Theophylline Extracted from Fu Brick Tea Affects the Metabolism of Preadipocytes and Body Fat in Mice as a Pancreatic Lipase Inhibitor.

The dramatic increase in obesity is putting people under increasing pressure. Lipase inhibitors, as a kind of effective anti-obesity drug, have attracted more and more researchers' attention in recent years because of their advantages of acting on the intestinal tract and having no side effects on the central nervous system. In this study, lipase inhibitor Fu Brick Theophylline (FBT) was screened based on enzyme molecular dynamics, and the inhibition mechanism of lipase inhibitors on obesity was analyzed and discussed at the cellular level and animal model level. We found that FBT had high inhibition effects of lipase with an IC50 of 1.02~0.03 µg/mL. Firstly, the laboratory used 3T3-L1 proadipocytes as models, flow cytometry was used to detect the effects of FBT on the cycle, apoptosis and intracellular ROS activity of proadipocytes. To study the contents of triglyceride, total cholesterol, related metabolites and related gene and protein expression in adipocytes. The results showed that FBT could reduce ROS production and inflammatory factor mRNA expression during cell differentiation. Secondly, by establishing the animal model of high-fat feed ob nutritional obese mice, the morphological observation and gene expression analysis of body weight, fat rate, adipocyte and hepatocyte metabolism of FBT obese mice were further discussed. It was proven that FBT can effectively reduce the degree of fatty liver, prevent liver fibrosis and fat accumulation, and improve the damage of mitochondrial membrane structure. This study provides a theoretical basis for the screening and clinical treatment of lipase inhibitors.

RhoA/ROCK pathway mediates the effect of oestrogen on regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition and proliferation in endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a benign gynaecological disease appearing with pelvic pain, rising dysmenorrhoea and infertility seriously impacting on 10% of reproductive-age females. This research attempts to demonstrate the function and molecular mechanism of RhoA/ROCK pathway on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and proliferation in endometriosis. The expression of Rho family was abnormally changed in endometriotic lesions; in particular, RhoA and ROCK1/2 were significantly elevated. Overexpression of RhoA in human eutopic endometrial epithelial cells (eutopic EECs) enhanced the cell mobility, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and proliferation, and RhoA knockdown exhibited the opposite function. Oestrogen up-regulated the RhoA activity and expression of RhoA and ROCK1/2. RhoA overexpression reinforced the effect of oestrogen on promoting EMT and proliferation, and RhoA knockdown impaired the effect of oestrogen. oestrogen receptor α (ERα) was involved with the regulation of oestrogen on EMT and proliferation and up-regulated RhoA activity and expression of RhoA and ROCK1/2. The function of ERα was modulated by the change in RhoA expression. Furthermore, phosphorylated ERK that was enhanced by oestrogen and ERα promoted the protein expression of RhoA/ROCK pathway. Endometriosis mouse model revealed that oestrogen enhanced the size and weight of endometriotic lesions. The expression of RhoA and phosphorylated ERK in mouse endometriotic lesions was significantly elevated by oestrogen. We conclude that abnormal activated RhoA/ROCK pathway in endometriosis is responsible for the function of oestrogen/ERα/ERK signalling, which promoted EMT and proliferation and resulted in the development of endometriosis.

Establishment of an immortalized stromal cell line derived from human Endometriotic lesion.

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a benign gynecological disease with obviously feature of estrogen-dependence and inflammatory response. The applications of primary endometriotic stromal cells in research of endometriosis are restricted for short life span, dedifferentiation of hormone and cytokine responsiveness. The objective of this study was to establish and characterize immortalized human endometriotic stromal cells (ihESCs). METHODS: The endometriotic samples were from a patient with ovarian endometriosis and the primary endometriotic stromal cells were isolated from the endometriotic tissues. The primary cells were infected by lentivirus to establish telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)-induced immortalized cells. Quantification of mRNA and proteins was examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western Blot. CCK-8 assay and EdU labeling assay were assigned to assess the growth of ihESCs. Karyotype assay was performed to detect the chromosomes of ihESCs. Colony formation assay and nude mouse tumorigenicity assay were used to evaluate colony-formation and tumorigenesis abilities. RESULTS: ihESCs continuously overexpressed hTERT via infection of lentivirus and significant extended the life span reaching 31 passages. The morphology, proliferation and karyotype of ihESCs remained unchanged. The expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, estrogen-metabolizing proteins and estrogen/progesterone receptors (ERs and PRs) were unaltered. Furthermore, the treatment of estrogen increased the proliferation and EMT of ihESCs. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and IL-1ß remarkably induced inflammatory response. The clonogenesis ability of ihESCs was consistent with primary cells, which were much lower than Ishikawa cells. In addition, nude mouse tumorigenicity assay demonstrated that ihESCs were unable to trigger tumor formation. CONCLUSION: This study established and characterized an immortalized endometriotic stromal cell line that exhibited longer life span and kept the cellular morphology and physiological function as the primary cells. The immortalized cells remained normal feedback to estrogen and inflammatory response. Moreover, the immortalized cells were not available with tumorigenic ability. Therefore, ihESCs would be serviceable as in vitro cell tool to investigate the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

