MicroRNA397 promotes rice flowering by regulating the photorespiration pathway.

The precise timing of flowering plays a pivotal role in ensuring successful plant reproduction and seed production. This process is intricately governed by complex genetic networks that integrate internal and external signals. This study delved into the regulatory function of microRNA397 (miR397) and its target gene LACCASE-15 (OsLAC15) in modulating flowering traits in rice (Oryza sativa). Overexpression of miR397 led to earlier heading dates, decreased number of leaves on the main stem, and accelerated differentiation of the spikelet meristem. Conversely, overexpression of OsLAC15 resulted in delayed flowering and prolonged vegetative growth. Through biochemical and physiological assays, we uncovered that miR397-OsLAC15 had a profound impact on carbohydrate accumulation and photosynthetic assimilation, consequently enhancing the photosynthetic intensity in miR397-overexpressing rice plants. Notably, we identified that OsLAC15 is at least partially localized within the peroxisome organelle, where it regulates the photorespiration pathway. Moreover, we observed that a high CO2 concentration could rescue the late flowering phenotype in OsLAC15-overexpressing plants. These findings shed valuable insights into the regulatory mechanisms of miR397-OsLAC15 in rice flowering and provided potential strategies for developing crop varieties with early flowering and high-yield traits through genetic breeding.

The Pivotal Role of Noncoding RNAs in Flowering Time Regulation.

Noncoding RNAs constitute a substantial portion of the transcriptome and play pivotal roles in plant growth and development. Among these processes, flowering stands out as a crucial trait, ensuring reproductive success and seed set, and is meticulously controlled by genetic and environmental factors. With remarkable advancements in the identification and characterization of noncoding RNAs in plants, it has become evident that noncoding RNAs are intricately linked to the regulation of flowering time. In this article, we present an overview of the classification of plant noncoding RNAs and delve into their functions in the regulation of flowering time. Furthermore, we review their molecular mechanisms and their involvement in flowering pathways. Our comprehensive review enhances the understanding of how noncoding RNAs contribute to the regulation of flowering time and sheds light on their potential implications in crop breeding.

Shining in the dark: the big world of small peptides in plants.

Small peptides represent a subset of dark matter in plant proteomes. Through differential expression patterns and modes of action, small peptides act as important regulators of plant growth and development. Over the past 20 years, many small peptides have been identified due to technical advances in genome sequencing, bioinformatics, and chemical biology. In this article, we summarize the classification of plant small peptides and experimental strategies used to identify them as well as their potential use in agronomic breeding. We review the biological functions and molecular mechanisms of small peptides in plants, discuss current problems in small peptide research and highlight future research directions in this field. Our review provides crucial insight into small peptides in plants and will contribute to a better understanding of their potential roles in biotechnology and agriculture.

[Seminal vesicoscopy in the treatment of seminal abnormalities associated with ejaculatory duct obstruction：Advances in studies].

Obstructive azoospermia is a kind of common clinical disease, which often happens in epididymis, vas deferens and ejaculatory duct obstruction and accounts for male infertility. Azoospermia, which is caused by obstruction of the ejaculatory duct, is relatively rare. but the development of endoscopic technology now allows the disease to be resolved by surgery. In the past, transurethral resection of ejaculatory duct (TURED) has been used to treat patients with ejaculatory duct obstruction and azoosperm-free disease. But with the further study of TURED operation in recent years, as well as in patients with postoperative follow-up results showed that the urine - tube reflux and retrograde ejaculation ejaculation the incidence of iatrogenic injury is higherduring the TURED.therefore, in recent years, some experts committed to seeking a less damage and better effect of the surgical method. With the continuous development of endoscopic technology, seminal vesiculoscopy has come into being, which also creates conditions for further understanding the structure and function of the seminal vesicle and distal seminal duct, accurate diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment of the currently discovered diseases. In this article, we summarized the semen abnormalities associated with seminal vesiculoscopy in the treatment of ejaculatory duct obstruction, and also reviewed the surgical methods, clinical application and research progress of seminal vesiculoscopy.

Diffusion kurtosis imaging: An efficient tool for evaluating age-related changes in rat brains.

