Search

In our recent effort of developing methylation-dependent endonuclease mediated methylation sequencing technology, efficiency and reproducibility were restrained by adapters’ self-ligation. In the present study, three strategies to prevent self-ligation of adapters used in enzyme mediated methylation sequencing have been developed. Our data have demonstrated that these strategies can either inhibit or eliminate the adapters’ self-ligation. These strategies are crucial in enzyme-mediated methylation sequencing and may be useful in some other genomic sequencing technologies.

Introduction. Atherosclerosis is a chronic disorder in which plaque builds up in the arteries and is associated with several cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as coronary artery disease, cerebral infarction and cerebral haemorrhage. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover new medications to treat or prevent atherosclerosis. Hypothesis/Gap Statement. The active components of Guanxin Xiaoban capsules may have an effect on the gut microbiome of patients with atherosclerosis and have a role in their therapeutic targets. Aim. The aim of this study was to identify genes and pathways targeted by active ingredients in Guanxin Xiaoban capsules for the treatment of atherosclerosis based on network pharmacology and analysis of changes to the gut microbiome. Methods. Mice were treated with Guanxin Xiaoban capsules. The 16S rDNA genome sequence of all microorganisms from each group of faecal samples was used to evaluate potential structural changes in the gut microbiota after treatment with Guanxin Xiaoban capsules. Western blotting and real-time quantitative PCR were used to detect gene targets in aortic and liver tissues. Haematoxylin and eosin staining was used to observe improvements in mouse arterial plaques. Results. The gut microbiota of atherosclerotic mice is disturbed. After Guanxin Xiaoban treatment, the abundance of bacteria in the mice improved, with an increase in the proportion of Akkermansia and a significant decrease in the proportion of Faecalibaculum . The main ingredients of Guanxin Xiaoban capsules are calycosin, liquiritin, ferulic acid, ammonium glycyrrhizate, aloe emodin, rhein and emodin. The core genes of this network were determined to be glutathione S-transferase mu 1 (GSTM1), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (CDKN1A). The compound–target gene network revealed an interaction between multiple components and targets and contributed to a better understanding of the potential therapeutic effects of the capsules on atherosclerosis. In addition, expression of the AGE–receptor for the AGE (RAGE) pathway was significantly inhibited and the mice showed signs of arterial plaque reduction. Guanxin Xiaoban capsules may improve atherosclerosis and reduce the plaque area by inhibiting the AGE-RAGE signalling pathway to delay the development of atherosclerosis. This mechanism appears to involve changes in the gut microbiota. Therefore, Guanxin Xiaoban capsules have potential value as a treatment for atherosclerosis.

Abnormal proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) can cause various vascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis, restenosis, and pulmonary hypertension. However, the effect and underlying mechanism of Wnt5a on the proliferation of VSMCs remain unclear. Our study aimed to investigate whether Wnt5a/Ror2 promotes vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation via activating protein kinase C (PKC), thereby effectively alleviating vascular proliferative diseases.The proliferation of HA-VSMC cell line was evaluated by CCK-8, EdU, and Plate clone formation assays. The Wnt5a gene knockdown and overexpression were carried out by standard methods. The interaction between Wnt5a and Ror2 was explored by co-immunoprecipitation. Western blotting and immunofluorescence were used to determine the expression levels of key proteins in VSMCs.The present study found that the expression of Wnt5a protein increased significantly in the proliferation of VSMCs stimulated by 10% serum in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, the proliferative rate of VSMCs overexpressing Wnt5a was dramatically accelerated, whereas Wnt5a knockdown using siWnt5a reversed thisproliferative effect. Wnt5a up-regulated the expression of receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 (Ror2) by binding to it. Further studies indicated that Wnt5a induces the PKC expression in VSMCs and knockdown of Wnt5a or Ror2 could inhibit PKC phosphorylation.Wnt5a could effectively promote the proliferation of VSMCs, which might be related to the binding of Wnt5a and Ror2 to activate PKC.

