Antidiabetic effect of Tibetan medicine Tang-Kang-Fu-San on high-fat diet and streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetic rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the antidiabetic effects of a Tibetan medicine, Tang-Kang-Fu-San (TKFS), on experimental type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rats and to explore its underlying mechanisms. Firstly two major chemical compositions of TKFS, gallic acid and curcumin, were characterized by HPLC fingerprint analysis. Next T2DM in rats was induced by high-fat diet and a low-dose streptozotocin (STZ 35 mg/kg). Then oral gavage administration of three different doses of TKFS (0.3 g/kg, 0.6 g/kg, and 1.2 g/kg) was given to T2DM rats. Experimental results showed that TKFS dramatically reduced the levels of fasting blood glucose, fasting blood insulin, triglyceride, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol, even though it did not alter the animal body weight. The downregulation of phosphorylation-AKT (p-AKT) and glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4) in skeletal muscle of T2DM rats was restored and abnormal pathological changes in pancreas tissues were also improved. Our work showed that TKFS could alleviate diabetic syndromes, maintain the glucose homeostasis, and protect against insulin resistance in T2DM rats, and the improvement of AKT phosphorylation and GLUT4 translocation in skeletal muscle would be one of its possible underlying mechanisms

Cloning and Expression Analysis of a PISTILLATA Homologous Gene from Pineapple (Ananas comosus L. Merr)

PISTILLATA (PI)-like genes are crucial regulators of flowering in angiosperms. A homologue of PI, designated as AcPI (Genbank accession number HQ717796), was isolated from pineapple cultivar Comte de Paris by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The cDNA sequence of AcPI is 907 bp in length and contains an open reading frame of 594 bp, which encodes a protein of 197 amino acids. The molecular weight was 2.29 kDa and the isoelectric point was 9.28. The alignment showed that AcPI had a high identity with CsPIC2 (78.6%), AoPI (77.4%), OrcPI (75.7%) and HPI2 (72.4%). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analyses in different tissues showed that the expression pattern of AcPI was different from the B-class genes in eudicots. AcPI was expressed in all the tissues investigated. The expression level was very low in fruit stems, bracts, leaves and sepals, high in petals and carpels, and moderate in apical meristems, flesh and stamens. The qRT-PCR analyses in different stages indicated that the expression of AcPI reached the highest level at 40 days after flower inducement, when the multiple fruit and floral organs were forming. It proved the important role of AcPI in floral organs and fruit development. The 35S::AcPI transgenic Arabidopsis plants flowered earlier and had more inflorescences or branches than wild type plants

A STUDY ON THE INHIBITORY EFFECT OF RADIX SEMIAQUILEGIAE EXTRACT ON HUMAN HEPATOMA HEPG-2 AND SMMC-7721 CELLS

The main objective of this paper was to investigate the extraction process of ethanol extract of Radix Semiaquilegiae, as well as its inhibitory activity on human hepatoma HepG-2 and SMMC-7721 cells, and to compare the inhibitory effects of different concentrations of ethanol extracts against these two hepatoma cells. Ethanol reflux extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction with ethanol at room temperature were used in the extraction process, and MTT assay was mainly used in the activity experiment to perform in-vitro anti HepG-2 and SMMC-7721 cell activity screening of ethanol extract, and to calculate the cell inhibition rates of the extracts. The results showed that among the two types of extracts, ethanol reflux extract had more superior antitumour activity to that of the ultrasonic extract, but all of the extracts obtained had certain anti-cancer activities, and the anti-proliferative activity increased with the increase of concentration

Online quality control of panaxatriol saponins percolation extraction using near-infrared technology

Purpose: To establish a new prediction model for online quality control of the percolation extraction of panaxatriol saponins (PTS), viz, ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Re and notoginsenoside R1, from notoginseng by near-infrared (NIR) technology coupled with partial least squares (PLS) analysis.Methods: Ten batches of PTS (420 samples) were collected and the  constituents were determined using HPLC. The NIR spectroscopy of samples was determined using a Fourier-Transform nearinfrared spectrometer with an optical fiber transmission PbS detector. Eight sample batches were the calibration set, and two batches were the forecast set. Calibration models were established based on min-max normalization (MMN).Results: The root mean square errors of cross-validation (RMSECV) of Rg1, Re, and R1 were 0.798, 0.095, and 0.259 mg/mL, respectively. The root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) were 1.110, 0.496, and 0.390 mg/mL, respectively. The correlation coefficients (R2) of cross-validation were 0.9682, 0.9681, and 0.9626, respectively, while the correlation coefficients (R2) of prediction were 0.9831, 0.9198, and 0.9661,  respectively.Conclusion: The results indicate that NIR is a quick and effective tool for online quality control of PTS (ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Re, and notoginsenoside R1) in the percolation extraction process.Keywords: Online monitoring, Near infrared technology, Panaxatriol  saponins, Partial least square

Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress Promotes Atherosclerosis via HMGB1/TLR4-Mediated Downregulation of PPARγ/LXRα/ABCA1 in ApoE-/- Mice