Strong inhibitory activities and action modes of lipopeptides on lipase.

Lipopeptides have been reported to exhibit anti-obesity effects. In this study, we obtained a Bacillus velezensis strain FJAT-52631 that could coproduce iturins, fengycins, and surfactins. Results showed that the FJAT-52631 crude lipopeptide, purified fengycin, iturin, and surfactin standards exhibited strong inhibition activities against lipase with dose-dependence manners (half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 0.011, 0.005, 0.056, and 0.005 mg/mL, respectively). Moreover, fengycin and surfactin had the comparable activities with orlistat, but iturin not. It was revealed that the inhibition mechanism and type of the lipopeptides were reversible and competitive. The quenching mechanism of lipase was static and only one binding site between lipase and lipopoeptide was inferred from the fluorescence analysis. The docking analysis displayed that fengycin and surfactin could directly interact with the active amino acid residues (Ser or Asp) of lipase, but not with iturin. Our work suggests that the B. velezensis lipopeptides would have great potential to act as lipase inhibitors.

Exposure of helices α4 and α5 is required for insecticidal activity of Cry2Ab by promoting assembly of a prepore oligomeric structure.

Cry2Ab, a pore-forming toxin derived from Bacillus thuringiensis, is widely used as a bio-insecticide to control lepidopteran pests around the world. A previous study revealed that proteolytic activation of Cry2Ab by Plutella xylostella midgut juice was essential for its insecticidal activity against P. xylostella, although the exact molecular mechanism remained unknown. Here, we demonstrated for the first time that proteolysis of Cry2Ab uncovered an active region (the helices α4 and α5 in Domain I), which was required for the mode of action of Cry2Ab. Either the masking or the removal of helices α4 and α5 mediated the pesticidal activity of Cry2Ab. The exposure of helices α4 and α5 did not facilitate the binding of Cry2Ab to P. xylostella midgut receptors but did induce Cry2Ab monomer to aggregate and assemble a 250-kDa prepore oligomer. Site-directed mutagenesis assay was performed to generate Cry2Ab mutants site directed on the helices α4 and α5, and bioassays suggested that some Cry2Ab variants that could not form oligomers had significantly lowered their toxicities against P. xylostella. Taken together, our data highlight the importance of helices α4 and α5 in the mode of action of Cry2Ab and could lead to more detailed studies on the insecticidal activity of Cry2Ab.

Kinetic and computational molecular docking simulation study of novel kojic acid derivatives as anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant agents.

The novel kojic acid derivatives KAD1 and KAD2 have been demonstrated that they exhibited potent anti-melanogenesis activity in our previous report. In this study, we further study the inhibitory mechanism on mushroom tyrosinase. The inhibitory types of both KADs on diphenolase were classified as mixed type based on the results of the kinetic model. The interaction between KADs and tyrosinase was illustrated by fluorescence quenching, molecular docking and copper chelate activity. The KADs were also evaluated with respect to their antioxidant activities by DPPH and ABTS+ assays. The results showed that KADs have more potent antioxidant activities than kojic acid. Our study could provide new ideas for the development of new anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant agents.

Retinoic Acid Receptor α Knockdown Suppresses the Tumorigenicity of Esophageal Carcinoma via Wnt/ß-catenin Pathway.

