Detection of femtomolar level osteosarcoma-related gene via a chronocoulometric DNA biosensor based on nanostructure gold electrode

In this paper, a sensitive chronocoulometric deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) biosensor based on a nanostructure gold electrode was fabricated for detection of the femtomolar level survivin gene which was correlated with osteosarcoma by using hexaamine-ruthenium III complexes, [Ru(NH3)6]3+, as the electrochemical indicator. The effect of different frequencies on the real surface area of the nanostructure gold electrode obtained by repetitive square-wave oxidation reduction cycle was investigated. At the optimal frequency of 8000 Hz, the real surface of the developed nanostructure gold electrode was about 42.5 times compared with that of the bare planar gold electrode. The capture probe DNA was immobilized on the nanostructure gold electrode and hybridized with target DNA. Electrochemical signals of hexaamine-ruthenium III bound to the anionic phosphate of DNA strands via electrostatic interactions were measured by chronocoulometry before and after hybridization. The increase of the charges of hexaamine-ruthenium III was observed upon hybridization of the probe with target DNA. Results indicate that this DNA biosensor could detect the femtomole (fM) concentration of the DNA target quantitatively in the range of 50 fM to 250 fM; the detection limit of this DNA biosensor was 5.6 fM (signal to noise = 3). This new biosensor exhibits excellent sensitivity and selectivity and has been used for an assay of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a satisfactory result

Effect of Methyl Jasmonate Combined with Calcium Chloride Treatment on Storage Quality of Dictyophora rubrovalvata

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of combined treatment of methyl jasmonate and calcium chloride on storage quality of Dictyophora rubrovalvata. The Dictyophora rubrovalvata was used as the experimental material in this experiment, and the effects of different dealing methods (preharvest distilled water spray treatments mark CK, preharvest 3% calcium chloride spray (S1), preharvest 0.3 mmol/L methyl jasmonate spray (S2), preharvest 0.3 mmol/L methyl jasmonate+3% calcium chloride spray (S3)) on the storage quality of Dictyophora rubrovalvata at (1±0.5) ℃ were studied. The results showed that compared with CK group, the different treatment groups could inhibit the increase of weight loss rate and respiratory intensity, reduce the Dictyophora rubrovalvata shearing force, malondialdehyde content, maintain the free amino acid content, protein content, polysaccharide content and flavone content, and maintain the SOD, CAT and POD activity of the Dictyophora rubrovalvata. At 12 d of storage, the decay rate of Dictyophora rubrovalvata in CK, S1, S2 and S3 groups was 32.56%, 28.32%, 19.85% and 14.64%, and the weight loss rate was 5.62%, 3.89%, 2.89% and 2.21%. In general, methyl jasmonate combined with calcium chloride could significantly delay the deterioration process of Dictyophora rubrovalvata and the decline of its storage quality. Therefore the combination of spraying methyl jasmonate combined with calcium chloride before picking had the best fresh-keeping effect, which could maintain the storage effect of Dictyophora rubrovalvata. This study can provide theoretical reference and technical support for the preservation of Dictyophora rubrovalvata

LncRNA DANCR restrained the survival of mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra by sponging miR-1301-3p/miR-5194

Tuberculosis is a worldwide contagion caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). MTB is characterized by intracellular parasitism and is semi-dormant inside host cells. The persistent inflammation caused by MTB can form a granuloma in lesion regions and intensify the latency of bacteria. In recent years, several studies have proven that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical roles in modulating autophagy. In our study, the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases were searched for lncRNAs that are associated with tuberculosis. We found that lncRNA differentiation antagonizing non-protein coding RNA (DANCR) increased in the peripheral blood samples collected from 54 pulmonary tuberculosis patients compared to 23 healthy donors. By constructing DANCR overexpression cells, we analyzed the possible cellular function of DANCR. After analyzing our experiments, it was found that the data revealed that upregulation of DANCR facilitated the expression of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, autophagy-related 4D cysteine peptides, autophagy-related 5, Ras homolog enriched in the brain, and microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B light chain 3 (STAT3, ATG4D, ATG5, RHEB, and LC3, respectively) by sponging miR-1301-3p and miR-5194. Immunofluorescence analysis indicated that DANCR played a positive role in both autophagosome formation and fusion of autolysosomes in macrophages. The colony-forming unit (CFU) assay data also showed that the cells overexpressing DANCR were more efficient in eliminating the intracellular H37Ra strain. Consequently, these data suggest that DANCR restrained intracellular survival of M. tuberculosis by promoting autophagy via miR-1301-3p and miR-5194

