Blocking VEGF signaling augments interleukin-8 secretion MEK/ERK/1/2 axis in human retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Aim: To identify proangiogenic factors engaged in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) except vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) from human retinal pigment epithelial (hRPE) cells and investigate the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) in ARPE-19 cells was depleted by siRNA transfection or overexpressed through adenovirus infection. The mRNA and the protein levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8) in ARPE-19 cells were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay respectively.

A Maternal Effect on Queen Production in Honeybees.

Influences from the mother on offspring phenotype, known as maternal effects, are an important cause of adaptive phenotypic plasticity [1, 2]. Eusocial insects show dramatic phenotypic plasticity with morphologically distinct reproductive (queen) and worker castes [3, 4]. The dominant paradigm for honeybees (Apis mellifera) is that castes are environmentally rather than genetically determined, with the environment and diet of young larvae causing caste differentiation [5-9].

Making a queen: an epigenetic analysis of the robustness of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) queen developmental pathway.

Specialized castes are considered a key reason for the evolutionary and ecological success of the social insect lifestyle. The most essential caste distinction is between the fertile queen and the sterile workers. Honeybee (Apis mellifera) workers and queens are not genetically distinct, rather these different phenotypes are the result of epigenetically regulated divergent developmental pathways.

Bioactivities of water-soluble polysaccharides from Jisongrong mushroom: anti-breast carcinoma cell and antioxidant potential.

Polysaccharides were extracted from Jisongrong mushroom. Jisongrong polysaccharides was a water-soluble compound. Its molecular weight was about 7.