Anti-Obesity and Gut Microbiota Regulation Effects of Phospholipids from the Eggs of Crab, Portunus Trituberculatus, in High Fat Diet-Fed Mice.

There are resourceful phospholipids in the eggs of the crab, Portunus trituberculatus (Pt-PL). However, their components and bioactivities regarding obesity were unclear. Here, we investigated the composition of Pt-PL and their fatty acids. Moreover, its effects on obesity and gut microbiota were also evaluated in high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. The results showed that Pt-PL contained 12 kinds of phospholipids, mainly including phosphatidylcholine (PC, 32.28%), phosphatidylserine (PS, 26.51%), phosphatidic acid (PA, 19.61%), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE, 8.81%), and phosphatidylinositol (PI, 7.96%). Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) predominated in the fatty acids components of Pt-PL, especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Animal experiments demonstrated that Pt-PL significantly alleviated body weight gain, adipose gain, hepatic gain, fasting blood glucose, serum insulin, lipid levels in serum and the liver, and systematic inflammation in HFD-fed mice. Furthermore, Pt-PL regulated gut microbiota, especially in a dramatic reduction in the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes at phylum level, as well as significant amelioration in their subordinate categories. Pt-PL reduced fecal lipopolysaccharide and total bile acids, and elevated fecal short chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations, particularly acetate and butyrate. These findings suggest that Pt-PL possesses anti-obesity effects and can alter gut microbiota owing to the abundance of PUFAs. Therefore, Pt-PL may be developed as an effective food supplement for anti-obesity and regulation of human gut health.

Pythium myriotylum Is Recovered Most Frequently from Pythium Soft Rot-Infected Ginger Rhizomes in China.

Pythium soft rot is a major soilborne disease of crops such as ginger (Zingiber officinale). Our objective was to identify which Pythium species were associated with Pythium soft rot of ginger in China, where approximately 20% of global ginger production is located. Oomycetes infecting ginger rhizomes from seven provinces were investigated using two molecular markers, the internal transcribed spacer, and cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (CoxII). In total, 81 isolates were recovered; approximately 95% of the isolates were identified as Pythium myriotylum, and the other isolates were identified as either P. aphanidermatum or P. graminicola. Notably, the P. myriotylum isolates from China did not contain the single nucleotide polymorphism in the CoxII sequence found previously in the P. myriotylum isolates infecting ginger in Australia. A subset of 36 isolates was analyzed repeatedly by temperature-dependent growth, severity of disease on ginger plants, and aggressiveness of colonization on ginger rhizome sticks. In the pathogenicity assays, 32 of 36 isolates were able to significantly infect and cause severe disease symptoms on the ginger plants. A range of temperature-dependent growth, disease severity, and aggressiveness in colonization was found, with a significant moderate positive correlation between growth and aggressiveness of colonization of the ginger sticks. This study identified P. myriotylum as the major oomycete pathogen in China from infected ginger rhizomes and suggested that P. myriotylum should be a key target to control soft rot of ginger disease.

Low Molecular Weight, 4-O-Sulfation, and Sulfation at Meta-Fucose Positively Promote the Activities of Sea Cucumber Fucoidans on Improving Insulin Resistance in HFD-Fed Mice.

Fucoidans from sea cucumber (SC-FUC) have been proven to alleviate insulin resistance in several species. However, there are few studies that clarify the relationship between their structure and bioactivity. The present study evaluated the influence of molecular weight (Mw), sulfation concentrations (Cs), and sulfation position on improving insulin resistance using SC-FUC. Results showed that fucoidans with lower Mw exerted stronger effects. Having a similar Mw, Acaudina molpadioides fucoidans (Am-FUC) with lower Cs and Holothuria tubulosa fucoidans with higher Cs showed similar activities. However, Isostichopus badionotus fucoidans (higher Cs) activity was superior to that of low-Mw Thelenota ananas fucoidans (Ta-LFUC, lower Cs). Eliminating the effects of Mw and Cs, the bioactivity of Am-FUC with sulfation at meta-fucose exceeded that of Ta-FUC with sulfation at ortho-position. Moreover, the effects of Pearsonothuria graeffei fucoidans with 4-O-sulfation were superior to those of Am-LFUC with 2-O-sulfation. These data indicate that low Mw, 4-O-sulfation, and sulfation at meta-fucose contributed considerably to insulin resistance alleviation by SC-FUC, which could accelerate the development of SC-FUC as a potential food supplement to alleviate insulin resistance.

