Advances in Glycemic Index of Cereal Foods

In recent years, diabetes has become a public health problem troubling all mankind.Studies have shown that diabetes has a significant correlation with the Glycemic Index (GI).Grain is the main dietary source of Chinese and is closely related to human health.The glycemic index of cereals is influenced by a number of factors, including its basic components and processing methods.In this review, factors,mechanisms affecting the glycemic index of cereals as well as the national and international studies on advances in low GI cereals in recent years were introduced, so as to provide reference and assistance for the dietary choices of patients with high glucose and the research and development of low-GI foods

Comparisons of Thyroid Hormone, Intelligence, Attention, and Quality of Life in Children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome before and after Endoscopic Adenoidectomy

Objective. The aim of this study was to compare the differences in thyroid hormone, intelligence, attention, and quality of life (QoL) of children with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) before and after endoscopic adenoidectomy. Method. A total of 35 OSAHS children (21 males and 14 females with a mean age of 6.81 ± 1.08 years) were included in this study for analyzing the levels of thyroid hormone, intelligence, attention, and QoL. There were 22 children underwent endoscopic adenoidectomy with bilateral tonsillectomy (BT), while the other 13 children who underwent endoscopic adenoidectomy without bilateral tonsillectomy without BT. Results. Our results revealed no significant difference in serum free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in OSAHS children before and after endoscopic adenoidectomy (all > 0.05). However, there were significant differences in full-scale intelligence quotient (FIQ) (92.45 ± 5.88 versus 106.23 ± 7.39, < 0.001), verbal intelligence quotient (VIQ) (94.17 ± 15.01 versus 103.91 ± 9.74, = 0.006), and performance intelligence quotient (PIQ) (94.12 ± 11.04 versus 104.31 ± 10.05, = 0.001), attention (98.48 ± 8.74 versus 106.87 ± 8.58, < 0.001), and total OSA-18 scores (87.62±17.15 versus 46.61±10.15, < 0.001) between before and after endoscopic adenoidectomy in OSAHS children. Conclusion. Our findings provided evidence that the intelligence, attention, and QoL of OSAHS children may be significantly improved after endoscopic adenoidectomy

Transcriptome profiling defines a novel regulon modulated by the LysR-type transcriptional regulator MexT in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The LysR-family regulator MexT modulates the expression of the MexEF-OprN efflux system in the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Recently, we demonstrated that MexT regulates certain virulence phenotypes, including the type-three secretion system and early attachment independent of its role in regulating MexEF-OprN. In this study, transcriptome profiling was utilized to investigate the global nature of MexT regulation in P. aeruginosa PAO1 and an isogenic mexEF mutant. Twelve genes of unknown function were highly induced by overexpressing MexT independent of MexEF-OprN. A well-conserved DNA motif was identified in the upstream regulatory region of nine of these genes and upstream of mexE. Reporter fusion analysis demonstrated that the expression of the genes was significantly induced by MexT in P. aeruginosa and a heterogenous Escherichia coli strain and that the conserved sequence was required for this induction. The conserved DNA motif was further characterized as the MexT binding site by site-directed mutagenesis and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Genes containing this conserved regulatory sequence were identified across other Pseudomonas species, and their expression was activated by MexT. Thus, a novel regulon directly modulated by MexT, that includes but is independent of mexEF-oprN, has been identified

Novel AroA from Pseudomonas putida Confers Tobacco Plant with High Tolerance to Glyphosate

Glyphosate is a non-selective broad-spectrum herbicide that inhibits 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS, also designated as AroA), a key enzyme in the aromatic amino acid biosynthesis pathway in microorganisms and plants. Previously, we reported that a novel AroA (PpAroA1) from Pseudomonas putida had high tolerance to glyphosate, with little homology to class I or class II glyphosate-tolerant AroA. In this study, the coding sequence of PpAroA1 was optimized for tobacco. For maturation of the enzyme in chloroplast, a chloroplast transit peptide coding sequence was fused in frame with the optimized aroA gene (PparoA1optimized) at the 5′ end. The PparoA1optimized gene was introduced into the tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. W38) genome via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The transformed explants were first screened in shoot induction medium containing kanamycin. Then glyphosate tolerance was assayed in putative transgenic plants and its T1 progeny. Our results show that the PpAroA1 from Pseudomonas putida can efficiently confer tobacco plants with high glyphosate tolerance. Transgenic tobacco overexpressing the PparoA1optimized gene exhibit high tolerance to glyphosate, which suggest that the novel PpAroA1 is a new and good candidate applied in transgenic crops with glyphosate tolerance in future

Elevated Plasma Levels of Drebrin in Glaucoma Patients With Neurodegeneration

Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy characterized by progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Aberrations in several cytoskeletal proteins, such as tau have been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, could be initiating factors in glaucoma progression and occurring prior to axon degeneration. Developmentally regulated brain protein (Drebrin or DBN1) is an evolutionarily conserved actin-binding protein playing a prominent role in neurons and is implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. However, the relationship between circulating DBN1 levels and RGC degeneration in glaucoma patients remains unclear. In our preliminary study, we detected drebrin protein in the plasma of glaucoma patients using proteomic analysis. Subsequently, we recruited a total of 232 patients including primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG), primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and Posner-Schlossman syndrome (PS) and measured its DBN1 plasma levels. We observed elevated DBN1 plasma levels in patients with primary glaucoma but not in patients with PS compared to nonaxonopathic controls. Interestingly, in contrast to tau plasma levels increased in all groups of patients, elevated drebrin plasma levels correlated with retinal nerve fiber layer defect (RNFLD) in glaucoma patients. To further explore the expression of DBN1 in neurodegeneration, we conducted experiment of optic nerve crush (ONC) models, and observed increased expression of DBN1 in the serum as well as in the retina and then decreased after ONC. This result reinforces the potentiality of circulating DBN1 levels are increased in glaucoma patients with neurodegeneration. Taken together, our findings suggest that circulating DBN1 levels correlated with RNFLD and may reflect the severity of RGCs injury in glaucoma patients. Combining measurement of circulating drebrin and tau levels may be a useful indicator for monitoring progression of neurodegenerative diseases

regulator MexT in Pseudomonas

Transcriptome profiling defines a novel regulon modulated by the LysR-type transcriptiona

CpxR activates expression of target promoters.

