KCNH6 is essential for insulin secretion by regulating intracellular ER Ca2+ store.

Appropriate Ca2+ concentration in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), modulating cytosolic Ca2+ signal, serves significant roles in physiological function of pancreatic ß cells. To maintaining ER homeostasis, Ca2+ movement across the ER membrane is always accompanied by a simultaneous K+ flux in the opposite direction. KCNH6 was proven to modulate insulin secretion by controlling plasma membrane action potential duration and intracellular Ca2+ influx. Meanwhile, the specific function of KCNH6 in pancreatic ß-cells remains unclear. In this study, we found that KCNH6 exhibited mainly ER localization and Kcnh6 ß-cell-specific knockout (ßKO) mice suffered from abnormal glucose tolerance and impaired insulin secretion in adulthood. ER Ca2+ store was overloaded in islets of ßKO mice, which contributed to ER stress and ER stress-induced apoptosis in ß cells. Next, we verified that ethanol treatment induced increases in ER Ca2+ store and apoptosis in pancreatic ß cells, whereas adenovirus-mediated KCNH6 overexpression in islets attenuated ethanol-induced ER stress and apoptosis. In addition, tail-vein injections of KCNH6 lentivirus rescued KCNH6 expression in ßKO mice, restored ER Ca2+ overload and attenuated ER stress in ß cells, which further confirms that KCNH6 protects islets from ER stress and apoptosis. These data suggest that KCNH6 on the ER membrane may help to stabilize intracellular ER Ca2+ stores and protect ß cells from ER stress and apoptosis. In conclusion, our study reveals the protective potential of KCNH6-targeting drugs in ER stress-induced diabetes.

All-potassium channel CRISPR screening reveals a lysine-specific pathway of insulin secretion.

OBJECTIVE: Genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 knockout coupled with single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has been used to identify function-related genes. However, this method may knock out too many genes, leading to low efficiency in finding genes of interest. Insulin secretion is controlled by several electrophysiological events, including fluxes of KATP depolarization and K+ repolarization. It is well known that glucose stimulates insulin secretion from pancreatic ß-cells, mainly via the KATP depolarization channel, but whether other nutrients directly regulate the repolarization K+ channel to promote insulin secretion is unknown. METHODS: We used a system involving CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockout of all 83 K+ channels and scRNA-seq in a pancreatic ß cell line to identify genes associated with insulin secretion. RESULTS: The expression levels of insulin genes were significantly increased after all-K+ channel knockout. Furthermore, Kcnb1 and Kcnh6 were the two most important repolarization K+ channels for the increase in high-glucose-dependent insulin secretion that occurred upon application of specific inhibitors of the channels. Kcnh6 currents, but not Kcnb1 currents, were reduced by one of the amino acids, lysine, in both transfected cells, primary cells and mice with ß-cell-specific deletion of Kcnh6. CONCLUSIONS: Our function-related CRISPR screen with scRNA-seq identifies Kcnh6 as a lysine-specific channel.

DNA methylation-dependent epigenetic regulation of Verticillium dahliae virulence in plants.

As a conserved epigenetic mark, DNA cytosine methylation, at the 5' position (5-mC), plays important roles in multiple biological processes, including plant immunity. However, the involvement of DNA methylation in the determinants of virulence of phytopathogenic fungi remains elusive. In this study, we profiled the DNA methylation patterns of the phytopathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae, one of the major causal pathogens of Verticillium wilt disease that causes great losses in many crops, and explored its contribution in fungal pathogenicity. We reveal that DNA methylation modification is present in V. dahliae and is required for its full virulence in host plants. The major enzymes responsible for the establishment of DNA methylation in V. dahliae were identified. We provided evidence that DNA methyltransferase-mediated establishment of DNA methylation pattern positively regulates fungal virulence, mainly through repressing a conserved protein kinase VdRim15-mediated Ca2+ signaling and ROS production, which is essential for the penetration activity of V. dahliae. In addition, we further demonstrated that histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3), another heterochromatin marker that is closely associated with 5-mC in eukaryotes, also participates in the regulation of V. dahliae pathogenicity, through a similar mechanism. More importantly, DNA methyltransferase genes VdRid, VdDnmt5, as well as H3K9me3 methyltransferase genes, were greatly induced during the early infection phase, implying that a dynamic regulation of 5-mC and H3K9me3 homeostasis is required for an efficient infection. Collectively, our findings uncover an epigenetic mechanism in the regulation of phytopathogenic fungal virulence. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42994-023-00117-5.