Prunella vulgaris L. (P. vulgaris, Labiatae) is a perennial medicinal and edible plant widely used in China, Korea, Japan and Europe. The reddish brown spica of P. vulgaris (Prunellae Spica), which is collected in summer, has been commonly used in traditional medicine and food industry, while it is also used with whole grass in Europe and Taiwan. To clarify the regulatory pathways and mechanism of quality formation in P. vulgaris, targeted metabolomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic analyses of Prunellae Spica samples from five consecutive developmental stages were carried out. The results showed that terpenoids were mainly synthesized in the maturity stage of Prunellae Spica, with the key enzymes and coding genes in downstream pathways being mainly expressed during ripening, while related enzymes in the upstream pathway showed the opposite pattern. Flavonoids mainly accumulated before ripening, with highly expressed pathway enzymes and coding genes. The accumulation of phenylpropanoids was relatively active throughout the development process. Rosmarinic acid (RA) and its synthetic intermediate products mainly accumulated via more active pathway enzymes and coding genes before ripening. The regulatory factors and metabolites related to RA synthesis were mainly enriched in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant hormone signal transduction, plant pathogen interaction, oxidative phosphorylation, and endoplasmic reticulum protein processing pathways.

The combination of phosphorothioate-modified primer and high-fidelity DNA polymerase constitute a mutation sensitive on/off switch. Herein, a modified mutation-sensitive on/off switch was designed with an extra point mutation at 5′ far away from the 3′ of the phosphorothioate modified primer to test the power of the new enzymes: Phusion, Q5 and Phanta UC polymerases. A modified on/off switch with the introduction of an extra point mismatched nucleotide at –8 from the 3′ terminus, and the use of Phanta UC Super-fidelity DNA polymerase has been confirmed to be highly sensitive and specific as compared to those without the 5′ artificial mismatched nucleotide, when applied in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis of BRAF hotspot mutation.

Curcumin nicotinate (Curtn) is a synthesized ester derivative of curcumin and niacin. Our previous study has shown that Curtn lowers serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in apoE

Overexpression and activation of Axl receptor tyrosine kinase have been widely accepted to promote cell proliferation, chemotherapy resistance, invasion, and metastasis in several human cancers, such as lung, breast, and pancreatic cancers. Axl, a member of the TAM (Tyro3, Axl, Mer) family, and its inhibitors can specifically break the kinase signaling nodes, allowing advanced patients to regain drug sensitivity with improved therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, the research on Axl is promising and it is worthy of further investigations. In this review, we present an update on the Axl inhibitors and provide new insights into their latent application.

Development of sensitive assay for detection of hotspot mutations of cancer driving gene is crucial for circulating tumor DNA analysis. This study tested the possibilities of applying restriction enzyme digestion and dephosphorylation coupled with blue/white screening technology for analyzing a hotspot point mutation in codon 13 of KRAS gene. The present study has documented that the combination of PCR with restriction digestion, dephosphorylation, blue/white screening and Sanger's sequencing can identify rare mutations with sensitivities at 0.003%. This novel assay with high sensitivity may have application in the diagnosis of early cancer targeting ctDNAs.

A primerless amplification suitable for enrichment of particular genotype cfDNA which is a one-dimensional material has been developed. This primerless amplification coordinated by two thermostable enzymes of endonuclease and proofreading polymerase, functions as a genotype switch in analyzing cfDNA. The endonuclease digests the wild-typed fragments into mega-primer and discriminately destroys the wild-type DNA alleles. The DNA polymerase proofreads the megaprimer and then extends the mega-primer using the mutant DNA as the template. The prototypes of this technology were applied to two hotspot mutations of APC and EGFR with confirmed by DNA sequencing analysis. Genotype switch was then employed to clinical cfDNA assay targeting PIK3CA. Data from the clinical application suggest its potential in early cancer diagnosis.

Development of sensitive assay for detection of hotspot mutations of cancer driving gene is crucial for circulating tumor DNA analysis. This study tested the possibilities of applying restriction enzyme digestion and dephosphorylation coupled with blue/white screening technology for analyzing a hotspot point mutation in codon 13 of KRAS gene. The present study has documented that the combination of PCR with restriction digestion, dephosphorylation, blue/white screening and Sanger's sequencing can identify rare mutations with sensitivities at 0.003%. This novel assay with high sensitivity may have application in the diagnosis of early cancer targeting ctDNAs.

A series of trifluoromethylated aurone derivatives were synthesized, and the structure of 6-hydroxy-4-trifluoromethylated aurone was determined by single crystal X-ray analysis. Their anticancer activities against leucocythemia (HL-60) and colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29) were evaluated by the standard MTT method in vitro with 5-fluorouracil as a positive contrast drug. The results showed that all the (Z)-trifluoromethylated aurone derivatives had potential anticancer activities.

