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Bacillus licheniformis GN02 was isolated from the root surface of Pak Choi Cabbage ( Brassica chinensis ). Here, we report the whole-genome sequence of strain GN02, which includes only a circular chromosome (4,252,022 bp; GC content, 46.08%).

Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) can promote plant growth in various ways, allowing PGPB to replace chemical fertilizers to avoid environmental pollution. PGPB is also used for bioremediation and in plant pathogen control. The isolation and evaluation of PGPB are essential not only for practical applications, but also for basic research. Currently, the known PGPB strains are limited, and their functions are not fully understood. Therefore, the growth-promoting mechanism needs to be further explored and improved. The Bacillus paralicheniformis RP01 strain with beneficial growth-promoting activity was screened from the root surface of Brassica chinensis using a phosphate-solubilizing medium. RP01 inoculation significantly increased plant root length and brassinosteroid content and upregulated the expression of growth-related genes. Simultaneously, it increased the number of beneficial bacteria that promoted plant growth and reduced the number of detrimental bacteria. The genome annotation findings also revealed that RP01 possesses a variety of growth-promoting mechanisms and a tremendous growth-promoting potential. This study isolated a highly potential PGPB and elucidated its possible direct and indirect growth-promoting mechanisms. Our study results will help enrich the PGPB library and provide a reference for plant–microbe interactions.

Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is a highly aggressive, fast-growing asbestos-induced cancer with limited effective treatments. There has been an interest in using naturally occurring anticancer agents derived from plant materials for the treatment of PM. However, it is unclear if aqueous extract from theLeptospermum polygalifolium(QV0) has activity against PM. Here we investigated the anti-cancer property of QV0in vitroandin vivo.Animals treated with Defender®(QV0 dietary supply) exhibited a reduced tumour size over 30 days, which was associated with an average extended of seven days mouse life. There was no liver toxicity, nor increased blood glucose post-treatment in animals treated with Defender®. Moreover, QV0 suppressed the growth of 13 cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner, effective at concentrations as low as 0.02% w/v. This response was found to be associated with inhibited cell migration, proliferation, and colony formation, but without evident cell cycle alteration. We observed mitochondrial dysfunction post QV0 treatment, as evidenced by significantly decreased basal and maximal oxygen consumption rates. Significantly enhanced tumour apoptosis was observed in the Defender®-treated animals, correlating with mitochondrial dysfunction. To the best of our knowledge, this study constitutes the first demonstration of an improved host survival (without adverse effects) response in a QV0-treated PM mouse model, associated with an evident inhibition of PM cell growth and mitochondrial dysfunction-related enhancement of tumour apoptosis.ImportanceA major problem with cancer chemotherapy or immunotherapy is the severe adverse effects associated with normal tissue damage. PM is known to be treatment resistant and has poor a prognosis, therefore new therapeutic treatment options are urgently needed. In the present study, we explored the potential utility of aLeptospermumextract (QV0) as a treatment option for mesothelioma. We demonstrated for the first time that QV0 exhibits an anti-tumour response in mesothelioma, without any associated adverse effects observed in the PM mouse model. These findings provide a rationale for early-stage clinical trials. We anticipate that prospective translational research will lead to the clinical implementation of a novel QV0-based treatment strategy that will ultimately benefit PM patients.

