Effects of nanoparticle zinc oxide on spatial cognition and synaptic plasticity in mice with depressive-like behaviors

Background: Nanomaterials, as a new kind of materials, have been greatly applied in different fields due to their special properties. With the industrialization of nanostructured materials and increasing public exposure, the biosafety and potential influences on central nervous system (CNS) have received more attention. Nanosized zinc oxide (nanoZnO) was suggested to up-regulate neuronal excitability and to induce glutamate release in vitro. Therefore, we hypothesized nanoparticles of nanoZnO may lead to changes in balance of neurotransmitter or neuronal excitability of CNS. This study was to investigate if there were effects of nanoZnO on animal model of depression. Methods: Male Swiss mice were given lipopolysaccharides (LPS, 100 mu g/kg, 100 mu g/ml, every other day, 8 times, i.p.) from weaning to induce depressive-like behaviors. NanoZnO (5.6 mg/kg, 5.6 mg/ml, every other day, 8 times, i.p.) was given as the interaction. The mouse model was characterized using the methods of open field test, tail suspension test and forced swim test. Furthermore, the spatial memory was evaluated using Morris water maze (MWM) and the synaptic plasticity was assessed by measuring the long-term potentiation (LTP) in the perforant pathway (PP) to dentate gyrus (DG) in vivo. Results: Results indicated that model mice showed disrupted spatial memory and LTP after LPS injections and the behavioral and electrophysiological improvements after nanoZnO treatment. Conclusion: Data suggested that nanoZnO may play some roles in CNS of mental disorders, which could provide some useful direction on the new drug exploring and clinical researches.Peer reviewe

Effect of exogenous gibberellin on endogenous hormone and ginkgolide content in Ginkgo leaves

Ginkgolide is one of the important secondary metabolites of Ginkgo biloba. The synthesis of plant secondary metabolites is influenced by exogenous phytohormones. In this study, ten-year-old ginkgo grafted seedlings were used as the test material, and the effects of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mmol L–1 gibberellin (GA3) on endogenous indole acetic acid (IAA), abscisic acid (ABA), GA3, and ginkgolide contents in ginkgo leaves were investigated. Results showed that exogenous GA3 treatment inhibited endogenous GA3, changed the contents of endogenous IAA and ABA in ginkgo leaves, and affected the accumulation of secondary metabolite ginkgolides. Among the given concentrations, the 4 mmol L–1 GA3 treatment could remarkably increase ginkgolide content. We found that the best harvesting period of ginkgo leaves were in late August and late September, in which the content of ginkgolides was the highest

Genome-Wide Identification of WRKY Family Genes and Analysis of Their Expression in Response to Abiotic Stress in Ginkgo biloba L.

Ginkgo biloba is widely planted, and the extracts of leaves contain flavonoids, terpene esters and other medicinal active ingredients. WRKY proteins are a large transcription factor family in plants, which play an important role in the regulation of plant secondary metabolism and development, as well as the response to biotic and abiotic stress. In our study, we identified 40 genes with conserved WRKY motifs in the G. biloba genome and classified into groups I (groups I-N and -C), II (groups IIa, b, c, d, and e), and III, which include 12, 26, and 2 GbWRKY genes, respectively. Meanwhile, the expression patterns of 10 GbWRKY (GbWRKY2, GbWRKY3, GbWRKY5, GbWRKY7, GbWRKY11, GbWRKY15, GbWRKY23, GbWRKY29, GbWRKY31, GbWRKY32) under different tissue and abiotic stress conditions were analyzed. Under stress treatment, the expression patterns of 10 WRKY genes were changed. 10 ginkgo WRKY transcription factors were induced by ETH and SA, but there are two different induced response modes. The expression of 10 WRKY genes was inhibited under low temperature, high temperature and MeJA hormone induction. Most WRKY genes were up-regulated under the induction of high salt and ABA. GbWRKYs were differentially expressed in various tissues after abiotic stress and plant hormone treatments, thereby indicating their possible roles in biological processes and abiotic stress tolerance and adaptation. Our results provided insight into the genome-wide identification of GbWRKYs, as well as their differential responses to stresses and hormones. These data can also be utilized to identify potential molecular targets to confer tolerance to various stresses in G. biloba

Effects of 5-aminolevulinic Acid on the Photosynthesis, Antioxidant System, and α-Bisabolol Content of Matricaria recutita

