Suppressing ROS-TFE3-dependent autophagy enhances ivermectin-induced apoptosis in human melanoma cells

Melanoma is an aggressive skin malignancy with a high mortality rate; however, successful treatment remains a clinical challenge. Ivermectin, a broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug, has recently been characterized as a potential anticancer agent due to its observed antitumor effects. However, the molecular mechanisms of ivermectin remain poorly understood. In the current study, we tested the involvement of autophagy in the ivermectin mechanism of action in human melanoma cells. We exposed SK-MEL-28 cells to different concentrations of ivermectin (2.5, 5, and 10 μM) for 24 hours. Here, ivermectin-induced apoptosis, as evidenced by the upregulation of cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, BAX expression, and caspase-3 activity and downregulation of BCL-2 expression. In line with the apoptosis response, ivermectin triggered autophagy. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of autophagy further sensitized SK-MEL-28 cells to ivermectin-induced apoptosis. Mechanistically, ivermectin-induced TFE3^(Ser321) dephosphorylation, activated TFE3 nuclear translocation and increased TFE3 reporter activity, which contributed to lysosomal biogenesis and the expression of autophagy-related genes, and subsequently, initiated autophagy in SK-MEL-28 cells. Moreover, N-acetyl-cysteine, an reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger, abrogated the effects of ivermectin on TFE3-dependent autophagy. Taken together, we demonstrated that ivermectin increases TFE3-dependent autophagy through ROS signaling pathways in human melanoma cells and that inhibiting autophagy enhances ivermectin-induced apoptosis in human melanoma cells.     

转PcLIPH8基因水稻的构建及其相关表型分析

利用黄孢原毛平革菌木质素过氧化物酶基因(PcLIPH8),构建植物双元表达载体35S∷PcLIPH8,并遗传转化水稻野生型品种Kitaake,对转基因水稻进行分子鉴定、酶活及木质素含量测定、表型观察等分析。结果表明：(1) 成功构建了植物双元表达载体35S∷PcLIPH8,获得3个独立的转PcLIPH8水稻株系,但在苗期转基因水稻与野生型对照无明显表型差异。(2) 酶活及木质素含量测定结果表明,转基因水稻的木质素过氧化物酶活性增加3.06%~5.07%,而木质素含量显著低于野生型对照,苗期降低11.44%~14.97%,成熟期降低13.83%~20.05%。(3) 成熟期表型分析表明,转基因水稻较野生型对照的株高增加了28.37%~39.78%,穗谷粒数增多110%~120%,生物量增大18.61%~22.97%,而千粒重减小12.86%~13.34%,谷粒长度变短6.67%~7.15%。该研究结果为利用PcLIPH8基因降低木质素含量,提高生物产量,从而改善植物品质奠定了前期基础。     

不同亚硒酸钠浓度对党参生长、生理特性和品质的影响

为综合了解党参的施硒效应，该研究基于水培试验探究不同亚硒酸钠浓度处理条件下党参幼苗的硒积累、生长、生理和品质的变化规律。结果表明：(1)适宜硒浓度(0.2 mg·L^-1)可以促进党参的叶片面积、株高、生物量的增长，而高硒浓度(10 mg·L^-1)则抑制党参生长。(2)增加亚硒酸钠浓度和硒暴露时间均可提高党参幼苗在根和叶中的硒含量，不同器官硒积累表现为根>叶>茎。(3)适宜硒浓度(0.2 mg·L^-1)处理可提高光合色素含量和根系活力，并减少丙二醛、脯氨酸和过氧化氢的积累，而高硒浓度(10 mg·L^-1)则与之相反。(4)适宜硒浓度(0.2 mg·L^-1)有利于党参炔苷、多糖、可溶性蛋白的积累，而高硒浓度(10 mg·L^-1)可以对多糖和可溶性蛋白的积累产生不利影响。综上认为，亚硒酸钠对党参具有双重效应，施加适量浓度对党参的生长、生理和品质有益，并以0.2 mg·L^-1硒浓度处理的效果最佳。该研究结果有助于了解亚硒酸钠浓度对...     

Bayesian phylogeny analysis via stochastic approximation Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo methods have received much attention in the recent literature of phylogeny analysis. However, the conventional Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms, such as the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm, tend to get trapped in a local mode in simulating from the posterior distribution of phylogenetic trees, rendering the inference ineffective. In this paper, we apply an advanced Monte Carlo algorithm, the stochastic approximation Monte Carlo algorithm, to Bayesian phylogeny analysis. Our method is compared with two popular Bayesian phylogeny software, BAMBE and MrBayes, on simulated and real datasets. The numerical results indicate that our method outperforms BAMBE and MrBayes. Among the three methods, SAMC produces the consensus trees which have the highest similarity to the true trees, and the model parameter estimates which have the smallest mean square errors, but costs the least CPU time.     

