Bonding Behavior of Repair Material using Fly-Ash/Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag-Based Geopolymer.

Fly ash/ground-granulated blast-furnace slag geopolymer (FGG) contains reaction products with a high volume of Ca, hydrated CaSiO3, and hydrated AlCaSiO3. These compounds enable the filling of large air voids in a structure, thus increasing compactness. Therefore, FGG is a more effective repair material to stabilize structures and can function as a sealing and insulating layer. This study used FGG as the repair material for concrete with ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) as the main cement material. The bond strength of the repair was discussed from different aspects, including for fly-ash substitution rates of 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% and for liquid-solid ratios of 0.4 and 0.5. The slant shear test, and the split tensile test were employed in this analysis. Moreover, acoustic emission (AE) and scanning electron microscopy were used to confirm the damage modes and microstructural characteristics of these repairs. The results revealed that when the liquid-solid ratio increased from 0.4 to 0.5, the slant shear strength of the repaired material decreased from 36.9 MPa to 33.8 MPa, and the split tensile strength decreased from 1.97 MPa to 1.87 MPa. The slant shear test and split tensile test demonstrated that the repair material exhibited the highest effectiveness when the fly-ash substitution was 10%, and revealed that the repair angle directly affected the damage modes. The AE technique revealed that the damage behavior pattern of the FGG repair material was similar to that of Portland concrete. The microstructural analysis revealed that the FGG-concrete interphase contained mostly hydration products, and based on energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), the compactness in the interphase and bond strength increased after the polymerization between the geopolymer and concrete. This indicated that the geopolymer damage mode was highly related to the level of polymerization.

Synthesis of novel diterpenoid analogs with in-vivo antitumor activity.

A lead compound 7 has antitumor effect, which was discovered by screening our small synthetic natural product-like compound (NPL) library. Based on the lead compound, a series of novel tricyclic diterpene analogs were synthesized and investigated for their activity against the growth of various tumor cell lines using the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. To our delight, most aromatic amide compounds exhibited more potent antitumor activity than the lead compound. The most active compound 19 (QW30) showed an average IC50 0.33 µM, which was 15-fold more potent than the lead compound. Most of the compounds with potent antitumor activity displayed less toxic on normal human fibroblasts (HAF) in comparison with the tumor cell lines. Especially 19, its selectivity indexes (SI) between HAF and cancer cell lines was 17.3 times better than the positive control compound podophyllotoxin. The apoptosis, colony formation and transwell migration assays of 7 and 19 were performed on T47D cell line. The in-vivo antitumor effect of 19 was also observed in T47D tumor-bearing mice without obvious toxicity.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of D-ring fused 1,2,3-thiadiazole dehydroepiandrosterone derivatives as antitumor agents.

A series of D-ring fused 1,2,3-thiadiazole DHEA derivatives were synthesized and investigated for their activity against the growth of various tumor cell lines using the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. It is amazing that for these compounds, T47D cell line was much more sensitive than other tumor cell lines. The most potent saturated N-heterocyclic derivatives showed similar antitumor effect with the positive control compound ADM (adriamycin) on T47D cells, that was 44-60 folds more potent than the lead compound DHEA. Most compounds with potent antitumor activity displayed low toxicity on normal human fibroblasts (HAF). Especially compound 25 (CH33) showed an IC50 of 0.058 µM on T47D cells and its selectivity index (SI) between HAF and T47D was 364, which was 214 folds better than ADM (SI = 1.7). The apoptosis, colony formation and transwell migration assays of 25 were performed on T47D cell line. The primary mechanism study showed that 25 caused a dose-dependent induction of apoptosis, and induced phosphorylation of EphA2 and EphB3 in T47D cells. The in vivo antitumor effect of 25 was also observed in T47D tumor-bearing mice without obvious toxicity.

DSEP: A Tool Implementing Novel Method to Predict Side Effects of Drugs.