To investigate the association between objective sleep parameters and glycaemic variability determined by continous glucose monitoring (CGM) among patients with type 2 diabetes, given the significant role of sleep in glycaemic control.In this study, CGM was carried out in 28 patients with T2D (aged 62.3 ± 4.8 years, 57% women). Sleep characteristics were assessed by actigraphy within the CGM period. CGM-derived outcomes included glucose level, and percentages of time in range (TIR) and time above range (TAR) during the monitoring period. Associations between intraindividual night-to-night variations in sleep characteristics and overall CGM outcomes were analysed using linear regression. Associations between sleep characteristics during each night and time-matched CGM outcomes were analysed using linear mixed models.A total of 249 person-days of CGM, coupled with 221 nights of sleep characteristics, were documented. Greater standard deviation (SD) of objective sleep duration (minutes) between measurement nights was associated with higher glucose level (coefficient 0.018 mmol/L [95% confidence interval {CI} 0.004, 0.033], P = 0.017), smaller proportion of TIR (% in observation period; coefficient -0.20% [95% CI -0.36, -0.03], P = 0.023), and greater proportion of TAR (coefficient 0.22% [95% CI 0.06, 0.39], P = 0.011). Later sleep midpoint (minutes from midnight) was associated with greater SD of glucose during the same sleep period (coefficient 0.002 minutes [95% CI 0.0001, 0.003], P = 0.037), longer nocturnal sleep duration was associated with smaller coefficient of variation of glucose level in the upcoming day (-0.015% [95% CI -0.03, -0.001], P = 0.041).Objectively determined sleep duration and sleep midpoint, as well as their daily variability, are associated with CGM-derived glucose profiles in T2D patients.

To assess safety of a dam in an earthquake, establishing the performance evaluation index of the arch dam is significant. The finite-element model based on the 289 m-high Baihetan Dam in Southwest China is taken as a case for seismic response analysis, in which the radiation damping of infinite foundation and opening of contraction joints are taken into consideration. Using the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) approach, a three-component earthquake scaled to 12 increasing intensity levels is applied to the model, and the seismic response of the model is analysed. In this paper, it is proposed to study the damage based on the monolith, so the monolith damage volume ratio and monolith damage area ratio are suggested to determine the most severe part of the dam. Meanwhile, to help identifying the damage of the dam, the response results of contraction joints are extracted to analyse the potential relationship between the proposed indexes, providing a reference for exploring new detection indexes and damage evaluation indexes. In order to explore the possibility of the simplified layout of dam damage monitoring, the dam body is partitioned according to the results of monolith damage development.

With increasingly serious environmental pollution problems, research has focused on identifying functional genes within plants that can help ensure food security and soil governance. In particular, plants seem to have been able to evolve specific functional genes to respond to environmental changes by losing partial gene functions, thereby representing a novel adaptation mechanism. Herein, a new category of functional genes was identified and investigated, providing new directions for understanding heavy metal detoxification mechanisms. Interestingly, this category of proteins appears to exhibit specific complexing functions for heavy metals. Further, a new approach was established to evaluate ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family functions using microRNA targeted inhibition. Moreover, mutant and functional genes were identified for future research targets. Expression profiling under five heavy metal stress treatments provided an important framework to further study defense responses of plants to metal exposure. In conclusion, the new insights identified here provide a theoretical basis and reference to better understand the mechanisms of heavy metal tolerance in potato plants. Further, these new data provide additional directions and foundations for mining gene resources for heavy metal tolerance genes to improve safe, green crop production and plant treatment of heavy metal soil pollution.

NRAMP family genes participate in the absorption and transport of heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) and play an important role in the response to heavy metal stress. There is an abundance of research on these genes in bacteria, plants and fungi, although not in S. tuberosum. A total of 48 members(potato(5), Arabidopsis(7), Tomato(9), pepper(9), rice(12) and tobacco(6)) were identified from 6 species (potato (Solanum tuberosum), Arabidopsis thaliana, Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), pepper (Capsicum annuum), rice (Oryza sativa) and tobacco (Nicotiana attenuate)) and were classified into four subgroups. Across NRAMP gene family members, there are 15 highly conserved motifs that have similar genetic structures and characteristics. In addition, a total of 16 pairs of colinear genes were found in eight species. Analysis of cis-elements indicated that, in response to abiotic stress, NRAMPs are mainly regulated by phytohormones and transcription factors. In addition, analysis of expression profiles indicated that StNRAMP4 is mainly expressed in the roots. According to a qRT-PCR-based analysis of the StNRAMP family, with the exception of Pb2+ stress, StNRAMPs positively responded to stress from Cu2+, Cd2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+ and The expression patterns is similar of StNRAMP2, under Pb2+, and Cu2+ treatment, the relative expression peaked at 24 h. the relative expression peaked at 12 h and was upregulated 428-fold in the roots under Ni2+ stress. Under Cd2+ stress, StNRAMP3 was upregulated 28-fold in the leaves. StNRAMP1, StNRAMP4 and StNRAMP5 showed significant upregulation under Cu2+, Cd2+ and Zn2+ stress, respectively. Expression of StNRAMPs could be specifically induced by heavy metals, implying their possible role in the transport and absorption of heavy metals. This research explains the colinear characteristics of NRAMPs in several food crop species, which is useful for providing important genetic resources for cultivating food crop that accumulate low amounts of heavy metals and for explaining the biological functions of NRAMPs in plants.