KCNH6 Enhanced Hepatic Glucose Metabolism through Mitochondrial Ca2+ Regulation and Oxidative Stress Inhibition.

KCNH6 has been proven to affect glucose metabolism and insulin secretion both in humans and mice. Further study revealed that Kcnh6 knockout (KO) mice showed impaired glucose tolerance. However, the precise function of KCNH6 in the liver remains unknown. Mitochondria have been suggested to maintain intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis; ROS generation and defective mitochondria can cause glucose metabolism disorders, including type 2 diabetes (T2D). Here, we found that Kcnh6 attenuated glucose metabolism disorders by decreasing PEPCK and G6pase abundance and induced Glut2 and IRS2 expression. Overexpression of Kcnh6 increased hepatic glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis. Kcnh6 attenuated intracellular and mitochondrial calcium levels in primary hepatocytes and reduced intracellular ROS and mitochondrial superoxide production. Kcnh6 suppressed oxidative stress by inhibiting mitochondrial pathway activation and NADPH oxidase expression. Experiments demonstrated that Kcnh6 expression improved hepatic glucose metabolism disorder through the c-Jun N-terminal kinase and p38MAPK signaling pathways. These results were confirmed by experiments evaluating the extent to which forced Kcnh6 expression rescued metabolic disorder in KO mice. In conclusion, KCNH6 enhanced hepatic glucose metabolism by regulating mitochondrial Ca2+ levels and inhibiting oxidative stress. As liver glucose metabolism is key to T2D, understanding KCNH6 functions may provide new insights into the causes of diabetes.

High bicarbonate concentration increases glucose-induced insulin secretion in pancreatic ß-cells.

Low serum bicarbonate is closely related to type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the precise role of bicarbonate on glucose homeostasis and insulin secretion remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the effects of bicarbonate concentration on pancreatic ß-cells. It was observed that the high bicarbonate concentration of the cell culture medium significantly increased the glucose-induced insulin secretion (GSIS) levels in mouse islets, MIN6, and the INS-1E ß cells. MIN6 cells presented an impaired GSIS; the cells produced a lower bicarbonate concentration when co-cultured with Capan-1 than when with CFPAC-1. NBCe1, a major bicarbonate transporter was observed to block the increasing insulin secretions, which were promoted by a high concentration of bicarbonate. In addition, higher extracellular bicarbonate concentration significantly increased the intracellular cAMP level, pHi, and calcium concentration with a 16.7 mM of glucose stimulation. Further study demonstrated that a low concentration of extracellular bicarbonate significantly impaired the functioning of pancreatic ß cells by reducing coupling Ca2+ influx, whose process may be modulated by NBCe1. Taken together, our results conclude that bicarbonate may serve as a novel target in diabetes prevention-related research.

Geomagnetic field absence reduces adult body weight of a migratory insect by disrupting feeding behavior and appetite regulation.

