A Multifunctional, Tough, Stretchable, and Transparent Curcumin Hydrogel with Potent Antimicrobial, Antioxidative, Anti-inflammatory, and Angiogenesis Capabilities for Diabetic Wound Healing.

The treatment of diabetic chronic wounds is still faced with great challenges, mainly due to wound infection, excessive inflammation, and peripheral vascular disease in the wound area. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop a novel multifunctional hydrogel with high efficiency to accelerate diabetic wound healing. Curcumin (Cur), a Chinese herbal, has shown great potential in enhancing the healing of diabetic chronic wounds because of its immunomodulatory and pro-angiogenic properties. However, its low aqueous solubility, poor bioavailability, and chemical instability have limited its clinical applications. To address these current bottlenecks, novel poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-chitosan (CS)/sodium alginate (SA)-Cur (PCSA) hydrogels were prepared for the first time, and they demonstrated all of the above intriguing performances by the Michael addition reaction of CS and Cur. PCSA hydrogels show multiple dynamic bonds, which possess strong mechanical properties (tensile stress: ∼0.980 MPa; toughness: ∼258.45 kJ/m3; and compressive strength: ∼7.38 MPa at strain of 80%). These intriguing performances provided an optimal microenvironment for cell migration and proliferation and also promoted the growth of blood vessels, leading to early angiogenesis. Importantly, the experimental results demonstrated that PCSA hydrogels can effectively transform pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages into anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages without the need for additional ingredients in vitro. Benefiting from these characteristics, a full-thickness diabetic wound in a rat model demonstrated that PCSA hydrogels can effectively accelerate wound healing via ROS-scavenging, downregulation of IL-1ß, and upregulation of CD31 expression, resulting in angiogenesis and collagen deposition. This strategy not only provides a simple and safe Cur-based hydrogel for diabetic wound healing but also highlights the significant potential for the development of high-performance biomaterials for promoting diabetic wound healing using traditional Chinese medicine.

Protective effect of Polygonatum sibiricum against cadmium-induced testicular injury in mice through inhibiting oxidative stress and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Polygonatum sibiricum (PS), the dried rhizome of the liliaceous plant including P. sibiricum Red., P. cyrtonema Hua. and P. kingianum Coll. et Hemsl., is a widely used Chinese herbal medicines. It was first published in "Special Records of Famous Doctors", in which is described to replenished Qi and nourish Yin, strengthening the spleen and nourishing the lungs and kidney. Based on the principle of kidney controlling the reproduction, kidney-tonifying therapy has traditionally been seen as most applicable to the treatment of infertility. The current investigation has focused on the protective effect of PS against cadmium-induced testicular injury in mice. AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the protective effect of PS against cadmium-induced testicular injury in mice via the TXNIP-NLRP3-Caspase-1 and CytC-Caspase-9-Caspase-3 pathways. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PS was processed into Polygonatum sibiricum aqueous extract (PSAE). A mouse testicular injury model was established by a single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of cadmium chloride (CdCl2) (2.5 mg/kg b.w.), and the mice were treated intragastrically with PSAE (10 g/kg b.w.) once daily for 35 consecutive days. At the end of the experiment blood and testicular tissue samples were collected to analyze sperm survival rate and sperm deformity rate, serum testosterone T content, testicular oxidation related indicators levels (SOD, MDA, GSH, CAT) in testicular tissue, and histopathological changes of testicular tissues. The testicular cell cycle and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured by flow cytometry, the expression levels of thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), Caspase-1, interleukin (IL)-1ß, Cyctochrome C (CytC), Caspase-3, and Caspase-9 mRNA in testicular tissue were detected by qRT-PCR and the protein expression levels of TXNIP, NLRP3, Caspase-1, CytC, Caspase-3, and Caspase-9 were detected by Western blot and immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: The results indicated that compared with the model group, PSAE brought testicular weight to a near-normal range, improved sperm survival rate and reduced sperm abnormality rate, elevated the level of testosterone, made the damaged testis tissue recover to near normal, reduced the level of ROS, and inhibited testicular cell apoptosis. Further study showed that PSAE significantly decreased the levels of relative genes and proteins in testicular cells, such as TXNIP, NLRP3, Caspase-1, IL-1ß, CytC, Caspase-3, and Caspase-9, which suggested that PSAE could regulate oxidative stress through the TXNIP-NLRP3-Caspase-1 signaling pathway, and inhibit apoptosis in the mitochondrial pathway via CytC-Caspase-9-Caspase-3 pathway. In summary, we have confirmed that PSAE exerted a powerful protective effect on CdCl2-induced testicular injury in mice through inhibiting oxidative stress and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis.

Deciphering of organic matter and nutrient removal and bacterial community in three sludge treatment wetlands under different operating conditions.

