[Cloning and expression analysis of 8 bHLH transcription factors in Panax quinquefolius].

A total of 8 bHLH transcription factors were cloned from Panax quinquefolius and the response of them to methyl jasmonate(MeJA) was studied.To be specific, based on the preliminary transcriptome screening, 8 bHLH transcription factors were cloned with seedlings which had been cultured for 3 weeks.The content of ginsenosides Rg_1, Re, and Rb_1, and total saponins in the adventitious roots of P.quinquefolius was determined at different time of MeJA treatment by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) and spectrophotometry.Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(PCR) was used to detect the relative expression of 8 transcription factors after MeJA treatment.The correlation between the relative expression of the 8 transcription factors and the saponin content after MeJA treatment was checked by Pearson's correlation analysis.The results showed that the PCR products(Pq-bHLH21-Pq-bHLH28) of the 8 bHLH transcription factors were 762-2 013 bp in length.They were submitted to NCBI to obtain the Genbank access numbers.The proteins yielded from Pq-bHLH21-Pq-bHLH28 showed amino acid sequence identity of 24.90%, and each amino acid sequence had the bHLH(Basic Helix-loop-helix) conserved domain and belonged to the bHLH family.The 5 amino acid sequences of Pq-bHLH22 and Pq-bHLH24-Pq-bHLH27 contained the bHLH-MYC N domain, which belonged to the MYC transcription factors.Pq-bHLH21-Pq-bHLH28 responded to MeJA within 48 h of treatment.At 72 h, the expression of Pq-bHLH24 reached 106.53 folds the highest in the treatment group.Pq-bHLH25, Pq-bHLH27, and Pq-bHLH28 showed synergic expression.Pq-bHLH21 may re-gulate the biosynthetic pathway of ginsenoside Rb_1, while Pq-bHLH22, Pq-bHLH25, and Pq-bHLH28 were in significantly positive correlation with the biosynthetic pathway of ginsenoside Re.The result lays a foundation for further verifying the regulation of ginsenoside biosynthesis by bHLH transcription factors.

Activation of the NF-κB Pathway and Heterozygous Deletion of TNFAIP3 (A20) Confer Superior Survival in Extranodal Natural Killer/T-Cell Lymphoma, Nasal Type.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of TNFAIP3 deletions and NF-κB activation in extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTCL), nasal type. METHODS: In total, 138 patients with ENKTCL were included. Activation of NF-κB pathway and expression of TNFAIP3 (A20) were examined by immunohistochemistry. TNFAIP3 was analyzed for deletions using FICTION (fluorescence immunophenotyping and interphase cytogenetics as a tool for investigating neoplasms), for mutations using Sanger sequencing, and for promoter methylation using methylation-specific sequencing. RESULTS: NF-κB pathway activation was observed in 31.2% of cases (43/138), TNFAIP3 expression was negative in 15.2% of cases (21/138), and heterozygous TNFAIP3 deletion was observed in 35% of cases (35/100). TNFAIP3 exons 2 to 9 mutations and promoter methylation were not observed. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed patients with NF-κB pathway activation or TNFAIP3 heterozygous deletion to have a longer overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that NF-κB activation and TNFAIP3 heterozygous deletion confer superior survival in patients with ENKTCL.

A Highly Sensitive Luminescent Dye@MOF Composite for Probing Different Volatile Organic Compounds.

The probing of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is critical and challenging in biotechnology and environmental monitoring. Incorporation of luminescent moieties into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has produced many unique luminescent sensors for probing different VOCs. The emissions of most MOF sensors are based mainly on the single transitions of luminescent moieties, so the luminescence readouts are only predominant for some special VOCs. We use a natural amino acid derivative as the luminescent moiety to result in a lamellar coordination polymer, and further embed luminescent dye molecules in the crystal matrix to result in a luminescent dye@MOF sensor. The composite sensor exhibits excellent sensitivity for decoding different VOCs with clearly differentiable fluorescence emission by tuning the energy transfer efficiency from the organic ligand to the dye moieties. The composite luminescent sensor is self-calibrated, and much more stable and instantaneous than other more widely explored luminescent sensors.

Designed synthesis of a series of zwitterion-polyoxometalate hybrid materials for selective scavenging and photolysis of dyes.

Zwitterions and polyoxometalates (POMs) are two kinds of functional moieties with very different properties for applications in different fields. We have developed an effective strategy to successfully immobilize these two different moieties into the frameworks of porous hybrid materials, in which the POM units act as templates and photoactive moieties. These hybrid materials demonstrate remarkable efficiency for selective scavenging and photolysis of cationic dyes from polluted water, and up to 10% dye uptake and quantitative photolysis of dyes have been realized.

In vitro biodegradation and biocompatibility of gelatin/montmorillonite-chitosan intercalated nanocomposite.

The intercalated nanocomposite of gelatin/montmorillonite-chitosan (Gel/MMT-CS) was prepared via the solution intercalation process. In vitro degradation tests showed that the nanocomposite had a lower degradation rate than Gel-CS composite. And the introduced intercalation structure endowed Gel/MMT-CS nanocomposite with a controllable degradation rate when changing the MMT content. Cells attachment, spread and proliferation on the Gel/MMT-CS membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mitochondrial activity assay. The results provided evidences of good adhesion, proliferation and morphology of rat stromal stem cells on Gel/MMT-CS membranes compared to the tissue culture plates (TCPs), making the Gel/MMT-CS nanocomposite a promising candidate towards tissue engineering.