The geomagnetic field (GMF) is well documented for its essential role as a cue used in animal orientation or navigation. Recent evidence indicates that the absence of GMF (mimicked by the near-zero magnetic field, NZMF) can trigger stress-like responses such as reduced body weight, as we have previously shown in the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens. In this study, we found that consistent with the significantly decreased body weight of newly emerged female (-14.67%) and male (-13.17%) adult N. lugens, the duration of the phloem ingestion feeding waveform was significantly reduced by 32.02% in 5th instar nymphs reared under the NZMF versus GMF. Interestingly, 5th instar nymphs that exhibited reduced feeding had significantly higher glucose levels (+16.98% and +20.05%; 24 h and 48 h after molting), which are associated with food aversion, and expression patterns of their appetite-related neuropeptide genes (neuropeptide F, down-regulated overall; short neuropeptide F, down-regulated overall; adipokinetic hormone, up-regulated overall; and adipokinetic hormone receptor, down-regulated overall) were also altered under the absence of GMF in a manner consistent with diminishing appetite. Moreover, the expressions of the potential magnetosensor cryptochromes (Crys) were found significantly altered under the absence of GMF, indicating the likely upstream signaling of the Cry-mediated magnetoreception mechanisms. These findings support the hypothesis that strong changes in GMF intensity can reduce adult body weight through affecting insect feeding behavior and underlying regulatory processes including appetite regulation. Our results highlight that GMF could be necessary for the maintenance of energy homeostasis in insects.

Impact of wilting and additives on fermentation quality and carbohydrate composition of mulberry silage.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of wilting and additives on the fermentation quality, structural and non-structural carbohydrate composition of mulberry silages. METHODS: The selected LAB strains Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum 'LC279063' (L1), commercial inoculant Gaofuji (GF), and Trichoderma viride cellulase (CE) were used as additives for silage preparation. Silage treatments were designed as control (CK), L1, GF, or CE under three wilting rates, that is wilting for 0, 2 or 4 hours (h). After ensiling for 30 days, the silages were analyzed for the chemical and fermentation characteristics. RESULTS: The results showed that wilting had superior effects on increasing the non-structural carbohydrate concentration and degrading the structural carbohydrate. After ensiling for 30 days, L1 generally had a higher fermentation quality than other treatments, indicated by the lower pH value, acetic acid, propionic acid and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) content, and the higher lactic acid, water soluble carbohydrate (WSC), glucose, galactose, sucrose and cellobiose concentration (p<0.05) at any wilting rate. Wilting could increase the ratio of lactic acid/acetic acid and decrease the content of NH3-N. CONCLUSION: The results confirmed that wilting degraded the structural carbohydrate and increased the non-structural carbohydrate; and L1 exhibited better properties in improving fermentation quality and maintaining a high non-structural carbohydrates composition compared with the other treatments.

Enhancement of the geomagnetic field reduces the phototaxis of rice brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens associated with frataxin down-regulation.

The geomagnetic field (GMF) is an environmental cue that provides directional information for animals. The intensity of GMF is varied over space and time. Variations in the GMF intensity affect the navigation of animals and their physiology. In this study, the phototaxis of the migratory insect rice planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (N. lugens) and frataxin in N. lugens (Nl-fh), which is a mitochondrial protein required for cellular iron homeostasis and iron-sulfur cluster assembly, were investigated by using different intensities of magnetic field. From the results, individuals of N. lugens showed decreased phototaxis when reared and tested in a behavioral arena under a strong magnetic field. Besides the reduction in performance, an accompanying effect of the strong magnetic field condition was a reduced level of Nl-fh-messenger RNA, and a Nl-fh knockdown indeed impaired the phototactic behavior in a tested sample of insects. This leads to the conclusion that the expression of frataxin is dependent on the strength of the surrounding magnetic field and that functional frataxin facilitates phototactic behavior in N. lugens.

Design, synthesis and evaluation of antiproliferative activity of fluorinated betulinic acid.

Betulinic acid (BA), a pentacyclic triterpenoid, exhibits broad spectrum antiproliferative activity, but generally with only modest potency. To improve BA's pharmacological properties, fluorine was introduced as a single atom at C-2, creating two diastereomers, or in a trifluoromethyl group at C-3. We evaluated the impact of these groups on antiproliferative activity against five human tumor cell lines. A racemic 2-F-BA (compound 6) showed significantly improved antiproliferative activity, while each diastereomer exhibited similar effects. We also demonstrated that 2-F-BA is a topoisomerase (Topo) I and IIα dual inhibitor in cell-based and cell-free assays. A hypothetical mode of binding to the Topo I-DNA suggested a difference between the hydrogen bonding of BA and 2-F-BA to DNA, which may account for the difference in bioactivity against Topo I.

