Epitaxial Growth of Large-Scale 2D CrTe2 Films on Amorphous Silicon Wafers With Low Thermal Budget.

2D van der Waals (vdW) magnets open landmark horizons in the development of innovative spintronic device architectures. However, their fabrication with large scale poses challenges due to high synthesis temperatures (>500 °C) and difficulties in integrating them with standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology on amorphous substrates such as silicon oxide (SiO2) and silicon nitride (SiNx). Here, a seeded growth technique for crystallizing CrTe2 films on amorphous SiNx/Si and SiO2/Si substrates with a low thermal budget is presented. This fabrication process optimizes large-scale, granular atomic layers on amorphous substrates, yielding a substantial coercivity of 11.5 kilo-oersted, attributed to weak intergranular exchange coupling. Field-driven Néel-type stripe domain dynamics explain the amplified coercivity. Moreover, the granular CrTe2 devices on Si wafers display significantly enhanced magnetoresistance, more than doubling that of single-crystalline counterparts. Current-assisted magnetization switching, enabled by a substantial spin-orbit torque with a large spin Hall angle (85) and spin Hall conductivity (1.02 × 107 ℏ/2e Ω⁻¹ m⁻¹), is also demonstrated. These observations underscore the proficiency in manipulating crystallinity within integrated 2D magnetic films on Si wafers, paving the way for large-scale batch manufacturing of practical magnetoelectronic and spintronic devices, heralding a new era of technological innovation.

The Influence of Different Extraction Techniques on the Chemical Profile and Biological Properties of Oroxylum indicum: Multifunctional Aspects for Potential Pharmaceutical Applications.

Oroxylum indicum (L.) Kurz (Bignoniaceae), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, possesses various biological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and anticancer. In order to guide the practical application of O. indicum in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries, we evaluated the effects of five different extraction techniques (maceration extraction (ME), oxhlet extraction (SOXE), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), tissue-smashing extraction (TSE), and accelerated-solvent extraction (ASE)) with 70% ethanol as the solvent on the phytochemical properties and biological potential. The UHPLC-DAD Orbitrap Elite MS technique was applied to characterize the main flavonoids in the extracts. Simultaneously, the antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory activities of the tested extracts were analyzed. SOXE extract showed the highest total phenolic content (TPC, 50.99 ± 1.78 mg GAE/g extract), while ASE extract displayed the highest total flavonoid content (TFC, 34.92 ± 0.38 mg RE/g extract), which displayed significant correlation with antioxidant activity. The extract obtained using UAE was the most potent inhibitor of tyrosinase (IC50: 16.57 ± 0.53 mg·mL-1), while SOXE extract showed the highest activity against α-glucosidase (IC50: 1.23 ± 0.09 mg·mL-1), succeeded by UAE, ME, ASE, and TSE extract. In addition, multivariate analysis suggested that different extraction techniques could significantly affect the phytochemical properties and biological activities of O. indicum. To sum up, O. indicum displayed expected biological potential and the data collected in this study could provide an experimental basis for further investigation in practical applications.

Characterization of constituents by UPLC-MS and the influence of extraction methods of the seeds of Vernonia anthelmintica willd.: extraction, characterization, antioxidant and enzyme modulatory activities.

Vernonia anthelmintica Willd (VA) is a popular medicinal plant used in local and traditional medicine to manage various disorders. In order to explore the phytochemical profile, antioxidant and enzyme modulatory activities of extracts prepared from the seeds of VA, different extraction methodologies, including modern (accelerated-ASE, ultrasound-UAE, and tissue smashing-TSE extractions) and traditional (maceration and Soxhlet) extractions, were employed and their effects on the activities of the extracts were investigated. The chemical compounds of the extracts were qualitatively analyzed by ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Orbitrap-MS) technique. Among them, 11 compounds were undoubtedly identified by comparison with reference substance, while 13 compounds were tentatively identified by comparison with literature data, including 8 phenolic acids, 14 flavonoids and 2 esters were identified in the extracts. Additionally, the quantitative analysis found that ASE showed the highest extraction efficiency. The antioxidant activity was determined in vitro via six standard assays. Two key enzymes related to the diseases of vitiligo (tyrosinase) and type II diabetes (α-glucosidase) were adopted to assess the activity of VA extracts against them. All extracts showed potent antioxidant ability with a predominance for that obtained by ASE, which corroborated with the high phenolic (22.62 ± 0.23 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g extract) and flavonoid contents (68.85 ± 0.25 mg rutin equivalent (RE)/g extract). The extracts obtained by ASE, UAE and SE could increase the tyrosinase activity and all the extracts displayed remarkable inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase. This study demonstrated that the VA extracts obtained by novel extraction techniques such as ASE, could be considered as a positive candidate to be utilized by the food and medical industries, not only for obtaining bioactive compounds to be used as natural antioxidants, but possibly also for its health benefits for therapeutic bio-product development.