Matricaria recutita is a widely used medicinal plant with broad pharmacological effects, and α-bisabolol is the main active ingredient of this plant. To improve its α-bisabolol content, M. recutita was sprayed with different concentrations (1.0, 2.0,and 4.0 mmol.L−1) of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) or with water as a control to study the effects of ALA treatment on the photosynthesis, antioxidant system, and α-bisabolol content of M. recutita. Results showed that the photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentration, soluble protein, total amino acids, soluble sugar, and α-bisabolol of M. recutita were significantly increased. Moreover, the activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase of M. recutita were also enhanced by ALA treatment. Optimal results were obtained when the concentration of ALA was 2.0 mmol.L−1. Results showed that ALA treatment could improve the α-bisabolol content of M. recutita, and the underlying physiological mechanism was analyzed. ALA treatment was an effective measure for improving the medicinal value of M. recutita

Molecular Cloning and Expression Analysis of a MADS-Box Gene (GbMADS2) from Ginkgo biloba

As a kind of transcription factors gene family, MADS-box genes play an important role in plant development processes. To find genes involved in the floral transition of Ginkgo biloba, a MADS-box gene, designated as GbMADS2, was cloned from G. biloba based on EST sequences by RT-PCR. Sequence analysis results showed that the cDNA sequence of GbMADS2 contained a 663 bp length ORF encoding 221 amino acids protein, which displayed typical structure of plant MADS-box protein including MADS, I, and K domains and C terminus. The sequence of GbMADS2 protein was highly homologous to those of MADS-box proteins from other plant species with the highest homologous to AGAMOUS (CyAG) from Cycas revoluta. The phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that GbMADS2 belonged to AGAMOUS clade genes. Real-time PCR analysis indicated that expression levels of GbMADS2 gene in female and male flower were significantly higher than those in root, stem, and leaves, and that GbMADS2 expression level increased along with time of flower development. The spatial and time-course expression profile of GbMADS2 implied that GbMADS2 might be involved in development of reproductive organs. The isolation and expression analysis of GbMADS2 provided basis for further studying the molecular mechanism of flower development in G. biloba

Understanding physiological and molecular mechanisms of Populus deltoides ‘DanHongYang’ tolerance to waterlogging by comparative transcriptome analysis

Populus deltoides ‘DanHongYang’ (DHY) was identified as a waterlogging-resistant cultivar in our previous study. Here, the phenotype, physiological features and transcriptome profiling of P. deltoides ‘DHY’ between the treatments of waterlogging and control were compared. Waterlogging treatment led to distinctly formation of adventitious roots from P. deltoides ‘DHY’ stems. The activities of ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione reductase significantly increased in the leaves of P. deltoides ‘DHY’ by waterlogging treatment. Comparative transcriptomic analysis showed that 2,447 and 9,465 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened between the leaves and roots of P. deltoides ‘DHY’ under waterlogging and control, respectively. The KEGG analysis showed the most significantly up-regulated DEGs in the leaves and roots were enriched to the pathways of glycolyis and proline synthesis. Some genes involved in stress response, endogenous hormones, antioxidant system and adventitious root development in the waterlogged were identified to contribute to the waterlogging tolerance of P. deltoides ‘DHY’. In addition, some candidate transcription factors such as RAP, NAC, WRKY, and bHLH were also found to be associated with the waterlogging tolerance of P. deltoides ‘DHY’. These findings provided the insights into the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying the tolerance of P. deltoides ‘DHY’ to waterlogging stresses

Effects of Methotrexate on Plasma Cytokines and Cardiac Remodeling and Function in Postmyocarditis Rats

Excessive immune activation and inflammatory mediators may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of chronic heart failure. Methotrexate is a commonly used anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drug. In this study, we used a rat model of cardiac myosin-induced experimental autoimmune myocarditis to investigate the effects of low-dose methotrexate (0.1 mg/kg/d for 30 d) on the plasma level of cytokines and cardiac remodeling and function. Our study showed that levels of tumor necrosis factor-(TNF-)alpha and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are significantly increased in postmyocarditis rats, compared with the control rats. Methotrexate treatment reduced the plasma levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 and increased IL-10 level, compared to saline treatment. In addition, postmyocarditis rats showed significant cardiac fibrosis characterized by increased myocardial collagen volume fraction, perivascular collagen area, and the ratio of collagen type I to type III, compared with the control rats. However, MTX treatment not only markedly attenuated cardiac fibrosis, diminished the left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, but also increased the left ventricular ejection fraction and fractional shortening. Collectively, these results suggest that low-dose methotrexate has ability to regulate inflammatory responses and improves cardiac function and hence contributes to prevent the development of postmyocarditis dilated cardiomyopathy

