柚皮素的提取及其抗癌作用研究进展

指出了柚皮素属于二氢黄酮类天然化合物,是柚皮苷的苷元,具有重要的抗炎、抗菌、抗氧化、抗癌等生物学效应。柚皮素的提取方法有酸水解法、酶提取法、超临界CO_2提取法。柚皮素能作用于多种癌细胞,抑制其生长、增殖、迁移,并促进其凋亡,表现出抗癌活性。综述了柚皮素的提取和作用于不同类型的癌细胞的抗癌分子机制,并展望了量子化学技术在柚皮素抗癌作用靶向点的相互作用理论计算研究的应用前景。     

雄激素和氢化可的松对山羊附睾头上皮细胞增殖的影响

为研究雄激素和氢化可的松对山羊附睾上皮细胞生长的作用模式,本研究利用酶标仪检测附睾头部上皮细胞增殖情况,实时荧光定量PCR及ELISA检测雄激素受体(AR)的表达,检测睾酮与氢化可的松对山羊附睾上皮细胞体外增殖的作用以及对AR表达的影响。结果表明:100nmol/L睾酮对附睾头上皮细胞增殖的促进效应最高且与对照组差异极显著(P0.01),200nmol/L氢化可的松促进附睾头上皮细胞增殖效应最佳并与对照组差异显著(P0.05),前者的效应明显且可以被AR阻断剂阻断;睾酮和氢化可的松对附睾头上皮细胞增殖表现为协同作用;100nmol/L睾酮与200nmol/L氢化可的松均使附睾头上皮细胞的AR mRNA和蛋白表达量上调,与对照组差异显著(P0.05),且二者共存时附睾头上皮细胞的AR mRNA和蛋白表达量极显著高于对照组(P0.01)。本研究表明睾酮和氢化可的松对附睾头上皮细胞体外增殖均有促进作用,呈明显的浓度依赖性,且二者之间存在协同作用,这为进一步研究附睾上皮细胞增殖及功能的调节机理提供了基础。     

白背飞虱海藻糖合成酶基因调控几丁质合成的功能

【背景】 海藻糖合成酶（trehalose-6-phosphate synthase,TPS）在海藻糖合成中起着重要作用,其能够介导海藻糖代谢调控几丁质合成及昆虫发育。【目的】 本研究通过抑制白背飞虱（Sogatella furcifera）TPS的表达,检测RNAi沉默SfTPS效果,观察白背飞虱蜕皮状况,测定几丁质含量及几丁质合成酶（chitin synthase,CHS）基因的定量表达,探究SfTPS在白背飞虱几丁质合成中的潜在调控作用。【方法】 利用注射法RNAi技术,以实验室饲养多年的白背飞虱种群为试验材料,体外合成两个SfTPS（SfTPS1和SfTPS2）与GFP的双链RNA（dsRNA）后,分别注射到白背飞虱体内抑制TPS。首先,在dsRNA注射后48 h采用Trizol法提取白背飞虱的总RNA,反转录并合成第一链DNA后,采用实时荧光定量PCR（qRT-PCR）技术检测TPS表达沉默情况,以确定RNAi的效果;其次,测定dsRNA注射后48 h和72 h白背飞虱整体几丁质含量并对翅发育畸形虫体进行拍照;最后,采用qRT-PCR技术检测白背飞虱SfCHS在mRNA水平上的相对表达量变化,分析SfTPS1和SfTPS2在几丁质合成调控中的作用。【结果】 与注射dsGFP相比较,dsSfTPS1和dsSfTPS2的RNA注射后,能够促进SfCHS表达量上升,几丁质含量增加,白背飞虱成虫翅出现畸形。qRT-PCR结果显示,单个SfTPS dsRNA注射后本基因的表达能够被极显著抑制,与注射dsGFP相比,不足对照组表达量的30%,且单个SfTPS的dsRNA注射后,另外一个SfTPS表达同样显著下降;dsSfTPS1和dsSfTPS2注射后,白背飞虱成虫翅均为长翅,出现一定比例的翅卷曲等畸形情况,其后48 h和72 h产生一定的死亡率;几丁质含量检测发现,SfTPS1和SfTPS2的dsRNA注射后72 h,几丁质含量显著上升。与注射dsGFP对照组相比较,SfCHS1与SfCHS1a表达量在dsSfTPS1注射后72 h极显著上升,在dsSfTPS2注射后48 h和72 h时极显著上升,且dsSfTPS1和dsSfTPS2注射后SfCHS1b的表达极显著增加。【结论】 SfTPS能够通过调控白背飞虱几丁质合成酶基因的表达来控制几丁质的合成,研究结果有助于评价SfTPS在白背飞虱等昆虫中的调控作用并作为潜在控害靶标,为进一步开展和筛选有效的海藻糖合成酶抑制剂控制白背飞虱等害虫提供理论依据。     

