Isolation, Identification and Determination of Six Nucleosides and Two Amino Acids from Bamboo Shoots of Gramineae Phyllostachys prominens (W Y Xiong)

Purpose: To develop a method to identify and quantify the compounds in the shoots of four Phyllostachys bamboo species (Gramineae Phyllostachys prominens W. Y. Xiong, Gramineae Phyllostachys iridescins C. Y. Yao Gramineae Phyllostachys pubescens (Carr.) Mitford, Gramineae Phyllostachys praecox C. D. Chu et C. S. Chao. ).Methods: The compounds in bamboo shoots were isolated and identified by ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry (MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Quantitative analysis was performed by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) using a C18 column and a mixture (1:1ratio) of acetonitrile and 15 mM ammonium acetate (pH 6.0) as mobile phase. This method was validated for its reproducibility, chemical stability, and recovery.Results: Six nucleosides and two amino acids were isolated from bamboo shoots, including guanosine, 2’-deoxyguanosine, adenosine, thymidine, uridine, cytidine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine. The HPLC method was rapid and reproducible. The intraday and interday concentrations of the eight identified compounds showed good linearity in the range of 0.22 - 60.00 μg/mL. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for intraday and interday precision for reproducibility and stability was < 3 %. The validated method was successfully applied to determine the content of the eight compounds in four different Phyllostachys species.Conclusion: Adenosine was isolated from bamboo shoots previously, but the isolation of the other seven compounds are reported here for the first time. The method proposed is sensitive and reproducible, and would facilitate studies of nutritional/medicinal compounds in bamboo shoot.Keywords: Bamboo shoots, Phyllostachys prominens, Guanosine, 2’ Deoxyguanosine, Adenosine, Thymidine, Uridine, Cytidine, Tryptophan, Phenylalanin

Effect of Microwave Heating on the Dielectric Properties and Components of Iron-Fortified Milk

With the iron-fortified milk as research object, this paper makes a research on the influence of iron on the dielectric properties and wave absorption properties and effect of nutritional components, such as casein and whey protein in milk, and thermostability in the process of microwave heating, and rapid heat transfer method in ferrous gluconate–milk and ferrous chloride–milk, respectively. The results show that the iron of ionic form has greater influence to convert microwave to heat energy and the effect of microwave absorption properties was greater for ferrous chloride than for ferrous gluconate at high concentration. The effect of different forms of iron on the composition of milk was different, and the composition of milk systems was more stable by microwave heating, but the rapid heat transfer method is superior in the aim of increasing the nutritional value of milk. The ferrous gluconate–milk system has a better thermal stability than ferrous chloride–milk system. From the aspect of dielectric induction, the paper discovers the response rules of iron and evaluates the microwave thermal safety of the traditional and the iron-fortified products by microwave heating

Protein tyrosine kinase 6 is associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma poor prognosis and metastasis

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of protein tyrosine kinase 6 (PTK6) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) samples, and to identify whether PTK6 can serve as a biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of NPC. METHODS: We used quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting analysis to detect mRNA and protein expression of PTK6 in NPC cell lines and immortalized nasopharyngeal epithelial cell lines. 31 NPC and 16 non-tumorous nasopharyngeal mucosa biopsies were collected to detect the difference in the expression of mRNA level of PTK6 by quantitative RT-PCR. We also collected 178 NPC and 10 normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cases with clinical follow-up data to investigate the expression of PTK6 by immunohistochemistry staining (IHC). PTK6 overexpression on cell growth and colony formation ability were measured by the method of cell proliferation assay and colony formation assay. RESULTS: The expression of PTK6 was higher in most of NPC cell lines at both mRNA and protein levels than in immortalized nasopharyngeal epithelial cell lines (NPECs) induced by Bmi-1 (Bmi-1/NPEC1, and Bmi-1/NPEC2). The mRNA level of PTK6 was high in NPC biopsies compared to non-tumorous nasopharyngeal mucosa biopsies. IHC results showed the expression of PTK6 was significantly correlated to tumor size (P<0.001), clinical stage (P<0.001), and metastasis (P=0.016). The patients with high-expression of PTK6 had a significantly poor prognosis compared to those of low-expression (47.8% versus 80.0%, P<0.001), especially in the patients at the advanced stages (42.2% versus 79.1%, P<0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that the level of PTK6 expression was an independent prognostic factor for the overall survival of patients with NPC (P <0.001). Overexpression of PTK6 in HNE1 cells enhanced the ability of cell proliferation and colony formation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that high-expression of PTK6 is an independent factor for NPC patients and it might serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with NPC

