Comparative Physiological and Transcriptomic Analyses of Two Contrasting Pepper Genotypes under Salt Stress Reveal Complex Salt Tolerance Mechanisms in Seedlings.

As a glycophyte plant, pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is widely cultivated worldwide, but its growth is susceptible to salinity damage, especially at the seedling stage. Here, we conducted a study to determine the physiological and transcriptional differences between two genotype seedlings (P300 and 323F3) with contrasting tolerance under salt stress. The P300 seedlings were more salt-tolerant and had higher K+ contents, higher antioxidase activities, higher compatible solutes, and lower Na+ contents in both their roots and their leaves than the 323F3 seedlings. During RNA-seq analysis of the roots, more up-regulated genes and fewer down-regulated genes were identified between salt-treated P300 seedlings and the controls than between salt-treated 323F3 and the controls. Many ROS-scavenging genes and several SOS pathway genes were significantly induced by salt stress and exhibited higher expressions in the salt-treated roots of the P300 seedlings than those of 323F3 seedlings. Moreover, biosynthesis of the unsaturated fatty acids pathway and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum pathway were deeply involved in the responses of P300 to salt stress, and most of the differentially expressed genes involved in the two pathways, including the genes that encode mega-6 fatty acid desaturases and heat-shock proteins, were up-regulated. We also found differences in the hormone synthesis and signaling pathway genes in both the P300 and 323F3 varieties under salt stress. Overall, our results provide valuable insights into the physiological and molecular mechanisms that affect the salt tolerance of pepper seedlings, and present some candidate genes for improving salt tolerance in pepper.

Celastrol inhibits the proliferation and angiogenesis of high glucose-induced human retinal endothelial cells.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetes. Celastrol plays a certain role in the improvement of various diabetes complications. Therefore, this study aimed to explore whether celastrol inhibited the proliferation and angiogenesis of high glucose (HG)-induced human retinal endothelial cells (hRECs) by down-regulating the HIF1/VEGF signaling pathway. METHODS: The viability and proliferation of hRECs treated with glucose, celastrol or dimethyloxallyl glycine (DMOG) were analyzed by MTT assay. The invasion and tube formation ability of hRECs treated with glucose, celastrol or DMOG were in turn detected by transwell assay and tube formation assay. The expression of HIF1α and VEGF in hRECs after indicated treatment was analyzed by Western blot analysis and RT-qPCR analysis and ICAM-1 expression in hRECs after indicated treatment was detected by immunofluorescence assay RESULTS: HG induction promoted the proliferation, invasion and tube formation ability and increased the expression of HIF-1α and VEGF of hRECs, which were gradually suppressed by celastrol changing from 0.5 to 2.0 µM. DMOG was regarded as a HIF1α agonist, which attenuated the effect of celastrol on HG-induced hRECs. CONCLUSION: Celastrol inhibited the proliferation and angiogenesis of HG-induced hRECs by down-regulating the HIF1α/VEGF signaling pathway.

The therapeutic effect of Healaflow in glaucoma surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical effectiveness of Healaflow in primary angle-closure glaucoma surgery. METHODS: From August 2018 to July 2019, 100 primary angle-closure glaucoma patients admitted to our ophthalmology department were divided into a control group (trabeculectomy alone) and an observation group (trabeculectomy + Halver), with 50 patients in each group, and 53 eyes in the control group and 56 eyes in the observation group. All the patients were followed up for half a year. The vision, intraocular pressure, bleb morphology, efficacy, and adverse reactions were evaluated. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the visual acuity between the two groups of patients during the follow-up (P > 0.05). The intraocular pressure levels in the two groups of patients during the follow-up were significantly lower than they were before the treatment (P < 0.05), and the difference in the intraocular pressure levels between the 6th month postoperative groups was significant (P < 0.05). During the last follow-up, 45 eyes in the control group developed functional filtration blebs, and 8 eyes had non-functioning filtration blebs. There were 55 functional filtration blebs and 1 non-functional filtration bleb in the observation group (χ2 = 4.731, P = 0.030). The total effective rate in the observation group was higher than it was in the control group (92.86% VS 77.36%, χ2 = 4.058, P = 0.044). During the follow-up period, the control group had 2 eyes with anterior chambers, 1 eye with low intraocular pressure, and 1 eye with an iris adhesion. The observation group had 1 eye with an anterior chamber, and no significant difference in the complications between the groups was evident (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Healaflow is of great value in maintaining functional filtration blebs and in controlling and stabilizing intraocular pressure. It is safe and reliable in clinical application, and it helps to reduce the unstable intraocular pressure after glaucoma surgery caused by scar adhesions in the filtration channel.

Associations of PARP-1 variant rs1136410 with PARP activities, oxidative DNA damage, and the risk of age-related cataract in a Chinese Han population: A two-stage case-control analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1136410 in the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) gene was associated with PARP activities, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels, and the risk of age-related cataract (ARC) in a Chinese Han population. METHODS: In this two-stage case-control study with a total of 1010 ARC patients and 1045 controls, SNP rs1136410 was genotyped by high-resolution melting analyses (HRM). PARP activities and 8-OHdG levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were determined by ELISA kits. RESULTS: In discovery, replication, and their merged sets, the variant genotypes (AG+GG) of SNP rs1136410 were significantly associated with an increased risk of ARC under a dominant model (Adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.42, Padj=0.001 for the merged set). This association was further identified in subtype analyses for cortical ARC (Adjusted OR=1.69, Padj<0.001). In subgroup analyses, we identified a significant interaction between SNP rs1136410 and smoking habit in increasing ARC risk (Pinter=0.019). Moreover, ARC patients had lower activities of PARP and higher levels of 8-OHdG than controls. There were significant correlations of SNP rs1136410 with decreased PARP activities and increased 8-OHdG levels in controls and patients with cortical ARC. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that SNP rs1136410 may confer susceptibility to ARC by affecting PARP activities and oxidative DNA damage.