Taurine reduces ER stress in C. elegans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>ER stress is a strong indicator of whether or not a cell is undergoing physiological stress. C. elegans is a practical system of characterizing the effect of ER stress at the <it>in vivo</it> or organismal level.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study characterized taurine’s anti-ER stress potential employing western blotting on ER stress markers and assays of motility, lifespan comparison, and fecundity measurement.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When treated with tunicamycin, C. elegans showed the typical ER stress symptoms. It showed a higher expression of hsp-70 and skn-1 than the non-treated control. Survivorship significantly decreased under tunicamycin treatment, and the offspring number also decreased. During the synchronized culture under ER stress conditions, the C. elegans showed early signs of aging especially between L3 and L4 within their life span, along with lowered motility. The worms, however, showed a positive response to the taurine treatment under ER stress conditions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>When C. elegans were treated with taurine before or after the tunicamycin treatment, they showed a less severe level of ER stress, including an enhanced survivorship, increased motility, and augmented fecundity. Taken together, these results strongly indicate that taurine works positively to cope with ER stress from the organismal perspective.</p

Integration between WSNs and Internet based on Address Internetworking for Web Services

There has been an increasing interest in wireless sensor networks as a new technology to realize ubiquitous computing, and demands for internetworking technology between the wireless sensor networks and the Internet which is based on IP address. For this purpose, this paper proposes and implements the internetworking scheme which assigns IP addresses to the sensor nodes and internetworks based on the gateway-based integration for internetworking between the wireless sensor networks and the Internet. That is, the proposed scheme makes the access to the wireless sensor networks be serviced as like the Web service with internetworking Internet IP address and ZigBee address which is allocated to the sensor node in wireless sensor networks. For validating the proposed scheme, we made experiments using Berkeley TinyOS, Mica Motes, dual protocol stack based on ZigBee and IP, and showed the service result using browser (IE) and IPv6 address based on DNS

Methyl 9-diethyl­amino-2,2-bis­(4-meth­oxy­phen­yl)-2H-benzo[h]chromene-5-carboxyl­ate

In the title compound, C31H29NO5, the methyl carboxyl­ate and dimethyl­amino groups on the naphtho­pyran group are almost coplanar with the naphtho­pyran ring system [r.m.s. deviations = 0.08 (2) and 0.161 (2) Å, respectively]. The dihedral angle between the methyl carboxyl­ate and dimethyl­amino groups is 4.9 (1)°. The pyran ring has an envelope conformation with the quaternary C atom out of plane by 0.4739 (13) Å. The meth­oxy­phenyl substituent forms a dihedral angle of 16.6 (1)° with the plane of the benzene ring, while the other meth­oxy­phenyl group is almost coplanar, making a dihedral angle of 1.4 (1)°

N,N-Diethyl-4-[9-meth­oxy-6-(4-methoxy­phen­yl)-5-methyl-2-phenyl-2H-benzo[h]chromen-2-yl]aniline

In the title compound, C38H37NO3, the pyran ring has an envelope conformation with the quaternary Cq atom as the flap atom. The dihedral angle formed between the meth­oxy­phenyl group and the naphthalene ring system is 67.32 (6)°. The ethyl­amino groups lie to the same side of the plane through the phenyl ring and form dihedral angles of 84.6 (3) and 75.8 (2)° with it

Calcium Uptake and Release through Sarcoplasmic Reticulum in the Inferior Oblique Muscles of Patients with Inferior Oblique Overaction

We characterized and compared the characteristics of Ca2+ movements through the sarcoplasmic reticulum of inferior oblique muscles in the various conditions including primary inferior oblique overaction (IOOA), secondary IOOA, and controls, so as to further understand the pathogenesis of primary IOOA. Of 15 specimens obtained through inferior oblique myectomy, six were from primary IOOA, 6 from secondary IOOA, and the remaining 3 were controls from enucleated eyes. Ryanodine binding assays were performed, and Ca2+ uptake rates, calsequestrins and SERCA levels were determined. Ryanodine bindings and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ uptake rates were significantly decreased in primary IOOA (p<0.05). Western blot analysis conducted to quantify calsequestrins and SERCA, found no significant difference between primary IOOA, secondary IOOA, and the controls. Increased intracellular Ca2+ concentration due to reduced sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ uptake may play a role in primary IOOA

