The intestinal absorption mechanism of chicoric acid and its bioavailability improvement with chitosan.

Chicoric acid (CA), an active phenolic acid of , has been demonstrated to exhibit antioxidative, antiviral and immunological activities. A prior study showed that CA is a water-soluble compound with low bioavailability. The current study was performed to study the intestinal absorption mechanism of CA and improve its bioavailability using natural biodegradable chitosan.

Wedge-shaped vertebrae is a risk factor for symptomatic upper lumbar disc herniation.

Background: At present, much is unknown about the etiology and pathogenesis of ULDH. However, it is interesting to note that many ULDH patients have a radiographic feature of adjacent vertebral wedge deformation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between symptomatic upper lumbar disc herniation (ULDH) and wedge-shaped vertebrae (WSV).

[Establishment of neuritis migration model induced by Slit 2N and silk fibroin mixture in the rat hippocampal neurons ].

Objective: To explore a simply feasible and affordable method to establish neuritis migration model induced by Slit 2N and silk fibroin mixture in the rat hippocampal neurons .

Methods: Neurons were derived from SD rat hippocampal tissues and cultured with a special cell culture-plate . The cultured neurons were divided into four groups, named as control group, pure silk fibroin, pure Slit 2N and Slit 2N mixture with silk fibroin (mixture group), and 50 different neurons were randomly selected in each group.

Lack of hepatic stimulator substance expression promotes hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis partly through ERK-activated epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most lethal malignancies due to its high frequency of metastasis via the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway. Hepatic stimulator substance (HSS) can protect hepatocytes from injury and promote liver growth. Recent studies indicated that HSS expression is increased in HCC tissues; however, whether HSS expression is potentially associated with HCC metastasis, particularly through the EMT pathway, remains largely unknown.

Co-culture of oligodendrocytes and neurons can be used to assess drugs for axon regeneration in the central nervous system.

We present a novel in vitro model in which to investigate the efficacy of experimental drugs for the promotion of axon regeneration in the central nervous system. We co-cultured rat hippocampal neurons and cerebral cortical oligodendrocytes, and tested the co-culture system using a Nogo-66 receptor antagonist peptide (NEP1-40), which promotes axonal growth. Primary cultured oligodendrocytes suppressed axonal growth in the rat hippocampus, but NEP1-40 stimulated axonal growth in the co-culture system.

Two new 13,14:14,15-disecopregnane-type compounds from the roots of Cynanchum paniculatum.

Two new 13,14:14,15-disecopregnane-type compounds glaucogenin F (1), glaucogenin F 3-O-β-D-oleandropyranoside (2), together with three known compounds cynapanoside A (3), cynatratoside A (4), and neocynapanogenin F 3-O-β-D-oleandropyranoside (5) were isolated from the 95% ethanol extract of the roots of Cynanchum paniculatum. The structures of new compounds were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR, HRESIMS and NOESY.

Interface engineering to enhance the efficiency of conventional polymer solar cells by alcohol-/water-soluble C60 materials doped with alkali carbonates.

Two new C60-based n-type materials, EGMC-OH and EGMC-COOH, functionalized with hydrophilic triethylene glycol groups (TEGs), have been synthesized and employed in conventional polymer solar cells. With the assistance of the TEG-based surfactant, EGMC-OH and EGMC-COOH can be dissolved in highly polar solvents to implement the polar/nonpolar orthogonal solvent strategy, forming an electron modification layer (EML) without eroding the underlying active layer. Multilayer conventional solar cells on the basis of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT:PC61BM/EML/Ca/Al configuration with the insertion of the EGMC-OH and EGMC-COOH EML between the active layer and the electrode have thus been successfully realized by cost-effective solution processing techniques.