Effects of a Chinese Medicinal Plant Radix Astragali on the Ovariectomized Female Rats

Perimenopausal syndrome occurs during the transition to menopause. Complementary and alternative medicine, especially Chinese medicinal plants, has manifested significant effects in alleviating perimenopausal symptoms. However, little research has been focused on the effects of Chinese medicinal plant on the immune function of the perimenopausal women. The present study aimed to explore the effects of Radix Astragali (RA) on the sex hormone levels and the interleukins of the ovariectomized female rats. 24 female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into model control group (MOD group), sham-operation group (SHAM group), RA group and estrogen group (EST group). After all the treatment ended, the serum levels of estradiol (E2), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and interleukin-8 (IL-8) were measured using enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA) and the uterus was removed and weighed after blood exsanguinations immediately. In the MOD group, the serum levels of E2 were significantly lower, and the serum levels of FSH and LH were markedly higher than those of the RA group, EST group and SHAM group (P<0.05). In the RA group, the serum levels of E2 were significantly lower, and the serum levels of FSH were markedly higher than those of the SHAM group and EST group, respectively. In the MOD group, the serum levels of IL-2 and IL-8 were significantly lower than those of the RA group, EST group and SHAM group (P<0.05), and no marked differences existed among RA group, EST group and SHAM group in the serum levels of IL-2 and IL-8 (P>0.05). The uterine weight of the rats in the RA group, EST group and SHAM group were significantly higher than those of the rats in MOD group (P<0.05). There were no marked differences among the rats from RA group, EST group and SHAM group on the uterine weight (P>0.05). It is concluded that RA can significantly improve the immune functions of the ovariectomized female rats, although it cannot change the sex hormones levels as significantly as estrogen

Distributed strain sensor networks for in-construction monitoring and safety evaluation of a high-rise building

2012-2013 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordOthersP0000033, G-U845Publishe

Evaluation of analgesic, anti-inflammatoryand antipyretic activities of the ethanol extract from Speranskia tuberculate

Background: Speranskia tuberculata (Bunge) Baill, has been used to prevent and treat many diseases in Chinese folk medicine, nevertheless, few investigations had been reported.Materials and Methods: Animals were orally administered STE at the doses of 125, 250, 500 mg/kg. The analgesic effect was estimated in mice by hot-plate test and the acetic acid-induced writhing test. The anti-inflammatory effect was assessed using rat paw edema model elicited by fresh egg white and the mouse ear edema model caused by dimethylbenzene. The antipyretic effect was determined using the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced rat fever model. In addition, the acute oral toxicity of STE was studied.Results: STE significantly and dose-dependently reduced the number of writhing responses in mice, prolonged reaction time of mice against heat stimulation, depressed egg white-induced paw edema in rats and the dimethylbenzene-caused ear edema in mice, but did not alleviate LPS-induced pyrexia in rats. No death of mice was observed when orally administered STE up to 52.8 g/kg (approximately 2080 times of clinical dose used).Conclusion: STE possesses evident analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities, but has no antipyretic effect. Furthermore STE has a favorable safety. These findings support the applications of Speranskia tuberculata as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug in folk medicine.Key Words: Herb, pain, inflammation, Pyrexia, Safet

Fabrication of Porous TiO2 Hollow Spheres and Their Application in Gas Sensing

In this work, porous TiO2 hollow spheres with an average diameter of 100 nm and shell thickness of 20 nm were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method with NH4HCO3 as the structure-directing agent, and the formation mechanism for this porous hollow structure was proved to be the Ostwald ripening process by tracking the morphology of the products at different reaction stages. The product was characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD and BET analyses, and the results show that the as-synthesized products are anatase phase with a high surface area up to 132.5 m2/g. Gas-sensing investigation reveals that the product possesses sensitive response to methanal gas at 200°C due to its high surface area

Viral integration drives multifocal HCC during the occult HBV infection

© 2019 The Author(s). Background & Aims: Although the prognosis of patients with occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) is usually benign, a small portion may undergo cirrhosis and subsequently hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We studied the mechanism of life-long Integration of virus DNA into OBI host's genome, of which may induce hepatocyte transformation. Methods: We applied HBV capture sequencing on single cells from an OBI patient who, developed multiple HCC tumors and underwent liver resection in May 2013 at Tongji Hospital in China. Despite with the undetectable virus DNA in serum, we determined the pattern of viral integration in tumor cells and adjacent non-tumor cells and obtained the details of the viral arrangement in host genome, and furthermore the HBV integrated region in cancer genome. Results: HBV captured sequencing of tissues and individual cells revealed that samples from multiple tumors shared two viral integration sites that could affect three host genes, including CSMD2 on chr1 and MED30/EXT1 on chr8. Whole genome sequencing further indicated one hybrid chromosome formed by HBV integrations between chr1 and chr8 that was shared by multiple tumors. Additional 50 poorly differentiated liver tumors and the paired adjacent non-tumors were evaluated and functional studies suggested up-regulated EXT1 expression promoted HCC growth. We further observed that the most somatic mutations within the tumor cell genome were common among the multiple tumors, suggesting that HBV associated, multifocal HCC is monoclonal in origin. Conclusion: Through analyzing the HBV integration sites in multifocal HCC, our data suggested that the tumor cells were monoclonal in origin and formed in the absence of active viral replication, whereas the affected host genes may subsequently contribute to carcinogenesis