The peak load regulation in the area A mainly depends on the coal-fired generating units. With the rapid growth of new energy, the peak-regulation situation in area A becomes more severe. Based on this background, starting with the improvement of the generation-grid-load-storage flexibility, an optimization model aiming at the lowest total power generation cost of the power system is constructed, and the SPER-PROS system was used to simulate the operation of the region during The Fourteenth Five-Year Plan. Based on the above optimization model, eight typical scenarios that meet the peak-regulation resources of area A are constructed. Through calculation and analysis of these eight scenarios, it is concluded that system can reduce power abandoning of new energy by four aspects. They include depth peak load regulation of coal fired generating units, the time-sharing peak-valley electricity price on the demand side, the DC line participating in peak shaving according to the sending end on grid side, adding energy storage. Based on this, a coordinated plan based on The Fourteenth Five-Year Plan generation-grid-load-storage integrated peak-regulation resources and related suggestions and measures are proposed to provide strong support for the future scientific development of the grid in area A.

A plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium, Bacillus circulans GN03, was isolated from the root surface of pak choi cabbage. Here, we report the whole-genome sequence of the GN03 strain, which includes a circular chromosome (5,217,129 bp; GC content, 35.64%) and a plasmid (181,705 bp; GC content, 31.62%).

C1q/tumor necrosis factor-related protein-3 (CTRP3) is a novel, certified, adipokine that beneficially regulates metabolism and inflammation in the cardiovascular system. Atherosclerotic plaque rupturing and secondary thrombosis cause vascular disorders, such as myocardial infarction and unstable angina. However, the underlying role of CTRP3 in atherosclerosis remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to elucidate whether and how CTRP3 ameliorates inflammation and endothelial dysfunction caused by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL). We first confirmed that CTRP3 expression was inhibited in ApoE-/- mice, compared to normal mice. Then, pcDNA-CTRP3 and siCTRP3 were transfected into mouse aortic endothelial cells after ox-LDL stimulation, and we observed that enhanced CTRP3 remarkably downregulated CRP, TNF-α, IL-6, CD40, and CD40L. We also observed that overexpression of CTRP3 elevated cell activity and decreased lactated hydrogenase release, accompanied by a marked reduction in cell apoptosis induced by ox-LDL. Meanwhile, overexpressed CTRP3 caused a decrease in Ang II, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 expression, and it restored the balance between ET-1 and NO. Mechanism analysis confirmed that incremental CTRP3 upregulated p-PI3K, p-Akt, and p-eNOS expression, indicating that CTRP3 facilitated activation of the PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway. On the contrary, siCTRP3 exerted the opposite effect to this activation. Blocking these pathways using LY294002 or L-NAME attenuated the protective role of CTRP3. Overall, these results suggest that CTRP3 can efficiently inhibit the inflammatory response and endothelial dysfunction induced by ox-LDL in mouse aortic endothelial cells, perhaps by activating the PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway, indicating a promising strategy against atherosclerosis.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with an internal tandem duplication in Fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3-ITD) is identified as a subgroup with poor outcome and intrinsic resistance to chemotherapy and therefore urgent need for development of novel therapeutic strategies. Methods: The antitumor effects of melatonin alone or combined with sorafenib were evaluated via flow cytometry and immunoblotting assays in FLT-ITD AML cells. Also, the ex vivo and in vivo models were used to test the synergistic effects of melatonin and sorafenib against leukemia with FLT3/ITD mutation. Results: Our study shows for the first time that melatonin inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in FLT3/ITD-positive leukemia cells. Mechanistically, melatonin preferentially causes overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ultimately massive cell death in FLT3-ITD AML cells. Moreover, melatonin significantly enhances the cytotoxicity induced by the FLT3 tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib in AML cells with FLT3/ITD through redox modification. Importantly, combination of melatonin and sorafenib exhibited highly synergistic therapeutic activity in MV4-11 xenografts and a murine model bearing FLT3/ITD leukemia. Conclusion: This study indicates that melatonin, alone or in combination with sorafenib, has potential to improve the therapeutic outcome of AML patients with FLT3-ITD mutation that merits further investigation.

