Molecular cloning, characterization, and expression analysis of a cytosolic HSP90 gene from Haematococcus pluvialis

Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is a highly conserved molecular chaperone that plays key roles in the folding, maintenance of structural integrity, and regulation of a subset of cytosolic proteins. In this study, the cDNA of Haematococcus pluvialis HSP90 (designated HpHSP90) was cloned by the combination of homology cloning and rapid amplification of cDNA ends approaches. The full-length cDNA of HpHSP90 was of 2,606 bp, including an open reading frame of 2,109 bp encoding a polypeptide of 702 amino acids with predicted molecular weight of 80.14 kDa and theoretical isoelectric point of 5.07. BLAST analysis revealed that HpHSP90 shared high similarity with other known HSP90s, and the five conserved amino acid blocks defined as HSP90 protein family signatures were also identified in HpHSP90, which indicated that HpHSP90 should be a cytosolic member of the HSP90 family. Under different stress conditions, messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of HpHSP90 were quantified by quantitative RT-PCR. To H. pluvialis kept at different temperatures for 1 h, maximum HpHSP90 expression was observed in the range 5 to 10A degrees C and 35 to 40A degrees C and the expression level of HpHSP90 at 40A degrees C was the highest (threefold compared with that at 25A degrees C). In H. pluvialis kept at 35A degrees C for different times, the mRNA expression level of HpHSP90 reached a maximum level after 7 h and then dropped progressively. The results indicate that HpHSP90 responded to cold and heat stresses with a temperature-dependent expression pattern as well as exposure time effect and could be used as a molecular biomarker in adverse stress environment.Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is a highly conserved molecular chaperone that plays key roles in the folding, maintenance of structural integrity, and regulation of a subset of cytosolic proteins. In this study, the cDNA of Haematococcus pluvialis HSP90 (designated HpHSP90) was cloned by the combination of homology cloning and rapid amplification of cDNA ends approaches. The full-length cDNA of HpHSP90 was of 2,606 bp, including an open reading frame of 2,109 bp encoding a polypeptide of 702 amino acids with predicted molecular weight of 80.14 kDa and theoretical isoelectric point of 5.07. BLAST analysis revealed that HpHSP90 shared high similarity with other known HSP90s, and the five conserved amino acid blocks defined as HSP90 protein family signatures were also identified in HpHSP90, which indicated that HpHSP90 should be a cytosolic member of the HSP90 family. Under different stress conditions, messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of HpHSP90 were quantified by quantitative RT-PCR. To H. pluvialis kept at different temperatures for 1 h, maximum HpHSP90 expression was observed in the range 5 to 10A degrees C and 35 to 40A degrees C and the expression level of HpHSP90 at 40A degrees C was the highest (threefold compared with that at 25A degrees C). In H. pluvialis kept at 35A degrees C for different times, the mRNA expression level of HpHSP90 reached a maximum level after 7 h and then dropped progressively. The results indicate that HpHSP90 responded to cold and heat stresses with a temperature-dependent expression pattern as well as exposure time effect and could be used as a molecular biomarker in adverse stress environment

Rapid Identification of Different Grades of Huangshan Maofeng Tea Using Ultraviolet Spectrum and Color Difference

Tea is an important beverage in humans’ daily lives. For a long time, tea grade identification relied on sensory evaluation, which requires professional knowledge, so is difficult and troublesome for laypersons. Tea chemical component detection usually involves a series of procedures and multiple steps to obtain the final results. As such, a simple, rapid, and reliable method to judge the quality of tea is needed. Here, we propose a quick method that combines ultraviolet (UV) spectra and color difference to classify tea. The operations are simple and do not involve complex pretreatment. Each method requires only a few seconds for sample detection. In this study, famous Chinese green tea, Huangshan Maofeng, was selected. The traditional detection results of tea chemical components could not be used to directly determine tea grade. Then, digital instrument methods, UV spectrometry and colorimetry, were applied. The principal component analysis (PCA) plots of the single and combined signals of these two instruments showed that samples could be arranged according to grade. The combined signal PCA plot performed better with the sample grade descending in clockwise order. For grade prediction, the random forest (RF) model produced a better effect than the support vector machine (SVM) and the SVM + RF model. In the RF model, the training and testing accuracies of the combined signal were all 1. The grades of all samples were correctly predicted. From the above, the UV spectrum combined with color difference can be used to quickly and accurately classify the grade of Huangshan Maofeng tea. This method considerably increases the convenience of tea grade identification

Study of the mechanism by gentiopicroside protects against skin fibroblast glycation damage via the RAGE pathway

Abstract The occurrence of nonenzymatic glycosylation reactions in skin fibroblasts can lead to severe impairment of skin health. To investigate the protective effects of the major functional ingredient from Gentianaceae, gentiopicroside (GPS) on fibroblasts, network pharmacology was used to analyse the potential pathways and targets underlying the effects of GPS on skin. At the biochemical and cellular levels, we examined the inhibitory effect of GPS on AGEs, the regulation by GPS of key ECM proteins and vimentin, the damage caused by GPS to the mitochondrial membrane potential and the modulation by GPS of inflammatory factors such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-9), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and IL-6 via the RAGE/NF-κB pathway. The results showed that GPS can inhibit AGE-induced damage to the dermis via multiple pathways. The results of biochemical and cellular experiments showed that GPS can strongly inhibit AGE production. Conversely, GPS can block AGE-induced oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in skin cells by disrupting AGE-RAGE signalling, maintain the balance of ECM synthesis and catabolism, and alleviate AGE-induced dysfunctions in cellular behaviour. This study provides a theoretical basis for the use of GPS as an AGE inhibitor to improve skin health and alleviate the damage caused by glycosylation, showing its potential application value in the field of skin care