Comparative de novo Transcriptome Analysis of Two Cultivars With Contrasting Content of Oil and Fatty Acids During Kernel Development in Torreya grandis.

Vegetable oil is an indispensable nutritional resource for human health and mainly characterized by the composition and content of fatty acids (FAs). As a commercial species of gymnosperm, Torreya grandis produces oil-rich nuts with high unsaturated fatty acids content in the mature kernels. In this study, two cultivars, T. grandis 'Xifei' and T. grandis 'Dielsii,' with distinct oil content were employed to compare the profiles of FAs accumulation during kernel development. The accumulation rate of oil content was significantly different between 'Xifei' and 'Dielsii.' Besides, the final oil content of 'Xifei' (52.87%) was significantly higher than that of 'Dielsii' (41.62%) at maturity. The significant differences in main FAs were observed at almost each kernel development stages between the two cultivars. C16:0, C18:1, and C20:3 FA exhibited different accumulation patterns between cultivars. The content and the initiation of accumulation of C20:3 FA were different between the two cultivars. To explore the molecular mechanism associated with different content of oil and FAs between two cultivars, de novo transcriptome of kernels was compared between 'Xifei' (high oil) and 'Dielsii' (low oil) at three stages of oil accumulation, respectively. Totally 142,213 unigenes were assembled and 16,379 unigenes with a length of over 1,000 nt were successfully annotated, including 139 unigenes related to FA biosynthesis, elongation, and metabolism. Compared with 'Dielsii,' totally 1,476, 2,140, and 1,145 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were upregulated in 'Xifei' at the stage of the initiative, the rapid rise, and the stationary oil accumulation, respectively; the number of downregulated DEGs reached 913, 1,245, and 904, respectively. Relative expressions of 11 DEGs involved in FAs biosynthesis and metabolism were confirmed by RT-qPCR. Abundant differentially expressed transcription factors and pathway DEGs were correlated to oil and FAs according to Pearson's correlation analysis between transcriptome and metabolites (oil and FAs), suggesting their contributions to the differential oil and FAs between the two cultivars during kernel development of T. grandis. To conclude, our findings can provide novel insights into the developmental differences in metabolites and de novo transcriptome correlated to lipid accumulation and FA synthesis of kernels between cultivars with contrasting oil deposits and demystify the regulatory mechanism of high oil accumulation in T. grandis.

Effectiveness of Qingre Lishi Yishen decoction on the glomerular fibrosis of immunoglobulin A nephropathy in a rat's model.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of the clinical effective prescription of Qingre Lishi Yishen decoction (QRLS) on the activation of mesangial cells in immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) rats. METHODS: IgAN rat's model was established by combine with intragastric administration of bovine serum albumin (BSA) + intravenous injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by + subcutaneous injection of carbon tetrachloride (CCL4). Then the animals were randomly divided into four groups: control group, IgAN model group, IgAN model with Valsartan (Val) treatment group and IgAN model with QRLS treatment group. To observe the indexes of 24-h urine protein, renal function, deposition of immune complexes, expression of activation factor, fibrosis marker and inflammatory cytokines in four different groups. RESULTS: The Val or QRLS treatment group: (a) it reduced the immune complexes deposition of IgA in glomerular mesangial and inhibited mesangial cell proliferation; (b) it decreased the expression of smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), fibronectin (FN) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). CONCLUSION: The study suggested that QRLS ameliorate renal structure and function in IgAN rat's model. Furthermore, we also observed that QRLS alleviated mesangial cells activation and matrix accumulation partly by decreasing the α-SMA, then to downregu.

Correlation between Traditional Chinese Medicine Symptom Patterns and the Renal Function, Immunologic Function Index, and Blood Coagulation Index in Patients with Henoch-Schönlein Purpura Nephritis.

OBJECTIVE: We investigate the correlation between the patterns of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes and the damage of renal function, immunologic function index, and blood coagulation index in patients with Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis (HSPN) and thus provide the therapeutic effects of Chinese herbs decoction on HSPN. METHODS: We studied 262 hospitalized patients diagnosed with HSPN between 1 February 2016 and 1 January 2017. Indexes like renal function, immunologic function, and blood coagulation were measured. The patients were classified into four different patterns of TCM symptoms. RESULTS: In a total of 262 patients with HSPN, dampness-heat accumulation accounted for 59.5%, which is the highest proportion of TCM symptom patterns, liver-kidney yin deficiency accounted for 17.6%, qi and yin deficiency ratio reached 12.6%, and blood-heat bleeding accounted for 9.9%. 24-hour proteinuria was heavier in the dampness-heat accumulation patients who had immune disorders and were in hypercoagulative state and hyperfibrinolysis conditions. CONCLUSION: We analyzed and summarized the clinical characteristics of patients with HSPN and found that dampness-heat accumulation was dominant in patients and was always accompanied by immune disorders and coagulation disorders. These results provided the largest therapeutic effects of Chinese herbs decoction for clinical treatment.

Exosomes from high glucose-treated glomerular endothelial cells trigger the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and dysfunction of podocytes.

New data indicate that abnormal glomerular endothelial cell (GEC)-podocyte crosstalk plays a critical role in diabetic nephropathy (DN). The aim of our study is to investigate the role of exosomes from high glucose (HG)-treated GECs in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and dysfunction of podocytes. In this study, exosomes were extracted from GEC culture supernatants and podocytes were incubated with the GEC-derived exosomes. Here, we demonstrate that HG induces the endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) of GECs and HG-treated cells undergoing the EndoMT secrete more exosomes than normal glucose (NG)-treated GECs. We show that GEC-derived exosomes can be internalized by podocytes and exosomes from HG-treated cells undergoing an EndoMT-like process can trigger the podocyte EMT and barrier dysfunction. Our study reveals that TGF-ß1 mRNA is enriched in exosomes from HG-treated GECs and probably mediates the EMT and dysfunction of podocytes. In addition, our experimental results illustrate that canonical Wnt/ß-catenin signaling is involved in the exosome-induced podocyte EMT. Our findings suggest the importance of paracrine communication via exosomes between cells undergoing the EndoMT and podocytes for renal fibrosis in DN. Thus, protecting GECs from the EndoMT and inhibiting TGF-ß1-containing exosomes release from GECs is necessary to manage renal fibrosis in DN.

Tongxinluo Inhibits Renal Fibrosis in Diabetic Nephropathy: Involvement of the Suppression of Intercellular Transfer of TGF-[Formula: see text]1-Containing Exosomes from GECs to GMCs.

Glomerular mesangial cells (GMCs) activation is implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Our previous study revealed that high glucose (HG)-treated glomerular endothelial cells (GECs) produce an increased number of TGF-[Formula: see text]1-containing exosomes to activate GMCs through the TGF-[Formula: see text]1/Smad3 signaling pathway. We also identified that Tongxinluo (TXL), a traditional Chinese medicine, has beneficial effects on the treatment of DN in DN patients and type 2 diabetic mice. However, it remained elusive whether TXL could ameliorate renal structure and function through suppression of intercellular transfer of TGF-[Formula: see text]1-containing exosomes from GECs to GMCs. In this study, we demonstrate that TXL can inhibit the secretion of TGF-[Formula: see text]1-containing exosomes from HG-treated GECs. Furthermore, exosomes produced by HG induced-GECs treated with TXL cannot trigger GMC activation, proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) overproduction both in vitro and in vivo. These results suggest that TXL can prevent the transfer of TGF-[Formula: see text]1 from GECs to GMCs via exosomes, which may be one of the mechanisms of TXL in the treatment of DN.