Drug side effects, or adverse drug reactions, have become a focus of public health concern. Anticipating side effects before the drugs are granted marketing authorization for clinical use can help reduce health threats. An increasing need for methods and tools that facilitate side-effect prediction still remains. Here, we present DSEP, which is a tool that is able to analyze chemistry files to predict side effects of drugs that are under development and have not been included into any database. Meanwhile, DSEP provides three computational methods, one of which is a novel method proposed by us. The method can obtain higher AUC(0.8927) and AUPR(0.4143) scores than previous work. The advantage characteristic and method made DSEP a useful tool to predict potential side effects for a given drug or compound. We use DSEP to conduct uncharacterized drugs' side-effect prediction and confirm interesting results.

Gpr97 Is Dispensable for Inflammation in OVA-Induced Asthmatic Mice.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a complex inflammatory disorder involving the activation and invasion of various immune cells. GPR97 is highly expressed in some immunocytes, including mast cells and eosinophils, which play critical roles in asthma development. However, the role of Gpr97 in regulating airway inflammation in asthma has rarely been reported. In this study, we investigated the potential role of Gpr97 in the development of allergic asthma in mice. METHODS: Relevant airway asthmatic mouse models were constructed with both wild-type and Gpr97-/- mice sensitized to 250 µg ovalbumin (OVA). The levels of interleukin IL-4, IL-6 and IFN-γ, which are involved in OVA-induced asthma, in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and the IgE level in the serum were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The invasion of mast cells and eosinophils into lung tissues was assessed by immunohistochemical and eosinophil peroxidase activity assays, respectively. Goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus production were morphologically evaluated with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining. RESULTS: In our study, no obvious alteration in the inflammatory response or airway remodeling was found in the Gpr97-deficient mice with OVA-induced asthma. Neither the secretion of cytokines, including IL-4, IL-6 and IFN-γ, nor inflammatory cell recruitment was altered in the Gpr97-deficient mice. Moreover, Gpr97 deficiency did not affect airway remodeling or mucus production in the asthma mouse model. CONCLUSION: Our findings imply that Gpr97 might not be required for the development of airway inflammation in OVA-induced allergic asthma in mice.

Synthesis of heterocycle-modified betulinic acid derivatives as antitumor agents.

A series of novel heterocycle-modified betulinic acid (BA) derivatives were synthesized and investigated for their activity against the growth of eight non-drug resistant and one multidrug-resistant tumor cell line using a sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. The most active compound 17 showed an average IC50 1.19 µM, which was about 20 times more potent than the lead compound BA. It is amazing that for most synthetic saturated N-heterocycle derivatives, MCF-7/ADR was the most sensitive tumor cells, especially 17 showed the most potent antitumor activity (IC50 = 0.33 µM) on this multidrug-resistant tumor cell line, that was 117 times more potent than BA. Most of the tested compounds displayed less toxic on human fibroblasts (HAF) in comparison with the tumor cell lines. The cytometry and transwell migration assays were used to test the ability of 17 to induce apoptosis and inhibit metastasis on tumor cell lines respectively.

A novel function for fibroblast growth factor 21: stimulation of NADPH oxidase-dependent ROS generation.

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF-21) is a major paracrine and endocrine regulator of metabolic homeostasis. Here we demonstrate that FGF-21 is also a potent mediator of innate immunity. Double-staining flow cytometry identified neutrophils and monocytes as the main sources of FGF-21 among circulating leukocytes. Functional assays showed that FGF-21 stimulates phagocytosis and production of reactive oxygen species in neutrophil-like HL-60 cells and monocytic THP-1 cells. The mechanism of action of FGF-21 was observed to involve FGF receptor activation, signal transduction through the PI3K/Akt pathway, and stimulation of NADPH oxidase activity. This study indicates that FGF-21 could be an attractive target for the management of inflammatory disorders.

[The synergistic effect of FGF-21 and insulin on regulating glucose metabolism and its mechanism].

