[Research progress of in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor effects and formulation of bufalin].

Bufalin is an active compound of the traditional Chinese medicine Chansu, which exhibits significant anti-tumor activities in many solid tumors and leukemia cell lines. Bufalin could introduce apoptosis, reverse drug-resistance, and prevent migration and invasion of tumor cells. This paper reviewed the latest research progress of the in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor effect and mechanism of bufalin on a series of cancers, such as hepatocellular carcinoma, lung cancer, colon cancer, gastric cancer, leukemia, bladder cancer, and its formulation study is also summarized for the reference of its further study and application.

[Recent development of natural and reconstituted lipoprotein based nano drug delivery vehicles].

Lipoproteins are biological lipids carriers. The natural and reconstituted lipoprotein based drug delivery systems have been extensively developed in recent years. This article reviews the development of natural and reconstituted low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein based vehicles in the antitumor area.

Circulating microRNAs: a novel class of potential biomarkers for diagnosing and prognosing central nervous system diseases.

As a class of important endogenous small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level, microRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical role in many physiological and pathological processes. It is believed that miRNAs contribute to the development, differentiation, and synaptic plasticity of the neurons, and their dysregulation has been linked to a series of diseases. MiRNAs exist in the tissues and as circulating miRNAs in several body fluids, including plasma or serum, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, and saliva. There are significant differences between the circulating miRNA expression profiles of healthy individuals and those of patients. Consequently, circulating miRNAs are likely to become a novel class of noninvasive and sensitive biomarkers. Although little is known about the origin and functions of circulating miRNAs at present, their roles in the clinical diagnosis and prognosis of diseases make them attractive markers, particularly for tumors and cardiovascular diseases. Until now, however, there have been limited data regarding the roles of circulating miRNAs in central nervous system (CNS) diseases. This review focuses on the characteristics of circulating miRNAs and their values as potential biomarkers in CNS diseases, particularly in Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.

Sphingomonas ginsenosidivorax sp. nov., with the ability to transform ginsenosides.

A Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile, non-spore-forming and rod-shaped bacterial strain designated KHI67(T) was isolated from sediment of the Gapcheon River in South Korea and its taxonomic position was investigated by using a polyphasic approach. Strain KHI67(T) was observed to grow optimally at 25-30 °C and at pH 7.0 on nutrient and R2A agar. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain KHI67(T) was shown to belong to the family Sphingomonadaceae and was related to Sphingomonas faeni MA-olki(T) (97.6 % sequence similarity), Sphingomonas aerolata NW12(T) (97.5 %) and Sphingomonas aurantiaca MA101b(T) (97.3 %). The G + C content of the genomic DNA was determined to be 65.6 %. The major ubiquinone was found to be Q-10, the major polyamine was identified as homospermidine and the major fatty acids identified were summed feature 8 (comprising C18:1 ω7c/ω6c; 37.0 %), C16:0 (13.0 %), summed feature 3 (comprising C16:1 ω7c/C16:1 ω6c; 12.8 %) and C14:0 2OH (9.3 %). DNA and chemotaxonomic data supported the affiliation of strain KHI67(T) to the genus Sphingomonas. The DNA-DNA relatedness values between strain KHI67(T) and its closest phylogenetic neighbours were below 15 %. Strain KHI67(T) could be differentiated genotypically and phenotypically from the recognised species of the genus Sphingomonas. The isolate therefore represents a novel species, for which the name Sphingomonas ginsenosidivorax sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain KHI67(T) (=KACC 14951(T) = JCM 17076(T) = LMG 25801(T)).