BACKGROUND: Aberrant expression of retinoic acid receptor α (RARα) was correlated with diverse carcinomas such as acute promyelocytic leukemia and colorectal carcinoma. Nevertheless, the function and mechanism of RARα in esophageal carcinoma (EC) remain unclear. AIM: To investigate the expression of RARα in EC and its effect in the tumorigenesis of EC. METHODS AND RESULTS: In immunohistochemistry study, RARα was overexpressed in human EC tissues, and its overexpression was closely related to the pathological differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and clinical stages in EC patients. Functionally, RARα knockdown suppressed the proliferation and metastasis of EC cells through downregulating the expression of PCNA, Ki67, MMP7, and MMP9, as well as enhanced drug susceptibility of EC cells to 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin. Mechanistically, RARα knockdown inhibited the activity of Wnt/ß-catenin pathway through reducing the phosphorylation level of GSK3ß at Ser-9 and inducing phosphorylation level at Tyr-216, which resulted in downregulation of its downstream targets such as MMP7, MMP9, and P-gP. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated that RARα knockdown suppressed the tumorigenicity of EC via Wnt/ß-catenin pathway. RARα might be a potential molecular target for EC clinical therapy.

Crocodile choline from Crocodylus siamensis induces apoptosis of human gastric cancer.

Crocodile choline, an active compound isolated from Crocodylus siamensis, was found to exert potent anti-cancer activities against human gastric cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Our study revealed that crocodile choline led to cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase through attenuating the expressions of cyclins, Cyclin B1, and CDK-1. Furthermore, crocodile choline accelerated apoptosis through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway with the decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential, the increase in reactive oxygen species production and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, and the activation of caspase-3 along with the release of cytochrome c. In addition, this study, for the first time, shows that Notch pathway is remarkably deregulated by crocodile choline. The combination of crocodile choline and Notch1 short interfering RNA led to dramatically increased cytotoxicity than observed with either agent alone. Notch1 short interfering RNA sensitized and potentiated the capability of crocodile choline to suppress the cell progression and invasion of gastric cancer. Taken together, these data suggested that crocodile choline was a potent progression inhibitor of gastric cancer cells, which was correlated with mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and Notch pathway. Combining Notch1 inhibitors with crocodile choline might represent a novel approach for gastric cancer.

Effect of interleukin-1ß and lipoxin A4 in human endometriotic stromal cells: Proteomic analysis.

AIM: Lipoxin A4 (LXA4 ) can function as an endogenous 'breaking signal' in inflammation and plays an important role in the progression of endometriosis. The proteome responses to interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) or LXA4 in human endometriotic stromal cells (ESC) are not well understood. METHODS: In this study, primary ESC were cultured from ovarian endometriosis tissue. Three groups were established: the control group; the IL-1ß stimulation group; and the IL-1ß and LXA4 incubation group. Proteins were assessed on 2-D polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE), and differentially expressed protein spots were further identified on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Wound healing and transwell assays were performed to assess the migration and invasion of ESC after treatment. RESULTS: In total, 40 differentially expressed protein spots were identified successfully on MALDI-TOF-MS. The proteins identified were related to cell structure, metabolism, signal transduction, protein synthesis and membrane structure, processes that may be involved in the development of endometriosis. Vinculin and IL-4 were further analyzed on western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Moreover, LXA4 could suppress the migration and invasion of ESC induced by IL-1ß. CONCLUSION: LXA4 may inhibit the progression of endometriosis partly by lowering or raising the effect of IL-1ß, mediated via some inflammation-related proteins (e.g. vinculin) and immune response-related protein (e.g. IL-4) in vitro.

Retinoid X receptor α enhances human cholangiocarcinoma growth through simultaneous activation of Wnt/ß-catenin and nuclear factor-κB pathways.

Retinoid X receptor α (RXRα) plays important roles in the malignancy of several cancers such as human prostate tumor, breast cancer, and thyroid tumor. However, its exact functions and molecular mechanisms in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a chemoresistant carcinoma with poor prognosis, remain unclear. In this study we found that RXRα was frequently overexpressed in human CCA tissues and CCA cell lines. Downregulation of RXRα led to decreased expression of mitosis-promoting factors including cyclin D1and cyclin E, and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen, as well as increased expression of cell cycle inhibitor p21, resulting in inhibition of CCA cell proliferation. Furthermore, RXRα knockdown attenuated the expression of cyclin D1 through suppression of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling. Retinoid X receptor α upregulated proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression through nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathways, paralleled with downregulation of p21. Thus, the Wnt/ß-catenin and NF-κB pathways account for the inhibition of CCA cell growth induced by RXRα downregulation. Retinoid X receptor α plays an important role in proliferation of CCA through simultaneous activation of Wnt/ß-catenin and NF-κB pathways, indicating that RXRα might serve as a potential molecular target for CCA treatment.

