The Application of Ethnomedicine in Modulating Megakaryocyte Differentiation and Platelet Counts.

Megakaryocytes (MKs), a kind of functional hematopoietic stem cell, form platelets to maintain platelet balance through cell differentiation and maturation. In recent years, the incidence of blood diseases such as thrombocytopenia has increased, but these diseases cannot be fundamentally solved. The platelets produced by MKs can treat thrombocytopenia-associated diseases in the body, and myeloid differentiation induced by MKs has the potential to improve myelosuppression and erythroleukemia. Currently, ethnomedicine is extensively used in the clinical treatment of blood diseases, and the recent literature has reported that many phytomedicines can improve the disease status through MK differentiation. This paper reviewed the effects of botanical drugs on megakaryocytic differentiation covering the period 1994-2022, and information was obtained from PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar. In conclusions, we summarized the role and molecular mechanism of many typical botanical drugs in promoting megakaryocyte differentiation in vivo, providing evidence as much as possible for botanical drugs treating thrombocytopenia and other related diseases in the future.

Sanguisorba officinalis L. suppresses non-small cell lung cancer via downregulating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway based on network pharmacology and experimental investigation.

Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer. Sanguisorba officinalis L. (SOL), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine called Diyu, has been shown to have potent antitumor effects. However, the role of SOL in suppressing NSCLC remains unknown. Methods: Network pharmacology was employed for acquiring the potential targets and mechanisms of SOL in NSCLC. Based on the predictions of network pharmacology, we used CCK8 and EdU assays to investigate cell proliferation, flow cytometry to investigate apoptosis, wound healing assay to investigate cell migration, and transwell assay to investigate cell invasion in vitro. Western blot was employed for detecting the potential proteins, including signaling pathways and apoptosis. The A549-bearing athymic nude mice were employed to verify the effect on cell proliferation and apoptosis in vivo. Results: SOL significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of NSCLC cells in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometry showed that the apoptotic ratio and ROS level of NSCLC cells increased significantly with increasing concentrations. AKT and the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway were analyzed as the most relevant target and pathway via network pharmacology predictions. Western blotting revealed that the expression levels of p-PI3K, p-AKT, and p-mTOR in NSCLC cells treated with SOL were significantly downregulated, while cleaved PARP-1 and caspase-3 were upregulated in a dose-dependent manner. The results in the mouse xenograft model were consistent with those in NSCLC cell lines. Conclusion: SOL downregulated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway to suppress NSCLC.

Rapid Profiling of Metabolites Combined with Network Pharmacology to Explore the Potential Mechanism of Sanguisorba officinalis L. against Thrombocytopenia.

Sanguisorba officinalis L. (SO), a well-known herbal medicine, has been proven to show effect against thrombocytopenia. However, metabolites of SO in vivo are still unclear, and the underlying mechanism of SO against thrombocytopenia from the aspect of metabolites have not been well elucidated. In this study, an improved analytical method combined with UHPLC-QTOF MS and a molecular network was developed for the rapid characterization of metabolites in vivo based on fragmentation patterns. Then, network pharmacology (NP) was used to elucidate the potential mechanism of SO against thrombocytopenia. As a result, a total of 1678 exogenous metabolites were detected in urine, feces, plasma, and bone marrow, in which 104 metabolites were tentatively characterized. These characterized metabolites that originated from plasma, urine, and feces were then imported to the NP analysis. The results showed that the metabolites from plasma, urine, and feces could be responsible for the pharmacological activity against thrombocytopenia by regulating the PI3K-Akt, MAPK, JAK-STAT, VEGF, chemokine, actin cytoskeleton, HIF-1, and pluripotency of stem cells. This study provides a rapid method for metabolite characterization and a new perspective of underlying mechanism study from the aspect of active metabolites in vivo.

A Novel Antithrombocytopenia Agent, Rhizoma cibotii, Promotes Megakaryopoiesis and Thrombopoiesis through the PI3K/AKT, MEK/ERK, and JAK2/STAT3 Signaling Pathways.

