Soluble Klotho protein suppresses THP-1-derived foam cell formation

AIMTo investigate the role of soluble Klotho protein in THP-1-derived foam cell formation. METHODSTHP-1 monocytes were induced into macrophages by treatment with 160 nmol/L phorbol myristate acetate for 48 h, and then were divided into 6 groups: negative control group (THP-1-derived macrophages), positive control group [THP-1-derived foam cells induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) for 48 h], and 25, 50, 100 and 200 μg/L soluble Klotho protein groups (THP-1-derived macrophages pretreated with soluble Klotho protein at the indicat?ed concentraions for 2 h and then induced by ox-LDL for 48 h). Lipid droplets in cytoplasm were observed by oil red O staining. The cholesterol outflow rate was detected by scintillation counting technique. The content of intracellular total cholesterol, free cholesterol and cholesterol ester was detected by enzyme fluorescence analysis. The expression of acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase 1 （ACAT1） and ATP-binding cassette transport?er A1 (ABCA1) at mRNA and protein levels was determined by RT-qPCR and Western blot, respectively. RESULTSOil red O staining and lipid mass quantification showed that THP-1-derived foam cell formation was dose-dependently suppressed by soluble Klotho protein. The cholesterol efflux rate of THP-1-derived foam cells was increased by soluble Klotho protein in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). In addition, soluble Klotho protein decreased the expression of ACAT1 and increased the expression of ABCA1 in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The soluble Klotho protein inhibits THP-1-derived foam cell formation in a dose-dependent manner by down-regulating the expression of ACAT1 and up-regulating the expression of ABCA1.     

梨CRK家族基因及其腐烂病菌侵染响应成员的鉴定

在植物响应逆境过程中,半胱氨酸富集类受体激酶（Cysteine-rich receptor like kinase,CRK）起重要的调控作用。本研究中以结构域Stress-antifung（Pfam：PF01657）和Pkinase（Pfam：PF00069）的保守序列为种子序列,在全基因组范围鉴定了梨（Pryus spp.）CRK家族成员。此外,对其蛋白理化性质、进化特征、基因在染色体上的位置、顺式作用元件（cis-acting regulatory element,cis-element）和表达模式进行了分析。共获得32个CRK家族成员,其氨基酸数、分子量和等电点分别介于440 ~ 1 217、48.90 ~ 137.02 kD和5.31 ~ 8.59,主要位于质膜。根据进化分析,将来自梨、拟南芥、苹果、番茄和水稻的156个CRK分为6个亚组,梨CRK主要分布于亚组Ⅳ,Ⅴ和Ⅵ。梨CRK中存在5个串联重复的基因簇,共包含了20个成员。此外,该基因家族所有成员的启动子区域都存在多个响应激素和逆境信号的cis-element。接种腐烂病菌Valsa pyri（Vp）后,杜梨（Pyrus betulifolia,抗病）和‘早酥’梨（Pyrus bretschneideri,感病）中分别发现8个和10个CRK发生了差异表达,6个基因在两种资源中都发生了差异表达。差异基因中,Pbr001477.1和Pbr000205.4在抗、感病资源中都显著上调,而其他基因的表达量在两种资源中呈现不同的变化趋势。     

Evolution of spatial structure patterns of city networks in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from the perspective of corporate pledge linkage

The pledge of stock rights is a method for measuring the external horizontal connections of enterprises, which is more suitable to represent the city network compared with the vertical connections of enterprises. Meanwhile, it is greatly significant to express the relationships of regional spaces. The paper characterizes and explores the evolution of urban spatial structure with complex network research methods to enrich the relevant works on city networks in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2011 to 2017. The results are as follows: First, from 2011 to 2017, the pledge of stock rights among cities was enhanced significantly, and the trend of the city networks' characteristics become strengthened and more complicated. Second, cities in the Yangtze River Delta have relatively high connection values, however, cities in the western area are holding peripheral positions within the city network. Third, due to the advantages of economic agglomeration and radiation, the provincial capital have become the core nodes in the city network. Fourth, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing have dominant positions within city networks in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Particularly, Shanghai, as one of the leading financial centers in China, has a growing influence on other cities and gradually evolved into a regional growth pole city and the first core city.     

Spatio-temporal dynamics of technical efficiency in China’s specialized markets: A stochastic frontier analysis approach

China’s specialized markets as a special form of bottom-up capital agglomeration have played a key role in fostering regional development. It once exhibited positive externalities with high efficiencies. However, given the rapid proliferation of specialized markets and the penetration of E-commerce, their advantages may have shifted and the understanding of this shift is limited. The paper explores the spatio-temporal dynamics of China’s specialized markets in terms of technical efficiency. Based on turnover data from Statistical Yearbooks of China Commodity Exchange Market from 2000 to 2016, technical efficiencies in specialized markets are measured by a Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) approach using panel data. The results show that (a) the technical efficiencies in China’s specialized markets are significantly divergent in space over time; (b) labor input has notable effect on efficiency increase, while capital input has no significant effect; (c) informatization level, cluster size, and degree of market openness are identified to have a positive effect on specialized market’s technical efficiency. This paper argues that specialized markets should be taken seriously in the cluster evolution research. The role of proximity and the bounded links between specialized markets and their local clusters is the key to understanding their changing forms, performances, and trajectories.     