Chilling requirements of Paeonia cultivars

Dormant second year potted plants of Paeonia ‘Coral Sunset’, ‘Monsieur Jules Elie’, and ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ were placed into three chilling regimes (constant 1, 4, or 7°C) for different durations (3, 6, 9, or 12 weeks) to ascertain their chilling requirements for shoot and flower production. Chilling was followed by forcing for up to 5 weeks at 18°C, then plants were maintained in a controlled greenhouse until flowering had finished. Mean number of shoots and flowers per plant were recorded and the time taken for shoots to sprout was calculated.Control plants (forced immediately without chilling) produced no shoots or flowers. For all cultivars, the proportion of plants that sprouted, and the mean number of shoots and flowers increased as plants were subjected to colder chilling temperatures, or longer chilling durations. However, there were no significant within-cultivar differences between different treatments of 9 weeks or more. The time taken for sprouting to occur after the completion of each chilling treatment consistently decreased as the duration of the chilling treatment increased. In most cases, lower chilling temperatures lead to more rapid sprouting once plants were placed in the 18°C forcing conditions.When a simple model was fitted where the chilling temperature and duration of each treatment was described by a cumulative normal curve rising from zero to some maximum value (or potential) once adequate chilling had been received, we found that temperatures of 4 and 7°C provided only 83 and 59%, respectively, of the chilling accumulated per unit time at 1°C. ‘Coral Sunset’, an interspecific hybrid early flowering type, required the greatest amount of chilling to sprout consistently, while ‘Sarah Bernhardt’, a very late flowering type, required the least. Of the three cultivars, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ also required the least amount of chilling to achieve its potential shoot and flower numbers, while ‘Monsieur Jules Elie’, a mid-season flowering type, required the most chilling to achieve the same end for these two variables. This suggests that the response to spring temperatures as well as chilling influences the time of flowering.     

Shikonin inhibits neuronal apoptosis induced by OGD through targeting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway

AIM: To explore the effect of shikonin on rat primary cortical neurons in oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced injury model.METHODS: The neurons were pretreated with shikonin at different concentrations (0.02, 0.2, 2 and 20 μmol/L) followed by treatment with OGD. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay and fluorescein diacetate/propidium iodide (FDA/PI) double staining were used to detect neuronal viability and apoptosis, and then the optimal concentration of shikonin was determined. LY294002 (PI3K/Akt signaling pathway inhibitor, 1 μmol/L) was added before the addition of shikonin, and the protein level of p-Akt (Ser473) in the neurons was determined by Wes-tern blot. LDH release assay and FDA/PI double staining were also used to detect neuronal viability and apoptosis.RESULTS: A certain concentration (0.2~20 μmol/L) of shikonin increased the viability of impaired neurons (P<0.05) and the protein level of p-Akt (Ser473) in the neurons (P<0.05). The effect of shikonin on neuronal p-Akt (Ser473) levels and the cell death were blocked by LY294002 (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: A certain concentration of shikonin reduces OGD-induced apoptosis of rat primary cortical neurons by activating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.     

Role of TLR4-TRPC6 in LPS-induced NF-κB P65 expression and nuclear translocation in airway epithelial 16HBE cells