Fermentation quality and aerobic stability of mulberry silage prepared with lactic acid bacteria and propionic acid.

The objective of this study was to examine the fermentation quality and aerobic stability of mulberry (Morus alba L.) silage prepared with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and propionic acid (PA). The selected LAB strains Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum LC365281 (L1) and L. brevis LC365282 (L2), and commercial inoculant strains L. plantarum Gaofuji (GF) and L. buchneri Fresh (FR), and PA were used as additives for silage preparation. Silage treatments were designed as control, L1, L2, GF, FR, PA, PA + L1, PA + L2, PA + GF, or PA + FR. After 30 days of ensiling, the fermentation quality of silages treated with PA + L1 was improved, with a lower (p < 0.05) pH and NH3 -N content than those of other treatments. During the aerobic exposure, the PA + LAB-treated silages displayed an aerobic stability with stable pH value and lactic acid content. The results confirm that L. plantarum L1 and PA were the best additive combination for ensiling mulberry.

Molecular characterization, spatial-temporal expression and magnetic response patterns of iron-sulfur cluster assembly1 (IscA1) in the rice planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens.

The mechanisms of magnetoreception have been proposed as the magnetite-based, the chemical radical-pair and biocompass model, in which magnetite particles, the cryptochrome (Cry) or iron-sulfur cluster assembly 1 (IscA1) may be involved. However, little is known about the association among the molecules. Here we investigated the molecular characterization and the mRNA expression of IscA1 in different developmental stages, tissues and magnetic fields in the migratory brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens. NlIscA1 contains an open reading frame of 390 bp, encoding amino acids of 129, with the predicted molecular weight of 14.0 kDa and the isoelectric point of 9.10. Well-conserved Fe-S cluster binding sites were observed in the predicted protein. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated NlIscA1 to be clustered into the insect's IscA1. NlIscA1 showed up-regulated mRNA expression during the period of migration. The mRNA expression of NlIscA1 could be detected in all the three tissues of head, thorax and abdomen, with the highest expression level in the abdomen. For the macropterous migratory Nilaparvata lugens, mRNA expression of NlIscA1 and N. lugens cryptochrome1 (Nlcry1) were up-regulated under the magnetic fields of 5 Gauss and 10 Gauss in strength (vs. local geomagnetic field), while N. lugens cryptochrome2 (Nlcry2) remained stable. For the brachyterous non-migratory Nilaparvata lugens, no significant changes were found in mRNA expression of NlIscA1, Nlcry1 and Nlcry2 among different magnetic fields. These findings preliminarily reveal that the expression of NlIscA1 and Nlcry1 exhibited coordinated responses to the magnetic field. It suggests some potential associations among the putative magneto-sensitive molecules of cryptochrome and iron-sulfur cluster assembly.

[Spectral Evidence of In-Situ Regulatory Mechanisms on Chemical Speciation of Lead/Cadmium Affected by Dissolved Organic Matter Extracted from Rhizosphere Loess of Calendula Officinalis Seedling].

The various characteristics of DOM have great impact on the transformation process of contaminants in soil due to the generation of the feedback regulation in cycles of plant, Rhizosphere soil and environmental contaminants. Currently, more attention was paid on contaminants behaviors of adsorption, transformation, accumulation and detoxification than DOM derived from Rhizosphere soil. The chemical speciation of lead/cadmium and growth efficiency related variations were revealed in the growth process of Calendula officinalis seedlings, and the spectral characteristics of DOM in Rhizosphere loess were discussed with UV, FT-IR and 3D-EEMs spectra. The results showed: the dominant contents of lead/cadmium are in residual and exchangeable speciation, and the exchangeable contents increase greatly after the growth of Calendula officinalis seedlings. It causes negative effects on the height and emergency rate of Calendula officinalis seedlings with lead/cadmium, and the Calendula officinalis is able to positively improve loess characteristics. The root of Calendula officinalis appears to be longer, thinner and flexuous. The maximum absorption band of DOM in UV spectra locates in 200~240 nm, and the sharper and greater intensity of peaks can be detected under lead/cadmium stress. The absorption peaks in FT-IR spectra move from 3 444 and 1 637 to 3 440 and 1 645 cm-1, respectively, indicating the combination effects between metal ions and functional groups of­OH and CO. The dominant fluorescence peaks of DOM are found to be aroundλex/em=240/430, described as fulvic-acid like components, and metals in loess affect more on peaks intensity than locations. The characteristics of DOM in Rhizosphere loess of Calendula officinalis seedlings contain much micro-eco-environmental information, and the spectral approaches are efficient to reveal the relationship between DOM and chemical speciation of lead/cadmium.