The CYP2D6 gene has been suggested to play an important role in the pathogenesis of lung cancer. However, the results have been inconsistent. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis to clarify the association of CYP2D6 T188C variant with lung cancer. Published literature from PubMed, Embase, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang data were retrieved. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) was calculated using fixed- or random-effects model. A total of nine studies (1,516 lung cancer cases and 1,950 controls) for CYP2D6 T188C variant were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis indicated that compared with CYP2D6 TT genotype, non-TT genotype (CC or CT) was significantly associated with lung cancer in the Chinese (OR = 1.61, 95 % CI = 1.38–1.87, p

Curcumin has been reported to possess multifunctional bioactivities with low toxicity. However, the clinical application of curcumin has been significantly limited by its instability and poor metabolic property. Up to now, multiple approaches are being sought to overcome these limitations to obtaining “super curcumin”, and many analogues of curcumin have been designed and synthesized. In all of those analogues, a series of mono-carbonyl curcumin analogues deleting the β-diketone draw our attention. Since the seven-carbon β-diketone linker in curcumin may be responsible for its instability, the series of mono-carbonyl curcumin analogues deleting the β-diketone may be potential prodrug with improved pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. This review just focuses on these more stable mono-carbonyl analogues of curcumin, and shows the new class of active structure by introducing the synthesis and anticancer activity of them.

A series of genistein derivatives was prepared and tested in vitro against leukocythemia (HL-60), colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT-29), and human gastric adenocarcinoma (SGC-7901) cell lines. Among these derivatives, 4′,5-di-n-octoxy-7-gem-difluoromethylenegenistein, 9f, had the strongest activity against HL-60, HT-29, and SGC-7901 cells. Open image in new window

Two cancer cell growth inhibitory esters, 1,2-dipalmitoyl-3-glucosyl glycerol (1) and 1,6-dihydroxy-hexane-bis-palmitoyl ester (2), together with arachidic acid-2-hydroxy-glycerol ester, daucosterol, and oleanolic acid, were isolated from the roots of Peucedanum ledebourielloides (Apiaceae family). The structures were determined by spectroscopic analyses. The esters 1 and 2 displayed significant activity against the SGC-7901, HT-29, and HL-60 cancer cell lines.

Evidences indicate that a complex relationship exists among sleep disorders, obesity and insulin resistance. NEU-P11 is a novel melatonin agonist used in treatment of psychophysiological insomnia, and in animal studies NEU-P11 showed sleep-promoting effect. In this study, we applied NEU-P11 on obese rats to assess its potential melatoninergic effects in vivo. Obese models were established using high-fat/high-sucrose-fed for 5 months. NEU-P11 (10 mg/kg)/melatonin (4 mg/kg)/vehicle were administered by a daily intraperitoneal injection respectively for 8 weeks. Our results showed that NEU-P11 or melatonin inhibited both body weight gain and deposit of abdominal fat with no influence on food intake. The impaired insulin sensitivity and antioxidative potency were improved and the levels of plasma glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) decreased with an increased in HDL-cholesterol (HDL-c) after NEU-P11 or melatonin administration. These data suggest that NEU-P11, like melatonin, decreased body weight gain and improved insulin sensitivity and metabolic profiles in obese rats. We conclude that NEU-P11 has a melatoninergic effect on regulating body weight in obese rats and also improving metabolic profiles and efficiently enhancing insulin sensitivity.

The classical traditional Chinese formulation LiuweiDihuang, shown to have clinical efficacy for "nourishing kidney-yin" in traditional Chinese medicine, has been used for thousands of years in China. Little attention, however, has been paid to quality control methods for this formulation. Hence, a rapid and sensitive analytical technique is urgently needed for the evaluation of LiuweiDihuang preparations to assess its quality and pharmacological functionality. In this study, an ultra high performance liquid chromatography dual-wavelength method was developed to simultaneously determine 11 constituents in LiuweiDihuang preparations. This robust approach provided a fast and comprehensive quantitative determination of the major bioactive markers within LiuweiDihuang preparations. To distinguish four dosage forms of LiuweiDihuang preparations, a random forest technique was applied on the spectrometric fingerprint data obtained. This combination approach of chromatographic techniques and data analyses might serve as a rapid and efficient tool to ensure the quality of LiuweiDihuang preparations and other Chinese medicinal formulations and can support quality control and scientific research into the pharmacological potential for these formulations.

