Psc-AFP from Psoralea corylifolia L. overexpressed in Pichia pastoris increases antimicrobial activity and enhances disease resistance of transgenic tobacco.

Psc-AFP, isolated from the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia L., is an antimicrobial protein with trypsin inhibitor activity. Its encoding gene was cloned by 3'- rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) combined with Y-shaped adaptor-dependent extension (YADE) method. The gene Psc-AFP encodes a protein of 203 amino acids with a deduced signal peptide of 24 residues. The growth inhibition effect exerted by the heterologously expressed Psc-AFP in Pichia pastoris revealed that the recombinant Psc-AFP inhibited mycelium growth of Aspergillus niger, Rhizoctonia solani, and Alternaria brassicae and conidial germination of Alternaria alternata. The recombinant Psc-AFP also showed protease inhibitor activity manifested by the inhibition of trypsin. The transgenic tobacco bioassays confirmed that overexpressing Psc-AFP significantly enhanced the disease resistance of tobacco and that some of the transgenic lines were almost fully tolerant to Ralstonia solanacearum and A. alternata, whereas no apparent alteration in plant growth and development was observed. Collectively, these results indicate that the recombinant Psc-AFP is an active antimicrobial protein, with protease inhibitor activity that can be successfully produced in the yeast and tobacco and, therefore, maybe a potential antimicrobial candidate for practical use.

Enhancing the Flame Retardancy of Polyester/Cotton Blend Fabrics Using Biobased Urea-Phytate Salt.

The use of biobased flame-retardant (FR) agents for reducing the flammability of polyester/cotton (T/C) blend fabrics is highly desirable. In this study, a novel and sustainable phosphorus/nitrogen-containing FR, namely, phytic acid-urea (PA-UR) salt, was synthesized. The PA-UR salt was further used to enhance the FR performance of T/C fabric through surface modification. We further explored the potential chemical structure of PA-UR and the surface morphology, thermal stability, heat release capacity, FR properties, and mode of action of the coated fabric. The coated fabric achieved self-extinguishing and exhibited an increased limiting oxygen index of 31.8%. Moreover, the coated T/C blend fabric demonstrated a significantly reduced heat release capacity, indicating a decreased fire hazard. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed the anticipated decomposition of the coated T/C blend fabric and a subsequent increase in thermal stability. The burned char residues also maintained their fiber shape structures, suggesting the presence of condensed FR actions in the PA-UR-coated T/C blend fabric.

[Synthesis of Magnetic Biochar and Its Application in the Remediation of Heavy-Metal-Contaminated Soils].

To improve the stabilization efficiency of biochar on heavy metals in soil, the magnetic material was synthesized by a mild liquid-phase reduction and oxidation method. A soil incubation experiment[0%, 0.3%, 0.6%, and 1.0% (ω)] was carried out to verify the stabilization efficiency of magnetic biochar on heavy metals in soil and its influence on soil properties. The potential stabilization mechanism of magnetic biochar on heavy metals was also analyzed. The results showed that the application of magnetic biochar decreased the bioavailable Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in soil, and the decrease ratio was positively correlated with the application rate of the magnetic biochar. After 24 days incubation, the content of bioavailable Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in soil decreased by 27.52%, 49.55%, 55.83%, 27.33%, and 26.01%, respectively[application rate (ω)at 1%]. However, the fraction of heavy metals in the soil did not change significantly, which may mainly be attributed to the relatively weak bonding mechanisms between the metals and the biochar. The application of magnetic biochar also improved soil properties. The pH of the soil increased by 0.7 units; dehydrogenase activity increased by six times; and catalase activity and organic matter increased by 37.06% and 22.11%, respectively.

Prognostic significance of FA score based on plasma fibrinogen and serum albumin in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the significance of fibrinogen and albumin (FA) score based on preoperative peripheral blood plasma fibrinogen and serum albumin in the prognosis of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). METHODS: Patients' clinicopathological data of 186 cases of EOC were retrospectively collected, and these patients were divided into three groups according to their FA scores (both plasma fibrinogen and serum albumin abnormal were allocated a score of 2; one of them abnormal were allocated a score of 1; neither of them abnormal were allocated a score of 0; optimal cut-off point is taken as the critical point whether the value is abnormal or not). Correlation between FA score in patients with EOC as well as clinicopathological features and overall survival (OS) was analyzed. RESULTS: (1) Receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the optimal cut-off point of plasma fibrinogen in the preoperative peripheral blood of patients with EOC was 3.63 g/L. The optimal cut-off point for serum albumin level was 42.45 g/L. (2) There was no significant difference in age, tumor size, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, C reactive protein and preoperative tumor marker CA125 between the three groups (FA score=0, FA score=1, FA score=2) (P>0.05). However, there was statistically significant difference in tumor grade, tumor stage and the presence of lymph node metastasis between different FA scoring groups (P<0.05). (3) Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that tumor size, tumor grade, tumor stage, plasma fibrinogen, serum albumin, FA score and tumor marker CA125 were statistically correlated with OS of EOC patients after surgery (P<0.05). The complex index FA score is superior to the single plasma fibrinogen and serum albumin when it comes to predicting prognosis. (4) FA score can better predict the prognosis of postoperative patients with EOC whose tumor size is ≥6 cm, whose EOC is advanced (stages III-IV) (P=0.0138) and whose tumor stage is medium or high grade (P=0.0005). CONCLUSION: FA score is closely related to the clinicopathological characteristics and OS of patients with EOC and is an independent risk factor indicating the prognosis of EOC patients.

Increased adult neurogenesis associated with reactive astrocytosis occurs prior to neuron loss in a mouse model of neurodegenerative disease.

AIMS: This study was to investigate whether cell proliferation and adult neurogenesis are affected at early neurodegenerative stage when neuron loss has not begun to display. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forebrain-specific nicastrin (NCT) conditional knockout (cKO) mice were generated by crossing NCTf/f with CaMKIIα-Cre Tg mice. BrdU was used as a lineage tracer to label proliferating neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) on BrdU indicated that the total number of BrdU positive (+) cells was increased in NCT cKO mice. IHC on doublecortin (DCX) showed that the total number of DCX+ cells was also increased in NCT cKO mice. NCT cKO mice displayed significant astrogliosis as well. However, NCT cKO mice at 3 months did not show significant neuronal death or synaptic loss. CONCLUSIONS: NCT-dependent γ-secretase activity plays an important role in cell proliferation and immature neuron generation. Enhanced neurogenesis and astrogliosis may be early cellular events prior to the occurrence of neuronal death in neurodegenerative disease.