Previous studies proposed that the synergistic effect of fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) and insulin may be due to the improvement of insulin sensitivity by FGF-21. However, there is no experimental evidence to support this. This study was designed to elucidate the mechanism of synergistic effect of FGF-21 and insulin in the regulation of glucose metabolism. The synergistic effect of FGF-21 and insulin on regulating glucose metabolism was demonstrated by investigating the glucose absorption rate by insulin resistance HepG2 cell model and the blood glucose chances in type 2 diabetic db/db mice after treatments with different concentrations of FGF-21 or/and insulin; The synergistic metabolism was revealed through detecting GLUT1 and GLUT4 transcription levels in the liver by real-time PCR method. The experimental results showed that FGF-21 and insulin have a synergistic effect on the regulation of glucose metabolism. The results of real-time PCR showed that the effective dose of FGF-21 could up-regulate the transcription level of GLUT1 in a dose-dependent manner, but had no effect on the transcription level of GLUT4. Insulin (4 u) alone could up-regulate the transcription level of GLUT4, yet had no effect on that of GLUT1. Ineffective dose 0.1 mg kg(-1) FGF-21 alone could not change the transcription level of GLUT1 or GLUT4. However, when the ineffective dose 0.1 mg x kg(-1) FGF-21 was used in combination with insulin (4 u) significantly increased the transcription levels of both GLUT1 and GLUT4, the transcription level of GLUT1 was similar to that treated with 5 time concentration of FGF-21 alone; the transcription level of GLUT4 is higher than that treated with insulin (4 u) alone. In summary, in the presence of FGF-21, insulin increases the sensitivity of FGF-21 through enhancing GLUT1 transcription. Vice versa, FGF-21 increases the sensitivity of insulin by stimulating GLUT4 transcription in the presence of insulin. FGF-21 and insulin exert a synergistic effect on glucose metabolism through mutual sensitization.

[FGF-21 protects H9c2 cardiomyoblasts against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress injury].

Fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) is an important metabolism regulator, however, whether FGF-21 has effects on cardiovascular remains unclear. In this study, H2O2-induced injury in H9c2 cells was used as a cell model, the anti-apoptosis potential and mechanism of FGF-21 against oxidative injury were evaluated by MTT assay, flow cytometry assay and real-time PCR. The results showed that FGF-21 could increase the cell survival of H2O2-induced injury in H9c2 cells and prevent H9c2 cells from oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, FGF-21 can elevate SOD activity and regulate Bcl-2/Bax expression in H9c2 cells. The results suggest that FGF-21 have protective effect against the H2O2-induced apoptosis in H9c2 cells.

[Therapeutic effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 on hypertension induced by insulin resistance].

This study is to evaluate the therapeutic effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) on hypertension induced by insulin resistance in rats and to provide mechanistic insights into its therapeutic effect. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were fed with high-fructose (10%) water to develop mild hypertensive models within 4 weeks, then randomized into 4 groups: model control, FGF21 0.25, 0.1 and 0.05 micromol x kg(-1) x d(-1) groups. Five age-matched normal SD rats administrated with saline were used as normal controls. The rats in each group were treated once a day for 4 weeks. Body weight was measured weekly, systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured noninvasively using a tail-cuff method, insulin sensitivity was assessed using oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and HOMA-IR assay. At the end of the treatment, blood samples were collected, and blood glucose, serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride and serum insulin were measured. The results showed that blood pressure of the rats treated with different doses of FGF21 returned to normal levels [(122.2 +/- 3.5) mmHg, P < 0.01] after 4-week treatment, whereas, SBP of untreated (model control) rats maintained a high level [(142.5 +/- 4.5) mmHg] throughout the treatment. The observation of blood pressure in 24 h revealed that SBP of FGF21 treated-rats maintained at (130 +/- 4.5) mmHg vs. (143 +/- 5.5) mmHg for model control (P < 0.01). FGF21 treatment groups improved serum lipids obviously, total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels decreased significantly to normal levels. The serum NO levels of three different doses FGF21 treatment group were significantly higher than that of the model control group [(7.32 +/- 0.11), (7.24 +/- 0.13), (6.94 +/- 0.08) vs. (6.56 +/- 0.19) micromol x L(-1), P < 0.01], and the degree of improvement showed obvious dose-dependent manner, indicating that FGF21 can significant increase serum NO in fructose-induced hypertension rat model and improve endothelial NO release function. The results of OGTT and HOMA-IR showed that insulin resistance state was significantly relieved in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, this study demonstrates that FGF21 significantly ameliorates blood pressure in fructose-induced hypertension model by relieving insulin resistance. This finding provides a theoretical support for clinical application of FGF21 as a novel therapeutics for treatment of essential hypertension.

