[Gallnut and its identification as a herb in traditional Chinese medicine].

Gallnut (Mo Shi Zi), as one of the herbs popularly used in traditional Chinese medicine, came into China from Persia in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Gallnut was translated into different names from Persian into Chinese. This study attempted to identify its names, sources and nature by starting with Mo Shi Zi () and comparing with its relevant names Mo Shi Zi(),Ba Lv Zi () and Wu Bei Zi (). It was found that'', meaning black, in Mo Shi Zi () did not make sense because it neither matched the pronunciation in translation nor interpreted the medical meaning of Mo Shi Zi (). Mo Shi Zi () and Ba Lv Zi() were the same herb in traditional Chinese medicine. In Greek and Arabic classic books, Bullut referred to oak groups and their galls, but not Ba Lv Zi (). Ba Lv Zi () in these books referred to Omphacitis. Mo Shi Zi () referred to insect galls in the family of Quercus infectoriain Xi Yao Da Cheng, a book from overseas, and Wu Bei Zi ()appeared in the annotated text of Mo Shi Zi () as a similar herb. It was found that in traditional Chinese medicine, Mo Shi Zi () and Wu Bei Zi( ) were two different herbs, but could be interchanged in their medical nature.

A novel method for the evaluation of virus-induced gene silencing efficiency.

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is an important tool for studying gene function. However, a number of factors highly restrict the application of VIGS, such as unstable efficiency and tissue-specific silencing. We developed a novel evaluation method for improving the applicability of VIGS vectors. In this method, 4 indexes were defined and utilized to evaluate VIGS efficiency by silencing the endogenous phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene with a tobacco rattle virus-based VIGS vector. To illustrate the reliability of this evaluation method, we assessed the silencing efficiency of SpPDS and SpMPK1 in Solanum pimpinellifolium. The silencing results of SpPDS showed that an optical density at 600 nm of 2.0 was more suitable than 1.0 for VIGS in S. pimpinellifolium. This suggests that the proposed evaluation method is a valid technique for optimizing the VIGS system of plants. Moreover, the SpMPK1 gene was highly silenced in the 4th-9th leaves with a 50-95% reduction in transcription levels, further demonstrating that this method can be used to select highly silenced candidates for further experiments, particularly when the target gene shows no phenotypic change after being silenced.

Effects of the consumption of rice from non-KBD areas and selenium supplementation on the prevention and treatment of paediatric Kaschin-Beck disease: an epidemiological intervention trial in the Qinghai Province.

OBJECTIVE: Based on the aetiological hypothesis of Kaschin-Beck disease (KBD), different interventions were adopted, and the preventive and therapeutic effects of interventions was observed and evaluated in this trial. DESIGN: A total of 358 children from seven villages of Qinghai Province in China were examined, and 280 children aged 6-11 years old were eligible for the trial. The children were divided into three groups that received either no intervention (n = 64), 150 kg/person of rice from non-KBD areas (n = 103) or 7 kg/family of selenium-iodine salt (n = 113) for 12 months. Data were collected and used to calculate the proportion of patients with X-ray lesions, the proportion of new patients and the metaphyseal repair rate. All indicators were analysed with Pearson chi-square or Fisher's exact tests. The registration number of this trial is ChiCTR-PNRC-12002309 (http://www.chictr.org). RESULTS: After interventions, the proportion of patients with X-ray lesions increased dramatically in the control group and decreased significantly in two intervention groups; significant differences were seen between the control group and two intervention groups (P < 0.05). Moreover, significant differences were observed in the proportions of new patients and the metaphyseal repair rates between the control group and two intervention groups (P < 0.05). Additionally, the proportion of new patients was lowest and the metaphyseal repair rate was highest in group B. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of eating rice from non-KBD areas and selenium supplementation on the prevention and treatment of paediatric KBD were notable, the consumption of rice might be the most effective and safest intervention and should be encouraged.

Preparative separation of lithospermic acid B from Salvia miltiorrhiza by polyamide resin and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography.

