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Changes in intestinal flora affect the health and cause metabolic diseases of the host. The extent to which the impact of different changes in intestinal flora would have on the metabolism of an individual has not been reported. This study aims to investigate the effect of different changes in intestinal flora on the metabolism of Sprague–Dawley (SD) normal rats’ individuals. Forty-eight SD rats were randomly divided into 6 groups (8 rats per group), which were treated with normal saline, probiotics, nonpathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, gentamicin, and magnesium sulfate, respectively. After 7 days, the ileum of each group of rats was collected and real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze the composition of intestinal flora. And gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to analyze plasma metabolic profile. The results revealed that the decrease in alanine content in the probiotics group was statistically significant, while the alanine content in the nonpathogenic Escherichia group increased significantly. Alanine, leucine, isoleucine, and serine decreased significantly in the Salmonella group. Proline and butyric acid decreased significantly in the gentamicin group. The principal component analysis showed significant differences in the Salmonella group compared with other test groups. Overall, the most significant metabolic changes were observed in SD rats in the Salmonella group, while a great similarity was observed in the probiotics, Escherichia group, and gentamicin groups compared with the normal group. Changes in intestinal flora had a certain impact on the metabolism in SD rats, especially on amino acid levels.

In this study, four species of atyid shrimps of the genus Caridina, viz., Caridina cantonensis Yü, 1938, C. breviata N. K. Ng & Cai, 2000, C. gracilipes De Man, 1892 and C. macauensis sp. nov., are documented from Macau, China for the first time. The new species, C. macauensis sp. nov., is identified using morphological and molecular data. According to its morphology, C. macauensis is distinguished from the closely related species C. trifasciata Yam & Cai, 2003, by a shorter rostrum, male second pereiopod and colouration. A diagnosis of the three known species and a full description of C. macauensis sp. nov. are presented. Furthermore, genetic data of C. macauensis sp. nov. derived from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) support that this species has a sufficient interspecific divergence from its congeners.

Macrobrachium nipponense is an economically important freshwater prawn that is often threatened by many aquatic pathogens. In this study, comparative transcriptomic analysis was firstly used to explore the transcriptional response of M. nipponense to Aeromonas veronii or Staphylococcus aureus stimulation. A total of 400.19 million clean reads were obtained and assembled into 56 944 unigenes with an average length of 1 253 bp. A total of 1 857 differentially expressed genes were found after A. veronii infection, including 677 genes that were up-regulated and 1 180 genes that were down-regulated, while 1 061 significant differentially expressed genes were identified after S. aureus infection, including 390 up-regulated and 671 down-regulated genes. Many immune-related genes including Spaetzle, prophenoloxidase activating factor, C-type lectin, anti-lipopolysaccharide factor, and inhibitor of apoptosis 2 protein were commonly up-regulated after A. veronii or S. aureus infection. This study will enrich our understanding of the immune response to gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria infection in crustaceans.

A novel Gram-staining negative, crescent-like or rod-shaped, non-motile bacterium, designated strain CUG 91378 T, was isolated from a sediment sample of Qinghai Lake, Qinghai Province, China. The strain was red-colored, and catalase- and oxidase-positive. Strain CUG 91378 T was able to grow at 15–37 °C (optimum, 28 °C), pH 7–9 (pH 7.0) and in the presence of up to 3.0% (w/v) NaCl (0–2%). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain CUG 91378 T formed a well-supported monophyletic clade with Aquiflexum balticum DSM 16537 T (95.4%) and Aquiflexum aquatile Z0201T (93.2%). The DNA G + C content of CUG 91378 T was 39.0%. Low ( 5.0%) were iso-C15:0 (19.1%), iso-C16:0 (12.0%), iso-C16:1 H (10.9%), iso-C16:0 3OH (9.2%), iso-C17:0 3OH (7.7%), C17:1ω6c (6.1%) and anteiso-C15:0 (5.8%). Strain CUG 91378 T contained as phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and four unidentified lipids (L1, L2, L3 and L4). Based on the data from the current polyphasic study, the isolate represents a novel species of the genus Aquiflexum for which the name Aquiflexum lacus is proposed. The type strain of the proposed new taxon is CUG 91378 T (= KCTC 62637 T = CGMCC 1.13988 T).

BACKGROUND The green mirid bug Apolygus lucorum is a dominant pest species on multiple crops over a wide area in northern China. However, the combined effect of photoperiod and temperature on diapause induction in this species across different latitudes is not clear. Thus, the combined effects of temperature (17-29 °C) and photoperiod (11:13 h to 15:9 h light/dark) on diapause induction for seven geographic populations, collected at latitudes between 30.47°N and 38.30°N, were investigated. RESULTS A model, I = (15 - p)/(30 - p - 1.923(t - 16)1/2 + 0.4499 t - 0.015 L - 19.5389) was established to predict diapause incidence (I) using photophase (p), temperature (t) and latitude (L). In most cases, the diapause incidence predicted by the model was within or close to the 95% confidence interval estimated from independently observed field data. CONCLUSION Diapause incidence in A. lucorum was influenced nonlinearly by temperature and photoperiod across different latitudes. The model established in this study is valid for predicting diapause incidence in this pest over a wide area in northern China, and thus can be incorporated into an areawide population dynamic model of this pest. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Lakes receive large amounts of terrestrially derived dissolved organic matter (tDOM). However, little is known about how aquatic microbial communities interact with tDOM in lakes. Here, by performing microcosm experiments we investigated how microbial community responded to tDOM influx in six Tibetan lakes of different salinities (ranging from 1 to 358 g/l). In response to tDOM addition, microbial biomass increased while dissolved organic carbon (DOC) decreased. The amount of DOC decrease did not show any significant correlation with salinity. However, salinity influenced tDOM transformation, i.e., microbial communities from higher salinity lakes exhibited a stronger ability to utilize tDOM of high carbon numbers than those from lower salinity. Abundant taxa and copiotrophs were actively involved in tDOM transformation, suggesting their vital roles in lacustrine carbon cycle. Network analysis indicated that 66 operational taxonomic units (OTUs, affiliated with Alphaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidia, Bacilli, Gammaproteobacteria, Halobacteria, Planctomycetacia, Rhodothermia, and Verrucomicrobiae) were associated with degradation of CHO compounds, while four bacterial OTUs (affiliated with Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Bacteroidia and Gammaproteobacteria) were highly associated with the degradation of CHOS compounds. Network analysis further revealed that tDOM transformation may be a synergestic process, involving cooperation among multiple species. In summary, our study provides new insights into a microbial role in transforming tDOM in saline lakes and has important implications for understanding the carbon cycle in aquatic environments.

Aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been reported to play a role in tumorigenesis. Dysfunction of miR-1296 was found in a variety of cancers, however, the function of miR-1296 in the progression of glioma remains largely understood. Here, our results showed that miR-1296 was significantly down-regulated in glioma tissues and cell lines. Decreased expression of miR-1296 was associated with the tumor size, WHO grade and karnofsky performance scale (KPS) of glioma patients. Low expression of miR-1296 was significantly correlated with the shorter 5-year overall survival of glioma patients. Overexpression of miR-1296 inhibited the proliferation, colony formation, migration and induced apoptosis of glioma cells. MiR-1296 was found to bind the 3’-untranslated region (UTR) of ABL proto-oncogene 2 (ABL2) and subsequently repressed both the mRNA and protein expression of ABL2. ABL2 was overexpressed in glioma tissues and inversely correlated with that of miR-1296. Ectopic expressed ABL2 could reverse the inhibitory effects of miR-1296 on glioma cell proliferation. Our results illustrated the novel tumor-suppressive function of miR-1296 in glioma via repressing ABL2, suggesting a potential application of miR-1296 in the treatment of glioma.

A non-motile, Gram-staining negative, catalase- and oxidase-positive, crescent-rod shaped bacterium, designated strain CUG 91308T, was isolated from a sediment sample of Qinghai Lake, Qinghai Province, China. Colonies on OSM agar were round, smooth, flat and pinkish-orange in colour. Strain CUG 91308T could grow at 15–37 °C, pH 6–12 and in the presence of up to 7.0 % NaCl (w/v). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain CUG 91308T belonged to the family Cyclobacteriaceae and formed a clade with the genus Lunatimonas in the phylogenetic tree, but separated from any species of the known genera within the family. The genomic DNA G+C content is about 42.1 %. The predominant fatty acids (>10 %) were iso-C15 : 0 (21.1 %), summed feature 3 (C16 : 1 ω7c / C16 : 1 ω6c / iso-C15 : 0 2OH) (14.3 %), iso-C17 : 0 3OH (12.3 %) and summed feature 9 (iso-C17 : 1 ω9c / C16 : 0 10-methyl) (10.6 %). The polar lipids of strain CUG 91308T were phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and four unidentified polar lipids. Strain CUG 91308T contained MK-7 as the major respiratory quinone. On the basis of phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic data, strain CUG 91308T represents a novel species of a novel genus in the family Cyclobacteriaceae , for which the name Lunatibacter salilacus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the proposed new isolate is CUG 91308T (=KCTC 62636T=CGMCC 1.13593T).

Temporal variations and co-occurrence patterns of the prokaryotic community in saline lakes remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the temporal variations of the prokaryotic community in six lakes with different salinity by using Illumina sequencing. The results showed that prokaryotic community compositions exhibited temporal variations in all studied lakes, which may be partially caused by temporal fluctuations of environmental variables (e.g. salinity, temperature, total nitrogen). Salinity fluctuations exhibited stronger influences on temporal variations of prokaryotic community composition in the lakes with low salinity than in those with high salinity. Stochastic factors (i.e. neutral processes) also contributed to temporal variations of prokaryotic community composition, and their contributions decreased with increasing salinity in the studied saline lakes. Network analysis showed that prokaryotic co-occurrence networks of the studied lakes exhibited non-random topology. Salinity affected the phylogenetic composition of nodes in the studied networks. The topological features (e.g. average connectivity and modularity) of the studied networks significantly differed between lake waters and sediments. Collectively, these results expand our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying prokaryotic community assembly and co-occurrence relationships in saline lakes with different salinity.

In order to investigate the tolerance and bioaccumulation of Cd and Cu in the halophyte Sesuvium portulacastrum , seedlings were hydroponically cultured for 30 days using the modified 1/2 Hoagland nutrient solution with different concentrations of Cd (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mg L −1 ) and Cu (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 mg L −1 ). Afterwards, the seedling height, leaf area, biomass, and mineral element contents (Fe, Mg, Cu, and Zn) in the roots, stems and leaves were measured, and the tolerance index, bioconcentration factor (BCF), transportation index, and removal rate were calculated. The effects of salinity (0‰–30‰) on the growth and bioaccumulation ability of S. portulacastrum under combined Cu/Cd (5 mg L −1 ) exposure were also determined. The results showed that, with an increasing Cd concentration, the biomass and seedling height of S. portulacastrum initially increased and then decreased. The highest leaf biomass and seedlings height was observed in the 10 mg L −1 and 5 mg L −1 Cd treatment group, respectively. Salinity did not affect the biomass of S. portulacastrum but decreased Cd concentration in roots and aboveground tissues and Cu concentration in roots of S. portulacastrum. Cu treatment significantly facilitated the absorption of Mg, Cu, and Zn in roots. With an increasing Cu concentration, the Mg and Fe contents increased in the leaves of S. portulacastrum . In comparison to the above-ground portions, the root showed a higher bioaccumulation ability of Cd and Cu, with the BCF of 341.5 and 211.9, respectively. The BCF and translocation factor (TF) values indicated that S. portulacastrum was not a hyperaccumulator for Cd and Cu, but could be used as a phytostablization plant in heavy metal contaminated coastal environments.