Background/Aims: Human mutL homolog 1 (MLH1) promoter methylation was reported in gastric cancer (GC). This study determined the clinicopathological, prognostic, and diagnostic effects of MLH1 promoter methylation in GC. Methods: The combined odds ratio (OR) or hazard ratio (HR) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) were analyzed. Results: A total of 4654 GC patients and 3669 non-malignant controls were identified in this systematic analysis. MLH1 promoter methylation was significantly higher in GC samples than in gastric adenomas, chronic gastritis, adjacent tissues, normal gastric mucosa, and normal healthy blood samples, but it exhibited a similar frequency in GC vs. intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia samples. MLH1 promoter methylation correlated with age and microsatellite instability (MSI), but it was not associated with gender, H. pylori infection, smoking, drinking behaviors, pathological histology, tumor differentiation, clinical stage, lymph node status, distant metastasis, or overall survival of GC. MLH1 promoter methylation exhibited a poor sensitivity value (< 0.5) in patients with GC compared with adjacent tissues, gastric adenomas, chronic gastritis, normal gastric mucosa, and normal healthy blood samples. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of MLH1 promoter methylation in GC with MSI vs. GC with microsatellite stability (MSS) samples were 0.64, 0.96, and 0.90, respectively. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the detection of MLH1 promoter methylation may be a potential prognostic biomarker for GC patients with MSI.

Recently, scholars have suggested that reflection is an important, or even essential, aspect of entrepreneurship teaching. However, there has been little empirical research on the links between ref...

Objective CD154 (CD40L) is a protein that is primarily expressed on activated T cells and is a member of the TNF superfamily of molecules. It binds to CD40 on antigen-presenting cells (APC), which leads to many effects depending on the target cell type. Being an activator of immune cells, CD40L has also been shown to directly induce apoptosis in tumor cells by multiple mechanisms. To understand the role of sCD40L in regulating the proliferation of epithelial ovarian cancer cells treated or untreated with cisplatin. Methods Epithelial ovarian cancer cells: SKOV3 and its cisplatin-resisitant strain SKOV3/DDP cells were used to test the effect of sCD40L and cisplatin. The proliferation of SKOV3 and SKOV3/DDP cells were measured by MTT. Cell cycle was assessed by flow cytometry. The mRNA expressions of targeted genes were detected by qRT-PCR. The protein expressions were detected by Western blotting. Results sCD40L showed a significant dose-dependence inhibitory effect on the proliferation of ovarian cancer cell lines. sCD40L in combination with cisplatin could sensitized SKOV3/DDP cells to cisplatin treatment and reversed the drug resistance of SKOV3/DDP cells. The reversal ratios of 1 μg/ml sCD40L combined with cisplatin in SKOV3 and SKOV3/DDP cells were 2.11, 2.71, while the reversal ratios of 2 μg/ml sCD40L combined with cisplatin in SKOV3 and SKOV3/DDP cells were 3.78, 5.20, respectively. sCD40L or sCD40L combined cisplatin increased tumor cells in G0/G1 phase. sCD40L in combination with cisplatin decreased the expression levels of GST-π, LRP, Survivin, p53 and Bcl-2 in both epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines. The protein expression level of GST-π, LRP and P53 protein was also decreased upon sCD40L in combination with cisplatin although the expression level of Bcl-2 and survivin protein had no significant difference. Conclusion sCD40L inhibits the proliferation of SKOV3 and SKOV3/DDP cells. The combined application of sCD40L and cisplatin can strength the inhibitory effect of cisplatin, and to a certain extent, reversing the resistance to cisplatin in SKOV3/DDP cells. sCD40L could lead a cell block in G0/G1 phase and make the cell growth restrained. sCD40L could induce SKOV3 and SKOV3/DDP cells apoptosis and reverse drug resistance through cutting GST-π mRNA, LRP mRNA, survivin mRNA, p53 mRNA and Bcl-2 mRNA and decreasing the expression of GST-π, LRP and P53 protein in SKOV3 and SKOV3/DDP cells, which provides in-vivo experiment basis to the application of sCD40L as a drug improving ovarian cancer cells sensitivity to cisplatin.

