Polysaccharides derived from Balanophora polyandra significantly suppressed the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells through P53‐mediated pathway

Ovarian cancer (OC) is ranked the first among the cancers threatening women's health. It attracts tremendous attention of cancer researchers because of its extremely high mortality rate. Recent studies have indicated that traditional herbal medicines (THMs) can play a pivotal role in cancer prevention and treatment. THMs are gaining popularity as a source of anti‐cancer agents. The plant of Balanophora polyandra, which has been used as a traditional herbal medicine, has been known for exhibiting potential haemostatic, analgesic, anti‐inflammatory and anti‐cancer properties. However, few studies on inhibitory effect of B. polyandra on OC have been performed. In the present study, we found that B. polyandra polysaccharides (BPP) induced cell cycle arrest at S phase, triggered apoptosis and inhibited migration and invasion of OC cells. Furthermore, we also found that there was a potential and close relationship between BPP and P53‐mediated pathway. Overall, these findings suggest that BPP can be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of OC.     

Glucosamine protects against radiation‐induced lung injury via inhibition of epithelial‐mesenchymal transition

Radiotherapy is one of the most important treatments for chest tumours. Although there are plenty of strategies to prevent damage to normal lung tissues, it cannot be avoided with the emergence of radiation‐induced lung injury. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential radioprotective effects of glucosamine, which exerted anti‐inflammatory activity in joint inflammation. In this study, we found glucosamine relieved inflammatory response and structural damages in lung tissues after radiation via HE staining. Then, we detected the level of epithelial‐mesenchymal transition marker in vitro and in vivo, which we could clearly observe that glucosamine treatment inhibited epithelial‐mesenchymal transition. Besides, we found glucosamine could inhibit apoptosis and promote proliferation of normal lung epithelial cells in vitro caused by radiation. In conclusion, our data showed that glucosamine alleviated radiation‐induced lung injury via inhibiting epithelial‐mesenchymal transition, which indicated glucosamine could be a novel potential radioprotector for radiation‐induced lung injury.     

Circulating exosome‐derived bona fide long non‐coding RNAs predicting the occurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Although the diagnosis and therapy approach developed, techniques for the early diagnosis of HCC remain insufficient which results in poor prognosis of patients. The traditional biomarker AFP, however, has been proved with low specificity. Circulating exosomal ncRNAs revealed different profiles reflecting the characteristics of tumour. In this study, we mainly focused on circulating exosomal ncRNAs which might be the fingerprint for HCC, especially for the diagnosis or metastasis prediction. A high throughput lncRNA microarray in exosomes extracted from cell‐free plasma was applied. The risk score analysis was employed to screen the potential exosome‐derived lncRNAs in two independent sets based on different clinical parameters in 200 paired HCC patients. After a multi‐stage validation, we finally revealed three lncRNAs, ENSG00000248932.1, ENST00000440688.1 and ENST00000457302.2, increased in HCC comparing with the both chronic hepatitis (CH) patients and cancer‐free controls. ROC curve revealed a higher sensitivity and specificity in predicting the occurrence of HCC from cancer‐free controls and CH patients with the area under curve (AUC) of 0.905 and 0.879 by combining AFP. The three lncRNA panel combined with AFP also indicted a fingerprint function in predicting the metastasis of HCC with the AUC of 0.870. In conclusion, ENSG00000248932.1, ENST00000440688.1 and ENST00000457302.2 might be the potential biomarker for the tumorigenesis prediction from CH patients or healthy controls and may also be applied for dynamic monitoring the metastasis of HCC.     