Rural land reforms and villagers' preferences for urban settlement: A case study of Shandong Province,China

Based on surveys conducted in Shandong Province, China, this paper examined the interests of rural residents to move to and settle in cities, as well as the factors that motivate or discourage their potential settlement changes. Results of the binary logistic regression analysis showed that villagers' urban settlement preference was related to sociodemographic factors such as gender, age, and occupation. Overall, the separation of the “three rights” (collective ownership, land contract right, and land use right) associated with rural land has strengthened the urban settlement preference of rural residents. Nevertheless, we did not find significant association between land transfer and the preference for urban settlement. For villagers who expressed interest in urban settlement, better job opportunities, education opportunities, and higher income are the leading “pull” factors that would attract them to cities. The attachment to rural life, high living costs, and high housing prices in cities were the top concerns for villagers who did not want to move. The study also found that villagers' desired urban destinations changed with the changing land parameters, indicating that the outcomes of China's rural land reforms may not be aligned well with the policy goals laid in the country's urbanization and rural development plans.     

Effects and mechanisms of rural E-commerce clusters on households' entrepreneurship behavior in China

The vigorous development of rural E-commerce reveals a powerful pattern of economic clustering. Recently, many Taobao Villages have formed in more than 80% of the provinces in rural China, and increasingly households are using E-commerce for entrepreneurial innovation in Taobao Villages. However, the effect and mechanism of the Taobao Village model on households' entrepreneurship behavior remain unclear. Using survey data and structural equation modeling, we analyzed the factors of households' entrepreneurship behavior and investigated the mechanism of rural E-commerce clustering on the households' entrepreneurship behavior in Taobao Villages. The results show that: (1) rural E-commerce clusters stimulated entrepreneurial enthusiasm and increased entrepreneurial behavior; (2) local resource endowment, entrepreneurial atmosphere and culture, threshold for entrepreneurship, and demonstrative leadership had significant positive effects on households' entrepreneurship behavior; (3) external environmental support, including government, and external business environment support had significant positive effects on E-commerce development. All these results indicate that rural E-commerce clusters promote households' entrepreneurship behavior.     

Quantitative trait loci mapping for yield-related traits under low and high planting densities in maize (Zea mays)

Average maize yield per hectare has increased significantly because of the improvement in high-density tolerance, but little attention has been paid to the genetic mechanism of grain yield response to high planting density. Here, we used a population of 301 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from the cross YE478 × 08–641 to detect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for 16 yield-related traits under two planting densities (57,000 and 114,000 plants per ha) across four environments. These yield-related traits responded differently to high-density stress. A total of 110 QTLs were observed for these traits: 33 QTLs only under low planting density, 50 QTLs under high planting density and 27 QTLs across both densities. Only two major QTLs, qCD6 and qWKEL2-2, were identified across low- and high-density treatments. Seven environmentally stable QTLs were also observed containing qED6, qWKEL3, qRN3-3, qRN7-2, qRN9-2 and qRN10 across both densities, as well as qRN9-1 under low density. In addition, 16 and eight pairs of loci with epistasis interaction (EPI) were detected under low and high planting densities, respectively. Additionally, nine and 17 loci showed QTL × environment interaction (QEI) under low- and high-density conditions, respectively. These interactions are of lesser importance than the main QTL effects. We also observed 26 pleiotropic QTL clusters, and the hotspot region 3.08 concentrated nine QTLs, suggesting its great importance for maize yield. These findings suggested that multiple minor QTLs, loci with EPI and QEI, pleiotropy and the complex network of “crosstalk” among them for yield-related traits were greatly influenced by plant density, which increases our understanding of the genetic mechanism of yield-related traits for high-density tolerance.     

Genetic variation of seedling traits responded to brassinosteroid and gibberellin inhibitors in maize (Zea mays) doubled haploid lines

The purpose of this study was to examine the genotypic variation in maize doubled haploid (DH) lines response to brassinosteroid and gibberellin inhibitors. Plant responses to hormone inhibitors were determined in growth chamber experiments using germination paper for three different seedling treatments: application of propiconazole (Pcz), uniconazole (Ucz) or water (control). Mesocotyl length (ML) was more sensitive to hormone inhibitors, especially to the Ucz treatment, than other seedling traits. ML was significantly correlated with other traits in the Ucz treatment. All the seedling traits showed moderate-to-high broad sense heritability values, ranging from 0.39 to 0.82. The Euclidian genetic distances of inbred line pairs ranged from 1.27 to 19.94, indicating there was a high level of variability across the maize DH lines used in this study. DH lines with extreme MLs were identified, which can provide valuable breeding resources for improving abiotic stress tolerance, and for further genetic studies.