matrix materials. The mechanism of the nanoparticle growth was also discussed.     

Coherent electronic and nuclear dynamics for charge transfer in 1-ethyl-4-(carbomethoxy)pyridinium iodide

Although polaronic interactions and states abound in charge transfer processes and reactions, quantitative and separable determination of electronic and nuclear relaxation is still challenging. The present paper employs the amplitudes, polarizations, and phases of four-wave mixing signals to obtain unique dynamical information on relaxation processes following photoinduced charge transfer between iodide and 1-ethyl-4-(carbomethoxy)pyridinium ions. Pump-probe signal amplitudes reveal the coherent coupling of an underdamped 115 cm(-1) nuclear mode to the charge transfer excitation. Assignments of this recurrence to intramolecular vibrational modes of the acceptor and to modulation of the intermolecular donor-acceptor distance are discussed on the basis of a high-level density functional theory normal-mode analysis and previously observed wave packet dynamics of solvated molecular iodine. Nuclear relaxation of the acceptor induces sub-picosecond decay of the pump-probe polarization anisotropy from an initial value of 0.4 to an asymptotic value of -0.05. Electronic structure calculations suggest that relaxation along the torsional coordinate of the ethyl group is the origin of the anisotropy decay. Electric-field-resolved transient grating (EFR-TG) signal fields are obtained by spectral interferometry with a diffractive optic based interferometer. These measurements show that the signal phase and amplitude possess similar dynamics. Model calculations are used to demonstrate how the EFR-TG signal phase yields unique information on transient material resonances located outside the laser pulse spectrum. This effect can be rationalized in that the real and imaginary parts of the nonlinear polarization are related by the Kramers-Kronig transformation, which allows the dispersive component of the polarization response to exhibit spectral sensitivity over a larger frequency range than that defined by the absorption bandwidth.     

Enantioselective synthesis of (R)- and (S)-alpha-alkylcysteines via phase-transfer catalytic alkylation

We reported efficient enantioselective synthetic methodologies for (R)-alpha-alkylcysteines and (S)-alpha-alkylcysteines. The phase-transfer catalytic alkylation of 2-phenyl-2-thiazoline-4-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester and 2-o-biphenyl-2-thiazoline-4-carboxylic acid tert-butyl ester, in the presence of chiral catalysts (1 or 2), gave the corresponding alkylated products, which could be hydrolyzed to provide (R)-alpha-alkylcysteines (67->99% ee) and (S)-alpha-alkylcysteines (66-88% ee), respectively.     

Kinetic analysis for formation of Cd1-xZnxSe solid-solution nanocrystals

Kinetic analysis on the nanocrystal solid-solution formation was performed by heat treating CdSe/ZnSe core/shell nanocrystals, synthesized via a typical TOP/TOPO approach, at different temperatures for different time periods. X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak shifts in Cd1-xZnxSe cores according to the solid-solution treatments were monitored and used for the estimation of the lattice parameter change. The degree of solid-solution formation was determined considering the compositional variation in Cd1-xZnxSe cores, which was obtained from the Vegard's law. The degree of solid-solution formation (x) was applied to Jander analysis, and an Arrhenius-type plot was produced using the slopes of Jander plots. The activation energy for solid-solution formation was determined as approximately 152 kJ/mol, which evidently indicates that the diffusion of Zn2+ ions in the CdSe-ZnSe system is the governing mechanism for the Cd1-xZnxSe solid-solution formation. The Jander equation to predict the solid-solution formation kinetics for the CdSe/ZnSe core/shell systems was completed using the reaction rate constant (k).     

Separation of tricomponent protein mixtures with triblock nanorods

Two-component triblock magnetic nanorods with gold end blocks and nickel interior blocks have been synthesized and used as affinity templates for the simultaneous and efficient separation of a three-component protein mixture. The gold blocks were selectively functionalized with 11-amino-1-undecanethiol, and then glutaraldehyde was used to covalently attach nitrostreptavidin to them. His-tagged proteins bind to the nickel block and biotin-tagged proteins bind to the functionalized gold ends, allowing one to separate a mixture of three proteins with a single material. Each surface-bound protein can be released selectively using imidazole for the His-tagged protein and biotin for the biotinylated protein.