Cathepsin K activity controls cardiotoxin‐induced skeletal muscle repair in mice

Abstract Background: Cathepsin K (CatK) is a widely expressed cysteine protease that has gained attention because of its enzymatic and non‐enzymatic functions in signalling. Here, we examined whether CatK‐deficiency (CatK−/−) would mitigate injury‐related skeletal muscle remodelling and fibrosis in mice, with a special focus on inflammation and muscle cell apoptosis. Methods: Cardiotoxin (CTX, 20 μM/200 μL) was injected into the left gastrocnemius muscle of male wild‐type (CatK+/+) and CatK−/− mice, and the mice were processed for morphological and biochemical studies. Results: On post‐injection Day 14, CatK deletion ameliorated muscle interstitial fibrosis and remodelling and performance. At an early time point (Day 3), CatK−/− reduced the lesion macrophage and leucocyte contents and cell apoptosis, the mRNA levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1, toll‐like receptor‐2 and toll‐like receptor‐4, and the gelatinolytic activity related to matrix metalloproteinase‐2/‐9. CatK deletion also restored the protein levels of caspase‐3 and cleaved caspase‐8 and the ratio of the BAX to the Bcl‐2. Moreover, CatK deficiency protected muscle fibre laminin and desmin disorder in response to CTX injury. These beneficial muscle effects were mimicked by CatK‐specific inhibitor treatment. In vitro experiments demonstrated that pharmacological CatK inhibition reduced the apoptosis of C2C12 mouse myoblasts and the levels of BAX and caspase‐3 proteins induced by CTX. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that CatK plays an essential role in skeletal muscle loss and fibrosis in response to CTX injury, possibly via a reduction of inflammation and cell apoptosis, suggesting a novel therapeutic strategy for the control of skeletal muscle diseases by regulating CatK activity

The Catalytic Degradation Performance of α-FeOOH Doped with Silicon on Methyl Orange

In order to improve the catalytic degradation property of α-FeOOH, α-FeOOH was doped with sodium silicate. The α-FeOOH doped with silicon was used as catalyst to catalyze the degradation of methyl orange. The XRD spectra showed that the crystalline phase of α-FeOOH doped with silicon was same as that of α-FeOOH; The catalytic degradation property of α-FeOOH doped with silicon was 21.7% higher than that of α-FeOOH; The results showed that catalytic degradation of methyl orange was almost degraded thoroughly at the conditions that the concentration of α-FeOOH doped with silicon in the solution was 0.73 g/L, the concentration of H2O2 was 0.231 mmol/L. The pH value was between 2 and 3, and the degradation reaction was carried out at 60 oC for at least 20 min. Copyright © 2016 BCREC GROUP. All rights reserved Received: 5th November 2015; Revised: 9th January 2016; Accepted: 13rd January 2016 How to Cite: Lu, Y., Gao, W., Xu, F., Zhang, G., Zhang, F. (2016). The Catalytic Degradation Performance of α-FeOOH Doped with Silicon on Methyl Orange. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 11 (1): 120-124. (doi:10.9767/bcrec.11.1.434.120-124) Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.11.1.434.120-12

Improvement of the Mechanical Properties by Surface Modification of ZnCl2 and Polydopamine in Aramid Fiber Composites

Although aramid fiber has the advantage of excellent chemical and mechanical properties, the performance of the composites may be reduced due to the low interfacial adhesion between the fabric and the matrix. The surface of the aramid fiber was modified to improve the interfacial properties. The surface of the aramid fibers was treated with ZnCl2 and polydopamine. After the pretreated fabrics were made into a composite material by the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process, their mechanical performance was investigated. The highest impact energy was shown in the concentration of 6 wt% ZnCl2 and 1.5 g/L polydopamine, which is 20% better than that of the untreated material. In the bending strength, the condition of 1.5 g/L polydopamine resulted in the highest value and increased by 13% compared to the untreated material. The hybrid surface treatment of ZnCl2 and polydopamine did not significantly affect the tensile strength

Low-overhead Secure Network Coding based on Chaotic Sequence

Abstract: A minimum overhead secure network coding based on chaotic sequence is presented in this paper. And only the source need to be modified, intermediate nodes implement a classical distributed network code. So the proposed scheme is applied to all the linear network coding. Combine the chaotic sequence with original source information vector, because of the high randomness and the sensitivity to initial state of chaotic sequence, the presented network code is ”One-Time Pad (OTP)”. So the secure network coding achieves complete secrecy. This scheme requires only one noisy symbol to be embedded in the original information symbol vector to achieve complete secrecy. The theoretical analysis confirm that this scheme can achieve the information-theoretic security condition and the signalling overhead to obtain complete security is minimized, while the attacker has limited wiretapping ability