Rapid screening of natural-origin tyrosinase regulators from Vernonia anthelmintica (L.) Willd. by offline two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry.

Finding and developing safe and effective tyrosinase (TYR) regulators is of great significance for the prevention and treatment of melanin-related skin diseases in the medical and cosmetic industries. In the current research, an approach based on offline two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (offline 2D LC-MS) was established to screen TYR modulators from Vernonia anthelmintica (L.) Willd. (VA) extract. Firstly, the reliability of the proposed method was evaluated by using kojic acid (inhibitor), psoralen (activator) and ranitidine as positive and negative control, respectively. Some significant parameters including incubation time, TYR concentrations, and reaction temperature were investigated. Then, the developed new method was successfully applied to rapidly discover the active compounds from VA extract. Seven TYR ligands were successfully screened by comparing the chromatographic profiles of VA extract incubated with active and denatured TYR, respectively. To verify the activity of the screened compounds, in vitro bioassay was carried out and the result showed two of them, isorhamnetin and luteolin, had good TYR inhibitory activity with IC50 value of 0.86 and 1.00 mg/mL, respectively, while the other five compounds including eriodictyol, butochalcone, chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid B, and isochlorogenic acid C showed strong activation against TYR. Furthermore, molecular docking displayed that these compounds could bind to the amino acid residues in TYR catalytic pocket. The results demonstrate that the established technique can be efficiently used for rapid screening of TYR-active compounds from plant extracts.

Recent advance in the discovery of tyrosinase inhibitors from natural sources via separation methods.

Tyrosinase (TYR) inhibitors are in great demand in the food, cosmetic and medical industrials due to their important roles. Therefore, the discovery of high-quality TYR inhibitors is always pursued. Natural products as one of the most important sources of bioactive compounds discovery have been increasingly used for TYR inhibitors screening. However, due to their complex compositions, it is still a great challenge to rapid screening and identification of biologically active components from them. In recent years, with the help of separation technologies and the affinity and intrinsic activity of target enzymes, two advanced approaches including affinity screening and inhibition profiling showed great promises for a successful screening of bioactive compounds from natural sources. This review summarises the recent progress of separation-based methods for TYR inhibitors screening, with an emphasis on the principle, application, advantage, and drawback of each method along with perspectives in the future development of these screening techniques and screened hit compounds.

Ultra-rapid, enhanced and eco-friendly extraction of four main flavonoids from the seeds of Oroxylum indicum by deep eutectic solvents combined with tissue-smashing extraction.

Rapid, green and efficient extraction of active compounds followed by fast analysis is always pursued in the field of food analysis and/or industry. Herein, a green and highly efficient extraction of four active flavonoids from the seeds of Oroxylum indicum using a combination of natural deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and tissue-smashing extraction (TSE) technique was applied and a UPLC method was developed for their sensitive and selective quantification. RSM coupled with BBD procedure was used to optimize the extraction conditions based on single factors, such as liquid-solid ratios, extraction speed and extraction time. Compared with other conventional methods, the TSE greatly shortens extraction time, obviously raises the extraction production, and decreases energy consumption. By combination of the DES-based TSE and UPLC, the analysis of flavonoids was accomplished within only 6 min, providing an ultra-rapid, environmentally friendly and promising choice for extraction and analysis of active compounds in natural products.

Effects of Chailong Jieyu Pill on Behavior, Monoamine Neurotransmitters, and Corticosteroid Receptors in a Rat Model of Anxiety Disorder.

Chailong Jieyu Pill (CJP) is composed of Radix Bupleuri, Radix Scutellariae, Rhizoma Pinelliae Preparata, Radix Codonopsis, Radix Glycyrrhizae preparata, keel, Concha Ostreae, Concha Margaritifera Usta, Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens, and Fructus Jujubae. CJP has shown good clinical effects on improving anxiety disorders. However, as the mechanism underlying such benefits remains unclear, the aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of action for CJP on anxiety-related behaviors in a rat model of anxiety disorder. After establishing a rat model of anxiety disorder using uncertain empty bottle stimulation, rats were divided into control, model, citalopram, low-dose CJP, and high-dose CJP groups. After 1 month of administration, effects of treatments on rat appearance, body weight, and open-field test scores were observed. In addition, hippocampal monoamine neurotransmitter (5-hydroxytryptamine, dopamine, and norepinephrine) contents were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and mRNA expression of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) were measured with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. CJP increased rat weight, and this effect was increased in the high-dose CJP group compared with the citalopram group (P < 0.05). CJP also elevated open-field test scores compared with the citalopram group (P < 0.05). While CJP decreased monoamine neurotransmitter contents in rat hippocampus, the regulatory effect of CJP on 5-hydroxytryptamine was reduced compared with citalopram (P < 0.01). CJP upregulated GR mRNA expression in both low-dose (P < 0.05) and high-dose (P < 0.01) CJP groups, but only the latter significantly downregulated MR mRNA expression and showed enhanced effects compared with citalopram (P < 0.05). Thus, CJP likely exerted its significant antianxiety effect by diminishing monoamine neurotransmitters and regulating mRNA expression of MR and GR in the hippocampus of our rat model of anxiety disorder.

