Novel therapeutic activities of dragon blood from palm tree Daemonorops draco for the treatment of chronic diabetic wounds.

BACKGROUND: The clinical efficacy of Jinchuang Ointment, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), in treating chronic non-healing diabetic wounds has been demonstrated over the past decades. Both in vitro and in vivo angiogenic activities have been reported for its herbal ingredients, including dragon blood from the palm tree Daemonorops draco and catechu from Uncaria gambir Roxb. Additionally, crude extracts of dragon blood have exhibited hypoglycemic effects not only in animal studies but also in cell-based in vitro assays. RESULTS: Our findings indicate that crude dragon blood extract promotes the differentiation of myoblasts into myotubes. Partially purified fractions of dragon blood crude extract significantly enhance the expression of muscle cell differentiation-related genes such as myoG, myoD, and myoHC. Our results also demonstrate that crude extracts of dragon blood can inhibit platelet-derived growth factor-induced PAI-1 expression in primary rat vascular smooth muscle cells, thereby favoring changes in hemostasis towards fibrinolysis. Consistent with previous reports, reduced expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) accelerates wound healing. However, further separation resulted in a significant loss of both activities, indicating the involvement of more than one compound in these processes. Stem cells play a crucial role in muscle injury repair. Neither dragon blood nor catechu alone stimulated the proliferation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)-immortalized and umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells. Interestingly, the proliferation of both types of stem cells was observed when crude extracts of dragon blood and catechu were present together in the stem cell growth medium. CONCLUSIONS: Dragon blood from D. draco offers multifaceted therapeutic benefits for treating chronic nonhealing diabetic wounds from various perspectives. Most drugs in Western medicine consist of small molecules with defined ingredients. However, this is not the case in TCM, as the activities of dragon blood reported in this study. Surprisingly, the activities documented here align with descriptions in ancient Chinese medical texts dating back to A.D. 1625.

Hypoglycemic effects of dracorhodin and dragon blood crude extract from Daemonorops draco.

BACKGROUND: Dragon blood is a red fruit resin from the palm tree Daemonorops draco and is a herbal ingredient used in the traditional Chinese medicine, "Jinchuang Ointment," which is used to treat non-healing diabetic wounds. According to the Taiwan Herbal Pharmacopeia, the dracorhodin content in dragon blood should exceed 1.0%. RESULTS: Our findings indicate that dracorhodin and dragon blood crude extracts can stimulate glucose uptake in mouse muscle cells (C2C12) and primary rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RSMC). Dracorhodin is not the only active compound in dragon blood crude extracts from D. draco. Next, we orally administered crude dragon blood extracts to male B6 mice. The experimental group displayed a decreasing trend in fasting blood glucose levels from the second to tenth week. In summary, crude extracts of dragon blood from D. draco demonstrated in vivo hypoglycemic effects in B6 male mice. CONCLUSIONS: We provide a scientific basis "Jinchuang ointment" in treating non-healing wounds in patients with diabetes.

Effects of hypoxia environment on osteonecrosis of the femoral head in Sprague-Dawley rats.

INTRODUCTION: Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a disease in which the blood supply of the femoral head is interrupted or damaged, resulting in joint dysfunction. Hypoxic environments increase the expression of EPO, VEGF, and HIF causes vascular proliferation and increases the blood supply. It also causes the organism to be in a state of hypercoagulability and increases thrombosis. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the occurrence of ONFH after the use of glucocorticoids (GCs) under conditions of hypoxia tolerance for a long time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were fed in a hypobaric hypoxic chamber at an altitude of 4000 m, the whole blood viscosity, and plasma viscosity were determined to analyze the blood flow and hemagglutination. Western blotting, polymerase chain reaction, and immunohistochemistry were used to detect EPO, VEGF, CD31, and osteogenesis related proteins. Femoral head angiography was used to examine the local blood supply and micro-CT scanning was used to detect the structure of the bone trabecula. RESULTS: Under hypoxic environments, the expression of EPO and VEGF increased, which increased the local blood supply of the femoral head, but due to more severe thrombosis, the local blood supply of the femoral head decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Hypoxic environments can aggravate ONFH in SD rats; this aggravation may be related to the hypercoagulable state of the blood. We suggest that long-term hypoxia should be regarded as one of the risk factors of ONFH and we need to conduct a more extensive epidemiological investigation on the occurrence of ONFH in hypoxic populations.

