Latest ArticlesJasmonic acid (JA) is an important signal molecule involved in plant resistance, and allene oxide synthase (AOS) is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of jasmonates. In this study, a full-length cDNA of AsAOS1 gene was cloned from Aquilaria sinensis. Meanwhile, the sequence analysis, prokaryotic expression, purification, tissue-specific expression analysis and expression analysis under different abiotic stresses and hormone treatments were performed. The open reading frame (ORF) of AsAOS1 gene was 1 575 bp, encoding a protein of 524 amino acid residues, with a predicted molecular mass of 58.70 kDa. AsAOS1 protein possessed the conserved sequences of cytochrome P450 (CYP450). The phylogenetic analysis indicated that AsAOS1 protein had the highest level of homology with AOS protein of Citrus sinensis. The recombinant AsAOS1 protein was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) cells using the prokaryotic expression vector pET28a-AsAOS1 and the recombinant AsAOS1 was purified by Ni2+ affinity chromatography. Expression analysis results in different tissues showed that AsAOS1 was primarily observed in stems, and then roots, followed by leaves. AsAOS1 transcript level was significantly induced after 12 h treatment of NaCl, cold temperature and CdCl2. Furthermore, AsAOS1 expression level was enhanced upon methyl jasmonate (MeJA), salicylic acid (SA) and abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. However, mannitol and gibberellin (GA3) treatments had little influence on the expression level of AsAOS1. These results provides valuable insights into the role of JA in the mechanism of agarwood formation and plant resistance.
Learning and memory decline is an important manifestation of aging, seriously affecting the health and life quality of the elderly. Aging-related learning and memory decline is often accompanied by decreased levels of norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitters in the relevant brain regions. Monoamine neurotransmitters in different brain regions bind to receptors and regulate synaptic plasticity, which play an important role in learning and memory. This article reviews the changes of monoamine neurotransmitters in different brain regions, the mechanisms in regulation of learning and memory, and the factors causing abnormal levels of neurotransmitters in the process of aging in order to better understand the mechanisms of senile learning and memory decline to facilitate drug research.
Integrin is a class of important cell surface molecules involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, adhesion and migration processes, which play an important role in a variety of pathological processes. In recent years, with the research in integrin regulation and the treatment of tumor, tissue fibrosis, and other fields, integrin has gradually become a new target in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In this article, we provide a summary on the advances of the regulation of integrin gene expression.
The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a serious infectious disease infected by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein 7 (HIV-1 NCp7) plays an important role in the progress of virus reverse transcription and integration. Thus, the central role and conservative nature of the NCp7 protein make it an attractive target for development of novel anti-HIV agents. This review summarizes the research progress of HIV-1 NCp7 inhibitors in the past decade.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease of the brain. Due to the uncertain pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of AD is difficult. Clinic symptoms of AD including progressive loss of memory and spatial orientation are rooted in synaptic and neuronal loss. Unsuccessful clinical trials of several candidate drugs based on amyloid hypothesis and tau hypothesis have led to exploration of new approaches. Neuro-inflammation characterized by dysfunction in microglia is believed to be the hallmark of AD and also the initiator of downstream responses in neurodegeneration. Alleviate microglia activation and neuro-inflammation may delay AD development. In this paper, we describe the current literature on interaction between microglia and neuron, and review the progress in AD drug discovery and neuro-inflammatory inhibitors for treatment of AD.
As a new carrier of intercellular information, the exosomes is widely regarded as a natural drug carrier for its extensive distribution, non-immunity and targeting in human body. Chinese herbal drugs act at multiple targets and through different pathways in the prevention and treatment of diseases, but the preparation is relatively simple, there is a low solubility in the effective ingredients and low bioavailability, which limit the efficacy of the medicine. Using the new drug delivery approach of the exosomes, it is better to deliver the effective components to target cells. In this review, we reviewed the biological characteristics of exosomes and its application as a carrier of Chinese herbal drugs.
This study was designed to investigate the effect of Huangqin Tang (HQT) on gut microbiota of ulcerative colitis (UC) rats, and to explore the relationship between Huangqin Tang and ulcerative colitis and gut microbiota. Fifteen male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group, trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) group and TNBS + HQT group. The model of UC rats with cell immunoreactivity was made established using the compound method (TNBS and ethanol). After 10 days of administration, 15 fecal samples were collected and total DNA was extracted from the samples to get total DNA. The primers were designed on bacterial 16S rRNA V3-V4 region sequences and Illumina Miseq platform was used for high-throughput sequencing. It was found that the principal component analysis (PCA), the principal co-ordinates analysis (PCoA) and the non-metric multidimensional scale analysis (NMDS) based on the Beta diversity distance showed that there were significant differences in the composition of the gut microbiota among the three groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the Lactobacillus of the TNBS group was significantly decreased (P < 0.05), and the Lachnospiraceae, Desulfovibrio, Roseburia, Ruminococcaceae were significantly increased (P < 0.05). Compared with the TNBS group, the Lactobacillus in the TNBS + HQT group was significantly increased (P < 0.01), and the Alistipes was significantly decreased (P < 0.05). The study suggests that the Huangqin Tang plays a role in the treatment of ulcerative colitis partially through regulating the structure of the gut microbiota.