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the toxigenic Clostridium difficile colonization (CDC, colonization with toxigenic C. difficile but without symptoms) and C. difficile infection (CDI, active C. difficile infection resulting in disease symptoms) in hepatic cirrhosis patients, identify the risk factors of CDC, and determine the correlation between CDC and CDI. Methodology. The strains of toxigenic C. difficile were isolated from patients with hepatic cirrhosis within 48 h after admission, followed by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Patients were divided into toxigenic CDC group and noncolonized (NC) group according to the colonization. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyse the risk factors for the CDC. Besides, the CDI incidence was compared between the two groups. Results. Colonization of toxigenic C. difficile was identified in 104 cases (19.8 %). Eighteen sequence types (STs) were identified, among which ST-3, ST-54, ST-35 and ST-37 were the predominant types. Child-Pugh class C(relative risk, RR, 3.025; 95 % CI: 1.410–6.488), decrease of prothrombin time activity (PTA) (RR 2.180; 95 % CI: 1.368–3.476), decrease of platelet (RR 2.746; 95 % CI: 0.931–8.103) and concurrent hepatic encephalopathy (RR 1.740; 95 % CI: 1.012–2.990) were identified as the risk factors for the hepatic cirrhosis patients with CDC. The CDI incidence in the CDC group was also significantly higher than that of the NC group (26.0 % vs 1.7 %, P

To the best of our knowledge, our previous study demonstrated the expression of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM‑2) in human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for the first time. However, the inflammation regulatory role of TREM‑2 in MSCs remain elusive. The aim of the present study was to investigate the immune regulation and the underlying mechanism of TREM‑2 in rat bone marrow MSCs. MSCs were divided into three groups: NullMSCs, TREM‑2MSCs, and NormMSCs. TREM‑2 was expressed in MSCs at the mRNA and protein level. Following stimulation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the gene transcription levels of TREM‑2 and inflammatory cytokines were increased. The expression levels of inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor‑α (TNF‑α) and interleukin‑1β (IL‑1β), in the TREM‑2MSCs lentiviral vector group were significantly downregulated, and the expression of IL‑10 was significantly upregulated compared with the controls. Western blot analysis revealed that TREM‑2 downregulated the LPS‑induced inflammatory response in MSCs, which was probably associated with regulating AKT serine/threonine kinase and p38 mitogen‑activated protein kinase downstream signaling proteins. The results of the current study demonstrated that TREM‑2 negatively regulates the LPS‑mediated inflammatory response in MSCs suggesting that TREM‑2 is a potential target of immune regulation in rat MSCs.

Mastacembelus erythrotaenia and Mastacembelus armatus, are economically and ecologically important freshwater fishes and distribute mainly in tropical and subtropical zone. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genomes of M. erythrotaenia and M. armatus were determined. The circle genomes are 16493 and 16487 bp in length, respectively. They contain 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and one control region. All the protein-coding genes use ATG as start codon except COI uses GTG. Most of them have TAA or TA as the stop codon, while COII, ND3, ND4 and Cyt b use T. Phylogenetic trees involving all the available Mastacembelidae species were also constructed, contributing to phylogenetic studies and conservation of these spiny eels.

Planktonic ciliate composition, abundance and its response to environmental change were investigated during four seasons (winter of 2013, spring, summer and autumn of 2014) in Daya Bay, the South China Sea. A total of 41 species belonging to eight orders were identified, 14 of which were dominant. Planktonic ciliate communities showed a distinct seasonal pattern in ciliate abundance and a clear seasonal shift in the taxonomic composition. The largest number of ciliate species occurred in summer, whereas the highest abundance peaked in spring, mainly due to oligotrichids. In terms of spatial distribution, ciliate species were abundant in the area of artificial reefs, and ciliate abundance was higher in the Dapeng Cove aquaculture area and lower at the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station. Clustering analysis demonstrated that the seasonal variations of the ciliate community structure were more obvious than spatial variations. Multivariate and univariate analyses illustrated that ciliate abundance was significantly correlated with the water nutrient level and chlorophyll-a concentration, temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen. Moreover, the dominant abiotic environmental factors affecting the spatial pattern of ciliate communities varied between seasons.

Little is known about the onshore microbial contribution to the microbial communities in nearby lakes and its response to salinity. In this study, transplanting experiments were established by caging onshore soils with dialysis bags followed by in situ 50-day incubation in nearby lakes with different salinity on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. At the end of the experiment, geochemical and microbial analyses were performed on the original soils, caged soils and lake waters and sediments at the incubation sites. The results showed that the salinity increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the caged soils and such salinity increases showed significant (P < 0.05) positive correlation with the salinity of the studied lakes. The microbial community composition and predicted functions in the caged soils were significantly (P < 0.05) changed in comparison with their corresponding original soils, and such variation could be mainly explained by the succession of members of the Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria from the original soils to their corresponding caged soils. The onshore microbial contribution appeared to be limited (up to 11.2% for sediment and negligible for water, respectively) to nearby lake microbial communities. Nevertheless, the survival of onshore soil microbial communities was mainly limited by the salinity of the receiving lakes.

Understanding the impacts of climate on insect pest population dynamics is crucial in forecasting pest outbreaks and developing a sustainable pest management strategy. The orange wheat blossom midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin), is a chronic winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) pest in China, and its population density can strongly fluctuate. We analyzed climate factors (temperature and precipitation) associated with population dynamics of S. mosellana in a large-scale field trial in central China from 1984 to 2013 using Generalized linear mixed effects models. We found total precipitation during January–March was significantly positively correlated with population density of S. mosellana, whereas temperature parameters were not correlated with the population levels. Moreover, S. mosellana population size was significantly negative effected by interaction between temperature and precipitation, which showed that high precipitation with low temperature in spring also reduced the population density. This suggests that annual population size of S. mosellana in Central China is determined by soil moisture in early spring. These results provide basic information that will help in forecasting population levels and in developing a sound pest management strategy for S. mosellana.

Avian Influenza A (H5N6) Virus causes severe influenza disease in humans and is manifested by acute respiratory distress syndrome, multi-organ failure, and high mortality rates. T cells recognize antigens specifically through a membrane protein T cell receptor (TCR). To ward off a wide variety of pathogens, the human adaptive immune system harbors a vast array of TCRs, which are collectively referred to as the TCR repertoire. The B cell receptor (BCR) is involved in inducing the humoral immune response. The generation of a diverse T cell and B cell repertoire is essential for protection against infection. In this study, multiplex PCR based on genomic DNA amplicons and Illumina high-throughput sequencing (HTS) were applied to study the characteristics and polymorphisms of the TRB and IGH repertoire in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from two H5N6 AIV patients and six healthy donors (NC). The CDR3 average length in the AIV group was different from the NC group. The TRBV12-3, TRBV12-4, and TRBV15 gene segments and TRBV30/TRBJ1-2, TRBV12-3/TRBJ1-1 and IGHV3-11/IGHJ6 gene segment pairings also exhibited a higher usage in the PBMCs of AIV donors and may provide more information for generating more effective T/B cell targeted diagnosis/protection strategies.