Systematic causality mapping of factors leading to accidental falls of older adults.

Introduction: According to WHO's statistical evidence, accidental falls are the second leading causes of death worldwide. This systematic literature review and meta-analysis aims to provide a holistic view of risk factors and unfold the missing or less addressed but crucial factors that lead to accidental falls of the older adults. It also intends to profile the risk factors at different levels, which helps exhibit the level of consistency relationship between various risk factors and falls. Study design: Systematic literature review. Methods: A systematic review on the risk factors leading to accidental falls of older adults by retrieving English journal papers published starting from 1980 was conducted on April 2018. A method of literature synthesis and causal mapping was adopted to aggregate those fall-leading factors into macro variables and a coherent causal tracing network was thereby built, which can reflect not only the causal relationship of various macro variables but also the "consistency of agreement" between macro variables and falls of the older adults. Results: A hypothesized causal relationship diagram of 19 aggregated macro variables and their 31 causal relationship suggested by the observational evidences is demonstrated. The consistency relationship between macro variables and elderly accidental fall are summarized and demonstrated. Our analysis reveals that "Time", "Season" and "Weather" are three less-studied factors in the literature. In our comprehensive analysis, our study also indicates neglected countries and senior populations such as Africa and Oceania, which requires more attention from the research community and global funding agencies. It is found that major quantitative tools focus on the traditional statistical analysis. Conclusion: With the accelerated aging and increase of longevity worldwide, national and regional policies, and public health programs to provide adequate care services for the older people are crucially needed in both industrialized and developing countries. Evidences identified in the research are valuable inputs for policy design and decision makers of different stakeholders and prevention design of risk factors for falls in the older adults. The categorization of research methods in different literature also suggests that more quantitative approaches including simulation, optimization in operational research, and maybe machine learning are needed to enrich the research paradigm. We suggest researchers to consider using our presented causal map and the way of building it and explore the possibility of extending this framework to uncover more research topics in health-related research.

[Triptolide induces autophagy of ovarian granulosa cells via PI3K/AKT/m TOR pathway].

The aim of this paper was to observe the concentration,time and mechanism of autophagy induced by triptolide( TP) in ovarian granulosa cells( OGCs). CCK-8 method was used to compare the inhibitory effects of TP at different concentrations on primary cultured rat OGCs and IC50 was calculated. The effects of TP at different concentrations and time points on the expression of OGCs autophagy factor protein and the cascade of PI3 K/AKT/m TOR pathway were detected by Western blot. The effects of TP,autophagy inducer( brefeldin A) and PI3 K/m TOR inhibitor( NVP-BEZ235) on the expression of PI3 K/AKT/m TOR cascade and autophagy related factor protein were detected by Western blot. The results show that the IC50 of different concentrations of TP on OGCs of rat ovary was14. 65 µmol·L-1,and the minimum inhibitory concentration of TP was 0. 1 µmol·L-1( 100 nmol·L-1). Compared with the control group,the expression levels of beclin1 and LC3Ⅱ in each group were significantly higher than those in the control group( P<0. 05 or P<0. 01). After 12 hours of treatment with TP,brefeldin A and NVP-BEZ235,respectively,compared with the control group,TP could significantly promote the expression level of downstream autophagy effect or molecule beclin1,LC3Ⅱ and inhibit the expression level of LC3Ⅰ,p62 protein( P<0. 05 or P< 0. 01). Moreover,the expression of beclin1 and LC3Ⅱ/LC3Ⅰ in TP group was higher than that in brefeldin A group( P<0. 05 or P<0. 01),and the expression of p62 in TP group was lower than that in brefeldin A group( P<0. 05 or P<0. 01). At the same time,TP could significantly inhibit the expression of p-PI3 K,p-AKT,p-mTOR protein,and the inhibitory effect of TP was better than that of NVP-BEZ235 group. This study suggests that 100 nmol·L-1 TP could induce OGCs autophagy successfully in cultured rat ovary for 12 h; TP may induce OGCs autophagy by inhibiting PI3 k/Akt/m TOR signaling pathway.

