(E)-N′-[(2-Hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)methylidene]nicotinohydrazide

In the mol­ecule of the title compound, C17H13N3O2, the naphthyl ring system and the pyridine ring form a dihedral angle of 12.2 (3)°. An intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond generates a six-membered ring with an S(6) ring motif. This also contributes to the relative overall near planarity of the mol­ecule [r.m.s. deviation of all 22 non-H atoms = 0.107 (5) Å]. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked through inter­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, forming chains along the a axis

Effects of FOXO4 on oxidative stress and apoptosis of retinal vascular endothelial cells under high glucose environmental conditions

AIM: To study the effects of FOXO4 on oxidative stress and apoptosis of retinal vascular endothelial cells under high glucose environmental conditions. METHODS: Human retinal vascular endothelial cells were cultured with high glucose medium. Real-time PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expressions of FOXO4 within cells; meanwhile, both FOXO4 RNAi lentivirus and control vector lentivirus were infected the retinal vascular endothelial cells cultured in high sugar culture medium. Real-time PCR and Western blot techniques were used to detect the interference efficiency. After collection of supernatant and cells treated with various interferences, the SOD activity, MDA content in the supernatants and ROS level within cells were detected. Flow cytometry was used to determine the changes of cell apoptosis. Western blot was used to detect the expressions of apoptotic protein cleaved Caspase-3 and cleaved Caspase-9 within cells. RESULTS: The expression of FOXO4 was increased in retinal vascular endothelial cells after treatment with high glucose medium. FOXO4 RNAi lentivirus infection reduced the expression level of FOXO4 in retinal vascular endothelial cells under high glucose environmental conditions. By contrast, control vector lentivirus had no effect on FOXO4 expression in cells. High glucose induced elevated levels of ROS in retinal vascular endothelial cells, reduced the activity of SOD in cell culture medium, increased the content of MDA, elevated the rate of apoptosis, and promoted the expressions of cleaved Caspase-3 and cleaved Caspase-9 proteins in cells. After down-regulation of FOXO4 expression, retinal endothelial cells were induced by high glucose, the activity of SOD in the cell culture medium increased, the levels of MDA, ROS, apoptosis, and the levels of cleaved Caspase-3 and cleaved Caspase-9 proteins decreased in cells as compared with those of retinal vascular endothelial cells. Moreover, compared with those did not interfere with FOXO4 expression, there was statistically significant differences(PCONCLUSION: High glucose induces the expression of FOXO4 in retinal vascular endothelial cells. Knocking-down of FOXO4 expression reduces oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by high glucose medium

A novel endurance prediction method of series connected lithium-ion batteries based on the voltage change rate and iterative calculation.

High-power lithium-ion battery packs are widely used in large and medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles and other fields, but there is a safety hazard problem with the application that needs to be solved. The generation mechanism and prevention measurement research is carried out on the battery management system for the unmanned aerial vehicles and the lithium-ion battery state monitoring. According to the group equivalent modeling demand of the battery packs, a new idea of compound equivalent circuit modeling is proposed and the model constructed to realize the accurate description of the working characteristics. In order to realize the high-precision state prediction, the improved unscented Kalman feedback correction mechanism is introduced, in which the simplified particle transforming is introduced and the voltage change rate is calculated to construct a new endurance prediction model. Considering the influence of the consistency difference between battery cells, a novel equilibrium state evaluation idea is applied, the calculation results of which are embedded in the equivalent modeling and iterative calculation to improve the prediction accuracy. The model parameters are identified by the Hybrid Pulse Power Characteristic test, in which the conclusion is that the mean value of the ohm internal resistance is 20.68mΩ. The average internal resistance is 1.36mΩ, and the mean capacitance value is 47747.9F. The state of charge prediction error is less than 2%, which provides a feasible way for the equivalent modeling, battery management system design and practical application of pack working lithium-ion batteries

Cloning of HBsAg-encoded genes in different vectors and their expression in eukaryotic cells

