Appropriate Soil Heat Treatment Promotes Growth and Disease Suppression of Panax notoginseng by Interfering with the Bacterial Community.

In our greenhouse experiment, soil heat treatment groups (50, 80, and 121°C) significantly promoted growth and disease suppression of Panax notoginseng in consecutively cultivated soil (CCS) samples (p < 0.01), and 80°C worked better than 50°C and 121°C (p < 0.01). Furthermore, we found that heat treatment at 80°C changes the microbial diversity in CCS, and the inhibition ratios of culturable microorganisms, such as fungi and actinomycetes, were nearly 100%. However, the heat-tolerant bacterial community was preserved. The 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing analyses indicated that the soil heat treatment had a greater effect on the Chao1 index and Shannon's diversity index of bacteria than fungi, and the relative abundances of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were significantly higher than without heating (80 and 121°C, p < 0.05). Soil probiotic bacteria, such as Bacillus (67%), Sporosarcina (9%), Paenibacillus (6%), Paenisporosarcina (6%), and Cohnella (4%), remained in the soil after the 80°C and 121°C heat treatments. Although steam increased the relative abundances of most of the heat-tolerant microbes before sowing, richness and diversity gradually recovered to the level of CCS, regardless of fungi or bacteria, after replanting. Thus, we added heat-tolerant microbes (such as Bacillus) after steaming, which reduced the relative abundance of pathogens, recruited antagonistic bacteria, and provided a long-term protective effect compared to the steaming and Bacillus alone (p < 0.05). Taken together, the current study provides novel insight into sustainable agriculture in a consecutively cultivated system.

Anti-tumor effects of Solanum nigrum L. extraction on C6 high-grade glioma.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Solanum nigrum L. (SN) is a traditional Chinese medicine with anti-tumor effects, has been used in cancer for centuries, but the role on high-grade gliomas (HGG) is not clear. AIM OF THE STUDY: This work was to investigate the anti-tumor effects of SN extract on rat C6 glioma in vitro and in vivo, providing a new medium for the treatment of HGG. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After identification and quality inspection of SN medicinal materials by HPLC-MS/MS and HPLC, CCK8 and colony formation assay were conducted to study the effects of SN on vitality and proliferation of C6 cells. Cell morphology was evaluated by HE staining, and flow cytometry was used for apoptosis analysis. The effects on cell migration and invasion were determined by transwell and wound healing assay. Western blot was used to further investigate the influence of SN on migration, invasion and apoptosis of tumor cells. In addition, the rat intracranial transplanted tumor model was used to evaluate the effects of SN on growth and infiltration of tumor and proliferation of transplanted tumor cells. RESULTS: SN extract suppressed the viability of C6 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The extract attenuated cell cloning, migration and invasion, and induced cell Annexin V+ PI+ late-stage apoptosis. Besides, SN induced the expression of apoptotic proteins including Bax and Cleaved Caspase-3, downregulated anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, and decreased the level of migratory proteins MMP-2 and MMP-9. Moreover, SN reduced the growth and infiltration of C6 glioma tissue and suppressed the proliferation of tumor cells in rat brain. CONCLUSIONS: SN extract has significant inhibitory activity on the growth and invasion of C6 HGG in vivo and in vitro.

YY1/LncRNA GAS5 complex aggravates cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury through enhancing neuronal glycolysis.

Yin-Yang 1 (YY1) has been identified as playing critical roles in multiple diseases. However, little is known regarding its roles and mechanisms in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. This study is aimed to explore the roles of YY1 in regulating neuronal apoptosis in cerebral I/R injury and its underlying mechanisms. Primary mouse cerebral cortical neurons were isolated and subjected to OGD/R to mimic cerebral I/R injury in vitro. The roles of YY1 on OGD/R-induced neuronal injury were investigated by performing western blotting, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, TUNEL, RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation, chromatin immunoprecipitation, chromatin isolation by RNA purification assay, glucose uptake assay, lactate production assay, and extracellular acidification rate assay. YY1-binding long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) in neurons subjected to OGD/R were identified by RIP and RNA sequencing. The roles of YY1 on cerebral I/R in vivo were detected by assessing neuronbehaviour, infarct size, and neuronal apoptosis. We found that YY1 expression is downregulated, and LncRNA GAS5 is upregulated in neurons subjected to OGD/R. OGD/R treatment promotes YY1 interacting with GAS5 in neurons, and YY1 negatively regulates GAS5 expression by binding to GAS5 promoter to repress its transcription. Besides, YY1 and GAS5 bind to the same region of PFKFB3 promoter to promote PFKFB3 expression and strengthen neuronal glycolysis, resulting in aggravating OGD/R-induced neuronal apoptosis. Knockdown of YY1 or GAS5 protects against I/R-induced ischemic brain damage and improves overall neurological functions in vivo. Overall, YY1 interacts with LncRNA GAS5 to promote PFKFB3 transcription to enhance neuronal glycolysis, resulting in aggravating cerebral I/R injury.

[Study on extraction process for the icariin of hugu capsule with ultrasonic technology].

OBJECTIVE: To study the best ultrasonic technology of the extraction of icariin of Hugu capsule. METHODS: Used the content of icariin as index, orthogonal experiment was carried out to investigate 4 influential factors as follows: the ultrasonic power (A), the ultrasonic frequency (B), the material fluid ratio (C), the time (D). RESULTS: The best extraction conditions were as follows: the ultrasonic power was 120 W, the ultrasonic frequency was 28 KHz, solid-liquid ratio of 1 : 35, the extraction time was 10 min. CONCLUSION: Optimization of extracting process is simple, quick and low energy consumption. Under these conditions, the extraction of icariin is 1.8 times higher than that of the traditional extraction method.