Shifting geographical ranges of crop pests and pathogens in response to climate change pose a threat to food security (1, 2). The orange wheat blossom midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana Géhin) is responsible for significant yield losses in China (3), the world’s largest wheat producer. Here we report that rising temperatures in the North China Plain have resulted in a mean northward range shift of 3.3° (58.8 km per decade) from the 1950s to 2010s, which accelerated to 91.3 km per decade after 1985 when the highly toxic pesticide hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) was banned (4). Phenological matching between wheat midge adult emergence and wheat heading in this new expanded range has resulted in greater damage to wheat production. Around $286.5 million worth of insecticides were applied to around 19 million hectares in an attempt to minimize wheat midge damage to crops between 1985 and 2016. Despite use of these pesticides, wheat midge caused losses of greater than 0.95 million metric tons of grain during this period. Our results demonstrate the potential for indirect negative impacts of climate change on crop production and food security, and constitute the first large scale example of plant pest range shift due to global warming.

Background Acute liver injury is a common clinical disorder associated with intestinal barrier injury and disturbance of intestinal microbiota. Probiotic supplementation has been reported to reduce liver injury; however, it is unclear whether enteropathogen infection exacerbates liver injury. The purpose of this study was to address this unanswered question using a rat model. Methods Oral supplementation with Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis ( S. enteritidis ) was given to rats for 7 days. Different degrees of acute liver injury were then induced by intraperitoneal injection of D-galactosamine. The presence and extent of liver injury was assayed by measuring the concentrations of serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and total bilirubin. Histology was used to observe liver tissue damage. Additionally, we measured the changes in plasma endotoxin, serum cytokines and bacterial translocation to clarify the mechanisms underlying intestinal microbiota associated liver injury. Results The levels of liver damage and endotoxin were significantly increased in the Salmonella infected rats with severe liver injury compared with the no infection rats with severe liver injury ( P >0.01); The peyer's patch CD3 + T cell counts were increased significantly when the Salmonella infection with severe injury group was compared with the normal group ( P >0.05). S. enteritidis pretreatment enhanced intestinal barrier impairment and bacterial translocation. Conclusions Oral S. enteritidis administration exacerbates acute liver injury, especially when injury was severe. Major factors of the exacerbation include inflammatory and oxidative stress injuries induced by the translocated bacteria and associated endotoxins, as well as over-activation of the immune system in the intestine and liver.

Spatial patterns of planktonic ciliate communities were studied to monitor marine water quality during winter, spring, summer, and autumn of 2014 in Daya Bay, South China Sea. A total of 41 species, with eight dominant species, were identified. Multivariate and univariate analyses demonstrated that spatial taxonomic pattern of planktonic ciliate communities was significantly correlated with environmental condition; ciliate abundance, species diversity, and species richness were significantly correlated with NO3– and salinity or temperature. Additionally, two dominant species (Tintinnopsis minuta Wailes, 1925 and Tintinnopsis beroidea Stein, 1867) were significantly positively correlated with nutrients, particularly with nitrogen nutrients. Three dominant species (Strombidium conicum (Lohmann, 1908) Wulff, 1919; Spirotontonia turbinata (Song & Bradbury, 1998) Agatha, 2004; Laboea strobila Lohmann, 1908) showed more sensitivity to salinity, whereas Mesodinium rubrum (Lohmann, 1908) was significantly correlated with temperature. Our findings suggest that planktonic ciliate communities can be considered a favorable bioindicator of marine water quality.

Background: Organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) are widely used in China and some developed countries because they are powerful pesticides with minimal damage to crops. However, OPs are highly toxic, especially to the human lungs, heart, brain, kidneys. Research on the pathogenesis and risk factors of acute kidney injury (AKI) caused by OP poisoning is limited, Researches which tend to have small sample sizes and are commonly case reports. Objective: This study aims to investigate the pathogenesis and risk factors of AKI caused by acute organophosphorus poisoning syndrome (AOPP), in order to enable the adoption of early and reasonable treatment methods, to improve the prognosis of patients. Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on the laboratory findings of 275 patients with acute OP poisoningl from January 2009 to June 2016. (1) The 275 patients with acute OP poisoning were grouped according to the presence or absence of AKI, and testing was performed for statistical differences in the relevant clinical indicators between the two groups. (2) Univariate analysis was performed to compare the differences in these indicators between the two groups, and indicators with statistically significant differences included in logistic regression and other methods to analyze the risk factors affecting AKI. Results: Among the 275 patients with acute OP poisoning, 92 (33.5%) had AKI. The cure rate of the AKI group was 69.6% and case fatality rate was 1.1% (1/92); the cure rate of the non-AKI group was 73.8% (135/183) and the case fatality rate was 0.5% (1/135); the difference in mortality rate between the two groups was not statistically significant (Z=0.94, P=0.34). Comparison of general information and clinical characteristics revealed that only the mean C-reactive protein (CRP) and SCr levels differed significantly between the two groups (Z=6.55, P

TLR7 subfamily members are important pattern recognition receptors participating in the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns. In this study, we successfully identified 3 members of TLR7 subfamily from the spiny eel Mastacembelus armatus (MaTLR7, MaTLR8 and MaTLR9). The amino acid sequence identities of MaTLR7 and MaTLR8 with Monopterus albus TLR7 were 87.2% and 76.5%, respectively and the identity of MaTLR9 with Seriola lalandi TLR9 was 74.7%. The phylogenetic analysis revealed MaTLRs showed close relationship to other species in Synbranchiformes or Perciformes. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that they were expressed in all tested tissues and higher expression was found in spleen or gill. After infection with Aeromonas veronii, expression of MaTLR7, MaTLR8 and MaTLR9 were all significantly downregulated in spleen and kidney. Evolutionary analysis suggested that the ancestral lineages of teleost TLR8 and TLR9 had been subject to positive selection pressures and multiple Maximum likelihood methods recovered 3 positively selected sites in teleost TLR7, 4 in TLR8 and 8 in TLR9. Domain distribution revealed most positively selected sites were located in leucine-rich repeat domain. Our results will contribute to better understanding the antibacterial mechanism of TLRs and their co-evolution with pathogens.

