sp. nov., a poly--hydroxybutyrate-producing, halotolerant bacterium isolated from coral sediment in the Dapeng peninsula (Guangdong, China).

A Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, motile, flagellated, rod-shaped, halotolerant, and poly--hydroxyalkanoate-producing bacterium, designated DP4N28-3, was isolated from offshore sediment surrounding hard coral in the Dapeng peninsula (Guangdong, PR China). Growth occurred at 15-35 °C (optimal at 30 °C), pH 6.0-9.

Indirubin combined with umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells to relieve psoriasis-like skin lesions in BALB/c mice.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of indirubin combined with human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) in the treatment of psoriatic lesions in BALB/c mice and to explore the related mechanism of indirubin in the treatment of psoriasis.

Methods: A BALB/c mouse psoriasis model induced by imiquimod was established and randomly divided into the control group, model group, indirubin group, hUC-MSCs group, and indirubin combined with hUC-MSCs group. Psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score was used to observe skin lesion changes in the psoriasis-like mouse model.

Optoelectronic properties of diathiafulvalene-functionalized diketopyrrolopyrrole-fullerene molecular dyad.

Single component molecular dyad donor-acceptor junction is an important type of organic solar cells. Understanding the optoelectronic properties of molecular dyad plays the critical role to develop active layer materials for such kind of solar cells. Here, diathiafulvalene-functionalized diketopyrrolopyrrole-fullerene (DFDPP-Ful) was selected as the representative system, and the geometries, electronic structures and excitation properties of DFDPP-Ful monomer and dimer were systematically investigated based on extensive quantum chemistry calculations.

Gut mucosal virome alterations in ulcerative colitis.

Objective: The pathogenesis of UC relates to gut microbiota dysbiosis. We postulate that alterations in the viral community populating the intestinal mucosa play an important role in UC pathogenesis. This study aims to characterise the mucosal virome and their functions in health and UC.

Protective effects of tacalcitol against oxidative damage in human epidermal melanocytes.

Background: Oxidative damage may lead to the dysfunction of melanocytes (MCs) and is one of the causative mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of vitiligo.

Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the protective effects of the vitamin D3 analog tacalcitol on oxidative damage induced by hydrogen peroxide (H O ) in human epidermal MCs.

Methods: Human epidermal MCs were cultured and identified by l-DOPA staining and HMB-45 immunohistochemical staining.

[Effect of estrogen on mismatch repair gene expression in colon cancer cells].

Aim: To investigate the effect of estrogen on MMR gene expression in colon cancer cells COLO205.

Methods: By employing semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting techniques, changes in the expression of MMR genes (hMLH1 and hMSH2) induced by different levels of estradiol (E2) and ICI182.780, an estrogen receptor inhibitor, was investigated in cultured COLO205 cells.

[Expression of green fluorescent protein using an infectious cDNA clone of infectious bronchitis virus].

An infectious cDNA clone of H120 vaccine strain of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) was constructed to demonstrate its potential as a gene transfer vector. Primers were designed according to the published genome sequence of H120 strain, and ten cDNA fragments covering the entire genome of H120 strain was amplified by RT-PCR. All the PCR products were ligated into pMD19-T vector and sequenced, and the ORF5a open reading frame in the pMDTM9 plasmid was replaced by an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene.

Estrogen stimulates the expression of mismatch repair gene hMLH1 in colonic epithelial cells.

Estrogen is reported to have a protective effect on colon cancer; however, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Impaired mismatch repair plays an important role in colonic carcinogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of estrogen on regulating mismatch repair expression in colonic epithelial cells.

[Construction of a retroviral vector carrying HBX gene and its expression in LO2 human hepatocytes].

Objective: To construct a retroviral vector carrying HBX gene and investigate its expression in LO2 human hepatocytes.

Methods: HBX gene was amplified by PCR and subcloned into the retroviral vector pSEB-Flag to construct a retroviral plasmid (pSEB-Flag-HBX) expressing HBX. The HBX gene insert was confirmed by restriction enzyme digestion, PCR and DNA sequencing.

[Effect of vascular endothelial growth factor on pre-eclampsia in pregnant rats].

Objective: To investigate relationship between the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia in pregnant rats.

Methods: Pregnant rats were divided into two groups randomly. Saline solution or L-nitro arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) 125 mg/d was given subcutaneously from day 7 of gestation till establishing pre-eclampsia.