Eriocaulon buergerianum extract protects PC12 cells and neurons in zebrafish against 6-hydroxydopamine-induced damage

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Ericaulon buergerianum </it>(<it>Gujingcao</it>) is an ophthalmic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial Chinese medicinal herb. This study aims to investigate the neuroprotective effects of <it>Ericaulon buergerianum </it>ethanol extract (EBE) and to elucidate its underlying action mechanism.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The viability of dopaminergic (DA) neuron in zebrafish was examined by anti-tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunostaining. The locomotor activity of zebrafish was assessed with a digital video tracking system. The viability and cellular damage of the PC12 cells were determined by MTT and LDH assays respectively. The nuclear morphological changes in apoptotic cells were evaluated with DNA staining by Hoechst 33342 dye. Intracellular nitric oxide (NO) was quantified by DAF-FM diacetate staining. The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was determined by Western blot.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>EBE inhibited the 6-OHDA-induced decrease in total distance of movement in zebrafish. Pretreatments of EBE (25, 50, 100 and 200 μg/ml) increased the viability of 6-OHDA-damaged PC12 cells in a dose dependent manner. Protection against 6-OHDA-induced nuclear fragmentation and accumulation of apoptotic bodies was also observed in EBE pretreated cells. Anti-oxidative (inhibition of NO production and iNOS expression in PC12 cells <it>in vitro</it>) activities of EBE are related to its neuroprotective effects in 6-OHDA-induced DA neuron damage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>EBE exhibited significant neuroprotective activities in zebrafish, including recovery of dopaminergic neuron loss caused by 6-OHDA in a dose-dependent manner <it>in vivo</it>, inhibition of 6-OHDA-induced decrease of total distance in movement in zebrafish. The iNOS-NO pathway may be involved.</p

Identification and characterization of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri during gonadal development

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) controls synthesis of sex steroid hormones through hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis in vertebrates. But in mollusks, research on neuroendocrine control of gonadal function, such as the function of GnRH during gonadal development is limited. In this study, we investigated the morphology and structure of the nerve ganglia of Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri by physiological and histological observations. We also cloned the ORF and studied the expression patterns of GnRH in the scallop. Tissue expression analysis showed that GnRH was highly expressed in parietovisceral ganglion (PVG). The in situ hybridization result further confirmed that GnRH mRNA only distributed in some good-sized neurons in the posterior lobe (PL) and some pint-sized neurons in the lateral lobe (LL). In addition, by examining the expression of GnRH during gonadal development in ganglia, we found GnRH displayed higher expression in the female scallops, and showed significant high expression at the growing stage of female scallops in PVG. This study would contribute to gaining insight into the mechanism underlying reproduction regulation by GnRH in the scallop and help to provide a better understanding of reproductive neuroendocrine in mollusks

FOXL2 and DMRT1L Are Yin and Yang Genes for Determining Timing of Sex Differentiation in the Bivalve Mollusk Patinopecten yessoensis

Sex determination and differentiation have long been a research hotspot in metazoans. However, little is known about when and how sex differentiation occurs in most mollusks. In this study, we conducted a combined morphological and molecular study on sex differentiation in the Yesso scallop Patinopecten yessoensis. Histological examination on gonads from 5- to 13-month-old juveniles revealed that the morphological sex differentiation occurred at 10 months of age. To determine the onset of molecular sex differentiation, molecular markers were screened for early identification of sex. The gonadal expression profiles of eight candidate genes for sex determination or differentiation showed that only two genes displayed sexually dimorphic expression, with FOXL2 being abundant in ovaries and DMRT1L in testes. In situ hybridization revealed that both of them were detected in germ cells and follicle cells. We therefore developed LOG10(DMRT1L/FOXL2) for scallop sex identification and confirmed its feasibility in differentiated individuals. By tracing its changes in 5- to 13-month-old juveniles, molecular sex differentiation time was determined: some scallops differentiate early in September when they are 7 months old, and some do late in December when they are 10 months old. Two kinds of coexpression patterns were found between FOXL2 and DMRT1L: expected antagonism after differentiation and unexpected coordination before differentiation. Our results revealed that scallop sex differentiation co-occurs with the formation of follicles, and molecular sex differentiation is established prior to morphological sex differentiation. Our study will assist in a better understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying bivalve sex differentiation

Light-driven ammonium oxidation to dinitrogen gas by self-photosensitized biohybrid anammox systems

Summary: The anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process exerts a very vital role in the global nitrogen cycle (estimated to contribute 30%–50% N2 production in the oceans) and presents superiority in water/wastewater nitrogen removal performance. Until now, anammox bacteria can convert ammonium (NH4+) to dinitrogen gas (N2) with nitrite (NO2−), nitric oxide (NO), and even electrode (anode) as electron acceptors. However, it is still unclear whether anammox bacteria could utilize photoexcited holes as electron acceptors to directly oxide NH4+ to N2. Here, we constructed an anammox-cadmium sulfide nanoparticles (CdS NPs) biohybrid system. The photoinduced holes from the CdS NPs could be utilized by anammox bacteria to oxidize NH4+ to N2. 15N-isotope labeling experiments demonstrated that NH2OH instead of NO was the real intermediate. Metatranscriptomics data further proved a similar pathway for NH4+ conversion with anodes as electron acceptors. This study provides a promising and energy-efficient alternative for nitrogen removal from water/wastewater

Numerical Study on Performance Enhancement of the Air-Cooled Battery Thermal Management System by Adding Parallel Plates