[The long lasting effect of the murine fibroblast growth factor-21 on blood glucose control of diabetic animals].

Insulin is the most common medicine used for diabetic patients, unfortunately, its effective time is short, even the long-acting insulin cannot obtain a satisfactory effect. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21 is a recently discovered glucose mediator and expected to be a potential anti-diabetic drug that does not rely on insulin. In this study, db/db mice were used as the type 2 diabetic model to examine whether mFGF-21 has the long-term blood lowering effect on the animal model. The results showed that mFGF-21 could stably maintain the blood glucose at normal level for a long-term in a dose-dependent manner. Administration of mFGF-21 once a day with three doses (0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 mg x kg(-1)) could maintain blood glucose of the model animals at normal level for at least 24 h. Administration of mFGF-21 every two days with the same doses could maintain blood glucose of the model animals at normal level for at least 48 h, although it took longer time for blood glucose to reach to normal level depending on doses used (twenty injections for 0.125 mg x kg(-1) and 0.25 mg x kg(-1) doses, ten injections for 0.5 mg x kg(-1) dose). Surprisingly, the blood glucose of the treated model animals still maintained at normal level for 24 h after the experiment terminated. Glycosylated hemoglobin level of the animals treated with mFGF-21, which represented long-term glucose status, decreased significantly compared to the control group and the insulin group. The results suggest that FGF-21 has potential to become a long-acting and potent anti-diabetic drug.

[Optimization and characterization of a novel FGF21 mutant].

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a member of FGF family. It has been demonstrated that FGF21 is an independent, safe and effective regulator of blood glucose levels in vivo. In order to improve the activity of FGF21, we exchanged the beta10-beta12 domain of the human FGF21 with that of the mouse FGF21 to construct a novel FGF21 gene (named hmFGF21), and then subcloned hmFGF21 gene into the SUMO expression vector to create pSUMO-hmFGF21 and transformed it into E. coli Rosetta for expression of the fusion protein SUMO-hmFGF21. Both in vitro and in vivo glucose regulation activity of hmFGF21 was evaluated. The SDS-PAGE result showed that compared with wild-type hFGF21, the soluble expression of hmFGF21 increased about 2-fold. HmFGF21 was more potent in stimulation of glucose uptake in HepG2 cells in vitro. The results of anti-diabetic effect on db/db mice demonstrated that hmFGF21 had better efficacy on controlling the blood glucose of the db/db diabetic animals than wild-type hFGF21. These results suggest that the biological properties of FGF21 are significantly improved by optimization.

Orphan G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs): biological functions and potential drug targets.

The superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) includes at least 800 seven-transmembrane receptors that participate in diverse physiological and pathological functions. GPCRs are the most successful targets of modern medicine, and approximately 36% of marketed pharmaceuticals target human GPCRs. However, the endogenous ligands of more than 140 GPCRs remain unidentified, leaving the natural functions of those GPCRs in doubt. These are the so-called orphan GPCRs, a great source of drug targets. This review focuses on the signaling transduction pathways of the adhesion GPCR family, the LGR subfamily, and the PSGR subfamily, and their potential functions in immunology, development, and cancers. In this review, we present the current approaches and difficulties of orphan GPCR deorphanization and characterization.