Inactivation kinetics of formaldehyde on N-acetyl-ß-D-glucosaminidase from Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).

Formaldehyde is a widely used sanitizer in aquaculture in China, while the appropriate concentration is not available to be used effectively and without damage to tilapia much less to its reproductive function. N-acetyl-ß-D-glucosaminidase (EC 3.2.1.52, NAGase), hydrolyzing the oligomers of N-acetyl-ß-D-glucosamine into monomer, is proved to be correlated with reproduction of male animals. In this paper, NAGase from spermary of tilapia was chosen as the material to study the effects of formaldehyde on its activity in order to further investigate the effects of formaldehyde use on tilapia reproduction. The results showed the relationship between the residual enzyme activity and the concentration of formaldehyde was concentration dependent, and the IC50 value was estimated to be 3.2 ± 0.1 %. Appropriate concentration of formaldehyde leaded to competitive reversible inhibition on tilapia NAGase. Moreover, formaldehyde could reduce the thermal and pH stability of the enzyme. The inactivation kinetics of formaldehyde on the enzyme was studied using the kinetic method of substrate reaction. The inactivation model was setup, and the rate constants were determined. The results showed that the inactivation of formaldehyde on tilapia NAGase was a slow, reversible reaction with partially residual activity. The results will give some basis to determine the concentration of formaldehyde used in tilapia culture.

The GH18 family of chitinases: their domain architectures, functions and evolutions.

The glycoside hydrolase 18 (GH18) family of chitinases is a multigene family that plays various roles, such as ecdysis, embryonic development, allergic inflammation and so on. Efforts are still needed to reveal their functional diversification in an evolutionary and systematic manner. We collected 85 GH18 genes from eukaryotic representatives. The domain architectures of GH18 proteins were analyzed and several conserved patterns were identified. It was observed that some (11 proteins) GH18 members in Ecdysozoa or fungi possess repeats of catalytic domains and/or chitin-binding domains (ChtBs). The domain repeats are likely to meet requirements for higher efficiency of chitin degradation in chitin-containing species. On the contrary, all vertebrate GH18 proteins contain no more than one catalytic domain or ChtB. The results from homologous analysis, domain architectures, exon arrangements and synteny loci supported two evolutionary paths for the GH18 family. One path experienced gene expansion and contraction several times during evolution, covering most of GH18 members except CHID1 (stabilin-1 interacting partner) and its homologs. Proteins in this path underwent frequent domain gain and loss, as well as domain recombination, that could achieve versatility in function. The other path is comparatively conserved. The CHID1 gene evolved without gene duplication except in Danio rerio. Domain architectures of CHID1 orthologs are all identical. The diverse phylogeny of the GH18 family in arthropod is also presented.

Stability is essential for insecticidal activity of Vip3Aa toxin against Spodoptera exigua.

Vegetative insecticidal proteins 3A (Vip3A) were important insecticidal proteins for control of lepidopteran pests. Previous study demonstrated that Vip3Aa and Vip3Ad showed significant difference in insecticidal activities against Spodoptera exigua, while the molecular mechanism remained ambiguous. Here we demonstrated that the difference in insecticidal activities between Vip3Aa and Vip3Ad might be caused by the difference in stability of Vip3Aa and Vip3Ad in S. exigua midgut protease. Vip3Aa was quite stable while Vip3Ad could be further degraded. Molecular dynamics simulation revealed that Vip3Aa was more stable than Vip3Ad, with smaller RMSD and RMSF value. Amino acid sequence alignment indicated that three were three extra prolines (P591, P605 and P779) located on Vip3Aa. We further identified that residue P591 played a crucial role on stability and insecticidal activity of Vip3Aa. Taken together, our study demonstrated that the stability was essential for the insecticidal activity of Vip3A toxins, which might provide new insight into the action mode of Vip3A toxins and contribute to the design Vip3A variants with improved stability and insecticidal activity.

Apoptosis of human cholangiocarcinoma cell lines induced by ß-escin through mitochondrial caspase-dependent pathway.