Plants have evolved a number of defense and adaptation responses to protect themselves against challenging environmental stresses. Genes containing a heavy metal associated (HMA) domain are required for the spatiotemporal transportation of metal ions that bind with various enzymes and co-factors within the cell. To uncover the underlying mechanisms mediated by StHMA genes, we identified 36 gene members in the StHMA family and divided them into six subfamilies by phylogenetic analysis. The StHMAs had high collinearity and were segmentally duplicated. Structurally, most StHMAs had one HMA domain, StHIPPc and StRNA1 subfamilies had two, and 13 StHMAs may be genetically variable. The StHMA gene structures and motifs varied considerably among the various classifications, this suggests the StHMA family is diverse in genetic functions. The promoter analysis showed that the StHMAs had six main cis-acting elements with abiotic stress. An expression pattern analysis revealed that the StHMAs were expressed tissue specifically, and a variety of abiotic stresses may induce the expression of StHMA family genes. The HMA transporter family may be regulated and expressed by a series of complex signal networks under abiotic stress. The results of this study may help to establish a theoretical foundation for further research investigating the functions of HMA genes in S. tuberosum to elucidate their regulatory role in the mechanism governing the response of plants to abiotic stress.

Figure S1. Melatonin enhanced the inhibition of cell proliferation by vemurafenib. (A). BRAF V600E, p-ERK and ERK was respectively detected by Western blot assay in melanoma cells (A375, SK-mel-28, G361 and A431). (B). ABCG2 was respectively detected by Western blot assay in A375 and A375R cells. (C). Human melanoma cells (A375R) were treated with the increasing doses of vemurafenib (VE), melatonin (MT) alone or their combination for 48 h, and the cell viability was examined by MTT assay. (D). The IC50 values of vemurafenib (VE) for cell viability inhibition in A375R cells treated with or without melatonin (MT) were determined. Figure S2. Melatonin enhanced the inhibition of cell migration and invasion by vemurafenib (A). Cell migration was analyzed by a scratch assay. A375R cells were treated with vemurafenib (VE) (4 μM), melatonin (MT) (1.0 mM) or their combination. After 36 h, the wound gap was observed and photographed, and the distance of migration cells were calculated relative to the original gap. (B). Cell invasion was analyzed by a transwell assay in A375R cells with different treatment. The invaded cells were stained and observed, and the number of the invasion cells was presented. The data is presented as mean ± SD of three separate experiments, *P

In this work we report the design and synthesis of high-surface-area photocatalysts by coating TiO2 on fibrous nanosilica (KCC-1) using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Our developed catalyst showed enhanced photocatalytic activity, better than that of the well-known MCM-41- and SBA-15-supported TiO2 catalysts using ALD as well as that of other silica-supported TiO2 catalysts reported in the literature to date. This work shows how one can tune the photocatalytic activity of supported TiO2 catalysts by simply tuning the morphology of the support. In addition to extensive characterization of materials using various techniques, comprehensive mechanistic insight into ALD TiO2 coating on KCC-1 fibers was gained using solid-state NMR and UV-DRS. For the first time, we also observed the formation of small and monodispersed TiO2 nanoparticles after heat treatment of these ALD-coated samples of KCC-1. Notably, we observed size quantization effects in these TiO2 nanoparticles, which was confirmed by band gap shift me...

