Antimicrobial polyketides from the endophytic fungus Fusarium asiaticum QA-6 derived from medicinal plant Artemisia argyi.

Seven previously undescribed polyketide derivatives, fusariumtides A-G (1-7), together with three known analogues (8-10), were isolated from the culture extract of Fusarium asiaticum QA-6, an endophytic fungus obtained from the fresh stem tissue of the medicinal plant Artemisia argyi H. Lev. & Vaniot.

A novel DDIT3 activator dehydroevodiamine effectively inhibits tumor growth and tumor cell stemness in pancreatic cancer.

Background: The existence of pancreatic cancer stem cells (PCSCs) results in limited survival benefits from current treatment options. There is a scarcity of effective agents for treating pancreatic cancer patients. Dehydroevodiamine (DeHE), a quinazoline alkaloid isolated from the traditional Chinese herb Evodiae fructus, exhibited potent inhibition of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell proliferation and tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo.

[Development and Evaluation of Prognostic Nomogram Model for Adult Ventricle Glioma Patients].

Objective: To explore the prognostic factors of adult ventricle glioma (AVG) and to construct and evaluate a survival-related prognostic nomogram model, which could provide further reference for the clinical management of AVG patients.

Methods: The patients covered in the study were selected from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database (1973-2016). They all had definite histological diagnosis of AVG.

Isolation and Characterization of Antibacterial Carotane Sesquiterpenes from Associated Endophytic QA-8.

Carotane sesquiterpenes are commonly found in plants but are infrequently reported in the fungal kingdom. Chemical investigation of QA-8, an endophytic fungus associated with the inner root tissue of the grown medicinal herb H. Lév.

Polyketides and Terpenoids with Potent Antibacterial Activities from the Artemisia argyi-Derived Fungus Trichoderma koningiopsis QA-3.

The AcOEt extract of Artemisia argyi-derived fungus Trichoderma koningiopsis QA-3 showed potent inhibitory activity against pathogenic bacteria. Fractionation of the extract resulted in the isolation of three new polyketides (1-3) and two new terpenoids (4 and 5), together with three known metabolites (6-8). Their chemical structures were analyzed by NMR spectra, ECD, HR-ESI-MS or HR-EI-MS, optical rotation, and X-ray crystallographic data, as well as by comparison with literature reports.

8‑Gingerol regulates colorectal cancer cell proliferation and migration through the EGFR/STAT/ERK pathway.

8‑Gingerol, which is extracted from ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), has been shown to possess antioxidant and anti‑inflammatory properties. However, the antitumor effect of 8‑gingerol has not been fully elucidated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the therapeutic potential of 8‑gingerol against colorectal cancer (CRC).

Highly oxygenated polyketides produced by Trichoderma koningiopsis QA-3, an endophytic fungus obtained from the fresh roots of the medicinal plant Artemisia argyi.

Eight new highly oxygenated fungal polyketides, namely, 15-hydroxy-1,4,5,6-tetra-epi-koninginin G (1), 14-hydroxykoninginin E (2), koninginin U (3), 4'-hydroxykoninginin U (4), koninginin V (5), 14-ketokoninginin B (6), 14-hydroxykoninginin B (7), and 7-O-methylkoninginin B (8), together with six known related analogues (9-14), were isolated from Trichoderma koningiopsis QA-3, a fungus obtained from the inner root tissue of the well known medicinal plant Artemisia argyi. All these compounds are bicyclic polyketides, with compound 1 contains unusual hemiketal moiety at C-5 and compounds 2-14 having ketone group at C-1 and double bond at C-5(6). The structures and absolute configurations of the new compounds were established by spectroscopic analysis, X-ray crystal diffraction, modified Mosher's method, and ECD calculation.

Trichocadinins B-G: Antimicrobial Cadinane Sesquiterpenes from QA-8, an Endophytic Fungus Obtained from the Medicinal Plant .

