Medicinal Plants in the Northwestern China and Their Medicinal Uses

The Northwestern China is a typical arid and semi-arid region of inner Asia, where some important medicinal species such as Angelica sinensis, Radix astragali, Radix codonopsis, Radix et rhizoma rhei, Radix glycyrrhizae, Lycium barbarum L are found and grew in the mountains areas, or desert areas. Among them, A. sinensis, R. astragali and R. glycyrrhizae are frequently used in traditional Chinese medicines and herbal prescriptions, thus encouraged many researchers to investigate and develop them. Our purpose is to provide a review of recent advances about three typical medicinal plants of A. sinensis, Astragalus membranaceus and R. glycyrrhizae in Northwestern China, mainly referring to botanical identity, chemical constituents, pharmacological studies, application in formulation, safety and cultivation practices. That will provide some valuable information for the further study and development of medicinal plants in Northwestern China

Tirofiban for Stroke without Large or Medium-Sized Vessel Occlusion

The effects of the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitor tirofiban in patients with acute ischemic stroke but who have no evidence of complete occlusion of large or medium-sized vessels have not been extensively studied. In a multicenter trial in China, we enrolled patients with ischemic stroke without occlusion of large or medium-sized vessels and with a National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of 5 or more and at least one moderately to severely weak limb. Eligible patients had any of four clinical presentations: ineligible for thrombolysis or thrombectomy and within 24 hours after the patient was last known to be well; progression of stroke symptoms 24 to 96 hours after onset; early neurologic deterioration after thrombolysis; or thrombolysis with no improvement at 4 to 24 hours. Patients were assigned to receive intravenous tirofiban (plus oral placebo) or oral aspirin (100 mg per day, plus intravenous placebo) for 2 days; all patients then received oral aspirin until day 90. The primary efficacy end point was an excellent outcome, defined as a score of 0 or 1 on the modified Rankin scale (range, 0 [no symptoms] to 6 [death]) at 90 days. Secondary end points included functional independence at 90 days and a quality-of-life score. The primary safety end points were death and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. A total of 606 patients were assigned to the tirofiban group and 571 to the aspirin group. Most patients had small infarctions that were presumed to be atherosclerotic. The percentage of patients with a score of 0 or 1 on the modified Rankin scale at 90 days was 29.1% with tirofiban and 22.2% with aspirin (adjusted risk ratio, 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.04 to 1.53, P = 0.02). Results for secondary end points were generally not consistent with the results of the primary analysis. Mortality was similar in the two groups. The incidence of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage was 1.0% in the tirofiban group and 0% in the aspirin group. In this trial involving heterogeneous groups of patients with stroke of recent onset or progression of stroke symptoms and nonoccluded large and medium-sized cerebral vessels, intravenous tirofiban was associated with a greater likelihood of an excellent outcome than low-dose aspirin. Incidences of intracranial hemorrhages were low but slightly higher with tirofiban

Genome-Wide Identification MIKC-Type MADS-Box Gene Family and Their Roles during Development of Floral Buds in Wheel Wingnut (Cyclocarya paliurus)

MADS-box transcription factors (TFs) have fundamental roles in regulating floral organ formation and flowering time in flowering plants. In order to understand the function of MIKC-type MADS-box family genes in Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja, we first implemented a genome-wide analysis of MIKC-type MADS-box genes in C. paliurus. Here, the phylogenetic relationships, chromosome location, conserved motif, gene structure, promoter region, and gene expression profile were analyzed. The results showed that 45 MIKC-type MADS-box were divided into 14 subfamilies: BS (3), AGL12 (1), AP3-PI (3), MIKC* (3), AGL15 (3), SVP (5), AGL17 (2), AG (3), TM8 (1), AGL6 (2), SEP (5), AP1-FUL (6), SOC1 (7), and FLC (1). The 43 MIKC-type MADS-box genes were distributed unevenly in 14 chromosomes, but two members were mapped on unanchored scaffolds. Gene structures were varied in the same gene family or subfamily, but conserved motifs shared similar distributions and sequences. The element analysis in promoters’ regions revealed that MIKC-type MADS-box family genes were associated with light, phytohormone, and temperature responsiveness, which may play important roles in floral development and differentiation. The expression profile showed that most MIKC-type MADS-box genes were differentially expressed in six tissues (specifically expressed in floral buds), and the expression patterns were also visibly varied in the same subfamily. CpaF1st24796 and CpaF1st23405, belonging to AP3-PI and SEP subfamilies, exhibited the high expression levels in PA-M and PG-F, respectively, indicating their functions in presenting heterodichogamy. We further verified the MIKC-type MADS-box gene expression levels on the basis of transcriptome and qRT-PCR analysis. This study would provide a theoretical basis for classification, cloning, and regulation of flowering mechanism of MIKC-type MADS-box genes in C. paliurus

Comparative analysis of the complete chloroplast genome between tetraploidy and diploidy of Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja

Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja, a monotypic species in Cyclocarya of Juglandaceae, is regarded as one of important medical plants in China. In order to reveal the alterations in chloroplast (cp) genome with nuclear genome duplication, we presented the complete cp genomes of C. paliurus, and firstly analyzed on the basis of ploidy type (tetraploid and diploid C. paliurus). The total length of the cp genome of tetraploid and diploid C. paliurus is 160,938 and 161,105 bp, respectively. Both type genome consist of a large single-copy (LSC) region (90,221 and 90,391 bp), a small single-copy (SSC) region (18,593 and 18,590 bp), and an pair of invert repeats (IRs) regions (26,062 and 26,062 bp). Tetraploid and diploid plastid genome contain 132 and 137 genes, 87 and 88 protein-coding genes, 37 and 39 tRNA genes, and both eight rRNA genes, respectively. Closely phylogenetic relationship by analyzing 23 cp genomes suggests that tetraploid C. paliurus probably originated from diploid C. paliurus

