鹅观草属(Roegneria C.Koch)的订正(禾本科:小麦族)(英文)

鹅观草属(Roegneria)属于禾本科小麦族,其物种都是含St与Y染色体组的异源多倍体植物。主要分布在亚洲,只有一个种分布于南欧,另一个种从亚洲一直分布到北美洲的阿拉斯加。由于St染色体组的显性遗传特性使含St染色体组的属,例如:Pseudoroegeria(St),Elymus(StH),Roegneria(StY)和Campeiostachys(HStY),在形态上表现出非常相似。更由于1984年Lve发表他划时代的以染色体组组成来界定的小麦族属的自然系统时还不知道Y染色体组的存在,因此他把鹅观草属合并到披碱草属(Elymus)中,从而导致一些人至今仍然信奉他的系统而不承认鹅观草属。虽然现今对Y染色体组的研究已经取得巨大进步,所属物种也已十分清楚。其中当然也有传统的形态学分类对显性遗传造成的趋同熟视无睹带来的错误,以及一些大形态分类学家的错误分类的影响。现在发表的这个修订了的鹅观草属是基于形态观察、多变量形态统计分析、细胞遗传与分子遗传的研究成果综合判定的。这些成果来自不同的学者也包括我们自己。     

Sulforaphane potentiates the efficacy of imatinib against chronic leukemia cancer stem cells through enhanced abrogation of Wnt/β-catenin function

Sulforaphane (SFN) has been indicated for the prevention and suppression of tumorigenesis in solid tumors. Herein, we evaluated SFN's effects on imatinib (IM)-resistant leukemia stem cells (LSCs). CD34(+)/CD38(-) and CD34(+)/CD38(+) LSCs were isolated from KU812 cell line flowcytometrically. Isolated LSCs showed high expression of Oct4, CD133, β-catenin, and Sox2 and IM resistance. Differentially, CD34(+)/CD38(-) LSCs demonstrated higher BCR-ABL and β-catenin expression and imatinib (IM) resistance than CD34(+)/CD38(+) counterparts. IM and SFN combined treatment sensitized CD34(+)/CD38(-) LSCs and induced apoptosis, shown by increased caspase 3, PARP, and Bax while decreased Bcl-2 expression. Additionally, the combined treatment reduced BCR-ABL and β-catenin and MDR-1 protein expression. Mechanistically, IM and SFN combined treatment resensitized LSCs by inducing intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Importantly, β-catenin-silenced LSCs exhibited reduced glutathione S-transferase pi 1 (GSTP1) expression and intracellular GSH level, which led to increased sensitivity toward IM and SFN. We demonstrated that IM and SFN combined treatment effectively eliminated CD34(+)/CD38(-) LSCs. Since SFN has been shown well tolerated in both animals and human, this regimen could be considered for clinical trials.     

Effects of capsaicin on induction of apoptosis and inhibition of adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells

Currently, at the beginning of the 21st century, obesity has become the leading metabolic disease in the world. It is a serious health problem in industrialized countries. Previous research has suggested that decreased preadipocyte differentiation and proliferation and decreased lipogenesis are mechanisms to reduce obesity. In the present study, the effects of capsaicin on the induction of apoptosis and inhibition of lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and adipocytes were investigated. The results demonstrated that capsaicin decreased cell population growth of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, assessed with the MTT assay. Flow cytometric analysis of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes exposed to capsaicin showed that apoptotic cells increased in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Treatment with capsaicin decreased the number of normal cells and increased the number of early apoptotic and late apoptotic cells in a dose-dependent manner. The treatment of cells with capsaicin caused the loss of mitochondria membrane potential (delta psi m). The induction of apoptosis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by capsaicin was mediated through the activation of caspase-3, Bax, and Bak, and then through the cleavage of PARP and the down-regulation of Bcl-2. Moreover, capsaicin significantly decreased the amount of intracellular triglycerides and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Capsaicin also inhibited the expression of PPARgamma, C/EBPalpha, and leptin, but induced up-regulation of adiponectin at the protein level. These results demonstrate that capsaicin efficiently induces apoptosis and inhibits adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and adipocytes.     

Heat-killed cells of lactobacilli skew the immune response toward T helper 1 polarization in mouse splenocytes and dendritic cell-treated T cells

It is believed that probiotics play an important role for the health of the host, including modulation of immune responses. Most studies have focused on the immunomodulatory effects of viable cells of lactic acid bacteria; however, we investigated those of heat-killed cells of lactic acid bacteria in this study. We first observed the effects on immune functions via stimulating splenocytes with three heat-killed Lactobacillus strains. Furthermore, we also investigated the effect of mouse dendritic cells (DCs) treated with these heat-killed Lactobacillus strains on T cell responses. The results showed that these Lactobacillus strains were able to stimulate cell proliferation and interleukin (IL)-10, IL-12 p70, and interferon (IFN)-gamma production but not transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta in splenocytes. In addition, these heat-killed Lactobacillus strains also stimulated high-level secretion of IL-12 p70 in DCs and switched T cells to T helper (Th) 1 immune responses, as evidenced by the elevated secretion of IFN-gamma but not IL-5, IL-13, and TGF-beta. These results showed that lactobacilli play a potentially important role in modulating immune responses and allergic reactions.     

