Formylpeptide receptor 2: Nomenclature, structure, signalling and translational perspectives: IUPHAR review 35

We discuss the fascinating pharmacology of formylpeptide receptor 2 (FPR2; often referred to as FPR2/ALX since it binds lipoxin A(4)). Initially identified as a low‐affinity ‘relative’ of FPR1, FPR2 presents complex and diverse biology. For instance, it is activated by several classes of agonists (from peptides to proteins and lipid mediators) and displays diverse expression patterns on myeloid cells as well as epithelial cells and endothelial cells, to name a few. Over the last decade, the pharmacology of FPR2 has progressed from being considered a weak chemotactic receptor to a master‐regulator of the resolution of inflammation, the second phase of the acute inflammatory response. We propose that exploitation of the biology of FPR2 offers innovative ways to rectify chronic inflammatory states and represents a viable avenue to develop novel therapies. Recent elucidation of FPR2 structure will facilitate development of the anti‐inflammatory and pro‐resolving drugs of next decade

Erratum to: Binding Energy and Spin-Orbit Splitting of a Hydrogenic Donor Impurity in AlGaN/GaN Triangle-Shaped Potential Quantum Well

In the framework of effective-mass envelope function theory, including the effect of Rashba spin-orbit coupling, the binding energyEband spin-orbit split energy Г of the ground state of a hydrogenic donor impurity in AlGaN/GaN triangle-shaped potential heterointerface are calculated. We find that with the electric field of the heterojunction increasing, (1) the effective width of quantum well decreases and (2) the binding energy increases monotonously, and in the mean time, (3) the spin-orbit split energy Г decreases drastically. (4) The maximum of Г is 1.22 meV when the electric field of heterointerface is 1 MV/cm

Effects of Four Host Plants on Biology and Food Utilization of the Cutworm, Spodoptera litura

Effects of four host plants, tobacco, Chinese cabbage, cowpea and sweet potato, on larval and pupal development and survival, and longevity and fecundity of adults of Spodoptera litura (F) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), were studied under laboratory conditions (26° C, 60–80% RH), as was the utilization of the four host plants and adaptation on tobacco. All of the biological parameters included in the study were affected by the host plants. In a choice test, S. litura females oviposited most on Chinese cabbage, least on tobacco, and intermediate on cowpea and sweet potato. S. litura larvae developed differently on the four host plants, from shortest to longest in the following order: Chinese cabbage, cowpea, sweet potato, and tobacco. Pupal development was shorter on cowpea than on the other three host plants, and males generally developed longer than females. More females than males were found among emerged adults, and male adults lived 1–2 d longer than females. Larvae survived best on cowpea (81.6%), followed by Chinese cabbage (75.5%), then sweet potato (66.1%), and worst on tobacco (49.2%). Pupal survival rates were relatively high (91.4 – 95.9%) in all four host plant treatments, although that on sweet potato was lower than those on the other three host plants. Pupal weights on tobacco and sweet potato were similar, but both were lower than those on Chinese cabbage and cowpea. Generally, male pupae weighed less than female pupae. Numbers of eggs oviposited by female S. litura were highest on sweet potato, followed by those on cowpea, Chinese cabbage, and lowest on tobacco. Relative food consumption rate was highest on sweet potato, followed by that on cowpea, Chinese cabbage, and lowest on tobacco. In contrast, S. litura larvae that fed on tobacco had higher efficiency of conversion of digested food, highest efficiency of conversion of ingested food, and lowest approximate digestibility as compared with larvae that fed on other host plants. The potential causes for S. litura outbreaks on tobacco are discussed

Synthesis of Novel Flower-Like Zn(OH)F via a Microwave-Assisted Ionic Liquid Route and Transformation into Nanoporous ZnO by Heat Treatment

Zinc hydroxide fluoride (Zn(OH)F) with novel flower-like morphology has been prepared via a microwave-assisted ionic liquid route. The flower-like Zn(OH)F particle has six petals and every petal is composed of lots of acicular nano-structure. Nanoporous ZnO is obtained by thermal decomposition of as-prepared Zn(OH)F in air, and the flower-like morphology is well retained. In the process of synthesis, ionic liquid 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate is used as both the reactant and the template

Hepatotoxicity or Hepatoprotection? Pattern Recognition for the Paradoxical Effect of the Chinese Herb Rheum palmatum L. in Treating Rat Liver Injury

The hepatotoxicity of some Chinese herbs has been a cause for concern in recent years. However, some herbs, such as rhubarb, have been documented as having both therapeutic and toxic effects on the liver, leading to the complex problem of distinguishing the benefits from the risks of using this herb. To comparatively analyze the dose-response relationship between rhubarb and hepatic health, we administrated total rhubarb extract(RE) to normal and carbon tetrachloride(CCl4)-treated rats for 12 weeks at 4 dosage levels(2.00, 5.40, 14.69 and 40.00 g·kg−1, measured as the quantity of crude material), followed by biochemical and histopathological tests of the rats' livers. A composite pattern was extracted by factor analysis, using all the biochemical indices as variables, into a visual representation of two mathematically obtained factors, which could be interpreted as the fibrosis factor and the cellular injury factor, according to the values of the variable loadings. The curative effect of administering the two lowest dosages of RE to CCl4-treated rats was mainly expressed as a decrease in the extent of cellular injury. The hepatoprotective mechanism of RE might be related to its antioxidant effect, the antagonism of the free radical damage to hepatocytes caused by CCl4. By contrast, the RE-induced liver damage was mainly expressed as a significant increase in the amount of fibrosis in both normal rats at all dosage levels and CCl4-treated rats at the two highest dosage levels. Therefore, the hepatotoxic potential of RE could be attributable to the liver cell fibrosis induced by high doses of the herb. This study illustrates the bidirectional potential of rhubarb and demonstrates the feasibility of using factor analysis to study the dose-response relationships between herbal medicines and hepatotoxicity or the healing effects of these herbs by extracting the underlying interrelationships among a number of functional bio-indices in a holistic manner