[Spectral Characteristics of Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) Derived from Water and Sediment in Normal Flow Period of the Intersection Zone of Jing River and Wei River].

As the representative component for eco-environmental researchers, dissolved organic matter (DOM) is playing a significant role for the indication effect on environmental quality and efficiency assessment on remediation approaches. Nowadays, it lacks related investigation on DOM derived from rivers and sediments, and the advanced discussion is in urgent need because of the dynamic variations of experimental target, such as spatial-temporal condition, hydrological condition, environmental condition and research dimension. The spectral approaches, including elemental analysis, ultraviolet spectra (UV), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectra (Raman), three dimensional excitation emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy (3D-EEMs) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were used to reveal the characteristics of DOM derived from water and sediment samples in the intersection zone of Jing River and Wei River (Gaoling District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province). The results showed: the ratios of H/C and N/C for DOM in sediment are higher than that of DOM in water, suggesting the saturation degree in DOM from sediment are higher with more content of nitrogen. The UV absorbance of DOM decreases with the increasing of wave length, and obvious absorption region (240～310 nm) appears in DOM from sediment. The functional groups of ­OH, CC and C­O could be found in DOM from FTIR spectra, and the characteristics might be more complicated in sediment for various peak shapes and intensities. The Raman spectra of DOM in water are similar to that of the sediment. The fluorescence peaks of DOM in water are regarded as visible tryptophane-like and UV fulvic-like components, mainly from terrestrial source; while fluorescence peaks of DOM in sediment belong to UV fulvic-like fluorescence without protein-like fluorescence peaks being detected. The principal carbon chains are similar in DOM samples from water and sediment, and the aliphatic characteristics are more obvious for the latter, which contains more carbohydrate-binding hydrogen than aromatic-binding hydrogen and γ-H. It proves that DOM in water mainly comes from terrestrial source, and DOM in sediment is more complicated and fresher. The achievements are significant to reveal the microscopic characteristics and environmental behavior of DOM in representative systems.

[Study on the Mechanism to Ease the Leaching Effect of Nutrient in the Multi-Contaminated Loess Washing Process with the Addition of Anion Adsorbent(â ¡)].

The soil washing technology is commonly used to remediate contaminated soils because of its advantages of low cost, ease handling and environmental-friendly. However, it should be noticed that the nutrient might leach simultaneously from soil in the washing process, and the technical solution of the issue will greatly accelerate the application process of washing technology in site remediation. This paper aims to reveal the regulating mechanism of synthesized anion adsorbent from straw on nutrient leaching potential through approaches of adsorption equilibrium models (isotherms and kinetics) and spectral analysis instruments (SEM and FTIR). The results showed: the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo second order kinetic equation fit better the adsorption behavior of nitrate and phosphate. The maximum adsorption capacity (qm), calculated with Langmuir isotherm, are 7.507 5 and 4.194 6 mg·g-1, respectively, and the reaction belongs to the monolayer and favorable adsorption with chemical adsorption the rate-determining step. The activation energy of adsorption for nitrate and phosphate at 298 K are 42.25 and 39.38 kJ·mol-1, respectively, and the reaction is spontaneous and endothermic. The purified water and KOH solution are effective for the regeneration of anion adsorbent, the desorption effect is better for the assistance of ultrasonic sound and longer desorption time. The surface of anion adsorbent after adsorption is covered with particles, while less spray-like component appears after desorption with purified water. The movement of vibration peaks in FTIR spectra indicates the effect of electrostatic interaction in the reaction. The adsorption of nitrate and phosphate on anion adsorbent involves simultaneously the effects of physical and chemical adsorption.