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure Analysis of Sand Pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) ‘Nakai’ Varieties Using SSR and AFLP Markers

In this study, the technologies of simple sequence repeat (SSR) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to analyze the genetic diversity of 30 sand pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) ‘Nakai’ varieties. Ten pairs of SSR polymorphic primers were selected to amplify P. pyrifolia ‘Nakai’ varieties. A total of 90 alleles were detected. The polymorphism information content index was between 0.5578 and 0.8423, with an average of 0.7585. The selected 10 pairs of AFLP primer combinations were used to amplify the analyzed pear varieties, and 1,046 polymorphic loci were detected. The average amplification results of each primer combination detected 105 bands with an average polymorphism percentage of 86.46%. The combined data of SSR and AFLP analysis showed that the analyzed P. pyrifolia ‘Nakai’ varieties were characterized by extremely rich genetic diversity and were highly representative. According to the results of SSR, AFLP, and SSR+AFLP cluster analysis, the analyzed P. pyrifolia ‘Nakai’ varieties can be categorized into three clusters. The results of genetic structure showed that the hybridization between these P. pyrifolia ‘Nakai’ varieties resulted in the heterozygosity of genotypes. In addition, we found that ‘Nijisseik’, ‘Ejima’, and ‘Fuli’ are good parent resources among the pear varieties through observing the genetic background of the analyzed pear varieties. This study reveals the genetic diversity levels of P. pyrifolia ‘Nakai’ varieties at the molecular level, which was important in molecular identification and protection of pear germplasm resources, as well as pear variety breeding and genetic improvement

Isolation and extraction of glansreginin A from walnut meal and its effect on the proliferation of 3T3-L1 cells

Abstract Glansreginin A is an indicative component in walnut and is abundant in walnut meal. The aim of this study was to isolate and purify glansreginin A from the walnut meal, and to investigate the weight loss and lipid-lowering potential of glansreginin A by studying the effect of glansregin A on the proliferation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Firstly, the response surface methodology was used to effectively improve the extraction yield of glansreginin A. The maximum extraction rate of glansreginin A was 0.363%, and the optimal extraction process conditions were determined. In addition, the lipid-lowering activity of glansreginin A was investigated by cell experiments. The results showed that glansreginin A could inhibit the proliferation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a dose-dependent manner. And cell cycle of different groups of cells treated with glansreginin A was also measured using flow cytometry. The results showed most of the cells were blocked in G0/G1 phase and significantly decreased in S phase. These results suggest that glansreginin A could inhibit the proliferation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by causing cell cycle arrest. These findings provided a theoretical basis for the future research of glansreginin A and the development of slimming and fat-reducing foods

Fluid tunnel research for challenges of urban climate

Experimental investigations using wind and water tunnels have long been a staple in fluid mechanics research. These experiments often choose a specific physical process to be investigated, whereas studies involving multiscale and multiphysics processes are rare. In the era of climate change, there is increasing interest in innovative experimental studies in which fluid (wind and water) tunnels are used in the modeling of multiscale, multiphysics phenomena of the urban climate. Fluid tunnel measurements of urban-physics-related phenomena are also required to facilitate the development and validation of advanced multiphysics numerical models. As a repository of knowledge for modeling these urban processes, we cover the fundamentals, experimental design guidelines, recent advances, and outlook of eight selected research areas, i.e., (i) absorption of solar radiation, (ii) inhomogeneous thermal buoyancy effects, (iii) influence of thermal stratification on land-atmosphere interactions, (iv) indoor and outdoor natural ventilation, (v) aerodynamic effects of vegetation, (vi) dispersion of pollutants, (vii) outdoor wind thermal comfort, and (viii) wind flows over complex urban sites. Three main challenges are discussed, i.e., (i) the modeling of multiphysics, (ii) the modeling of anthropogenic processes, and (iii) the combined use of fluid tunnels and scaled outdoor and field measurements for urban climate studies