陕北白绒山羊DRB1基因外显子2遗传变异分析

本研究通过对123只陕北白绒山羊DRB1基因外显子2的遗传变异分析,旨在获得陕北白绒山羊DRB1基因的多态性及变异信息,为山羊抗病基因的挖掘研究提供基础资料。本研究共获得6条陕北白绒山羊DRB1基因外显子2序列,其中4条为首次发现。生物信息学分析表明DRB1位点具有较高的多态性,6条等位基因可能起源于2个祖先基因。在长期的进化过程中,DRB1位点受到了明显的选择压力作用,这种选择作用有助于陕北白绒山羊对当地气候的适应。蛋白质结构的预测证实了DRB1*1与其它等位基因间的差异性,说明核苷酸变异可能会引起蛋白质结构的改变,最终可能影响宿主对病原体的免疫应答。本次对陕北白绒山羊DRB1基因多态性的调查与分析有助于筛选疾病抗性和易感性MHC (Major histocompatibility complex)候选基因,进而可加速绒山羊抗病品系的改良与培育进程。     

From signaling to function: how strigolactones regulate plant development

Science China Life Sciences -     

Changes in vegetation and soil properties following 6 years of enclosure in riparian corridors

河岸带是维持生物多样性的重要生态系统之一。然而,由于过度放牧引起的植被消耗和过度开垦等人类活动的干扰,河岸带植被多样性和植被盖度受到严重的破坏,甚至威胁了河道的稳定性。围栏封育在退化草地生态系统修复中被广泛应用,但对退化河岸带植被群落和土壤性质的影响尚不明确。本研究的目的旨在明确围封的实施是否会促进河岸带植被群落的物种组成、物种丰富度和物种多样性恢复,土壤氧分如何随围封年限的增加而变化。辽河干流自2012年起被围栏封育管理,本研究在辽河干流河岸带沿岸设置了20个草本群落长期观测样地,记录了2012–2017年样地中植被高度、盖度和个体数量等参数用于物种丰富度和物种多样性的统计分析。同时,分别测定了2012年和2017年植被群落土壤氧分含量,验证了植被群落和土壤氧分对围封的反馈,研究了2012–2017年辽河干流河岸带的围栏封育对物种多样性和土壤氧分的影响。结果表明,随着围封年限的增加,辽河干流河岸带草本群落植被丰富度和多样性显著增加。物种组成方面,菊科植物的优势度显著增加,禾本科植物优势度显著下降。围封后植被群落的恢复和禁止耕作,加速了土壤中磷和钾的消耗,表现为显著降低,土壤有机质含量对围封的响应表现的相对滞后,并没有显著变化。综上所述,本研究为河岸带植被群落物种多样性、物种组成对围封的响应提供了新的见解。     

Ultrasensitive Deep-Ultraviolet Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors Using Aluminum-Graphene Metasurface: a Theoretical Insight

Plasmonics - This study investigates a versatile deep-ultraviolet (DUV) surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor by integrating a few graphene layers into low-cost aluminum (Al) thin film. The...     

Knockdown of DNA‐binding protein A enhances the chemotherapy sensitivity of colorectal cancer via suppressing the Wnt/β‐catenin/Chk1 pathway

DNA‐binding protein A (dbpA) is reported to be upregulated in many cancers and associated with tumor progress. The present study aimed to investigate the role of dbpA in 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU)‐resistant and oxaliplatin (L‐OHP)‐resistant colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. We found that 5‐FU and L‐OPH treatment promoted the expression of dbpA. Enhanced dbpA promoted the drug resistance of SW620 cells to 5‐FU and L‐OHP. DbpA knockdown inhibited cell proliferation, induced cell apoptosis, and cell cycle arrested in SW620/5‐FU and SW620/L‐OHP cells. Besides, dbpA short hairpin RNA (shRNA) enhanced the cytotoxicity of 5‐FU and L‐OHP to SW620/5‐FU and SW620/L‐OHP cells. Meanwhile, dbpA shRNA inhibited the activation of the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway that induced by 5‐FU stimulation in SW620/5‐FU cells. Activation of the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway or overexpression of checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) abrogated the promoting effect of dbpA downregulation on 5‐FU sensitivity of CRC cells. Importantly, downregulation of dbpA suppressed tumor growth and promoted CRC cells sensitivity to 5‐FU in vivo. Our study indicated that the knockdown of dbpA enhanced the sensitivity of CRC cells to 5‐FU via Wnt/β‐catenin/Chk1 pathway, and DbpA may be a potential therapeutic target to sensitize drug resistance CRC to 5‐FU and L‐OHP.