Adsorption on polyamide resin was investigated as a means of separating lithospermic acid B (LAB) from a crude extract of the roots of the traditional Chinese medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge ("Danshen"). Variables affecting adsorption capacity (solution pH, contact time on resin, initial LAB concentration) were studied. Adsorption was strongly dependent upon the initial concentration of LAB and pH. In all conditions, the polyamide resin gave optimal adsorption of LAB at an initial concentration of 2.66 mg/mL and pH <3.0. The adsorption isotherm correlated well with the Langmuir-type adsorption isotherm. Maximal adsorption capacity was calculated to be 380 mg/g at pH 2.0 and 25°C. LAB purity of 85.30% could be obtained by polyamide resin adsorption followed by elution with 70% ethanol solution, and the recovery was 87.1%. After preparative HPLC, the maximum HPLC purity obtained was 99.28% with a recovery of 75.2%. This method provides an efficient and low-cost method for LAB purification for industrial applications.

Influence of temperature on the ontogenetic expression of neural development-related genes from developing tilapia brain expressed sequence tags.

The developing central neural circuits in teleosts are genetically controlled and temperature-initiated. We compiled a list of transcripts expressed in the developing tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) brain using expressed sequence tags derived from the developing brain, and investigated genes with thermosensitive ontogenetic expression. Of 1084 clones, 893 were unique genes, 445 of which were known. Fourteen of the latter were neural development-related, and the ontogenetic expression of nine was temperature-influenced. Discs large homolog 5, myelin expression factor 2, plasticity-related protein-2, tsc2 gene product-related genes, and an inhibitor of differentiation protein 2 (Id2) were differentially temperature-influenced according to their developmental stages. Endothelial differentiation-related factor 1, midkine-related growth factor b, and mitogen-activated protein kinase 14b were specifically influenced by elevated temperature, and beta-catenin-like isoform 1 by lower temperature. Neural development-related genes, particularly those with thermosensitive ontogenetic expression, might be important for developing central neural circuits in teleosts.

Pilot study of a specific dietary supplement in tumor-bearing mice and in stage IIIB and IV non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Previously, a specific dietary supplement, selected vegetables (SV), was found to be associated with prolonged survival of stage III and IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. In this study, several anticancer components in SV were measured; the anticancer activity of SV was assessed using a lung tumor model, line 1 in BALB/c mice. SV was also used in conjunction with conventional therapies by stage IIIB and IV NSCLC patients whose survival and clinical responses were evaluated. A daily portion (283 g) of SV was found to contain 63 mg of inositol hexaphosphate, 4.4 mg of daidzein, 2.6 mg of genistein, and 16 mg of coumestrol. Mouse food containing 5% SV (wt/wt) was associated with a 53-74% inhibition of tumor growth rate. Fourteen of the 18 patients who ingested SV daily for 2-46 months were included in the analyses; none showed evidence of toxicity. The first lead case remained tumor free for > 133 months; the second case showed complete regression of multiple brain lesions after using SV and radiotherapy. The median survival time of the remaining 12 patients was 33.5 months, and one-year survival was > 70%. The median survival time of the 16 "intent-to-treat" patients (including ineligible patients) was 20 months, and one-year survival was 55%. The Karnofsky performance status of eligible patients was 55 +/- 13 at entry but improved to 92 +/- 9 after use of SV for five months or longer (p < 0.01). Five patients had stable lesions for 30, 30, 20, 12, and 2 months; two of them, whose primary tumor was resected, used SV alone and demonstrated an objective response of their metastatic tumors. In addition to the two lead cases, eight patients had no new metastases after using SV. Three patients had complete regression of brain metastases after using radiotherapy and SV. In this study, daily ingestion of SV was associated with objective responses, prolonged survival, and attenuation of the normal pattern of progression of stage IIIB and IV NSCLC. A large randomized phase III clinical trial is needed to confirm the results observed in this pilot study.

A novel rat 523 amino acid phosphophoryn: nucleotide sequence and genomic organization.