Influence of Maillard reaction products on DNA damage in human lymphocytes

The effect of Maillard reaction products (MRPs) on induced DNA damage in human lymphocytes was investigated using single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). Three MRPs, Xyl-Lys MRP, Glu-Lys MRP, and Fru-Lys MRP, were prepared by heating lysine with xylose, glucose, and fructose, respectively, at pH 9.0 and 100 degrees C for 3 h and called undialyzed MRPs. The prepared MRPs were further dialyzed, and three undialyzable MRPs were obtained. The undialyzed MRPs caused significant (p < 0.05) DNA damage in human lymphocytes at a concentration of 0.05-0.1 mg/mL by the comet assay. Compared with the control, the undialyzable Xyl-Lys MRP and Glu-Lys MRP caused significant DNA damage in human lymphocytes at a concentration >0.1 mg/mL, whereas Fru-Lys MRP did so at a concentration >0.2 mg/mL. Moreover, undialyzed MRPs caused less DNA damage than did undialyzable MRPs. The undialyzable MRPs did not affect the activity of glutathione peroxidase or lipid peroxidation in human lymphocytes at a concentration of 0.05-0.8 mg/mL. However, these three undialyzable MRPs decreased the glutathione (GSH) contents and the activities of GSH reductase and catalase in human lymphocytes. On the basis of the results of the formation of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine, radicals, and hydrogen peroxide, the radicals might play an important role in the DNA damage in human lymphocytes induced by these MRPs in this reaction system.     

Optimization of lipase-catalyzed synthesis of octyl hydroxyphenylpropionate by response surface methodology

The ability of immobilized lipase Candida antarctica (Novozyme 435) to catalyze the direct esterification of hydroxyphenylpropionic acid and octanol in a solvent-free system was investigated in this study. Response surface methodology (RSM) and five-level-four-factor central composite rotatable design (CCRD) were employed to evaluate the effects of synthesis parameters, such as reaction time, temperature, enzyme amount, and pH memory, on percentage molar conversion of phenolic acid esters. Reaction time, temperature, and enzyme amount were the most important variables. On the basis of canonical analysis and ridge max analysis, the optimum synthesis conditions with 95.9% molar conversion were reaction time of 58.2 h, temperature of 52.9 degrees C, enzyme amount of 37.8% (w/w), and pH memory of pH 7.     

Antioxidant effects of water extracts from barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) prepared under different roasting temperatures

The antioxidant effects of water extracts of roasted barley (WERB) were investigated under different roasting temperatures and compared with those of the water extracts of unroasted barley (WEUB). It was found that the Maillard reaction products increased upon increasing the roasting temperatures. Both WERB and WEUB exhibited significant antioxidant activities in linoleic acid and liposome model systems. Although WERB and WEUB afforded considerable protection against the damage of deoxyribose and proteins, the antioxidant efficiency of roasted samples was weaker than that of unroasted samples because of the reduction of antioxidant components (catechin, tocopherol, and lutein) with increasing roasting temperature. Unroasted samples were more effective in reducing power, quenching free radical, hydroxyl radical, and chelating iron than the roasted samples. The different antioxidant activity among roasted and unroasted barley samples may be partly attributed to the changes in catechin, tocopherol, and lutein contents.     

Antioxidative ability of lactic acid bacteria

Nineteen strains of lactic acid bacteria were investigated for antioxidative activity. These includedLactobacillus acidophilus B, E, N1, 4356, LA-1, and Farr; Lactobacillus bulgaricus 12 278, 448, 449, Lb, 1006, and 11 842; Streptococcus thermophilus 821, MC, 573, 3641, and 19 987; and Bifidobacterium longum B6 and 15 708. Intracellular cell-free extract of all strains demonstrated antioxidative activity with inhibition rates of ascorbate autoxidation in the range of 7-12%. Antioxidative mechanisms including metal ion chelating ability, scavenge of reactive oxygen species, enzyme inhibition, and reducing activity of intracellular cell-free extract of lactic acid bacteria were studied. S. thermophilus 821 had the highest metal ion chelating ability for Fe(2+), and B. longum 15 708 showed the highest Cu(2+) chelating ability among the 19 strains tested. All strains demonstrated reactive oxygen species scavenging ability. L. acidophilus E showed the highest hydroxyl radical scavenging ability, and B. longum B6 had the best hydrogen peroxide scavenging ability. Reducing activity was also found in all strains. Most of the strains tested demonstrated excellent reducing activity. B. longum B6 showed the highest reducing activity among the 19 strains tested. In enzyme inhibition, superoxide dismutase activity was not found in these 19 strains, and the activity of superoxide dismutase was not induced when metal ion Mn(2+), Fe(2+), or Cu(2+)Zn(2+) was present.