ZnO modified ZSM-5 and Y zeolites are synthesized by performing atomic layer deposition (ALD) of ZnO to HZSM-5 and HY using diethyl zinc and water as the precursors. The surface area and pore volume of ZSM-5 and Y zeolites are progressively reduced with the increasing number of ZnO ALD cycles. XRD and SEM characterization methods show that highly dispersed ZnO species are deposited on the internal and external surfaces of both zeolites. The ZnO species deposited on ZSM-5 are in an amorphous form while nano-crystallites of ZnO are present on Y zeolites after performing ≥2 cycles of ZnO ALD. XPS and TPR characterization methods reveal that isolated Zn(OH)(+) species are predominantly formed on both zeolites after the first cycle of ZnO ALD and the ZnO clusters gradually grow larger with the increasing number of ALD cycles. The type and strength of acid sites on the parent and the ALD ZnO modified zeolites are studied by FTIR spectra of adsorbed pyridine. Incorporation of ZnO into Y zeolite by ALD completely eliminates the Brønsted acid sites and increases the number of strong Lewis acid sites. Similar effects are obtained on ALD ZnO modified ZSM-5 except that the Brønsted acid sites are only partially removed. Catalytic properties of the ALD ZnO modified zeolites are evaluated in propane conversion. Introduction of ZnO species significantly improves the activities of both zeolites. Propylene is the major reaction product on ALD ZnO modified Y zeolite while high selectivities to aromatics are achieved on ALD ZnO modified ZSM-5. These results suggest that ZnO species merely promote the dehydrogenation reaction while the subsequent oligomerization and cyclization reactions require Brønsted acid sites. For both zeolites the catalyst fabricated by only 1 or 2 cycles of ZnO ALD performs better than those fabricated by multiple cycles of ALD, indicating that isolated Zn(OH)(+) species are more effective for the conversion of propane to propylene and aromatics.

// Jian-Jun Lu 1, * , Lingyi Fu 2, 3, * , Zhipeng Tang 4, * , Changlin Zhang 2 , Lijun Qin 5 , Jingshu Wang 2 , Zhenlong Yu 4 , Dingbo Shi 2 , Xiangsheng Xiao 2 , Fangyun Xie 2 , Wenlin Huang 2, 6 , Wuguo Deng 2, 6 1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China 2 Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center of Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, China 3 Guangdong General Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China 4 Institute of Cancer Stem Cell, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China 5 Department of Pediatrics, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China 6 State Key Laboratory of Targeted Drug for Tumors of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou Double Bioproduct Inc., Guangzhou, China * These authors have contributed equally to this article Correspondence to: Jian-Jun Lu, e-mail: ljj508@21cn.com Wuguo Deng, e-mail: dengwg@sysucc.org.cn Keywords: melantonin, berberine, lung cancer, hTERT, COX-2 Received: August 04, 2015 Accepted: November 16, 2015 Published: November 27, 2015 ABSTRACT Melatonin, a molecule produced throughout the animal and plant kingdoms, and berberine, a plant derived agent, both exhibit antitumor and multiple biological and pharmacological effects, but they have never been combined altogether for the inhibition of human lung cancers. In this study, we investigated the role and underlying mechanisms of melatonin in the regulation of antitumor activity of berberine in lung cancer cells. Treatment with melatonin effectively increased the berberine-mediated inhibitions of cell proliferation, colony formation and cell migration, thereby enhancing the sensitivities of lung cancer cells to berberine. Melatonin also markedly increased apoptosis induced by berberine. Further mechanism study showed that melatonin promoted the cleavage of caspse-9 and PARP, enhanced the inhibition of Bcl2, and triggered the releasing of cytochrome C (Cyto C), thereby increasing the berberine-induced apoptosis. Melatonin also enhanced the berberine-mediated inhibition of telomerase reverses transcriptase (hTERT) by down-regulating the expression of AP-2β and its binding on hTERT promoter. Moreover, melatonin enhanced the berberine-mediated inhibition of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) by inhibiting the nuclear translocation of NF-κB and its binding on COX-2 promoter. Melatonin also increased the berberine-mediated inhibition of the phosphorylated Akt and ERK. Collectively, our results demonstrated that melatonin enhanced the antitumor activity of berberine by activating caspase/Cyto C and inhibiting AP-2β/hTERT, NF-κB/COX-2 and Akt/ERK signaling pathways. Our findings provide new insights in exploring the potential therapeutic strategies and novel targets for lung cancer treatment.

Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-1 (PDK1), a key metabolic enzyme involved in aerobic glycolysis, is highly expressed in many solid tumors. Small molecule compound DAP (2,2-dichloroacetophenone) is a potent inhibitor of PDK1. Whether targeting PDK1 with DAP can inhibit acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and how it works remains unknown. In this study, we evaluated the effect of inhibition of PDK1 with DAP on cell growth, apoptosis and survival in AML cells and identified the underlying mechanisms. We found that treatment with DAP significantly inhibited cell proliferation, increased apoptosis induction and suppressed autophagy in AML cells in vitro, and inhibited tumor growth in an AML mouse model in vivo. We also showed that inhibition of PDK1 with DAP increased the cleavage of pro-apoptotic proteins (PARP and Caspase 3) and decreased the expression of the anti-apoptotic proteins (BCL-xL and BCL-2) and autophagy regulators (ULK1, Beclin-1 and Atg). In addition, we found that DAP inhibited the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Furthermore, we demonstrated that PDK1 interacted with ULK1, BCL-xL and E3 ligase CBL-b in AML cells, and DPA treatment could inhibit the interactions. Collectively, our results indicated that targeting PDK1 with DAP inhibited AML cell growth via multiple signaling pathways and suggest that targeting PDK1 may be a promising therapeutic strategy for AMLs.

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive and lethal cancers. Discovery and identification of novel therapeutic targets is urgently needed. In this study, we demonstrated that ribosomal protein S3 (RPS3) was a potential target involved in melanoma growth. Knockdown of RPS3 by siRNA suppressed cell growth and induced apoptosis in melanoma cells. Further mechanism studies showed that RPS3 knockdown in melanoma cells triggered the release of cytochrome C (Cyto C) from mitochondrial, increased the location of BID on mitochondrial membrane and the cleavage of the pro-apoptotic proteins (PARP, caspase-3 and -9), promoted the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pore and the flooding of calcium ions (Ca(2+)) into the mitochondrial, and decreased the expression of the Ca(2+) gatekeeper MICU1 and its location on the mitochondrial. We also found that knockdown of RPS3 significantly inhibited tumor growth in a melanoma xenograft mouse model. Furthermore, we showed that RPS3 was highly expressed in melanoma cell lines and melanoma tumor tissues, and overexpression of RPS3 was associated with the poor prognosis of melanoma patients. Our results therefore demonstrate that RPS3 regulates melanoma growth through the modulation of the Cyto C/Ca(2+)/MICU1 dependent mitochondrial signaling and suggest that RPS3 is a potential therapeutic target for melanoma treatment.

Alumina thin films are deposited inside the channels of stainless steel tubular reactors by atomic layer deposition (ALD) to deactivate the metal surface for the purpose of coke suppression. The AL...

Background Atrial septal defect often become more severe when encountered in genetic syndromes. Congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a is an inherited metabolic disorder associated with mutations in PMM2 gene and can affect almost all organs. Cardiac abnormalities vary greatly in congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a and congenital heart defects have already been reported, but there is little knowledge about the effect of this inherited disorder on an existing congenital heart defect. Herein we report for the first time on a baby with congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a with atrial septal defect and make a comparison of changes in atrial septal defect by follow-ups to the age of 3. Case presentation Our patient was an 8-month-old Han Chinese boy. At the initial visit, he presented with recurrent lower respiratory infection, heart murmur, psychomotor retardation, inverted nipples, and cerebellar atrophy. Echocardiography revealed a 8 mm secundum atrial septal defect with left-to-right shunt (Qp/Qs ratio 1.6). Enzyme testing of phosphomannomutase 2 demonstrated decreased levels of phosphomannomutase 2 activities in fibroblasts. Whole exon sequencing showed he was heterozygous for a frameshift mutation (p.I153X) and a missense mutation (p.I132T) in PMM2 gene. The diagnosis of congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a with atrial septal defect was issued. Now, he is 3-years old at the time of this writing, with the development of congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a (cerebellar atrophy become more severe and the symptom of nystagmus emerged), the size of atrial septal defect increased to 10 mm and the Qp/Qs ratio increased to 1.9, which suggested exacerbation of the atrial septal defect. Congenital heart defect-associated gene sequencing is then performed and shows there are no pathogenic mutations, which suggested intrinsic cardiac factors are not the cause of exacerbation of the atrial septal defect in our patient and it is reasonable to assume congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a can worsen the situation of the existing atrial septal defect. Conclusions This report highlights the view that congenital disorders of glycosylation type 1a should be excluded when faced with congenital heart defect with cerebellar atrophy or neurodevelopmental delay, especially when the situation of congenital heart defect becomes more and more severe.

