Mcmillanconner5886
After 24 h of exposure, regulatory genes begin to counter the inflammation, as some genes involved in oxidative stress, apoptosis and non-inflammatory immune responses come into play. Both Fe2PO and Fe2PC induced similar immunogenetic changes in transcription profiles, but equal molar doses of Fe2PC resulted in more robust responses. These data suggest that further work in whole animal models may provide more insights into the extent of systemic physiological changes induced by these cyclophanes. © 2020 Salazar-Medina et al.Background Icariin (ICA) is one of the major active flavonoids extracted from the traditional Chinese herb Epimedium brevicornum Maxim and has been shown to have neuroprotective effects. This study was designed to investigate the effect of ICA on sodium azide (NaN3)-induced rat adrenal pheochromocytoma (PC12) cell damage and to further examine the underlying mechanisms. Methods To explore its possible mechanism, we used NaN3 (50 mM)-induced neuronal PC12 cell damage. Cell viability was evaluated by CCK-8 and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was detected by JC-1. Glucose concentration was assessed by the glucose oxidase method. The role of ICA in the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway was explored by Western blotting. Results The results indicate that pretreatment with ICA reduced NaN3-induced cell damage and significantly reduced the leakage rate of LDH in PC12 cells. ICA pretreatment increased the MMP and a decrease in glucose concentration indicate increased glucose consumption. Furthermore, the protein levels of p-PI3K (p85), PI3K-110α, p-Ser473-Akt and p-Ser9-GSK-3β were markedly decreased in PC12 cells after NaN3 treatment for 24 h, whereas these effects were reverted after pretreatment with ICA. Tau phosphorylation at the Ser396/404 and Thr217 sites was significantly decreased by pretreatment with ICA. Conclusions These results suggest that ICA protects against NaN3-induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells by activating the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway. © 2020 Zhang et al.Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is one of the most devastating animal viruses that affect livestock worldwide. The 1B capsid of FMDV has been widely used to detect and confirm the infection. In the present study, the sequence coding for 1B subunit of FMDV capsid was expressed in insect cells using the baculovirus expression system under the polyhedrin (polh) promoter. The expression of 1B capsid protein was validated in the culture filtrate of insect cells using SDS-PAGE and western blotting. The culture filtrate containing recombinant 1B capsid (r1B) was used as a coated antigen in an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The antigenicity and specificity of r1B against SAT 2 serotype-specific antibodies were assessed. Our results revealed that a protein concentration as low as 25 ng could detect SAT 2-specific antibodies in ELISA. The results highlight the application of insect cells developed r1B protein in the detection of FMDV. Further studies are required to determine the ability of r1B to detect other FMDV serotypes. ©2020 Elmenofy et al.Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease and the major cause of joint pain and disability in the elderly. It is mainly characterized by articular cartilage degradation and subchondral bone remodeling. There are two main types of OA natural occurring OA and secondary OA, mainly associated with aging and trauma, respectively. In this study, we established two OA models in rat knee joints to simulate the two types of OA, using the type II collagenase injection (CI) and anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT), respectively. After intervention for 2-6 weeks, cartilage and subchondral bone changes were detected in histological staining, immunochemistry, and micro-CT. Results showed that both models with typical pathology changes of OA were successfully induced, while the development and severity of OA process in the models were different. In ACLT rats, the cartilage damage was milder, lasted for a shorter time, and subchondral bone reconstruction occurred earlier, compared with the changes in CI rats. The cartilage damage was secondary to subchondral bone change in ACLT rats, while subchondral bone change was secondary to cartilage degeneration in CI rats. In conclusion, the interaction between cartilage and subchondral bone is different between the natural-occurring and secondary OA models. These two models not only suggest potential different mechanisms of the two types of OA, but also provide new directions for OA treatment and prevention. ©2020 Yang et al.Background Elite controller refers to a patient with human immunodeficiency virus infection with an undetected viral load in the absence of highly active antiretroviral therapy. Studies on gene expression and regulation in these individuals are limited but significant, and have helped researchers and clinicians to understand the interrelationships between HIV and its host. Methods We collected CD4 T-cell samples from two elite controllers (ECs), two HIV-positive infected patients (HPs), and two healthy controls (HCs) to perform second-generation transcriptome sequencing. Using the Cufflinks software, we calculated the Fragments Per Kilobase of transcript per Million fragments mapped (FPKM) and identified differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), with corrected P value less then 0.05 (based on a false discovery rate (FDR) less then 0.05). We then constructed a protein-protein interaction network using cytoHubba and a long non-coding RNA-mRNA co-expression network based on the lar or cellular level. ©2020 Chen et al.The herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) is a perennial flowering plant of the Paeoniaceae species that is widely cultivated for medical and ornamental uses. The monoterpene glucoside paeoniflorin and its derivatives are the active compounds of the P. lactiflora roots. However, the gene regulation pathways associated with monoterpene and paeoniflorin biosynthesis in P. lactiflora are still unclear. Here, we selected three genotypes of P. lactiflora with distinct morphologic features and chemical compositions that were a result of long-term reproductive isolation. We performed an RNA-sequencing experiment to profile the transcriptome changes of the shoots and roots. Using de novo assembly analysis, we identified 36,264 unigenes, including 521 genes responsible for encoding transcription factors. find more We also identified 28,925 unigenes that were differentially expressed in different organs and/or genotypes. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that the P. lactiflora unigenes were significantly overrepresented in several secondary metabolite biosynthesis pathways.