The synthetic compound NO-1886 is a lipoprotein lipase activator that has been proven to be highly effective in lowering plasma triglycerides and elevating high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Recently, we found that NO-1886 also had a plasma glucose-reducing action in high-fat/high-sucrose diet-induced diabetic rabbits. In the current study, we investigated the effects of NO-1886 on the morphology of adipocytes, plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and free fatty acids (FFA) in miniature pigs fed a high-fat/high-sucrose diet. Our results showed that feeding a high-fat/high-sucrose diet to miniature pigs increased the size of adipocytes, and the plasma levels of TNF-alpha, FFA, and glucose. This diet also induced insulin resistance and impaired the acute insulin response to glucose loading. Supplementing 1% NO-1886 to the high-fat/high-sucrose diet inhibited adipocyte enlargement, and suppressed plasma levels of TNF-alpha, FFA, and glucose. The decrease in plasma TNF-alpha and FFA was simultaneous with the decrease in plasma glucose. We also found an increased whole body glucose clearance and an increased acute insulin response to intravenous glucose loading by NO-1886 supplementation. These data suggest that NO-1886 improves the glucose metabolism in high-fat/high-sucrose diet-induced diabetic minipigs by decreasing fat deposit, and suppressing plasma TNF-alpha and FFA levels. Therefore, NO-1886 is potentially beneficial for the treatment of insulin-resistant syndrome.

Curcumin has been reported to possess multifunctional bioactivities with low toxicity. However, the clinical application of curcumin has been significantly limited by its instability and poor metabolic property. Up to now, multiple approaches are being sought to overcome these limitations to obtaining “super curcumin”, and many analogues of curcumin have been designed and synthesized. In all of those analogues, a series of mono-carbonyl curcumin analogues deleting the β-diketone draw our attention. Since the seven-carbon β-diketone linker in curcumin may be responsible for its instability, the series of mono-carbonyl curcumin analogues deleting the β-diketone may be potential prodrug with improved pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. This review just focuses on these more stable mono-carbonyl analogues of curcumin, and shows the new class of active structure by introducing the synthesis and anticancer activity of them.

The role of microRNA-195 in developing acquired drug resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma cells was investigated. Expression profiling of miRNAs revealed a limited set of miRNAs with altered expression in drug resistant hepatocellular carcinoma cell line BEL-7402/5-FU compared to its parental BEL-7402 cell line. Real-time PCR confirmed down-regulation of miRNA-195 in BEL-7402/5-FU cells. Overexpression of miRNA-195 sensitized BEL-7402/5-FU cells to anticancer drugs. Consistent with these findings, miR-195 antisense oligonucleotide induced drug resistance in BEL-7402/5-FU cells. Also, the basal levels of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-w were high in BEL-7402/5-FU cells and miR-195 overexpression repressed Bcl-w protein level and inhibited the luciferase activity of a Bcl-w 3' untranslated region-based reporter construct in both BEL-7402/5-FU and BEL-7402 cells. These results indicate that miR-195 could improve the drug sensitivity at least in part by targeting Bcl-w to increase cell apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

[Purpose] To apply the “on/off” switch of 3′ exonuclease in single base discrimination of L191P and F275S mutations in gene KCNQ1 which are the mutations found in Chinese patients of LQTS. [Methods] A large amount of templates of wild type and mutation type were prepared by primer extension performed using polymerases without 3′ exonuclease activity respectively. Allelic specific primers targeting wild type and mutation type templates were desgined with 3′ terminal phosphorothioate modification. Two-directional primer extension was performed using polymerases with 3′ exonuclease activity. [Results] Whether single PCR or multiplex PCR amplified by exo+ polymerase, allelic specific primers targeting wild type allele were extended while no products were generated from primers targeting point-mutated LQTS-related allele, and also allelic specific primers targeting point-mutated LQTS-related mutation type allele were extended while no products were generated from primers targeting wild type allele. [Conclusion] These data suggest that the “off-switch” mediated by exo+ polymerase is more reliable in the identification of LQTS mutation sites and the “on/off” switch has potential enormous application in the diagnosis of monogenic diseases.

