LncRNA SNHG12 regulated by WTAP aggravated the oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion-induced injury in bEnd.3 cell.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have identified abnormal expression of lncRNA SNHG12 in ischemic stroke, but the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Through database predictions, m6A methylation sites were found on SNHG12, suggesting post-transcriptional modification. To further elucidate the role of SNHG12 and m6A methyltransferase WTAP in oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R)-induced damage in cerebral microvascular endothelial cells, we conducted investigations. Additionally, we examined the impact of m6A methyltransferase WTAP on SNHG12 expression. RESULTS: Overexpressing SNHG12 in bEnd.3 cells was found to inhibit cell proliferation and promote apoptosis, as well as activate the production of reactive oxygen species and inflammatory cytokines (E-selectin, IL-6 and MCP-1), along with angiogenic proteins (VEGFA and FGFb). Conversely, SNHG12 knockdown alleviated OGD/R-induced damage to BEnd.3 cells, resulting in improved cell proliferation, reduced apoptosis, decreased ROS and LDH production, as well as diminished expression of inflammatory cytokines (E-selectin, IL-6 and MCP-1) and angiogenic proteins (VEGFA and FGFb). Furthermore, WTAP was found to positively regulate SNHG12 expression, and WTAP knockdown in bEnd.3 cells under the OGD/R conditions inhibited cell proliferation, promoted apoptosis, and increased ROS and LDH production. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that WTAP may play a crucial role in SNHG12-mediated OGD/R-induced damage in bEnd.3 cells. More molecular experiments are needed to further analyze its mechanism. Overall, our study helps to enrich our understanding of the dysregulation of SNHG12 in ischemic stroke.

Impact of statin on long-term outcome among patients with end-stage renal disease with acute myocardial infarction (AMI): a nationwide case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Use of statin has been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases events and mortality. However, in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the protective effects of statin are controversial. To evaluate the impact of chronic statin use on clinical outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with ESRD. METHODS: We enrolled 8056 patients with ESRD who were initially diagnosed and admitted for first AMI from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. Of which, 2134 patients underwent statin therapy. We randomly selected and use age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), peripheral vascular diseases (PVD), heart failure (HF), cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, matched with the study group as controls (non-stain user). We compared the effects of statin use in term of all-cause death among patients with AMI with ESRD. RESULTS: Statin use resulted in a significantly higher survival rate in patients ith AMI with ESRD compared with non-statin users. After adjusted the comorbidities the male patients and patients with DM, PVD, HF and CVA had lower long-term survival rate (all p<0.001). Patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (p<0.001), ACE inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers (p<0.001), ß receptor blockers (p<0.001) and statin therapy (p=0.007) had better long-term survival rate. Patients with AMI with ESRD on statin therapy exhibited a significantly lower risk of mortality compared with non-statin users (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Among patients with ESRD with AMI, statin therapy was associated with reduced all-cause mortality.

Iron-catalyzed domino Knoevenagel-hetero-Diels-Alder reaction: facile access to oxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonene derivatives.

A Fe-catalyzed domino Knoevenagel-hetero-Diels-Alder reaction of alkenyl aldehydes and 1,3-diketones has been developed. It provides straightforward access to a series of oxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonene derivatives in promising yields with excellent diastereoselectivity and functional group tolerance. The resultant bridged dihydropyrans can be smoothly converted into chromene derivatives, thus highlighting the synthetic utility of this method.

Intermolecular Oxidative Radical Addition to Aromatic Aldehydes: Direct Access to 1,4- and 1,5-Diketones via Silver-Catalyzed Ring-Opening Acylation of Cyclopropanols and Cyclobutanols.

A novel silver-catalyzed ring-opening acylation of cyclopropanols and cyclobutanols is described. The reaction proceeds under mild and neutral conditions and provides a facile access to nonsymmetric 1,4- and 1,5-diketones in promising yields with broad substrate scope. Mechanistic studies including DFT calculations suggest the involvement of an uncommon water-assisted 1,2-HAT process, which is strongly exothermic and thus promotes addition of carbon radicals to aldehydes. In contrast to traditional reductive radical addition protocols, this work represents the first example of the intermolecular oxidative radical addition to aldehydes, thus offering a novel strategy for the direct synthesis of acyclic ketones from readily accessible aldehydes.