Phosphophoryns (PP), the major noncollagenous proteins (NCPs) in dentin, are believed to play a crucial role in mineral nucleation and hydroxyapatite growth during dentin mineralization. Previously we identified two mature rat PP transcripts, one coding for a 240 amino acid protein (designated as PP(240)) (H.H. Ritchie, L.-H. Wang, J. Biol. Chem. 271 (1996) 21695-21698), and another coding for a 171 amino acid protein (PP(171)) (H. Ritchie, L. Wang, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1493 (2000) 27-32). We now have identified a third novel dentin sialoprotein (DSP)-PP cDNA transcript that encodes a 523 amino acid protein (PP(523)) with typical PP characteristics including DSS and DS motifs suitable as potential casein kinase I and II phosphorylation sites. Based on amino acid composition, the PP(523) protein product is identical to native rat HP2. We also show that the PP(523) sequence is identical to the corresponding genomic DNA sequence. Taken together, the existence of multiple DSP-PP transcripts, each significantly different from the other in net negative charge, suggests that dentin mineralization processes may be under fine-tune control by these PP protein isoforms.

Quenching quorum-sensing-dependent bacterial infection by an N-acyl homoserine lactonase.

Bacterial cells sense their population density through a sophisticated cell-cell communication system and trigger expression of particular genes when the density reaches a threshold. This type of gene regulation, which controls diverse biological functions including virulence, is known as quorum sensing. Quorum-sensing signals, such as acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), are the essential components of the communication system. AHLs regulate virulence gene expression in a range of plant and animal (including human) bacterial pathogens. AHL-producing tobacco restored the pathogenicity of an AHL-negative mutant of Erwinia carotovora. Different bacterial species may produce different AHLs, which vary in the length and substitution of the acyl chain but contain the same homoserine lactone moiety. Here we show that the acyl-homoserine lactonase (AHL-lactonase), a new enzyme from Bacillus sp., inactivates AHL activity by hydrolysing the lactone bond of AHLs. Plants expressing AHL-lactonase quenched pathogen quorum-sensing signalling and showed significantly enhanced resistance to E. carotovora infection. Our results highlight a promising potential to use quorum-sensing signals as molecular targets for disease control, thereby broadening current approaches for prevention of bacterial infections.

[Systemic breeding of the new variety of Biantiao ginseng (Panax ginseng)].

OBJECTIVE: To breed new varieties of Biantiao ginseng for high yield and fine quality. METHODS: Systemic breeding methods were applied. About 3,000 outstanding Biantiao ginseng roots were selected and planted in breeding field, and self-crossed for four generations. During the course, inferior lines or plants were rejected. Then strain comparison, identification of resistance to black-speck disease, and analysis of active compositions were carried out. RESULTS: "Biantiao 1" (BT1), the first new variety of Biantiao ginseng, with green stems and thick, long, elegant roots and median resistance to black-speck disease, has been harvested since 20 years. The percentage of Biantiao ginseng roots and yield were 15% and 30% higher than the control's respectively. The content of total ginsenosides and the main monomers was 1.8%-2.5% higher than the control's. The characteristics of overground part and root of BT1 were uniform and stable. CONCLUSIONS: BT1, a new excellent ginseng variety, has a good potential value to be generalized in ginseng production.

Dissemination of two methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones exhibiting negative staphylase reactions in intensive care units.

From December 1997 to March 1998, 25 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates exhibiting negative Staphylase (Oxoid Ltd., Basingstoke, England) reactions were identified from various clinical specimens from 13 patients in six intensive care units (ICUs) or in wards following a stay in an ICU at the National Taiwan University Hospital. The characteristics of these isolates have not been previously noted in other MRSA isolates from this hospital. Colonies of all these isolates were grown on Trypticase soy agar supplemented with 5% sheep blood and were nonhemolytic and unpigmented. Seven isolates, initially reported as Staphylococcus haemolyticus (5 isolates) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (2 isolates) by the routine identification scheme and with the Vitek GPI system (bioMerieux Vitek, Inc., Hazelwood, Mo.), were subsequently identified as S. aureus by positive tube coagulase tests, standard biochemical reactions, and characteristic cellular fatty acid chromatograms. The antibiotypes obtained by the E test, coagulase types, restriction fragment length polymorphism profiles of the staphylococcal coagulase gene, and random amplified polymorphic DNA patterns generated by arbitrarily primed PCR of the isolates disclosed that two major clones disseminated in the ICUs. Clone 1 (16 isolates) was resistant to clindamycin and was susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ) and was coagulase type II. Clone 2 (eight isolates) was resistant to clindamycin and TMP-SMZ and was coagulase type IV. These two epidemic clones from ICUs are unique and underline the need for caution in identifying MRSA strains with colonial morphologies not of the typical type and with negative Staphylase reactions.

