Detection of Naturally occurring abortive transcripts by Base-Stacking Hybridization Assisted Ligation and PCR amplification.

Abortive transcripts (ATs) refer to nascent 2-10 nucleotides (nt) RNAs released by RNA polymerases before synthesizing productive RNAs. The quantitative detection of ATs is important for studying transcription initiation and the biological function of ATs; however, no method is available for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of such ultra-short oligonucleotides (typically shorter than 11 nt) in vivo at present, even with the LNA probes, the detection limit can only reach 11 nt. Here, we demonstrated the base stacking hybridization assisted ligation (BSHAL) technique, combined with TaqMan-MGB qPCR, can detect 4-10 nt ATs with a specificity of nucleotide resolution and a sensitivity of approximately 10 pM. By this technique, we detected endogenous ATs in cell lines, mice plasmas, and mice liver tissues, respectively, and proved that naturally occurring ATs do exist. We found that the 8 nt ATs of HMSB and Gapdh could be used as reference ATs for data normalization in Homo and mouse respectively, and 8 nt ATs of Afp and Gpc3 were suitable for use as plasma biomarkers of Hepatocellular carcinoma in mouse, indicate ATs are promising biomarkers. This study offers opportunities to study ATs and other ultra-short oligonucleotides in biological samples.

Extraction, purification, structural characterization and pharmacological activities of polysaccharides from sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.): A review.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is an edible fruit with a long history in China as a medicinal plant. The fruits of H. rhamnoides are rich in a variety of nutrients and pharmacological active compounds. As one of the most important active ingredients in sea buckthorn, polysaccharides have attracted the attention of researchers due to their antioxidant, anti-fatigue, and liver protective qualities. AIM OF THE REVIEW: This review summarizes recent studies on extraction, purification, structural characterization and pharmacological activities of polysaccharides from sea buckthorn. In addition, the relationship between the structure and the activities of sea buckthorn polysaccharides (SBPS) were discussed. This review would provide important research bases and up-to-date information for the future in-depth development and application of sea buckthorn polysaccharides in the field of pharmaceuticals and functional foods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: By inputting the search term "Sea buckthorn polysaccharides", relevant research information was obtained from databases such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, China Knowledge Network (CNKI), China Master Theses Full-text Database, and China Doctoral Dissertations Full-text Database. RESULTS: The main extraction methods of SBPS include hot water extraction (HWE), ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), flash extraction (FE), and ethanol extraction. More than 20 polysaccharides have been isolated from sea buckthorn fruits. The chemical structures of sea buckthorn polysaccharides obtained by different extraction, isolation, and purification methods are diverse. Polysaccharides from sea buckthorn display a variety of pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, anti-fatigue, liver protection, anti-obesity, regulation of intestinal flora, immunoregulation, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and hypoglycemic activities. CONCLUSIONS: Sea buckthorn has a long medicinal history and characteristics of an ethnic medicine and food. Polysaccharides are one of the main active components of sea buckthorn, and they have received increasing attention from researchers. Sea buckthorn polysaccharides have remarkable pharmacological activities, health benefits, and broad application prospects. In addition, further exploration of the chemical structure of SBPS, in-depth study of their pharmacological activities, identification of their material basis, characterization of disease resistance mechanisms, and potential health functions are still directions of future research. With the accumulation of research on the extraction and purification processes, chemical structure, pharmacological effects, molecular mechanisms, and structure-activity relationships, sea buckthorn polysaccharides derived from natural resources will ultimately make significant contributions to human health.

Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit: A review of its germplasm resources, genetic diversity and active components.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The medicinal plant Pinellia ternata has been widely used in China, Korea, and Japan and has been demonstrated to be highly effective for treating cough, vomiting, infection, and inflammatory diseases. Modern pharmacological investigations have demonstrated its multiple activities, such as antitussive, expectorant, antiemetic, antitumor, antibacterial, and sedative-hypnotic activities. AIM OF THE REVIEW: This review aims to summarize the information about the biological traits, genetic diversity, active components, and continuous cropping obstacle of P. ternata in order to improve its use. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this review, the relevant literature was gathered by using Pinellia ternata, genetic diversity, active components, and continuous cropping obstacle as the keywords from Google Scholar, PubMed, Springer Link, the Wiley online library, SciFinder, SCOPUS, Baidu Scholar, China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI), and WANFANF DATA (up to April 2020). RESULTS: P. ternata is the most widely used herb in the Pinellia genus to treat several diseases. The genetic diversity of P. ternata has been extensively studied, and its high genetic diversity level in China has been demonstrated. Modern pharmacological research has indicated that amino acids, alkaloids, and polysaccharides are the main active components supporting P. ternata's medicinal effects. However, an efficient method for determining its active components is still unavailable. The method used to evaluate Pinelliae Rhizoma (PR) quality standards should be further optimized. The continuous cropping obstacle has a significant effect on the quantity and quality of P. ternata. The underlying mechanism of the continuous cropping obstacle needs to be further explored. CONCLUSIONS: P. ternata has emerged as a valuable source of traditional medicine. Some uses of P. ternata in medicine have been validated by pharmacological investigations. However, a more efficient analytical method should be established to evaluate the quality of PR based on multiple quality markers. Furthermore, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and DNA barcoding should be introduced to identify the authenticity of PR. In addition, the genes involved in the metabolic synthesis pathways of the main active components, population genetic relationships, the quality control of processed PR, and the continuous cropping obstacle need to be further elucidated. We hope this review will allow for better utilization of this valuable herb.

Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of volatile organic compounds emitted from different plastic solid waste recycling workshops.

The pollution profiles of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from different recycling workshops processing different types of plastic solid waste (PSW) and their health risks were investigated. A total of 64 VOCs including alkanes, alkenes, monoaromatics, oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs), chlorinated VOCs (ClVOCs) and acrylonitrile during the melting extrusion procedure were identified and quantified. The highest concentration of total VOCs (TVOC) occurred in the poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene styrene) (ABS) recycling workshop, followed by the polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), polyamide (PA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE) and polycarbonate (PC) workshops. Monoaromatics were found as the major component emitted from the ABS and PS recycling workshops, while alkanes were mainly emitted from the PE and PP recycling processes, and OVOCs from the PVC and PA recycling workshops. According to the occupational exposure limits' (OEL) assessment, the workers suffered acute and chronic health risks in the ABS and PS recycling workshops. Meanwhile, it was found that most VOCs in the indoor microenvironments were originated from the melting extrusion process, while the highest TVOC concentration was observed in the PS rather than in the ABS recycling workshop. Non-cancer hazard indices (HIs) of all individual VOCs were <1.0, whereas the total HI in the PS recycling workshop was 1.9, posing an adverse chronic health threat. Lifetime cancer risk assessment suggested that the residents also suffered from definite cancer risk in the PS, PA, ABS and PVC recycling workshops.

Pollution profiles and health risk assessment of VOCs emitted during e-waste dismantling processes associated with different dismantling methods.

Pollution profiles of typical volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted during dismantling of various printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) of e-wastes using different methods were comparatively investigated in the real e-waste dismantling workshops in South China in April 2013. Similar pollution profiles and concentrations of VOCs were observed between dismantling mobile phone and hard disk PCBAs by using electric blowers and between dismantling television and power supplier PCBAs using electric heating furnaces. Aromatic hydrocarbons (accounting for >60% of the sum of VOCs) were the dominant group during using electric blowers, while aromatic (accounting for >44% of the sum of VOCs) and halogenated hydrocarbons (accounting for >48% of the sum of VOCs) were the two dominant groups which contributed equally using electric heating furnaces. However, the distribution profiles of VOCs emitted during dismantling of televisions, hard disks and micro motors using rotary incinerators varied greatly, though aromatic hydrocarbons were still the dominant group. The combustion of e-wastes led to the most severe contamination of VOCs, with total VOCs (3.3×10(4) µg m(-3)) using rotary incinerators about 190, 180, 139, and 40 times higher than those using mechanical cutting, electric soldering iron, electric blower, and electric heating furnace, respectively. Both cancer and non-cancer risks existed for workers due to exposure to on-site emitted VOCs in all workshops especially in those using rotary incinerators according to the USEPA methodology, whereas only cancer risks existed in rotary incinerator workshops according to the American Conference of Industrial Hygienists methodology.