Constituents of Quinchamalium majus with potential antitubercular activity

Antitubercular bioassay-guided fractionation of the dichloromethane extracts of the above-ground biomass and roots of Quinchamalium majus led to the identification of six known constituents, betulinic acid (1), daucosterol (2), 5,7-dihydroxyflavone (3), oleanolic acid (4), (-)-2S-pinocembrin (5), and ursolic acid (6), for the first time in this species. Their chemical structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic evidence and chemical transformation methods. All of these compounds along with additional 11 analogues were evaluated for their antitubercular potential against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a microplate alamar blue assay, and the primary structure-activity relationships (SARs) for 4 and 6 were discussed. In addition, all the isolates were tested for cytotoxicity against African green monkey Vero cells in order to evaluate for their selectivity potential.     

Increased circulating trimethylamine N-oxide contributes to endothelial dysfunction in a rat model of chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is strongly associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Impaired endothelial function, a key initiating step in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, has been reported in patients with CKD, but the mechanisms responsible for endothelial dysfunction in CKD remain elusive. Emerging evidence reveals that trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a gut microbiota-generated metabolite, is involved in the pathogenesis of many cardiovascular diseases. Circulating TMAO is elevated in CKD. Here we tested the hypothesis that elevated TMAO plays a contributory role in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction in CKD. Rats underwent 5/6 nephrectomy to induce CKD or sham operation, and were treated with 1.0% 3,3-Dimethyl-1-butanol (DMB, an inhibitor of trimethylamine formation) or vehicle. Eight weeks after nephrectomy and DMB treatment, circulating TMAO levels were markedly elevated in CKD-vehicle rats compared with sham-vehicle rats, but were reduced in CKD-DMB rats. Acetylcholine-induced endothelium-dependent vasodilation was impaired in CKD-vehicle rats compared with sham-vehicle rats as indicated by reduced maximal relaxation (E_max) and decreased area under the curve (AUC). E_max and AUC were both normalized in CKD-DMB rats. No difference in sodium nitroprusside-induced endothelial-independent vasodilation was observed across groups. Molecular studies revealed that endothelial nitric-oxide synthase activity was decreased, while superoxide production and proinflammatory cytokine expression were increased in the aorta of CKD-vehicle rats compared with sham-vehicle rats. Of note, the abnormalities in above molecular parameters were completely restored in CKD-DMB rats. These results suggest that CKD elevates circulating TMAO levels, which may reduce eNOS-derived NO production by increasing vascular oxidative stress and inflammation, contributing to CKD-associated endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular disease.     

Inhibition of the formation of autophagosome but not autolysosome augments ABT-751-induced apoptosis in TP53-deficient Hep-3B cells

The objective was to investigate the upstream mechanisms of apoptosis which were triggered by a novel antimicrotubule drug, ABT-751, in a tumor protein p53 ( TP53)-deficient hepatocellular carcinoma-derived Hep-3B cells. A series of in vitro assays indicated that ABT-751 caused the disruption of the mitotic spindle structure, collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential, generation of reactive oxygen species, DNA damage, G ₂/M cell cycle arrest, inhibition of anchorage-independent cell growth and apoptosis in Hep-3B cells accompanied by alteration of the expression levels of several DNA damage checkpoint proteins and cell cycle regulators. Subsequently, ABT-751 triggered apoptosis along with markedly upregulated several proapoptotic proteins involving in extrinsic, intrinsic, and caspase-mediated apoptotic pathways. A pan-caspase inhibitor suppressed ABT-751-induced apoptosis. ABT-751 also induced autophagy soon after the occurrence of apoptosis through the suppression of AKT serine/threonine kinase/mechanistic target of rapamycin signaling pathway. Exogenous expression of the TP53 gene significantly incurred both apoptosis and autophagy in Hep-3B cells. Pharmacological inhibition of autophagosome (early autophagy) but not autolysosome (late autophagy) enhanced ABT-751-induced apoptosis in TP53-deficient Hep-3B cells. Our study provided a new strategy to augment ABT-751-induced apoptosis in TP53-deficient cells.     

大鼠内细胞团和胎儿神经干细胞构建嵌合体的潜力(英文）

嵌合体大鼠是研究人类疾病的重要动物模型。用囊胚注射法研究了大鼠内细胞团（ICM）和胎儿神经干细胞（FNS）构建嵌合体的潜力。结果发现来自黑色（DA）大鼠第5天（D5）和第6天（D6）囊胚的ICM细胞注入D5 Sprague-Dawley（SD）大鼠囊胚后得到3只嵌合体大鼠;D5 SD大鼠ICM细胞注射入D5 DA囊胚后得到4只嵌合体大鼠;而体外培养的DA或SD大鼠ICM细胞注射后均未能获得嵌合体大鼠。本研究用大鼠胎儿神经干细胞（rFNS）和LacZ转染的rFNS构建嵌合体,未能获得嵌合体大鼠;但在LacZ转染的SD rFNS注射到DA大鼠囊胚后发育来的41只胎儿中,有2只胎儿其组织切片中发现少量LacZ阳性细胞。结果表明DA和SD大鼠ICM具有参与嵌合体发育的潜力,但ICM细胞经体外培养后构建嵌合体的潜力显著下降（P<0.05）;大鼠胎儿神经干细胞构建嵌合体的潜力较低,可能仅具有参与早期胚胎发育的潜力。     

植物激素与不定根的形成

高水平的生长素可诱导不定根原基发生,高水平的脱落酸似乎有同样的作用,但效应不如生长素强;赤霉素似乎可增强生长素对不定根原基的诱导作用,却抑制脱落酸的诱导作用;细胞分裂素抑制不定根的发生;且上述激素处理都具有时效性;而乙烯似乎与不定根的发生无直接关系;ＳＡ和ＪＡ在不定根形成中可能只影响内源生长素和细胞分裂素的合成和代谢。