Bu Shen Yang Xue Prescription Has Treating Effect on Endometrial Cancer through FSH/PI3K/AKT/Gankyrin/HIF-α/cyclinD 1 Pathway in Ishikawa Cells.

Background. The formulation of Bu Shen Yang Xue (BSYX) has been clinically used in treating gynecologic disease in China, especially for the development of the endometrium. Endometrial carcinoma is the most common malignant tumor of the female genital tract in developed countries. And few studies have been reported on the antitumor activity of BSYX. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of BSYX on endometrial cancer and make an initial discussion of the underlining mechanisms in Ishikawa cells. Methods and Results. Firstly, 60 SPF female nude mice were randomly divided into control group, model group, BSYX group, and positive group. The models of subcutaneous tumor xenograft of nude mice were established by injection of human endometrial carcinoma cell line Ishikawa tumor cell suspension. Compared with model group, BSYX reduced effectively tumor volume and changed pathological feature in mice tumor issue. Meanwhile, proteins from tumor issues were detected by western blot analysis. The protein levels of follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR), p-Akt/Akt, Gankyrin, and cyclinD1 in the model group were higher than those in control group but the expression in BSYX group was lower than that in the model group. The hypoxia inducible factor alpha (HIF-α) protein level in the model group was lower than those in control group and upregulated in BSYX group. In addition, Ishikawa cells were cultured and then exposed to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), LY294002, a highly selective PI3K inhibitor and serum containing BSYX, respectively. LY294002 and BSYX markedly decreased the cancer cell viability and migration ability and increased the apoptosis rate. FSH promoted the cancer cell ability and migration ability. LY294002 and BSYX evidently downregulated the proteins levels of FSHR, p-Akt/Akt, Gankyrin, and cyclinD1 and upregulated the expression of HIF-α protein, and FSH was on the opposite. Conclusions. Taken together, our results showed that the formulation of BSYX had antitumor effect on endometrial cancer in vivo and in vitro and was related with FSH/PI3K/AKT/Gankyrin/HIF-α/cyclinD1 transduction pathway.

Wood-Derived Materials for Green Electronics, Biological Devices, and Energy Applications.

With the arising of global climate change and resource shortage, in recent years, increased attention has been paid to environmentally friendly materials. Trees are sustainable and renewable materials, which give us shelter and oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Trees are a primary resource that human society depends upon every day, for example, homes, heating, furniture, and aircraft. Wood from trees gives us paper, cardboard, and medical supplies, thus impacting our homes, school, work, and play. All of the above-mentioned applications have been well developed over the past thousands of years. However, trees and wood have much more to offer us as advanced materials, impacting emerging high-tech fields, such as bioengineering, flexible electronics, and clean energy. Wood naturally has a hierarchical structure, composed of well-oriented microfibers and tracheids for water, ion, and oxygen transportation during metabolism. At higher magnification, the walls of fiber cells have an interesting morphology-a distinctly mesoporous structure. Moreover, the walls of fiber cells are composed of thousands of fibers (or macrofibrils) oriented in a similar angle. Nanofibrils and nanocrystals can be further liberated from macrofibrils by mechanical, chemical, and enzymatic methods. The obtained nanocellulose has unique optical, mechanical, and barrier properties and is an excellent candidate for chemical modification and reconfiguration. Wood is naturally a composite material, comprised of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Wood is sustainable, earth abundant, strong, biodegradable, biocompatible, and chemically accessible for modification; more importantly, multiscale natural fibers from wood have unique optical properties applicable to different kinds of optoelectronics and photonic devices. Today, the materials derived from wood are ready to be explored for applications in new technology areas, such as electronics, biomedical devices, and energy. The goal of this study is to review the fundamental structures and chemistries of wood and wood-derived materials, which are essential for a wide range of existing and new enabling technologies. The scope of the review covers multiscale materials and assemblies of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin as well as other biomaterials derived from wood, in regard to their major emerging applications. Structure-properties-application relationships will be investigated in detail. Understanding the fundamental properties of these structures is crucial for designing and manufacturing products for emerging applications. Today, a more holistic understanding of the interplay between the structure, chemistry, and performance of wood and wood-derived materials is advancing historical applications of these materials. This new level of understanding also enables a myriad of new and exciting applications, which motivate this review. There are excellent reviews already on the classical topic of woody materials, and some recent reviews also cover new understanding of these materials as well as potential applications. This review will focus on the uniqueness of woody materials for three critical applications: green electronics, biological devices, and energy storage and bioenergy.