JAK2V617F influences epigenomic changes in myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Negative valine (V) to phenylalanine (F) switch at the Janus kinase (JAK2) 617 codon (V617F) is the dominant driver mutation in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). JAK2V617F was proved to be sufficient for cell transformation; however, independent mutations might influence the following epigenomic modifications. To assess the JAK2V617F-induced downstream epigenomic changes without interferences, we profiled the epigenomic changes in ectopically expressed JAK2V617F in Ba/F3 cells. Antibodies against phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (pSTAT3) and enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) were used for chromatin-immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) to detect the downstream epigenomic targets in the JAK2-STAT3 signaling pathway. To confirm the JAK2V617F-induced epigenetic changes in vivo, DNA methylation changes in the target loci in patients with MPNs were detected through methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and were clustered against the changes within controls. We found that ectopically expressed JAK2V617F in Ba/F3 cells reduced the binding specificity; it was associated with cis-regulatory elements and recognized DNA motifs in both pSTAT3-downstream and EZH2-associated targets. Overlapping target loci between the control and JAK2V617F were <3% and 0.4%, respectively, as identified through pSTAT3 and EZH2 ChIP-seq. Furthermore, the methylation changes in the direct target loci (FOXH1, HOXC9, and SRF) were clustered independently from the control locus (L1TD1) and other mutation genes (HMGA2 and Lin28A) in the analyzed MPN samples. Therefore, JAK2V617F influences target binding in both pSTAT3 and EZH2. Without mutations in epigenetic regulators, JAK2V617F can induce downstream epigenomic modifications. Thus, epigenetic changes in JAK2 downstream targets might be trackable in vivo.

Ribosome Protein L4 is essential for Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigen 1 function.

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) Nuclear Antigen 1 (EBNA1)-mediated origin of plasmid replication (oriP) DNA episome maintenance is essential for EBV-mediated tumorigenesis. We have now found that EBNA1 binds to Ribosome Protein L4 (RPL4). RPL4 shRNA knockdown decreased EBNA1 activation of an oriP luciferase reporter, EBNA1 DNA binding in lymphoblastoid cell lines, and EBV genome number per lymphoblastoid cell line. EBV infection increased RPL4 expression and redistributed RPL4 to cell nuclei. RPL4 and Nucleolin (NCL) were a scaffold for an EBNA1-induced oriP complex. The RPL4 N terminus cooperated with NCL-K429 to support EBNA1 and oriP-mediated episome binding and maintenance, whereas the NCL C-terminal K380 and K393 induced oriP DNA H3K4me2 modification and promoted EBNA1 activation of oriP-dependent transcription. These observations provide new insights into the mechanisms by which EBV uses NCL and RPL4 to establish persistent B-lymphoblastoid cell infection.

NbRABG3f, a member of Rab GTPase, is involved in Bamboo mosaic virus infection in Nicotiana benthamiana.

The screening of differentially expressed genes in plants after pathogen infection can uncover the potential host factors required for the pathogens. In this study, an up-regulated gene was identified and cloned from Nicotiana benthamiana plants after Bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV) inoculation. The up-regulated gene was identified as a member of the Rab small guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) family, and was designated as NbRABG3f according to its in silico translated product with high identity to that of RABG3f of tomato. Knocking down the expression of NbRABG3f using a virus-induced gene silencing technique in a protoplast inoculation assay significantly reduced the accumulation of BaMV. A transiently expressed NbRABG3f protein in N. benthamiana plants followed by BaMV inoculation enhanced the accumulation of BaMV to approximately 150%. Mutants that had the catalytic site mutation (NbRABG3f/T22N) or had lost their membrane-targeting capability (NbRABG3f/ΔC3) failed to facilitate the accumulation of BaMV in plants. Because the Rab GTPase is responsible for vesicle trafficking between organelles, a mutant with a fixed guanosine diphosphate form was used to identify the donor compartment. The use of green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion revealed that GFP-NbRABG3f/T22N clearly co-localized with the Golgi marker. In conclusion, BaMV may use NbRABG3f to form vesicles derived from the Golgi membrane for intracellular trafficking to deliver unidentified factors to its replication site; thus, both GTPase activity and membrane-targeting ability are crucial for BaMV accumulation at the cell level.

