Search

Schizophyllum commune, a fleshy fungus, is an important medicinal and food-homologous mushroom in China. In this work, eight undescribed sesquiterpenes schizomycins A–H (1–8) and one new meroterpenoid schizomycin I (9) together with three known analogues (10–12) were isolated from fruiting bodies of S. commune. Their planar structures were established by extensive spectroscopic and mass spectrometric data. The absolute configurations of compounds 1, 2, and 4were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction, and compounds 3and 5–9were confirmed by electronic circular dichroism calculations. Anti-inflammatory activities of all isolated compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on IL-6 and IL-1β production in RAW 264.7 cells. Among them, compound 7exhibited significant IL-6 inhibitory activity with an IC50value of 3.6 μM. The results of molecular docking showed that compound 7interacts with amino acid residues (Gly117, Lys118, Asp120, Thr166, and Try168) of the IL-6 receptor protein through hydrogen bonding.

Background: Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by dysregulation of the host response to infection. Acupuncture is used for treatment of inflammatory diseases; however, its effectiveness and safety as a complementary therapy for sepsis has not been fully explored.Methods: Data were retrieved from eight databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared acupuncture plus conventional therapies versus conventional therapies alone were included. Pre-specified primary outcomes were mortality at 28 days and Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scores.Results: A total of 17 studies with 1099 participants were included in this study. In terms of the primary outcomes, acupuncture plus routine therapy reduced mortality at 28 days (risk ratio (RR)): 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.52 to 0.91, p < 0.001) and APACHE II scores (mean difference (MD): −2.84, 95% CI: −4.09 to −1.58, p < 0.001) at day 7 after treatment compared with routine therapy alone. In terms of secondary outcomes, acupuncture plus routine therapy reduced white blood cell counts and levels of procalcitonin (PCT), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and lactic acid and intra-abdominal pressure (IAP), and improved CD3+, CD4+ and monocytes of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR at day 7 after treatment compared with routine therapy alone. However, acupuncture plus routine therapy had no significant effects on levels of IL-10, C-reactive protein (CRP), CD8+ and CD4+/CD8+ ratios compared with routine therapy alone. Quality of evidence was low to very low for all parameters (GRADE).Conclusion: The available evidence showed that combination of acupuncture and routine therapy may have benefit for sepsis compared with use of routine therapy only. Due to the low degree of certainty regarding its effects, further research is required.Trial registration number: ICRD42019141491 (PROSPERO).

Sulfide/hydroxide core-shell nanostructure via a heating-electrodeposited method exhibits superior OER activity, which is also suitable for integrating onto Si electrode for enhanced PEC water oxidation

Oriented cell divisions are controlled by a conserved molecular cascade involving Gαi, LGN, and NuMA. Here, we show that NDP52 regulates spindle orientation via remodeling the polar cortical actin cytoskeleton. siRNA-mediated NDP52 suppression surprisingly revealed a ring-like compact subcortical F-actin architecture surrounding the spindle in prophase/prometaphase cells, which resulted in severe defects of astral microtubule growth and an aberrant spindle orientation. Remarkably, NDP52 recruited the actin assembly factor N-WASP and regulated the dynamics of the subcortical F-actin ring in mitotic cells. Mechanistically, NDP52 was found to bind to phosphatidic acid-containing vesicles, which absorbed cytoplasmic N-WASP to regulate local filamentous actin growth at the polar cortex. Our TIRFM analyses revealed that NDP52-containing vesicles anchored N-WASP and shortened the length of actin filaments in vitro. Based on these results we propose that NDP52-containing vesicles regulate cortical actin dynamics through N-WASP to accomplish a spatiotemporal regulation between astral microtubules and the actin network for proper spindle orientation and precise chromosome segregation. In this way, intracellular vesicles cooperate with microtubules and actin filaments to regulate proper mitotic progression. Since NDP52 is absent from yeast, we reason that metazoans have evolved an elaborate spindle positioning machinery to ensure accurate chromosome segregation in mitosis.