Inhibitory effects of traditional Chinese herbal medicine Tanreqing injection on proliferation of leukemia cells in vitro and the potential mechanisms.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigates the effects of Tanreqing injection, a compound Chinese herbal medicine, on the proliferation of leukemia cells in vitro and discusses the potential mechanisms. METHODS: Tanreqing injection was diluted to a series of concentrations (1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16, 1:32, 1:64, 1:128, 1:256 and 1:512) by volume and then independently applied to treat chronic myeloid leukemia K562 cells and T cell acute lymphocytic leukemia Molt4 cells at the proliferative stage. Cell growth was observed at different time intervals under a microscope. Cell proliferation was determined by cell counting kit-8 assay and the survival curve was delineated. The inhibitory rate and the half inhibitory concentration (IC50) were calculated. Molt4 cells were stained with propidium iodide (PI) and PI/Annexin V and then the cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed by using flow cytometry. In addition, a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was subjected to detect the expressions of apoptosis-related genes (bcl-2 and caspase-3) after Tanreqing treatment. RESULTS: Tanreqing injection had inhibitory effects on the proliferation of K562 cells and Molt4 cells. The most toxic concentrations were observed between 1:2 and 1:16 where cells were almost necrotic. The inhibitory effect manifested in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The IC50 of K562 and Molt4 was 1:333 and 1:142, respectively. After 1:32 Tanreqing injection treatment for 72 h, the number of Molt4 cells in the S phase significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the apoptosis rate markedly increased (P<0.05). In addition, increased caspase-3 expression and decreased bcl-2 expression were also observed (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Tanreqing injection can both inhibit the proliferation and promote the apoptosis of leukemia cells in vitro, whereby the potential mechanism seems to be mediated in part by decreasing S phase ratio, down-regulating bcl-2 expression and up-regulating caspase-3 expression.

[Inhibitory effect of Tanreqing injection on proliferation of T lymphoblastic leukemia cell line Molt4 in vitro and its mechanism].

