Publications by authors named "Zhenlu Xu"

The fall armyworm (FAW) poses a significant threat to global crop production. Here we showed that overexpression of jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ) protein GhJAZ24 confers resistance to cotton bollworm and FAW, while also causing sterility in transgenic cotton by recruiting TOPLESS and histone deacetylase 6. We identified the NGR motif of GhJAZ24 that recognizes and binds the aminopeptidase N receptor, enabling GhJAZ24 to enter cells and disrupt histone deacetylase 3, leading to cell death.

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Taxadiene synthase, taxadiene-5α-hydroxylase, and taxane 13α-hydroxylase genes were introduced into Nicotiana benthamiana, and the improved resistance to lepidoptera pest fall armyworm was reported. Fall armyworm (FAW) is a serious agricultural pest. Genetic engineering techniques have been used to create pest-resistant plant varieties for reducing pest damage.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to compare the anti-inflammatory effects of three herbal decoctions (QF, HS, XF) against COVID-19 using experimental models with SARS-CoV-2 stimulators.
  • RAW264.7 macrophages and a mouse endotoxemia model were utilized to assess the influence of these decoctions on various inflammatory cytokines.
  • Results showed all three decoctions reduced pro-inflammatory markers, with QF showing the strongest effects, suggesting potential clinical applications for treating inflammation in severe COVID-19 cases.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examines how obesity leads to inflammation in adipose tissue due to the infiltration of immune cells, specifically focusing on the role of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in this process.
  • - It investigates the effects of salicylate, an active metabolite in aspirin, on TNF-α-induced MCP-1 levels in adipocytes, revealing its action through inhibiting phosphodiesterase 3B (PDE3B) rather than its usual targets.
  • - The research concludes that salicylate helps reduce MCP-1 levels by increasing intracellular cAMP and activating protein kinase A (PKA), highlighting a novel pathway for reducing inflammation in fat cells. *
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Insect development requires genes to be expressed in strict spatiotemporal order. The dynamic regulation of genes involved in insect development is partly orchestrated by the histone acetylation-deacetylation via histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs). Although histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) is required for mice during early embryonic development, its functions in () and its potential to be used as a target of insecticides remain unclear.

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Toad venom is a traditional Chinese medicine that has a long history in treating infectious and inflammatory diseases, such as carbuncle, pharyngitis. As one of the major active components in toad venom, resibufogenin (RBG) possesses a variety of pharmacological activities, including lowering blood pressure, reducing proteinuria and preventing oxidative stress. But only its antitumor activity attracts widespread attention in these years.

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Chimonanthi Praecocis Flos, namely wintersweet flower, is the edible flower or flower bud of (L.) Link which is a deciduous shrub plant originated from China and is widely cultivated as a garden or ornamental plant all over the world. However, few studies focused on its anti-inflammatory property.

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The emergence of Omicron variant raises great concerns because of its rapid transmissibility and its numerous mutations in spike protein (S-protein). S-protein can act as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern and complement activator as well as antigen. We compared some immune characteristics of trimer S-proteins for wild type (WT-S) and B.

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Obesity is associated with the infiltration of monocytes/macrophages into adipose tissue in which MCP-1 plays a crucial role. But the regulatory mechanism of MCP-1 expression in adipocytes is not well defined. Our results demonstrated that TNF-α induced abundant MCP-1 production in adipocytes, including 3T3-L1 pre- (≈ 9 to 18-fold), mature adipocytes (≈ 4 to 6-fold), and primary adipocytes(< 2-fold), among which 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes showed the best reactiveness.

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Obesity is increasingly prevalent globally, searching for therapeutic agents acting on adipose tissue is of great importance. Equisetin (EQST), a meroterpenoid isolated from a marine sponge-derived fungus, has been reported to display antibacterial and antiviral activities. Here, we revealed that EQST displayed anti-obesity effects acting on adipose tissue through inhibiting adipogenesis and attenuating HFD-induced obesity in mice, doing so without affecting food intake, blood pressure or heart rate.

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Phaeosphspirone, an undescribed polyketide with a unique 6/5/5/6-fused tetracyclic system, and two known analogues, herbarin and O-methylherbarin, were purified from the endophytic fungus Phaeosphaeriaceae sp. isolated from the desert plant Bassia dasyphylla. The connectivity and relative configuration of phaeosphspirone was elucidated by comprehensive HR-ESI-MS and NMR analysis together with a computer-assisted structure elucidation (CASE) method.

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Recently, Mn oxides (MnOxs) have been attracting considerable interest in the oxidation of organic pollutants. However, the reduction of MnOx in these reactions leads to the deactivation of the catalyst, which must be frequently regenerated. We evaluated the application of a manganese-oxidizing bacterium (MOB) and MnOx in removing toxic dyes.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers isolated four resorcylic acid lactones (RALs) from the desert plant fungus Chaetosphaeronema hispidulum, including a new compound, hispidulactone F (1).
  • The structures of these compounds were determined using various analytical techniques, revealing stereoisomers among them, specifically at C-3 and C-4 positions.
  • Cytotoxicity tests for hispidulactone F (1) and another analog (4) were conducted on HepG2 cells, and a potential biosynthetic pathway for all compounds was proposed.
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Introduction: Peptide LSARLAF (LSA) can bind and activate integrin αIIbβ3 in the absence of 'inside-out' signal. The active αIIbβ3 mediates 'outside-in' signaling that elicits platelet aggregation, granule secretion and TxA2 production. Here we identify the membrane glycoproteins which mediate LSA-induced platelet activation other than αIIbβ3, and determine the roles of Src, PLCγ2, FcRγ-chain, and SLP-76 in LSA-induced platelet activation.

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