Trace Elements in Fingernails of Healthy Chinese Centenarians

Trace element concentrations in body tissues of healthy centenarians have not been widely analyzed, yet they can be used as reference data leading to improved assessment of the aging process and monitoring of the micronutrient status of this age group. The present study sought to assess trace element concentrations and behaviors in the fingernails of healthy Chinese centenarians. The effects of gender on element concentrations, which also play an important role in determining the lifespan, were also investigated. Trace elements (Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Sr, and Zn) in the fingernails of 78 healthy Chinese centenarians were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The overall reference values obtained in milligram per kilogram are as follows: Ba, 5.10; Cd, 0.031; Co, 0.101; Cr, 0.82; Cu, 3.71; Fe, 154.35; Li, 0.31; Mn, 3.09; Mo, 0.040; Ni, 0.95; Pb, 1.86; Se, 0.44; Sr, 6.20; and Zn, 147.96. Data analysis showed that only Cr and Se concentrations show a normal distribution, and no significant difference between male and female groups was found for any element except Cr. Result also revealed that sufficient Se, Co, and Zn as well as lower or lack of exposure to Cr contribute positively to the lifespan of centenarians. The results suggest that regulating in vivo contents of trace elements, especially Se, Co, and Zn, is reasonable to intervene with geriatric diseases.     

重组骆驼蓬脂转移蛋白对宫颈癌HeLa细胞化疗的增敏作用

[目的]研究重组骆驼蓬脂转移蛋白(recombinant Peganum harmala lipid transfer protein,r Ph LTP)与顺铂(DDP)协同对宫颈癌He La细胞的抑制作用及可能的作用机制。[方法]四甲基偶氮咗蓝(MTT)法检测He La细胞生长的抑制率;Annexin-V/PI双染法检测细胞凋亡率,流式细胞术检测细胞内活性氧(ROS)的变化情况。[结果]r Ph LTP与DDP联合应用后与相应的DDP组相比,对细胞生长的抑制率显著增强(P0.01),低浓度r Ph LTP联合2.5μg/m L顺铂对He La细胞的抑制率为(42.50±0.059)%,远高于高浓度顺铂(10μg/m L)对He La细胞的抑制率(36.88±0.134)%,细胞的凋亡率显著增加(P0.01),细胞内ROS极明显升高(P0.001)。[结论]r Ph LTP能够显著增强顺铂对He La细胞的化疗敏感性(P0.001),这种作用可能与r Ph LTP增强顺铂诱导细胞内活性氧的产生导致细胞凋亡有关。     

Immobilization of laccase onto modified PU/RC nanofiber via atom transfer radical polymerization method and application in removal of bisphenol A

In this study, 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) was used as the monomers for surface grafting on electrospun PU/RC nanofiber membrane via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) method, and the PU/RC‐poly(HEMA) nanofiber membrane was investigated as a carrier for LAC. Free and immobilized LAC was characterized, and efficiency of bisphenol A (BPA) removal was determined. The results indicated that the PU/RC‐poly(HEMA)‐LAC showed relatively higher pH stability, temperature stability, and storage stability than free and PU/RC‐LAC; moreover, more than 60% of the PU/RC‐poly(HEMA)‐LAC activity was retained after 10 cycles of ABTS treatment. Notably, the BPA removal efficiency of PU/RC‐poly(HEMA)‐LAC membrane generally ranged from 87.3 to 75.4% for the five cycles. Therefore, the PU/RC‐poly(HEMA) nanofiber membrane has great potential as a carrier for the LAC immobilization for various industrial applications and bioremediation.     

ROCK1 induces ERK nuclear translocation in PDGF-BB-stimulated migration of rat vascular smooth muscle cells

It has been known that Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) signaling regulates the migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). However, the isoform-specific roles of ROCK and its underlying mechanism in VSMC migration are not well understood. The current study thus aimed to investigate the roles of ROCK1/2 and their relationship to the MAPK signaling pathway in platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-induced rat aorta VSMC migration by manipulating ROCK gene expression. The results revealed that ROCK1 small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) rather than ROCK2 siRNA decreased PDGF-BB-generated VSMC migration, and upregulation of ROCK1 expression via transfection of constructed pEGFP-C1/ROCK1 plasmid further increased the migration of PDGF-BB-treated VSMCs. In PDGF-treated VSMCs, ROCK1 siRNA did not affect the phosphorylation levels of ERK and p38 in the cytoplasm, but decreased the level of ERK phosphorylation in the nucleus. These findings demonstrate that activated ROCK1 can promote VSMC migration through facilitating phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of ERK protein.     