[FTIR Analysis of Secondary Abiotic Stress Response of Calendula Officinalis Seedlings to Lead and Cadmium in Multi-Contaminated Loess].

As an environmentally-friendly technology attracting great attention from current researchers, phytoremediation is significant for site remediation contaminated by heavy metals. The plant will appear related physiological response to reduce direct harm caused by the stress of heavy metals. The microscale behavior is always multi-dimensional and difficult to detect. The advanced instruments are effective to resolve the scientific issues, while the related researches are seldom investigated. Taking calendula officinalis seedlings as experimental samples, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were applied to compare the surface characteristics and functional groups variation, respectively. The response process and tolerance mechanism of calendula officinalis seedlings to lead and cadmium stress were further analyzed. The results showed: with the increasing concentration of lead and cadmium in loess, the calyptra of calendula officinalis seedlings become bending and wilting; the amount of root hairs decreases greatly while no significant variations of aerial parts are found on surface characteristics. The stress of lead and cadmium are responsible for the difference of FTIR spectra of Calendula officinalis seedlings. The peak absorbance at 3 573 cm-1 decreases and the peak becomes more complex with the increasing contents of lead and cadmium. It might be the coordination effect between lead/cadmium and hydroxyl, which affects the synthesis and secretion of organic matters. The movement of C­H vibration peak is associated with the lipid oxidationwhile the changes at 1 631 and 1 574 cm-1 suggest the protein component differences. The shifting peak at 1 385 cm-1 might be associated with the methylation of pectin and lipid, and the behavior is positive for the adaption process of calendula officinalis seedlings to lead and cadmium stress. The FTIR spectra are effective to reveal the phytoremediation mechanism on heavy metals contamination in pedosphere.

[Determination of Lead and Cadmium in Calendula Officinalis Seedlings for Phytoremediation of Multi-Contaminated Loess by Using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry with Wet Digestion].

Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) is widely used in the analysis and detection of heavy metals. The optimal operation conditions on metals detection are important for the stabilization and repeatability of scientific research, which affects the expected investigation objectives greatly. Thus, it becomes a key issue to establish appropriate detection methods in scientific works. Calendula officinalis was used for lead/cadmium remediation in contaminated loess, and the flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) with wet digestion was applied to analyze the contents of lead/cadmium in Calendula officinalis seedlings. The investigation data was further studied to reveal the bioaccumulation efficiency of lead/cadmium in Calendula officinalis seedlings. The results showed: the limits of detection are 0.104 and 0.007 mg·L-1 for lead and cadmium; the recovery rates of lead and cadmium are from 94.33% to 110.78% and 97.73% to 107.50% respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSD) are between 4.11% and 4.75% for lead while between 1.11% and 2.77% for cadmium，and It's been proved that the method is accurate and reliable. The low accumulation efficiency of lead with Calendula officinalis seedlings might be related to the electronegativity of lead while the growth period of calendula officinalis seedlings and environmental factors. The accumulation content of cadmium is 104.85 mg·kg-1 with cadmium concentration of 50 mg·kg-1. The co-existing of lead in loess is positive for cadmium accumulation by Calendula officinalis seedlings, and the synergistic effect might work in the process. The established detection method is effective for quantitative analysis of lead and cadmium in calendula officinalis seedlings and significant for future research.

[Spectral Analysis of Dissolved Organic Matter of Tannery Wastewater in the Treatment Process].

