(-)-Gallocatechin gallate from green tea rescues cognitive impairment through restoring hippocampal silent synapses in post-menopausal depression.

Post-menopausal depression (PMD) is a common psychological disorder accompanied by a cognitive deficit, which is caused by a series of uncontrolled emotional disruptions by strong environmental stressors during menopause. To overcome PMD-induced cognitive deficit, Green tea has been suggested as a dietary supplement because of its ameliorating effect on cognitive dysfunction induced by normal aging or neurodegenerative syndromes; however, its clinical use to improve PMD-accompanied cognitive deficit is still limited due to the controversy for the active ingredients and ambiguous mechanism of its action. Here, we developed modified high-temperature-processed green tea extract (HTP-GTE), which showed lower neuronal toxicity than the conventional green tea extract (GTE).

Analgesic Effect of Melittin on Oxaliplatin-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Rats.

Oxaliplatin is a chemotherapeutic agent used for metastatic colon and other advanced cancers. Most common side effect of oxaliplatin is peripheral neuropathy, manifested in mechanical and cold allodynia. Although the analgesic effect of bee venom has been proven to be effective against oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy, the effect of its major component; melittin has not been studied yet.

Phytochemicals of Cinnamomi Cortex: Cinnamic Acid, but not Cinnamaldehyde, Attenuates Oxaliplatin-Induced Cold and Mechanical Hypersensitivity in Rats.

A chemotherapy drug, oxaliplatin, induces cold and mechanical hypersensitivity, but effective treatments for this neuropathic pain without side effects are still lacking. We previously showed that Cinnamomi Cortex suppresses oxaliplatin-induced pain behaviors in rats. However, it remains unknown which phytochemical of Cinnamomi Cortex plays a key role in that analgesic action.

pH-Dependant fluorescence switching of an i-motif structure incorporating an isomeric azobenzene/pyrene fluorophore.

In this study, we synthesized an Azo-py phosphoramidite, featuring azobenzene and pyrene units, as a novel fluorescent and isomeric (trans- and cis-azobenzene units) material, which we incorporated in an i-motif DNA sequence. We then monitored the structural dynamics and changes in fluorescence as the modified DNA sequences transformed from single strands at pH 7 to i-motif quadruplex structures at pH 3. After incorporating Azo-py into the 4A loop position of an i-motif sequence, dramatic changes in fluorescence occurred as the DNA structures changed from single-strands to i-motif quadruplex structures.