In this study, SBA-15 was modified by a series of silane coupling reagents and later used to immobilize Candida antartica lipase B (CALB). The enzymatic properties of the immobilized CALB samples were studied. In addition, the catalytic performance in glycerolysis of soybean oil for diacylglycerols (DAG) production was also investigated. The highest enzymatic activity up to 6100.00 ± 246.41 U/g was observed from the propyl methacrylate group modified SBA-15 supported CALB. No loss of activity was observed from the propyl methacrylate group modified SBA-15 supported CALB, but a higher-than-initial activity was notably found from 3-aminopropyl group and n-octyl group modified SBA-15 supported CALB after a 4-h incubation in air at 70 °C. 1-isocyanatopropane group modified SBA-15 supported CALB exhibited selectivity for DAG production. DAG content up to 61.90 ± 2.38 wt% and a DAG/MAG ratio at 3.11 ± 0.08 was obtained after a 24-h reaction at 60 °C in a solvent-free system.

Mastacembelus armatus, also known as the zigzag eel, is an economically important species of freshwater fish that is very popular with consumers as a high-grade table fish in China. Recently, the wild population of this fish has declined gradually due to overfishing and various types of ecological imbalance. Meanwhile, the aquaculture of this spiny eel has flourished in southern China. To understand the immune response of zigzag eel to Aeromonas veronii, we carried out transcriptome sequencing of zigzag eel spleens after artificial bacterial infection. After assembly, 110,328 unigenes were obtained with 44.42% GC content. A total of 27,098 unigenes were successfully annotated by four public protein databases, namely, Nr, UniProt, KEGG and KOG. Differential expression analysis revealed the existence of 1278 significantly differentially expressed unigenes at 24 h post infection, with 767 unigenes upregulated and 511 unigenes downregulated. After GO and KEGG enrichment analyses, many immune-related GO categories and pathways were significantly enriched. The typical significantly enriched pathways included toll-like receptor signaling pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and TNF signaling pathway. In addition, 40,027 microsatellites (SSRs) and 52,716 candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified from the infection and control transcriptome libraries. Overall, this transcriptomic analysis provided valuable information for studying the immune response of zigzag eels against bacterial infection.

Clarias gariepinus is an economically important fish belonging to Siluriformes. In order to understand the characterization of catfishes, the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the African catfish C. gariepinus was determined using 17 pairs of primers. The complete mitogenome is 16,508 bp in length and contains 37 mitochondrial genes (13 protein-coding, two rRNA, and 22 tRNA genes) and a control region as in most other fishes. Moreover, a comparison of C. gariepinus with Clarias batrachus, Clarias fuscus and Clarias sp. NM-2010 indicated that the four mitogenomics were similar in length, total nucleotide compositions and codon usage patterns, but different in 13 protein-coding genes, control region and other aspects. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of C. gariepinus would contribute to better understanding of population genetics, conservation, biogeography and evolution of this species.

The effects of magnetic fields on the enzymatic synthesis of naringin palmitate were studied. Both immobilized Candida Antarctica lipase B (I-CALB) and I-CALB tert-amyl alcohol solution were treated with magnetic fields of 100, 300, or 500 mT for 1, 2, or 3 h. Characteristics including the initial rate and the conversion yields after 24 h of reaction with magnetized I-CALB (M-I-CALB) and magnetized I-CALB tert-amyl alcohol solution (M-I-CALB-S) were investigated. Magnetic field application to both I-CALB and I-CALB-S influenced I-CALB activity. Enzyme activity increased for M-I-CALB and M-I-CALB-S with some intensities and durations and reached maxima at certain frequencies. Enzyme inactivation was only found with M-I-CALB exposed to a strong magnetic field (500 mT) for a long time (3 h). Unlike M-I-CALB, M-I-CALB-S exposed to a strong magnetic field for a long time (500 mT, 3 h) showed greater activity enhancement relative to I-CALB. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) results showed that the relative secondary structure content of free CALB was changed only slightly by the differing magnetic field intensities and durations. These findings should prove valuable for using magnetic fields in enzymatic reactions.

Sphaeroma terebrans, an economically and ecologically important marine wood-boring isopod, is mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical mangroves. Nevertheless, available genomic and transcriptomic information for this isopod is extremely deficient. Here, we first performed the assembly of S. terebrans transcriptome by Illumina sequencing. A total of 51,092 high-quality unigenes with an average length of 641 bp were obtained and 19,915 unigenes were successfully annotated in four public databases. Only 9932 out of 19915 unigenes were commonly annotated by all four databases. In addition, 9609 unigenes were categorized into 54 function categories of Gene Ontology (GO), and 14,512 unigenes were successfully grouped into 25 functional categories of the EuKaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG) database. Moreover, 11,507 unigenes were assigned to 228 pathways of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). Out of 51,092 unigenes, a total of 4257 different microsatellites with motifs range from di- to hexa-nucleotide were identified from 3324 unigene sequences. Among 64 primer pairs selected for validation, 35 were successful in PCR amplification and 13 exhibited obvious repeat polymorphisms in the wild population of S. terebrans in Dongzhaigang (Hainan Island). The transcriptome dataset and the identified microsatellite markers (SSRs) will provide abundant information for researches on the discovery of new genes, metabolic mechanism and genetic diversity of S. terebrans.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in innate and adaptive immunity. Here, we identify two new TLRs from the spiny eel Mastacembelus armatus (TLR3 and membrane TLR5M). Both MaTLR3 and MaTLR5M were expressed in all tested tissues; expression was highest in liver and spleen, respectively. After infection with Vibrio parahaemolyticus, expression of both TLRs fluctuated and differed significantly from controls at several time points. The predicted three-dimensional model of the MaTLR3 and MaTLR5M proteins indicates that most sites under positive selection were located in the extracellular domains of TLRs. Evolutionary analysis detected positively selected sites in the ancestral lineages of vertebrates, amphibians and reptiles. Multiple ML methods recovered 10 positively selected sites in teleost TLR3 and 24 in TLR5M, and most sites were located in leucine-rich repeat domain, possibly related to an "arms-race" co-evolution with pathogens.

