绵马贯众多糖超声提取工艺优化及抗氧化活性分析

绵马贯众是中国传统常用中药,本研究以温度、时间、超声功率、液料比为影响因子,多糖得率为评价指标,通过响应面法优化超声辅助提取绵马贯众多糖的工艺条件,同时测定其基本理化性质及抗氧化活性。研究结果表明,绵马贯众多糖的最佳提取工艺条件为:温度64℃、时间60 min、超声功率210 W、液料比27 mL/g。此时多糖得率为9.57%,与预测值接近。理化性质分析表明绵马贯众多糖为含少量蛋白的酸性多糖。体外抗氧化研究表明绵马贯众多糖具有很强的DPPH自由基清除活性,IC50值为0.29 mg/mL;较好的羟基自由基清除活性,其IC50值为1.10 mg/mL;对DNA的氧化损伤有显著的保护作用。绵马贯众多糖可以作为一种潜在的抗氧化剂应用于食品和化妆品等领域。     

Base excision repair but not DNA double‐strand break repair is impaired in aged human adipose‐derived stem cells

The decline in DNA repair capacity contributes to the age‐associated decrease in genome integrity in somatic cells of different species. However, due to the lack of clinical samples and appropriate tools for studying DNA repair, whether and how age‐associated changes in DNA repair result in a loss of genome integrity of human adult stem cells remains incompletely characterized. Here, we isolated 20 eyelid adipose‐derived stem cell (ADSC) lines from healthy individuals (young: 10 donors with ages ranging 17–25 years; old: 10 donors with ages ranging 50–59 years). Using these cell lines, we systematically compared the efficiency of base excision repair (BER) and two DNA double‐strand break (DSB) repair pathways—nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR)—between the young and old groups. Surprisingly, we found that the efficiency of BER but not NHEJ or HR is impaired in aged human ADSCs, which is in contrast to previous findings that DSB repair declines with age in human fibroblasts. We also demonstrated that BER efficiency is negatively associated with tail moment, which reflects a loss of genome integrity in human ADSCs. Mechanistic studies indicated that at the protein level XRCC1, but not other BER factors, exhibited age‐associated decline. Overexpression of XRCC1 reversed the decline of BER efficiency and genome integrity, indicating that XRCC1 is a potential therapeutic target for stabilizing genomes in aged ADSCs.     

Intrinsically altered lung‐resident γδT cells control lung melanoma by producing interleukin‐17A in the elderly

Cancer is an age‐associated disease, potentially related to the altered immune system of elderly individuals. However, cancer has gradually decreased incidence in the eldest globally such as the most common lung cancer, the mechanisms of which remain to be elucidated. In this study, it was found that the number of lung‐resident γδT cells was significantly increased with altered gene expression in aged mice (20–24 months) versus young mice (10–16 weeks). Aged lung Vγ4⁺ and Vγ6⁺ γδT cells predominantly produced interleukin‐17A (IL‐17A), resulting in increased levels in the serum and lungs. Moreover, the aged mice exhibited smaller tumors and reduced numbers of tumor foci in the lungs after challenge with intravenous injection of B16/F10 melanoma cells compared with the young mice. Aged lung Vγ4⁺ and Vγ6⁺ γδT cells were highly cytotoxic to B16/F10 melanoma cells with higher expression levels of CD103. The markedly longer survival of the challenged aged mice was dependent on γδT17 cells, since neutralization of IL‐17A or depletion of indicated γδT cells significantly shortened the survival time. Consistently, supplementation of IL‐17A significantly enhanced the survival time of young mice with lung melanoma. Furthermore, the anti‐tumor activity of aged lung γδT17 cells was not affected by alterations in the load and composition of commensal microbiota, as demonstrated through co‐housing of the aged and young mice. Intrinsically altered lung γδT17 cells underlying age‐dependent changes control lung melanoma, which will help to better understand the lung cancer progression in the elderly and the potential use of γδT17 cells in anti‐tumor immunotherapy.     