Six decades of dentinogenesis research. Historical and prospective views on phosphophoryn and dentin sialoprotein.

The molecular basis underlying the mineralization process associated with the conversion of predentin to dentin is poorly understood. What is clear is that a unique set of non-collagenous proteins (NCPs) participate in the nucleation process and in hydroxyapatite growth during dentin formation. Phosphophoryn (PP), the most abundant NCP in dentin, is secreted by odontoblasts and appears at the mineralization front. Dentin sialoprotein (DSP), another NCP, also appears at the mineralization front, but only accounts for 5-8% of the weight of dentin NCPs. Functionally, PP is believed to be directly involved in tile nucleation process by virtue of its ability to bind to collagen type I, and its high affinity for calcium ions. Based on the analysis of the putative rat PP amino acid sequence, this latter activity is believed due to the highly phosphorylated character of PP, which results from the dual actions of casein kinases I and II at selected domains within PP. The precise role of DSP is currently unknown. In situ studies demonstrate that DSP is substantially expressed in odontoblasts and transiently expressed in preameloblasts. However, no information is currently available to directly explain DSP's role in mineralization. Genetically, we and others have now identified a novel DSP-PP bicistronic mammalian transcriptional unit, suggesting that the functional roles of these two NCPs may also be tightly coupled with respect to dentinogenesis. Certainly, further exciting studies are now needed to explain how this DSP-PP transcriptional unit is finally expressed: whether DSP and PP associate with one another, or with collagen at the mineralization front: and how selective mutations in either gene may influence dentin mineralization.

Effects of estradiol on the serotonin secretion and turnover in the hypothalamus of male tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, in vitro.

The effects of estradiol on the secretion and turnover of serotonin in the hypothalamic fragments of male tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, were studied using a static incubation system. The quantitative analysis of serotonin and its related metabolite, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, were performed by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The hypothalamic fragments were incubated with 17 beta-estradiol at a concentration of 2 x 10(-8), 8 x 10(-8), 2 x 10(-7), 4 x 10(-7), or 4 x 10(-6) g/ml. The low dose of estradiol, 2 x 10(-8) g/ml, had no effect on the concentration of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid or serotonin turnover in the hypothalamic incubation media. The moderate doses of estradiol 8 x 10(-8) and 2 x 10(-7) g/ml, increased the concentrations of serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the hypothalamic incubation media, but had no effect on the serotonin turnover. The high doses of estradiol, 4 x 10(-7) and 4 x 10(-6) g/ml, did not alter the serotonin concentration in the hypothalamic incubation media, but increased the 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentration and serotonin turnover. These results demonstrate that the moderate dose of estradiol increases the serotonin activity by increasing the serotonin concentration, whereas the high dose of estradiol increases the serotonin activity by increasing the ratio of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and serotonin. However, the serotonin concentration is homeostatically maintained in the extracellular fluid of hypothalamus under the high dose of E2 treatment.

A mammalian bicistronic transcript encoding two dentin-specific proteins.

We previously reported that the cDNA for dentin phosphophoryn, a non-collagenous protein involved in dentin mineralization, was located immediately downstream from the 3' end of dentin sialoprotein, another functionally related non-collagenous dentin protein (Ritchie, H. H., and Wang, L-H. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 3689-3702). We now demonstrate unequivocally that at the genomic level in mammal, these two functionally related proteins are indeed transcribed as one transcriptional unit suggesting that their combined presence at specific mineralization sites in tooth germ is mandatory if dentin mineralization is to proceed.

Sequence determination of an extremely acidic rat dentin phosphoprotein.