PURPOSE: To evaluate and determine age-related changes in rat brains by studying the diffusion kurtosis imaging results among different age groups of rats. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats underwent conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion Kurtosis Imaging (DKI). Two diffusion values of mean kurtosis (MK) and kurtosis (K⊥ ) were measured and analyzed based on laterality, brain regions and age groups. The MK and K⊥ data were plotted against different age groups. RESULTS: No laterality was found for the MK or K⊥ values in the cerebral cortex (CT), external capsule (EC), or caudate putamen (CPu) regions. In contrast, significant changes in these values were observed among different age groups. Changes of the MK and K⊥ values were significant in both hemispheres in the EC, the CT, and the CPu brain regions. The changes in the MK and K⊥ values showed a parabolic relationship with ages in all the brain regions. CONCLUSION: No laterality in the MK and K⊥ values was observed for the EC, CT, or CPu regions of the rat brain. Significant changes in MK and K⊥ values were both observed among different age groups, thus suggesting diffusion kurtosis imaging as an efficient tool for studying brain aging in rats.

[Influence of testicular microlithiasis on male fertility: An update].

With the increasing awareness of men's health, more and more clinical studies are reported on the relationship of testicular microlithiasis (TM) with male infertility. TM is a relatively rare disease characterized by multiple microcalcifications (<3 mm) in the seminiferous tubules of the testis. This review summarizes the findings in the studies of the diagnosis, epidemiology, correlation with male fertility, treatment, and follow-up of TM in recent years. Many researches show that TM has a certain correlation with the decline of male fertility, which, however, is not identically agreed on at home and abroad. As for the treatment of TM complicated with male infertility, there is still a lack of effective and reliable drugs and strategies and a need for many basic and clinical studies.

Dataset on collecting volatile compounds produced by three bacteria and testing their efficacy against the pathogen Peronophythora litchii.

This data article provides supporting information to a related research article "Identification of volatile organic compounds for the biocontrol of postharvest litchi fruit pathogen Peronophythora litchii" (Zheng et al., 2019) [1]. The litchi downy blight (LDB) caused by Peronophythora litchii is a major postharvest disease that can severely damage litchi trees and harvested litchi fruit. This data article describes the analysis of volatile compounds (VOCs) in three bacterial biological control agents (BCAs) of LDB (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens PP19, Bacillus pumilus PI26, and Exiguobacterium acetylicum SI17) via gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Volatile compounds produced by the three BCAs were captured at five culture time of 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 h by a solid-phase micro extraction method. The chemical compositions were identified and their retention times as well as relative peak areas were analyzed. Compounds commonly produced at more than one time points were then subjected to in vitro (on petri dish) and in vivo (litchi fruit and leaves) evaluations for their antagonistic activities against the pathogen Peronophythora litchii.

Design of a multiband near-infrared sky brightness monitor using an InSb detector.

Infrared sky background level is an important parameter of infrared astronomy observations from the ground, particularly for a candidate site of an infrared capable observatory since low background level is required for such a site. The Chinese astronomical community is looking for a suitable site for a future 12 m telescope, which is designed for working in both optical and infrared wavelengths. However, none of the proposed sites has been tested for infrared observations. Nevertheless, infrared sky background measurements are also important during the design of infrared observing instruments. Based on the requirement, in order to supplement the current site survey data and guide the design of future infrared instruments, a multiband near-infrared sky brightness monitor (MNISBM) based on an InSb sensor is designed in this paper. The MNISBM consists of an optical system, mechanical structure and control system, detector and cooler, high gain readout electronics, and operational software. It is completed and tested in the laboratory. The results show that the sensitivity of the MNISBM meets the requirements of the measurement of near-infrared sky background level of several well-known astronomical infrared observing sites.

HOXB7 promotes tumor progression via bFGF-induced activation of MAPK/ERK pathway and indicated poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The homeobox-containing gene HOXB7 plays an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of many cancers, yet its role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. This study comprehensively analyzed the expression and clinical significance of HOXB7 in HCC and explored its potential mechanism in tumor progression. We found HOXB7 was highly expressed in HCC cell lines with highly metastatic potential and cancerous tissues from patients with tumor recurrence. The abilities of proliferation, migration, and invasion were notably decreased by depletion of HOXB7, and were enhanced by its enforced expression in vitro. HOXB7 expression was positively correlated with tumor progression and lung metastasis in vivo. The gene microarray data implied that HOXB7 affects biological functions of HCC cells through MAPK/ERK pathway activation. Further study confirmed that the effect of HOXB7 in activating MAPK/ERK pathway via induction of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) secretion, and the inhibition of bFGF secretion could abolish MAPK/ERK pathway activation after ectopic expression of HOXB7. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments and luciferase reporter assays confirmed that HOXB7 promoted bFGF secretion via binding its promoter directly. Furthermore, the clinical significance of HOXB7 expression was confirmed using tissue microarrays containing 394 HCC tissue specimens. Patients with high HOXB7 expression showed shorter survival times and higher recurrence rates, and HOXB7 was an independent indicator for survival and recurrence. Overall, HOXB7 promotes HCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion through the bFGF-induced MAPK/ERK pathway activation. It might be a novel prognostic factor in HCC and a promising therapeutic target for tumor metastasis and recurrence.

