Quantifying the Effect of Land-cover Change on the Endangered Farmland Green Treefrog (Zhangixalus arvalis) in an Agricultural Landscape: Implications for Conservation.

Habitat loss and fragmentation have a significant negative effect on amphibian species, particularly those with specialized habitat requirements. The endangered farmland green treefrog (Zhangixalus arvalis) primarily inhabits woodlands of agricultural landscapes in central Taiwan. Recently, due to increased demands for pineapple products, many woodlands, particularly bamboo plantations, were converted to pineapple fields. This study aimed to quantify the effect of habitat loss and fragmentation on Z. arvalis due to changes in land cover in an agricultural landscape. The study area contained 34,243 50 m × 50 m grids. In 2006 and 2014-2015, we used acoustic surveys to survey the occurrence of Z. arvalis in each grid. We obtained satellite images of the study area for 2006 and 2014, and we assigned the land-cover type of each grid to one of the following six types: woodland, brushland, cropland, bareland, manmade structures and water body. We examined whether Z. arvalis preferred a certain land-cover type by comparing the proportion of cover types available and the proportion of cover types used by the frogs. Furthermore, we used occurrence records for 2006 and 2014-2015 and applied the Maximum Entropy Model to predict suitable habitat for the respective years. We mapped the loss of suitable habitat and used six indices to quantify habitat fragmentation within the 8 years. We also tested the prediction that the occupancy rate of Z. arvalis in different-sized habitat patches was a function of patch size. Zhangixalus arvalis exhibited a strong preference for woodland, but avoided cropland and manmade structures. From 2006 to 2014-2015, the suitable habitat decreased 4.1%, and all six indices showed an increase in habitat fragmentation. The occupancy rate of different-sized woodland patches was positively correlated with patch size. Mapping suitable habitat and identifying the potential gaps in functional habitat connectivity can be used to guide effective measures for conserving Z. arvalis.

The Chinese medicine JC-001 enhances the chemosensitivity of Lewis lung tumors to cisplatin by modulating the immune response.

BACKGROUND: JC-001 is a Chinese medicine that can modulate the immunity in Hepa 1-6 tumor-bearing mice, and we questioned whether JC-001 can serve as efficient adjuvant chemotherapy. We aimed to identify a novel approach for enhancing cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (CDDP)-based chemotherapy by immunomodulation. METHODS: The anti-tumor activity in vitro was determined based on foci formation and a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. A LLC1 tumor xenograft model was used to analyze the activity of tumor rejection in vivo. The tumors were analyzed through hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining and cytokine arrays. RESULTS: JC-001 suppressed foci formation and reduced the viability of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC1) cells in vitro. JC-001 suppressed LLC1 tumor growth in immunodeficient BALB/c nude mice and in immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice to an even greater extent. Furthermore, JC-001 up-regulated interferon-γ expression in the tumor microenvironment, enhanced the Th1 response in tumor-bearing mice, and increased the chemosensitivity of LLC1 tumors to CDDP chemotherapy. The results of our study suggest that JC-001 is associated with low cytotoxicity and can significantly suppress tumor growth by enhancing the Th1 response. CONCLUSION: JC-001 is a Chinese medicine with potential clinical applications in CDDP-based chemotherapeutic regimens.

Antitumor Activity of the Chinese Medicine JC-001 Is Mediated by Immunomodulation in a Murine Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

JC-001 is a Chinese medicine that has been used to treat liver disease; however, its significance in cancer treatment has not been characterized. In this study, we used an immunocompetent tumor model to characterize the antitumor activity of JC-001. A total of 48 Hepa 1-6 tumor-bearing C57BL/6 mice were randomly grouped into 4 groups and treated with H2O or JC-001 via oral administration. After hepatoma cell lines, including HepG2, Hep3B, SK-Hep-1, and Hepa 1-6, underwent 96 hours of JC-001 treatment, a low cytotoxic effect was observed. In contrast, no direct cytotoxic effect of JC-001 on a normal human liver cell line, THLE-3, was observed under the same incubation conditions. Using a murine tumor model, we found that tumor growth could be inhibited by JC-001 in C57BL/6 mice but not in immunodeficient mice. Histopathological analysis of tumors from C57BL/6 mice revealed immune cell infiltration in tumors from the JC-001-treated group, as observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining; in addition, Ki67, hypoxia-inducible factor-1-α, and high mobility group box 1 expression levels were suppressed in the tumors. Both the coculture assay and murine spleen mRNA quantitative PCR analyses demonstrated that JC-001 could suppress Th17 immunity. Our data suggest that JC-001 is a Chinese medicine with low cytotoxicity that can significantly suppress tumor growth by immune regulation. This herbal remedy has great potential for future clinical application in hepatoma therapy.