Infection-Associated Nuclear Degeneration in the Rice Blast Fungus Magnaporthe oryzae Requires Non-Selective Macro-Autophagy

addresses: School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom.notes: PMCID: PMC3308974Freely-available open access article.The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae elaborates a specialized infection structure called an appressorium to breach the rice leaf surface and gain access to plant tissue. Appressorium development is controlled by cell cycle progression, and a single round of nuclear division occurs prior to appressorium formation. Mitosis is always followed by programmed cell death of the spore from which the appressorium develops. Nuclear degeneration in the spore is known to be essential for plant infection, but the precise mechanism by which it occurs is not known

Specificity and heregulin regulation of Ebp1 (ErbB3 binding protein 1) mediated repression of androgen receptor signalling

Although ErbB receptors have been implicated in the progression of prostate cancer, little is known about proteins that may mediate their interactions with the androgen receptor (AR). Ebp1, a protein cloned via its association with the ErbB3 receptor, binds the AR and inhibits androgen-regulated transactivation of wild-type AR in COS cells. As the complement of coregulators in different cells are important for AR activity, we determined the effect of Ebp1 on AR function in prostate cancer cell lines. In addition, we examined the regulation of Ebp1 function by the ErbB3/4 ligand heregulin (HRG). In this study, we demonstrate, using several natural AR-regulated promoters, that Ebp1 repressed transcriptional activation of wild-type AR in prostate cancer cell lines. Downregulation of Ebp1 expression in LNCaP cells using siRNA resulted in activation of AR in the absence of androgen. Ebp1 associated with ErbB3 in LNCaP cells in the absence of HRG, but HRG induced the dissociation of Ebp1 from ErbB3. In contrast, HRG treatment enhanced both the association of Ebp1 with AR and also the ability of Ebp1 to repress AR transactivation. These studies suggest that Ebp1 is an AR corepressor whose biological activity can be regulated by the ErbB3 ligand, HRG

Oxygen-rich microporous carbons with exceptional hydrogen storage capacity

Porous carbons have been extensively investigated for hydrogen storage but, to date, appear to have an upper limit to their storage capacity. Here, in an effort to circumvent this upper limit, we explore the potential of oxygen-rich activated carbons. We describe cellulose acetatederived carbons that combine high surface area (3800 m2 g-1) and pore volume (1.8 cm3 g-1) that arise almost entirely (> 90%) from micropores, with an oxygen-rich nature. The carbons exhibit enhanced gravimetric hydrogen uptake (8.1 wt% total, and 7.0 wt% excess) at -196 ºC and 20 bar, rising to a total uptake of 8.9 wt% at 30 bar, and exceptional volumetric uptake of 44 g l-1 at 20 bar, and 48 g l-1 at 30 bar. At room temperature they store up to 0.8 wt% (excess) and 1.2 wt% (total) hydrogen at only 30 bar, and their isosteric heat of hydrogen adsorption is above 10 kJ mol-1

Identification of a Novel Marine Fish Virus, Singapore Grouper Iridovirus-Encoded MicroRNAs Expressed in Grouper Cells by Solexa Sequencing

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are ubiquitous non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. An increasing number of studies has revealed that viruses can also encode miRNAs, which are proposed to be involved in viral replication and persistence, cell-mediated antiviral immune response, angiogenesis, and cell cycle regulation. Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV) is a pathogenic iridovirus that has severely affected grouper aquaculture in China and Southeast Asia. Comprehensive knowledge about the related miRNAs during SGIV infection is helpful for understanding the infection and the pathogenic mechanisms. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To determine whether SGIV encoded miRNAs during infection, a small RNA library derived from SGIV-infected grouper (GP) cells was constructed and sequenced by Illumina/Solexa deep-sequencing technology. We recovered 6,802,977 usable reads, of which 34,400 represented small RNA sequences encoded by SGIV. Sixteen novel SGIV-encoded miRNAs were identified by a computational pipeline, including a miRNA that shared a similar sequence to herpesvirus miRNA HSV2-miR-H4-5p, which suggests miRNAs are conserved in far related viruses. Generally, these 16 miRNAs are dispersed throughout the SGIV genome, whereas three are located within the ORF057L region. Some SGIV-encoded miRNAs showed marked sequence and length heterogeneity at their 3' and/or 5' end that could modulate their functions. Expression levels and potential biological activities of these viral miRNAs were examined by stem-loop quantitative RT-PCR and luciferase reporter assay, respectively, and 11 of these viral miRNAs were present and functional in SGIV-infected GP cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provided a genome-wide view of miRNA production for iridoviruses and identified 16 novel viral miRNAs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental demonstration of miRNAs encoded by aquatic animal viruses. The results provide a useful resource for further in-depth studies on SGIV infection and iridovirus pathogenesis