Hsp72 up-regulates Epstein-Barr virus EBNALP coactivation with EBNA2.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transcriptional coactivator EBNALP specifically associates and colocalizes with Hsp72 in lymphoblastoid cell lines. We now find that overexpression of Hsp72 more than doubled EBNALP coactivation with EBNA2 of a transfected EBV LMP1 promoter in B lymphoblasts, did not affect EBNA2 or EBNALP protein levels, and strongly up-regulated EBNA2 and EBNALP coactivation of LMP1 protein expression from the endogenous EBV genome in latency I infected Akata cells. The Hsp72 ATP, protein binding, and the C-terminal regulatory domains were required for full activity. An EBNALP deletion mutant, EBNALPd45, which does not associate with Hsp72, coactivated with EBNA2, but was not affected by Hsp72 overexpression, despite Hsp72 up-regulation of wild-type EBNALP coactivation with EBNA2 at all levels of EBNALP expression, indicating the importance of Hsp72 association with EBNALP for Hsp72 up-regulation of coactivation. Of importance, a 90% RNAi knockdown of Hsp72 reduced EBNALP coactivation with EBNA2 of transfected EBV LMP1 and Cp promoters by approximately 50%. Overexpression of the Hsp72 C-terminal interacting and regulatory protein, CHIP, strongly down-regulated EBNALP coactivation, independently of CHIP ubiquitin ligase activity. CHIP effects were Hsp72 dependent, indicating a background downmodulating role for CHIP in Hsp72 augmentation of EBNA2 and EBNALP coactivation. Based on these and other cited data, we favor a model in which Hsp72 chaperones EBNALP shuttling of repressors from EBNA2-enhanced promoters.

Angiotensin II stimulates phosphorylation of an ectodomain-truncated platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta and its binding to class IA PI3K in vascular smooth muscle cells.

PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase) activity is involved in Ang (angiotensin) II-stimulated VSMC (vascular smooth muscle cell) growth and hypertrophy. In the present study, we demonstrate that the inhibition of PI3K in VSMCs by expression of a dominant-negative p85alpha mutant lacking the p110-binding domain (Deltap85), or by treatment of cells with LY294002, inhibited Ang II-stimulated PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor-1) mRNA expression. Using a GST (glutathione S-transferase) fusion protein containing the p85 N-terminal SH2 (Src homology 2) domain as 'bait' followed by MS/MS (tandem MS), we identified a 70 kDa fragment of the p70 PDGFR-beta (platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta) as a signalling adapter that is phosphorylated and recruits the p85 subunit of PI3K after Ang II stimulation of AT1 (Ang II subtype 1) receptors on VSMCs. This fragment of the PDGFR-beta, which has a truncation of its extracellular domain, accounted for approx. 15% of the total PDGFR-beta detected in VSMCs with an antibody against its cytoplasmic domain. Stimulation of VSMCs with Ang II increased tyrosine-phosphorylation of p70 PDGFR-beta at Tyr751 and Tyr1021 and increased its binding to p85. PDGF also induced phosphorylation of p70 PDGFR-beta, a response inhibited by the PDGF tyrosine kinase selective inhibitor, AG1296. By contrast, Ang II-induced phosphorylation of the 70 kDa receptor was not affected by AG1296. Ang II-stimulated phosphorylation of the p70 PDGFR-beta was blocked by the AT1 receptor antagonist, candesartan (CV 11974) and was partially inhibited by PP2 {4-amino-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-7-(t-butyl)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine}, an Src family kinase inhibitor. Our result suggests that the p70 PDGFR-beta functions as an adapter that recruits PI3K to the membrane upon AT1 receptor stimulation.

MEK1,2 response element mediates angiotensin II-stimulated plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 promoter activation.

The MEK1,2 (MAPK/ERK kinase 1 and 2) pathway mediates the up-regulation of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) expression in vascular smooth muscle cells by a variety of hormones, including angiotensin II. Transfection of constitutively active MEKK-1, an upstream activator of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathways, was used to isolate an enhancer element located between -89 and -50 bp in PAI-1 promoter that was activated by MEKK-1 and selectively blocked by the MEK1,2 inhibitor PD98059. Mutational analysis revealed that the MEKK-1 response element (MRE) contained 2 cis-acting Sp1- and AP-1-like sequences, located between -75 to -70 and -63 to -52 bp, respectively. Overexpression of Sp1 enhanced MEKK-1-induced MRE promoter activity and a dominant-negative c-Fos blocked this Sp1 response. The combination of Sp1 and c-Jun or c-Fos was required to activate this MRE. Angiotensin II (Ang II) stimulation increased c-Fos, c-Jun, and Sp1 binding to the MRE by 100-, 4.9-, and 1.9-fold, respectively, and these responses were inhibited by PD98059 and AT1 receptor antagonist candesartan. Intravenous Ang II infusion in rats increased aortic c-Fos binding to the MRE. This MRE sequence mediated a 4-fold increase of MEK1,2-dependent PAI-1/luciferase mRNA expression by angiotensin II stimulation. This report identifies the MEK1,2 response element that mediates angiotensin II-stimulated PAI-1 promoter activation and shows that activation of this element requires Sp1 and AP-1 co-activation.