Neuroprotective Effect of the Marine-Derived Compound 11-Dehydrosinulariolide through DJ-1-Related Pathway in In Vitro and In Vivo Models of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and gait impairment. In a previous study, we found that the marine-derived compound 11-dehydrosinulariolide (11-de) upregulates the Akt/PI3K pathway to protect cells against 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-mediated damage. In the present study, SH-SY5Y, zebrafish and rats were used to examine the therapeutic effect of 11-de. The results revealed the mechanism by which 11-de exerts its therapeutic effect: the compound increases cytosolic or mitochondrial DJ-1 expression, and then activates the downstream Akt/PI3K, p-CREB, and Nrf2/HO-1 pathways. Additionally, we found that 11-de could reverse the 6-OHDA-induced downregulation of total swimming distance in a zebrafish model of PD. Using a rat model of PD, we showed that a 6-OHDA-induced increase in the number of turns, and increased time spent by rats on the beam, could be reversed by 11-de treatment. Lastly, we showed that 6-OHDA-induced attenuation in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), a dopaminergic neuronal marker, in zebrafish and rat models of PD could also be reversed by treatment with 11-de. Moreover, the patterns of DJ-1 expression observed in this study in the zebrafish and rat models of PD corroborated the trend noted in previous in vitro studies.     

Molecular weight and structure units of (1→3, 1→4)-β-glucans in dough and bread made from hull-less barley milling fractions

Milling fractions of hull-less barley, and dough and bread with hull-less barley flour (40%) and wheat flour (60%) were analysed in an investigation of how the properties of (1→3, 1→4)-β-glucan were affected by milling, dough formation and bread making. Calcofluor average molecular weight $({\overline{M}}_{\text{cf}})$ and molecular weight distribution and the cellotriosyl/cellotetraosyl ratio of the (1→3, 1→4)-β-glucan were determined. Four different hull-less barley samples were milled to produce straight-run white flours, shorts, bran and whole-meal flours. The molecular weight distributions were unimodal for all fractions, and the $({\overline{M}}_{\text{cf}})$ range was between 117×10⁴ and 188×10⁴. These parameters were similar for all barleys, although $({\overline{M}}_{\text{cf}})$ was somewhat lower in white flour and bran fractions and somewhat higher in shorts and whole-meal. The cellotriosyl/cellotetraosyl ratio (1.5–1.8) was also similar in all fractions. Doughs and breads were made to study how flour type (sifted or whole-meal barley flour), water content, yeast, mixing time and fermentation time affect (1→3, 1→4)-β-glucan. The molecular weight distribution of (1→3, 1→4)-β-glucan was polymodal with two or three populations for all doughs and breads, and the $({\overline{M}}_{\text{cf}})$ decreased with increasing mixing and fermentation time. These results indicated that (1→3, 1→4)-β-glucan was degraded by endogenous β-glucanases in the barley and/or wheat flour. The molecular weight was not significantly affected by bread-baking and other factors. After mixing and fermentation the cellotriosyl/cellotetraosyl ratio was about 1.7–1.8 and was thus not significantly different from that of the flour blends. Thus to retain high molecular weight (1→3, 1→4)-β-glucan, which is important for its cholesterol-lowering effect, it is thus important to keep the mixing and fermentation time as short as possible when baking hull-less barley bread.     

Decomposition of (1–3,1–4)-β-Glucan and Expression of the (1–3,1–4) -β-Glucanase Gene in Rice Stems during Ripening

Abstract

To elucidate the possible participation of hemicellulose decomposition in lodging resistance, we studied the change of hemicellulose and cellulose content in the stems of rice during the ripening stage by methylation analysis and the expression of related genes by Northern blotting. In the rice stem in ripening stage, content of (1-3,1-4)-β-glucan, a component of hemicellulose, decreased markedly although the content of arabinoxylan, a major component of hemicellulose, and cellulose showed little change during the same growth period. On the other hand, expression of the Gns 1 gene, which may encode (1-3,1-4) -β-glucanase that catalyzes the degradation of (1-3,14) -β-glucan, increased sharply in the stem. The mechanism of decomposition of (1-3,1-4) -β-glucan in rice stem and the possible association with lodging resistance is discussed.     

A nucleotide substitution at the 5′ splice site of intron 1 of rice HEADING DATE 1(HD1) gene homolog in foxtail millet,broadly found in landraces from Europe and Asia

We investigated genetic variation of a rice HEADING DATE 1(HD1) homolog in foxtail millet.First, we searched for a rice HD1 homolog in a foxtail millet genome sequence and designed primers to amplify the entire coding sequence of the gene. We compared full HD1 gene sequences of 11 accessions(including Yugu 1, a Chinese cultivar used for genome sequencing) from various regions in Europe and Asia, found a nucleotide substitution at a putative splice site of intron 1, and designated the accessions with the nucleotide substitution as carrying a splicing variant. We verified by RT-PCR that this single nucleotide substitution causes aberrant splicing of intron 1. We investigated the geographical distribution of the splicing variant in 480 accessions of foxtail millet from various regions of Europe and Asia and part of Africa by d CAPS and found that the splicing variant is broadly distributed in Europe and Asia. Differences of heading times between accessions with wild type allele of the HD1 gene and those with the splicing variant allele were unclear. We also investigated variation in 13 accessions of ssp. viridis, the wild ancestor, and the results suggested that the wild type is predominant in the wild ancestor.