Early Growth Response Gene-1 Deficiency Interrupts TGFβ1 Signaling Activation and Aggravates Neurodegeneration in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Mice.

Early growth response protein 1 (Egr-1) triggers the transcription of many genes involved in cell growth, differentiation, synaptic plasticity, and neurogenesis. However, its mechanism in neuronal survival and degeneration is still poorly understood. This study demonstrated that Egr-1 was down-regulated at mRNA and protein levels in the central nervous system (CNS) of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mice.

Plantago asiatica L. seeds extract protects against cardiomyocyte injury in isoproterenol- induced cardiac hypertrophy by inhibiting excessive autophagy and apoptosis in mice.

Background: Cardiac hypertrophy is the early stage of many heart diseases, such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, valvular dysfunction and cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyocyte autophagy and apoptosis play an important role in the process of cardiac hypertrophic response. Plantago asiatica L.

Child compound Endothelium corneum attenuates gastrointestinal dysmotility through regulating the homeostasis of brain-gut-microbiota axis in functional dyspepsia rats.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Nowadays, there is no specific effective western medicine for functional dyspepsia (FD), especially in children. Clinically, child compound Endothelium corneum (CCEC) has shown to be effective for the therapy of FD, however, the underlying mechanism has not been elucidated yet.

Materials And Methods: FD was induced in rats by irregular diet plus dilute hydrochloric acid feeding.

Astragaloside IV Promotes Adult Neurogenesis in Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus of Mouse through CXCL1/CXCR2 Signaling.

Astragaloside IV (ASI) has been reported to promote neural stem cells proliferation in vitro and CXCR2 expression on neutrophils. The present study was aimed to investigate the influence of ASI on adult neurogenesis in hippocampal dentate gyrus (DGs) of mouse and to discuss the possible underlying mechanisms. Total number of proliferative cells (BrdU⁺), pre-mature neurons (DCX⁺), early proliferative cells (BrdU⁺/DCX⁺), proliferative radial gila-like cells (BrdU⁺/GFAP⁺) and newly generated neurons (BrdU⁺/NeuN⁺) after ASI or vehicle administration for two weeks were counted, respectively.

Isoastragaloside I inhibits NF-κB activation and inflammatory responses in BV-2 microglial cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide.

The excessive activation of microglia in many neurodegenerative diseases is detrimental to neuronal survival. Isoastragaloside I (ISO I) is a natural saponin molecule found within the roots of Astragalus membranaceus, a famous traditional Chinese medicine. In the present study, the anti‑inflammatory effects and the mechanisms of action of ISO I on activated BV-2 cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were investigated.

Astragaloside IV improves lipid metabolism in obese mice by alleviation of leptin resistance and regulation of thermogenic network.

Obesity is a worldwide threat to public health in modern society, which may result from leptin resistance and disorder of thermogenesis. The present study investigated whether astragaloside IV (ASI) could prevent obesity in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed and db/db mice. In HFD-fed mice, ASI prevented body weight gain, lowered serum triglyceride and total cholesterol levels, mitigated liver lipid accumulation, reduced fat tissues and decreased the enlargement of adipose cells.

Comparative studies on the immunoregulatory effects of three polysaccharides using high content imaging system.

In this study, polysaccharides were isolated from Astragalus membranaceus, Ganoderma lucidum and Radix ophiopogonis and named APSII, GLPII and OGPII for comparison of their immunoactivities. MTT assay indicated that these polysaccharides increased the metabolic activity of Raw264.7 macrophages and induced cell differentiation to dendritic like cells.

Combined transcriptome and metabolite profiling reveals that IiPLR1 plays an important role in lariciresinol accumulation in Isatis indigotica.

A lignan, lariciresinol, is an important efficacious compound for the antiviral effect of Isatis indigotica, a widely used herb for the treatment of colds, fever, and influenza. Although some rate-limiting steps of the lariciresinol biosynthetic pathway are well known, the specific roles of gene family members in I. indigotica in regulating lariciresinol production are poorly understood.

Deletion of mouse FXR gene disturbs multiple neurotransmitter systems and alters neurobehavior.

Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a nuclear hormone receptor involved in bile acid synthesis and homeostasis. Dysfunction of FXR is involved in cholestasis and atherosclerosis. FXR is prevalent in liver, gallbladder, and intestine, but it is not yet clear whether it modulates neurobehavior.

[Identification of Dendrobii Caulis basing on ITS sequence].

Isolation of high-quality genomic DNA from dried and processed crude drug is the key for the DNA identification of Dendrobii Caulis. The DNA extract of Dendrobii Caulis was firstly compared using different method to isolate genomic DNA from dried and processed crude drug, including commercial DNA extracted kit and CTAB method. Using modified CTAB method (extracted from large samples), the genomic DNA was successfully isolated from Dendrobii Caulis, including Huangcao and Fengdou.

Molecular diversity and hypoglycemic polypeptide-P content of Momordica charantia in different accessions and different seasons.

Background: Momordica charantia (MC) has been used for treating diabetes mellitus from ancient times in Asia, Africa and South America. There are many MC accessions in local markets. Polypeptide-P as a main hypoglycemic component in MC was first studied in this experiment to illustrate the different contents in MC of different accessions and different harvesting times.