Nocardioides panzhihuaensis sp. nov., a novel endophytic actinomycete isolated from medicinal plant Jatropha curcas L.

A novel Gram-positive, aerobic, rod-shaped and mycelia-producing bacterial strain, designated KLBMP 1050(T), was isolated from the stem of the oil-seed plant Jatropha curcas L. collected from Sichuan Province, south-west China. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence revealed that the isolate KLBMP 1050(T) belonged to the genus Nocardioides, with the highest sequence similarity to Nocardioides albus KCTC 9186(T) (99.38 %) and Nocardioides luteus KCTC 9575(T) (99.03 %). However, the DNA-DNA relatedness of isolate KLBMP 1050(T) to these two type strains were 37.5 ± 3.5 and 33 ± 2.3 %, respectively. Strain KLBMP 1050(T) grew at the pH range 6-11, temperature range 10-32 °C and with 0-12 % NaCl. The physiological properties of strain KLBMP 1050(T) differ from those of N. albus KCTC 9186(T) and N. luteus KCTC 9575(T). The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained LL: -diaminopimelic acid and MK-8(H(4)) was the major respiratory quinone. The predominant cellular fatty acid of strain KLBMP 1050(T) was iso-C(16:0) (23.3 %). The total DNA G+C content was 70.1 mol%. On the basis of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, strain KLBMP 1050(T) represents a novel species of the genus Nocardioides, for which the name Nocardioides panzhihuaensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KLBMP 1050(T) (= KCTC 19888(T) = NBRC 108680(T)).

Streptomyces phytohabitans sp. nov., a novel endophytic actinomycete isolated from medicinal plant Curcuma phaeocaulis.

A novel actinomycete, designated strain KLBMP 4601(T), was isolated from the root of the medicinal plant Curcuma phaeocaulis collected from Sichuan Province, south-west China. The strain produced extensively branched substrate and aerial hyphae that carried straight to flexuous spore chains. Chemotaxonomic properties of this strain were consistent with those of members of the genus Streptomyces. The cell wall of strain KLBMP 4601(T) contained LL-diaminopimelic acid as the characteristic diamino acid. The major menaquinone was MK-9(H(4)), with minor amounts of MK-9(H(6)), MK-9(H(8)) and MK-10(H(2)). The major fatty acids were C(16:0), iso-C(16:0), C(18:1)ω9c and C(16:1), iso G. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain KLBMP 4601(T) belongs to the genus Streptomyces and is most closely related to Streptomyces armeniacus JCM 3070(T) (97.9 %), Streptomyces pharmamarensis PM267(T) (97.6 %) and Streptomyces artemisiae YIM 63135(T) (97.5 %). The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain KLBMP 4601(T) and other members of this genus were lower than 97.5 %. DNA-DNA hybridization studies of strain KLBMP 4601(T) with the three closest species showed relatedness values of 36.3 ± 4.2 %, 27.3 ± 0.6 %, and 30.9 ± 2.5 %, respectively. On the basis of chemotaxonomic, phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, it is evident that strain KLBMP 4601(T) represents a novel species of the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces phytohabitans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is KLBMP 4601(T) (=KCTC 19892(T) = NBRC 108772(T)).

Liquiritin potentiate neurite outgrowth induced by nerve growth factor in PC12 cells.

Neurite outgrowth and neuronal differentiation play a crucial role in the development of the nervous system. Understanding of neurotrophins induced neurite outgrowth was important to develop therapeutic strategy for axon regeneration in neurodegenerative diseases as well as after various nerve injuries. It has been reported that extension of neurite and differentiation of sympathetic neuron-like phenotype was modulated by nerve growth factor (NGF) in PC12 cells. In this study, NGF mediated neurite outgrowth was investigated in PC12 cells after liquiritin exposure. Liquiritin is a kind of flavonoids that is extracted from Glycyrrhizae radix, which is frequently used to treat injury or swelling for its life-enhancing properties as well as detoxification in traditional Oriental medicine. The result showed that liquiritin significantly promotes the neurite outgrowth stimulated by NGF in PC12 cells in dose dependant manners whereas the liquiritin alone did not induce neurite outgrowth. Oligo microarray and RT-PCR analysis further clarified that the neurotrophic effect of liquiritin was related to the overexpression of neural related genes such as neurogenin 3, neurofibromatosis 1, notch gene homolog 2, neuromedin U receptor 2 and neurotrophin 5. Thus, liquiritin may be a good candidate for treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease.