Inhibition of UGT1A1 by natural and synthetic flavonoids

Flavonoids are widely distributed phytochemicals in vegetables, fruits and medicinal plants. Recent studies demonstrate that some natural flavonoids are potent inhibitors of the human UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1), a key enzyme in detoxification of endogenous harmful compounds such as bilirubin. In this study, the inhibitory effects of 56 natural and synthetic flavonoids on UGT1A1 were assayed, while the structure–inhibition relationships of flavonoids as UGT1A1 inhibitors were investigated. The results demonstrated that the C-3 and C-7 hydroxyl groups on the flavone skeleton would enhance UGT1A1 inhibition, while flavonoid glycosides displayed weaker inhibitory effects than their corresponding aglycones. Further investigation on inhibition kinetics of two strong flavonoid-type UGT1A1 inhibitors, acacetin and kaempferol, yielded interesting results. Both flavonoids were competitive inhibitors against UGT1A1-mediated NHPN-O-glucuronidation, but were mixed and competitive inhibitors toward UGT1A1-mediated NCHN-O-glucuronidation, respectively. Furthermore, docking simulations showed that the binding areas of NHPN, kaempferol and acacetin on UGT1A1 were highly overlapping, and convergence with the binding area of bilirubin within UGT1A1. In summary, detailed structure-inhibition relationships of flavonoids as UGT1A1 inhibitors were investigated carefully and the findings shed new light on the interactions between flavonoids and UGT1A1, and will contribute considerably to the development of flavonoid-type drugs without strong UGT1A1 inhibition.Peer reviewe

Enhancing Muscle Membrane Repair by Gene Delivery of MG53 Ameliorates Muscular Dystrophy and Heart Failure in δ-Sarcoglycan-deficient Hamsters

Muscular dystrophies (MDs) are caused by genetic mutations in over 30 different genes, many of which encode for proteins essential for the integrity of muscle cell structure and membrane. Their deficiencies cause the muscle vulnerable to mechanical and biochemical damages, leading to membrane leakage, dystrophic pathology, and eventual loss of muscle cells. Recent studies report that MG53, a muscle-specific TRIM-family protein, plays an essential role in sarcolemmal membrane repair. Here, we show that systemic delivery and muscle-specific overexpression of human MG53 gene by recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors enhanced membrane repair, ameliorated pathology, and improved muscle and heart functions in δ-sarcoglycan (δ-SG)-deficient TO-2 hamsters, an animal model of MD and congestive heart failure. In addition, MG53 overexpression increased dysferlin level and facilitated its trafficking to muscle membrane through participation of caveolin-3. MG53 also protected muscle cells by activating cell survival kinases, such as Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1/2), and glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) and inhibiting proapoptotic protein Bax. Our results suggest that enhancing the muscle membrane repair machinery could be a novel therapeutic approach for MD and cardiomyopathy, as demonstrated here in the limb girdle MD (LGMD) 2F model

Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE), Life and Health

Light has profoundly impacted modern medicine and healthcare, with numerous luminescent agents and imaging techniques currently being used to assess health and treat diseases. As an emerging concept in luminescence, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has shown great potential in biological applications due to its advantages in terms of brightness, biocompatibility, photostability, and positive correlation with concentration. This review provides a comprehensive summary of AIE luminogens applied in imaging of biological structure and dynamic physiological processes, disease diagnosis and treatment, and detection and monitoring of specific analytes, followed by representative works. Discussions on critical issues and perspectives on future directions are also included. This review aims to stimulate the interest of researchers from different fields, including chemistry, biology, materials science, medicine, etc., thus promoting the development of AIE in the fields of life and health