Sarsasapogenin restores podocyte autophagy in diabetic nephropathy by targeting GSK3β signaling pathway.

Podocyte injury following abnormal podocyte autophagy plays an indispensable role in diabetic nephropathy (DN), therefore, restoration of podocyte autophagy is considered as a feasible strategy for the treatment of DN. Here, we investigated the preventive effects of sarsasapogenin (Sar), the main active ingredient in Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge, on the podocyte injury in diabetic rats, and tried to illustrate the mechanisms underlying the effects in high glucose (HG, 40 mM)-treated podocytes (MPs). Diabetes model was established in rats with single streptozocin (60 mg· kg) intraperitoneal administration.

Spatial variation and subcellular binding of metals in oysters from a large estuary in China.

Pearl River Estuary (PRE) is the largest estuary in Southern China and there has been an increasing concern of metal pollution due to regional industrialization. In this study, we investigated the spatial variation of metal pollution (Ag, As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) as well as their subcellular handling in the oyster Crassostrea hongkongensis. Hot spots of metal contamination in the oysters were found in different sites, suggesting that there were different sources of metals in the estuary associated with industrial activity.

Separate base usages of genes located on the leading and lagging strands in Chlamydia muridarum revealed by the Z curve method.

Background: The nucleotide compositional asymmetry between the leading and lagging strands in bacterial genomes has been the subject of intensive study in the past few years. It is interesting to mention that almost all bacterial genomes exhibit the same kind of base asymmetry. This work aims to investigate the strand biases in Chlamydia muridarum genome and show the potential of the Z curve method for quantitatively differentiating genes on the leading and lagging strands.

Re-prediction of protein-coding genes in the genome of Amsacta moorei entomopoxvirus.

Using the Z curve method, the protein-coding genes in AmEPV genome are re-predicted. On the basis of the parameters trained on the experimentally validated genes, all of the 30 experimentally validated genes and 67 putative genes are predicted correctly as coding genes. The sensitivities of the present method for self-test and cross-validation are all 100% based on these test sets.

Mechanism study of electrochemical oxidation in the terylene diaphragm cell.

By using a self-made carbon/polytetrafluoroethylene (C/PTFE) O2-fed as cathode and Ti/IrO2/RuO2 as anode, the effects of electrochemical oxidation of phenol and the coal-gas wastewater containing phenol were studied. The terylene diaphragm which kept pH >12 in cathodic compartment and pH < 1 in the anodic compartment was selected in the experiment in comparison with the other types of diaphragm. Furthermore, hydroxyl radical (HO*) was determined in the cathodic compartment of the diaphragm cell by electron spin resonance spectrum (ESR) and the fluorescence spectra.