Soybean balanced the growth and defense in response to SMV infection under different light intensities.

Light is essential for the growth and defense of soybean. It is not clear how soybeans adjust their defenses to different light environments with different cropping patterns. The mechanism of soybean response to Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) infection under different light intensities was analyzed by RNA-seq sequencing method. Enrichment analysis illustrated that most defense-related genes were down-regulated in the dark and the shade, and up-regulated under hard light and normal light. Soybean can resist SMV infection mainly by activating salicylic acid signaling pathway. Light is essential for activating salicylic acid defense signaling pathways. With the increase of light intensity, the oxidative damage of soybean leaves was aggravated, which promoted the infection of virus. When light was insufficient, the growth of soybean was weak, and the plant-pathogen interaction pathway, MAPK pathway and hormone defense pathway in infected soybean was inhibited. Under hard light, some defense genes in infected soybean were down-regulated to reduce the degree of oxidative damage. The expression of differentially expressed genes was verified by real-time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR. In order to adapt to the change of light intensity, soybean balanced allocation of resources between growth and defense through a series regulation of gene expression. The results of this study will provide a theoretical basis for the research of SMV resistance in intercropping soybean.

Effects of congenital ptosis on the refractive development of eye and vision in children.

AIM: To investigate the influence of unilateral congenital ptosis on the development of the eye and vision in children. METHODS: In this prospective observational study, 41 patients with unilateral congenital ptosis were enrolled (age range 3-15y). The blepharoptosis was divided into 3 subgroups according to the margin reflex distance-1 (MRD-1), including mild group (MRD-1≥2 mm), moderate group (0≤MRD-1<2 mm), and severe group (MRD-1<0 mm). The fellow eyes served as controls. All subjects underwent ocular examinations, including axial length, keratometry, and refractive error. RESULTS: The incidence of astigmatism (ptotic eyes: 58.5% vs fellow eyes: 24.4%, P=0.002) and magnitude of cylindrical power (ptotic eyes: -0.86±0.79 D vs fellow eyes: -0.43±0.63 D, P=0.003) differed significantly between the ptotic eyes and the fellow eyes. The spherical equivalent refraction (P=0.006), spherical power (P=0.01), cylindrical power (P=0.011), axial length-corneal radius (AL/CR) ratio (P=0.009), frequency of hyperopia (P=0.002) and astigmatism (P=0.004) were significantly different among the ptotic eye subgroups and the fellow eye group. In addition, in patients with congenital ptosis, the incidence of amblyopia is 43.9% and the incidence of anisometropia is 24.4%. More importantly, the ratio of AL/CR showed significantly positive correlation with the severity of ptosis (P=0.002). CONCLUSION: Congenital ptosis may lead to a delayed eyeball development in the aspect of AL/CR. The risk of amblyopia is also increased due to visual deprivation and aggravated anisometropia, particularly in severe ptosis case.

Terpenoids from stigma maydis (Zea mays L.) alleviate hydrogen peroxide-induced SH-SY5Y cell injury by activating Nrf2.

Five terpenoids (1-5), including three new ent-kaurane diterpenoids (1-3), one new ent-rosane type diterpenoid (4) and one known triterpenoid (5), were isolated from stigma maydis (Zea mays L.). The structures of the compounds were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses. The relative configurations of stigmanes A-D (1-4) were determined by NOESY experiments. In addition, the relative configuration of stigmane D (4) was further established by NMR calculations. The absolute configurations of these compounds were identified by a comparison of experimental and calculated specific rotations. The neuroprotective effects of these compounds against H2O2-induced injury in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells were evaluated, and the results showed that among the compounds, 2 exhibited the most significant neuroprotection. Further study demonstrated that 2 could activate nuclear factor E2-related factor (Nrf2), downregulate apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and increase antioxidant enzyme activities in SH-SY5Y cells. However, the neuroprotective effect was reversed when Nrf2 was silenced. In conclusion, this study suggested that terpenoids from stigma maydis exerted neuroprotective effects through Nrf2 activation.

