Mechanistic study on the side arm effect in a palladium/Xu-Phos-catalyzed enantioselective alkoxyalkenylation of γ-hydroxyalkenes.

Recently, the asymmetric bifunctionalization of alkenes has received much attention. However, the development of enantioselective alkoxyalkenylation has posed a considerable challenge and has lagged largely behind. Herein, we report a new palladium-catalyzed enantioselective alkoxyalkenylation reaction, using a range of primary, secondary, and tertiary γ-hydroxy-alkenes with alkenyl halides.

Composition and contents of fatty acids and amino acids in the mycelia of .

With the global shortages of animal protein foods, mycoprotein as a low-cost alternative source of protein by its high-protein and low-fat content has become a development trend. () is a healthy food with high protein and low fiber. This work evaluated the nutritional value of mycelia, and determined the composition and contents of fatty acids and amino acids.

Ketone Body Rescued Seizure Behavior of LRP1 Deficiency in Drosophila by Modulating Glutamate Transport.

LRP1, the low-density lipoprotein receptor 1, would be a novel candidate gene of epilepsy according to our bioinformatic results and the animal study. In this study, we explored the role of LRP1 in epilepsy and whether beta-hydroxybutyrate, the principal ketone body of the ketogenic diet, can treat epilepsy caused by LRP1 deficiency in drosophila. UAS/GAL4 system was used to establish different genotype models.

Location affects fatty acid composition in cv Tieguanyin fresh leaves.

Tieguanyin tea is a typical representative of oolong tea in China, and is famous for its orchid-like aroma. Fatty acids are one of the important precursors for aroma production. However, fatty acid contents and compositions in Tieguanyin largely remain undefined.

ITS1/5.8S/ITS2, a Good Marker for Initial Classification of Shiitake Culinary-Medicinal Lentinus edodes (Agaricomycetes) Strains in China.

China is home to rich wild and cultivated strains of Lentinus edodes, an important edible and medicinal mushroom. Artificial selection of L. edodes has a long history, and the widely cultivated strains belong to populations different from those of most wild strains.

Mechanism of Glucose Regulates the Fruiting Body Formation in the Beech Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom, Hypsizygus marmoreus (Agaricomycetes).

To understand the fruiting process of Hypsizygus marmoreus, a synthetic liquid medium (SLM) was optimized to induce fruiting body initiation. Dependent on the SLM, the effect of a monofactor (glucose) on the fruiting bodies of H. marmoreus was studied at different concentrations (10 and 40 g/L).

Paper/PMMA Hybrid 3D Cell Culture Microfluidic Platform for the Study of Cellular Crosstalk.

Studying cellular crosstalk is important for understanding tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance. Moreover, a three-dimensional (3D) cell culture model can provide a more physiologically meaningful culture microenvironment. However, studying cellular crosstalk in a 3D cell culture model involves tedious processing.

Anticancer effect of icaritin on human lung cancer cells through inducing S phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.

Icaritin, a prenylflavonoid derivative from Epimedium Genus, has been shown to exhibit many pharmacological and biological activities. However, the function and the underlying mechanisms of icaritin in human non-small cell lung cancer have not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anticancer effects of icaritin on A549 cells and explore the underlying molecular mechanism.

Identification and surgical repair of familial thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection caused by TGFBR1 mutation.

Background: This study aimed at exploring the causative gene and summarizing the clinical characteristics in a Chinese thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection (TAAD) family.

Methods: Family members were examined for features of syndromic genetic diseases by clinician and geneticist. Genomic DNA was extracted from 2 distantly related members with definite TAAD for exome sequencing.

Fucoidan induces apoptosis of HepG2 cells by down-regulating p-Stat3.

Fucoidan is one of the main bioactive components of polysaccharides. The current study was focused on the anti-tumor effects of fucoidan on human heptoma cell line HepG2 and the possible mechanisms. Fucoidan treatment resulted in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner detected by MTT assay, flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy.

Per-O-acetylation of cellulose in dimethyl sulfoxide with catalyzed transesterification.

Cellulose acetylation was investigated in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) with isopropenyl acetate (IPA) as acetylating reagent and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5,4,0]undec-7-ene (DBU) as catalyst at 70-130 °C for 3-12 h. The degree of substitution (DS) of acetylated cellulose was comparatively determined by titration and ¹H NMR and confirmed by FT-IR analysis. The results indicated that per-O-acetylation was achieved at >90 °C for a relatively long duration.

An efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method for the edible mushroom Hypsizygus marmoreus.

Hypsizygus marmoreus is one of the major edible mushrooms in East Asia. As no efficient transformation method, the molecular and genetics studies were hindered. The glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) gene of H.

Dual-component system dimethyl sulfoxide/LiCl as a solvent and catalyst for homogeneous ring-opening grafted polymerization of ε-caprolactone onto xylan.

The preparation of xylan-graft-poly(ε-caprolactone) (xylan-g-PCL) copolymers was investigated by homogeneous ring-opening polymerization (ROP) in a dual-component system containing Lewis base LiCl and strong polar aprotic solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). DMSO/LiCl acted as solvent, base, and catalyst for the ROP reaction. The effects of the parameters, including the reaction temperature, molar ratio of ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) to anhydroxylose units (AXU) in xylan, and reaction time, on the degree of substitution (DS) and weight percent of PCL side chain (WPCL) were investigated.

