Evolution of the CBL and CIPK gene families in Medicago: genome-wide characterization, pervasive duplication, and expression pattern under salt and drought stress.

Background: Calcineurin B-like proteins (CBLs) are ubiquitous Ca sensors that mediate plant responses to various stress and developmental processes by interacting with CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs). CBLs and CIPKs play essential roles in acclimatization of crop plants. However, evolution of these two gene families in the genus Medicago is poorly understood.

Lipopolysaccharide preconditioning attenuates apoptotic processes and improves neuropathologic changes after spinal cord injury in rats.

We have shown earlier that administration of low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS) significantly contributed to recovery of motor function after traumatic spinal cord injury in the adult female rat. Using the same standardized animal model, we have now designed a set of experiments to test the hypothesis that LPS preconditioning attenuates stress-related apoptotic processes early after spinal cord trauma. The lower thoracic spinal cord injury in adult female Sprague-Dawley rats was caused by a 10 g weight rod drop from 25 mm on the dural surface of the exposed spinal cord at T10.

Lipopolysaccharide preconditioning attenuates neuroapoptosis and improves functional recovery through activation of Nrf2 in traumatic spinal cord injury rats.

The previous studies suggested that low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS) provides neuroprotection against subsequent challenge with ischemic/reperfusion injury in the brain. But there were few reports about the neuroprotective effects of low-dose LPS against spinal cord injury (SCI). In this study, we evaluated the effect of low-dose LPS preconditioning on neuroapoptosis status after traumatic SCI (TSCI), using a standardized contusion model (NYU, New York University, impactor).