Sludge treatment wetlands (STWs) can effectively stabilize sludge, but the microbial community structure in this process is not well characterized. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of organic matter and nutrient removal and bacterial community in sludge treatment wetlands for treating sewage sludge. Three STWs units included unit STW1 with aeration tubes, unit STW2 with aeration tubes and reed planting and unit STW3 with reed planting. The degradation of organic matter and nutrient, sludge dewatering performance and microbial community dynamics in STWs were examined in feeding and resting periods. Our results showed that during the entire process of the experiment, total solids (TS) in STWs increased to 24-31%, volatile solids (VS) in STWs reduced to 43-47%, while the total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and total phosphorous (TP) concentrations in STWs decreased to 25.1-35.5 mg/g d. w and 5.4-6.2 mg/g d. w. However, the removal efficiencies of organic matter and nutrient in STWs in the feeding period were higher than those in the resting period. Meanwhile, unit STW2 has the best removal performance in organic matter and nutrients during the whole experiment. Microbial community analysis using Illumina MiSeq sequencing technology showed that growth of plants in STWs improved bacterial diversity and richness which corresponded to high removal rates of organic matter and nutrient. Besides, principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) showed that the bacterial community composition in STWs obviously altered between the feeding and the resting periods.

Evaluation of the fate of nutrients, antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance genes in sludge treatment wetlands.

The aim of this research was to analyze the elimination of nutrients, antibiotics as well as antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in different sludge treatment wetlands (STWs) with or without reeds and aeration tubes. Five antibiotics, including oxytetracycline, tetracycline, azithromycin, sulfamethoxazole, and sulfadiazine; five ARGs, including two tetracycline ARGs (tetC and tetA), one macrolide ARGs (ermB), and two sulfonamide ARGs (sul1 and sul2); and one integrase gene (intI1) were determined in the surface and bottom layers of three STWs, respectively. The removal efficiencies of antibiotics in the bottom layer were lower than that in the surface layer, while the elimination efficiencies of ARGs showed opposite trend. Strong correlations were observed among the contents of antibiotics as well as related ARGs, and the abundance of ARGs had a strong correlation with intI1. The results demonstrated that the contents of these pollutants decreased during the resting period in all the STWs, while the wetland had reeds and aeration tubes performed the best.

Flavonoid compounds and antibacterial mechanisms of different parts of white guava (Psidium guajava L. cv. Pearl).

The flavonoid compositions, extracted from leaves, peel and flesh of white guava (Psidium guajava L. cv. Pearl), were identified and quantified by UPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS, HPLC-ESI-MS/MS and HPLC. The main components of three extracts all were quercetin-glycosides, but the proportion and content of quercetin-hexoside and quercetin-pentoside in each extract were different. Based on the measurements of MIC, MBC value and time killing curve, it emerged that 3 flavonoid extracts of white guava had good antibacterial effects on four pathogenic bacteria. White guava leaves flavonoids (WGLF) concentrations of 5.00 mg/mL and 0.625 mg/mL could change the micro-morphology of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. It suggested that the antibacterial mechanism of WGLF on gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria was to destroy the structure and function of the cell membrane. It is indicated that the flavonoid extracts from white guava is a potential natural antimicrobial agent.

Fate of antibiotics in three distinct sludge treatment wetlands under different operating conditions.

Sludge treatment wetlands (STWs) have recently been used to treat surplus sludge. However, the distribution of antibiotics involved in the process has not been comprehensively investigated. This study aimed to evaluate the fate of two antibiotics, i.e., ciprofloxacin (CIP) and azithromycin (AZM) in STWs during the treatment of surplus sludge. Three pilot-scale STWs units-S1 with aeration tubes, S2 with aeration tubes and reed planting, and S3 with reed planting-were constructed and operated under feeding followed by resting periods. The results showed that antibiotic content in residual sludge decreased over time and unit S2 performed the best in terms of antibiotic removal. Planting reed considerably improved the antibiotic removal performance of the STWs. Biodegradation and absorption resulted in removal of most of the antibiotics in the test units. Less than 2% of the antibiotics was taken up by plants, whereas <5% of the influent antibiotics left the STW units through the drainage discharge. Overall, STW units contributed to effectively decrease CIP and AZM to 41-72% and 49-84%, respectively.

Comparative transcriptome analysis of roots, stems and leaves of Isodon amethystoides reveals candidate genes involved in Wangzaozins biosynthesis.

BACKGROUND: Isodon amethystoides (Ben-th) Cy Wu et Hsuan is an important traditional medicinal plant endowed with pharmacological properties effective in the treatment of various diseases, including pulmonary tuberculosis. The tetracyclic diterpenoids, Wangzaozins (Wangzaozin A, glaucocalyxin A, glaucocalyxin B), are the major bioactive compounds of I. amethystoides. However, the molecular information about the biosynthesis of these compounds still remains unclear. RESULTS: An examination of the accumulated levels of Wangzaozins in I. amethystoides revealed considerable variations in the root, stem, and leaf tissues of this plant, indicating possible differences in metabolite biosynthesis and accumulation among various tissues. To better elucidate the tetracyclic diterpenoid biosynthesis pathway, we generated transcriptome sequences from the root, stem, and leaf tissues, and performed de novo sequence assembly, yielding 230,974 transcripts and 114,488 unigenes, with average N50 lengths of 1914 and 1241 bp, respectively. Putative functions could be assigned to 73,693 transcripts (31.9%) based on BLAST searches against annotation databases, including GO, KEGG, Swiss-Prot, NR, and Pfam. Moreover, the candidate genes involving in the diterpenoid biosynthesis, such as CPS, KSL, were also analyzed. The expression profiles of eight transcripts, involving the tetracyclic diterpenoid biosynthesis, were validated in different I. amethystoides tissues by qRT-PCR, unraveling the gene expression profile of the pathway. The differential expressions of ISPD, ISPF and ISPH (MEP pathway), and IaCPS and IaKSL (diterpenoid pathway) candidate genes in leaves and roots, may contribute to the high accumulation of Wangzaozins in I. amethystoides leaves. CONCLUSION: The genomic dataset and analyses reported here lay the foundations for further research on this important medicinal plant.

