Astragaloside reduces toxic effect of periodontal ligament fibroblasts induced by lipopolysaccharide.

Periodontitis is a non-specific and chronic disease which is highly prevalent, resulting in inflammation and destruction of periodontal tissues. This study aims to explore the effect and mechanism of astragaloside on periodontitis. We used CCK-8, Western Blot, qPCR and flow cytometry to analyze cell viability, related protein and mRNA expression, and cell apoptosis. We found that AST could promote cell proliferation and reduce apoptosis induced by LPS. Besides, AST could alleviate the increased expression of COX-2 and ICAM-1 induced by LPS. MiR-26b-3P specifically targeted the 3' UTR of ICAM-1. These results indicate that AST reduces toxic effect of human periodontal ligament cells through regulating miR-26b-3P/ICAM-1, thus highlighting its protective role in periodontitis.

Novel planar-structure electrochemical devices for highly flexible semitransparent power generation/storage sources.

Flexible and transparent power sources are highly desirable in realizing next-generation all-in-one bendable, implantable, and wearable electronic systems. The developed power sources are either flexible but opaque or semitransparent but lack of flexibility. Therefore, there is increasing recognition of the need for a new concept of electrochemical device structure design that allows both high flexibility and transparency. In this paper, we present a new concept for electrochemical device design--a two-dimensional planar comb-teeth architecture on PET substrate--to achieve both high mechanical flexibility and light transparency. Two types of prototypes--dye-sensitized solar cells and supercapacitors--have been fabricated as planar devices and demonstrated excellent device performance, such as good light transparency, excellent flexibility, outstanding multiple large bending tolerance, light weight, effective prevention of short circuits during bending, and high device integration with up-date microelectronics, compared to conventional sandwich structure devices. Our planar design provides an attractive strategy toward the development of flexible, semitransparent electrochemical devices for fully all-in-one elegant and wearable energy management.

Effect of anionic groups in zwitterionic hydrophilic stationary phases on their chromatographic characteristics.

The structure of zwitterion has great impact on the separation properties of zwitterionic hydrophilic stationary phases. To better understand the role of anionic groups of zwitterions, a novel carboxybetaine-based zwitterionic monolithic column was first prepared through thermo-initiated copolymerization of functional monomer (3-acrylamidopropyl)-dimethyl-(2-carboxymethyl) ammonium (CBAA) and crosslinker ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) within 100 µm ID capillary. The optimal poly(CBAA-co-EDMA) monolithic column exhibited satisfactory mechanical and chemical stability, good repeatability, high column efficiency (96,000 plates/m), and excellent separation performance for different classes of polar compounds (i.e., phenols, monophosphate nucleotides, urea and allantoin). A comparative study was then performed among three zwitterionic hydrophilic stationary phases containing different anionic groups, i.e. poly(CBAA-co-EDMA) (carboxybetaine), poly(2-{2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyldimethylammonium}ethyl n-butyl phosphate-co-EDMA) (phosphocholine), and poly(N,N-dimethyl-N-(3-methacrylamidopropyl)-N-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium betaine-co-EDMA) (sulfobetaine) using benzoic acid derivatives, amine compounds, nucleobases and nucleosides as model analytes. The carboxybetaine-based monolithic column exhibited much higher positive zeta-potential and hydrophilicity, which endows it with a stronger retention capacity for acidic and neutral compounds, but sulfobetaine-based monolithic column exhibited much higher selectivity and retention capacity for the amines. Moreover, their enrichment efficiencies for N-glycopeptides were also evaluated based on their different hydrophilicity, and it was observed that the poly(CBAA-co-EDMA) monolithic material captured 4-8 times more N-glycopeptides compared to the other two materials.

Development of zirconium modified adenosine triphosphate functionalized monolith for specific enrichment of N-glycans.

In this study, to selectively enrich N-glycans from complex biological samples, a novel Zr(IV) modified adenosine triphosphate (Zr(IV)-ATP) functionalized monolith was prepared through a facile approach. Well-defined macroporous structure was observed in the ATP functionalized monolith, which allows rapid mass transfer under low backpressure and is beneficial for the enrichment of N-glycans. After being modified with Zr(IV), the resulting Zr(IV)-ATP functionalized monolith could selectively capture N-glycans through the specific interactions between the sulfonate groups of 1-aminopyrene-3,6,8-trisulfonic acid (APTS) labeled N-glycans and Zr(IV). An APTS labeled maltooligosaccharide ladder was used to optimize the enrichment conditions for APTS labeled N-glycans, and capillary electrophoresis (CE) coupled with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detector was employed to evaluate the enrichment efficiency. The results show that the APTS labeled maltooligosaccharides could be enriched under the selected conditions and the signal amplify factors of the maltooligosaccharides were between 7.4 and 19.5 with RSDs for reproducibility from 4.0% to 8.3% (n = 3). Finally, the proposed method was successfully used for the enrichment and detection of N-glycans released from Ribonuclease B.