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were prepared from thoracic aortas of male Sprague-Dawley rats by the explant method to observe VSMC proliferation via phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling transduction pathway induced by apelin-13. Expression of PI3K, phospho-PI3K, phospho-Akt, ERK1/2, phospho-ERK1/2 and cyclin D1 was detected by western blot analysis. Results showed that apelin-13 promoted the expression of phospho-PI3K and phospho-Akt in dose- and timedependent manner. PI3K inhibitor LY294002 significantly decreased the expression of phospho-PI3K, phospho-Akt, phospho-ERK1/2, and cyclin D1 induced by apelin-13. The Akt inhibitor 1701-1 significantly diminished the expression of phospho-Akt, phospho-ERK1/2, and cyclin D1 stimulated by apelin-13. MTT assay results showed that PI3K inhibitor LY294002 and Akt inhibitor 1701-1 significantly inhibited the VSMC proliferation induced by apelin-13. Apelin-13 promoted VSMC proliferation through PI3K/Akt signaling transduction pathway.

To investigate whether apelin-13 induced THP-1 monocytes (MCs) adhesion to ECV304 human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) via 14-3-3 signaling transduction pathway and the potential novel physiological function and signaling transduction pathway of apelin-APJ, HUVECs ECV304 were cultured in DMEM and MCs THP-1 were cultured in RPMI 1640 medium. Monocyte adhesion and the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and 14-3-3 were measured with monocyte adhesion assay and western blot analysis. Data showed that apelin-13 increased adhesion of MCs to HUVECs in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, which reached their peaks at 1 mM and 12 h, respectively. Similarly, apelin-13 induced the expression of HUVECs adhesion molecule, VCAM-1, in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, reached their peaks at 1 microM and 12 h, respectively. Apelin-13 induced the expression of 14-3-3 in a concentration- and timedependent manner, which reached their peaks at 1 mM and 5 min, respectively. Furthermore, the potent 14-3-3 inhibitor difopein significantly reduced the expression of 14-3-3 and VCAM-1 in apelin-13 stimulated HUVECs, and difopein significantly inhibited the effect of apelin-13 on induction of MCs adhesion to HUVECs. These data suggested that 14-3-3 mediated the induction of adhesion of MCs to HUVECs by Apelin-13.

To study the features of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation induced by endothelin-1 (ET-1).VSMCs of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto rats were cultured and treated with ET-1. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) gene expression was measured using both Northern blot and an enzyme-linked immunoassay.ET-1 resulted in an increase in bFGF transcripts at 8 - 24 h; bFGF levels were significantly higher in VSMCs treated with ET-1 than in those not treated. However, VSMCs growth responses in SHR and WKY were different. Smooth muscle cells of SHR were hyper-responsive to ET-1. Maximal bFGF mRNA levels were elevated 3.5-fold at 4 h of stimulation in WKY and 8-fold at 8h in SHR4. Moreover, the proliferation of VSMCs induced by ET-1 was inhibited by antisense phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides (10 micromol/L AS-bFGF) but not sense bFGF oligomers at the same concentrations, being reduced by 80% in SHR and 40% in WKY vs control, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of AS-bFGF oligomers on SHR SMC proliferation is significantly greater than on WKY SMC proliferation.ET-1 may be required for exaggerated vascular growth responses in SHR and bFGF may be involved.

A new steroid, 3 0, 16 alpha-dihydroxy-(5 alpha)-cholestan-21-oic acid, was isolated from the aerial parts of Selaginella pulvinata. Its structure was elucidated on the basis of spectral analysis. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Apelin is the endogenous ligand of the G protein-coupled receptor, APJ. Vascular smooth muscle cells express both apelin and APJ, which are important regulatory factors in the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Importantly, APJ is also involved in the pathogenesis if HIV-1 infection. We investigated whether vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation was regulated through an apelin-pERK1/2-cyclin D1 signal transduction pathway. Apelin-13 significantly stimulated vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and increased cell cycle progression. Apelin-13 a decreased the proportion of cell in the G0/G1 phase while increasing the number of cells in S phase. Apelin-13 also increased the levels of cyclin D1, cyclin E and pERK1/2. Treatment of cells with the MEK inhibitor PD98059 attenuated the apelin-3-induced pERK1/2 activation. Similarly, treatment with PD98059 partially diminished the apelin-13-induced expression of cyclin D1 and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. Taken together, these data established that apelin-13 stimulates vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation by promoting the G1-S phase transition, and that this effect is mediated in part by an apelin-pERK1/2-cyclin D1 signal cascade.