Background: Although our previous studies have confirmed that the activation of TLR4 is implicated in the development of atherosclerosis induced by chronic unpredicted mild stress (CUMS), the underling mechanism is largely unclear. Here, we hypothesized that CUMS accelerates atherosclerotic development through lowering PPARγ/LXRα-ABCA1 expression via HMGB1/TLR4 signaling.Methods: In present study, CUMS atherosclerotic animal models were established with AopE-/- mice, and CUMS Raw 264.7 macrophage models were mimicked by high corticosterone treatment, These models were treated with Ethyl pyruvate (EP, an inhibitor of HMGB1), TLR4 inhibitor TAK-242, and PPARγ agonist RSG (Rosiglitazone) to test our hypothesis, respectively.Results: Our results indicated that the protein levels of HMGB1, TLR4, and pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, TNF-α were elevated with the development of atherosclerosis in CUMS mice, while the expressions of PPARγ, LXRα, and ABCA1 declined. Notably, HMGB1 inhibition by EP reversed CUMS-induced atherosclerotic development, pro-inflammatory cytokines upregulation, and PPARγ/LXRα-ABCA1 downregulation. The same trend was observed in the stressed mice treatment with TAK-242. Further experimental evidences indicated that EP, TAK-242, and RSG treatment notably corrected foam cell formation, HMGB1 release, and down-regulation of LXRα and ABCA1 in CUMS Raw 264.7 macrophage model.Conclusion: These results indicate that CUMS exacerbates atherosclerosis is likely via HMGB1-mediated downregulation of PPARγ/LXRα-ABCA1 through TLR4. These data reveal a novel mechanism by which CUMS aggravates atherosclerosis and may offer a potential therapeutic target for this disease

Environmental factors and host genotype control foliar epiphytic microbial community of wild soybeans across China

12 páginas.- 6 figuras.- referencias.- The Supplementary material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1065302/full#supplementary-materiaIntroduction: The microbiome inhabiting plant leaves is critical for plant health and productivity. Wild soybean (Glycine soja), which originated in China, is the progenitor of cultivated soybean (Glycine max). So far, the community structure and assembly mechanism of phyllosphere microbial community on G. soja were poorly understood. Methods: Here, we combined a national-scale survey with high-throughput sequencing and microsatellite data to evaluate the contribution of host genotype vs. climate in explaining the foliar microbiome of G. soja, and the core foliar microbiota of G. soja were identified. Results: Our findings revealed that both the host genotype and environmental factors (i.e., geographic location and climatic conditions) were important factors regulating foliar community assembly of G. soja. Host genotypes explained 0.4% and 3.6% variations of the foliar bacterial and fungal community composition, respectively, while environmental factors explained 25.8% and 19.9% variations, respectively. We further identified a core microbiome thriving on the foliage of all G. soja populations, including bacterial (dominated by Methylobacterium-Methylorubrum, Pantoea, Quadrisphaera, Pseudomonas, and Sphingomonas) and fungal (dominated by Cladosporium, Alternaria, and Penicillium) taxa. Conclusion: Our study revealed the significant role of host genetic distance as a driver of the foliar microbiome of the wild progenitor of soya, as well as the effects of climatic changes on foliar microbiomes. These findings would increase our knowledge of assembly mechanisms in the phyllosphere of wild soybeans and suggest the potential to manage the phyllosphere of soya plantations by plant breeding and selecting specific genotypes under climate change.This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 41991332 and 42090063). MD-B acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the I+D+i project PID2020-115813RA-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. MD-B is also supported by a project of the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) and the Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades of the Junta de Andalucía (FEDER Andalucía 2014–2020 Objetivo temático “01 – Refuerzo de la investigación, el desarrollo tecnológico y la innovación”) associated with the research project P20_00879 (ANDABIOMA).Peer reviewe

Global publication trends and research trends of necroptosis application in tumor: A bibliometric analysis

Introduction: Necroptosis is an alternative, caspase-independent programmed cell death that appears when apoptosis is inhibited. A gowing number of studies have reflected the link between necroptosis and tumors. However, only some systematical bibliometric analyses were focused on this field. In this study, we aimed to identify and visualize the cooperation between countries, institutions, authors, and journals through a bibliometric analysis to help understand the hotspot trends and emerging topics regarding necroptosis and cancer research.Methods: The articles and reviews on necroptosis and cancer were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection on 16 September 2022. Countries, institutions, authors, references, and keywords in this field were visually analyzed by CtieSpace 5.8.R3, VOSviewer 1.6.18, and R package “bibliometrix.”Results: From 2006 to 2022, 2,216 qualified original articles and reviews on necroptosis in tumors were published in 685 academic journals by 13,009 authors in 789 institutions from 75 countries/regions. Publications focusing on necroptosis and cancer have increased violently in the past 16 years, while the citation number peaked around 2008–2011. Most publications were from China, while the United States maintained the dominant position as a “knowledge bridge” in necroptosis and cancer research; meanwhile, Ghent University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences were the most productive institutions. Moreover, only a tiny portion of the articles were multiple-country publications. Peter Vandenabeele had the most significant publications, while Alexei Degterev was most often co-cited. Peter Vandenabeele also gets the highest h-index and g-index in this research field. Cell Death and Disease was the journal with the most publications on necroptosis and cancer, which was confirmed to be the top core source by Bradford’s Law. At the same time, Cell was the leading co-cited journal, and the focus area of these papers was molecular, biology, and immunology. High-frequency keywords mainly contained those that are molecularly related (MLKL, NF-kB, TNF, RIPK3, RIPK1), pathological process related (necroptosis, apoptosis, cell-death, necrosis, autophagy), and mechanism related (activation, expression, mechanisms, and inhibition).Conclusion: This study comprehensively overviews necroptosis and cancer research using bibliometric and visual methods. Research related to necroptosis and cancer is flourishing. Cooperation and communication between countries and institutions must be further strengthened. The information in our paper would provide valuable references for scholars focusing on necroptosis and cancer