Serum miR-128-2 Serves as a Prognostic Marker for Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Circulating miRNAs are promising biomarkers for predicting the aggressiveness of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to identify differentially expressed miRNAs in the serum of HCC patients with different Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage, and to investigate the potential of serum miRNAs as biomarkers for patient outcomes. In the discovery stage, TaqMan Low-Density Array was used to test the difference in levels of serum miRNAs between 20 patients with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) and 20 patients without PVTT. The detected serum miRNAs then were validated in 182 patients. Fifteen serum miRNAs showed more than two-fold higher expression in patients with PVTT, and miR-128-2 was found to be significantly up-regulated and was selected for further validation. In the validation stage, patients were divided into two groups with low or high serum miR-128-2 using the median expression level of all 182 cases as the cut-off point. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with low level of serum miR-128-2 had favorable trends of survival (log rank = 13.031, p < 0.001). The median survivals for patients with a low and high level of serum miR-128-2 were 625 (95% CI, 527–722) days and 426 (95% CI, 362–491) days, respectively. MiR-128-2 was also an independent factor of overall survival (p = 0.001, HR 2.793, 95%CI 1.550, 5.033). Serum levels of the ubiquitously expressed miR-128-2 showed no significant correlation with parameters of liver damage or liver function. In addition, expressions of miR-128-2 in HCC tissues were up-regulated in comparison with adjacent non-tumor tissues. In conclusion, serum level of miR-128-2 serves as a noninvasive biomarker for the overall survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.     

Multiple species of wild tree peonies gave rise to the ‘king of flowers’, Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews

The origin of cultivated tree peonies, known as the ‘king of flowers'' in China for more than 1000 years, has attracted considerable interest, but remained unsolved. Here, we conducted phylogenetic analyses of explicitly sampled traditional cultivars of tree peonies and all wild species from the shrubby section Moutan of the genus Paeonia based on sequences of 14 fast-evolved chloroplast regions and 25 presumably single-copy nuclear markers identified from RNA-seq data. The phylogeny of the wild species inferred from the nuclear markers was fully resolved and largely congruent with morphology and classification. The incongruence between the nuclear and chloroplast trees suggested that there had been gene flow between the wild species. The comparison of nuclear and chloroplast phylogenies including cultivars showed that the cultivated tree peonies originated from homoploid hybridization among five wild species. Since the origin, thousands of cultivated varieties have spread worldwide, whereas four parental species are currently endangered or on the verge of extinction. The documentation of extensive homoploid hybridization involved in tree peony domestication provides new insights into the mechanisms underlying the origins of garden ornamentals and the way of preserving natural genetic resources through domestication.     

Plant Photosynthesis-Irradiance Curve Responses to Pollution Show Non-Competitive Inhibited Michaelis Kinetics

Photosynthesis-irradiance (PI) curves are extensively used in field and laboratory research to evaluate the photon-use efficiency of plants. However, most existing models for PI curves focus on the relationship between the photosynthetic rate (Pn) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and do not take account of the influence of environmental factors on the curve. In the present study, we used a new non-competitive inhibited Michaelis-Menten model (NIMM) to predict the co-variation of Pn, PAR, and the relative pollution index (I). We then evaluated the model with published data and our own experimental data. The results indicate that the Pn of plants decreased with increasing I in the environment and, as predicted, were all fitted well by the NIMM model. Therefore, our model provides a robust basis to evaluate and understand the influence of environmental pollution on plant photosynthesis.     

The complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the greater Indian rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis, and the Phylogenetic relationship among Carnivora, Perissodactyla, and Artiodactyla (+ Cetacea)

The sequence (16,829 nt) of the complete mitochondrial genome of the greater Indian rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis, was determined. Like other perissodactyls studied (horse and donkey) the rhinoceros demonstrates length variation (heteroplasmy) associated with different numbers of repetitive motifs in the control region. The 16,829-nt variety of the molecule includes 36 identical control region motifs. The evolution of individual peptide-coding genes was examined by comparison with a distantly related perissodactyl, the horse, and the relationships among the orders Carnivora, Perissodactyla, and Artiodactyla (+ Cetacea) were examined on the basis of concatenated sequences of 12 mitochondrial peptide-coding genes. The phylogenetic analyses grouped Carnivora, Perissodactyla, and Artiodactyla (+ Cetacea) into a superordinal clade and within this clade a sister group relationship was recognized between Carnivora and Perissodactyla to the exclusion of Artiodactyla (+ Cetacea) . On the basis of the molecular difference between the rhinoceros and the horse and by applying as a reference to Artiodactyl/Cetacean divergence set at 60 million years ago (MYA), the evolutionary divergence between the families Rhinocerotidae and Equidae was dated to approximately 50 MYA.      

MALE ORIENTATION INHIBITOR OF COTTON BOLLWORM: IDENTIFICATION OF COMPOUNDS PRODUCED BY MALE HAIRPENCIL GLANDS1)

Abstract  Extracts of hairpencils ffom male cotton bollworm moth were analyzed by capillary gas chromatography, acid methanolysis, and GC-MS. Ten components have been identified as_: 14; OH, 14: Ac, 14: COOH, 211–16: OH, 16: OH, 16: Ac, 16: COOH, 18: OH, 18: Ac, and 18: COOH. Based on the statistics of titer of each chemical, the total amount of three saturated alcohols is over 75%. The amounts of the chemicals in the hairpencils are related to the age of males. There are no chemicals identified in the extracts from males less than 10 h after eclosion, then the quantity of compounds increased rapidly during 48 h after adult eclosion. After 5 days, the quantity decreased.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Triptolide inhibits angiogenesis in microvascular endothelial cells through regulation of miR-92a

Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry - Atherosclerosis is one common chronic inflammatory disease in which angiogenesis is involved. Here we established an in vitro cell model of angiogenesis...     

Rewiring central carbon metabolism for tyrosol and salidroside production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for high-level production of aromatic chemicals has received increasing attention in recent years. Tyrosol production from glucose by S. cerevisiae is considered an environmentally sustainable and safe approach. However, the production of tyrosol and salidroside by engineered S. cerevisiae has been reported to be lower than 2 g/L to date. In this study, S. cerevisiae was engineered with a push-pull-restrain strategy to efficiently produce tyrosol and salidroside from glucose. The biosynthetic pathways of ethanol, phenylalanine, and tryptophan were restrained by disrupting PDC1, PHA2, and TRP3. Subsequently, tyrosol biosynthesis was enhanced with a metabolic pull strategy of introducing PcAAS and EcTyrA^M53I/A354V. Moreover, a metabolic push strategy was implemented with the heterologous expression of phosphoketolase (Xfpk), and then erythrose 4-phosphate was synthesized simultaneously by two pathways, the Xfpk-based pathway and the pentose phosphate pathway, in S. cerevisiae. Furthermore, the heterologous expression of Xfpk alone in S. cerevisiae efficiently improved tyrosol production compared with the coexpression of Xfpk and phosphotransacetylase. Finally, the tyrosol yield increased by approximately 135-folds, compared with that of parent strain. The total amount of tyrosol and salidroside with glucose fed-batch fermentation was over 10 g/L and reached levels suitable for large-scale production.