Drought is one of major factors limiting the high and stable yields of maize, and thus, improvement of water use efficiency (WUE) and cultivation of drought-resistant maize cultivars have become very urgent. Previous research shows that SDD1 from Arabidopsis thaliana, a key gene during stomatal development, negatively regulates stomatal density, reduces transpiration, and improves WUE and drought resistance without reducing biomass. In this study, maize SDD1 (ZmSDD1) containing intron was cloned, and the phylogenetic tree was constructed, revealing a close genetic relationship with the SDD1 of Oryza sativa. ZmSDD1 was expressed in the leaves, shoots, and roots of maize. Under drought, cold, and salt stress conditions, the expression of ZmSDD1 in B73 maize leaves is reduced. To reveal the functions of ZmSDD1, we built a plant expression vector pGM626-Ubi-SDD1-ABt containing ZmSDD1 which was driven by the maize Ubiquitin promoter. Transgenic plants were obtained via shoot-tip transformation. The stomata number on leaf surfaces of the plants within Ubiquitin::ZmSDD1 overexpression plants was 30 % lower than that in the wildtype ones. After repeated drought treatments the transgenic maizes demonstrated a much higher survival rate with 6.68-fold ZmSDD1 overexpression, which indicated the expression of the gene negatively regulating stomata density and caused the reduction of stomatal conductance and transpiration rate after drought-treatment. In addition, ZmSDD1 enhanced the drought resistance in the transgenic maizes through improving WUE and photosynthetic rate which was considered as the result of the higher PEPCase activity, CO2 utilization rate and the lower CO2 compensation point.

Inositol is a cyclic polyol that is involved in various physiological processes, including signal transduction and stress adaptation in plants. l-myo-inositol monophosphatase (IMPase) is one of the metal-dependent phosphatase family members and catalyzes the last reaction step of biosynthesis of inositol. Although increased IMPase activity induced by abiotic stress has been reported in chickpea plants, the role and regulation of the IMP gene in rice (Oryza sativa L.) remains poorly understood. In the present work, we obtained a full-length cDNA sequence coding IMPase in the cold tolerant rice landraces in Gaogonggui, which is named as OsIMP. Multiple alignment results have displayed that this sequence has characteristic signature motifs and conserved enzyme active sites of the phosphatase super family. Phylogenetic analysis showed that IMPase is most closely related to that of the wild rice Oryza brachyantha, while transcript analysis revealed that the expression of the OsIMP is significantly induced by cold stress and exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. Meanwhile, we cloned the 5’ flanking promoter sequence of the OsIMP gene and identified several important cis-acting elements, such as LTR (low-temperature responsiveness), TCA-element (salicylic acid responsiveness), ABRE-element (abscisic acid responsiveness), GARE-motif (gibberellin responsive), MBS (MYB Binding Site) and other cis-acting elements related to defense and stress responsiveness. To further investigate the potential function of the OsIMP gene, we generated transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing the OsIMP gene and the cold tolerance test indicated that these transgenic tobacco plants exhibit improved cold tolerance. Furthermore, transgenic tobacco plants have a lower level of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA), and a higher content of total chlorophyll as well as increased antioxidant enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD), when compared to wild type (WT) tobacco plants under normal and cold stress conditions.