<p>CpxR activates expression of target promoters.</p

CpxR activates expression of target promoters.

<p>CpxR activates expression of target promoters.</p

CpxR-mediated up-regulation of <i>mexAB-oprM</i> expression in <i>mexR</i>-deleted <i>P</i>. <i>aeruginosa</i> PA14.

<p>(A) The expression levels of <i>mexA</i>p::<i>lacZ</i> reporter as measured by β-galactosidase assay in the PA14, PA14Δ<i>cpxR</i>, PA14Δ<i>mexR</i>, and PA14Δ<i>cpxR</i>Δ<i>mexR</i> strains. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of two independent experiments (**, <i>p</i> < 0.01). (B) Relative <i>mexB</i> transcript levels determined by quantitative real-time PCR in the PA14, PA14Δ<i>cpxR</i>, PA14Δ<i>mexR</i>, and PA14Δ<i>cpxR</i>Δ<i>mexR</i> strains. Data are expressed relative to the quantity of <i>mexB</i> mRNA in the wild-type PA14 strain. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of the relative quantity in three independent experiments (*, <i>p</i> < 0.05). (C) Relative MexA protein levels were determined by western blotting in the PA14, PA14Δ<i>cpxR</i>, PA14Δ<i>mexR</i>, and PA14Δ<i>cpxR</i>Δ<i>mexR</i> strains. The intensity of each band was quantified. The results are expressed relative to the quantity of MexA in the wild-type PA14 strain. Each bar represents the mean ± SD of the relative quantity in three independent experiments (*, <i>p</i> < 0.05). (D) A representative western blot image of MexA protein in the PA14, PA14Δ<i>cpxR</i>, PA14Δ<i>mexR</i>, and PA14Δ<i>cpxR</i>Δ<i>mexR</i> strains. The membrane proteins (10 μg per lane) were separated by 10% SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with anti-MexA polyclonal antibodies.</p

Comparative genomic analysis of conserved DNA motifs.

<p>(A) A well-conserved DNA motif exists in the promoter regions of orthologous <i>muxABC-opmB</i> operons in <i>Pseudomonas</i> species. The sequence logo for the conserved DNA motif reflects position-specific probability matrixes; high probability (≥ 70%) nucleotides are marked in grey in the alignment. The DNA motif contains a well-conserved CpxR binding site. The number in the blanket is the distance between the DNA motif and the ATG start codon of each gene locus. (B) DNA sequence of the <i>mexR-mexA</i> intergenic region. The ATG start codons of <i>mexA</i> and <i>mexR</i> are under solid arrows, indicating the directions of the coding sequences. The -35 and -10 regions of the distal and proximal promoters of <i>mexA</i> are underlined [<a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005932#ppat.1005932.ref012" target="_blank">12</a>, <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005932#ppat.1005932.ref040" target="_blank">40</a>]. The transcriptional start sites of the distal and proximal promoters of <i>mexA</i> are indicated by bent arrows [<a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005932#ppat.1005932.ref012" target="_blank">12</a>, <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005932#ppat.1005932.ref040" target="_blank">40</a>]. The putative CpxR binding site is shaded, whereas the two MexR binding sites overlapping the -35/-10 region of the distal promoter are indicated in lower-case letters [<a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005932#ppat.1005932.ref040" target="_blank">40</a>, <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005932#ppat.1005932.ref041" target="_blank">41</a>]. A NalD binding site overlapping the -35/-10 region of the proximal promoter is indicated in italic lower-case letters [<a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005932#ppat.1005932.ref012" target="_blank">12</a>]. The nucleotide substitutions for the mutated <i>mexA</i> promoters (<i>mexA</i>p_M1 and <i>mexA</i>p_M3) are paired with a short vertical line. The downstream deletion boundary of the distal-only <i>mexA</i> promoter (<i>mexA</i>p_M2) is indicated with a long vertical line. (C) A well-conserved CpxR binding site exists in the promoter region of each <i>cpxP</i> and <i>muxA</i> orthologue, while a well-conserved NalD binding site exists in the promoter region of each <i>mexA</i> orthologue. In contrast, the conserved CpxR and MexR binding site on the <i>mexA</i> promoter is unique to <i>P</i>. <i>aeruginosa</i>. (D) Components that might be involved in regulating <i>mexA</i> orthologue (in blue) expression in <i>Pseudomonas</i> species. The orthologous loci of <i>cpxR</i> and <i>nalD</i> among different <i>Pseudomonas</i> species are marked in green and yellow, respectively. The orthologous <i>nalD</i> locus is separated and replaced by the <i>mexR</i> locus in <i>P</i>. <i>aeruginosa</i>, but divergently linked to the orthologous <i>mexA</i> locus in the genomes of other <i>Pseudomonas</i> species.</p