The therapeutic role of Jingchuan tablet on ischaemic cerebral stroke via the HIF-1α/EPO/VEGFA signalling pathway.

CONTEXT: Jingchuan tablet (JCT) is a Chinese medicine prescription for treating ischaemic cerebral stroke (ICS). However, its relevant mechanisms remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To unravel the intrinsic mechanisms of JCT anti-ICS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 'Hongjingtian', 'chuanxiong', 'yanhusuo', 'bingpian', 'cerebral infarction', 'cerebral ischemia' or 'stroke' were used as keywords, and then components, targets and underlying mechanisms of JCT anti-ICS were analysed in TCMSP, TTD, DrugBank, STRING and Metascape databases up to June 2020. Male Sprague-Dawley rats under permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) model, randomly assigned as: model, sham, nimodipine (0.012 g/kg/d) and JCT (0.78, 1.56 and 3.12 g/kg/d) groups, received oral gavage administration for a week. Therapeutic effects were evaluated by detecting the proportion of cerebral infarction, neuronal apoptosis and neurological deficits. Bioactive components were detected by HPLC-MS. Molecular biology and computational docking were used to verify the underlying mechanisms. RESULTS: Eighty-one components, 166 targets and HIF-1α/EPO/VEGFA pathway contributed to the anti-ICS effect of JCT. JCT treatment effectively reduced the proportion of cerebral infarction (33.13%), apoptosis rate (14.80%) and neurobehavioural score (2.00). JCT increased the protein levels of HIF-1α (0.84), EPO (0.64) and VEGFA (0.69), respectively (p < 0.05). Gallic acid, salidroside, chlorogenic acid, ethyl gallate, ferulic acid and tetrahydropalmatine detected by HPLC-MS showed good interaction and binding with HIF-1α/EPO/VEGFA. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated the mechanisms of JCT anti-ICS associated with the activation of the HIF-1α/EPO/VEGFA pathway, which provided a pharmacological basis for expanding the clinical application and some scientific ideas for further research into the material basis JCT anti-ICS.

HpaXpm, a novel harpin of Xanthomonas phaseoli pv. manihotis, acts as an elicitor with high thermal stability, reduces disease, and promotes plant growth.

BACKGROUND: Harpins are proteins secreted by the type III secretion system of Gram-negative bacteria during pathogen-plant interactions that can act as elicitors, stimulating defense and plant growth in many types of non-host plants. Harpin-treated plants have higher resistance, quality and yields and, therefore, harpin proteins may potentially have many valuable agricultural applications. Harpins are characterized by high thermal stability at 100 °C. However, it is unknown whether harpins are still active at temperatures above 100 °C or whether different temperatures affect the activity of the harpin protein in different ways. The mechanism responsible for the heat stability of harpins is also unknown. RESULTS: We identified a novel harpin, HpaXpm, from the cassava blight bacteria Xanthomonas phaseoli pv. manihotis HNHK. The predicted secondary structure and 3-D structure indicated that the HpaXpm protein has two ß-strand domains and two major α-helical domains located at the N- and C-terminal regions, respectively. A phylogenetic tree generated using the maximum likelihood method grouped HpaXpm in clade I of the Hpa1 group along with harpins produced by other Xanthomonas spp. (i.e., HpaG-Xag, HpaG-Xcm, Hpa1-Xac, and Hpa1Xm). Phenotypic assays showed that HpaXpm induced the hypersensitive response (HR), defense responses, and growth promotion in non-host plants more effectively than Hp1Xoo (X. oryzae pv. oryzae). Quantitative real-time PCR analysis indicated that HpaXpm proteins subjected to heat treatments at 100 °C, 150 °C, or 200 °C were still able to stimulate the expression of function-related genes (i.e., the HR marker genes Hin1 and Hsr203J, the defense-related gene NPR1, and the plant growth enhancement-related gene NtEXP6); however, the ability of heat-treated HpaXpm to induce HR was different at different temperatures. CONCLUSIONS: These findings add a new member to the harpin family. HpaXpm is heat-stable up to 200 °C and is able to stimulate powerful beneficial biological functions that could potentially be more valuable for agricultural applications than those stimulated by Hpa1Xoo. We hypothesize that the extreme heat resistance of HpaXpm is because the structure of harpin is very stable and, therefore, the HpaXpm structure is less affected by temperature.

Neonatal Conjunctivitis Caused by Neisseria meningitidis US Urethritis Clade, New York, USA, August 2017.

We characterized a case of neonatal conjunctivitis in New York, USA, caused by Neisseria meningitidis by using whole-genome sequencing. The case was a rare occurrence, and the isolate obtained belonged to an emerging clade (N. meningitidis US nongroupable urethritis) associated with an increase in cases of urethritis since 2015.

High temperatures affect the hypersensitive reaction, disease resistance and gene expression induced by a novel harpin HpaG-Xcm.

Harpin proteins are produced by plant-pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria and regulate bacterial pathogenicity by inducing plant growth and defence responses in non-hosts. HpaG-Xcm, a novel harpin protein, was identified from Xanthomonas citri pv. mangiferaeindicae, which causes bacterial black spot of mango. Here, we describe the predicted structure and functions of HpaG-Xcm and investigate the mechanism of heat resistance. The HpaG-Xcm amino acid sequence contains seven motifs and two α-helices, in the N- and C-terminals, respectively. The N-terminal α-helical region contains two heptads, which form the coiled-coil (CC) structure. The CC region, which is on the surface of HpaG-Xcm, forms oligomeric aggregates by forming hydrophobic interactions between hydrophobic amino acids. Like other harpins, HpaG-Xcm was heat stable, promoted root growth and induced a hypersensitive response (HR) and systemic acquired resistance in non-host plants. Subjecting HpaG-Xcm to high temperatures altered the gene expression induced by HpaG-Xcm in tobacco leaves, probably due to changes in the spatial structure of HpaG-Xcm. Phenotypic tests revealed that the high-temperature treatments reduced the HR and disease resistance induced by HpaG-Xcm but had little effect on growth promotion. These findings indicate that the stability of interactions between CC and plants may be associated with thermal stability of HpaG-Xcm.

Totally laparoscopic right colectomy: technique description.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Total laparoscopic right colectomy (TLRC) with intracorporeal anastomosis is not widely performed as it requires adequate skills and competence in the use of mechanical linear staplers. Here we describe the technique of TLRC for resection for right colon cancer. METHODOLOGY: We have performed TLRC in a patient for right colon cancer. Technique description of TLRC as well as short-term outcomes is reported. RESULTS: A TLRC for the right colon adenocarcinoma has been successfully performed in a male patient. The specimen included 11 lymph nodes, all of which were free of metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: TLRC for right colon cancer was safe and feasible.