Sesuvium portulacastrum was treated with mixture of copper, zinc, and cadmium for 60 days, with the concentration of each metal ranging from 0 to 20 mg/L. The tolerance of plants and bioaccumulation of heavy metals were then investigated. The height of S. portulacastrum decreased significantly with increasing heavy metal concentrations from 1 to 20 mg/L. The biomass was adversely impacted when the concentration exceeded 5 mg/L. There were no significant differences in malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration among different treatment groups, while the soluble protein content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity decreased with increasing heavy metal concentration. However, the BCF values of the three metals were all higher than 10 and the tolerance in root was up to 1000 mg/kg without causing significant growth inhibition, suggesting that S. portulacastrum should be a potential candidate for phytostabilization for the phytoremediation of polymetallic contaminations in coastal environments.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play a critical role in cancer biology and are frequently aberrantly expressed. Despite their important role in pathology, little is known mechanistically regarding their role in gastric cancer (GC) pathogenesis. To characterize the role of lncRNAs in GC pathogenesis, 8 paired human GC tissue samples and matched adjacent normal tissue were examined. Large scale expression profiling of lncRNA and mRNA was performed utilizing microarray technology and validated by qPCR. Differentially expressed lncRNAs were subjected to bioinformatic analysis to predict target genes, followed by the integration of differentially expressed mRNA data and GO and network analysis to further characterize potential interactions. In our study, 2,621 lncRNAs and 3,121 mRNAs were identified to be differentially expressed (≥2.0-fold change) in GC samples relative to their matched counterparts. lncRNA target prediction revealed the presence of 221 potential lncRNA-mRNA target pairs for the 75 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 60 differentially expressed genes. KEGG pathway analysis showed that these target genes were significantly enriched in 7 different pathways, of which the p53 signaling pathway was the most significant and has been previously implicated in GC pathogenesis. Construction of a lncRNA-mRNA correlation network revealed 10 differentially expressed lncRNAs potentially regulating the p53 signaling pathway. Overall, this is the first study perform global expression profiling of lncRNAs and mRNAs relating to GC. These results may provide important information for further insights into the pathogenesis of GC and provide potential targets for future therapeutics.

The present study analyzed microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in peripheral blood lymphocyte cells (PBLCs) from patients with membranous nephropathy (MN) and normal controls (NC), in an effort to improve the understanding of the pathogenesis of MN. High-throughput sequencing was performed on 30 MN patients and 30 healthy individuals (NC group). Known and novel miRNAs were analyzed and the results were confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). In total, 326 miRNAs showed a significant difference in expression between the MN and NC groups. This included 286 downregulated miRNAs and 40 upregulated miRNAs. In addition, there were 6 novel miRNAs that presented differential levels of expression between the MN and NC groups. The miRNAs were mapped to the genome, using a short oligonucleotide alignment program (SOAP), to analyze their expression and distribution. Twenty-five percent of the unique miRNAs in the MN group and 52.1% in the NC group were mapped to the genome. One hundred and eight mismatches were identified. Seventy-seven mismatches were detected in a higher proportion of the MN samples, compared with the NC samples. Twenty-five mismatches were detected in a higher proportion of the NC samples than the MN samples. Differential miRNA expression was also detected between 10 randomly selected pair groups, as depicted in a cluster analysis diagram. These data indicate that differential miRNA expression may be involved in the pathogenesis of MN. In addition, the discrepancies between the MN and NC groups, in the mismatched miRNAs that were mapped to the genome, strongly suggest that miRNAs play an important role in the pathogenesis of human disorders. miRNAs may provide a potential breakthrough in the research of MN and may provide a novel biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Ciliates play a curial role in energy transfer from pico- and nano-phytoplankton to mesozooplankton in marine ecosystems. In order to visualize their geographical distributions from the Java Sea to the South China Sea (6°S to 20°N), the authors investigated the ciliate abundance and species composition in surface waters during May 18 to 27 of 2010. The ciliate abundance decreased latitudinally from 3 080 ind./L (∼6°S) to 40 ind./L (∼3°N), and then increased to 1 180 ind./L (∼16°N) at the end of the survey. A total of 22 ciliates belonging to 15 genera were identified with the tintinnids accounted for 50% (11 species); and the species number showed a same spatial change as the ciliate abundance. Moreover, the Strombidium occupied over 50% of total ciliate abundance in most stations and Mesodinium and Tintinnopsis contributed to about 18.7% and 11.4%, respectively. In particular, our results indicate that the geographical changes in ciliate abundance were positively regulated by larger nano- and micro-phytoplankton biomass, rather than smaller pico-phytoplankton in the investigated waters.

The length–weight relations (LWR) were estimated for 20 fish species from the Pearl River, South China. A total of 3610 specimens representing 10 families were used to estimate the relation parameters. The b values in the LWR (W = aLb) ranged from 2.068 for Odontamblyopus lacepedii (Temminck et Schlegel, 1845) to 3.423 for Pseudogobius javanicus (Bleeker, 1856). The LWR with high coefficient of determination (r2) is significant for all the species. The r2 value ranged from 0.919 to 0.993. This study presents the first reference on length–weight relations for 7 species and new records of maximum total length for 6 species. The results may be helpful in future fisheries studies in this area.

Dilution experiments were used to investigate the phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing in the continental shelf area of northeastern South China Sea during 30 June and 7 July, 2008, occurring about a week after Typhoon Fengshen. We detected negative phytoplankton growth rates ( � 0.03 to � 2.02 d � 1 ) and measured grazing rates of microzooplankton on phytoplankton in size-fractionations of 20–200mm (1.2570.44 d � 1 ), 3–20m m( 1.4870.63 d � 1 )a ndo3m m( 1.0270.42 d � 1 ). Results showed significant correlations between phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing rates, between phytoplankton and ciliate abundance, and between the dominant phytoplankton Thalassionema nitzschioides and the dominant ciliate Helicostomella longa (po0.05). Phytoplankton decay, due to nutrient-limited conditions occurring with the fading of upwelling and spreading of freshwater plume after Typhoon Fengshen, may account for negative phytoplankton growth rates in this study. Synergism in the specific size-selective grazing of various species, including ciliates and heterotrophic dinoflagellates, may contribute to similar grazing rate on phytoplankton in different size-fractionations, at the integrated level. Interactions between phytoplankton and microzooplankton, including grazing selectivity, top-down and bottom-up control between phytoplankton and microzooplankton may contribute to these findings. Our results indicate that under conditions of negative phytoplankton growth microzooplankton grazing may reduce energy loss from the epipelagic waters by retrieving energy from the decaying phytoplankton community.