Trichocadinins B-G (-), six new cadinane-type sesquiterpene derivatives, each with C-14 carboxyl functionality, were isolated from the culture extract of QA-8, an endophytic fungus obtained from the fresh inner tissue of the medicinal plant . Their structures were elucidated by interpretation of the NMR spectroscopic and mass spectrometric data. The structures and absolute configurations of compounds and were confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis.

Complex role of connexin 43 in astrocytic tumors and possible promotion of glioma‑associated epileptic discharge (Review).

Connexin (Cx)43 is a multifunction protein which forms gap junction channels and hemi‑channels. It also contains abundant binding domains which possess the ability to interact with certain Cx43‑associated proteins and therefore serve a fundamental role in various physiological and pathological functions. However, the understanding of the association between cancer and Cx43 along with Cx43‑gap junctions (GJ) remains unclear.

Biomarkers related with seizure risk in glioma patients: A systematic review.

Increasing evidence indicates that genetic biomarkers play important roles in the development of glioma-associated seizures. Thus, we performed a systematic review to summarise biomarkers that are associated with seizures in glioma patients. An electronic literature search of public databases (PubMed, Embase and Medline) was performed using the keywords glioma, seizure and epilepsy.

Significance of the prognostic nutritional index in patients with glioblastoma: A retrospective study.

Objective: Accumulating evidence demonstrates that prognostic nutritional index(PNI) is linked to the clinical outcome of patients with malignant tumors, but few studies had investigated the clinical significance of PNI in glioblastoma multiforme(GBM). This study aimed to clarify the association between PNI and the clinical outcome of patients with GBM.

Methods: The clinical data of 84 patients with GBM were retrospectively analyzed.

Treatment with Recombinant Trichinella spiralis Cathepsin B-like Protein Ameliorates Intestinal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Mice by Promoting a Switch from M1 to M2 Macrophages.

Intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, in which macrophages play a key role, can cause high morbidity and mortality. The switch from classically (M1) to alternatively (M2) activated macrophages, which is dependent on the activation of STAT6 signaling, has been shown to protect organs from I/R injuries. In the current study, the effects of recombinant Trichinella spiralis cathepsin B-like protein (rTsCPB) on intestinal I/R injury and the potential mechanism related to macrophage phenotypes switch were investigated.

An antigenic recombinant serine protease from Trichinella spiralis induces protective immunity in BALB/c mice.

In this study, we report the cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding a Trichinella serine protease gene (TspSP-1.3) from GenBank. The recombinant TspSP-1.

Analysis of a novel cathepsin B circulating antigen and its response to drug treatment in Trichinella-infected mice.

In this paper, we cloned a novel full-length cDNA that encodes a Trichinella spiralis cathepsin B-like protease gene (TsCPB) using 3'-RACE PCR. The recombinant mature TsCPB protein (rTsCPB) was then expressed in an Escherichia coli expression system and purified with Ni-affinity chromatography. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed that TsCPB was expressed across all development stages of the parasite but had the highest expression level during the adult stage.

Protein kinase D3 is a pivotal activator of pathological cardiac hypertrophy by selectively increasing the expression of hypertrophic transcription factors.

Fetal cardiac gene reactivation is a hallmark of pathological cardiac hypertrophy (PCH) driven by cardiac transcription factors (TFs) such as nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFATs). Nuclear import of dephosphorylated NFATs catalyzed by calcineurin (CaN) is a well-established hypertrophic mechanism. Here we report that NFATc4 expression is also up-regulated by newly expressed protein kinase D3 (PKD3) to induce PCH.

The δA isoform of calmodulin kinase II mediates pathological cardiac hypertrophy by interfering with the HDAC4-MEF2 signaling pathway.

Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a new promising target for prevention and treatment of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. There are three δ isoforms of CaMKII in the heart and previous studies focused primarily on δB and δC types. Here we report the δA isoform of CaMKII is also critically involved in cardiac hypertrophy.