Synergistic Antitumor Effect of Oligogalacturonides and Cisplatin on Human Lung Cancer A549 Cells.

Cisplatin (DPP), a clinically potent antineoplastic agent, is limited by its severe adverse effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of oligogalacturonides (OGA) and DDP on human lung cancer A549 cells. The combined use of OGA and DDP had a synergistic effect on the growth inhibition of A549 cells, changed the cell cycle distribution, and enhanced apoptotic response, especially in sequential combination treatment group of DDP 12 h + OGA 12 h. Western blot analyses showed that the combination treatment of OGA and DDP upregulated Bax, p53, and Caspase-3 and downregulated Bcl-2 proteins. More importantly, DDP-induced toxicity was attenuated by OGA and DDP combination treatment in normal HEK293 cells. Our data suggests that the combined use of OGA from natural sources and DDP could be an important new adjuvant therapy for lung cancer as well as offer important insights for reducing kidney toxicity of DDP and delaying the development of DDP resistance.

Preparation of 2-Amino-5-homoallylfurans via Palladium-Catalyzed Tandem Cycloisomerization/Heck-Type Coupling of Homoallenyl Amides with Allyltrialkylsilanes.

The direct access to 2-amino-5-homoallylfurans has been realized by a palladium-catalyzed tandem cycloisomerization/Heck-type coupling between homoallenyl amides and allyltrialkylsilanes, using a novel DDQ/MnO2 combination as the efficient oxidant. The reaction exclusively affords γ-allylation products in good to excellent yields with broad substrate scope under exceptionally mild reaction conditions. It represents one of the rare examples of the Pd-catalyzed intermolecular Heck-type coupling of allytrialkylsilanes terminated by ß-silyl elimination, thus complementing traditional allylation methods because of the excellent γ-selectivity.

Effects of Davallia formosana Hayata Water and Alcohol Extracts on Osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 Cells.

The Taiwanese native fern Davallia formosana Hayata (DFH) is used to treat bone diseases in classical Chinese medicine. We analyzed MC3T3E1 osteoblasts treated with different concentrations of water and ethanol extracts (10, 25, and 50 [both], and 100 µg/mL [DFE only]) using cell viability, expression of osteoblast differentiation markers [bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2), collagen 1 (CoL-1), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and Runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx 2)], and mineralization. These were significantly increased by DFW or DFE after 24-h incubation compared with the untreated controls. Compared with other treatments, DFW 50 and DFE 100 µg/mL significantly increased MC3T3E1 cell survival. DFW 25 and 50 µg/mL increased bone BMP-2, CoL-1, ALP, and Runx2 protein expression, ALP activity, and mineralization more than DFE did. Repeated chromatographic separation of DFW yielded compound (-)-epicatechin-3-O-d-allipyranoside (ECAP), which was characterized using 1 H and 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. (-)-Epicatechin-3-O-d-allipyranoside (0.01 µg/mL) significantly increased cell survival (118.9%) and mineralization (218.7%) compared with that of the control treatment. We inferred that ECAP could mediate the main activity of DFW in bone formation, likely through BMP-2-induced Runx2 transcription, which increased bone cell differentiation factors ALP and CoL-1 and promoted mineralization. (-)-Epicatechin-3-O-d-allipyranoside could be an anti-osteoporotic agent. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dopamine impairs functional integrity of rat hepatocytes through nuclear factor kappa B activity modulation: An in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro study.

Dopamine (DA) is commonly used to maintain the hemodynamic stability of brain-dead donors despite its controversial effects on organ functions. This study aimed at examining the hemodynamic effect of DA in a rat brain-dead model in vivo, alteration of hepatocyte integrity in liver grafts after ex vivo preservation, and changes in cultured clone-9 hepatocytes including cellular viability, cell cycle, apoptotic regulators, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling machinery. Although in vivo findings demonstrated enhanced portal venous blood flow and hepatic microcirculatory perfusion after DA infusion, no apparent advantage was noted in preserving hepatocyte integrity ex vivo. In vitro, prolonged exposure to high-dose DA reduced proliferation and induced G1 growth arrest of clone-9 hepatocytes with concomitant decreases in B cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2)/B cell lymphoma 2-associated X protein (BAX) and heat shock protein 70/BAX protein ratios and intracellular NF-κB p65. Moreover, DA pretreatment suppressed LPS-elicited inhibitor of κBα phosphorylation and subsequent NF-κB nuclear translocation, suggesting that DA may down-regulate NF-κB signaling, thereby reducing expression of antiapoptotic regulators, such as BCL2. In conclusion, despite augmentation of hepatic perfusion, DA infusion failed to preserve hepatocyte integrity both in vivo and ex vivo. In vitro findings demonstrated that high-dose DA may hamper the function of NF-κB signaling machinery and eventually undermine functional integrity of hepatocytes in liver grafts.