Interactome of E. piscicida and grouper liver proteins reveals strategies of bacterial infection and host immune response.

The occurrence of infectious diseases is related to heterogeneous protein interactions between a host and a microbe. Therefore, elucidating the host-pathogen interplay is essential. We previously revealed the protein interactome between Edwardsiella piscicida and fish gill cells, and the present study identified the protein interactome between E. piscicida and E. drummondhayi liver cells. E. drummondhayi liver cells and bacterial pull-down approaches were used to identify E. piscicida outer membrane proteins that bind to liver cells and fish liver cell proteins that interact with bacterial cells, respectively. Eight bacterial proteins and 11 fish proteins were characterized. Heterogeneous protein-protein interactions between these bacterial cells and fish liver cells were investigated through far-Western blotting and co-immunoprecipitation. A network was constructed based on 42 heterogeneous protein-protein interactions between seven bacterial proteins and 10 fish proteins. A comparison of the new interactome with the previously reported interactome showed that four bacterial proteins overlapped, whereas all of the identified fish proteins were new, suggesting a difference between bacterial tricks for evading host immunity and the host strategy for combating bacterial infection. Furthermore, these bacterial proteins were found to regulate the expression of host innate immune-related proteins. These findings indicate that the interactome contributes to bacterial infection and host immunity.

[Design, synthesis and evaluation of a novel MEK protein inhibitors].

This study was conducted to design and synthetize highly efficient, specific, non-resistant small MEK inhibitors. Based on active small molecules which have been reported, we studied the action mode with MEK protein using Autodock 4.2, generated innovative and feasible design method, designed novel small MEK protein inhibitors with a reference to molecular modeling and docking. The anti-tumor activities of four kinds of cells including MCF-7, PANC-1, SY5Y, A549 were tested with MTT method in vitro. The structure of 10 new small molecules has been determined with 1H NMR and 13C NMR. The compounds 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 had high antitumor activities, the compounds 1, 3, 5 also showed good activity, and the compounds 2, 9 showed cell selectivity in killing tumor.

[Effect of secretin on the expression of cPLA2 and mPGEs-1 in mouse endometrial stromal cell during early pregnancy].

Secretin, a gastrointestinal peptide, has been found to be expressed in mouse endometrial stromal cells (mESCs) during early pregnancy. In order to further investigate the function of secretin during embryo implantation, the expression levels of secretin, secretin receptor, cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) and membrane prostaglandin E synthase 1 (mPGEs-1) were detected in the mice uterus from day 4 to 8 of pregnancy by real-time PCR, ELISA and in situ hybridization. mESCs isolated and cultured from day 4 of pregnancy were transfected with secretin expression vectors or treated with H89, a PKA inhibitor. Then the expression levels of cPLA2, mPGEs-1 and cAMP responsive element-binding protein (CREB) were detected by real-time PCR and Western blot. The concentration of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in the supernatant was determined by ELISA. The result showed that secretin, cPLA2 and mPGEs-1 mRNA expression increased gradually in implantation sites from day 5 to day 7 of pregnancy with the same tendency. The secretin levels in serum were significantly higher on days 6, 7 and 8 of pregnancy than that on day 5 of pregnancy. The concentration of secretin was significantly higher in implantation sites on days 6, 7 than that in non-implantation site on day 5. Transfection of secretin expression vector promoted cPLA2, p-cPLA2 and mPGEs-1 expressions in mESCs, but not PGE2 level in the supernatant. H89 could effectively inhibit the expression of CREB, p-CREB, p-cPLA2 and cPLA2 induced by secretin. The results showed that the increased secretin expression in mESCs during embryo implantation may promote p-cPLA2, cPLA2 and mPGEs-1 expression, and the promotion may be through PKA signaling pathway.