The study aimed to evaluate the effects of ß-escin on human cholangiocarcinoma cell lines (QBC939, Sk-ChA-1 and MZ-ChA-1) and to explore its mechanisms. Cell growth, cell cycle and apoptosis were investigated, respectively, by MTT assay, single PI and FITC/PI double-staining flow cytometry, and fluorescence microscopy. The protein expression was determined by western blotting. The study revealed that ß-escin inhibited cholangiocarcinoma cell growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and the cell cycle of QBC939 and Sk-ChA-1 cells was arrested in the G2/M phase, and MZ-ChA-1 cells in G1 phase. Apoptosis of the three cholangiocarcinoma cell lines induced by ß-escin was associated with the collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential and the activation of caspase-3. The apoptotic effect of ß-escin was suppressed by pancaspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk. Molecular dissection revealed that the antiapoptotic protein bcl-2 was down-regulated after cholangiocarcinoma cell lines were treated with ß-escin, while the protein levels of bax and p53 were unchanged. Apoptosis was accompanied by an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS). These results suggest that ß-escin induces apoptosis of cholangiocarcinoma cells through an intrinsic mitochondrial caspase-dependent pathway, and the increase in the bax/bcl-2 ratio and ROS may play important roles in ß-escin-induced apoptosis of cholangiocarcinoma cells.

Key residues of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry2Ab for oligomerization and pore-formation activity.

As a pore-forming toxin, activation, oligomerization and pore-formation were both required for the mode of action of Cry toxins. Previous results revealed that the helices α4-α5 of Domain I were involved in the oligomerization of Cry2Ab, however, the key residues for Cry2Ab aggregation remained ambiguous. In present studies, we built 20 Cry2Ab alanine mutants site-directed in the helices α4-α5 of Domain I and demonstrated that mutants N151A, T152A, F157A, L183A, L185A and I188A could reduce the assembly of the 250 kDa oligomers, suggesting that these mutation residues might be essential for Cry2Ab oligomerization. As expected, all of these variants showed lower insecticidal activity against P. xylostella. Furthermore, we found that the pore-forming activities of these mutants also decreased when compared to wild-type Cry2Ab. Taken together, our data identified key residues for Cry2Ab oligomerization and emphasized that oligomerization was closely related to the insecticidal activity and pore-forming activity of Cry2Ab.

Protective effects of orally administered shark compound peptides from Chiloscyllium plagiosum against acute inflammation.

The anti-inflammatory effects of shark compound peptides (SCP) from Chiloscyllium plagiosum were investigated. Results showed that SCP enhanced the viability of RAW 264.7 macrophages in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. Orally administered SCP exhibited potent anti-inflammatory activity in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged mice by suppressing serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), as well as nitric oxide (NO). Moreover, SCP significantly inhibited the inflammatory rise of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and creatinine (CRE), while blocking the decline of cholinesterase (CHE), with an efficacy close to aspirin. This research showed that orally administered SCP from C. plagiosum notably downregulated uncontrolled inflammatory responses, and conferred substantial protection from endotoxin-induced acute hepatic damage and renal functional impairment. Therefore, oral supplementation of SCP can be used as a preventive approach to reduce the risk of inflammatory-related diseases.

Identifying FBLN1 (Gene ID: 2192) as a Potential Melanoma Biomarker for Melanoma based on an Analysis of microRNA Expression Profiles in the GEO and TCGA Databases.

Aims: We analyzed and compared the gene expression profiles (GSE92763) from normal melanocytes with malignant melanoma cell lines to identify genes that were differentially expressed that could serve as potential biomarkers for melanoma diagnosis. Materials and Methods: Gene expression profiles from the GSE92763 dataset were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. By comparing normal human melanocytes with multiple melanoma cell lines we identified 127 differentially expressed genes whose expression was altered. These data were used to identify hub genes associated with protein-protein interaction networks using Cytoscape software. To explore the biological functions of the aforementioned hub genes, we utilized the clusterProfiler package in R studio to perform Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. We then used the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) website to determine the association of these hub genes with overall survival (OS). In addition, we utilized the Oncomine and Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) databases to further analyze and compare the expression of these key genes associated with melanoma with other tumor types. Results: The hub genes included three upregulated and seven downregulated genes, which were linked with extracellular junctions, migration, paracrine and proliferation functions based on GO. In addition, we performed a confirmatory analysis of the hub genes using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. This analysis revealed that the expression of the Fibulin 1 (FBLN1; gene ID: 2192) gene was significantly downregulated in melanomas, and that its expression level in melanoma patients was significantly associated with OS with high expressors having better OS (log-rank p = 0.0034, hazard ratio = 1.5, p = 0.0036). We further analyzed the expression of FBLN1 in melanoma using the TCGA and Oncomine databases, and confirmed that FBLN1 is expressed at lower levels than in other cells (p = 2.03E-15, t = -15.586). FBLN1 has extremely high DNA copy number and low messenger RNA expression in melanoma cell lines according to the CCLE analysis. Conclusion: These results suggest that FBLN1 expression may be utilized as a biomarker and essential prognostic factor for melanoma; as well as provide an important theoretical basis for the development of melanoma treatments.