Research on the optimal energy consumption of oil pipeline.

Most of the Chinese crude oil is easy to curdle and has high viscosity, so heating transportation is usually selected. Energy consumption by this method mainly comes from furnaces and pumps. Currently, operating parameters of these pipelines were determined according to experience of dispatch. It cause high energy consumption and high cost of pipeline running, so it could not adapt to energy conservation policy. The present study focused on consuming lowest energy to operate oil transportation line. To begin with, several optimization variables were set which included pump combinations, suction pressure, discharge pressure, and station temperature. Then constraint conditions were set to establish an optimal mathematical model of running transportation line. Furthermore, genetic algorithm was used to solve the model, in meantime, selection operation, cross operation and mutation operation in the genetic algorithm were improved. Finally, a crude oil pipeline running optimization software was developed. Through optimal analyzing, S-L transportation line and contrasting with the actual working conditions, it was found that optimal operation scheme could reduce energy consumption by 5% - 9%. In addition, optimal operation scheme also considered the effect of seasons and flow on energy consumption of S-L transportation line.

Ruscogenin protects against high-fat diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in hamsters.

The protective effects of ruscogenin on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in hamsters fed a high-fat diet were investigated. Ruscogenin (0.3, 1.0, or 3.0 mg/kg/day) was orally administered by gavage once daily for eight weeks. A high-fat diet induced increases in plasma levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and free fatty acids, while the degree of insulin resistance was lowered by ruscogenin. High-fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis and necroinflammation were improved by ruscogenin. Gene expression of inflammatory cytokines and activity of nuclear transcription factor-κB were also increased in the high-fat diet group, which were attenuted by ruscogenin. Ruscogenin decreased hepatic mRNA levels of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c and its lipogenic target genes. The hepatic mRNA expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α, together with its target genes responsible for fatty acid ß-oxidation were upregulated by ruscogenin. In conclusion, these findings suggest that ruscogenin may attenuate high-fat diet-induced steatohepatitis through anti-inflammatory mechanisms, reducing hepatic lipogenic gene expression, and upregulating proteins in the fatty acid oxidation process.

Polysaccharides from Liriopes Radix ameliorate streptozotocin-induced type I diabetic nephropathy via regulating NF-κB and p38 MAPK signaling pathways.

BACKGROUND: The polysaccharides from Liriopes Radix (PSLR) has been indicated to ameliorate insulin signaling transduction and glucose metabolism. We aimed to investigate whether PSLR exerts an ameliorative effect on renal damage in diabetes induced by streptozotocin. METHODS: Diabetes was induced with STZ (60 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injection in rats. Two weeks after STZ injection, rats in the treatment group were orally dosed with PSLR (200 and 300 mg/kg/day for 8 weeks. The normal rats were chosen as nondiabetic control group. Changes in renal function-related parameters in plasma and urine were analyzed at the end of the study. Kidneys were isolated for pathology histology, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot analyses. RESULTS: Diabetic rats exhibited renal dysfunction, as evidenced by reduced creatinine clearance, blood urea nitrogen and proteinuria, along with marked elevation in the ratio of kidney weight to body weight. All of these abnormalities were significantly reversed by PSLR. The histological examinations revealed amelioration of diabetes-induced glomerular pathological changes following treatment with PSLR. The less protein expressions of renal nephrin and podocin in diabetic rats were increased following treatment with PSLR. PSLR reduced the accumulation of ED-1-expressing macrophages in renal tissue of diabetic rats. PSLR almost completely abolished T cells infiltration and attenuated the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. PSLR treatments not only reduced the degradation of inhibitory kappa B kinase, but also downregulated the protein expression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in diabetic kidney. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the renal protective effects of PSLR occur through improved glycemic control and renal structural changes, which are involved in the inhibition of NF-κB and p-38 MAPK mediated inflammation.

