[Network pharmacological analysis and experimental study of Pulsatilla chinensis against inflammatory injury caused by pneumonia in mice infected with influenza virus FM_1].

Network pharmacology and the mouse model of viral pneumonia caused by influenza virus FM_1 were employed to explore the main active components and the mechanism of Pulsatilla chinensis against the inflammatory injury of influenza virus-induced pneumonia. The components and targets of P. chinensis were searched from TCMSP, and the targets associated with influenza virus-induced pneumonia were searched from GeneCards. The common targets between P. chinensis and influenza virus-induced pneumonia were identified with Venn diagram established in Venny 2.1. The herb-component-disease-target(H-C-D-T) network was constructed by Cytoscape 3.7.2. The above data were imported into STRING for PPI network analysis. Gene Ontology(GO) enrichment and KEGG pathway enrichment were performed with DAVID. BALB/cAnN mice were infected with the influenza virus FM_1 by nasal drip to gene-rate the mouse model of pneumonia. Immunohistochemistry was adopted to the expression profiling of inflammatory cytokines in the lung tissues of mice in the blank group, model group, and P. chinensis group 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after infection. The pathological changes of lung and trachea of mice in blank group, model group, and P. chinensis group were observed with light microscope and scanning electron microscope at all the time points. The network pharmacological analysis indicated that 9 compounds of P. chinensis were screened out, with a total of 57 targets, 22 of which were overlapped with those of influenza virus-induced pneumonia. A total of 112 GO terms(P<0.05) were enriched, including 81 terms of biological processes, 11 terms of cell components, and 20 terms of molecular functions. A total of 53 KEGG signaling pathways(P<0.05) were enriched, including TNF signaling pathway, influenza A signaling pathway, NF-κB signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway and other signaling pathways related to influenza/inflammation. In the P. chinensis group, the expression of TNF-α and IL-1 in the lung tissue was down-regulated on the 3 rd day after infection, and that of IL-6 in the lung tissue was down-regulated on the 5 th day after infection. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed that P. chinensis significantly alleviated the pathological damage of lung and trachea compared with the model group. This study reflects the multi-components, multi-targets, and multi-pathways of P. chinensis against influenza virus-induced pneumonia. P. chinensis may reduce the production of proinflammatory cytokines and mediators and block the pro-inflammatory signaling pathways to alleviate viral pneumonia, which provides reference for future research.

[Application of numerical taxonomy in study of Dao-di herbs and their producing areas].

As a treasure of traditional Chinese medicine culture,Dao-di herbs are famous for their high quality and good effect.However,traditional characteristics of Dao-di herbs and their producing areas are mostly confined to qualitative description,lacking objective evaluation indicators. Numerical taxonomy,which uses mathematical methods to improve the research of taxonomy from qualitative description to quantitative comprehensive analysis,is objective and accurate,so is widely used in the field of biology and medicine.This paper reviews the concept and main research fields of numerical taxonomy,and summarizes its application status and development prospects in the study of Dao-di herbs and characteristics of production areas,in order to lay the foundation for the objectification and standardization of Dao-di herbs.

The regulatory mechanism of chilling-induced dormancy transition from endo-dormancy to non-dormancy in Polygonatum kingianum Coll.et Hemsl rhizome bud.

KEY MESSAGE: We identified three dormant stages of Polygonatum kingianum and changes that occurred during dormancy transition in the following aspects including cell wall and hormones, as well as interaction among them. Polygonatum kingianum Coll.et Hemsl (P. kingianum) is an important traditional Chinese medicine, but the mechanism of its rhizome bud dormancy has not yet been studied systematically. In this study, three dormancy phases were induced under controlled conditions, and changes occurring during the transition were examined, focusing on phytohormones and the cell wall. As revealed by HPLC-MS (High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) analysis, the endo- to non-dormancy transition was association with a reduced abscisic acid (ABA)/gibberellin (GA3) ratio, a decreased level of auxin (IAA) and an increased level of trans-zeatin (tZR). Transmission electron microscopy showed that plasmodesmata (PDs) and the cell wall of the bud underwent significant changes between endo- and eco-dormancy. A total of 95,462 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified based on transcriptomics, and clustering and principal component analysis confirmed the different physiological statuses of the three types of bud samples. Changes in the abundance of transcripts associated with IAA, cytokinins (CTKs), GA, ABA, brassinolide (BR), jasmonic acid (JA), ethylene, salicylic acid (SA), PDs and cell wall-loosening factors were analysed during the bud dormancy transition in P. kingianum. Furthermore, nitrilase 4 (NIT4) and tryptophan synthase alpha chain (TSA1), which are related to IAA synthesis, were identified as hub genes of the co-expression network, and strong interactions between hormones and cell wall-related factors were observed. This research will provide a good model for chilling-treated rhizome bud dormancy in P. kingianum and cultivation of this plant.

Low-level laser therapy attenuates LPS-induced rats mastitis by inhibiting polymorphonuclear neutrophil adhesion.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on a rat model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mastitis and its underlying molecular mechanisms. The rat model of mastitis was induced by inoculation of LPS through the canals of the mammary gland. The results showed that LPS-induced secretion of IL-1ß and IL-8 significantly decreased after LLLT (650 nm, 2.5 mW, 30 mW/cm(2)). LLLT also inhibited intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression and attenuated the LPS-induced decrease of the expression of CD62L and increase of the expression of CD11b. Moreover, LLLT also suppressed LPS-induced polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) entering the alveoli of the mammary gland. The number of PMNs in the mammary alveolus and the myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity were decreased after LLLT. These results suggested that LLLT therapy is beneficial in decreasing the somatic cell count and improving milk nutritional quality in cows with an intramammary infection.

Fabrication of a COF-5 membrane on a functionalized α-Al2O3 ceramic support using a microwave irradiation method.

A novel surface modification strategy was developed using 3-aminopropytriethoxysilane and 4-formylphenylboronic acid successively as covalent linkers between COF-5 and the porous α-Al2O3 ceramic support, and then the COF-5 membrane was further grown successfully on the modified α-Al2O3 support by using a microwave irradiation method.