[Neuroprotection and neurotrophism effects of liquiritin on primary cultured hippocampal cells].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the neuroprotective and neurotrophic effects ofliquiritin (LQ) on rats primary cultured hippocampal neuronal damage induced by Abeta25-35. METHOD: The rats hippocampal neuronal damage model by Abeta25-35 was established. The protective effects of LQ to the cells were observed through the MTU assay. The apoptosis of neurons was detected by flow cytometer and the concentration of intracellular calcium by fluorescence probe dying. LQ' s neurotrophic effects were observed through measuring the neurite outgrowth induced by LQ in primary cultured hippocampal neurons and the differentiation of LQ on hippocampal stem cells to cholinergic neurons was assayed by flow cytometry. RESULT: Treatment of the cells with 10 micromol x L(-1) Abeta25-35 could induce a significant decrease of cell viability, enhance the level of intracellular [Ca2+] and increase the percentage of apoptosis to 28%. However, pretreatment with LQ (0.1, 1, and 10 micromol x L(-1)) for 6 hours exhibited cytoprotective effects, inhibited the cells' s death induced by Abeta25-35, prevented the accumulation of [Ca2+], and decreased the apoptosis neurons significantly to 10%, 15% and 9%, which meaned that LQ could antagonize Abeta25-35 induced apoptosis. LQ together with NGF had a dramatic prolonged effect on the neurite of the primary cultured hippocampal neurons, which was blocked by a specific MAPK kinase inhibitor to some extent. In addition, LQ could induce the differentiation of hippocampal stem cells to cholinergic neurons in vitro. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that LQ has the neuroprotective capacity to cell damage iduced by Abeta25-35 in primary cultured hippocampal neurons, and also has the neurotrophic effects.

Madecassoside reduces ischemia-reperfusion injury on regional ischemia induced heart infarction in rat.

Madecassoside (MA), one of the principle terpenoids in Centella asiatica, has shown protect effect on isolated rat hearts and isolated cardiomyocytes against reperfusion injury in our previous studies. The aim of this study is to investigate if MA also protected against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in vivo. The ischemia infarction model was established in rats. Left ventricular function was monitored during the ischemia-reperfusion period by a multi-channel recorder. After the ischemia-reperfusion process the infarcted areas were assessed. The levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatinephosphokinase (CK), malondialdehyde (MDA), super-oxide dismutase (SOD) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in serum were determined. Cardiomyocytic apoptosis was measured by terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. Pre-treatment with MA (50, 10 mg/kg) attenuated myocardial damage characteristic of decreasing infarct size, decreasing LDH and CK release. Activities of SOD were increased and MDA level increased obviously in control group whereas pretreatment with MA blunted the decrease of SOD activity, markedly reduced the level of MDA and the activity of CRP, and relieved myocardial cell apoptosis. These results suggest that MA has the protective effect on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. This protection ability possibly due to its anti-lipid peroxidation, anti-inflammation and anti-apoptosis function and the enhancement of SOD activity.

[Protective effect of madecassoside against reperfusion injury after regional ischemia in rabbit heart in vivo].

This study is to investigate if madecassoside can protect against myocardial reperfusion injury in rabbit heart in vivo. The ischemia reperfusion model was established. Left ventricular function and ECG were monitored at the ischemia and reperfusion period. The infarct areas were expressed as percentage. The levels of LDH, CK, MDA and SOD were measured and C-reactive protein (CRP) in serum was measured by ELISA kit. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis were measured by TUNEL staining. A monoclonal rabbit anti-goat Bcl-2 proteins as primary antibody was used for Bcl-2 immunohistochemical staining. Treatment with madecassoside (3.2, 1.6 and 0.8 mg x kg(-1)) i.v. during ischemia reperfusion injury attenuated myocardial damage, that is, characteristic of decreasing infarct size, decreasing LDH and CK release. Activities of SOD were diminished and MDA level increased obviously in control group whereas pretreatment with madecassoside significantly blunted the decrease of SOD activity, markedly reduced the levels of MDA, CRP and cardiomyocyte apoptosis, and upregulated the expression of Bcl-2. Madecassoside has the protective effect against myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury, and effects of anti-lipid peroxidation, enhancement of SOD activity, anti-inflammation and anti-apoptosis.