MicroRNA‐125b modulates inflammatory chemokine CCL4 expression in immune cells and its reduction causes CCL4 increase with age

Chemokines play a pivotal role in regulating the immune response through a tightly controlled expression. Elevated levels of inflammatory chemokines commonly occur with aging but the mechanism underlying this age‐associated change is not fully understood. Here, we report the role of microRNA‐125b (miR‐125b) in regulating inflammatory CC chemokine 4 (CCL4) expression in human immune cells and its altered expression with aging. We first analyzed the mRNA level of CCL4 in eight different types of immune cells including CD4 and CD8 T‐cell subsets (naïve, central and effector memory), B cells and monocytes in blood from both young (≤42 years) and old (≥70 years) adults. We observed that monocytes and naïve CD8 T cells expressed higher levels of CCL4 and exhibited an age‐related increase in CCL4. We then found the level of miR‐125b was inversely correlated with the level of CCL4 in these cells, and the level of miR‐125b was reduced in monocytes and naïve CD8 T cells of the old compared to the young adults. Knock‐down of miR‐125b by shRNA in monocytes and naïve CD8 T cells led to an increase of CCL4 protein, whereas enhanced miR‐125b expression by transfection in naïve CD8 T cells resulted in a reduction of the CCL4 mRNA and protein in response to stimulation. Finally, we demonstrated that miR‐125b action requires the ‘seed’ sequence in 3′UTR of CCL4. Together these findings demonstrated that miR‐125b is a negative regulator of CCL4 and its reduction is partially responsible for the age‐related increase of CCL4.     

Aniline Tetramer‐Graphene Oxide Composites for High Performance Supercapacitors

Polyaniline (PANI), a promising conducting polymer for supercapacitor, exhibits high specific capacitance and good rate capability. However, it suffers from low cycling stability due to the breakage or scission of polymer chains and loss of contact caused by the volume change during the charge–discharge, as well as the irreversible oxidation and reduction. Here, a strategy for using aniline tetramers loaded on graphene oxide (AT‐GO) is developed to prevent chain breaking and increase the tolerance of volume change. The potential window is also controlled to reduce the irreversible reactions. In a three electrode test, AT‐GO exhibits a good cycling stability with specific capacitance remaining more than 93 to 96% after 2000 cycles. In a two electrode test, the specific capacitance remains 97.7% of its initial specific capacitance after 2000 cycles by suppressing the side reactions. AT‐GO also shows a high specific capacitance of more than 769 F g^?1 at 1 A g^?1 and it remains 581 F g^?1 at 60 A g^?1, suggesting a good rate capability. These results suggest that AT‐GO is a promising electrode material for practical applications.     

Winter Refuge for Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus Mosquitoes in Hanoi during Winter

Dengue occurs throughout the year in Hanoi, Vietnam, despite winter low temperatures <10°C. During July 2010 to March 2012, we surveyed monthly for Aedes larvae and pupae in 120 houses in 8 Hanoi districts. Aedes albopictus preferred discarded containers in summer and pupal density drastically decreased in winter. Aedes aegypti preferred concrete tanks and this preference increased in winter. Even in winter, the lowest water temperature found in concrete tanks was >14°C, exceeding the developmental zero point of Ae. aegypti. Although jars, drums and concrete tanks were the dominant containers previously (1994–97) in Hanoi, currently the percentage of residences with concrete tanks was still high while jars and drums were quite low. Our study showed that concrete tanks with broken lids allowing mosquitoes access were important winter refuge for Ae. aegypti. We also indicate a concern about concrete tanks serving as foci for Ae. aegypti to expand their distribution in cooler regions.     

Pharmacological properties of ginsenosides in inflammation-derived cancers

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - Ginseng is commonly used as an herbal medicine for improvement of life quality. It is also used as a supplemental medication with anti-cancer drugs to enhance...     