Transcriptomic Profiling Analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana Treated with Exogenous Myo-Inositol.

Myo-insositol (MI) is a crucial substance in the growth and developmental processes in plants. It is commonly added to the culture medium to promote adventitious shoot development. In our previous work, MI was found in influencing Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. In this report, a high-throughput RNA sequencing technique (RNA-Seq) was used to investigate differently expressed genes in one-month-old Arabidopsis seedling grown on MI free or MI supplemented culture medium. The results showed that 21,288 and 21,299 genes were detected with and without MI treatment, respectively. The detected genes included 184 new genes that were not annotated in the Arabidopsis thaliana reference genome. Additionally, 183 differentially expressed genes were identified (DEGs, FDR ≤0.05, log2 FC≥1), including 93 up-regulated genes and 90 down-regulated genes. The DEGs were involved in multiple pathways, such as cell wall biosynthesis, biotic and abiotic stress response, chromosome modification, and substrate transportation. Some significantly differently expressed genes provided us with valuable information for exploring the functions of exogenous MI. RNA-Seq results showed that exogenous MI could alter gene expression and signaling transduction in plant cells. These results provided a systematic understanding of the functions of exogenous MI in detail and provided a foundation for future studies.

Dual matrix-based immobilized trypsin for complementary proteolytic digestion and fast proteomics analysis with higher protein sequence coverage.

In an age of whole-genome analysis, the mass spectrometry-based bottom-up strategy is now considered to be the most powerful method for in-depth proteomics analysis. As part of this strategy, highly efficient and complete proteolytic digestion of proteins into peptides is crucial for successful proteome profiling with deep coverage. To achieve this goal, prolonged digestion time and the use of multiple proteases have been adopted. The long digestion time required and tedious sample treatment steps severely limit the sample processing throughput. Though utilization of immobilized protease greatly reduces the digestion time, highly efficient proteolysis of extremely complex proteomic samples remains a challenging task. Here, we propose a dual matrix-based complementary digestion method using two types of immobilized trypsin with opposite matrix hydrophobicity prepared by attaching trypsin on hydrophobic or hydrophilic polymer-brush-modified nanoparticles. The polymer brushes on the nanoparticles serve as three-dimensional supports for a large amount of trypsin immobilization and lead to ultrafast and highly efficient protein digestion. More importantly, the two types of immobilized trypsin show high complementarity in protein digestion with only ∼60% overlap in peptide identification for yeast and membrane protein of mouse liver. Complementary digestion by applying these two types of immobilized trypsin together leads to obviously enhanced protein and peptide identification. Furthermore, the dual matrix-based complementary digestion shows particular advantage in the digestion of membrane proteins, as twice the number of identified peptides is obtained compared with solution digestion using free proteases, demonstrating its potential as a promising alternative to promote proteomics analysis with higher protein sequence coverage.

Enhanced Agrobacterium-mediated transformation efficiencies in monocot cells is associated with attenuated defense responses.

Plant defense responses can lead to altered metabolism and even cell death at the sites of Agrobacterium infection, and thus lower transformation frequencies. In this report, we demonstrate that the utilization of culture conditions associated with an attenuation of defense responses in monocot plant cells led to highly improved Agrobacterium-mediated transformation efficiencies in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). The removal of myo-inositol from the callus culture media in combination with a cold shock pretreatment and the addition of L-Gln prior to and during Agrobacterium-infection resulted in about 84 % of the treated calluses being stably transformed. The omission of myo-inositol from the callus culture media was associated with the failure of certain pathogenesis related genes to be induced after Agrobacterium infection. The addition of a cold shock and supplemental Gln appeared to have synergistic effects on infection and transformation efficiencies. Nearly 60 % of the stably transformed calluses regenerated into green plantlets. Calluses cultured on media lacking myo-inositol also displayed profound physiological and biochemical changes compared to ones cultured on standard growth media, such as reduced lignin within the cell walls, increased starch and inositol hexaphosphate accumulation, enhanced Agrobacterium binding to the cell surface, and less H(2)O(2) production after Agrobacterium infection. Furthermore, the cold treatment greatly reduced callus browning after infection. The simple modifications described in this report may have broad application for improving genetic transformation of recalcitrant monocot species.