Effects of cyclical short-term food deprivation and refeeding on compensatory growth and gene expression of SOD, GPX and HSP70 in Schizothorax wangchiachii

The present study evaluated the effects of cyclical short-term food deprivation and refeeding on growth performance, body composition, and gene expression of SOD, GPX and HSP70 in Schizothorax wangchiachii The experimental design included four feeding protocols for eight weeks: feeding every day of the week (control), starvation for one day and refeeding for six days per week (S1F6 treatment), starvation for two days and refeeding for five days per week (S2F5 treatment), and starvation for three days and refeeding for four days per week (S3F4 treatment). The results showed that no significant difference in final body weight, specific growth rate and feed conversion efficiency were observed among the treatments (P > 0.05).The feeding rate significantly increased with the duration of food deprivation per week compared to the control (P 0.05), but in the kidney, the expression levels of HSP70 were significantly downregulated in S1F6 and S2F5 compared to the control(P 0.05). In conclusion, full compensatory growth was observed in S.wangchiachii under eight cycles of food deprivation and refeeding. Hyperphagia was the main mechanism of compensatory growth of S.wangchiachii

A Two Fiber Bragg Gratings Sensing System to Monitor the Torque of Rotating Shaft

By fixing two FBGs on the surface of a rotating shaft along the direction of ±45° and using dynamic wavelength demodulation technology, we propose an optical fiber sensing system to monitor the driving torque and torsion angle of the rotating shaft. In theory, the dependence relation of the dynamic difference of central wavelengths on the torque and torsion angle of the rotating shaft has been deduced. To verify an optical fiber sensing system, a series of sensing experiments have been completed and the measured data are approximately consistent with the theoretical analysis. The difference of two central wavelengths can be expressed as the sum of two parts: a “DC” part and a harmonic “AC” part. The driving torque or torsion angle is linear with the “DC” part of the difference of two central wavelengths, the harmonic “AC” part, meaning the torsion angle vibration, illustrates that periodic vibration torque may be caused by inhomogeneous centrifugal forces or inhomogeneous additional torques produced by the driving system and the load

Genome-wide identification and comparative analysis of DNA methyltransferase and demethylase gene families in two ploidy Cyclocarya paliurus and their potential function in heterodichogamy

Abstract Background DNA methylation is one of the most abundant epigenetic modifications, which plays important roles in flower development, sex differentiation, and regulation of flowering time. Its pattern is affected by cytosine-5 DNA methyltransferase (C5-MTase) and DNA demethylase (dMTase). At present, there are no reports on C5-MTase and dMTase genes in heterodichogamous Cyclocarya paliurus. Results In this study, 6 CpC5-MTase and 3 CpdMTase genes were identified in diploid (2n = 2 ×  = 32) C. paliurus, while 20 CpC5-MTase and 13 CpdMTase genes were identified in autotetraploid (2n = 4 ×  = 64). 80% of identified genes maintained relatively fixed positions on chromosomes during polyploidization. In addition, we found that some DRM subfamily members didn’t contain the UBA domain. The transcript abundance of CpC5-MTase and CpdMTase in male and female flowers of two morphs (protandry and protogyny) from diploidy was analyzed. Results showed that all genes were significantly up-regulated at the stage of floral bud break (S2), but significantly down-regulated at the stage of flower maturation (S4). At S2, some CpC5-MTase genes showed higher expression levels in PG-M than in PG-F, whereas some CpdMTase genes showed higher expression levels in PA-M than in PA-F. In addition, these genes were significantly associated with gibberellin synthesis-related genes (e.g. DELLA and GID1), suggesting that DNA methylation may play a role in the asynchronous floral development process through gibberellin signal. Conclusions These results broaden our understanding of the CpC5-MTase and CpdMTase genes in diploid and autotetraploid C. paliurus, and provide a novel insight into regulatory mechanisms of DNA methylation in heterodichogamy

Cyclic Compressive Stress Regulates Apoptosis in Rat Osteoblasts: Involvement of PI3K/Akt and JNK MAPK Signaling Pathways.

It is widely accepted that physiological mechanical stimulation suppresses apoptosis and induces synthesis of extracellular matrix by osteoblasts; however, the effect of stress overloading on osteoblasts has not been fully illustrated. In the present study, we investigated the effect of cyclic compressive stress on rat osteoblasts apoptosis, using a novel liquid drop method to generate mechanical stress on osteoblast monolayers. After treatment with different levels of mechanical stress, apoptosis of osteoblasts and activations of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and PI3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathways were investigated. Osteoblasts apoptosis was observed after treated with specific inhibitors prior to mechanical stimulation. Protein levels of Bax/Bcl-2/caspase-3 signaling were determined using western blot with or without inhibitors of PI3K/Akt and phosphorylation of c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) MAPK. Results showed that mechanical stimulation led to osteoblasts apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner and a remarkable activation of MAPKs and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways. Activation of PI3K/Akt protected against apoptosis, whereas JNK MAPK increased apoptosis via regulation of Bax/Bcl-2/caspase-3 activation. In summary, the PI3K/Akt and JNK MAPK signaling pathways played opposing roles in osteoblasts apoptosis, resulting in inhibition of apoptosis upon small-magnitude stress and increased apoptosis upon large-magnitude stress