NdhV Is a Subunit of NADPH Dehydrogenase Essential for Cyclic Electron Transport in Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC 6803.

Two mutants sensitive to heat stress for growth and impaired in NADPH dehydrogenase (NDH-1)-dependent cyclic electron transport around photosystem I (NDH-CET) were isolated from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 transformed with a transposon-bearing library. Both mutants had a tag in the same sll0272 gene, encoding a protein highly homologous to NdhV identified in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Deletion of the sll0272 gene (ndhV) did not influence the assembly of NDH-1 complexes and the activities of CO2 uptake and respiration but reduced the activity of NDH-CET. NdhV interacted with NdhS, a ferredoxin-binding subunit of cyanobacterial NDH-1 complex. Deletion of NdhS completely abolished NdhV, but deletion of NdhV had no effect on the amount of NdhS. Reduction of NDH-CET activity was more significant in ΔndhS than in ΔndhV. We therefore propose that NdhV cooperates with NdhS to accept electrons from reduced ferredoxin.

Lung ultrasound to guide the administration of exogenous pulmonary surfactant in respiratory distress syndrome of newborn infants: A retrospective investigation study.

Background: Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a common disease that seriously endangers the life and safety of newborns, especially premature infants. Exogenous pulmonary surfactant (PS) is the specific agent for the treatment of neonatal RDS. Lung ultrasound (LUS) has been successfully used in the diagnosis of RDS, but its value in guiding the application of PS is still unclear. This paper explored whether the application of PS under LUS monitoring has some advantages, including (1) decreasing the misdiagnosis rate of RDS and decreasing probability of using PS, and (2) reducing the dose of PS without reducing the therapeutic effect. Methods: This study included two parts. Part 1: To decide whether the LUS is good to differentiate RDS from other lung diseases in the premature infants. All patients who were diagnosed with RDS and required PS treatment based on conventional criteria were routinely examined by LUS. Then, according to LUS findings, we decided whether they needed to receive PS treatment. Part 2: To see the dose reduction of surfactant is applicable. In RDS patients diagnosed based on LUS presentation and treated with Curosurf (Chiesi Pharmaceutical, Parma, Italy), the dose of Curosurf was compared with that recommended by the European RDS management guidelines. Results: (1) Since March 2017, 385 newborn infants admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit met the traditional diagnostic criteria of RDS. Of these, only 269 cases were diagnosed with RDS and needed PS treatment according to LUS manifestations. The other 116 infants who did not meet the criteria for ultrasound diagnosis of RDS did not receive PS supplementation but obtained good outcomes, that is LUS findings decreased a misdiagnosis rate of RDS by 30.1% and subsequently resulted in a 30.1% reduction in PS use. (2) Among the 269 RDS patients diagnosed based on LUS findings, 148 were treated with Curosurf (another 121 RDS infants who received domestic PS treatment were not included in the study group), and the average dose was 105.4 ± 24.3 mg/kg per time, which is significantly lower than the dose of 200 mg/kg per time recommended by the European RDS guidelines. (3) The mortality rate of RDS patients was 0%, and no patients had ventilator-associated pneumonia or bronchopulmonary dysplasia in this study. Conclusion: LUS can decrease the misdiagnosis rate of RDS, thereby decreasing the probability of using PS and decreasing the dose of PS, and can help RDS infants to achieve better outcomes.

Xylanilyticolides A-C, Three New Compounds from Cultures of the Actinomycete Promicromonospora xylanilytica YIM 61515.

Three new lactones, xylanilyticolides A-C (1-3), were isolated from cultures of the actinomycete Promicromonospora xylanilytica YIM 61515. Their structures were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data in conjunction with HRESIMS analysis. Compound 1 exhibited potent cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines HL-60, A-549, SMMC-7721, MCF-7 and SW480 with the IC50 values of 3.9, 15.2, 11.2, 5.9, and 4.7 µM, respectively.