Tannery industry is one of the major traditional industries and important wastewater sources in China. The existing research mainly focus on the quality of inlet and outlet water, rather than the purification and transformation behavior of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the treatment process of tannery wastewater. The UV spectra and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to detect the spectral characteristics of water samples in the treatment process, and it is analyzed that the formation process and the linear relationships between total fluorescence intensity and parameters. The results showed: the UV absorbance of DOM in wastewater increased firstly and then decreased with longer wavelength, and the wave peaks were found around the wavelength of 230 nr. The values of A253 /A203 and SUVA254 increased firstly and then decreased, indicating the complex reaction process related to free substituent and aromatic rings. The fluorescence peaks appeared at the regions of λ(ex/em) = 320-350/440- 460 and λ(ex/em) = 270-300/390-420, referred as visible humic-like and visible fulvic-like fluorescence, respectively. With the treatment process of tannery wastewater, the following fluorescence phenomenon were monitored, such as the blue-shift of humic-like fluorescence peak in the hydrolytic acidification tank, the appearance of tryptophan fluorescence peak in the second biochemical pond (λ(ex/em) = 290/340), the weak fluorescence peak in the fourth biochemical pond (λ(ex/em) = 350/520) and the stabilized fluorescence characteristics in the secondary sedimentation tank and water outlet. The achievements are helpful to investigate the degradation and formation behavior of water components, and significant for the fluorescence variation analysis in the treatment system. The removal rate of total fluorescence intensity of tannery wastewater fit better the removal rate of TOC with coefficient of r 0.835 5. The UV spectra and 3D-EEMs are effective to reveal the purification behavior and mechanism of tannery wastewater.

[Design, synthesis and evaluation of new L-proline derivatives as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors].

In this paper, fourteen new L-proline derivatives were designed and synthesized, and their acetlcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activities were also investigated in vitro. New L-proline derivatives were prepared from substituted 2-bromo-1-acetophenones through four-step reaction; and their bioactivities as AChE inhibitors were measured by Ellman spectrophotometry. The results showed that the target compounds had a certain AChE inhibitory activity to in vitro. The bioactivity of compound 8b was the best of them, and its IC50 value was 5.45 µmol.L-1, which was better than that of rivastigmine. So the acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities of new L-proline derivatives were worth to be further studied.

[FTIR and 13C NMR Analysis of Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) in the Treatment Process of Tannery Wastewater].

Nowadays, the wastewater quantity discharged yearly from tannery industry is around 0. 2 billion t in China. The contaminants of tannery wastewater include macromolecular organic matters, such as grease, fur scraps and collagen, and the alkaline wastewater appears to be of high content of salt and COD. The quality of tannery wastewater is monitored strictly among all kinds of industry wastewater. In the treatment process of tannery wastewater, the quality of inlet and outlet water is generally analyzed. In fact, the transformation behavior of contaminants should be additionally checked to optimize the treatment conditions. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is commonly existed in water-bodies and helpful to understand the physicochemical characteristics, while the related work should be further studied on tannery wastewater. The approaches of elemental analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis (TG), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) were used to reveal the characteristics of DOM in the treatment process of tannery wastewater. The results showed the carbon content of DOM samples increased gradually, atomic ratios of H/C increased firstly and then decreased, indicating the organic matters were decomposed into chain structures firstly, finally forming the component hard to degraded. The pyrolysis process of DOM mainly proceeded in the regions of 110~530 °C (aliphatic compound, protein, etc. ) and 530~800 °C (aromatic ring, single bond of C-C, etc. ). The functional groups of DOM included -OH, -NH2, C=O and so on, and the aromatic substances were detected, shown from FTIR figures, in the later period of the reaction, caused by the metabolism effect of micro-organism. The content of alkoxy-C increased to the maximum in the second biochemical pond, and the minimum content of aromatic-C appeared in the second biochemical pond, suggesting the transformation behavior of carbon functional groups. The investigation on DOM in tannery wastewater is significant to understand the purification mechanism of contaminants in tannery wastewater.

[Design, synthesis and evaluation of 5-aminobenzimidazolone derivatives as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors].

The target compounds were prepared from 5-aminobenzimidazolone by two steps reaction, and their AChE inhibitory activities were measured by Ellman method in vitro. The AChE inhibitory activity of compound 4d is the best of them, and its IC50 value is equal to 7.2 µmol·L(-1), which is better than that of rivastigmine; moreover the 4d had no inhibitory activities to BuChE. Therefore, the inhibitory activities of 5-aminobenzimidazolone derivatives to acetylcholinesterase are worth further researching.