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Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy is the adaptive response of the heart to various physiological or pathological stresses. To combat this type of disease, more effective drugs are still needed. Wedelolactone is the main ingredient extracted from the medicinal plant Daylily and have effects such as immunomodulatory, anti-fibrosis, and anti-inflammation. However, the role and mechanism of Wedelolactone in myocardial hypertrophy are still unclear. Here, H9C2 cells were treated with Ang II to construct a cardiomyocyte hypertrophy cell model. We found Wedelolactone suppressed the survival of Ang II-induced cardiomyocytes. Wedelolactone further restrained the progression of Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Wedelolactone suppressed the oxidative stress of Ang II-induced cardiomyocytes, and restrained the apoptosis. Mechanically, Wedelolactone restrained the progression of Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy via Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/Heme oxygenase-1 pathway (Nrf2/HO-1 pathway). In summary, Wedelolactone attenuates angiotensin II-induced hypertrophy and apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. Wedelolactone attenuates angiotensin II-stimulated hypertrophy and apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought stress, a major abiotic stress, significantly affects wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production globally. To identify genes and metabolic pathways crucial for responding to short-term drought stress, we conducted transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses of winter wheat cultivar Jimai 418 at four developmental stages: jointing (GS31), booting (GS45), anthesis (GS65), and 8 days after anthesis (DAA8). Transcriptomic analysis identified 14,232 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under drought stress compared to the control. Specifically, 1387, 4573, 7380, and 892 DEGs were identified at the four developmental stages, respectively. Enriched pathways associated with these DEGs included plant hormone signal transduction, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, galactose metabolism, and starch and sucrose metabolism. Totals of 222, 633, 358, and 38 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were identified at the four stages, respectively. Correlation analysis of both datasets revealed DEGs and DAMs associated with plant hormone signal transduction, arginine and proline metabolism, ABC transporters, and amino acid biosynthesis. These findings offer significant insights into Jimai 418's molecular response to short-term drought stress. The identified DEGs, DAMs, and enriched pathways contribute to our understanding of wheat drought tolerance. This research will facilitate further investigations into drought tolerance mechanisms and guide the breeding of wheat varieties with enhanced drought resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to global warming, high temperature stress severely impacts maize growth and development, especially during the early filling stage. Supplemental irrigation is an effective measure to mitigate high temperature stress in maize. However, the underlying mechanism for alleviating transient high temperature stress during the early grain-filling stage is still unclear. A two-year field experiment involving high temperature during the early filling stage (HT), supplemental irrigation under high temperature stress (HTW), supplemental irrigation under control condition (W), and control treatment (CK) by using heat-tolerant variety ZD958 and heat-sensitive variety XY335 was conducted. Compared with the CK treatment, the HT treatment significantly decreased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT). HT also significantly reduced the Pn, soluble sugar content in stem, and dry matter accumulation, thus reducing kernel number per ear and yield by 11.2–17.6% and 23.4–23.7% in the both variety, respectively. However, compared with HT, the HTW treatment reduced the daily mean canopy temperature of ZD958 and XY335 by 2.6 °C and 2.8 °C, respectively. Accordingly, HTW increased SPAD value, photosynthetic performance, starch and soluble sugars content in stems and leaves, and antioxidant enzymes activities, but reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA). Moreover, HTW increased the grain sink capacity, prolonged the effective filling days by 1.4–6.5 d, and increased the average filling rate by 14.8–41.0% compared with HT. Finally, grain yield of HTW was increased by 15.8–22.3% compared with HT. Therefore, supplemental irrigation could effectively enhanced maize heat resistance by reduce canopy temperature. This study provides important insights into enhancing maize resistance and yield stability under a warming climate. • Supplemental irrigation (SI) reduced the canopy temperature under heat stress (HT). • SI improved the antioxidant defense of maize under HT. • SI improved the photosynthesis and assimilate accumulation under HT. • SI increased assimilates availability thus improving kernel number per ear and yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The survival benefit for patients with gastric cancer (GC) is modest due to its high transfer potential. Targeted therapy for metastasis-related genes in GC may be a viable approach, however, inhibitors specifically targeting GC are limited. In this study, GC patient-derived xenografts (PDX) with metastatic burden were established via orthotopic transplantation. PCR-Array analysis of primary and metastatic tumors revealed EPH receptor B2 (EPHB2) as the most significantly upregulated gene. The interaction between the EPHB2 receptor and its cognate-specific EFNB1 ligands was high in GC and correlated with a poor prognosis. Fc-EFNB1 treatment increased the invasion and migration abilities of GC cells and induced a high EPHB2 expression. EPHB2 knockdown in GC cells completely abolished the ephrin ligand-induced effects on invasion and migration abilities. Signal transduction analysis revealed Wnt/β-catenin and FAK as downstream signaling mediators potentially inducing the EPHB2 phenotype. In conclusion, the observed deregulation of EPHB2/EFNB1 expression in GC enhances the invasive phenotype, suggesting a potential role of EPHB2/EFNB1 compound in local tumor cell invasion and the formation of metastasis. [Display omitted] • EPHB2 and EFNB1 are co-expressed in gastric cancer cells and tissues. • The interaction between EPHB2 and EFNB1 significantly promoted gastric cancer metastasis. • EPHB2/EFNB1 compounds are potential indicators for the diagnosis of gastric cancer metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]