Arthproliferins A-D, Four New Sesterterpenes from the Mangrove-Sediment-Derived Fungus Arthrinium sp. SCSIO41221.

Four new sesterterpenes, arthproliferins A-D (1-4), together with four known derivatives, were isolated and characterized from the mangrove-sediment-derived fungus Arthrinium sp. SCSIO41221. Their structures were determined using detailed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectroscopic (MS) analyses. Some of the isolated compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxicity in vitro. The results revealed that terpestacin (6) exhibited significant activity with an IC50 value of 20.3 µM, and compounds 2 and 5 were found to show weak inhibitory effects against U87MG-derived GSCs.

Secondary Metabolites from the Coral-Derived Fungus Aspergillus austwickii SCSIO41227 with Pancreatic Lipase and Neuraminidase Inhibitory Activities.

The coral-derived fungus Aspergillus austwickii SCSIO41227 from Beibu Gulf yielded four previously uncharacterized compounds, namely asperpentenones B-E (1-4), along with twelve known compounds (5-16). Their structures were elucidated using HRESIMS and NMR (1H and 13C NMR, HSQC, HMBC), among which the stereo-structure of compounds 1-3 was determined by calculated ECD. Furthermore, compounds 1-16 were evaluated in terms of their enzyme (acetylcholinesterase (AChE), pancreatic lipase (PL), and neuraminidase (NA)) inhibitory activities. These bioassay results revealed that compounds 2 and 14 exerted noticeable NA inhibitory effects, with IC50 values of 31.28 and 73.64 µM, respectively. In addition, compound 3 exhibited a weak inhibitory effect against PL. Furthermore, these compounds showed the potential of inhibiting enzymes in silico docking analysis to demonstrate the interactions between compounds and proteins.

UV-Induced Synthesis of Hybrid HMDSO/SiO2 Thin Films with Compositional Gradients for High-Performance Atomic Oxygen Resistance.

A flexible, dense, defect-free, highly adhesive, and highly dissociation energy-rich protective coating is essential to enhance the atomic oxygen (AO) resistance of polymeric materials in a low Earth orbit (LEO). In this work, a dense, defect-free hybrid HMDSO/SiO2 thin film coating with compositional gradients on the surface of polyimide was synthesized using vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation. The effects of VUV irradiation on the morphology, optical transmittance, and chemical components of plasma-polymerized HMDSO (pp-HMDSO) thin-film coatings deposited on the polyimide surface were investigated in depth. There were no defects such as cracks and holes in the surface morphology of pp-HMDSO films after VUV irradiation, but the surface roughness increased slightly, and the corresponding optical transmittance decreased slightly. The chemical components of pp-HMDSO films were changed in the depth direction starting from the top of the surface, forming hybrid HMDSO/SiO2 thin films with compositional gradients. The component gradient HMDSO/SiO2 composite coating further enhanced the atomic oxygen resistance of the polyimide due to the surface layer of the UV-modified coating enriched with high dissociation energy SiOx material. Therefore, this work provides a facile UV-induced synthesis method to prepare dense, defect-free, and highly dissociation energy-rich protective gradient coatings, which are promising not only for excellent AO protection in LEO but also for potential application in water-oxygen barrier films.

Secondary Metabolites from Coral-Associated Fungi: Source, Chemistry and Bioactivities.

Our study of the secondary metabolites of coral-associated fungi produced a valuable and extra-large chemical database. Many of them exhibit strong biological activity and can be used for promising drug lead compounds. Serving as an epitome of the most promising compounds, which take the ultra-new skeletons and/or remarkable bioactivities, this review presents an overview of new compounds and bioactive compounds isolated from coral-associated fungi, covering the literature from 2010 to 2021. Its scope included 423 metabolites, focusing on the bioactivity and structure diversity of these compounds. According to structure, these compounds can be roughly classified as terpenes, alkaloids, peptides, aromatics, lactones, steroids, and other compounds. Some of them described in this review possess a wide range of bioactivities, such as anticancer, antimicrobial, antifouling, and other activities. This review aims to provide some significant chemical and/or biological enlightenment for the study of marine natural products and marine drug development in the future.

Poly (rC) binding protein 2 interacts with VP0 and increases the replication of the foot-and-mouth disease virus.

