[Isothermal adsorption, desorptionand thermodynamic properties of Scutellaria baicalensis pieces].

To study the characteristics of adsorption and desorption of Scutellaria baicalensis pieces. On the basic thermodynamic theory, thestatic method was adopted to obtain S. baicalensis pieces' isothermal adsorption and desorption data at 25, 35, 45 ℃, with the water activity between 0.10 and 0.85. Eight moisture models were selected to fit the data and then evaluated to determine the thermodynamic properties of S. baicalensis pieces. The results show that, among the eight adsorption models, Peleg fit the best, in which absolutely-safe and the relatively-safe moisture contents of S. baicalensis pieces were around 9.22% and 13.51% respectively; the net equivalent heat adsorption and desorption and the differential entropy of S. baicalensis pieces were closely related to moisture content, and decrease within crease of water content; when drying the pieces, 12.0% of moisture content can be taken as the drying end; both of adsorption and desorption processes were driven by enthalpy and non-spontaneous. The study on S. baicalensis pieces' isothermal adsorption and desorption rules can help advance studies on adsorption and desorption rules of Chinese herbal pieces, and play a good guiding role in optimizing storage conditions and drying process of Chinese herbal pieces.

Angelica sinensis suppresses human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell metastasis by regulating MMPs/TIMPs and TGF-ß1.

In this study we investigated the potential effects of Angelica sinensis on the growth and metastasis in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. In vitro the Cck-8 assays showed that Angelica sinensis had weak antiproliferative effect on A549 cells only at high concentration. The cell adhesion assay showed that Angelica sinensis decreased the adhesive ability of A549 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Transwell invasion and migration assay showed that Angelica sinensis reduced the invasive and migratory abilities of A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo the animal experiments showed that Angelica sinensis suppressed lung metastasis of nude mice at high concentration. Then, we attempted to clarify the mechanisms of anti-metastatic activities of Angelica sinensis. The results showed Angelica sinensis inhibited the enzymatic activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), it involved the down-regulation of the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9 at both the protein and mRNA levels, which may be associated with Angelica sinensis suppressing the expression of TGF-ß1. It also involved the increase of the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases TIMP-2, but TIMP-1 decreased upon incubation of A549 cells with Angelica sinensis. The results suggest that Angelica sinensis might exert anti-growth and anti-metastasis activity against lung cancer cells through the decrease of MMP-2, MMP-9, TGF-ß1 and TIMP-1 and increase of TIMP-2.

Cloning, expression, and mapping of GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase cDNA from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum).

GDP-D-mannose pyrophosphorylase (GMP, EC 2.7.7.22) catalyzes the synthesis of GDP-D-mannose and represents the first committed step in plant ascorbic acid biosynthesis. Using potato GMP cDNA sequence as a querying probe, 65 highly homologous tomato ESTs were obtained from dbEST of GenBank and the putative cDNA sequence of tomato GMP was assembled. The full-length GMP cDNA of tomato was cloned by RACE-PCR with primers designed according to the assembled cDNA sequence. The full-length cDNA sequence contained a complete open reading frame (ORF) of 1,086 bp, which encoded 361 amino acid residues. This gene was designated as LeGMP (GenBank accession No. AY605668). Homology analysis of LeGMP showed a 96% identity with potato GMP and the deduced amino acid showed 99%, 97%, 91% and 89% homology with GMP from potato, tobacco, alfalfa and Arabidopsis thaliana, respectively. Northern blot analysis showed that LeGMP was constitutively expressed in roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits of tomato; but the expression levels varied. LeGMP was mapped to 3-D using 75 tomato introgression lines (ILs), each containing a single homozygous RFLP-defined chromosome segment from the green-fruited species Lycopersicon pennellii.

Molecular cloning, expression and mapping analysis of a novel cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase gene from tomato.

Ascorbate peroxidase (APX, EC 1.11.1.11) plays a major role in H(2)O(2)-scavenging in plants and can help to avoid reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage. A new cytosolic APX gene was cloned from tomato (designated LecAPX2) by RACE-PCR. The full-length cDNA of LecAPX2 contained a complete open reading frame (ORF) of 753 bp, which encoding 250 amino acid residues. Homology analysis of LecAPX2 showed a 94% identity with potato cAPX gene and 92% identity with another tomato cAPX gene (APX20), the deduced amino acid showed 88% homology with APX20 protein and 75-92% identity with cAPX from other plants such as potato, tobacco, broccoli, spinach, pea, rice, etc. LecAPX2 revealed the existence of a haem peroxidase and plant APX family signatures. Northern blot analysis showed that LecAPX2 was constitutively expressed in root, stem, leaf, flower and fruit of tomato, whereas the expression levels were different. LecAPX2 was mapped to 6-A using 75 tomato introgression lines (ILs), each containing a single homozygous RFLP-defined chromosome segment from the green-fruited species Lycopersicon pennellii.

[Effects of different feeding methods on the iodine status of the infants during the weaning period].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the iodine levels of urine from 1 month old breast-fed infants and the ones of milk and urine from the lactating women, and to observe the effects of different feeding methods (breast-feeding, mixed-feeding, bottle-feeding) on the iodine status of the infants during the weaning period in Beijing. METHODS: From March, 2001 to March, 2002, the iodine levels of urine from 97 breast-fed infants 1 month of age and the ones in milk and urine from lactating women were measured and compared. The infants followed up were divided into 3 groups (breast-fed, mixed and bottle-fed) until 6 months old. Their iodine levels of urine were measured and compared with the ones of 1 month of age. RESULTS: The median value of urine iodine from breast-fed 1 month old infants was 183 micro g/L, suggesting that the infants with breast-fed had good iodine nutritional status. The median value of urine iodine from lactating women was 122 micro g/L, significantly lower than the value of milk iodine, 201 micro g/L (P < 0.001). which suggests that the lactating women were iodine deficient but could provide infants iodine adequately through breast feeding. Compared with 1 month af age, the urine iodine levels of 6 months old infants with breast-feeding increased (P < 0.001), the ones with bottle-feeding decreased significantly (P < 0.001) and the mixed-feeding group did not change (P > 0.05). The differences among 3 groups were significant (P < 0.005), the urine iodine levels of infants of both breast-feeding and mixed-feeding groups were higher than the ones of bottle-feeding. The breast-feeding group was the highest one among three groups. CONCLUSION: The breast-fed infants were nourished with iodine, but the lactating women were iodine deficient. Accompanied the decrease of the amount of breast milk, the iodine levels of infants urine decreased during the weaning period, some bottle-feeding infants were iodine deficient.