AIM: To compare the efficiency of different plasmids as DNA vectors by cloning three HBsAg-encoded genes into two eukaryotic expression vectors, pRc/CMV and pSG5UTPL/Flag, and to express HBsAg S, MS, and LS proteins in SP2/0 cells, and to establish monoclone SP2/0 cell strains that are capable of expressing S or S2S proteins stably. METHODS: Segments of S, preS2-S, preS1-preS2-S genes of Hepatitis B virus were amplified by routine PCR and preS1-S fragment was amplified by Over-Lap Extension PCR. The amplified segments were cleaved with restricted endonuclease Hind III/Not I followed by ligation with pRc/CMV, or BamHI/EcoR I followed by ligation with pSG5UTPL/Flag. After the plasmid vectors were cleaved with the correspond enzymes, the amplified segments were inserted into pRc/CMV or pSG5UTPL/Flag plasmid vectors with T4 DNA ligase. KOZAK sequence was added before the initial ATG code of each fragment using specific primer. The inserted segments in the recombinant plasmids were sequenced after subcloning. BALB/c mice myeloma cells (SP2/0 cell line) were transfected with the recombinant plasmids. The expressions of the different recombinants were compared by Western-blot, using a monoclonal anti-HBs antibody as the primary antibody and peroxidase-labeled multi-linker as the secondary. Stable SP2/0-pRc/CMV-S or SP2/0-pRc/CMV-MS clones were established through clone screening with G418. RESULTS: Fragments with anticipated size were harvested after PCR. After recombination and screening, the sequences of the inserted segments in the recombinants were confirmed to be S, preS2S, preS1-preS2S and preS1S encoding genes, determined by sequencing. The results of Western-blot hybridization were positive for the anticipated proteins. Among them, pRc/CMV-S or pRc/CMV-MS demonstrated the highest expressing their respective antigen. CONCLUSION: Eight recombinant plasmids expressing S, M, L or preS1S proteins are obtained. For hepatitis surface antigen expression in eukaryotic cells, the vector pRc/CMV is superior to pSG5UTPL/Flag, and pRc/CMV-S and pRc/CMV-MS are the most efficient in the pRc/CMV clones. SP2/0 cells stably expressing HBsAg are established, and may be used as target cells for evaluating the CTL activity of a DNA vaccine in vitro

The in vivo study on the radiobiologic effect of prolonged delivery time to tumor control in C57BL mice implanted with Lewis lung cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High-precision radiation therapy techniques such as IMRT or sterotactic radiosurgery, delivers more complex treatment fields than conventional techniques. The increased complexity causes longer dose delivery times for each fraction. The purpose of this work is to explore the radiobiologic effect of prolonged fraction delivery time on tumor response and survival in vivo.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>1-cm-diameter Lewis lung cancer tumors growing in the legs of C57BL mice were used. To evaluate effect of dose delivery prolongation, 18 Gy was divided into different subfractions. 48 mice were randomized into 6 groups: the normal control group, the single fraction with 18 Gy group, the two subfractions with 30 min interval group, the seven subfractions with 5 min interval group, the two subfractions with 60 min interval group and the seven subfractions with 10 min interval group. The tumor growth tendency, the tumor growth delay and the mice survival time were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The tumor growth delay of groups with prolonged delivery time was shorter than the group with single fraction of 18 Gy (P < 0.05). The tumor grow delay of groups with prolonged delivery time 30 min was longer than that of groups with prolonged delivery time 60 min P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between groups with same delivery time (P > 0.05). Compared to the group with single fraction of 18 Gy, the groups with prolonged delivery time shorten the mice survival time while there was no significant difference between the groups with prolonged delivery time 30 min and the groups with prolonged delivery time 60 min.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prolonged delivery time with same radiation dose shorten the tumor growth delay and survival time in the mice implanted with Lewis lung cancer. The anti-tumor effect decreased with elongation of the total interfractional time.</p

Moxibustion treatment modulates the gut microbiota and immune function in a dextran sulphate sodium-induced colitis rat model