Daya Bay was undergoing eutrophication process by increased nutrient loading, and the changes in nutrients have strongly influenced the phytoplankton community structure. Ciliates are common component of planktonic community, what role do ciliates play in Daya Bay was still unknown. In this study, ciliates were enumerated and identified from the inner and outer Daya Bay during three seasons. Thirty-one species belong to 16 genera of ciliates were recorded, and Cyclotrichida, Strombidiida, Tintinnida were most common. In spring, ciliates abundance of D2 was lower than D1 and D3, abundance in the surface of D1 and D3 were higher than in the bottom, while D2 showed the opposite character. The lowest ciliate abundance was found in the E1 in summer. In fall, Ciliates abundance of D3 was lower than in fall, and abundance in the surface was lower than in the bottom, which was different compared to in spring. Different hydrographic character was shown between the surface (high temperature, low salinity and nutrients) and bottom layer (low temperature, high salinity and nutrients) at E1 in summer. Ciliate abundance had no significant variation between the surface and bottom at E1 in summer, but ciliates community structure changed a lot.

By use of the polyurethane foam unit (PF unit) method, structural and functional data for protozoan communities were assessed as indicators of the effect of restoration techniques in mandarin fish culture ponds. A total of 165 species of protozoa were observed, including 76 species of ciliates, 57 species of phytomastigophorans, 14 species of zoomastigophorans, and 18 species of sarcodinas. In June, 97 protozoan species colonized the PF units. In August, the number of colonizing species was only 78. In November, a total of 139 species were recorded. In June and August the co-dominant species of protozoans were mainly heterotrophic creatures which feed on bacteria and organic detritus. In November, the co-dominant species were mostly phytoflagelates. The average DO value in the control pond was very low at all times throughout the survey. Removing the sediment, changing the water, and adding compound microbiological preparation had substantial and important effects on reducing total ammonium nitrogen and nitrite nitrogen. Compared with the control ponds, the numbers of protozoan species colonizing the experimental ponds reached its maximum level more slowly and the protozoan community pollution values were lower. The dynamic characteristics of the protozoan colonization process and community pollution values were in agreement with water eutrophic status and could be used for efficient monitoring of the effects of restoration techniques.

[In order to examine the seasonal and spatial patterns of stomatopods in the main bays of Guangdong Province, China, investigations were carried out seasonally using a semi-balloon otter trawl. A total of 11 species belonging to 10 genera of 2 families was collected. Oratosquilla oratoria and O. interrupta were the two most ubiquitous species, followed by Harpiosquilla raphidea and Miyakea nepa. IRI analyses (= indices of relative importance) revealed that these four were the most important species and accounted for 97.4% and 98.6% of the total abundance and biomass, respectively. The biological characteristics and seasonal variations in the catches implied that recruitment of O. oratoria and O. interrupta started in summer, whereas that of M. nepa and H. raphidea started in autumn. The aggregations and nMDS ordination analysis (= non-metric multidimensional scaling) based on catch rates revealed the existence of three groups. Hailing Bay and Shantou Bay formed Group 1, representing the most abundant fishery grounds. Honghai Bay, Daya Bay, Dapeng Bay, Shuidong Bay, and Liusha Bay formed Group 2, and were characterized by a moderate abundance of stomatopods. The last group (Group 3), with the lowest level of capture, comprised only Leizhou Bay, with no catch in winter. The spatial and temporal variations in the catch were mainly associated with characteristics of the sediment, life cycles, and a "mid-summer fishing moratorium" conservation measure, but not significantly with water depth, temperature, or salinity, according to BIO-ENV (biology-environmental) analysis. Afin d'examiner les modeles saisonniers et spatiaux des crustaces stomatopodes dans les principales baies de la province de Guangdong, Chine, des recherches saisonnieres ont ete menees en utilisant un chalut a panneaux semi-ballon. Un total de 11 especes appartenant a 10 genres de 2 familles a ete collecte. Oratosquilla oratoria et O. interrupta etaient les especes les plus communes, suivies par Harpiosquilla raphidea et Miyakea nepa. Des analyses d'IRI (= indices d'importance relative) ont revele que ces quatre especes etaient les plus importantes et constituaient, respectivement 97,4% et 98,6% de l'abondance et de la biomasse totale. Les caracteristiques biologiques et les variations saisonnieres dans les differentes prises montraient que les recrutements de O. oratoria et de O. interrupta debutaient en ete, tandis que ceux de M. nepa et de H. raphidea commencaient en automne. L'etude des agregations et l'analyse d'ordination nMDS (echelle multidimensionnelle non-metrique), a partir des taux de prises, ont revele l'existence de trois groupes. Les baies de Hailing et Shantou forment le Groupe 1, representant les niveaux de pecheries les plus abondantes. Les baies de Honghai, Daya, Dapeng, Shuidong, et Liusha forment le Groupe 2, et sont caracterisees par une abondance moderee de stomatopodes. Le dernier groupe (Groupe 3), avec le niveau de capture le plus bas, comprend seulement la baie de Leizhou, avec aucune prise en hiver. Les variations spatiales et temporelles de la prise etaient principalement associees aux caracteristiques du sediment, des cycles de vie, et a une mesure de conservation «moratoire de peche de mi-ete», mais non de facon significative avec la profondeur de l'eau, la temperature, ou la salinite, selon l'analyse BIO-ENV (biologie-environnement)., In order to examine the seasonal and spatial patterns of stomatopods in the main bays of Guangdong Province, China, investigations were carried out seasonally using a semi-balloon otter trawl. A total of 11 species belonging to 10 genera of 2 families was collected. Oratosquilla oratoria and O. interrupta were the two most ubiquitous species, followed by Harpiosquilla raphidea and Miyakea nepa. IRI analyses (= indices of relative importance) revealed that these four were the most important species and accounted for 97.4% and 98.6% of the total abundance and biomass, respectively. The biological characteristics and seasonal variations in the catches implied that recruitment of O. oratoria and O. interrupta started in summer, whereas that of M. nepa and H. raphidea started in autumn. The aggregations and nMDS ordination analysis (= non-metric multidimensional scaling) based on catch rates revealed the existence of three groups. Hailing Bay and Shantou Bay formed Group 1, representing the most abundant fishery grounds. Honghai Bay, Daya Bay, Dapeng Bay, Shuidong Bay, and Liusha Bay formed Group 2, and were characterized by a moderate abundance of stomatopods. The last group (Group 3), with the lowest level of capture, comprised only Leizhou Bay, with no catch in winter. The spatial and temporal variations in the catch were mainly associated with characteristics of the sediment, life cycles, and a "mid-summer fishing moratorium" conservation measure, but not significantly with water depth, temperature, or salinity, according to BIO-ENV (biology-environmental) analysis. Afin d'examiner les modeles saisonniers et spatiaux des crustaces stomatopodes dans les principales baies de la province de Guangdong, Chine, des recherches saisonnieres ont ete menees en utilisant un chalut a panneaux semi-ballon. Un total de 11 especes appartenant a 10 genres de 2 familles a ete collecte. Oratosquilla oratoria et O. interrupta etaient les especes les plus communes, suivies par Harpiosquilla raphidea et Miyakea nepa. Des analyses d'IRI (= indices d'importance relative) ont revele que ces quatre especes etaient les plus importantes et constituaient, respectivement 97,4% et 98,6% de l'abondance et de la biomasse totale. Les caracteristiques biologiques et les variations saisonnieres dans les differentes prises montraient que les recrutements de O. oratoria et de O. interrupta debutaient en ete, tandis que ceux de M. nepa et de H. raphidea commencaient en automne. L'etude des agregations et l'analyse d'ordination nMDS (echelle multidimensionnelle non-metrique), a partir des taux de prises, ont revele l'existence de trois groupes. Les baies de Hailing et Shantou forment le Groupe 1, representant les niveaux de pecheries les plus abondantes. Les baies de Honghai, Daya, Dapeng, Shuidong, et Liusha forment le Groupe 2, et sont caracterisees par une abondance moderee de stomatopodes. Le dernier groupe (Groupe 3), avec le niveau de capture le plus bas, comprend seulement la baie de Leizhou, avec aucune prise en hiver. Les variations spatiales et temporelles de la prise etaient principalement associees aux caracteristiques du sediment, des cycles de vie, et a une mesure de conservation «moratoire de peche de mi-ete», mais non de facon significative avec la profondeur de l'eau, la temperature, ou la salinite, selon l'analyse BIO-ENV (biologie-environnement).]

