A natural anti-obesity reagent derived from sea buckthorn polysaccharides: Structure characterization and anti-obesity evaluation in vivo.

Sea buckthorn polysaccharide (SBP) has received increasing attention for its various bioactive functions. In this study, a novel polysaccharide SBP-1 was initially separated from crude SBP and further purified to obtain its main fraction SBP-1-A with a Mw of 9944 Da, consisting of Rha, Ara, Gal, Glc, and GalA. The structure of SBP-1-A was characterized based on FT-IR, GC-MS, and 1D/2D NMR, and its backbone was composed of a repeated unit of â†’ 3,4)-ß-l-Rhap-(1 â†’ 4)-α-d-GalAp-(1 â†’ 4)-α-d-GalAp-(1 â†’ with branches at C-4 position comprised of α-l-Araf, ß-d-Galp, ß-d-Glcp, α-d-Glcp. Besides, the anti-obesity effects of SBP-1 on high-fat diet mice were evaluated, indicating it could restrain the body weight gain and lipids accumulation by promoting the expression of PGC1α, UCP-1, and PRDM16 to activate the brown adipocyte and improve the thermogenesis. In summary, the results offered new supports for the structural information of SBP and its feasibility to be used as a natural anti-obesity reagent.

Polysaccharides from Polyporus umbellatus: A review on their extraction, modification, structure, and bioactivities.

Polyporus umbellatus (Pers.) Fries, a well-known medicinal fungus, has been reported to exhibit important functions of diuresis and dampness infiltration in traditional Chinese Medicine. Accumulating evidences have demonstrated that the P. umbellatus polysaccharides (PUPs) are the main and representative pharmacologically active ingredients and display multiple bioactivities both in vivo and in vitro methods, such as those of antioxidant, immunomodulatory, antitumor, anti-proliferative and hepatoprotective. Besides, many PUPs have been isolated from the different sources of P. umbellatus, including sclerotia, fruiting body, mycelia and fermentation liquid of this fungus. The purpose of the present review is to comprehensively and systematically reorganize the available information related to the extraction, purification, modification, structure characterization and to discuss diverse biological activities of PUPs to support their potential application value in pharmaceuticals field, functional foods and cosmetics areas. In addition, new invaluable insights on the future research with PUPs have also been proposed in the important areas of structural characterization and pharmacological activities.

Chemical elucidation of an arabinogalactan from rhizome of Polygonatum sibiricum with antioxidant activities.

Polygonatum sibiricum is traditionally used as Chinese medicine for immunity enhancement. Exploration of polysaccharides from Polygonatum species would provide a wider insight into the studies on their chemical structures and function activities. In this study, the alkali-extracted polysaccharide from P. sibiricum (PSP) was isolated and examined. The polysaccharide was firstly isolated by ion-exchange chromatography equipped with DE52 column, followed by isolated through Superdex-200 column. The obtained PSPJWA fraction was a homogenous one with average molecular weight of 141 kDa. The monosaccharide composition was galactose, arabinose and rhamnose in a ratio of 14:4:1. The glycosidic linkages of PSPJWA fraction were indicated to be Araf-(1→, →5)-Araf-(1→, →3,5)-Araf-(1→, Galp-(1→, →4)-Galp-(1→, →4,6)-Galp-(1→ and →2,4)-Rhap-(1→ residue by methylation analysis. NMR and enzymatic studies showed that PSPJWA was a novel arabinogalactan-type structure. PSPJW polysaccharides with different molecular weight and similar chemical structure had different antioxidant activities. Together, P. sibiricum polysaccharide has the potential to be a natural antioxidant.

Three exopolysaccharides from the liquid fermentation of Polyporus umbellatus and their bioactivities.

The exopolysaccharides were extracted and separated from the broth of the liquid fermentation of P. umbellatus, and the antioxidant activities and other relative bioactivities were investigated, aiming to find clues for a wider use in the future. Three novel exopolysaccharides of PPS1, PPS2 and PPS3 with molecular weight of 3.7×104-6.9×104Da were obtained. Monosaccharide analysis showed that they were mainly composed of mannose, along with galactose and glucose with different molar ratio, and their structural features were also investigated by FT-IR, NMR and SEM. The antioxidant activity assay in vitro showed these exopolysaccharides exhibited a significant scavenging effect on DPPH· and other free radicals in a dose-dependent manner. Significantly, the stimulate nitric oxide production and phagocytic activity implied that the polysaccharides could enhance the immunity of RAW 264.7 macrophages. Other assays revealed that they have obvious cellular aging delaying activity and the DNA damage protecting activity. In conclusion, these three exopolysaccharides might have potential applications in the fields of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food products.

Conversion of monkey fibroblasts to transplantable telencephalic neuroepithelial stem cells.

Non-human primates provide optimal models for the development of stem cell therapies. Although somatic cells have been converted into neural stem/progenitor cells, it is unclear whether telencephalic neuroepithelial stem cells (NESCs) with stable properties can be generated from fibroblasts in primate. Here we report that a combination of transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4) with a new culture medium induces rhesus monkey fibroblasts into NESCs, which can develop into miniature neural tube (NT)-like structures at a cell level. Furthermore, single induced NESCs (iNESCs) can generate later-stage 3D-NTs after grown on matrigel in suspension culture. iNESCs express NT cell markers, have a unique gene expression pattern biasing towards telencephalic patterning, and give rise to cortical neurons. Via transplantation, single iNESCs can extensively survive, regenerate myelinated neuron axons and synapse structures in adult monkey striatum and cortex, and differentiate into cortical neurons. Successful transplantation is closely associated with graft regions and grafted cell identities. The ability to generate defined and transplantable iNESCs from primate fibroblasts under a defined condition with predictable fate choices will facilitate disease modeling and cell therapy.

Combined administration of anisodamine and neostigmine rescued acute lethal crush syndrome through α7nAChR-dependent JAK2-STAT3 signaling.

Previously we showed that Ani (anisodamine)/Neo (neostigmine) combination produced anti-shock effect via activating α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR). In this study, we aim to investigate the therapeutic effect and underlying mechanisms of Ani/Neo combination in acute lethal crush syndrome (CS). In rat and rabbit CS models, Ani/Neo combination increased the 24 h survival rates, improved hemodynamics and decreased the levels of creatine kinase, MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, K+ in serum. It also decreased the levels of H2O2, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and nitric oxide (NO) in serum and compressed muscle in rat CS model. In wild-type (WT) mice with CS, Ani/Neo combination increased 24 h survival rate and decreased the levels of H2O2, MPO, NO, TNFα, IL-6 and IL-10 in compressed muscle. These effects were attenuated by α7nAChR knockout (KO). Moreover, Ani/Neo combination prevented the decrease of phosphorylation of Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) and phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) induced by CS. These effects of Ani/Neo in CS mice were cancelled by methyllycaconitine (α7nAChR antagonist) and α7nAChR KO. Collectively, our results demonstrate that Ani/Neo combination could produce therapeutic effects in CS. The underlying mechanism involves the activation of α7nAChR-dependent JAK2-STAT3 signaling pathway.