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) causes a highly contagious and debilitating disease in cloven-hoofed animals, which leads to devastating economic consequences. Previous studies have reported that some FMDV proteins can interact with host proteins to affect FMDV replication. However, the influence of the interactions between FMDV VP0 protein and its partners on FMDV replication remains unknown. In this study, we found that the overexpression of poly (rC) binding protein 2 (PCBP2) promoted FMDV replication, whereas the knockdown of PCBP2 suppressed FMDV replication. Furthermore, PCBP2 can interact with FMDV VP0 protein to promote the degradation of VISA via the apoptotic pathway. Further studies demonstrated that FMDV VP0 protein enhanced the formation of the PCBP2-VISA complex. Ultimately, we found that the degradation of VISA was weaker in PCBP2-knockdown and FMDV VP0-overexpressing cells, or FMDV VP0-knockdown cells than in the control cells. Summarily, our data revealed that the interaction between PCBP2 and VP0 could promote FMDV replication via the apoptotic pathway.

[Analysis of adverse drug reaction of gatifloxacin in Hunan province from Aug. 2003 to Jul. 2007].

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the occurrences of adverse drug reactions (ADR) of gatifloxacin, and to guide the rational usage of antibacterial agents in clinical practice in the future. METHODS: A total of 1 077 ADR patient who received gatifloxacin were retrospectively studied in Hunan province from August 2003 to July 2007. RESULTS: Gatifloxacin could cause multi-system and multi-organ ADRs with wide variety of clinical manifestations. Of the 1 077 ADR patients, ADR incidence rate was slightly lower in males than that in females, the age of 821 (76.23%) ADR patients were 20 approximately 59 years; 905 (84.03%) were administered intravenously; and 682 (33.07%) had severe lesions of the digestive system, followed by lesions of the skin and the appendants (490 cases, 23.76%) and the nervous system (298 cases, 14.45%). CONCLUSION: ADR caused by gatifloxacin should be monitored and reported so as to reduce or avoid ADR.

Surfactant protein D binds selectively to Klebsiella pneumoniae lipopolysaccharides containing mannose-rich O-antigens.

Surfactant protein D (SP-D) plays important roles in the regulation of innate immune responses in the lung. We have previously shown that SP-D can agglutinate and enhance the macrophage-dependent killing of specific unencapsulated phase variants of Klebsiella pneumoniae. In the present studies, we used 16 clinical isolates of Klebsiella representing four O-serotypes and examined the interaction of SP-D with their isolated LPSs. Although SP-D bound to the core oligosaccharide of rough LPS from all isolates, it selectively bound to smooth forms of LPS expressed by O-serotypes with mannose-rich repeating units in their O-polysaccharides. SP-D was more potent in agglutinating unencapsulated phase variants of O-serotypes expressing these SP-D "reactive" O-polysaccharides, and more effectively inhibited the adhesion of these serotypes to lung epithelial cells. This novel anti-adhesion activity required the multimerization of trimeric SP-D subunits (dodecamers). Klebsiella serotypes expressing "nonreactive" LPS O-Ags were isolated at a significantly higher frequency from patients with K. pneumoniae. Our findings suggest that SP-D plays important roles in the clearance of opportunistic Gram-negative bacteria and contributes to known serotypic differences in the pathogenicity of Klebsiella through specific interactions with O-polysaccharides.

Surfactant protein D gene regulation. Interactions among the conserved CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein elements.

Surfactant protein D (SP-D) plays roles in pulmonary host defense and surfactant homeostasis and is increased following acute lung injury. Given the importance of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP)-binding elements in the systemic acute-phase response and lung development and the expression of C/EBP isoforms by lung epithelial cells, we hypothesized that conserved C/EBP motifs in the near-distal and proximal promoters contribute to the regulation of SP-D expression by C/EBPs. Five SP-D motifs (-432, -340, -319, -140, and -90) homologous to the C/EBP consensus sequence specifically bound to C/EBPs in gel shift assays, and four of the five sites (-432, -340, -319, and -90) efficiently competed for the binding of C/EBPalpha, C/EBPbeta, or C/EBPdelta to consensus oligomers. Cotransfection of C/EBPalpha, C/EBPbeta, or C/EBPdelta cDNA in H441 lung adenocarcinoma cells significantly increased the luciferase activity of a wild-type SP-D promoter construct containing 698 bp of upstream sequence (SS698). Transfection of C/EBP also increased the level of endogenous SP-D mRNA in H441 cells. Transactivation of the reporter construct was abrogated by deletion of sequences upstream of -205. Independent site-directed mutagenesis of the sites at -432, -340, and -319 reduced C/EBP-mediated activation by approximately 50%, and mutagenesis of the site at -432 in combination with either of the tandem sites at -340 and -319 blocked activation. The conserved AP-1 element at -109 was required for maximal promoter activity, but not for the transactivation of SS698 by C/EBPs. Thus, interactions among C/EBP elements in the near-distal promoter can modulate the promoter activity of SP-D.