Irreversible competitive inhibitory kinetics of cardol triene on mushroom tyrosinase.

Cardol triene was first purified from cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) nut shell liquid and identified by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. The effects of this compound on the activity of mushroom tyrosinase were studied.

Inhibition kinetics of chlorobenzaldehyde thiosemicarbazones on mushroom tyrosinase.

2-Chlorobenzaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (2-Cl-BT) and 4-chlorobenzaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (4-Cl-BT) were synthesized, and their inhibitory kinetics on the activity of mushroom tyrosinase were investigated. Results showed that these compounds exhibited significant inhibitory potency on both monophenolase activity and diphenolase activity of tyrosinase. For the monophenolase activity, both compounds could decrease the steady-state activity of the enzyme sharply, without any influence on the lag period.

Calpain-truncated CRMP-3 and -4 contribute to potassium deprivation-induced apoptosis of cerebellar granule neurons.

Increasing evidence shows that calpain-mediated proteolytic processing of a selective number of proteins plays an important role in neuronal apoptosis. Study of calpain-mediated cleavage events and related functions may contribute to a better understanding of neuronal apoptosis and neurodegenerative diseases. We, therefore, investigated the role of calpain substrates in potassium deprivation-induced apoptosis of cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs).

Proteomic studies of PP2A-B56gamma1 phosphatase complexes reveal phosphorylation-regulated partners in cardiac local signaling.

Defects of kinase-phosphatase signaling in cardiac myocytes contribute to human heart disease. The activity of one phosphatase, PP2A, is governed by B targeting subunits, including B56gamma1, expressed in heart cells. As the role of PP2A/B56gamma1 on the heart function remains largely unknown, this study sought to identify protein partners through unbiased, affinity purification-based proteomics combined with the functional validation.

Cysteine protease inhibitors block Toxoplasma gondii microneme secretion and cell invasion.

Toxoplasma gondii enters host cells via an active, self-driven process to fulfill its need for intracellular replication and survival. Successful host cell invasion is governed by sequential release of secretory proteins from three specialized organelles, including the micronemes, which contribute adhesive proteins necessary for parasite attachment and penetration. Cumulative evidence from studies of Trypanosoma species and malaria parasites has shown that cysteine protease inhibitors represent potent anti-parasitic agents capable of curing infections in vivo.

Multi-spectroscopic study on interaction of bovine serum albumin with lomefloxacin-copper(II) complex.

The binding reactions of lomefloxacin-copper(II) complex (LMF-Cu) or LMF to bovine serum albumin (BSA) in physiological solution were investigated by multi-spectroscopy. The binding constant, the number of binding sites and the binding distance between LMF-Cu or LMF and BSA were obtained by a fluorescence quenching method and according to the mechanism of Forster-type dipole-dipole non-radioactive energy-transfer, respectively. Enthalpy and entropy changes for two systems were calculated to be -7.

Targeted deletion of MIC5 enhances trimming proteolysis of Toxoplasma invasion proteins.

Limited proteolysis of proteins transiently expressed on the surface of the opportunistic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii accompanies cell invasion and facilitates parasite migration across cell barriers during infection. However, little is known about what factors influence this specialized proteolysis or how these proteolytic events are regulated. Here we show that genetic ablation of the micronemal protein MIC5 enhances the normal proteolytic processing of several micronemal proteins secreted by Toxoplasma tachyzoites.

Simultaneous determination of benserazide and levodopa by capillary electrophoresis-chemiluminescence using an improved interface.

A capillary electrophoresis coupling with indirect chemiluminescence detection method for the simultaneous determination of benserazide and levodopa has been developed. The detection interface was improved to simplify the capillary electrophoresis-chemiluminescence (CE-CL) system and the features of this improved interface were illustrated in this paper. The CE-CL conditions for the simultaneous determination of benserazide and levodopa were optimized.