Development and validity of a universal empirical equation to predict skin surface temperature on thermal manikins

Clothing evaporative resistance is an important input in thermal comfort models. Thermal manikin tests give the most accurate and reliable evaporative resistance values for clothing. The calculation methods of clothing evaporative resistance require the sweating skin surface temperature (i.e., options 1 and 2). However, prevailing calculation methods of clothing evaporative resistance (i.e., options 3 and 4) are based on the controlled nude manikin surface temperature due to the sensory measurement difficulty. In order to overcome the difficulty of attaching temperature sensors to the wet skin surface and to enhance the calculation accuracy on evaporative resistance, we conducted an intensive skin study on a thermal manikin ‘Tore’. The relationship among the nude manikin surface temperature, the total heat loss and the wet skin surface temperature in three ambient conditions was investigated. A universal empirical equation to predict the wet skin surface temperature of a sweating thermal manikin was developed and validated on the manikin dressed in six different clothing ensembles. The skin surface temperature prediction equation in an ambient temperature range between 25.0 and 34.0 °C is T_sk=34.0–0.0132HL. It is demonstrated that the universal empirical equation is a good alternative to predicting the wet skin surface temperature and facilitates calculating the evaporative resistance of permeable clothing ensembles. Further studies on the validation of the empirical equation on different thermal manikins are needed however.     

SCL,Encoding a Chloroplast Signal Recognition Particle Receptor,Affects Chlorophyll Synthesis and Chloroplast Development in Rice

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Crop yield is largely determined by the solar energy utilization efficiency of photosynthesis; plants with long stay-green periods have greater total...     

Designing bifunctional NOP receptor–mu opioid receptor ligands from NOP receptor-selective scaffolds. Part I.

The nociceptin receptor (NOP) and its endogenous agonist, nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ), members of the opioid receptor and peptide families respectively, modulate the pharmacological effects of classical opioids, particularly opioid-induced reward and nociception. We hypothesized that compounds containing both NOP and opioid receptor activity in a single molecule may have useful pharmacological profiles as non-addicting analgesics or as drug abuse medications. We report here our forays into the structure–activity relationships for discovering ‘bifunctional’ NOP–mu opioid receptor (MOP) ligands, starting from our NOP-selective scaffolds. This initial SAR suggests pharmacophoric elements that may be modified to modulate/increase opioid affinity, while maintaining high affinity for the NOP receptor, to result in potent bifunctional small-molecule NOP/MOP ligands.     

Efficacy of faecal microbiota transplantation in Crohn’s disease: a new target treatment?

The efficacy of faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in Crohn’s disease (CD) remains unclear due to lack of data. This study aimed to assess the value of FMT in treating CD-related clinical targets. The use of FMT for CD as a registered trial (NCT01793831) was performed between October 2012 and December 2017. Seven therapeutic targets included abdominal pain, diarrhoea, hematochezia, fever, steroid-dependence, enterocutaneous fistula and active perianal fistula. Each target was recorded as 1 (yes) or 0 (no) during the long-term follow-up for each patient. The primary outcome was the rate of improvement in each therapeutic target. Overall, 174 patients completed the follow-up. The median follow-up duration was 43 (interquartile range, 28–59) months. The median score of the total targets was 2 (range, 1–4) before FMT, and it decreased significantly at 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months after FMT (P < 0.001 respectively). At 1 month after FMT, 72.7% (101/139), 61.6% (90/146), 76% (19/25) and 70.6% (12/17) of patients achieved improvement in abdominal pain, diarrhoea, hematochezia and fever respectively. Furthermore, 50% (10/20) of steroid-dependent patients achieved steroid-free remission after FMT. The present findings indicate that it is important to understand the efficacy of FMT in CD as a targeted therapy, especially for abdominal pain, hematochezia, fever and diarrhoea.     

Identification of Gli1-interacting proteins during simvastatin-stimulated osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Simvastatin has been shown to promote osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). Our study aimed to illuminate the underlying mechanism, with a specific focus on the role of Hedgehog signaling in this process. BMSCs cultured with or without 10⁻⁷ mol/L simvastatin were subjected to evaluation of osteogenic differentiation capacity. Osteogenic markers such as type 1 collagen (COL1) and osteocalcin (OCN), as well as key molecules of Hedgehog signaling molecules, were examined by Western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Co-immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry assays were applied to screen for Gli1-interacting proteins. Cyclopamine (Cpn) was used as a Hedgehog signaling inhibitor. Our results indicated that simvastatin increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity; mineralization of extracellular matrix; mRNA expression of ALP, COL1, and OCN; and expression and nuclear translocation of Gli1. Contrasting effects were observed in Cpn-exposed groups, but were partially rescued by the simvastatin treatment. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses indicated that Gli1-interacting proteins were primarily associated with mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) (P = 7.04E⁻⁰⁴), hippo, insulin, and glucagon signaling. Further, hub genes identified by protein-protein interaction network analysis included Gli1-interacting proteins such as Ppp2r1a, Rac1, Etf1, and XPO1/CRM1. In summary, the current study showed that the mechanism by which simvastatin stimulates osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs involves activation of Hedgehog signaling, as indicated by interactions with Gli1 and, most notably, the MAPK signaling pathway.