BACKGROUND: Cibotii rhizoma (CR) is a famous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) used to treat bleeding, rheumatism, lumbago, etc. However, its therapeutic effects and mechanism against thrombocytopenia are still unknown so far. In the study, we investigated the effects of aqueous extracts of Cibotii rhizoma (AECRs) against thrombocytopenia and its molecular mechanism. METHODS: Giemsa staining, phalloidin staining, and flow cytometry were performed to measure the effect of AECRs on the megakaryocyte differentiation in K562 and Meg-01 cells. A radiation-induced thrombocytopenia mouse model was constructed to assess the therapeutic actions of AECRs on thrombocytopenia. Network pharmacology and experimental verification were carried out to clarify its mechanism against thrombocytopenia. RESULTS: AECRs promoted megakaryocyte differentiation in K562 and Meg-01 cells and accelerated platelet recovery and megakaryopoiesis with no systemic toxicity in radiation-induced thrombocytopenia mice. The PI3K/AKT, MEK/ERK, and JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathways contributed to AECR-induced megakaryocyte differentiation. The suppression of the above signaling pathways by their inhibitors blocked AERC-induced megakaryocyte differentiation. CONCLUSIONS: AECRs can promote megakaryopoiesis and thrombopoiesis through activating PI3K/AKT, MEK/ERK, and JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathways, which has the potential to treat radiation-induced thrombocytopenia in the clinic.

The Efficacy of V. odorata Extract in the Treatment of Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Aim: This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to assess the effect of Viola odorata (V. odorata) extract in the treatment of insomnia. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases, as well as references of related articles, were searched. Finally, four articles with five clinical trials including 224 patients were included in the analysis. Results: The obtained results indicated a greater improvement in total PSQI scores (MD,-4.67; P = 0.0002), subjective sleep quality score (MD,-0.91; P = 0.003), sleep duration score (MD,-0.77; P < 0.00001), and ISI score (MD,-6.30; P = 0.009) in the Viola extract group compared with the placebo group. However, the Viola extract group did not significantly differ in sleep latency (MD,-0.85; P = 0.08), habitual sleep efficiency (MD,-0.61; P = 0.21), sleep disturbances (MD,-0.36; P = 0.11), and daytime dysfunction (MD,-0.94; P = 0.12) from the placebo group. Conclusions: Viola extract supplement led to a greater improvement in total PSQI scores, subjective sleep quality score, sleep duration score, and ISI score compared with the placebo group of patients with chronic insomnia.

Chinese Herbal Extracts Exert Neuroprotective Effect in Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Through the Dopaminergic Synapse/Apoptosis Signaling Pathway.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) as an age-related, irreversible neurodegenerative disease, characterized by cognitive dysfunction, has become progressively serious with a global rise in life expectancy. As the failure of drug elaboration, considerable research effort has been devoted to developing therapeutic strategies for treating AD. TCM is gaining attention as a potential treatment for AD. Gastrodia elata Blume, Polygala tenuifolia Willd., Cistanche deserticola Ma, Rehmannia lutinosa (Gaertn.)DC., Acorus gramineus Aiton, and Curcuma longa L. (GPCRAC) are all well-known Chinese herbs with neuroprotective benefits and are widely used in traditional Chinese decoction for AD therapy. However, the efficacy and further mechanisms of GPCRAC extracts in AD experimental models are still unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the synergistic protective efficacy of GPCRAC extracts (composed of extracts from these six Chinese medicines), and the protein targets mediated by GPCRAC extracts in treating AD. Methods: Scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment mouse model was established to determine the neuroprotective effects of GPCRAC extracts in vivo, as shown by behavioral tests and cerebral cholinergic function assays. To identify the potential molecular mechanism of GPCRAC extracts against AD, label-free quantitative proteomics coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were performed. The integrated bioinformatics analysis was applied to screen the core differentially expressed proteins in vital canonical pathways. Critical altered proteins were validated by qPCR and Western blotting. Results: Administration of GPCRAC extracts significantly recovered scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment, as evidenced by the improved learning and memory ability, increased Ach content and ChAT activity, as well as decreased AchE activity in the hippocampus of mice. In total, 390 proteins with fold-change>1.2 or <0.83 and p < 0.05 were identified as significant differentially expressed proteins, of which 110 were significantly up-regulated and 25 were significantly down-regulated between control and model group. By mapping the significantly regulated proteins, we identified five hub proteins: PPP2CA, Gsk3ß, PP3CC, PRKACA, and BCL-2 that were associated with dopaminergic synapse and apoptosis signaling pathway, respectively. Western blotting and QPCR demonstrate that the expression levels of these core proteins could be significantly improved by the administration of GPCRAC extracts. These pathways and some of the identified proteins are implicated in AD pathogenesis. Conclusion: Administration of GPCRAC extracts was effective on alleviating scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment, which might be through modulation of dopaminergic synapse and apoptosis signaling pathway. Consequently, our quantitative proteome data obtained from scopolamine-treated model mice successfully characterized AD-related biological alterations and proposed novel protein biomarkers for AD.