a-Tubulin detyrosination, largely catalyzed by vasohibins, is involved in many microtubule (MT)-related cellular events. In this study, we identified a core heterodimeric complex of human small vasohibin-binding protein (SVBP) and vasohibin 1 (VASH1) (hereafter denoted as SVBP-VASH1) that catalyzes the detyrosination of a peptide derived from C-terminus of a-tubulin. We further solved the crystal structures of the SVBP-VASH1 heterodimer alone and in complex with either an inhibitor or a mutant substrate peptide. Our structural research, complemented by biochemical and mutagenesis experiments, resulted in identification of the key residues for VASH1 binding to SVBP and a-tubulin substrate. Our in vivo experiments reveal that MT detyrosination in general, as well as the interactions between SVBP, VASH1, and a-tubulin, are critical for spindle function and accurate chromosome segregation during mitosis. Furthermore, we found that the phenotypes caused by the depletion of vasohibins were largely rescued upon co-depletion of kinesin13/MCAK, suggesting the coordination between the MT depolymerase and MT detyrosination during mitosis. Thus our work not only provides structural insights into the molecular mechanism of a-tubulin detyrosination catalyzed by SVBP-bound vasohibins, but also uncovers the key role of vasohibins-mediated MT detyrosination in spindle morphology and chromosome segregation during mitosis.

Off-axis aspheric mirror is an important component widely used in optical system and precision measurement instrument. Off-axis parabolic surface is one typical shape of off-axis aspheric mirrors which can enlarge focal length and widen field-of-view. Two typical ultra-precision turning methods which are turning the cylindrical blank by revolving around the axis of parabolic surface (TPS) and revolving around the axis of cylindrical surface (TCS) are analyzed and compared for off-axis parabolic surface in this article. Three-axis (X, Z, C) turning machine is applied and kinematic analyses of two linear axes (X, Z) are studied during cutting with the single point diamond turning. The tool paths are generated and installation errors are analyzed under two different conditions. Primary experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of theoretical analyses. The obtained results demonstrate that the surface machined with TPS method has better machining quality than the one machined with TCS method.

Enhancing the extraction efficiency of the bioactive ingredients from Chinese medicinal material (CMM) is crucial to effective applications in clinical practice. Herein, focusing on Xuefu Zhuyu decoction (XFZYD) as a classical formula with antithrombotic efficacy, we developed an accessible and environment-friendly method via cyclodextrin (CD) for assisting the extraction of chemical components. The employment of CDs significantly enhanced the extraction efficiency of poorly water-soluble components in XFZYD, from which hydroxypropyl-β-CD (HP-β-CD) showed the best extraction efficiency by comparing to α-CD, β-CD, and γ-CD. Six representative ingredients were focused to systematically perform the encapsulation study between HP-β-CD and guest molecule. The satisfactory association constants of HP-β-CD with the tested compounds were determined by implementing phase solubility method and direct fluorescence technique. The inclusion complexes were studied by DSC and SEM to visualize thermal characteristics and surface textures, which were further confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Moreover, theoretical calculations indicated that stable binding between HP-β-CD and tested compounds were witnessed by various non-covalent interactions. Thus, the formation of the inclusion complex with CD is a very effective method to improve the extraction efficiency of the active compounds from CMM.

Transition metal ruthenium(II) complex was used to prepare a dual-functional phosphorescent probe for the detection of Cu2+ion and pH.

Generally, two spiral tool path generation methods are applied to ultra-precision three-axis turning of off-axis convex ellipsoidal surface, which are tool path generating by revolving around the axis of convex ellipsoidal surface and revolving around the axis of cylindrical surface. In this article, two different computed results of spiral tool path generation for off-axis convex ellipsoidal surface are analyzed, and several key technologies during tool path generation are analyzed in theory. The general procedure of generating the precision tool trajectory is also presented. The characteristics of two different turning trajectories for the surface manufacturing are compared and studied in some typical aspects in the end. The studies show that each of the two different tool path generation methods has its own suitable work environment, and a reasonable method should be chosen according to the processing requirement and work environment during the process of single-point diamond turning. The analysis and argument presented provide an effective choice of the accurate spiral tool path generation method in ultra-precision manufacturing of the off-axis convex ellipsoidal surface, and the method can be used in the accurate spiral tool path choice of any kind of off-axis surface.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Compound (IIIa) exhibits a significant insecticidal activity against Aedes albopictus.