Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species by Polyenylpyrroles Derivatives Causes DNA Damage Leading to G2/M Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells

10.1371/journal.pone.0067603PLoS ONE86-POLN

Polyenylpyrrole Derivatives Inhibit NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation and Inflammatory Mediator Expression by Reducing Reactive Oxygen Species Production and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Activation

10.1371/journal.pone.0076754PLoS ONE810-POLN

Development of an Automatic Rolling System for Rice Seedlings

The objective of this study was to develop an automatic rolling system for rice seedlings, which can roll up the seedling mat from a 30 by 60 cm tray into a cylindrical shape of 18 cm diameter and combine three rolls in one tray ready for transportation. The system employs a pneumatic mechanism for movement, with a programming logic controller for processing the procedure. Experimental results showed that the mechanism worked satisfactorily at 362 trays an hour, at which speed more than 95% of the seedling mats were rolled successfully and more than 90% of the three rolled mats were successfully combined in one tray. Since there was no signi"cant di!erence in seedling quality for the machine-rolled mats compared to the manually rolled mats, this system should be favourably accepted by farmers

Disease Detection on Strawberry Seedlings using Chlorophyll Fluorescence

本研究目的旨在利用研製之攜帶型葉綠素螢光影像檢測系統進行草莓種苗病害檢測之研究，驗證此系統是否能拍攝出葉面上遭受病害之受損部位。並透過Mini-PAM 葉綠素螢光量測儀量測草莓種苗之光量子產量值，判斷植株是否有受逆境影響。本研究以豐香草莓苗進行試驗，苗齡15 天，以螢光分光光譜儀分析草莓苗螢光特性，分析結果顯示：健康草莓苗與罹病草莓苗之激發光波長落於460 nm，放射光波長為680 nm，其激發光相對強點之光譜範圍落於420–490 nm，放射光相對強點之光譜範圍落於670–690 nm 之間。本研究並以高溫逆境將實驗組之草莓苗放入38℃/30℃(日/夜)，濕度80%之生長箱中以誘導病斑。試驗結果顯示：10 株草莓苗中，有5 株誘導病斑成功，並利用研製之攜帶型葉綠素螢光影像檢測系統進行檢測，結果顯示：研製之攜帶型葉綠素螢光影像檢測系統可較肉眼提早16 小時發現病斑，研製之系統具有實用化之價值，可進一步商品化應用於育苗產業之管理。 The objective of this research was to establish a portable chlorophyll fluorescence imaging detection system to detect strawberry seeds disease research, and verify the system is able to capture parts of the disease area from strawberry leafs. By using Mini-PAM chlorophyll fluorescence detection instrument to measure the fluorescent quantum yield, and determine the plants affected from adversities. In this study experiments was using Toyonoka Strawberry seedling and it was 15 days old, and verify the strawberry fluorescence features by instrumentation of spectrum fluorescence meters. The test results showed as below: the excitation wavelength of the health and disease for the Toyonka Strawberry seedling was 460nm, the emission wavelength was 680nm, the wavelength ranging between 420-490nm were used to excite fluorescence, the spectral range of relative strengths emitted was between 670–690nm. In this study, setting the strawberry seedlings into plant growth chamber as the high-temperature stress environment to induced spots, the experimental parameters as ambient temperature was 38 ℃/30℃ (day/night), and the humidity was 80% R.H. The test results showed: under the processing environment, there are 5 of 10 strawberry seedlings improve having spots success, and then detect by using portable chlorophyll fluorescence imaging detection. The results showed this portable chlorophyll fluorescence imaging detection system can find disease spot 16 hours earlier than naked eyes, the detect system has practical value and could be applied in nursery industry management

Bamboo vinegar decreases inflammatory mediator expression and NLRP3 inflammasome activation by inhibiting reactive oxygen species generation and protein kinase C-α/δ activation.