17β-Estradiol strongly inhibits azoxymethane/dextran sulfate sodium-induced colorectal cancer development in Nrf2 knockout male mice

© 2020 The Author(s)Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) has dual effects on inflammation and cancer progression depending on the microenvironment. Estrogens have a protective effect on colorectal cancer (CRC) development. The aim of this study was to investigate CRC development in Nrf2 knockout (KO) mice. Azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-treated wild-type (WT) and Nrf2 KO male mice were sacrificed at weeks 2 and 16 after AOM injection with/without 17β-estradiol (E2) treatment during week 1. Disease activity index and colon tissue damage at week 2 showed strong attenuation following E2 administration in WT mice but to a lesser extent in Nrf2 KO male mice. At week 16, E2 significantly diminished AOM/DSS-induced adenoma/cancer incidence at distal colon in the Nrf2 KO group, but not in the WT. Furthermore, mRNA or protein levels of NF-κB-related mediators (i.e., iNOS, TNF-α, and IL-1β) and Nrf2-related antioxidants (i.e., NQO1 and HO-1) were significantly lower in the Nrf2 KO group regardless of E2 treatment compared to the WT. The expression of estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) was higher in the Nrf2 KO group than in the WT. In conclusion, estrogen further inhibits CRC by upregulating ERβ-related alternate pathways in the absence of Nrf2.

Isosorbide Concentration in Perilymph of the Guinea Pig After Oral Administration Versus That After Round Window Perfusion

ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to investigate the feasibility of isosorbide delivery into perilymph through the round window membrane (RWM), and to compare the intracochlear isosorbide concentration in perilymph after oral administration (PO) versus that after round window perfusion (RWP).MethodsSixteen male guinea pigs (32 ears) were used. Isosorbide, an osmotic diuretic, was administered via RWP or PO. First, to investigate the optimal perfusion time, perilymph sampling of scala tympani from the RWM was performed after RWP for 15, 30, or 60 minutes. Second, to compare the drug concentration after RWP versus that after PO, perilymph was aspirated at 3 and 6 hours after administration. Intracochlear concentration of isosorbide was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to refractive index detection.ResultsIsosorbide passed through the RWM into perilymph after RWP. After RWP for 15, 30, and 60 minutes, mean isosorbide concentrations in perilymph were 116.27±44.65, 245.48±112.84, and 279.78±186.32 mM, respectively. The intracochlear concentration after RWP for 30 minutes was higher than that after RWP for 15 minutes (P=0.043). At 3 and 6 hours after PO, isosorbide concentrations in perilymph were 28.88±4.69 and 12.67±2.28 mM, respectively. In contrast, the corresponding concentrations after RWP were 117.91±17.70 and 75.03±14.82 mM at 3 and 6 hours, respectively. Isosorbide concentrations in perilymph following RWP were significantly higher than those following PO at both 3 and 6 hours (P=0.025 and P=0.034, respectively).ConclusionIsosorbide can rapidly pass through the RWM after RWP in guinea pigs, and 30 minutes of perfusion is considered to be appropriate. In addition, over a 6-hour period, RWP can deliver higher concentrations of isosorbide into perilymph than those achieved with PO

Control of photoluminescence of carbon nanodots via surface functionalization using para-substituted anilines

Carbon nanodots (C-dots) are a kind of fluorescent carbon nanomaterials, composed of polyaromatic carbon domains surrounded by amorphous carbon frames, and have attracted a great deal of attention because of their interesting properties. There are still, however, challenges ahead such as blue-biased photoluminescence, spectral broadness, undefined energy gaps and etc. In this report, we chemically modify the surface of C-dots with a series of para-substituted anilines to control their photoluminescence. Our surface functionalization endows our C-dots with new energy levels, exhibiting long-wavelength (up to 650 nm) photoluminescence of very narrow spectral widths. The roles of para-substituted anilines and their substituents in developing such energy levels are thoroughly studied by using transient absorption spectroscopy. We finally demonstrate light-emitting devices exploiting our C-dots as a phosphor, converting UV light to a variety of colors with internal quantum yields of ca. 20%.open116665Ysciescopu