单纯疱疹病毒2型潜伏相关转录体ORF1的表达及其抗凋亡作用

旨在研究单纯疱疹病毒2型潜伏相关转录体 (LAT) 开放读码框1 (ORF1) 对放线菌素D诱导的凋亡作用的影响。以HSV-2 333基因组为模板PCR扩增ORF1片段,构建重组质粒pEGFP-ORF1,转染Vero细胞,RT-PCR鉴定ORF1的表达。放线菌素D诱导Vero细胞凋亡,通过荧光显微镜观察凋亡小体,Hochest33258荧光染色观察细胞形态变化,MTT检测细胞活性,流式细胞术检测细胞凋亡率。双酶切和测序确认pEGFP-ORF1构建成功,RT-PCR表明该真核表达载体能在Vero细胞中高效表达。转染了pEGFP-ORF1的Vero细胞经放线菌素D凋亡诱导后,Hochest33258染色显示细胞形态正常。MTT结果表明转染了重组质粒pEGFP-ORF1的Vero细胞经放线菌素D凋亡诱导后Vero细胞活性与未经任何处理的正常对照组相比,无显著差异 (P＞0.05),但高于放线菌素D诱导凋亡的Vero细胞组及与转染空质粒pEGFP-C2且放线菌素D诱导凋亡的Vero细胞组,差异具有统计学意义 (P＜0.05)。流式结果表明,转染重组质粒pEGFP-ORF1且经放线菌素D诱导凋亡组与正常对照组凋亡率差异不显著 (P＞0.05),而显著低于放线菌素D诱导凋亡组和转染空质粒pEGFP-C2且经放线菌素D诱导凋亡组 (P＜0.05)。HSV-2 LAT ORF1具有抗放线菌素D诱导的Vero细胞的凋亡作用。     

Reduced Regional Homogeneity in Bilateral Frontostriatal System Relates to Higher Impulsivity Behavior in Codeine-Containing Cough Syrups Dependent Individuals

Background

In the past twenty years, codeine-containing cough syrups (CCS) was recognized as a new type of addictive drugs. However, the exact neurobiologic mechanisms underlying CCS-dependence are still ill-defined. The aims of this study are to identify CCS-related modulations of neural activity during the resting-state in CCS-dependent individuals and to investigate whether these changes of neural activity can be related to duration of CCS use, the first age of CCS use and impulse control deficits in CCS-dependent individuals. We also want to observe the impact of gray matter deficits on these functional results.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Thirty CCS-dependent individuals and 30 control subjects participated. Resting-state functional MRI was performed by using gradient-echo echo-planar imaging sequence. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) was calculated by using REST software. Voxel-based analysis of the ReHo maps between controls and CCS-dependent groups was performed using two-sample t tests (p<0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons). The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale 11 (BIS.11) was surveyed to assess participants'' impulsivity trait soon after MR examination. Abnormal clusters revealed by group comparison were extracted and correlated with impulsivity, duration of CCS use, and age of first CCS use. ReHo was diminished in the bilateral medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and left dorsal striatum in CCS-dependent individuals. There were negative correlations between mean ReHo in the bilateral medial OFC, left dorsal striatum and duration of CCS use, BIS.11 total scores, and the subscale of attentional impulsivity in CCS-dependent individuals. There was a significantly positive correlation between mean ReHo in the left dorsal striatum and age of first CCS use in CCS-dependent individuals. Importantly, these results still remain significant after statistically controlling for the regional gray matter deficits.

Conclusion

Resting-state abnormalities in CCS-dependent individuals revealed in the present study may further improve our understanding about the neural substrates of impulse control dysfunction in CCS-dependent individuals.     

