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Two Co(II)-coordination polymers modified by a rigid amine 3,5-bis(imidazole-1-yl)pyridine (BIP), [Co2(HPO3)2(BIP)]·H2O (1) and [Co3(HPO3)3(BIP)(H2O)]·H2O (2), were solvothermally prepared. Their improving effect on pre-eclampsia symptoms was evaluated and the related mechanism was explored at the same time. Firstly, the ELISA detection kits were performed to measure the levels of the Elabela in the plasma after indicated treatment. In addition to this, the urine protein content of pregnant mice after compound treatment was also determined with Braford protein content detection kit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The function of putative loop 2 amino acid residues 370 to 375, with M. sexta in receptor binding domain of toxin CrylAb was analyzed to show that deletion or substitution of alanine at residues greatly affected the irreversible binding. This result has been measured by the dissociation assays. Initial binding remained the same as measured by the competition binding assays.

Abstract Background Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting plant growth, development and crop productivity. ABA responsive element binding factor (ABF) plays an important role in stress responses via regulating the expression of stress-responsive genes. Results In this study, a gene coding for ABF (PtrABF) was isolated from Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf. PtrABF had a complete open reading frame of 1347 bp, encoding a 448 amino acid peptide, and shared high sequence identities with ABFs from other plants. PtrABF was subcellularly targeted to the nucleus, exhibited transactivation activity in yeast cell and could bind to ABRE, supporting its role as a transcription factor. Expression levels of PtrABF were induced by treatments with dehydration, low temperature and ABA. Ectopic expression of PtrABF under the control of a CaMV 35S promoter in transgenic tobacco plants enhanced tolerance to both dehydration and drought. Under dehydration and drought conditions, the transgenic plants accumulated lower levels of reactive oxygen species compared with wild type, accompanied by higher activities and expression levels of three antioxidant enzymes. In addition, steady-state mRNA levels of nine stress-responsive genes coding for either functional or regulatory proteins were induced to higher levels in the transgenic lines with or without drought stress. Conclusions PtrABF is a bZIP transcription factor and functions in positive modulation of drought stress tolerance. It may be an important candidate gene for molecular breeding of drought- tolerant plants.

This study aimed to examine whether stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) or C-X-C chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) participates in the development of lumbar disc degeneration, as implicated earlier by the level of CXCL12 correlating with this disease. It enrolled 145 patients with symptomatic lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) and 130 asymptomatic healthy controls with no indication of IDD. Radiological assessment of the IDD patients was targeted at the lumbar vertebra region, based on Pfirrmann grade. Degeneration of the multifidus and psoas major muscles was evaluated using Goutallier classification. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores were obtained for assessing the severity of manifestation. The levels of serum CXCL12, IL-6 and TNF-α were determined by ROC curve analysis, resulting in their prognostic value for Pfirrmann grading. Higher levels of serum CXCL12 were found in patients with IDD than in asymptomatic individuals, and were positively related to the Pfirrmann grade as well as multifidus muscle degeneration. Furthermore, serum CXCL12 concentration showed a significant correlation with the VAS and ODI scores. In addition, elevated serum CXCL12 levels were related to serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6. The ROC curve analysis implicated that CXCL12 could function as a biomarker of the early-mediate phase of IDD development. In summary, the serum CXCL12/SDF-1 level is positively related with lumbar IDD and its clinical severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]