The mineralization process associated with the conversion of predentin to dentin is believed to be initiated and controlled by a set of acidic regulatory noncollagenous proteins (NCPs) which include phosphophoryn, the major NCP in dentin. Phosphophoryn binds tightly to collagen and is believed to initiate the formation of apatite crystals which play a central role in the mineralization process. During the process of analyzing the 3' end of an odontoblast-specific cDNA which codes for dentin sialoprotein (Ritchie, H. H., Hou, H., Veis, A., and Butler, W. T. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 3698-3702), we discovered a 801-base pair open reading frame. This downstream open reading frame encodes a putative leader sequence and a very acidic mature protein sequence having a deduced amino acid composition containing high percentages of both Ser (43%) and Asp (31%) residues which closely coincides with the amino acid composition of phosphophoryns from human, bovine, rat, and rabbit (i. e. Asp (30-40%) and Ser (38-50%)). This newly identified cDNA therefore encodes a protein with characteristics similar to phosphophoryn. Here we present the cDNA sequence, the deduced amino acid sequence, and the prospective Ser residue-specific casein kinase I and II phosphorylation sites for this putative phosphophoryn.

[Effect of tetramethylpyrazine on expression of collagen genes in primary cultured smooth muscle cells in rats].

For the purpose of studying the mechanism of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) to prevent the restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and promote blood circulation to remove stasis. 40 micrograms of TMP was used to treat cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMs). The total RNA was extracted from treated VSMC. The RNA Northern blot hybridization with procollagen genes alpha i-I and alpha 1-III probes was used to investigate its change in mRNA level. The results indicated that TMP could inhibit significantly the transcription of procollagen genes alpha 1-I and alpha 1-III.

[Clinical and experimental studies on tiaoshen liquor for infantile hyperkinetic syndrome].

One hundred children with hyperkinetic syndrome were treated by using Tiaoshen Liquor (TL) consisted of Chinese herbal drugs. After the treatment, the behavior grading lowered greatly, their attention was improved, and their academic records raised. The total effective rate reached 94%. The results of the animal experiments showed that TL could reduce the spontaneous activities of the healthy mice, thus lowering remarkably the spontaneous activities in the mice with hyperkinetic behavior caused by taking scopolamine; reinforce the learning memory in the healthy mice; and improve in different degrees the learning memory of the mice with dysmnesia caused by administering scopolamine, sodium nitrite and alcohol respectively, which indicate that the therapeutic mechanism of TL for this syndrome was probably related to the improvement of information transfer function of the cholinergic neuron synapses of central nervous system and to the enhancement of hypoxia tolerence of the cerebral tissues.

[Antagonistic effect of electro-acupuncture analgesia with Ca2+ injection into habenula could be reversed by gallamine triethiodide].

.1 mol/L CaCl2 0.5 microliters, 0.06 mol/L ACh 0.5 microliters, 5.4 x 10(-3) mol/L gallamine triethiodide (cholinergic nicotinic receptor blocker) 0.5 microliter and 14.4 x 10(-3) mol/L atropine (cholinergic muscarinic receptor blocker) 0.5 microliter were injected through bilateral intracranial cannulae in rat habenula. Pain threshold was measured by the latency of tail-flick reflex elicited by radiant heat exposure before and after intracerebral injection. CaCl2 significantly reduced the basic pain threshold and weakened the effect of the acupuncture analgesia. ACh apparently antagonized the effect of acupuncture analgesia. Gallamine triethiodide could recover the pain threshold almost to the raised level by acupuncture, but atropine only strengthened the effect on pain threshold weakly and briefly. The results suggest that the antagonistic effect of Ca2+ may be mediated via ACh in habenula.

[Inhibitory effects of Chinese medicines on SOS responses in E. coli and their mechanism].

Sixty kinds of commonly used Chinese medicines have been examined for their ability to depress the release of Lambda phage from lysogenic strain in the inductest. 11 Chinese medicines showed an inhibitory effects. Among them, Codonopsis radix, Polygonatum radix and fractus Lycium were strong depressors. They also showed an inhibitory effect on SOS response in SOS chromotest with a dose-effect response. These medicines were also found to decrease the frequency of gene conversion in S. cerevisiae in the presence of hydroxyurea. The effective compound (s) of Polygonatum radix partially purified from the extract with Sephadex G-25 chromatography was a reductive carbohydrate with molecular weight less than 3,000. The compound was shown to exert an inhibitory effect on SOS response occurred at 42 degrees C in E. coli GW1060 (recA441), but has no effect on SOS network gene expression in E. coli GW 1107 (lexA51), suggesting that Polygonatum radix may contain an inhibitor of RecA protease.