The aim of this study was to investigate the regulatory effect of the total glycoside extracted from leaves of Rehmannia (TLR) and Dihuangye total glycoside capsule (DTG) on intestinal microflora in diabetic nephropathy rats. Forty-eight rats were randomly divided into the control group (C), model group (M), Huangkui capsule group (0.75 g·kg-1·d-1, HK), irbesartan group (27 mg·kg-1·d-1, YX), TLR low dose group (4.3 g·kg-1·d-1, DHYL), TLR high dose group (7.2 g·kg-1·d-1, DHYH), DTG low dose group (216 mg·kg-1·d-1, JNL), DTG high dose group (360 mg·kg-1·d-1, JNH). Rat model of diabetic nephropathy was induced by intraperitoneal injection of small dose of streptozotocin (45 mg·kg-1, STZ) and feeding high-fat diet and 5% glucose drinking water. After oral administration for two weeks, the 16S rDNA sequencing method was used to study the effects of the TLR and DTG on intestinal flora in diabetic nephropathy rats. The results showed that compared with the control group, the intestinal flora of diabetic nephropathy rats had changed from phylum units to the genus units. Moreover, the proportion of lactobacilli in the intestinal bacteria of the model group was significantly decreased, and the proportion of lactobacilli in the administration group was increased, especially the YX group, TLR low dose group and DTG low dose group. The data suggest that the total glycosides of Rehmannia glutinosa improved the disorder of intestinal flora in STZ-induced diabetic nephropathy rats.
The aim of present study was to explore the effect of triptolide derivative LB-1 on imiquimod (IMQ) induced psoriasiform inflammation in BALB/c mice, and to investigate the immune mechanism of LB-1 in the prevention and treatment of psoriasis. In the present study, topical application of IMQ for seven days induced the psoriasiform inflammation in BALB/c mice. This is a promising mouse model of psoriasis for the natural immune reaction compared to those induced by xenograft, trangenic or gene knockout. psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score, hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and flowcytometry were employed to investigate the changes of psoriasiform inflammation, histopathological response and percentage of T cells, respectively. The result showed that LB-1 significantly attenuated the psoriasiform inflammation. Com-pared with model group, PASI score were decreased in the LB-1 group. In the isolated immunocytes of spleen, LB-1 decreased percentage of CD8+ (P < 0.01) T cells and increased the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ T cells at the dosage of 2 mg·kg-1 (P < 0.01), whereas LB-1 raised percentage of CD4+ T cells and CD3+ T cells at the dosage of 4 mg·kg-1. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that LB-1 attenuated psoriasiform inflammation induced by imiquimod in BALB/c mice. The mechanism of LB-1 action may be related to change percentage of CD4+ T, CD8+ T cells in the spleen. These results provide a basis for LB-1 or other triptolide derivative in the intervention of psoriasis in the future.
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Danlou (correspondence between prescription and syndrome) tablet and Shengmai capsule (non-correspondence between prescription and syndrome) on mini-swine phlegm-stasis syndrome of coronary heart disease (CHD). 24 mini-swines were randomly divided into normal control group, model group, Danlou tablet group (0.24 g·kg-1) and Shengmai capsule group (0.14 g·kg-1). Phlegm-stasis syndrome of coronary heart disease was established by high-fat feeding and coronary intervention balloon injury. After 8 weeks of administration, blood lipid levels and blood rheology was detected. Echocardiography was used to examine the changes in heart function, and the extent of infarction was determined by nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) staining method. The main symptoms, accompanied symptoms, tongue and pulse signs of the coronary heart disease mini-swine with phlegm-stasis syndrome were observed according to the symptom-graded scoring method. The results showed that Danlou tablet decreased serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), improved the blood rheology (P < 0.01) and cardiac function, increased the left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) and fraction shortening (FS) value (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), reduced the myocardial infarction area/ventricular area (P < 0.01), significantly lowered the scores of four diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Shengmai capsule improved the hemorheology indices (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), EF and FS value (P < 0.05), reduced the tongue and pulse signs scores (P < 0.05). However, Shengmai capsule failed to show therapeutic effects on blood lipid metabolism, the myocardial infarction area and primary symptom and syndrome score. The results suggest that as a drug for the treatment of Qi and Yin deficiency syndrome of CHD, Danlou tablet has limited therapeutic effects on phlegm-stasis syndrome of CHD. Only by the prescription correspondence with syndrome, using drug for the treatment of phlegm-stasis syndrome of CHD to treat phlegm-stasis syndrome of CHD, the prescription has a comprehensive therapeutic effect.
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