This study was purposed to explore the effects of Tanreqing injection on the biologic activities of human acute T lymphoblastic leukemia cell line Molt4 in vitro and its mechanism. Tanreqing injection was proportionally diluted and divided into 9 groups of different concentrations, including 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, 1:16, 1:32, 1:64, 1:128, 1:256 and 1:512. Molt4 cells were treated with those different concentrations of Tanreqing injection, and the cell growth status at various time points of different concentrations was observed under microscope. CCK-8 assay was employed to detect ability of cell proliferation, growth curve was drawn, the inhibition ratio and 50% inhibiting concentration (IC(50)) were calculated. Flow cytometry with PI and PI/Annexin V double stainings were used to detect the cell cycle and apoptosis of Molt4 cells after the treatment of Tanreqing injection respectively. Caspase-3 and Bcl-2 mRNA expression of Molt4 cells were determined by real-time quantitative PCR. The results showed that Tanreqing injection displayed an inhibitory effect on the proliferation of Molt4 cell line. In 1:2, 1:4, 1:8 and 1:16 concentration groups, great cytotoxicity was observed and numerous cells were dead. The inhibitory effect of Tanreqing injection was dose-dependent. IC(50) was 1:142 dilution concentration. In the 1:32 concentration group, S phase cell quantity remarkably decreased (p < 0.05) and apoptosis rate significantly increased (p < 0.05) at 72 hours after Tanreqing injection treatment. Simultaneously, caspase-3 mRNA expression increased and Bcl-2 mRNA expressions was downregulated (p < 0.05). It is concluded that the Tanreqing injection has an inhibitory effect on Molt4 cell proliferation and promotes its apoptosis. These biological effects of Tanreqing injection are partly related to cell reduction in S phase, downregulation of bcl-2 gene and upregulation of caspase 3.

Enzymic synthesis of gastrodin through microbial transformation and purification of gastrodin biosynthesis enzyme.

Gastrodin, a major bioactive component of a famous Chinese herb Gastrodia elata B1., has diverse pharmaceutical functions. It is usually obtained by extraction from a plant or through chemical synthesis. However, traditional extraction from Gastrodia elata B1. is time and money consuming, while chemical synthesis is a complicated procedure and always leads to very serious environmental pollution. Thus it is urgent to explore a new gastrodin source which is more economical and environmental. The present study reports a novel approach to the production of gastrodin through biosynthesis and microbial transformation. Rhizopus chinensis SAITO AS3.1165 was screened from about 50 fungal and bacterial strains and found capable of biotransforming p-hydroxybenzaldehyde into gastrodin for use in gastrodin production. A series of purification steps including (NH(4))(2)SO(4) precipitation, ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration column chromatography was successfully used for purification of the gastrodin biosynthesis enzyme (GBE). The purity of GBE was above 95% and its molecular weight was about 63.2 kDa. We further characterized GBE's function condition, and found that the optimal temperature was 50 °C and the optimum pH 6.0. The enzyme was stable at a temperature lower than 50 °C and a pH between 6.0 and 9.0. The result indicated that gastrodin could be successfully synthesized by microbial transformation, providing a new approach for gastrodin production.

[Gene expression profile analysis of T lymphocytes involved in pathogenesis of severe aplastic anemia by using bioinformatics method as a novel way of drug screening].

This study was aimed to explore the gene expression profile characteristics of T lymphocytes involved in pathogenesis of severe aplastic anemia (SAA) and to predict putative curative drugs for SAA by using biological principle of similarity contrast of gene expression profiles between drugs and diseases. SAA and T lymphocyte were used as key words to search gene expression datasets related to pathogenesis of SAA in public Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) of NCBI. After significance test, gene expression profiling involved in pathogenesis of SAA were screened and applied to cluster analysis. And then SAA-related gene expression profiles were thrown into pharmacological gene expression datasets of 3000 candidate drugs for similarity analysis and significantly negative correlation was used as a screening criterion for selecting putative curative drugs of SAA. The results showed that only one gene expression dataset was found out, i.e. GSE3807. Computational bioanalysis identified a total of 515 candidate genes of T lymphocyte involved in pathogenesis of SAA, whose expression level exceeded more than 2-fold. Among them, 202 genes were upregulated and 313 genes were downregulated. Cluster analysis showed that those genes belonged to different pathways, including nucleic acid metabolic process, ubiquitin-dependent protein catabolic process, Golgi apparatus protein transport, protein phosphorylation and immunoglobin/major histocompatibility complex. Similarity analysis of gene expression profiles of SAA and drugs showed that hydroxycamptothecin and metformin might have a potential therapeutic efficacy on SAA. It is concluded that by means of novel bioinformatics method, gene expression profiling combined with similarity analysis between disease-related gene expression and pharmacological gene expression profiles may be a novel way of drug screening for SAA.