Evaluation of left gastric vein in Chinese healthy adults with multi-detector computed tomography.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the classification and diameter of left gastric vein (LGV) in healthy Chinese adults with multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). METHODS: MDCT angiography was performed in 234 healthy adults for the portal venous system. CT cross-sectional thin-layer reconstruction combined with maximum intensity projection, volume rendering and multiplanar reconstruction were applied. The diameter of LGV was measured at the point within 2 cm from LGV origination. RESULTS: Of 234 subjects, 11 subjects (4.70%) who did not have clear images were excluded, and 223 subjects (95.30%) with excellent images were included. The LGV was originated from the portal vein in 46.15%, splenic vein in 30.77%, portal splenic angle in 14.53%, and the left branch of the portal vein in 3.85%. The maximal diameter of LGV was 4.74 ± 0.84 mm with a 95% confidence interval of 4.63-4.85 mm, and the LGV diameter was positively correlated with the weight of patients (R = 0.26, P = 0.006). No significant difference existed in the maximal diameter of LGV at different origination sites (P = 0.35). The diameter of LGV was significantly greater in males than in females (4.90 ± 0.85 vs. 4.56 ± 0.80 mm, P = 0.002), and the maximal diameter of LGV was significantly (P = 0.02) greater in the age range of 30-39 and 40-49 years than in the range of >70 years. No statistical significance (P = 0.36) was detected in the other groups. CONCLUSION: MDCT can clearly display the detailed anatomy and variation of LGV in healthy adults, providing a normal range of LGV diameter for clinical reference for diagnosing possible portal hypertension and for possible intervention.

A polymeric nanoparticle formulation of curcumin in combination with sorafenib synergistically inhibits tumor growth and metastasis in an orthotopic model of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Curcumin, a yellow polyphenol extracted from the rhizome of turmeric root (Curcuma longa) has potent anti-cancer properties in many types of tumors with ability to reverse multidrug resistance of cancer cells. However, widespread clinical application of this agent in cancer and other diseases has been limited due to its poor aqueous solubility. The recent findings of polymeric nanoparticle formulation of curcumin (NFC) have shown the potential for circumventing the problem of poor solubility, however evidences for NFC's anti-cancer and reverse multidrug resistance properties are lacking. Here we provide models of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of primary liver cancer, in vitro and in vivo to evaluate the efficacy of NFC alone and in combination with sorafenib, a kinase inhibitor approved for treatment of HCC. Results showed that NFC not only inhibited the proliferation and invasion of HCC cell lines in vitro, but also drastically suppressed primary tumor growth and lung metastases in vivo. Moreover, in combination with sorafenib, NFC induced HCC cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Mechanistically, NFC and sorafenib synergistically down-regulated the expression of MMP9 via NF-κB/p65 signaling pathway. Furthermore, the combination therapy significantly decreased the population of CD133-positive HCC cells, which have been reported as cancer initiating cells in HCC. Taken together, NanoCurcumin provides an opportunity to expand the clinical repertoire of this agent. Additional studies utilizing a combination of NanoCurcumin and sorafenib in HCC are needed for further clinical development.

Heterogeneous interactome between Litopenaeus vannamei plasma proteins and Vibrio parahaemolyticus outer membrane proteins.

A great loss has been suffered by microbial infectious diseases under intensive shrimp farming in recent years. In this background, the understanding of shrimp innate immunity becomes an importantly scientific issue, but little is known about the heterogeneous protein-protein interaction between pathogenic cells and hosts, which is a key step for the invading microbes to infect internet organs through bloodstream. In the present study, bacterial outer membrane (OM) protein array and pull-down approaches are used to isolate both Vibrio parahaemolyticus OM proteins that bind to shrimp serum proteins and the shrimp serum proteins that interact with bacterial cells, respectively. Three interacting shrimp serum proteins, hemocyanin, ß-1,3-glucan binding protein and LV_HP_RA36F08r and thirty interacting OM proteins were determined. They form 63 heterogeneous protein-protein interactions. Nine out of the 30 OM proteins were randomly demonstrated to be up-regulated or down-regulated when bacterial cells were cultured with shrimp sera, indicating the biological significance of the network. The interesting findings uncover the complexity of struggle between host immunity and bacterial infection. Compared with our previous report on heterogeneous interactome between fish grill and bacterial OM proteins, the present study further extends the investigation from lower vertebrates to invertebrates and develops a bacterial OM protein array to identify the OM proteins bound with shrimp serum proteins, which elevates the frequencies of the bound OM proteins. Our results highlight the way to determine and understand the heterogeneous interaction between hosts and microbes.