[Effect and mechanism of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells on protective efficacy of protein vaccine against Schistosoma japonicum in mice].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect and mechanism of CD4+CD25+ Tregs (Tregs) on the protective efficacy of gluthatione-S-transferase (GST) against Schistosoma japonicum in mice. METHODS: Female BALB/c mice were divided randomly into five groups：a normal control group, an infected control group, an anti-CD25mAb group, a GST immunization group and a combination group with GST immunization and anti-CD25 mAb. The GST group and combination group were injected percutaneously with GST 50 µg each mouse, the other two groups were injected with equal volume PBS. The immunization was performed for 3 times for two-week interval, and 2 weeks after the last immunization, each mouse was challenged with 40 S. japonicum cercaria. Two weeks post-infection, the combination group and anti-CD25 mAb group were injected intraperitoneally with 300 µg antiCD25 mAb each mouse. The mice were succumbed 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks and 5 weeks post-infection respectively. The percentages of CD4+CD25+ Tregs in splenocytes of mice were measured with flow cytometer. The levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5 and TGF-ß in cell cultural supernatants were determined by sandwich-ELISA after stimulation with Con A. The liver sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. RESULTS: The worm burden in the combination group (15.80±2.74) was significantly lower than those of the infected control group (27.78±3.15), anti-CD25 mAb group (21.50±4.21), and GST group (20.84± 6.46). Compared to those of the infected control group, the percentages of CD4+CD25+ Tregs were significantly higher in the GST group, while the percentages of CD4+CD25+ Tregs were significantly lower post-anti-CD25 mAb-administration. Regardless of GST administration, the levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4 and IL-5 after anti-CD25 mAb were significantly higher than those of the infected control groups. There were no significant differences of egg granuloma and the level of TGF-ß between each group. CONCLUSIONS: CD4+CD25+ Tregs could be partially blocked by anti-CD25 mAb while Th1 and Th2 type immunization response could be enhanced, which plays a role in improving the protective efficacy of GST against of S. japonicum.

Meta-Analysis-Based Preliminary Exploration of the Connection between ATDILI and Schizophrenia by GSTM1/T1 Gene Polymorphisms.

Anti-tuberculosis drugs have some adverse effects such as anti-tuberculosis drug-induced liver injury (ATDILI) and mental disorders. The involvement of glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes in pathogenesis of ATDILI or schizophrenia (SCZ) has been reported. Therefore, GST genes may exemplify molecular connectors between ATDILI and SCZ. However, association studies of GSTM1/T1 polymorphisms with these two diseases have yielded conflicting results. After searching case-control association studies in PubMed, ISI Web of Science, EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, we performed meta-analyses across a total of 20 published association studies on 3146 subjects for the association of GSTM1 and ATDILI, 2587 for the GSTT1-ATDILI association, 2283 for GSTM1-SCZ and 1116 for GSTT1-SCZ to test the associations of GSTM1/T1 polymorphisms with ATDILI and SCZ. The GSTM1 present genotype was significantly associated with decreased risks of ATDILI (risk ratio(RR): 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75-0.88, P < 0.0001) and SCZ (RR: 0.88, 95%CI: 0.80-0.96, P = 0.004) according to the fixed-effect model, while the GSTT1 present genotype was significantly associated only with a high risk of SCZ (RR: 1.17, 95%CI: 1.04-1.32, P = 0.01) according to both the random- and fixed-effect models, but not with ATDILI (P = 0.82) according to the fixed-effect model. Moreover, these significant results were supported with moderate evidence according to the Venice criteria. These results indicate that GSTM1 represents a genetic connection between ATDILI and SCZ, and suggest that ATDILI and SCZ may be co-occurring for the subjects with GSTM1 null genotype.

[Fluorescence spectra and fluorescence quantum yield of sulfosalicylic acid].

Fluorescence spectra and fluorescence quantum yield of sulfosalicylic acid (SSA) have been studied. Under the condition of pH<2, SSA has no fluorescence. With the increase in pH value, fluorescence intensity of SSA increases. In the range of pH 5-10.5, SSA gives a strong and steady fluorescence with a maximum emission wavelength at 402 nm and excitation wavelengths at 212, 238 and 297 nm, respectively. In strong alkaline solutions with pH>13, SSA exists as another fluorescence species with a maximum excitation wavelength at 261 nm and a maximum emission wavelength at 390 nm. The excitation spectrum of SSA changes when its concentration is relatively higher, but the emission spectrum remains unchanged. There is an excellent linear relationship between fluorescence intensity and the concentration of SSA under neutral condition. The linear range is 5-250 ng x mL(-1), and the detection limit is 5 ng x mL(-1). Using quinine bisulphate as a reference, fluorescence quantum yields of SSA at different wavelengths were measured. At the maximum excitation wavelength 297 nm, fluorescence quantum yield of SSA is 0.54.