Simultaneous quantification of seven hippocampal neurotransmitters in depression mice by LC-MS/MS.

Background: There is no method available to simultaneously detect GABA, Glu, Epi, NE, DA, 5-HT and 5-HIAA in mouse hippocampus.

New Method: A rapid and sensitive LC-MS/MS method has been developed for simultaneously measuring seven neurotransmitters in mouse hippocampus. The analytes were detected in positive mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) and the procedure was completed in less than 9min.

[Screening of endophytic fungi from Huperzia serrata for acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and its taxonomic identification].

Objective: To screen out fungus strains with acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity from Huperzia serrata.

Method: Endophytic fungi fermentation products from 59 H. serrata strains were stained with acetylcholinesterase hydrolyzed alpha-naphthaleneacetic ethyl ester and fast blue B salt, and screened for acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity with thin-layer chromatography-bioautography.

A rapid DNA assembling strategy mediated by direct full-length polymerase chain reaction.

An efficient DNA assembling strategy was developed here modified from Class-IIS endonuclease mediated DNA splicing by directed ligation (SDL). Benefited from the full-length PCR directly using ligation products as template, this strategy required less effort and less time to obtain the assembled full-length DNA. The advantages of this strategy made it a rapid and easy-to-perform gene splicing and multiple site-directed mutagenesis approach especially practicable when more fragments need to be assembled at the same time.

[Expression of human estrogen receptor alpha and beta in Escherichia coli].

Estrogen participates in many life activities through combination with estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) or estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) in the body. In order to establish an in vitro estrogen-like compound screening model, the coding region of human ERalpha and ERbeta was separately constructed into pET32-ERalpha and pET43-ERbeta prokaryotic expression vector and water-soluble recombinant ERalpha and ERbeta proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli strain BL21. Western blotting revealed that both recombinant proteins have estrogen receptor binding sites.

An efficient way from naringenin to carthamidine and isocarthamidine by Aspergillus niger.

Biotransformation of naringenin with Aspergillus niger CGMCC 3.4628 yielded two hydroxylation products which were identified unambiguously as 6-hydroxylnaringenin (carthamidin) and 8-hydroxylnaringenin (isocarthamidin) by ESI-MS and (1)H-NMR. Both products simultaneously arrived at high level after 48 h in the biotransformation process.

Antiangiogenic effects of GFP08, an agaran-type polysaccharide isolated from Grateloupia filicina.

An agaran-type polysaccharide, GFP08, isolated from Grateloupia filicina (C. Agardh) Lamouroux, was mainly composed of 1,3-linked β-D-galactose partially sulfated at position O-2 and 1,4-linked α-L-galactose O-2, O-3-disulfate, α-L-galactose O-6-sulfate and 3,6-anhydro-α-L-galactose. Small quantities of xylose, 4,6-O-(1'-carboxyethylidene) and 6-O-methyl-β-D-galactose were also present.

Effect of jatrorrhizine on delayed gastrointestinal transit in rat postoperative ileus.

Objectives: Postoperative ileus is major cause of postoperative complication and prolonged hospitalization. Jatrorrhizine, which is a protoberberine alkaloid isolated from the medicinal plants Berberis aristata and Coptis chinensis, has been found to increase contractility of gastric antral and ileum smooth muscles of rat gastrointestinal tract. We have investigated whether jatrorrhizine could offset gastrointestinal transit in rat with postoperative ileus.

Enhancement of vindoline production in suspension culture of the Catharanthus roseus cell line C20hi by light and methyl jasmonate elicitation.

The effects of light and methyl jasmonate (MJ) on the transcription of biosynthetic genes as well as the accumulation of vindoline and catharanthine in Catharanthus roseus C20hi cell suspensions were studied. t16h (the gene encoding tabersonine 16-hydroxylase) could be induced by light and MJ, whereas d4h (the gene encoding deacetoxyvindoline 4-hydroxylase) could only be induced by light. Quantification by UPLC-MS showed that light significantly increased vindoline production in C20hi cells by about 0.

Tandem multimer expression and preparation of hypoglycemic peptide MC6 from Momordica charantia in Escherichia coli.

Tandem repeat multimers of Momordica charantia (MC) peptide MC6 were designed and the recombinant plasmid containing 10 copies of MC6 gene was constructed to improve the expression level of MC6 in Escherichia coli. Under the selected conditions of cultivation and induction, the expression level of recombinant TrxA-MC6(10) protein was above 25% of total bacteria protein. This fusion protein was purified and cleaved with HCl (13%, w/v).

[Regulation of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin on biosynthesis of astragaloside IV].

In the present study, the regulation of Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb) on astragaloside IV biosynthesis was investigated. An intermediate expression vector consisting of the CaMV35S promoter fused to the vgb and nopaline synthase terminator was transferred into Astragalus membranaceus via Agrobacterium rhizogenes. The transgenic hairy roots were confirmed by PCR amplification and Southern blot hybridization.

The effects of jatrorrhizine on contractile responses of rat ileum.

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of jatrorrhizine on smooth muscle contractions isolated from rat ileum longitudinal muscles. Jatrorrhizine increased the amplitude of spontaneous contractions of ileum longitudinal muscles in concentration-dependent manner with an EC(50) of 30.0±8.