Grafted neural stem cells migrate to substantia nigra and improve behavior in Parkinsonian rats.

Neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation has the potential to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study, we investigated the effect of transplanted NSCs in a PD animal model. NSCs isolated from the subventricular zone (SVZ) of E14 rats were cultured in vitro to produce neurospheres, which were subsequently infected with recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV(2)) expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). The PD animal model was established by unilateral injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) of Sprague-Dawley rats. Once the model was established, EGFP-expressing NSCs were transplanted into the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) or striatum of PD rats. We found that NSCs transplanted into either site significantly reduced apomorphine-induced circling behavior of PD rats. Pathological analysis revealed that the EGFP-expressing NSCs could be detected at both injection sites at 1, 2 and 4 months after transplantation. SNc transplanted cells dispersed within the SNc with a significant portion differentiated into tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons. Whereas cells transplanted into the striatum migrated ventrally and posteriorly towards the SNc. These results suggest that the 6-OHDA damaged brain area attracts grafted NSCs, which migrated from the striatum and survived for a long time in SNc, resulting in behavioral improvement of PD rats.

[Detection of bacterial signal of 16S rRNA gene in prostate tissues obtained by perineal approach from patient with chronic pelvic pain syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of bacteria in etiology of chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS), i.e., chronic prostatitis and the correlation between presence of bacterial signal of 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene and the response to antibiotics. METHODS: Samples of prostatic and subcutaneous tissues were obtained by biopsy via perineal approach from 112 CPPS patients, aged 20 - 48. Polymerase chain reaction was conducted to detect the 16S rRNA gene of bacteria. The patients were treated with gatifloxacin 0.4 g once a day for 4 weeks and then 4 weeks later the effects of treatment were assessed by the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI). RESULTS: PCR was completed in 94 of the 112 patients, and 18 were excluded because their subcutaneous biopsies were positive for 16S rRNA, showing the possible contamination of their prostatic tissues. The total positive rate of bacterial 16S rRNA gene was 63.8% (60/94). The positive rate of bacterial 16S rRNA gene in the patients with IIIa CPPS and IIIb CPPS were 68.3% and 60.3% respectively. The total gatifloxacin effective rate of positive bacterial signal group after the was 55.0%, significantly higher than that of the negative bacterial signal group (14.7%, P < 0.001). The gatifloxacin effective rate of the 16S rRNA positive IIIa CPPS patients was 75%, significantly higher than that of the 6S rRNA negative IIIa CPPS patients (23.1%, P < 0.001), and the gatifloxacin effective rate of the 16S rRNA positive IIIb CPPS patients was 37.5%, significantly higher than that of the 6S rRNA negative IIIb CPPS patients (9.5%, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Bacterial infection is related to CPPS in part of the patients. Bacterial signal detection helps predict the effect of antimicrobial therapy.

[CGRP may take part in the effect of electroacupuncture in resisting acute myocardial ischemic injury].

OBJECTIVE: To probe into the relationship between "Xinshu" (BL 15)-"Jueyinshu" (BL 14) of the Bladder Channel and the heart and the underlying mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in resisting acute myocardial ischemia (AMI) in rats. METHODS: A total of 24 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control, model and EA groups with 8 cases in each group. AMI model was duplicated by intraperitoneal injection of 2% isoproterenol (ISO, 100 mg/kg). EA (pulse duration 300 micros, frequency 2-20 Hz, output voltage 3. 5-5 V) was applied to BL14 and BL15 on the left side for 30 min, twice in a day (with an interval of 12 h). After decapitation, blood samples, myocardial tissue and spinal cord (T1-T6) were collected respectively for detecting serum creatine kinase (CK, with chromatometry) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) contents in the plasma, myocardium and the spinal cord (with radioimmunoassay). RESULTS: In comparison with control group, serum CK of both model group and EA group increased significantly (P < 0. 01), and plasma CGRP content of model group lowered lightly; while compared with model group, CK content of EA group decreased obviously (P < 0.05) and plasma CGRP of EA group increased evidently (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found among 3 groups in myocardial CGRP contents and between control group and model group in spinal CGRP contents (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: EA of "Xinshu" (BL 15)-"Jueyinshu" (BL 14) may suppress isoproterenol-injection induced myocardial injury and plasma CGRP possibly takes part in the protective effect of EA in resisting myocardial ischemia injury.