Bamboo vinegar (BV), a natural liquid derived from the condensation produced during bamboo charcoal production, has been used in agriculture and as a food additive, but its application to immune modulation has not been reported. Here, we demonstrated that BV has anti-inflammatory activities both in vitro and in vivo. BV reduced inducible nitric oxide synthase expression and nitric oxide levels in, and interleukin-6 secretion by, lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages without affecting tumor necrosis factor-α secretion and cyclooxygenase-2 expression. The mechanism for the anti-inflammatory effect of BV involved decreased reactive oxygen species production and protein kinase C-α/δ activation. Furthermore, creosol (2-methoxy-4-methylphenol) was indentified as the major anti-inflammatory compound in BV. Impaired cytokine expression and NLR family, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation was seen in mice treated with creosol. These findings provide insights into how BV regulates inflammation and suggest that it may be a new source for the development of anti-inflammatory agents or a healthy supplement for preventing and ameliorating inflammation- and NLRP3 inflammasome-related diseases, including metabolic syndrome

Cytoprotective Effect of American Ginseng in a Rat Ethanol Gastric Ulcer Model

Panax quinquefolium L. (American Ginseng, AG) is one of the most popular herbal medicines in the World. We aimed to investigate whether chronic (28-day) supplementation with AG could protect against ethanol-induced ulcer in gastric tissue. Furthermore, we investigated the possible molecular mechanisms leading to AG-mediated gastric mucosal protection. We randomized 32 male Wistar rats into four groups for treatment (n = 8 per group): supplementation with water (vehicle) and low-dose (AG-1X), medium-dose (AG-2X) and high-dose (AG-5X) AG at 0, 250, 500, and 1250 mg/kg, respectively. In the first experiment, animals were fed vehicle or AG treatments for 4 weeks. At day 29, 75% ethanol was given orally to each animal at 10 mL/kg to induce gastric ulceration for 2 h. In a second experiment, animals were pretreated orally with each treatment for 1 hr before a single oral administration of ethanol (70%, 10 mL/kg). Trend analysis revealed that AG treatments inhibited ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage. AG supplementation dose-dependently decreased the pro-inflammatory levels of interleukin 1β and cyclooxygenase 2 and the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins tBid, cytochrome C, and caspases-9 and -3 and increased the levels of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and p-Bad. AG could have pharmacological potential for treating gastric ulcer

Effect of creosol on LPS- and ATP-induced ROS production.

<p>In (A), J774A.1 macrophages (1×10⁶ in 1 ml of medium) were incubated for 30 min with or without 50 µM creosol or 10 mM N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), then for 0–40 min with or without addition of 1 µg/ml of LPS. In (B), J774A.1 macrophages (1×10⁶ in 1 ml of medium) were incubated for 6 h with 1 µg/ml of LPS, then LPS was washout, then for 30 min with or without addition of 50 µM creosol or 10 mM NAC, then for 0–40 min with or without addition of 5 mM ATP. ROS production was measured as the relative mean fluorescence intensity (MFI), as described in the Materials and Methods. The data are expressed as the mean ± SD for three separate experiments. *indicates a significant difference at the level of <i>p</i><0.05 compared to the DMSO/LPS-treated group (A) or the DMSO/ATP-treated group (B).</p

Effect of BV-4 fractions on NO generation and cell viability.

<p> In (A), RAW 264.7 macrophages (1×10⁶ in 2 ml of medium) were incubated for 30 min with or without the indicated concentrations of the neutral, acidic, or phenolic fraction of BV-4, then for 24 h with or without addition of 1 µg/ml of LPS, then NO generation in the culture medium was measured by the Griess reaction. In (B), RAW 264.7 macrophages (1×10⁶ in 2 ml of medium) were incubated for 30 min with or without the indicated concentration of the phenolic fraction of BV-4, then for 24 h with or without addition of 1 µg/ml of LPS, then NO generation in the culture medium was measured by the Griess reaction. In (C), RAW 264.7 macrophages (5×10⁴ in 1 ml of medium) were incubated for 30 min with or without the phenolic fraction of BV-4, then for 24 h with or without addition of 1 µg/ml of LPS, then cell viability was measured by the AlamarBlue® assay. The data are expressed as the mean ± SD for three separate experiments. *and # indicate a significant difference at the respective levels of <i>p</i><0.05 and <i>p</i><0.001 compared to the LPS-treated group.</p

Flow chart for the fractionation of BV-4.

<p>Flow chart for the fractionation of BV-4.</p