Repair function of essential oil from Crocodylus Siamensis (Schneider, 1801) on the burn wound healing via up-regulated growth factor expression and anti-inflammatory effect.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Crocodile oil has been used by traditional physicians around the world to treat wound healing and inflammation. However, the scientific rationale and mechanism behind its use in vivo has not been fully researched. AIMS OF THE STUDY: We mainly investigated the mechanism during crocodile oil treatment of up-regulated growth factor expression and anti-inflammatory on burn wound healing in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The moisture and nitric oxide (NO) levels in the skin of rats were analyzed in the first 14 days after burn and the changes of the structure of the skin tissues in the wound healing were studied by hematoxylin-eosin (H.E.) staining within 21 days after scald. The inflammatory factor on burn wound healing in rats was dected by ELISA kits and Q-PCR. the expression of a variety of growth factors (TGF-ß1, VEGE-α, EGF) and PCNA in the skin tissue after burns was evaluated using immunohistochemistry. The down-regulated phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in the wound healing was confirmed by Western-blot analysis. In addition, TEM was used to observe the ultrastructure of scalded skin. RESULTS: This study showed that crocodile oil could significantly reduce the protein and mRNA levels of TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6. And it was found that the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK was down-regulated in the wound healing (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, crocodile oil can promote the expression of a variety of growth factors (TGF-ß1, VEGE-α, EGF) and PCNA in the skin tissue after burns, and promote the repair of collagen fibers in the dermis, preventing the production of melanin and maintain the appearance of repaired skin.

SB203580, a p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitor, suppresses the development of endometriosis by down-regulating proinflammatory cytokines and proteolytic factors in a mouse model.

BACKGROUND: p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), a regulator of inflammation, may play a role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis (EM). We studied the effect of SB203580, a p38 MAPK inhibitor, on the development of EM in a mouse model. METHODS: EM was induced in BALB/c mice by peritoneal injection of endometrium-rich fragments. Mice (n = 15) were injected i.p. for 24 days with SB203580 and 15 mice served as positive controls (EM group). Sham-operated mice received carrier only. Peritoneal fluid (PF) cells were collected for protein/mRNA analysis. Interleukin (IL)-1ß, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 proteins were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and mRNAs by RT-PCR. Phosphorylation of p38 MAPK was evaluated by western blotting. RESULTS: SB203580 decreased the weight and size (P < 0.05 versus EM) of endometriotic lesions in BALB/c mice. IL-1ß, TNF-α, MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA levels were decreased in peritoneal cells of the SB203580 versus EM group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05, P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively). Concentrations of IL-1ß, TNF-α, MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins in PF were reduced in the SB203580 versus EM group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively). Compared with the sham-operated group, phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in the EM group was increased, and this was down-regulated by SB203580 (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: SB203580 may suppress the development of EM by inhibiting expression of proinflammatory cytokines and proteolytic factors. p38 MAPK might play a key role in progression of EM.

Inhibitory kinetics of citric acid on beta-N-acetyl-d-glucosaminidase from prawn (Litopenaeus vannamei).

NAGase (EC.3.2.1.52) from crustaceans has the important roles in immunity, molting and digestion of chitinous foods. In this paper, the effects of citric acid on the activity of NAGase from Litopenaeus vannamei for the hydrolysis of pNP-NAG have been studied. The results showed that appropriate concentrations of citric acid could lead to reversible inhibition on NAGase and IC(50) was estimated to be 5.00 +/- 0.35 mM. Using the plots of Lineweaver-Burk, the inhibition of NAGase by citric acid belongs to competitive type, the inhibitory equilibrium constant for citric acid binding with free NAGase, K(I), is 3.26 +/- 0.25 mM. The inhibitory kinetics of citric acid on NAGase in the appropriate concentrations of citric acid has been studied using the kinetic method of substrate reaction. The time course of NAGase for the hydrolysis of pNP-NAG in the presence of different concentrations of citric acid showed that at each citric acid concentration, the rate decreased with increasing time until a straight line was approached. The results show that the inhibition of NAGase by citric acid is a slow, reversible reaction with fractional remaining activity. The microscopic rate constants are determined for the reaction on citric acid with NAGase.