Whether Fire-needle Therapy Benefits Plaque Psoriasis: A Multicenter, Randomized, and Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effectiveness and safety of fire-needle therapy, an external approach of Chinese medicine in treating plaque psoriasis. METHODS: This study was a two-parallel-arm randomized controlled trial. A total of 151 participants with plaque psoriasis were randomly assigned to the fire-needle therapy group (treatment group, 76 cases) or the control group (75 cases) at a 1:1 allocation ratio using SAS software. All participants received Oral Huoxue Jiedu Decoction (, HXJDD) and applied externally vaseline cream twice a day. Participants in the treatment group received fire-needle therapy once weekly for 4 weeks plus HXJDD and vaseline cream applied the same as the control group. The primary outcome measure was Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score, and the secondary outcomes were Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQL), and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), as well as Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome score and photos of target lesions. The indices were evaluated before and after treatment. RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients in each group completed the study. The treatment group has not yet achieved significant improvement in PASI score (P>0.05) compared to the control group. However, significant differences were found between the two groups in relieving CM syndrome (P<0.05) and improving quality of life (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Fire-needle appears to be safe and may have benefit for psoriasis, the short-term treatment and small sample size limit the conclusions of this study. Further rigorous randomized controlled trials with longer treatment are recommended.

Retraction Note to: An assessment of transgenomics as a tool for gene discovery in Populus euphratica Oliv.

This article (Zhou et al. 2018) has been retracted by the authors because the sequence BIBAC 002A111F06 was incorrectly assigned to the wrong bacterial species. The BIBAC 002A111F06 sequence (GenBank Accession KC129717) reported in the paper was attributed to Populus euphratica Oliv. The BLAST search of this KC129717 sequence against the nr database at NCBI showed that it has very high similarity to a genomic sequence from the gram-negative bacteria Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. The bacterium associates with Populus euphratica Oliv. and DNA isolated from Populus euphratica Oliv. for the construction of the BIBAC clone library inlcuded DNA from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. Therefore, the phenotype of the transgenic Arabidopsis line carrying the KC129717 sequence cannot be attributed to genes from Populus euphratica Oliv. The authors apologize for the confusion and misinterpretation of our data resulting from the incorrect sequence assignment. All authors agree to this retraction.

An assessment of transgenomics as a tool for gene discovery in Populus euphratica Oliv.

KEY MESSAGE: Transgenomics for gene discovery in Populus euphratica. Transgenomics, a member of the omics family of methodologies, is characterized as the introduction of DNA from one organism into another on a genome-wide scale followed by the identification of recipients with altered phenotypes. This strategy allows investigators to identify the gene(s) involved in these phenotypic changes. It is particularly promising for woody plants that have a long life cycle and for which molecular tools are limited. In this study, we constructed a large-insert binary bacterial artificial chromosome library of Populus euphratica, a stress-tolerant poplar species, which included 55,296 clones with average insert sizes of about 127 kb. To date, 1077 of the clones have been transformed into Arabidopsis thaliana via Agrobacterium by the floral dip method. Of these, 69 transgenic lines showed phenotypic changes represented by diverse aspects of plant form and development, 22 of which were reproducibly associated with the same phenotypic change. One of the clones conferring transgenic plants with increased salt tolerance, 002A1F06, was further analyzed and the 127,284 bp insert in this clone harbored eight genes that have been previously reported to be involved in stress resistance. This study demonstrates that transgenomics is useful in the study of functional genomics of woody plants and in the identification of novel gene(s) responsible for economically important traits. Thus, transgenomics can also be used for validation of quantitative trait loci mapped by molecular markers.

ent-Kaurane Diterpenoids with Neuroprotective Properties from Corn Silk ( Zea mays).

Thirteen new ent-kaurane diterpenoids, stigmaydenes A-M (1-13), together with two known compounds (14, 15), were isolated from the crude extract of corn silk ( Zea mays). The structures of the compounds were confirmed by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses. The absolute configuration of compound 1 was defined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The absolute configurations of the compounds were also confirmed by comparison of experimental and calculated specific rotations. The compounds were evaluated for their neuroprotective effects against H2O2-induced SH-SY5Y cell injury, and compound 8 was active at 100 µM, as determined by flow cytometry (annexin V-FITC/PI staining) and Hoechst 33258 staining. The results suggested that compound 8 could protect neuronal cells from H2O2-induced injury by inhibiting apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells.

Autophagy antagonizes apoptosis induced by flavan enantiomers from Daphne giraldii in hepatic carcinoma cells in vitro.