Ruscogenin ameliorates diabetic nephropathy by its anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat.

BACKGROUND: Ruscogenin is a major steroid sapogenin in the traditional Chinese herb Ophiopogon japonicus that have multiple bioactivities. Recent studies have demonstrated that ruscogenin is involved in down-regulation of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation in anti-inflammatory pathways. We hypothesized that ruscogenin protects against diabetic nephropathy (DN) by inhibiting NF-κB-mediated inflammatory pathway. To test this hypothesis, the present study was to examine the effects of ruscogenin in rats with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced DN. METHODS: Diabetes was induced with STZ (60 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injection in rats. Two weeks after STZ injection, rats in the treatment group were orally dosed with 0.3, 1.0 or 3.0 mg/kg ruscogenin for 8 weeks. The normal rats were chosen as nondiabetic control group. The rats were sacrificed 10 weeks after induction of diabetes. Changes in renal function-related parameters in plasma and urine were analyzed at the end of the study. Kidneys were isolated for pathology histology, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot analyses. RESULTS: Ruscogenin administration did not lower the levels of plasma glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin in STZ-diabetic rats. Diabetic rats exhibited renal dysfunction, as evidenced by reduced creatinine clearance, blood urea nitrogen and proteinuria, along with marked elevation in the ratio of kidney weight to body weight, that were reversed by ruscogenin. Ruscogenin treatment was found to markedly improve histological architecture in the diabetic kidney. Renal NF-κB activity, as wells as protein expression and infiltration of macrophages were increased in diabetic kidneys, accompanied by an increase in protein content of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in kidney tissues. All of the above abnormalities were reversed by ruscogenin treatment, which also decreased the expression of transforming growth factor-ß1 and fibronectin in the diabetic kidneys. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrated that ruscogenin suppressed the inflammation and ameliorated the structural and functional abnormalities of the diabetic kidney in rats might be associated with inhibition of NF-κB mediated inflammatory genes expression.

Antimicrobial activities of various fractions of longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour. Fen Ke) seed extract.

The antimicrobial activities of longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour. Fen ke) seed extracts were investigated using a disc diffusion method and also determining the minimal inhibitory concentration. The DL-P01-SI01 fraction showed that the strongest activity against Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus at MIC 64 µg/mL, which was found to be due to the phenolic compounds. The HPLC analysis showed that the major phenolic compounds are gallic acid, corilagin, ethyl gallate and ellagic acid.

Application of immunomagnetic particles to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for improvement of detection sensitivity of HCG.

This investigation was aimed at using superparamagnetic particles to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (SPIO-ELISA) of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) to enhance detection sensitivity of hCG. We found that N-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) was the best cross-linking reagent to link anti hCG α antibody to superparamagnetic particle (SPIO-anti hCG α antibody immunomagnetic particle). To improve the specificity of the assay, a horse radish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled anti-hCG beta monoclonal antibody was used to detect captured hCG using double antibody sandwich ELISA assay. SPIO-ELISA application to determine hCG increased the sensitivity to 1 mIU/mL, which is a level of sensitivity enabling the diagnosis of pregnancy during the early gestational period.

Psychological Capital's impact on the leadership-organizational climate preference relationship in potential leaders ∼ A study comparing teachers and sportsmen∼.

Previous studies have demonstrated to some extent that the psychological capital of employees affects how they respond differently to leadership and organizational climate, but research has yet to investigate this in leaders, whether existing or potential. Studies in this area have also not made comparisons across occupational contexts. Hence, this research was initiated. The participants of our study consisted of 42 pre-tertiary teachers and 112 sportsmen nominated as potential future leaders, with the small group size of teachers being due to the more reserved tendency of their current leaders to elect fewer potential future leaders. The results of the study's survey confirmed the moderating influence of perceived psychological capital on the relationship between leadership style preference and organizational climate preference. However, under the moderating influence of perceived psychological capital, leadership style preference tended to influence organizational climate preference for the teachers while the opposite was the case for the sportsmen, indicating the possible influence of occupational culture.

Synthesis of Polysubstituted Pyrroles via Silver-Catalyzed Oxidative Radical Addition of Cyclopropanols to Imines.