Xiao-Luo-Wan treats propylthiouracil-induced goiter with hypothyroidism in rats through the PI3K-AKT/RAS pathways based on UPLC/MS and network pharmacology.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Goiter with hypothyroidism occurs in several thyroid diseases. Xiao-Luo-Wan (XLW), which contains Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl., Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. and Ostrea gigas Thunberg, has been used as an effective Chinese medicine for the treatment of goiters in China for hundreds of years. Based on clinical observations and experimental studies, XLW also exerts a certain effect on hypothyroidism. However, the therapeutic mechanism of XLW remains unclear. AIM OF THE STUDY: The present study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of XLW on propylthiouracil (PTU)-induced goiter with hypothyroidism in rats and to uncover the underlying molecular mechanism using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS), network pharmacology, and molecular docking simulations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After successful modeling, the remaining rats were randomly divided into a model group, an Euthyrox group, an XLW group, and a control group. The corresponding drugs were given by gavage for four consecutive weeks. The growth status was monitored, the relative thyroid weight was calculated, and the total serum T3, T4, and TSH content were detected. Hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining was used to observe the pathological changes in the thyroid glands. The chemical components of the XLW were identified by UPLC/MS and the putative targets of XLW were predicted using multiple databases. We performed network pharmacology based on the intersection of goiter/hypothyroidism-related targets and XLW targets. Then, we performed KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, and key targets were further screened using protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Finally, molecular docking was used to predict the binding ability of XLW identified components and the key targets. RESULTS: XLW significantly increased the levels of T3 and T4, and reduced TSH, increased body weight, and decreased swollen thyroid glands in PTU-induced rats. XLW promoted the morphological recovery of thyroid follicles and epithelial cells. Twenty-one main chemical components of XLW were identified using UPLC/MS. 270 potential gene targets of XLW and 717 known targets of goiter/hypothyroidism disease were obtained by searching the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database (TCMSP), Swiss Target Prediction, and UniProt databases. A total of 83 KEGG pathways were enriched with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-protein kinase B (PI3K-AKT) and RAS signaling pathways. PPI analysis revealed nine key targets of kinase-protein kinase B (AKT) 1, interleukin (IL) 6, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), GTPase HRas (HRAS), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 9, and heat shock protein 90 alpha family class A member 1 (HSP90AA1). Molecular docking verified which drug components had good binding ability to key targets (all ≤5 kcal/mol). CONCLUSION: For PTU-induced goiter with hypothyroidism in rats, XLW improves thyroid function, reduces goiter, increases body weight, and promotes the recovery of thyroid follicles and epithelial cells. The underlying molecular mechanism suggests that XLW may regulate thyroid hormone signaling by regulating the PI3K-AKT, RAS, and other signaling pathways. This study provides a pharmacological and biological basis for using XLW to treat goiter with hypothyroidism.

Epimedium protects against dyszoospermia in mice with Pex3 knockout by exerting antioxidant effects and regulating the expression level of P16.

Oxidative stress (OS) is one of the primary factors leading to male infertility. Oral administration of antioxidants has thus far been found to significantly improve the quality of human sperm. Therefore, antioxidant treatment has become the consensus among international experts on male infertility. In this study, peroxisomal biogenesis factor 3 (Pex3)-knockout (KO, -/-) mice were used as a model to compare the efficacy of three types of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) granules (Epimedium [YYH], Cuscuta [TSZ], and Rhodiola [HJT]) for male reproductive function rescue. YYH was revealed to be the best and exerted a rescue effect on Pex3-/- mice with spermatogenesis defects. In addition, YYH prominently reduced ROS levels in the testes, inhibited DNA oxidative damage in spermatogenic cells, promoted the proliferation of spermatogenic cells, and inhibited apoptosis in Pex3-/- male mice. Furthermore, the mechanism by which YYH ameliorated dyszoospermia was confirmed via the establishment of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2 A (P16Ink4a)-KO mice. Specifically, Pex3-/- mice produced elevated amounts of ROS, which damaged germ cell DNA and further activated the signaling pathway of the cell senescence regulatory protein P16-CDK6, resulting in cell cycle arrest and eventually contributing to spermatogenesis dysfunction. YYH supplementation partially corrected the associated phenotype in gene KO mice by affecting P16 expression levels, thus improving the reproductive outcome to a certain extent.