Development of acidic phospholipid containing immobilized artificial membrane column to predict drug-induced phospholipidosis potency.

Drug-induced phospholipidosis (DIPLD) represents a big concern for both regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical companies in drug discovery. Many researches pointed out that the negatively charged intralysosomal lipids play an important role in the formation of DIPLD. To better mimic this negatively charged lipid surface, a novel immobilized artificial membrane (IAM) column was prepared via in situ copolymerization of 12-methacryloyl n-dodecylphosphocholine (MDPC) and 12-methacryloyl n-dodecylphosphoric acid (MDPA). By introducing MDPA, the surface of the resulting monolithic column can be maintained negatively charged over a broad pH range. Scanning electron microscopy, elemental analysis and nano-HPLC experiments were carried out to characterize the physicochemical properties and chromatographic performance of the obtained monolithic IAM column. The results of ζ-potential and retention mechanism studies indicate that both hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions contribute greatly to the retention of cation analytes owing to the existence of the negatively charged MDPA under acidic conditions. To better assess the DIPLD potency of drug, the molar ratio between MDPC and MDPA in the monolithic column was carefully optimized. The results show that the poly(MDPC70PA30-co-EDMA) column has the best predictability with only two false-positives (donepezil, flecainide) in qualitative analysis of 61 drugs.

Visualizing the Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Immunoreactive Innervation of the Rat Cranial Dura Mater with Immunofluorescence and Neural Tracing.

The aim of this study was to examine the distribution and origin of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-immunoreactive sensory nerve fibers of the cranial dura mater using immunofluorescence, three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction and retrograde tracing technique. Here, the nerve fibers and blood vessels were stained using immunofluorescence and histochemistry techniques with CGRP and fluorescent phalloidin, respectively. The spatial correlation of dural CGRP-immuoreactive nerve fibers and blood vessels were demonstrated by 3D reconstruction. Meanwhile, the origin of the CGRP-immunoreactive nerve fibers were detected by neural tracing technique with fluorogold (FG) from the area around middle meningeal artery (MMA) in the cranial dura mater to the trigeminal ganglion (TG) and cervical (C) dorsal root ganglia (DRGs). In addition, the chemical characteristics of FG-labeled neurons in the TG and DRGs were also examined together with CGRP using double immunofluorescences. Taking advantage of the transparent whole-mount sample and 3D reconstruction, it was shown that CGRP-immunoreactive nerve fibers and phalloidin-labeled arterioles run together or separately forming a dural neurovascular network in a 3D view, while the FG-labeled neurons were found in the ophthalmic, maxillary, and mandibular branches of TG, as well as the C2-3 DRGs ipsilateral to the side of tracer application in which some of FG-labeled neurons presented with CGRP-immunoreactive expression. With these approaches, we demonstrated the distributional characteristics of CGRP-immunoreactive nerve fibers around the blood vessels in the cranial dura mater, as well as the origin of these nerve fibers from TG and DRGs. From the perspective of methodology, it may provide a valuable reference for understanding the complicated neurovascular structure of the cranial dura mater under the physiological or pathological condition.

Preparation and application of teicoplanin functionalized polymeric monolith for enantioseparation of chiral drugs.

A novel chiral stationary phase (CSP), based on a monolithic organic polymer chemically modified with teicoplanin, was fabricated within a 100 µm I.D. fused silica capillary. The teicoplanin was firstly derivatized with 2-isocyanatoethyl methacrylate (ICNEML) and then thermally co-polymerized with the crosslinker ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) in presence of porogens (methanol and dimethylsulfoxide). The optimal experimental conditions (e.g., concentration and ratio of the reagents), considering enantioresolution and permeability, were systematically investigated. The prepared monolith was evaluated using scanning electron microscopy, and the column exhibited quite good morphology. In order to further evaluate the enantioresolving power of the poly(ICNEML-teicoplanin-co-EDMA) monolith, a series of basic and acidic chiral compounds were analyzed using an isocratic mode of polar organic solvents (methanol and acetonitrile) or the same solvents in combination with water (reversed-phase) by nano-liquid chromatography. Five mandelic acids and six derivatized amino acids were enantioresolved under reversed-phase mode (Rs = 1.22-3.47 and α = 1.43-6.33). This monolithic teicoplanin-CSP was also effective in the enantioseparations of 17 amino alcohol drugs employing polar-organic phase mode (MeOH/ACN/TEA/HOAc (80/20/0.03/0.055, v/v/v/v)). Ten of them were baseline enantioresolved (alprenolol, betaxolol, clenbuterol, isoproterenol, metoprolol, pindolol, propranolol, salbutamol, sotalol, tertatolol) (Rs = 1.55-2.48 and α = 1.21-1.55), while the others were partially enantioseparated (Rs = 1.14-1.48).

