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Background: The glucose derivative 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (OMG) is used as a cryoprotectant in freezing cells. However, its protective role and the related mechanism in static cold storage (CS) of organs are unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of OMG on cod ischemia damage in cold preservation of donor kidney. Methods: Pretreatment of OMG on kidney was performed in an isolated renal cold storage model in rats. LDH activity in renal efflux was used to evaluate the cellular damage. Indicators including iron levels, mitochondrial damage, MDA level, and cellular apoptosis were measured. Kidney quality was assessed via a kidney transplantation (KTx) model in rats. The grafted animals were followed up for 7 days. Ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury and inflammatory response were assessed by biochemical and histological analyses. Results: OMG pretreatment alleviated prolonged CS-induced renal damage as evidenced by reduced LDH activities and tubular apoptosis. Kidney with pCS has significantly increased iron, MDA, and TUNEL+ cells, implying the increased ferroptosis, which has been partly inhibited by OMG. OMG pretreatment has improved the renal function (p

As a new and safe food resource, Cyclocarya paliurus (CP), rich in flavonoids, exhibits hypouricemic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. However, whether CP aqueous extract (CPA) still possesses the ameliorative effects on hyperuricemia (HUA) and urate-induced renal inflammation remains vacant. In HUA mice, CPA could significantly reduce serum uric acid (UA), alleviate kidney damage and liver steatosis, inhibit xanthine oxidase (XOD) activity, ameliorate renal urate transporters and renal inflammation by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Moreover, the flavonoids quercetin-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside, quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, and quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside from CPA could significantly reduce IL-1β and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in MSU-challenged THP-1 cells. Noticeably, quercetin-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside could inhibit the intracellular XOD activity, reduce intracellular ROS and the expression of pro-IL-1β, IL-1β, and NLRP3 inflammasome. Collectively, CPA shows appreciable therapeutic effects on HUA and evoked renal inflammation. Quercetin-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside, quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, and quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside might be the major active compounds of CPA, which obtain the favorable effects through blocking the activation of ROS/NLRP3/IL-1β pathway.

Arjunolic acid (AA), as the most abundant triterpenoid component in Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal) Iljinskaja, previously displayed delipidating effects in free fatty acid (FFA)-induced HepG2 steatosis cells. However, whether AA still possesses the ameliorative effects on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in normal hepatocytes and in vivo remains vacant and the detailed mechanisms are not defined. In vitro, AA dose-dependently alleviated lipid accumulation in FFA-challenged primary hepatocytes without cytotoxicity. In vivo, AA showed pleiotropic benefits, including attenuating adiposity, mitigating hepatic steatosis and inflammation, improving lipid disorders and insulin resistance, and restoring the impaired gut barrier. Mechanically, we found that AA indirectly activated Sirt1/AMPK-modulated lipid metabolism through elevating NAMPT-mediated NAD+ level, and triggering autophagy, together mediating the lipid-lowering effects. Collectively, our results convey that AA can substantially mitigate NAFLD via indirectly activating Sirt1/AMPK signaling, inducing autophagy and restoring gut barrier, and will be considered as a promising candidate for NAFLD therapy.

Abstract Background Coptidis rhizoma (CR) is the dried rhizome of Coptis chinensis Franch., C. deltoidea C. Y. Cheng et Hsiao or C. teeta Wall. (Ranunculaceae) and is commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for the treatment of various diseases including bacillary dysentery, typhoid, tuberculosis, epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, empyrosis, pertussis, and other illnesses. Methods A literature survey was conducted via SciFinder, ScieneDirect, PubMed, Springer, and Wiley databases. A total of 139 selected references were classified on the basis of their research scopes, including chemical investigation, quality evaluation and pharmacological studies. Results Many types of secondary metabolites including alkaloids, lignans, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, saccharides, and steroids have been isolated from CR. Among them, protoberberine-type alkaloids, such as berberine, palmatine, coptisine, epiberberine, jatrorrhizine, columamine, are the main components of CR. Quantitative determination of these alkaloids is a very important aspect in the quality evaluation of CR. In recent years, with the advances in isolation and detection technologies, many new instruments and methods have been developed for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the main alkaloids from CR. The quality control of CR has provided safety for pharmacological applications. These quality evaluation methods are also frequently employed to screen the active components from CR. Various investigations have shown that CR and its main alkaloids exhibited many powerful pharmacological effects including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, neuroprotective, cardioprotective, hypoglycemic, anti-Alzheimer and hepatoprotective activities. Conclusion This review summarizes the recent phytochemical investigations, quality evaluation methods, the biological studies focusing on CR as well as its main alkaloids.

Cell adhesion, migration and invasion are critical steps for carcinogenesis and cancer metastasis. Ganoderma lucidum, also called Lingzhi in China, is a traditional Chinese medicine, which exhibits anti-proliferation, anti-inflammation and anti-metastasis properties. Herein, GAEE, G. lucidum extract mainly contains ganoderiol A (GA), dihydrogenated GA and GA isomer, was shown to inhibit the abilities of adhesion and migration, while have a slight influence on that of invasion in highly metastatic breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells at non-toxic doses. Further investigation revealed that GAEE decreased the active forms of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and disrupted the interaction between FAK and SRC, which lead to deactivating of paxillin. Moreover, GAEE treatment downregulated the expressions of RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42, and decreased the interaction between neural Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein (N-WASP) and Cdc42, which impair cell migration and actin assembly. To our knowledge, this is the first report to show that G.lucidum triterpenoids could suppress cell migration and adhesion through FAK-SRC-paxillin signaling pathway. Our study also suggests that GAEE may be a potential agent for treatment of breast cancer.

Background. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lacks effective treatments and has a poor prognosis. Therefore it is needed to develop more effective drug targets. Kinesin family member 11 (KIF11) has been reported to affect the progression of several cancers, and its high expression associates with the prognosis of patients. However, the relevant mechanisms of KIF11 in HCC progression have not been studied. Method. Through the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) database and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of patients' specimens, we determined that KIF11 was highly expressed in HCC tissues and associated with prognosis. We established a KIF11 stably depleted hepatoma cell line, through cell-cloning experiments and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays to detect the effects on proliferation in vitro. The role of KIF11 in promoting cell proliferation was verified in mice. Result. The expression of KIF11 was negatively correlated with the overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) and positively correlated with tumor size of HCC patients. KIF11 depletion inhibits cell proliferation and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion. KIF11 can be used as a positive correlation marker for HCC prognosis and served as a potential therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-performance centrifugal partition chromatography (HPCPC) method was developed for the preparative separation of patchouli alcohol. The separation was performed with a nonaqueous two-phase solvent system consisting of petroleum ether (bp.30-60 °C)-acetonitrile (1:1, v/v) in descending separation mode. A total of more than 2 g of patchouli alcohol was isolated from the essential oil (12.5 g) in 300 min. This component was separated and identified by comparing its retention time and MS data with the standard substance analyzed by GC/MS. The purity was more than 98%. About 450 mL petroleum ether and 550 mL acetonitrile were used for a single run, and 60% and 80% of petroleum ether and acetonitrile could be recovered for next run, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]