蛹虫草MF27菌糠多糖对肝细胞氧化损伤的保护作用

蛹虫草是一种可利用大米、小麦等谷物培育的名贵药用真菌,其采收后的菌糠里仍富含许多生物活性物质。本研究立足于蛹虫草菌糠多糖,先分析其化学抗氧化活性,再以H₂O₂诱导氧化应激损伤的LO2细胞为模型,评价其对肝细胞氧化损伤的保护作用,进而解析活性多糖的单糖组分。结果显示,菌糠多糖能够有效清除DPPH自由基、羟基（?OH）自由基和ABTS自由基,EC₅₀分别为0.26mg/mL、1.03mg/mL、0.57mg/mL,提示其具有良好的抗氧化能力;在H₂O₂诱导氧化应激损伤的LO2细胞中,菌糠多糖能有效地保护细胞形态的完整性,并且随浓度梯度递增式地提高细胞存活率,当多糖浓度为5mg/mL时,细胞存活率可达91.83%;在分析其作用机制上,与模型组对比,菌糠多糖能通过调节细胞抗氧化酶SOD（提高4.91倍）和CAT（提高3.40倍）的表达来清除ROS含量（P<0.01）,降低氧化损害;经检测,虫草菌糠活性多糖主要含有葡萄糖、甘露糖、半乳糖、阿拉伯糖、葡萄糖醛酸、木糖、半乳糖醛酸、鼠李糖和岩藻糖等单糖。研究结果表明蛹虫草MF27菌糠多糖具有保护肝细胞氧化损伤的作用,为进一步开发和利用虫草菌糠提供了重要理论依据。     

The fungal community and its interaction with the concentration of short-chain fatty acids in the faeces of Chenghua,Yorkshire and Tibetan pigs

Despite their important roles in host nutrition and metabolism, and potential to cause disease, our knowledge of the fungal community in the mammalian gut is quite limited. To date, diversity and composition of fungi in swine gut still remains unknown. Therefore, the first internal transcribed spacer of fungi in faecal samples from three breeds of pigs (10 pigs for each breed) was sequenced based on an Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform, and the relationship between the fungal community and the concentrations of main short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) was also analysed. Results indicated that Chenghua (local, higher body fat rate), Yorkshire (foreign, higher lean meat and growth rate) and Tibetan (plateau, stronger disease resistance) pigs harboured distinct fungal community. The Basidiomycota and Ascomycota presented as the two predominant phyla, with Loreleia, Russula and Candida as the top three genera in all samples. Network analysis revealed a total of 35 correlations among different fungal genera, with 27 (77.14%) positive and 8 (22.86%) negative pairwise interactions. Canonical correspondence analysis suggested that fungi in the faeces of pigs were more correlated to the concentration of acetate and butyrate rather than propionate. Spearman’s correlation further showed that Tomentella was positively correlated to both acetate and butyrate, and Loreleia was positively correlated to propionate (P < 0.05), while Nephroma and Taiwanofungus were negatively correlated to acetate and propionate (P < 0.05). These findings expanded our knowledge on the intestinal fungi in pigs with different genotypes and phenotypes, indicating that fungi may play an indispensable role during the metabolism of host and the maintenance of intestinal health. The cross-feeding between fungi and other microorganisms may be crucial during the digestion of dietary carbohydrates and the associated physiological processes, which is worthy to be further studied.     

The protective effects of C16 peptide and angiopoietin-1 compound in lipopolysaccharide-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome

C16 peptide and angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) have been found to have anti-inflammatory activity in various inflammation-related diseases. However, their combined role in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has not been investigated yet. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of C16 peptide and Ang-1 in combination with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory insult in vitro and in vivo. Human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells and human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells were used as cell culture systems, and an ARDS rodent model was used for in vivo studies. Our results demonstrated that C16 and Ang-1 in combination significantly suppressed inflammatory cell transmigration by 33% in comparison with the vehicle alone, and decreased the lung tissue wet-to-dry lung weight ratio to a maximum of 1.53, compared to 3.55 in the vehicle group in ARDS rats. Moreover, C  +  A treatment reduced the histology injury score to 60% of the vehicle control, enhanced arterial oxygen saturation (SO₂), decreased arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure (PCO₂), and increased oxygen partial pressure (PO₂) in ARDS rats, while also improving the survival rate from 47% (7/15) to 80% (12/15) and diminishing fibrosis, necrosis, and apoptosis in lung tissue. Furthermore, when C  +  A therapy was administered 4 h following LPS injection, the treatment showed significant alleviating effects on pulmonary inflammatory cell infiltration 24 h postinsult. In conclusion, our in vitro and in vivo studies show that C16 and Ang-1 exert protective effects against LPS-induced inflammatory insult. C16 and Ang-1 hold promise as a novel agent against LPS-induced ARDS. Further studies are needed to determine the potential for C16 and Ang-1 in combination in treating inflammatory lung diseases.     

Allopatric divergence and hybridization within Cupressus chengiana (Cupressaceae), a threatened conifer in the northern Hengduan Mountains of western China

Having a comprehensive understanding of population structure, genetic differentiation and demographic history is important for the conservation and management of threatened species. High‐throughput sequencing (HTS) provides exciting opportunities to address a wide range of factors for conservation genetics. Here, we generated HTS data and identified 266,884 high‐quality single nucleotide polymorphisms from 82 individuals of Cupressus chengiana, to assess population genomics across the species' full range, comprising the Daduhe River (DDH), Minjiang River (MJR) and Bailongjiang River (BLJ) catchments in western China. admixture , principal components analysis and phylogenetic analyses indicated that each region contains a distinct lineage, with high levels of differentiation between them (DDH, MJR and BLJ lineages). MJR was newly distinguished compared to previous surveys, and evidence including coalescent simulations supported a hybrid origin of MJR during the Quaternary. Each of these three lineages should be recognized as an evolutionarily significant unit (ESU), due to isolation, differing genetic adaptations and different demographic history. Currently, each ESU faces distinct threats, and will require different conservation strategies. Our work shows that population genomic approaches using HTS can reconstruct the complex evolutionary history of threatened species in mountainous regions, and hence inform conservation efforts, and contribute to the understanding of high biodiversity in mountains.     

miR-194-5p negatively regulates the proliferation and differentiation of rabbit skeletal muscle satellite cells

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - Skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs), also known as a multipotential stem cell population, play a crucial role during muscle growth and regeneration. In...     

Antifungal Effect of Long Noncoding RNA 9708-1 in the Vulvovaginal Candidiasis Murine Model

Mycopathologia - Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) caused by Candida spp. affects 70–75% of women at least once during their lives. We aim to elucidate the potential mechanism of VVC and...     

Elevated angiotensin II induces platelet apoptosis through promoting oxidative stress in an AT1R-dependent manner during sepsis

Thrombocytopenia is independently related with increased mortality in severe septic patients. Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is elevated in septic subjects; accumulating studies show that angiotensin II (Ang II) stimulate the intrinsic apoptosis pathway by promoting reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. However, the mechanisms underlying the relationship of platelet apoptosis and RAS system in sepsis have not been fully elucidated. The present study aimed to elucidate whether the RAS was involved in the pathogenesis of sepsis-associated thrombocytopenia and explore the underlying mechanisms. We found that elevated plasma Ang II was associated with decreased platelet count in both patients with sepsis and experimental animals exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Besides, Ang II treatment induced platelet apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner in primary isolated platelets, which was blocked by angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) antagonist losartan, but not by angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R) antagonist PD123319. Moreover, inhibiting AT1R by losartan attenuated LPS-induced platelet apoptosis and alleviated sepsis-associated thrombocytopenia. Furthermore, Ang II treatment induced oxidative stress level in a concentration-dependent manner in primary isolated platelets, which was partially reversed by the AT1R antagonist losartan. The present study demonstrated that elevated Ang II directly stimulated platelet apoptosis through promoting oxidative stress in an AT1R-dependent manner in sepsis-associated thrombocytopenia. The results would helpful for understanding the role of RAS system in sepsis-associated thrombocytopenia.