Icariin reduces bone loss in a Rankl-induced transgenic medaka (Oryzias latipes) model for osteoporosis

Given the limitations and side effects of many synthetic drugs, natural products are an important alternative source for drugs and medications for many diseases. Icariin (ICA), one of the main flavonoids from plants of the Epimedium genus, has been shown to ameliorate osteoporosis and improve bone health in preclinical studies. Those studies have used different in vivo models, mostly rodents, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The present study shows, for the first time, that ICA reduces bone damage in a Rankl-induced medaka fish (Oryzias latipes), a non-rodent osteoporosis model. Live imaging was previously performed in this model to characterize antiresorptive and bone-anabolic properties of drugs. Here, a new quantification method (I_M) was established based on the length of mineralized neural arches to quantify levels of bone mineralization damage and protection in early post-embryonic fish. This method was validated by quantification of three levels of bone damage in three independent Rankl fish lines, and by the determination of different degrees of severity of osteoporosis-like phenotypes in one Rankl line exposed to variable Rankl induction schemes. I_M was also used to quantify the efficacy of alendronate and etidronate, two common anti-osteoporotic bisphosphonates, and revealed comparable bone protective effects for ICA and alendronate in this fish osteoporosis model. This study's data support the value of the medaka fish model for bone research and establish a method to screen for novel osteoprotective compounds.     

Cytotoxic and α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Xanthones from Garcinia mckeaniana Leaves and Molecular Docking Study

A new racemic xanthone, garmckeanin A ( 1 ), and eight known analogs 2 – 9 were isolated from the ethyl acetate (AcOEt) extract of the Vietnamese Garcinia mckeaniana leaves. Their structures were determined by MS and NMR spectral analyses and compared with the literature. The AcOEt extract showed good cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines KB, Lu, Hep-G2 and MCF7, with IC₅₀ values of 5.40–8.76 μg/mL, and it also possessed α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, with an IC₅₀ value of 9.17 μg/mL. Garmckeanin A ( 1 ) exhibited inhibition of all cancer cell lines, with an IC₅₀ value of 7.3–0.9 μM. Allanxanthone C ( 5 ) successfully controlled KB growth, with an IC₅₀ value of 0.54 μM, higher than that of the positive control, ellipticine (IC₅₀ 1.22 μM). Norathyriol ( 8 ) was a promising α-glucosidase inhibitor, with an IC₅₀ value of 0.07 μM, much higher than that of the positive control, acarbose (IC₅₀ 161.0 μM). The interactions of the potential α-glucosidase inhibitors with the C- and N-terminal domains of human intestinal α-glucosidase were also investigated by molecular docking study. The results indicated that bannaxanthone D ( 2 ), garcinone E ( 4 ), bannaxanthone E ( 6 ), and norathyriol ( 8 ) exhibit higher binding affinity to the C-terminal than to the N-terminal domain through essential residues in the active sites. In particular, compound 8 could be assumed to be the most potent mixed inhibitor.     

The genus Unixenus Jones, 1944 (Diplopoda, Penicillata, Polyxenida) in Australia

The penicillate genus Unixenus Jones, 1944 is widespread, with species found in Africa, Madagascar, India and Australia. Each of the two Australian species was originally described from single samples from Western Australia. In this study, collections of Penicillata from museums in all states of Australia were examined to provide further details of the two described species, to revise the diagnoses for both the genus and the species, and to better understand the distribution of the two species in Australia. In addition, two new species Unixenus karajinensissp. n. and Unixenus corticolussp. n. are described.     

Coalescent histories on phylogenetic networks and detection of hybridization despite incomplete lineage sorting

Analyses of the increasingly available genomic data continue to reveal the extent of hybridization and its role in the evolutionary diversification of various groups of species. We show, through extensive coalescent-based simulations of multilocus data sets on phylogenetic networks, how divergence times before and after hybridization events can result in incomplete lineage sorting with gene tree incongruence signatures identical to those exhibited by hybridization. Evolutionary analysis of such data under the assumption of a species tree model can miss all hybridization events, whereas analysis under the assumption of a species network model would grossly overestimate hybridization events. These issues necessitate a paradigm shift in evolutionary analysis under these scenarios, from a model that assumes a priori a single source of gene tree incongruence to one that integrates multiple sources in a unifying framework. We propose a framework of coalescence within the branches of a phylogenetic network and show how this framework can be used to detect hybridization despite incomplete lineage sorting. We apply the model to simulated data and show that the signature of hybridization can be revealed as long as the interval between the divergence times of the species involved in hybridization is not too small. We reanalyze a data set of 106 loci from 7 in-group Saccharomyces species for which a species tree with no hybridization has been reported in the literature. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that hybridization occurred during the evolution of this group, explaining a large amount of the incongruence in the data. Our findings show that an integrative approach to gene tree incongruence and its reconciliation is needed. Our framework will help in systematically analyzing genomic data for the occurrence of hybridization and elucidating its evolutionary role.