The complete chloroplast genome of (Taxaceae), a plant species with extremely small populations.

K. M. Feng ex C.

De novo genome assembly of the endangered Acer yangbiense, a plant species with extremely small populations endemic to Yunnan Province, China.

Background: Acer yangbiense is a newly described critically endangered endemic maple tree confined to Yangbi County in Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was included in a programme for rescuing the most threatened species in China, focusing on "plant species with extremely small populations (PSESP)".

Findings: We generated 64, 94, and 110 Gb of raw DNA sequences and obtained a chromosome-level genome assembly of A.

Enhancement of Radiation Sensitivity in Lung Cancer Cells by a Novel Small Molecule Inhibitor That Targets the β-Catenin/Tcf4 Interaction.

Radiation therapy is an important treatment choice for unresectable advanced human lung cancers, and a critical adjuvant treatment for surgery. However, radiation as a lung cancer treatment remains far from satisfactory due to problems associated with radiation resistance in cancer cells and severe cytotoxicity to non-cancer cells, which arise at doses typically administered to patients. We have recently identified a promising novel inhibitor of β-catenin/Tcf4 interaction, named BC-23 (C21H14ClN3O4S), which acts as a potent cell death enhancer when used in combination with radiation.

Development of a novel class of tubulin inhibitors with promising anticancer activities.

Unlabelled: We have developed a novel class (2-amino-4-phenyl-4H-chromene-3-carboxylate) of inhibitors of tubulin assembly by modifying HA14-1, which is a Bcl-2 inhibitor discovered by our group. Three of these compounds, mHA1, mHA6, and mHA11, showed in vitro cytotoxicities against tumor cells that were more potent and more stable than the backbone compound HA14-1, with nM IC50 values. In contrast, the cytotoxic effects of these compounds on normal cells were minimal.

Structure-based discovery of a novel inhibitor targeting the β-catenin/Tcf4 interaction.

Overactivation or overexpression of β-catenin in the Wnt (wingless) signaling pathway plays an important role in tumorigenesis. Interaction of β-catenin with T-cell factor (Tcf) DNA binding proteins is a key step in the activation of the proliferative genes in response to upstream signals of this Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Recently, we identified a new small molecule inhibitor, named BC21 (C(32)H(36)Cl(2)Cu(2)N(2)O(2)), which effectively inhibits the binding of β-catenin with Tcf4-derived peptide and suppresses β-catenin/Tcf4 driven reporter gene activity.

Alkaloids and sesquiterpenoids from Acorus tatarinowii.

The rhizome of Acorus tatarinowii is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine. Our extensive investigation on this plant material afforded two new compounds, including a cadinane-type sesquiterpenoid and a pyrazine derivative, along with seven known compounds. The structures of the new compounds, tatarinowin B and tatarinine A, were elucidated as 2-oxocadinan-1(10),3-dien-5-ol (1) and 2-(3',4'-dihydroxy-1'-butylenyl)-5-(2'',3'',4''-trihydroxybutyl)-pyrazine (2), respectively, by means of spectral methods.

Leptin promotes proliferation and inhibits differentiation in porcine skeletal myoblasts.

Leptin, a major regulator of body weight, was recently suggested to play a role in myoblasts. We conducted an experiment to determine whether leptin can influence the proliferation and differentiation of porcine skeletal myoblasts. Myoblasts occurred in non-leptin and leptin forms in various concentrations for various periods of cell states.

Alteration of mitochondrial oxidative capacity during porcine preadipocyte differentiation and in response to leptin.

Mitochondrial apparatus is a fundamental aspect in cell, serving for amino acid biosynthesis, fatty acid oxidation (FAO), and ATP production. In this article, we investigated the change of mitochondrial oxidative capacity during porcine adipocyte differentiation and in response to leptin. Rhodamine 123 staining analysis showed about 2-fold increase of mitochondrial membrane electric potential in differentiated adipocyte in comparison with preadipocyte.

[Study of single nucleotide polymorphism of A-FABP gene and its association with fatness traits in chicken].

In this experiment, Beijing-You chicken was used to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in A-FBAP gene and to study the correlation between its genotype and the trait of fat accumulation. The first exon of the gene was amplified by one pair of primers, and SNPs were detected by the technique of single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and finally confirmed by sequencing. Results of analysis of variance showed that a significant difference existed among abdominal fat percentage, subcutaneous fat thickness and intramuscular fat contents in breast musculature with different genotypes (P<0.