[Cloning, expression and glucose regulation activity of human FGF-21].

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-21 is a recently discovered glucose regulator and has potential to become therapeutics for treatment of type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to clone and express human FGF-21 gene and characterize its bioactivity for glucose regulation. The hFGF-21 cDNA was cloned from human liver by RT-PCR and subcloned into the pSUMO vector after sequencing confirmation. The recombinant plasmid was transformed into Escherichia coli Rosetta strain. The FGF-21 protein expression was induced by IPTG and purified by Ni-NTA agarose. The FGF-21 product was verified by Western blotting analysis with specific antibody. The bioactivity of the purified protein was examined by glucose uptake assay in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The cloned hFGF-21 gene consisted of 546 bp, which was in agreement with the published data in GenBank. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that hFGF-21 expressed in the E. coli system was 19.4 kDa in size. The glucose uptake assay in 3T3-L1 adipocytes indicated that the purified hFGF-21 could stimulate glucose uptake in a dose-dependent manner, and glucose transporters (GLUT1) is the functional unit.

G protein-coupled receptor 48 upregulates estrogen receptor alpha expression via cAMP/PKA signaling in the male reproductive tract.

The epididymis and efferent ducts play major roles in sperm maturation, transport, concentration and storage by reabsorbing water, ions and proteins produced from seminiferous tubules. Gpr48-null male mice demonstrate reproductive tract defects and infertility. In the present study, we found that estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) was dramatically reduced in the epididymis and efferent ducts in Gpr48-null male mice. We further revealed that ERalpha could be upregulated by Gpr48 activation via the cAMP/PKA signaling pathway. Moreover, we identified a cAMP responsive element (Cre) motif located at -1307 to -1300 bp in the ERalpha promoter that is able to interact with Cre binding protein (Creb). In conclusion, Gpr48 participates in the development of the male epididymis and efferent ducts through regulation of ERalpha expression via the cAMP/PKA signaling pathway.

Aerosolised surfactant generated by a novel noninvasive apparatus reduced acute lung injury in rats.

INTRODUCTION: Exogenous surfactant has been explored as a potential therapy for acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In the present study, a nebuliser driven by oxygen lines found in the hospital was developed to deliver aerosolised porcine pulmonary surfactant (PPS). We hypothesised that aerosolised surfactant inhaled through spontaneous breathing may effectively reduce severe lung injury. METHODS: Rats were intravenously injected with oleic acid (OA) to induce ALI and 30 minutes later they were divided into five groups: model (injury only), PPS aerosol (PPS-aer), saline aerosol (saline-aer), PPS instillation (PPS-inst), and saline instillation (Saline-Inst). Blood gases, lung histology, and protein and TNF-alpha concentrations in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were examined. RESULTS: The PPS aerosol particles were less than 2.0 mum in size as determined by a laser aerosol particle counter. Treatment of animals with a PPS aerosol significantly increased the phospholipid content in the BALF, improved lung function, reduced pulmonary oedema, decreased total protein and TNF-alpha concentrations in BALF, ameliorated lung injury and improved animal survival. These therapeutic effects are similar to those seen in the PPS-inst group. CONCLUSIONS: This new method of PPS aerosolisation combines the therapeutic effects of a surfactant with partial oxygen inhalation under spontaneous breathing. It is an effective, simple and safe method of administering an exogenous surfactant.

[Progress of the calcium signal pathway during cardiomyogenesis and cardiomyocyte differentiation].

The process of cardiomyogenesis and cardiomyocyte differentiation in vertebrates is complex, which is controlled by a series of cardiac embryonic genes. The underlying calcium signaling pathways are important to the expression of these genes. The role of calcium dependent transcription process, Ca2+/CaM/CaN/NF AT/GATA 4 transcription pathway and Ca2+/CaM/ CaMK/HDAC/MEF2 transcription pathway, in cardiomyogenesis and cardiomyocyte differentiation are reviewed.