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Growth-regulating factor (GRF) is a transcription factor unique to plants that plays a crucial role in the growth, development and stress adaptation of plants. However, information on the GRFs related to salt stress in Populus davidiana × P. bolleana is lacking. In this study, we characterized the activity of PdbGRF1 in transgenic Populus davidiana × P. bolleana under salt stress. qRTPCR analyses showed that PdbGRF1 was highly expressed in young leaves and that the pattern of PdbGRF1 expression was significantly changed at most time points under salt stress, which suggests that PdbGRF1 expression may be related to the salt stress response. Moreover, PdbGRF1 overexpression enhanced tolerance to salt stress. A physiological parameter analysis showed that the overexpression of PdbGRF1 significantly decreased the contents of hydrogen peroxide (H

Our previous study based on the transcriptome profiling indicated that a fragment of α-crystallin type heat shock protein (α-Hsp) gene was one of the numerous cDNA sequences expressed differentially at various stages of head regeneration in Hydra vulgaris. To further investigate the role that which α-Hsp plays during hydra regeneration, a full-length cDNA of α-Hsp gene of H. vulgaris was isolated by the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique. The full-length cDNA of α-Hsp gene was 1156 bp, containing a 765 bp open-reading frame (ORF), which encodes a polypeptide of 254 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 29.27 kDa. Further, the ORF was subcloned into the plasmid pET-42a(+), and the recombinant plasmid pET-42a(+)-α- Hsp was transformed to Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), then the fusion protein GST-α-Hsp was expressed mainly in the form of a soluble molecule after induction by isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactopyranoside. In addition, BALB/Cmice were immunized with the fusion protein to prepare the polyclonal antiserum which was used as the primary antibody for whole-mount immunohistochemical assay. The results from the immunohistochemical assay showed that α-Hsp had expressedmainly at the wound site and nearby area of hydra after decapitation operation, and both quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis and immunohistochemical assay revealed that the expression level of α-Hsp increased gradually during the early period of hydra regeneration, then reached a peak at 24 h after decapitation operation, while decreased during the late regeneration period. Moreover, it indicated an important role of α-Hsp gene in hydra head regeneration that RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated α-Hsp silencing led to the obvious delay of the regeneration of head structures in H. vulgaris. In conclusion, our results gave the hint that α-Hsp could be related to wound healing and tissue remodelling at early regeneration stages, and may lay the foundation for further studies about the physiological function and role of α-Hsp during hydra regeneration.

Our previous study based on the transcriptome profiling indicated that a fragment of α-crystallin type heat shock protein (α-Hsp) gene was one of the numerous cDNA sequences expressed differentially at various stages of head regeneration in

BACKGROUND This was a cross-sectional survey to investigate the relationship of age, parent education, sleep duration, physical activity, and dietary habits with overweight or obesity in school-age children in Shanghai. METHODS The survey gathered information from 13,001 children in grades 1 through 5 (age 6 to 10 years) among 26 elementary schools in 7 districts. Activity level was evaluated using the International Children's Leisure Activities Study Survey Questionnaire (CLASS-C). The definitions of normal, overweight, and obese were adjusted for each age. RESULTS Logistic regression analysis indicated that age, being male, having ≤10 hours of sleep on non-school days, eating ≥1 vegetable/day, or drinking ≥1 sugar-sweetened drink/day increased the risk for a child being overweight or obese compared with having >10 hours of sleep or ≤3 vegetables or ≤3 sugar-sweetened drinks/month (p ≤ .008). Having >2 hours of outdoor activities on non-school days reduced the risk of being overweight or obese compared with ≤2 hours of outdoor activities on non-school days (p

Sir,It is particularly noteworthy that HFMD clusters in China have been continuously reported, posing a big challenge to public health.[1] The epidemiological characteristics of hand, foot and mout...

A new approach that tried to obviate the use of bromine protection groups was studied to synthesize (−)-renieramycin G from L-tyrosine. It was found that the first intermolecular Pictet–Spengler reaction proceeded successfully to give the correct tetrahydroisoquinoline precursor 6. However, the second intramolecular Pictet–Spengler cyclization step failed to give the desired product, and an isomer of the skeleton of the renieramycins was obtained via 12 steps starting from L-tyrosine. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).