Structure and Properties of Organogels Developed by Diosgenin in Canola Oil

Food Biophysics - In this study, naturally occurring ingredient diosgenin was utilized as an organogelator for structuring canola oil. Results show that stable diosgenin-based organogel can be...     

Effects of Temperature on Transcriptome Profiles in Cardiocrinum cathayanum Leaves

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - Cardiocrinum cathayanum (Endl.) Lindl. (Liliaceae) is a promising species for ornamental and pharmaceutical usage. However, genomic responses of C. cathayanum...     

The crosstalk between lncRNAs and the Hippo signalling pathway in cancer progression

LncRNAs play a pivotal role in the regulation of epigenetic modification, cell cycle, differentiation, proliferation, migration and other physiological activities. In particular, considerable studies have shown that the aberrant expression and dysregulation of lncRNAs are widely implicated in cancer initiation and progression by acting as tumour promoters or suppressors. Hippo signalling pathway has attracted researchers’ attention as one of the critical cancer‐related pathways in recent years. Increasing evidences have demonstrated that lncRNAs could interact with Hippo cascade and thereby contribute to acquisition of multiple malignant hallmarks, including proliferation, metastasis, relapse and resistance to anti‐cancer treatment. Specifically, Hippo signalling pathway is reported to modulate or be regulated by widespread lncRNAs. Intriguingly, certain lncRNAs could form a reciprocal feedback loop with Hippo signalling. More speculatively, lncRNAs related to Hippo pathway have been poised to become important putative biomarkers and therapeutic targets in human cancers. Herein, this review focuses on the crosstalk between lncRNAs and Hippo pathway in carcinogenesis, summarizes the comprehensive role of Hippo‐related lncRNAs in tumour progression and depicts their clinical diagnostic, prognostic or therapeutic potentials in tumours.     

轻度支气管哮喘儿童的诱导痰菌群特征

目的探讨轻度支气管哮喘儿童的诱导痰菌群特征及临床意义。方法纳入年龄为6~12周岁于2018年11月至2019年1月在深圳市儿童医院呼吸科门诊定期复诊的轻度支气管哮喘患儿51例(哮喘组),留取诱导痰,匹配同年龄段97例健康无过敏儿童的口咽拭子作为对照。诱导痰及口咽拭子提取总DNA并扩增,对16S rRNA基因进行高通量测序并对测序结果进行生物信息学分析。结果NMDS分析结果显示哮喘组与健康对照组研究对象菌群结构存在差异;哮喘组的诱导痰菌群多样性指数(Shannon index)高于健康对照组(2.34±0.53 vs 1.87±0.50,P<0.05)。门水平分析显示,哮喘组与健康对照组的菌群均主要为厚壁菌门(38.34%vs 44.74%,P<0.05)、变形杆菌门(31.14%vs 19.78%,P<0.05)、拟杆菌门(14.59%vs 20.52%,P<0.05)、放线菌门(10.41%vs 7.85%,P<0.05)和梭杆菌门(2.82%vs 6.67%,P<0.05),但两组之间的构成比有明显差异。与健康对照组相比,在属水平上哮喘组韦荣球菌属(5.27%vs 8.96%)、普雷沃菌属(8.38%vs 17.35%)、罗斯菌属(1.50%vs 5.46%)、纤毛菌属(1.37%vs 4.39%)等非条件致病菌属比例明显下降(均P<0.05),而嗜血杆菌属(9.83%vs 6.17%)、卟啉单胞菌属(2.48%vs 1.41%)、莫拉菌属(5.66%vs 0.42%)、诺卡菌属(3.40%vs 0.00%)等条件致病菌属比例明显上升(均P<0.05)。结论尽管轻度支气管哮喘患儿已临床控制,但诱导痰内菌群仍存在结构紊乱。气道菌群紊乱可能是儿童支气管哮喘的发病机制之一。除了致病菌属外,非致病菌菌属的构成变化可能也是儿童哮喘的一个发生机制。