Air-cooled battery thermal management system (BTMS) technology is commonly used to control the temperature distribution of the battery pack in an electric vehicle. In this study, parallel plates are introduced to improve the cooling efficiency of the BTMS, which can change the airflow distribution of the battery pack. Firstly, the effect of the number of parallel plates on the cooling performance of the BTMS is investigated; within the acceptable range of power consumption loss, the model with two parallel plates shows the best cooling efficiency, and Tmax and ΔTmax are reduced by 2.42 and 3.46 K, respectively. Then, the influences of the length and height of parallel plates are studied; the optimal values for length and height are 1.5 and 30 mm, respectively. Finally, the conclusions drawn above are used to design three optimization schemes for the model with four parallel plates; the cooling efficiency of the battery pack can be improved efficiently, which illustrates the feasibility of the above conclusions. Compared to the original model, Tmax and ΔTmax are, respectively, reduced by 3.37 K (6.17%) and 5.5 K (71.9%) after optimization

Initial Characterization and Expression Pattern Analysis of Tobacco (

The complete mRNA sequence of one tobacco (nicotiana tabacum) gene—guanosine monophosphate (GMP)synthase, was amplified using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends methods. The full-length tobacco GMP synthase gene mRNA was 2,127bp containing a 1,617 bp open reading frame, which encodes a protein of 538 amino acids. Sequence analysis revealed that the GMP synthase of tobacco shares high homology with the GMP synthase of wood tobacco(99%), nicotiana attenuata(99%), nicotiana tomentosiformis(99%), potato(92%), Lycopersicon pennellii(92%), lycopersicon esculentum(92%), capsicum annuum(91%), capsicum chinense(91%) and capsicum baccatum(90%). BLAST analysis within the tobacco high throughout genomic sequences database revealed that this gene has 5 introns and 6 exons. Results also showed that tobacco GMP synthase gene has a closer genetic relationship with the GMP synthase gene of wood tobacco. Tissue expression profile analysis revealed that the tobacco GMP synthase gene was highly expressed in leaf, but moderately expressed in root, flower and stem. Our experiment established the foundation for further research on this tobacco gene

Gsw-fi: a GLM model incorporating shrinkage and double-weighted strategies for identifying cancer driver genes with functional impact

Abstract Background Cancer, a disease with high morbidity and mortality rates, poses a significant threat to human health. Driver genes, which harbor mutations accountable for the initiation and progression of tumors, play a crucial role in cancer development. Identifying driver genes stands as a paramount objective in cancer research and precision medicine. Results In the present work, we propose a method for identifying driver genes using a Generalized Linear Regression Model (GLM) with Shrinkage and double-Weighted strategies based on Functional Impact, which is named GSW-FI. Firstly, an estimating model is proposed for assessing the background functional impacts of genes based on GLM, utilizing gene features as predictors. Secondly, the shrinkage and double-weighted strategies as two revising approaches are integrated to ensure the rationality of the identified driver genes. Lastly, a statistical method of hypothesis testing is designed to identify driver genes by leveraging the estimated background function impacts. Experimental results conducted on 31 The Cancer Genome Altas datasets demonstrate that GSW-FI outperforms ten other prediction methods in terms of the overlap fraction with well-known databases and consensus predictions among different methods. Conclusions GSW-FI presents a novel approach that efficiently identifies driver genes with functional impact mutations using computational methods, thereby advancing the development of precision medicine for cancer

Systematic identification and validation of the reference genes from 60 RNA-Seq libraries in the scallop Mizuhopecten yessoensis

Abstract Background Reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is widely used for gene expression analysis in various organisms. Its accuracy largely relies on the stability of reference genes, making reference gene selection a vital step in RT-qPCR experiments. However, previous studies in mollusks only focused on the reference genes widely used in vertebrates. Results In this study, we conducted the transcriptome-wide identification of reference genes in the bivalve mollusk Mizuhopecten yessoensis based on 60 transcriptomes covering early development, adult tissues and gonadal development. A total of 964, 1210 and 2097 candidate reference genes were identified, respectively, resulting in a core set of 568 genes. Functional enrichment analysis showed that these genes are significantly overrepresented in Gene Ontology (GO) terms or Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways related to ribosomes, energy production, etc. Six genes (RS23, EF1A, NDUS4, SELR1, EIF3F, and OLA1) were selected from the candidate genes for RT-qPCR validation, together with 6 commonly used reference genes (ACT, CYTC, HEL, EF1B, GAPDH and RPL16). Stability analyses using geNorm, NormFinder and the comparative delta-Ct method revealed that the new candidate reference genes are more stable than the traditionally used genes, and ACT and CYTC are not recommended under either of the three circumstances. There was a significant correlation between the Ct of RT-qPCR and the log2(TPM) of RNA-Seq data (Ct = − 0.94 log2(TPM) + 29.67, R2 = 0.73), making it easy to estimate the Ct values from transcriptome data prior to RT-qPCR experiments. Conclusion Our study represents the first transcriptome-wide identification of reference genes for early development, adult tissues, and gonadal development in the Yesso scallop and will benefit gene expression studies in other bivalve mollusks

Supplemental Material - Confidence Screening Detector: A New Method for Detecting Test Collusion

Supplementary Material for Confidence Screening Detector: A New Method for Detecting Test Collusion by Yongze Xu, Ying Cui, Xinyi Wang, and Fang Luo in Applied Psychological Measurement.</p