The E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM25 regulates adipocyte differentiation via proteasomemediated degradation of PPAR gamma

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR??) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor that regulates adipocyte differentiation and glucose homeostasis. The transcriptional activity of PPAR?? is regulated not only by ligands but also by post-translational modifications (PTMs). In this study, we demonstrate that a novel E3 ligase of PPAR??, tripartite motif-containing 25 (TRIM25), directly induced the ubiquitination of PPAR??, leading to its proteasome-dependent degradation. During adipocyte differentiation, both TRIM25 mRNA and protein expression significantly decreased and negatively correlated with the expression of PPAR??. The stable expression of TRIM25 reduced PPAR?? protein levels and suppressed adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells. In contrast, the specific knockdown of TRIM25 increased PPAR?? protein levels and stimulated adipocyte differentiation. Furthermore, TRIM25-knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) exhibited an increased adipocyte differentiation capability compared with wild-type MEFs. Taken together, these data indicate that TRIM25 is a novel E3 ubiquitin ligase of PPAR?? and that TRIM25 is a novel target for PPAR??-associated metabolic diseases

Natural Variation in Grain Selenium Concentration of Wild Barley, Hordeum spontaneum, Populations from Israel

Wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum), the progenitor of cultivated barley, is an important genetic resource for cereal improvement. Selenium (Se) is an essential trace mineral for humans and animals with antioxidant, anticancer, antiarthropathy, and antiviral effects. In the current study, the grain Se concentration (GSeC) of 92 H. spontaneum genotypes collected from nine populations representing different habitats in Israel was investigated in the central area of Guizhou Province, China. Remarkable variations in GSeC were found between and within populations, ranging from 0 to 0.387 mg kg−1 among the 92 genotypes with an average of 0.047 mg kg−1. Genotype 20_C from the Sede Boqer population had the highest GSeC, while genotype 25_1 from the Atlit population had the lowest. The mean value of GSeC in each population varied from 0.010 to 0.105 mg kg−1. The coefficient of variation for each population ranged from 12% to 163%. Significant correlations were found between GSeC and 12 ecogeographical factors out of 14 studied. Habitat soil type also significantly affected GSeC. The wild barley exhibited wider GSeC ranges and greater diversity than its cultivated counterparts. The higher Se grain concentrations found in H. spontaneum populations suggest that wild barley germplasm confer higher abilities for Se uptake and accumulation, which can be used for genetic studies of barley nutritional value and for further improvement of domesticated cereals

Allele Polymorphism and Haplotype Diversity of HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 Loci in Sequence-Based Typing for Chinese Uyghur Ethnic Group

Previous studies indicate that the frequency distributions of HLA alleles and haplotypes vary from one ethnic group to another or between the members of the same ethnic group living in different geographic areas. It is necessary and meaningful to study the high-resolution allelic and haplotypic distributions of HLA loci in different groups.High-resolution HLA typing for the Uyghur ethnic minority group using polymerase chain reaction-sequence-based-typing method was first reported. HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 allelic distributions were determined in 104 unrelated healthy Uyghur individuals and haplotypic frequencies and linkage disequilibrium parameters for HLA loci were estimated using the maximum-likelihood method. A total of 35 HLA-A, 51 HLA-B and 33 HLA-DRB1 alleles were identified at the four-digit level in the population. High frequency alleles were HLA-A*1101 (13.46%), A*0201 (12.50%), A*0301 (10.10%); HLA-B*5101(8.17%), B*3501(6.73%), B*5001 (6.25%); HLA-DRB1*0701 (16.35%), DRB1*1501 (8.65%) and DRB1*0301 (7.69%). The two-locus haplotypes at the highest frequency were HLA-A*3001-B*1302 (2.88%), A*2402-B*5101 (2.86%); HLA-B*5001-DRB1*0701 (4.14%) and B*0702-DRB1*1501 (3.37%). The three-locus haplotype at the highest frequency was HLA-A*3001-B*1302-DRB1*0701(2.40%). Significantly high linkage disequilibrium was observed in six two-locus haplotypes, with their corresponding relative linkage disequilibrium parameters equal to 1. Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree between the Uyghur group and other previously reported populations was constructed on the basis of standard genetic distances among the populations calculated using the four-digit sequence-level allelic frequencies at HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-DRB1 loci. The phylogenetic analyses reveal that the Uyghur group belongs to the northwestern Chinese populations and is most closely related to the Xibe group, and then to Kirgiz, Hui, Mongolian and Northern Han.The present findings could be useful to elucidate the genetic background of the population and to provide valuable data for HLA matching in clinical bone marrow transplantation, HLA-linked disease-association studies, population genetics, human identification and paternity tests in forensic sciences