A silver-catalyzed formal [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction, with cyclopropanols as a C3 subunit and imines as a two-atom subunit, is developed. The reaction takes place under mild conditions and produces a broad array of polysubstituted pyrroles in medium to high yields. It represents the first example of oxidative radical addition to imines, thus offering a new choice for the direct C-H functionalization of imines.

Slicing Ceramics on Material Removed by a Single Abrasive Particle.

Multi-wire saw machining (MWSM) used for slicing hard-brittle materials in the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries is an important and efficient material removal process that uses free abrasives. The cutting model of single-wire saw machining (SWSM) is the basis of MWSM. The material removal mechanism of SWSM is more easily understood than MWSM. A mathematical model (includes brittle fracture and plastic deformation) is presented in this paper for SWSM ceramic with abrasives. This paper determines the effect of various machining parameters on the removal of hard-brittle materials. For brittle fracture of SWSM ceramics, the minimum strain energy density is used as a fracture criterion. For plastic deformation of SWSM ceramics, the material removal is calculated using equations of motion. Actual wire-sawing experiments are conducted to verify the results of the developed mathematical model. The theoretical results agree with experimental data and practical experience. From the developed mathematical model, brittle fracture plays a major role in material removal of SWSM ceramics. Wire speed (S) and working load (P) are positively correlated with material removal of SWSM ceramics. The coefficient of friction is low, a lateral crack, which propagates almost parallel to the working surface, leads to more brittle fracture and material removal is increased.

The isolation, structural characterization, and anticancer activity from the aerial parts of Cymbopogon flexuosus.

This study investigated bioactive secondary metabolites from the aerial parts of Cymbopogon flexuosus (CF). Total phenolic and total flavonoid contents, the antioxidant activities including 2, 2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS+ ) and 2, 2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging systems, and cytotoxic effects were determined. 1, 3-O-di-E-caffeoylglycerol (SA3) and 1-O-p-coumaroyl-3-O-caffeoylglycerol (SA4) were firstly isolated from an ethanol extract of CF. Their chemical structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including MS and NMR spectra as well as by comparison to the data reported in the literature. DPPH and ABTS+ radical scavenging tests showed that the highest antioxidant potent was detected for compound SA3 with IC50 of 4.42 ± 0.18 and 21.84 ± 0.22 µg/ml, respectively. The compound SA3 stimulated the apoptotic factors of caspase-3, bax, and bcl-2 in HepG2 and caspase-3, caspase-9, P53 in A549. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: CF has been widely used as both a herbal drink and as a spice in diets. In the food processing industry, CF was used to process candy. In addition, it is used for the treatment of sore throat, cough, skin diseases, and other diseases in traditional oriental medicine. Recently, in Vietnam, CF has also been used to treat liver and lung cancer and consumed daily to process many dishes.

Effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in association with Torulaspora delbrueckii on the aroma and amino acids in longan wines.

This study investigated the effects of monocultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Torulaspora delbrueckii as well as simultaneous and sequential cultures of S. cerevisiae and T. delbrueckii on the nonvolatile and volatile compounds in longan wines. The four cultures had similar characteristics in longan wines. The main amino acids in all the fermentations were glutamic acid, arginine, alanine, leucine, proline, and GABA. The main volatile compounds in longan wines were ethanol, isoamyl alcohol, isobutanol, 2-phenylethanol, isoamyl acetate, ethyl decanoate, ethyl octanoate, ethyl hexanoate, and ethyl acetate, which can contribute more desired aroma compounds in wines. Among the four treatments, the longan wine fermented with the simultaneous culture produced the highest total volatile aroma content (345.26 mg/L). The simultaneous culture also had a better ability to generate a high level of the main volatile compounds in longan wines and also could achieve a noticeable intensity of floral and fruity aromas of wine as evaluated by calculation of the odor activity values.

Visible-light induced three-component alkynyl-difluoroalkylation of unactivated alkenes.

A visible-light induced three-component reaction of difluoroalkyl halides, unactivated alkenes, and alkynyl sulfones is described, providing a direct and general approach to the construction of synthetically valuable ß-difluoroalkylated alkynes under room temperature conditions. This represents the first intermolecular alkynyl-difluoroalkylation of unactivated alkenes.