Arachidonic acid metabolism as a therapeutic target in AKI-to-CKD transition.

Arachidonic acid (AA) is a main component of cell membrane lipids. AA is mainly metabolized by three enzymes: cyclooxygenase (COX), lipoxygenase (LOX) and cytochrome P450 (CYP450). Esterified AA is hydrolysed by phospholipase A2 into a free form that is further metabolized by COX, LOX and CYP450 to a wide range of bioactive mediators, including prostaglandins, lipoxins, thromboxanes, leukotrienes, hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids and epoxyeicosatrienoic acids. Increased mitochondrial oxidative stress is considered to be a central mechanism in the pathophysiology of the kidney. Along with increased oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammation and tissue fibrosis drive the progressive loss of kidney function, affecting the glomerular filtration barrier and the tubulointerstitium. Recent studies have shown that AA and its active derivative eicosanoids play important roles in the regulation of physiological kidney function and the pathogenesis of kidney disease. These factors are potentially novel biomarkers, especially in the context of their involvement in inflammatory processes and oxidative stress. In this review, we introduce the three main metabolic pathways of AA and discuss the molecular mechanisms by which these pathways affect the progression of acute kidney injury (AKI), diabetic nephropathy (DN) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). This review may provide new therapeutic targets for the identification of AKI to CKD continuum.

Flour Quality and Related Molecular Characterization of High Molecular Weight Glutenin Subunit Genes from Wild Emmer Wheat Accession TD-256.

To clarify the effect of high molecular weight glutenin subunit (HMW-GS) from wild emmer wheat on flour quality, which has the same mobility as that from common wheat, the composition and molecular characterization of HMW-GS from wild emmer wheat accession TD-256, as well as its flour quality, were intensively analyzed. It is found that the mobilities of Glu-A1 and Glu-B1 subunits from TD-256 are consistent with those of bread wheat cv. 'XiaoYan 6'. Nevertheless, dough rheological properties of TD-256 reveal its poor flour quality. In the aspect of molecular structure from HMW-GS, only two conserved cysteine residues can be observed in the deduced protein sequence of 1Bx14* from TD-256, while most Glu-1Bx contain four conserved cysteine residues. In addition, as can be predicted from secondary structure, the quantity both of α-helixes and their amino acid residues of the subunits from TD-256 is fewer than those of common wheat. Though low molecular weight glutenin subunit (LMW-GS) and gliadin can also greatly influence flour quality, the protein structure of the HMW-GS revealed in this work can partly explain the poor flour quality of wild emmer accession TD-256.

Synthesis and antiproliferative activities against Hep-G2 of salicylanide derivatives: potent inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase.

A series of salicylanilide derivatives (compounds 1-32) were synthesised by reacting substituted salicylic acids and anilines. The chemical structures of these compounds were determined by (1)H-NMR, electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and elemental analysis. The compounds were assayed for their antiproliferative activities against the Hep-G2 cell line by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. Among the compounds tested, 22 and 28 showed the most favouable antiproliferative activities with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) values of 1.7 and 1.3 µM, respectively, which were comparable to the positive control of 5-fluorouracil (IC(50)=1.8 µM). A solid-phase ELISA assay was also performed to evaluate the ability of compounds 1-32 to inhibit the autophosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR TK). Docking simulations of 22 and 28 were carried out to illustrate the binding mode of the molecule into the EGFR active site, and the result suggested that both compounds 22 and 28 could bind the EGFR kinase well.