AIM: To investigate the role of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and transient receptor potential channel 6 (TRPC6) signaling pathway in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) P65 expression and nuclear translocation in airway epithelial cells (16HBE) for supplementing the mechanism for airway inflammation. METHODS: After stimulating the 16HBE cells with LPS at 1 mg/L for 0, 0.5, 2, 6, 12 and 24 h, the expression of NF-κB P65 at mRNA and protein levels in the 16HBE cells were determined by RT-PCR and Western blot respectively, and the nuclear translocation of NF-κB P65 was detected by immunocytochemical staining method. The effects of TLR4 inhibitor CLI-095 at 5 μmol/L and TRPC6 agonist Hyp9 at 10 μmol/L on LPS (1 mg/L)-induced NF-κB P65 expression and nuclear translocation in the 16HBE cells were determined by RT-PCR, Western blot and immunocytochemical staining. RESULTS: LPS increased the mRNA and protein expression of NF-κB P65 and nuclear translocation in the 16HBE cells(P<0.05). TLR4 inhibitor CLI-095 reduced the mRNA and protein expression of NF-κB P65 and nuclear translocation induced by LPS, while Hyp9 enhanced the mRNA and protein expression of NF-κB P65 and nuclear translocation induced by LPS in the 16HBE cells(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: LPS induces the expression and nuclear translocation of NF-κB P65 in the 16HBE cells via TLR4-TRPC6 signaling pathway.     

Effect of DNA methylation of miR-30a-5p promoter region on hepatic injury induced by homocysteine

AIM: To explore the role of DNA methylation of microRNA-30a-5p(miR-30a-5p) promoter region in hepatic injury. METHODS: Four-week-old normal mice and cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) single gene knockout mice were used and divided into normal (CBS^+/+, n=12) group and single gene knockout (CBS^+/-, n=12) group, and the mice were fed with high methionine diet for 8 weeks. HL-7702 hepatic cells were routinely cultured in vitro and divided into control group, homocysteine (Hcy) group and Hcy+5-azacytidne (AZC) group. Serum Hcy, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels were measured by automatic biochemical analyzer. The levels of ALT and AST in the cells culture medium were determined by the microplate method. Hepatic injury in the mice were observed with HE staining. Cell viability staining was used to measure the viability of hepatocytes. RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression of miR-30a-5p in the liver tissues and hepatocytes. The correlation between the expression of miR-30a-5p and serum ALT and AST levels was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. DNA methylation level of miR-30a-5p promoter region in the liver tissues and hepatocytes was detected by nested landing methylation-specific PCR (nMS-PCR). RESULTS: Compared with the CBS^+/+ mice, the serum levels of Hcy, ALT and AST in the CBS^+/- mice were significantly increased (P < 0.05). HE staining showed the hepatocyte swelling and nuclear fragmentation and dissolution. The expression level of miR-30a-5p in the liver tissues was decreased (P < 0.01). Besides, the expression level of miR-30a-5p in the mice was negatively correlated with serum ALT and AST levels (r²=0.4557, P=0.0003, r²=0.4626, P=0.0003), and the DNA methylation of miR-30a-5p promoter region was increased (P < 0.01). In the HL-7702 cells, compared with control group,the ALT and AST levels were increased in Hcy group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and the cell viability was remarkablely decreased. DNA methylation of miR-30a-5p promoter region was increased (P < 0.01), which decreased after treated the cells with AZC (P < 0.05), while the expression level of miR-30a-5p in the cells was increased (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Hypermethylation of miR-30a-5p promoter region may play an important role in hepatic injury.     

Salvianolate attenuates oxidative stress injury of human endothelial EA.hy926 cells induced by hydrogen peroxide

AIM: To investigate the effect of salvianolate on oxidative damage induced by hydrogen peroxide in human endothelial EA.hy926 cells.METHODS: EA.hy926 cells were cultured in vitro and divided into the following groups:control group, damage group, and anti-damage groups (salvianolate+damage groups). The cell viability was measured by CCK-8 assay. The migration ability of the EA.hy926 cells was detected by Transwell assay. The content of nitric oxide (NO) in the culture supernatant of the EA.hy926 cells was examined. The levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were detected by ELISA. The apoptosis,mitochondrial membrane potential and intracellular superoxide anion content of the EA.hy926 cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. The protein levels of caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bax, NF-κB and p53 were determined by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with damage group, the viability of EA.hy926 cells pretreated with salvianolate at different concentrations was significantly increased (P<0.05). The apoptotic rate was significantly decreased (P<0.05). Savianolate enhanced the migration ability of the cells. The levels of VEGF, NO and mitochondrial transmembrane potential were increased (P<0.05), and the intracellular ROS level was significantly decreased (P<0.05). The protein levels of NF-κB, p53, Bax and cleaved caspase-3 were significantly decreased, and the protein level of Bcl-2 was markedly increased(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Savianolate reduces the damage of EA.hy926 cells by hydrogen peroxide exposure, and its mechanism may be related to the blocking of NF-κB signaling pathway.