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Abstract: Ethnopharmacological relevance: Suanzaorenhehuan Formula (SHF) is a Chinese herbal formula for the treatment of depression-like disorders. It contains four herbs: Semen Ziziphi spinosae, Cortex Albiziae, Radix Paeoniae Alba and Semen Platycladi. The present study is to investigate the antidepressant-like effect of the ethanolic extract of SHF and its possible mechanisms. Materials and methods: Mouse models of depression including the tail suspension test (TST), forced swimming test (FST) and chronic unpredicted mild stress (CUMS) were used to evaluate the effects of SHF extract. The mechanisms were examined by measuring monoamine neurotransmitters in mice hippocampus and frontal cortex, testing monoamine oxidase enzyme (MAO) activities in brain of CUMS-exposed mice. Results: After one-week treatment, SHF extract (50, 100 and 200mg/kg) induced a significant decrease on immobility time in TST. After two-week treatment, SHF extract (50, 100 and 200mg/kg) led to a reduction in the immobility period in TST and FST. The 5-HT levels in mice hippocampus were increased only after 200mg/kg SHF extract treatment. The noradrenaline (NE) levels were increased after 200mg/kg SHF extract treatment in mice hippocampus and frontal cortex. SHF extract (50, 100 and 200mg/kg) significantly inhibited monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) and monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) after 21-day CUMS exposure. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated that ethanolic SHF extract produced an antidepressant-like effect and the mechanism of action involves the serotonergic, noradrenergic and monoamine oxidase enzyme systems although underlying mechanism still remains to be further elucidated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As environmental protection greatly influences the social development, for the multi-energy systems (MES) equipped with a cluster of energy devices, the economic dispatch (ED) problem should not only be considered but also the environmental protection problem should be considered in energy utilization. To address this issue, a multi-objective dispatch model of MES using a linear weighted sum algorithm (LWS) is developed in this paper, which considers the environmental and economic costs. On this basis, a fully distributed algorithm with the coupled control mechanism of power and heat is presented to realize coordination optimization between the environmental and economic benefits. Furthermore, an event-triggered communication strategy is implemented in the fully distributed algorithm, which can be effectively applied to the multi-objective dispatch model, to reduce the communication burden. Finally, the simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed distributed control strategy. • A multi-objective dispatch model of MES using a LWS algorithm is given. • The coupled control mechanism based on the consensus protocol is proposed. • An event-triggered strategy is implemented in the fully distributed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term use of low-toxic natural products holds the promise for eradicating cancer stem cells. In this study, we report that luteolin, a natural flavonoid, attenuates the stemness of ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSCs) by directly binding to KDM4C and epigenetic suppression of PPP2CA/YAP axis. Ovarian cancer stem like cells (OCSLCs) isolated by suspension culture and CD133 + ALDH+ cell sorting was employed as OCSCs model. The maximal non-toxic dose of luteolin suppressed stemness properties, including sphere-forming capacity, the expression of OCSCs markers, sphere-initiating and tumor-initiating capacities, as well as the percentage of CD133 + ALDH+ cells of OCSLCs. Mechanistic study showed that luteolin directly binds to KDM4C, blocks KDM4C-induced histone demethylation of PPP2CA promoter, inhibits PPP2CA transcription and PPP2CA-mediated YAP dephosphorylation, thereby attenuating YAP activity and the stemness of OCSLCs. Furthermore, luteolin sensitized OCSLCs to traditional chemotherapeutic drugs in vitro and in vivo. In summary, our work revealed the direct target of luteolin and the underlying mechanism of the inhibitory effect of luteolin on the stemness of OCSCs. This finding thus suggests a novel therapeutic strategy for eradicating human OCSCs driven by KDM4C. [Display omitted] • The inhibitory effect of luteolin on the stemness of ovarian cancer stem cells was revealed for the first time. • A novel direct target of luteolin, KDM4C, in ovarian cancer cells was revealed. • A novel oncogenic axis, KDM4C/PPP2CA/YAP, was revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]