Dioscin and diosgenin: Insights into their potential protective effects in cardiac diseases.

BACKGROUND AND ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Dioscin and diosgenin derived from plants of the genus Dioscoreaceae such as D. nipponica and D. panthaica Prain et Burk. Were utilized as the main active ingredients of traditional herbal medicinal products for coronary heart disease in the former Soviet Union and China since 1960s. A growing number of research showed that dioscin and diosgenin have a wide range of pharmacological activities in heart diseases. AIM OF THE STUDY: To summarize the evidence of the effectiveness of dioscin and diosgenin in cardiac diseases, and to provide a basis and reference for future research into their clinical applications and drug development in the field of cardiac disease. METHODS: Literatures in this review were searched in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science. All eligible studies are analyzed and summarized in this review. RESULTS: The pharmacological activities and therapeutic potentials of dioscin and diosgenin in cardiac diseases are similar, can effectively improve hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, myocardial I/R injury and cardiotoxicity caused by doxorubicin. But the bioavailability of dioscin and diosgenin may be too low as a result of poor absorption and slow metabolism, which hinders their development and utilization. CONCLUSION: Dioscin and diosgenin need further in-depth experimental research, clinical transformation and structural modification or research of new preparations before they can be expected to be developed into new therapeutic drugs in the field of cardiac disease.

Long-term cover crops improved soil phosphorus availability in a rain-fed apple orchard.

The objective of this present study was to understand the distribution patterns of various forms of soil phosphorus (P) and the biotic and abiotic factors affecting the soil P fractions under long-term cover crops. Here, we investigated the characteristics of soil P forms, community structure of P-solubilizing bacteria (using 16S rRNA) and the related enzyme activity under clean tillage (CT), 14 years of white clover (WC, Trifolium repens L.) and orchard grass (OG, Dactylis glomerata L.) cover crops in a rain-fed apple orchard on the Weibei Loess Plateau, China. Relative to CT treatment, long-term cover crops enhanced the bioavailability of soil P by increasing the contents of total phosphorus (TP), microbial phosphorus (MBP), organic phosphorus (Po) and certain forms of inorganic phosphorus (e.g. Al-P, Ca2-P, Ca8-P and Fe-P) in the surface soil, in addition, WC treatment also increase the available P (AP) contents in the topsoil. A redundant analysis (RDA) showed that soil organic matter (SOM), NH4+-N and pH were the key environmental factors affecting the morphological changes of soil P. In addition, the effects of long-term cover crops on soil P forms were mainly concentrated in the topsoil, and the WC treatment had a greater impact on soil P composition than the OG treatment. Interestingly, long-term cover crops effectively increased the abundances of P-solubilizing bacteria, such as Streptomyces, Sphingomonas, Nocardioides and Haliangium, and enhanced the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. Overall, long-term cover crops were an effective strategy to activate soil P as they improve the soil environment.

Eucommia, Cuscuta, and Drynaria Extracts Ameliorate Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis by Inhibiting Osteoclastogenesis Through PI3K/Akt Pathway.

Osteoporosis is one of the most common diseases in the world which resulted in heavy socioeconomic burden and a public health threat. Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO) is the most common secondary reason of osteoporosis. Therapeutic strategies using traditional Chinese medicine are under investigation for osteoporosis, with efforts to improve efficacy and clarify the mechanism. The combination of Eucommia, Cuscuta, and Drynaria is widely used in traditional Chinese decoction for osteoporosis treatment, but the experimental efficacy and mechanism are still unclear. Administration of E.C.D. extracts (Eucommia, Cuscuta, and Drynaria) in experimental GIO rats resulted in decreased urinal calcium, phosphorus loss, and decreased expression of RANKL, CTX in serum, increased serum calcium, phosphorus, and OPG level. E.C.D. extracts also improved bone density, structural integrity, and biomechanical function in experimental GIO rats. These finding were associated with E.C.D. extracts' treatment efficacy to GIO in vivo. The balance between osteoclast and osteoblast activity is essential for bone remodeling and bone related disease. The E.C.D. extracts inhibited Raw 264.7 cell differentiation to osteoclast in vitro. On the other hand, it promoted OPG expression of bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) which can suppress the osteoclast genesis. E.C.D. extracts also increased the Wnt1 and Runx2 expression which are related to osteoblast formation. It also regulated the paracrine effect of MSC to inhibit osteoclast differentiation. The analysis of HPLC and comprehensive pharmacology identified the constituents of E.C.D. extracts and the potential osteoporosis-related targets mediated by E.C.D. extracts. The KEGG enrichment analysis suggested that PI3K/Akt pathway may be involved in the regulation osteoclast genesis by E.C.D. extracts and the result of Western blot of vitro assays proved it. Collectively, these data demonstrate E.C.D. extracts can inhibit osteoclast differentiation to foster experimental osteoporosis both in vivo and in vitro and it may exert the function of inhibiting osteoclast differentiation through PI3K/Akt pathway.

Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Eight Traditional Chinese Medicine Combined with Entecavir in the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B Liver Fibrosis in Adults: A Network Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is used as an adjuvant drug for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B liver fibrosis and is used frequently. We still do not know which TCM has the best curative effect as an adjuvant drug. Therefore, we decided to use network meta-analysis to solve this problem. METHODS: We used the RevMan software (5.3) and Stata software (13.0) to achieve this network meta-analysis (NMA). The primary outcomes of this study were HA, LN, PCIII, and IV-C; the secondary outcomes of this study were AST, ALT, and HBV-DNA negative conversion rate, and the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used to assess the quality of the included studies. For all outcomes, the scissors funnel plot, Egger test, and Begg test were used to detect publication bias, and sensitivity analysis was used to investigate the stability of the results. And the meta-regression was used to explore the source of heterogeneity. RESULTS: A total of 34 articles were included in this study. The study involved a total of 3199 patients, of which 1578 were assigned to the control group and 1621 patients were assigned to the experimental group. The number of men and women is roughly equal, and the average age is about 43 years old. In addition, nine treatment strategies were involved in this study. The combination of TCM and entecavir can significantly improve the patients' HA, LN, PCIII, IV-C, AST, ALT, and HBV-DNA negative conversion rates. The comprehensive evaluation results showed that FHC combined with entecavir has more advantages than other treatment strategies. CONCLUSION: For improving the HBV-DNA negative conversion rates, adding TCM to the therapeutic strategies does not seem to show absolute superiority. Finally, FHC combined with entecavir is the best therapeutic strategy.

Determination of Ferulic Acid in Angelica sinensis by Temperature-Controlled Hydrophobic Ionic Liquids-Based Ultrasound/Heating-Assisted Extraction Coupled with High Performance Liquid Chromatography.

Hydrophilic ionic liquids are often used to extract the active ingredients of medicinal plants, while hydrophobic ionic liquids are rarely used to directly extract solid samples. In this paper, a simple, novel and efficient temperature-controlled hydrophobic ionic liquids-based ultrasound/heating-assisted extraction (TC-ILs-UHAE) procedure coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed and applied to the determination of ferulic acid (FA) in Chinese herbal medicine Angelica sinensis. During the extraction procedure, hydrophobic ionic liquids (ILs) were dispersed into water to form cloudy solution (fine droplets) with the aid of ultrasound and heating simultaneous. After extraction, phase separation was easily achieved by centrifuging at 0 °C. Among all ILs used, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide ([C4mim]NTf2) exhibited the highest extraction ability and the possible extraction mechanism was discussed. Additionally, the synergistic effect of heating and ultrasound on the extraction efficiency was investigated. Under the optimized conditions, a good linearity was observed with correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9995. The limit of detection of FA (LOD, S/N = 3) was 9.6 µg/L and the spiked recoveries of FA for real samples were in the range of 91.67 to 102.00% with relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 3.87%. Compared with the traditional extraction methods, the proposed method gave the highest yield of FA and had the shortest extraction time. Therefore, this method is a potential simple, green and highly efficient technique and expected to be applied to the extraction of other bioactive ingredients in medicinal plants.

Voltage-Controlled Magnetoresistance in Silicon Nanowire Transistors.

Magneto-electronic logic is an innovative approach to performing high-efficiency computations. Additionally, the ultra-large scale integration requirement for computation strongly suggests exploiting magnetoresistance effects in non-magnetic semiconductor materials. Here, we demonstrate the magnetoresistance effect in a silicon nanowire field effect transistor (SNWT) fabricated by complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible technology. Our experimental results show that the sign and the magnitude of the magnetoresistance in SNWTs can be effectively controlled by the drain-source voltage and the gate-source voltage, respectively, playing the role of a multi-terminal tunable magnetoresistance device. Various current models are established and in good agreement with the experimental results that describe the impact of electrical voltage and magnetic field on magnetoresistance, which provides design feasibility for the high-density magneto-electronic circuit. Such findings will further pave the way for nanoscale silicon-based magneto-electronics logic devices and show a possible path beyond the developmental limits of CMOS logic.