Enantiomers account for quite a large percentage of compounds in natural products. Our team is interested in the separation and biological activity of racemic compounds. In this report, four pairs of prenylated flavan enantiomers [(±)-1-(±)-4], including five new compounds, were isolated from the stem and root bark of Daphne giraldii, and separated successfully by using chiral chromatographic column. Their planar structures and absolute configurations were established by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses as well as circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The isolates had a selective cytotoxicity towards hepatic carcinoma cell lines. Among them, new compound (+)-4 showed a more potent inhibitory effect on Hep3B cells with an IC50 value of 30.3 µM, compared with its racemic mixture 4. Therefore, the action mechanism of (+)-4in vitro was subsequently investigated. The morphological observation and Western blot analysis demonstrated that (+)-4 could markedly induce apoptosis through intrinsic and extrinsic pathways, and also cause autophagy by increasing the phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in Hep3B cells. After treatment with the autophagic inhibitor bafilomycin A1 (Baf A1), (+)-4-induced apoptosis increased significantly, suggesting that the autophagy induced by (+)-4 performed a protective effect on apoptotic cell death.

Concurrent Hypermethylation of SFRP2 and DKK2 Activates the Wnt/ß-Catenin Pathway and Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Gastric Cancer.

Aberrant hypermethylation of Wnt antagonists has been observed in gastric cancer. A number of studies have focused on the hypermethylation of a single Wnt antagonist and its role in regulating the activation of signaling. However, how the Wnt antagonists interacted to regulate the signaling pathway has not been reported. In the present study, we systematically investigated the methylation of some Wnt antagonist genes (SFRP2, SFRP4, SFRP5, DKK1, DKK2, and APC) and their regulatory role in carcinogenesis. We found that aberrant promoter methylation of SFRP2, SFRP4, DKK1, and DKK2 was significantly increased in gastric cancer. Moreover, concurrent hypermethylation of SFRP2 and DKK2 was observed in gastric cancer and this was significantly associated with increased expression of ß-catenin, indicating that the joint inactivation of these two genes promoted the activation of the Wnt signaling pathway. Further analysis using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model showed that DKK2 methylation was an independent prognostic factor for poor overall survival, and the predictive value was markedly enhanced when the combined methylation status of SFRP2 and DKK2 was considered. In addition, the methylation level of SFRP4 and DKK2 was correlated with the patient's age and tumor differentiation, respectively. In conclusion, epigenetic silencing of Wnt antagonists was associated with gastric carcinogenesis, and concurrent hypermethylation of SFRP2 and DKK2 could be a potential marker for a prognosis of poor overall survival.

Bioactive norditerpenoids and neolignans from the roots of salvia miltiorrhiza.

Two new norditerpenoids, miltiolactones A and B (1a, 1b); seven new neolignans, miltiolignanolides A-G (2a, 2b and 3a, 3b and 4a, 4b, and 5) were obtained from the root extract of Salvia miltiorrhiza. Using HPLC separation with a chiral column, compounds 1-4 were found to exist as four pairs of enantiomers. Compounds 2-5 are novel neolignans with a dibenzocycloheptatriene ring system, which form an unprecedented 6/7/6 carbon skeleton. The structures were established via extensive spectroscopic analysis, and experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra, and compound 1 was also elucidated by X-ray diffraction experiments. Compounds 2a and 2b significantly increased the viability of H9c2 cells from H2O2-induced cell death, and 3a showed significant antioxidant activity in an ABTS assay. In addition, compounds 2a, 2b and 3a, 3b display moderate inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-induced microglial cells.

[Value of detecting epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in non-small cell lung cancer tissue by TaqMan-amplification refractory mutation system].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of detecting mutations on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissue by TaqMan-amplification refractory mutation system (TaqMan-ARMS). METHODS: TaqMan-ARMS and DNA sequencing were used to detect the EGFR exon 19 and 21 mutations in tumor tissues and the samples collected from 199 patients at 4 different 3A hospitals in Beijing from January 2008 to March 2011. RESULTS: The rate of mutations in EGFR exon 19 and 21 was 19.1% (38/199), according to their different pathological types. Based upon TaqMan-ARMS, the classification was as followed: adenocarcinoma (35.0% (36/103)), squamous carcinoma (2.2% (2/93)) and adenosquamous carcinoma (0). According to DNA sequencing, they were 19.6% (39/199), 35.9% (37/103), 2.2% (2/93) and 0 respectively. Thus, no statistically significant difference existed between two methods (McNemar Test, P = 1.000, κ = 0.984). The mutation rate of adenocarcinoma was higher than those of squamous and adenosquamous carcinoma. CONCLUSION: The detection of EGFR mutations is highly consistent in the NSCLC tissue by the methods of TaqMan-ARMS and DNA sequencing.