Apoplastic hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion exhibited different regulatory functions in salt-induced oxidative stress in wheat leaves

The present work aimed to investigate the mechanisms of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generations and to explore their roles in the regulation of antioxidative responses in the wheat leaves under salinity. Except for an insignificant change of NO content and nitrate reductase (NR) activity due to 50 mM NaCl, NO, hydrogen peroxide, superoxide anion (O₂^?-), hydroxyl radical (?OH), chlorophyll and malondialdehyde content, as well as activities of nitric oxide synthase, NR, peroxidases (POD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase rose in response to different NaCl concentrations. Meanwhile, leaf superoxide dismutase activity lowered only at 50 mM NaCl. NaCl-stimulatory effects on NO content as well as POD and CAT activities could be partly alleviated by the application of 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetrame-thylimidazoline-3-oxide-1-oxyl (PTIO, NO scavenger), exogenous CAT, or diphenylene iodonium (DPI, NADPH oxidase inhibitor). Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis also showed that the amount of POD (especially POD4, POD5, and POD7) and CAT (especially CAT1, CAT2, and CAT3) isozymes increased with increasing salinity but decreased by application of PTIO, CAT, or DPI. Furthermore, histochemical staining showed a similar change of O₂^?- generation. In addition, the inhibition of diamineoxidase (DAO), polyamine oxidase (PAO), and cell wall-bound POD (cw-POD) activities in NaCl-stressed seedlings seemed to be insensitive to the application of PTIO or DPI. Taken together, salinity-induced NO, H₂O₂, and O₂^?- generation influenced each other and played different roles in the regulation of antioxidant enzyme activities in the leaves of wheat seedlings under NaCl treatment.     

Resveratrol protects H9c2 embryonic rat heart derived cells from oxidative stress by inducing autophagy: role of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase

Recently, many studies have attempted to illustrate the mechanism of autophagy in protection against oxidative stress to the heart induced by H(2)O(2). However, whether resveratrol-induced autophagy involves the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is still unknown. This study aimed to investigate whether treating H9c2 cells with resveratrol increases autophagy and attenuates the cell death and apoptosis induced by oxidative stress via the p38 MAPK pathway. Resveratrol with or without SB202190, an inhibitor of the p38 MAPK pathway, was added 30 min before H(2)O(2). After H(2)O(2) treatment, the cells were incubated under 5% CO(2) at 37 °C for 24 h to assess cell survival and death or incubated for 20 min for Western blot and transmission electron microscopy. Flow cytometry was used to detect apoptosis after 6 h of H(2)O(2) treatment. Resveratrol at 20 μmol/L protected H9c2 cells treated with 100 μmol/L H(2)O(2) from oxidative damage. It increased cell survival and markedly decrease lactate dehydrogenase release. In addition, resveratrol increased autophagy and decreased H(2)O(2)-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, the protective effects of resveratrol were inhibited by 10 μmol/L SB202190. Thus, resveratrol protected H(2)O(2)-treated H9c2 cells by upregulating autophagy via the p38 MAPK pathway.     

Dissection of human MiRNA regulatory influence to subpathway

The global insight into the relationships between miRNAs and their regulatory influences remains poorly understood. And most of complex diseases may be attributed to certain local areas of pathway (subpathway) instead of the entire pathway. Here, we reviewed the studies on miRNA regulations to pathways and constructed a bipartite miRNAs and subpathways network for systematic analyzing the miRNA regulatory influences to subpathways. We found that a small fraction of miRNAs were global regulators, environmental information processing pathways were preferentially regulated by miRNAs, and miRNAs had synergistic effect on regulating group of subpathways with similar function. Integrating the disease states of miRNAs, we also found that disease miRNAs regulated more subpathways than nondisease miRNAs, and for all miRNAs, the number of regulated subpathways was not in proportion to the number of the related diseases. Therefore, the study not only provided a global view on the relationships among disease, miRNA and subpathway, but also uncovered the function aspects of miRNA regulations and potential pathogenesis of complex diseases. A web server to query, visualize and download for all the data can be freely accessed at http://bioinfo.hrbmu.edu.cn/miR2Subpath.