(−)-Renieramycin G was synthesized in 21 steps for the longest linear sequences employing l -tyrosine methyl ester as the chiral starting material in 8.5% overall yield. Two of the four chiral centers came from l -tyrosine methyl ester, and the other two were induced through an intermolecular and an intramolecular Pictet–Spengler reaction, respectively.

To investigate the role of transforming growth factor beta(1) (TGF-beta(1)) in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma in children and assess the effect of montelukast sodium (leukotriene receptor antagonist) on TGF-beta(1) levels.A 12 weeks single-blind, placebo-controlled trail was conducted in 60 children with mild persistent asthma [aged 5 - 14 years, mean (7.10 ± 0.27) years]. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 5 mg montelukast sodium or placebo for 12 weeks. And 30 healthy control children [aged 5 - 14 years, mean (7.60 ± 0.25) years] were also recruited in this study from Sep. 2009 to Sep. 2010. Clinical effects and pulmonary function were evaluated before and 12 weeks after treatment. The mRNA expression of TGF-beta(1) in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells was detected by using RT-PCR with beta-actin as internal control. The percentage of the different subpopulations of Foxp(3)(+)CD4(+) T cells was assayed by 4-color flow cytometric analysis system and the levels of TGF-beta(1) in plasma by ELISA.(1) The basic characteristics between asthma group and healthy group had no significant difference. (2) Following treatment, there was significant increase in pulmonary function in asthmatic children. The effect in the group of montelukast sodium was superior to that of placebo group (P0.05). (3) The serum expression of TGF-beta(1) in asthmatic children was lower than that in control group (q = 20.01, P0.01); after 12 weeks of treatment, the mean expression of TGF-beta(1) was (20.03 ± 1.14) ng/L for montelukast sodium group and (12.10 ± 3.91) ng/L for placebo group (P0.05). (4) The mRNA expression of TGF-beta(1) in asthma children was lower than that in control group (0.31 ± 0.07 vs 0.61 ± 0.2, q = 8.97, P0.05); after 12 weeks of treatment, the mean expression of TGF-beta(1) was (0.46 ± 0.13) for montelukast sodium group and (0.32 ± 0.04) for placebo group (q = 8.25, P0.05). (5) It was shown that the total Foxp(3)(+)CD(4)(+) cell percentage was higher in asthmatic children than those of control group (8.30% ± 1.30% vs 6.05% ± 1.80%); the proportion of the three subpopulation was different between groups: CD(45) RA(+)Foxp(3)(lo) was higher in asthmatic group (4.60% ± 1.04% vs 3.27% ± 1.03%) and CD(45) RA(-)Foxp(3)(hi) was lower (0.75% ± 0.13% vs 0.93% ± 0.26%); while CD(45) RA(-)Foxp(3)(lo) had no significant difference among groups (2.40% ± 0.83%, 1.61% ± 1.10%). After 12 weeks of treatment, the percentage of CD(45) RA(-)Foxp(3)(hi) was increased in montelukast sodium group compared with placebo group (1.16% ± 0.24% vs 0.89% ± 0.22%). (6) Spearman correlation analysis revealed that TGF-beta(1) levels had no correlation with the levels of pulmonary function.The protein and mRNA expression level of TGF-beta(1) was low in those asthmatic children. Insufficient secretion of TGF-beta(1) and the defective ability of activated regulatory T cells (CD(45) RA(-)Foxp(3)(hi)) in Foxp(3)(+)CD(4)(+) Treg cells might play an important role in pathogenesis of asthma. Up-regulation of the expression of TGF-beta(1) and induction of the expression of CD(45) RA(-)Foxp(3)(hi) in Foxp(3)(+)CD(4)(+)Treg cells by montelukast sodium may be one of the immunomodulatory mechanisms in asthma.

Two Pictet—Spengler reactions are the key steps in an attempted novel total synthesis of the marine natural product (-)-renieramycin G.