AIM: To investigate the effect and mechanism of moxibustion in rats with ulcerative colitis. METHODS: A rat colitis model was established by administering 4% dextran sulphate sodium solution. Seventy male rats were randomly divided into seven groups: Healthy controls (HC), ulcerative colitis model group (UC), UC with 7 d of moxibustion (UC-7), UC with 14 d of moxibustion (UC-14), UC with mesalazine gavage (UC-W), HC with 7 d of moxibustion (HC-7), HC with 14 d of moxibustion (HC-14). Moxibustion was applied to the bilateral Tianshu (ST25). Gut microbiome profiling was conducted by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, and PCR and ELISA determined the expression of inflammatory cytokines in colon mucosa and serum, respectively. RESULTS: Moxibustion treatment restored the colonic mucosa and decreased submucosal inflammatory cell infiltration in colitis rats. Rats treated with moxibustion and mesalazine had significantly lower levels of the dominant phyla Proteobacteria and the genera Saccharibacteria, Sphingomonas and Barnesiella than colitis rats, and they could restore the microbiome to levels similar to those observed in healthy rats. UC rats had reduced alpha diversity, which could be alleviated by moxibustion therapy, and UC-7 had a higher alpha diversity than UC-14. This finding suggests that short-term (7 d) but no longer term (14 d) moxibustion treatment may significantly affect the gut microbiome. The potential bacterial functions affected by moxibustion may be ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, and amino acid metabolism. Compared with HC group, the levels of the cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12) (P < 0.05) and IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, interferon-γ, lipopolysaccharide, IgA, tumour necrosis factor-α and its receptors 1 (TNFR1) and TNFR2 (P < 0.01) were all increased, whereas anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-2 and IL-10 (P < 0.01) and transforming growth factor-β (P < 0.05) were decreased in UC rats. These changes were reversed by moxibustion. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that moxibustion exerts its therapeutic effect by repairing mucosal tissue damage and modulating the gut microbiome and intestinal mucosal immunity

[3,3′-Dimesityl-1,1′-(4,5:16,17-dibenzo-3,6,9,12,15,18-hexa­oxaeicosane-1,20-di­yl)diimidazolin-2-yl­idene]dithio­cyanato­palladium(II)

The coordination geometry of the Pd atom in the title compound, [Pd(SCN)2(C46H54N4O6)], is approximately square-planar. The N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) metallacrown ether ligand binds to the Pd atom in a trans orientation through the carbene C atoms of the two imidazole rings and generates a 25-membered chelate ring. Two mutually trans S-bound thio­cyanate ligands complete the coordination

Ku80 cooperates with CBP to promote COX-2 expression and tumor growth.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) plays an important role in lung cancer development and progression. Using streptavidin-agarose pulldown and proteomics assay, we identified and validated Ku80, a dimer of Ku participating in the repair of broken DNA double strands, as a new binding protein of the COX-2 gene promoter. Overexpression of Ku80 up-regulated COX-2 promoter activation and COX-2 expression in lung cancer cells. Silencing of Ku80 by siRNA down-regulated COX-2 expression and inhibited tumor cell growth in vitro and in a xenograft mouse model. Ku80 knockdown suppressed phosphorylation of ERK, resulting in an inactivation of the MAPK pathway. Moreover, CBP, a transcription co-activator, interacted with and acetylated Ku80 to co-regulate the activation of COX-2 promoter. Overexpression of CBP increased Ku80 acetylation, thereby promoting COX-2 expression and cell growth. Suppression of CBP by a CBP-specific inhibitor or siRNA inhibited COX-2 expression as well as tumor cell growth. Tissue microarray immunohistochemical analysis of lung adenocarcinomas revealed a strong positive correlation between levels of Ku80 and COX-2 and clinicopathologic variables. Overexpression of Ku80 was associated with poor prognosis in patients with lung cancers. We conclude that Ku80 promotes COX-2 expression and tumor growth and is a potential therapeutic target in lung cancer