Effects of dietary dandelion extract on intestinal morphology, antioxidant status, immune function and physical barrier function of juvenile golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus.

Intestinal morphology, antioxidant status, immune function and tight junction proteins mRNA expression were examined in golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) that fed respectively six diets containing dandelion extracts (DE) at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 10 g kg-1 after 8 weeks feeding. The study indicated that dietary DE significantly improved intestinal antioxidant abilities by increasing SOD, CAT, T-AOC activities and up-regulating intestinal cat, gpx mRNA levels, but by decreasing MDA content and down-regulating intestinal keap1 mRNA levels in golden pompano. Meanwhile, dietary DE improved intestinal morphology, suggesting that enhances intestinal digestion and absorption, by increasing muscle thickness, villus length, villus width and villus number in the foregut and hindgut; as well as villus number, villus width and muscle thickness in the midgut (P < .05). Dietary DE enhanced intestinal barrier function by increasing intestinal zo-1 and occludin mRNA levels, but by decreasing the mRNA levels of claudin-12 and claudin-15. Furthermore, dietary DE improved intestinal immunity via increasing goblet cells numbers and regulating expression of immune-related genes. In conclusion, dietary DE supplementation promoted intestine health by improving intestine morphology, immunity, antioxidant abilities and intestinal barrier in golden pompano.

Differential Gene Expression between Leaf and Rhizome in Atractylodes lancea: A Comparative Transcriptome Analysis.

The rhizome of Atractylodes lancea is extensively used in the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine because of its broad pharmacological activities. This study was designed to characterize the transcriptome profiling of the rhizome and leaf of Atractylodes lancea in an attempt to uncover the molecular mechanisms regulating rhizome formation and growth. Over 270 million clean reads were assembled into 92,366 unigenes, 58% of which are homologous with sequences in public protein databases (NR, Swiss-Prot, GO, and KEGG). Analysis of expression levels showed that genes involved in photosynthesis, stress response, and translation were the most abundant transcripts in the leaf, while transcripts involved in stress response, transcription regulation, translation, and metabolism were dominant in the rhizome. Tissue-specific gene analysis identified distinct gene families active in the leaf and rhizome. Differential gene expression analysis revealed a clear difference in gene expression pattern, identifying 1518 up-regulated genes and 3464 down-regulated genes in the rhizome compared with the leaf, including a series of genes related to signal transduction, primary and secondary metabolism. Transcription factor (TF) analysis identified 42 TF families, with 67 and 60 TFs up-regulated in the rhizome and leaf, respectively. A total of 104 unigenes were identified as candidates for regulating rhizome formation and development. These data offer an overview of the gene expression pattern of the rhizome and leaf and provide essential information for future studies on the molecular mechanisms of controlling rhizome formation and growth. The extensive transcriptome data generated in this study will be a valuable resource for further functional genomics studies of A. lancea.

Heterogeneous photo-Fenton decolorization of Orange II over Al-pillared Fe-smectite: response surface approach, degradation pathway, and toxicity evaluation.

A ferric smectite clay material was synthesized and further intercalated with Al2O3 pillars for the first time with the aim of evaluating its ability to be used as heterogeneous catalyst for the photo-Fenton decolorization of azo dye Orange II. UV irradiation was found to enhance the activity of the catalyst in the heterogeneous photo-Fenton process. Catalyst loading of 0.5g/L and hydrogen peroxide concentration of 13.5mM yielded a remarkable color removal, accompanied by excellent catalyst stability. The decolorization of Orange II followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics for initial dye concentrations from 20 to 160mg/L. The central composite design (CCD) based on the response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to evaluate the effects of several operating parameters, namely initial pH, catalyst loading and hydrogen peroxide concentration, on the decolorization efficiency. The RSM model was derived and the response surface plots were developed based on the results. Moreover, the main intermediate products were separated and identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and a possible degradation pathway was proposed accordingly. The acute toxicity experiments illustrated that the Daphniamagna immobilization rate continuously decreased during 150min reaction, indicating that the effluent was suitable for sequential biological treatment.