A facile and efficient single-step approach for the fabrication of vancomycin functionalized polymer-based monolith as chiral stationary phase for nano-liquid chromatography.

A facile single-step preparation strategy for fabricating vancomycin functionalized organic polymer-based monolith within 100µm fused-silica capillary was developed. The synthetic chiral functional monomer, i.e 2-isocyanatoethyl methacrylate (ICNEML) derivative of vancomycin, was co-polymerized with the cross-linker ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) in the presence of methanol and dimethyl sulfoxide as the selected porogens. The co-polymerization conditions were systematically optimized in order to obtain satisfactory column performance. Adequate permeability, stability and column morphology were observed for the optimized poly(ICNEML-vancomycin-co-EDMA) monolith. A series of chiral drugs were evaluated on the monolith in either polar organic-phase or reversed-phase modes. After the optimization of separation conditions, baseline or partial enantioseparation were obtained for series of drugs including thalidomide, colchicine, carteolol, salbutamol, clenbuterol and several other ß-blockers. The proposed single-step approach not only resulted in a vancomycin functionalized organic polymer-based monolith with acceptable performance, but also significantly simplified the preparation procedure by reducing time and labor.

Applications of stripe assay in the study of CXCL12-mediated neural progenitor cell migration and polarization.

The polarization and migration of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) are critical for embryonic brain development and neurogenesis after brain injury. Although stromal-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α, CXCL12) and its receptor CXCR4 are well-known to mediate the migration of NPCs in the developing brain, the dynamic cellular processes and structure-related molecular events remain elusive. Transwell and microfluidic-based assays are classical assays to effectively study cellular migration. However, both of them have limitations in the analysis of a single cell. In this study, we modified the stripe assay and extended its applications in the study of NPC polarization and intracellular molecular events associated with CXCL12-mediated migration. In response to localized CXCL12, NPCs formed lamellipodia in the stripe assay. Furthermore, CXCR4 and Rac1 quickly re-distributed to the area of lamellipodia, indicating their roles in NPC polarization upon CXCL12 stimulation. Although the chemokine stripes in the assay provided concentration gradients that can be best used to study cellular polarization and migration through immunocytochemistry, they can also generate live imaging data with comparable quality. In conclusion, stripe assay is a visual, dynamic and economical tool to study cellular mobility and its related molecule mechanisms.

[The effect of Duraphat varnish on fluoride content of enamel in deciduous teeth].

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to analyse the fluoride distribution in deciduous teeth enamel after using Duraphat varnish,and to supply the evidence for preventing deciduous caries by using Duraphat varnish. METHODS: After coating Duraphat varnish, the alteration of fluoride distribution in the enamel was observed with electron probe micro-analysis. The result was compared with the control group and NaF solution group. The effect of dose and period of coating Duraphat varnish on fluoride distribution in enamel was evaluated by X-ray photo-electron spectrometer(XPS). The data was analyzed with SPSS17.0 software package. RESULTS: The mean values of fluoride concentration in the control group, NaF group and Duraphat varnish group were(0.0406±0.0234)wt%,(0.1006±0.1040)wt% and (0.1844±0.1293)wt%,respectively.The concentration of fluoride in the Duraphat varnish group was significantly higher than that in the NaF group (P<0.01). In period-dependent test,the mean values of fluoride concentration at 10µm under the enamel surface of short period group and long period group were(0.2407±0.0034)wt%, (0.1434±0.0133)wt%; The concentration of fluoride in the short period group was significantly higher than that in the long period group(P<0.01). In dose-dependent test, the mean values of fluoride concentration at 10µm under the enamel surface in the low-dose group and high-dose group were(0.4417±0.0034)wt%,(0.4413±0.0044)wt%, the concentration of fluoride in the low-dose group and high-dose group had no significant difference(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It is an effective way to increase the concentration of fluoride in enamel by coating Duraphat varnish on the surface of deciduous teeth. Shorten the coating period could increase the concentration of fluoride in enamel effectively but the concentration of fluoride in enamel does not go up along with the coating dose increase.