Preventive action of curcumin in experimental acute pancreatitis in mouse.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Curcuma longa (turmeric) has a long history of use in Ayurvedic medicine as a treatment for inflammatory conditions. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the preventive effects of curcumin against acute pancreatitis (AP) induced by caerulein in mouse and to elucidate possible mechanism of curcumin action. METHODS: Curcumin (50 mg/kg/day) was intraperitoneally injected to Kun Ming male mice for 6 days, followed by injection of caerulein to induce AP. GW9662 (0.3 mg/kg), a specific peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) antagonist, was intravenously injected along with curcumin. Murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells were treated with 100 µmol/l curcumin for 2 h, and then stimulated with 0.1 µ g/ml lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Serum amylase and transaminase levels were measured at 10 h after AP. TNF-α level in mouse serum and cell culture medium were detected by ELISA. Expression of PPARγ and NF-κB were analyzed by RT-PCR and Western blot. RESULTS: Curcumin significantly decreased the pancreas injury and reversed the elevation of serum amylase, ALT and AST activities and TNF-α level in mice with AP. Curcumin treatment inhibited the elevation of NF-κB-p65 in the nucleus of mouse pancreas AP group and RAW264.7 cells, but significantly increased the expression of PPARγ. GW9662 could abolish the effects of curcumin on serum levels of amylase, ALT, AST, TNF-α, and NF-κB level. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that curcumin could attenuate pancreas tissue and other organ injury by inhibiting the release of inflammatory cytokine TNF-α. These effects may involve upregulation of PPARγ and subsequent downregulation of NF-κB.

Growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells by oridonin nanosuspension.

The mechanism for anti-tumor activity of oridonin (ORI) nanosuspension, prepared by the high pressure homogenization method, was studied using MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells in vitro. MTT assay, observation of morphologic changes, flow cytometric analysis, and western blot analysis indicated that ORI nanosuspension could significantly intensify the in vitro anti-tumor activity to MCF-7 cells, as compared with ORI solution. Furthermore, ORI nanosuspension induced G2/M stage proliferation arrest and apoptosis in MCF-7 cells depending on its concentration. In addition, western blot analysis indicated that the pro-caspase-3 protein was not cleaved into the activated form and the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein decreased, on the contrary, the expression of pro-apoptotic Bax protein increased in a dose-dependent manner in ORI nanosuspension-treated cells. These observations indicated that the anti-tumor activity of ORI nanosuspension was intensified by cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis induction.

Chronic treatment with celecoxib reverses chronic unpredictable stress-induced depressive-like behavior via reducing cyclooxygenase-2 expression in rat brain.

Recent clinical trails reported that adjunctive cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibition with celecoxib is beneficial in treating depression. However, another clinical study showed celecoxib did not have inhibitory effect of COX-2 in human brain when given at a therapeutic dose. Therefore, whether celecoxib is exerting its influence through COX inhibition or by some other mechanism remains unclear. The present study further investigated the effect of celecoxib on COX-2 expression, prostaglandin E(2) (PGE2, a major COX-2-mediated inflammatory mediator) concentration and the depressive-like behaviors in rats. Celecoxib was administrated by oral gavage to naive rats (16 mg/kg) or stressed rats (2, 8, 16 mg/kg, respectively) for 21 days, or to stressed rats for a single dose (16 mg/kg). The results showed that 21 days chronic unpredictable stress induced depressive-like behaviors and increased the COX-2 expression and PGE2 concentration in rat brain. Chronic treatments with celecoxib alleviated the depressive-like behavior and reversed the levels of COX-2 expression and PGE2 concentration in stressed rat in a dose-dependent manner. Celecoxib also improved the emotional state and decreased COX-2 expression and PGE2 concentration in naive rats. In addition, a single dose of celecoxib treatment reversed COX-2 expression and PGE2 concentration, but didn't alter the depressive-like behavior in stressed rat. These results suggest that COX-2 enzyme might play a key role in pathophysiology of depression. Furthermore, these data indicate that chronic celecoxib treatment reverse chronic unpredictable stress-induced depressive-like behavior might via reducing COX-2 enzyme in brain, and the selective COX-2 inhibitors could be developed as potential remedies for the management of depression.