Fucoidan induces G1 phase arrest and apoptosis through caspases-dependent pathway and ROS induction in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells.

Fucoidan is an active component of seaweed, which inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of several tumor cells while the detailed mechanisms underlying this process are still not clear. In this study, the effect of Fucoidan on the proliferation and apoptosis of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells and the molecular mechanism of Fucoidan action were investigated. Viable cell number of MCF-7 cells was decreased by Fucoidan treatment in a dose-dependent manner as measured by MTT assay.

Germacrone induces apoptosis in human hepatoma HepG2 cells through inhibition of the JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway.

Previous studies have shown that STAT3 plays a vital role in the genesis and progression of cancer. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the JAK2/STAT3 signalling pathway and germacrone-induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells. HepG2 cells were incubated with germacrone for 24 h, the protein expression of p-STAT3, STAT3, p-JAK2 and JAK2 was detected by Western Blotting, and RT-PCR was used to determine the expression of STAT3, p53, Bcl-2 and Bax at transcriptional levels.

Isolation and characterization of an endosperm-specific promoter from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Genes coding for avenin-like proteins (ALP) represent a new family of wheat storage protein genes. To find a wheat endosperm-specific promoter, a 1644-bp fragment upstream of the ALP type-B gene (GenBank accession number JN622144) was isolated. The important promoter elements of the ALP type-B gene were ascertained through sequence analysis which revealed that this fragment contains the TATA and CAAT boxes, which are important elements in gene expression.

An axenic culture system for fruiting body formation by an edible bolete phylogenetically related to culinary-medicinal penny bun mushroom, Boletus edulis Bull.:Fr. strains from China.

The ability of two freshly isolated Boletus stains to fruit under axenic conditions was tested using different solid and liquid nutrient media. One strain (YNCX04) produced numerous primordia from which fruiting bodies, 12 mm and 10 mm in length, with grey, convex pilei, and yellow-white, clavate stipes developed between 15 and 30 d after inoculation of fungal mycelium onto a solid medium consisting of mineral salts, thiamine, glucose, potato, an extract of Cunninghamia lanceolata root, and agar. The other strain (YNB200) produced numerous primordia but no sporophores.

[The phylogenetic relationship of cultivated isolates of Ganoderma in China inferred from nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS sequences].

Nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS sequences have been used to investigate phylogenetic relationships between 34 Ganoderma isolates cultivated in China. Five distinct groups were identified: the subgenus Elfvingia, the sect. Phaeonema, and three groups within the sect.

[Inheritance of the foreign gene 1Ax1 in transgenic wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with gene cassettes lacking vector backbone sequences].

Transformation with gene minimal expression cassettes without vector backbone sequence is a new transformation technique. In the current research, the inheritance of the foreign 1Ax1 gene cassettes were analyzed in transgenic plants recovered with gene cassettes lacking vector backbone sequences. The results showed that linear 1Ax1 gene cassettes were stably expressed and separated at the rate of 3 to 1 in the seeds of T1 generation.

A simple, rapid and effective method for total RNA extraction from Lentinula edodes.

A rapid, inexpensive and reliable method for total RNA extraction from fruiting bodies of Lentinula edodes containing large quantities of polysaccharides and secondary metabolites is described. An initial extraction step using saturated NaCl solution facilitates the separation of nucleic acids from contaminants and, after further extraction with organic solvents and precipitation with 2-propanol, total RNA of high purity and suitable for applications such as cDNA synthesis, RT-PCR and Northern blot hybridization was obtained. The procedure may also have wider applicability for total RNA extraction from the tissues of other mushrooms.

[An efficient method for DNA extraction from compost].

An efficient method for obtaining DNA from compost which contained high levels of organic matter was developed. The protocol consisted of washing with phosphate-EDTA before extraction, cell lysis with hot-SDS and enzymes (lysozyme, lywalzyme, proteinase K), removing humic acid and other inhibitors with PVPP and precipitation with PEG-8000. The compost total DNA was extracted from four different composts, the DNA yield was 63.

Use of intersimple sequence repeats markers to develop strain-specific SCAR markers for Lentinula edodes.

Although Lentinula edodes is the second most important cultivated mushroom worldwide, most industrially cultivated strains have been identified only through traditional phenotypic analysis. Here, we report for the first time the use of sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers for strain differentiation. SCAR markers were created by first generating and sequencing single intersimple sequence repeats fragments, and then designing primers based on these sequences to amplify strain-specific fragments of a certain size.

Themes for mushroom exploitation in the 21st century: Sustainability, waste management, and conservation.

Because many natural resources are limited, sustainability becomes an important concept in maintaining the human population, health, and environment. Mushrooms are a group of saprotrophic fungi. Mushroom cultivation is a direct utilization of their ecological role in the bioconversion of solid wastes generated from industry and agriculture into edible biomass, which could also be regarded as a functional food or as a source of drugs and pharmaceuticals.