Wenbiao Chen,1,* Jianrong Huang,2,* Xiangqi Yu,1 Xiaocong Lin,1 Yong Dai11The Clinical Medical Research Center, Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, 2Department of Hemodialysis, The Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 3Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Guangdong Medical College, Zhanjiang, People's Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: Alport syndrome (AS) is a hereditary disease that leads to kidney failure and is caused by mutations in the COL4A3, COL4A4, and COL4A5 genes that lead to the absence of collagen α3α4α5 (IV) networks in the mature kidney glomerular basement membrane. Approximately 80% of AS is X-linked because of mutations in COL4A5, the gene encoding the alpha 5 chain of type IV collagen. To investigate the pathogenesis of AS at the genetic level, we generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from renal tubular cells of a patient with AS. The successful iPSC generation laid the foundation to master the repair of the COL4A5 gene and to evaluate the differentiation of iPSC into Sertoli cells and the accompanying epigenetic changes at each stage. The generation of iPSCs from AS patients not only confirms that iPSCs could be generated from renal tubular cells, but also provides a novel type of genetic therapy for AS patients. In this study, we generated iPSCs from renal tubular cells via ectopic expression of four transcription factors (Oct4, Sox2, c-myc, and Klf4). According to the human embryonic stem cell (hESC) charter, iPSC formation was confirmed by comparatively analyzing hESC markers via colony morphology, immunohistochemistry, qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, gene expression profiling of the three germ layers, and karyotyping. Our results demonstrated that iPSCs were similar to hESCs with regard to morphology, proliferation, hESC-specific surface marker expression, and differentiation into the cell types of the three germ layers. The efficient generation of iPSCs from the renal tubular cells of an AS patient would provide a novel model to investigate the mechanisms underlying AS and to develop new treatments for AS.Keywords: Alport syndrome, induced pluripotent stem cells, renal tubular cells

Background In clinical practice, it is difficult to monitor the repeating relapse in patients who have been suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The underlying etiology remains largely unknown. Methods Aiming to understand the pathogenesis of SLE, a detailed study was conducted. Renal tubular cells–derived iPSCs were successfully obtained from the urine of SLE patients and healthy controls. With the purpose to identify simultaneous expression profiling of microRNA, mRNA and protein, Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 System and iTRAQ-coupled 2D LC-MS/MS analysis were utilized in systemic lupus erythematosus-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (SLE-iPSCs) and normal control-iPSCs (NC-iPSCs). The integration of multiple profiling datasets was realized since it could facilitate the identification of non-seed miRNA targets, as well as differentially expressed mRNAs and proteins. Results For this study, profiling datasets of 1099 differentially expressed mRNAs, 223 differentially expressed microRNAs and 94 differentially expressed proteins were integrated. In order to investigate the influence of miRNA on the processes of regulating mRNAs and proteins’ levels, potential targets of differentially expressed mRNAs and proteins were predicted using miRanda, TargetScan and Pictar. Multiple profiling datasets were integrated to facilitate the identification of miRNA targets, as well as differentially expressed mRNAs and proteins. Through gene ontology (GO) analysis of differentially expressed mRNAs and proteins, biological processes that drive proliferation were identified, such as mRNA processing and translation. Western blot and Q-PCR confirmed AK4 protein and mRNA up-regulation. The findings also showed that TAGLN’s protein and mRNA level were down-regulated in SLE-iPSCs, both miR-371a-5p and let-7a-5p in SLE-iPSC were down-regulated and verified using Q-PCR. The up-regulation of AK4 involved in nucleotide biosynthesis suggested a general acceleration of anabolic metabolism induced by down-regulated miR-371a-5p, which might contribute to SLE. Conclusion Based on high throughput analysis, integrated miRNA, mRNA, and protein expression data were generated. Differentially expressed dates were also adopted in conjunction with in-silico tools to identify potential candidates for SLE-iPSCs. Representative miRNA, mRNA and proteins were verified. It was also expected that the knowledge gained from this study can be applied to assess the usefulness of pathogenesis and novel biomarker candidates of SLE, which may develop a new way for SLE diagnosis. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2809-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small RNA molecules that are implicated in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression during development. The discovery and understanding of miRNAs has revolutionized the traditional view of gene expression. Alport syndrome (AS) is an inherited disorder of type IV collagen, which most commonly leads to glomerulonephritis and kidney failure. Patients with AS inevitably reach end-stage renal disease and require renal replacement therapy, starting in young adulthood. In this study, Solexa sequencing was used to identify and quantitatively profile small RNAs from an AS family. We identified 30 known miRNAs that showed a significant change in expression between two individuals. Nineteen miRNAs were up-regulated and eleven were down-regulated. Forty-nine novel miRNAs showed significantly different levels of expression between two individuals. Gene target predictions for the miRNAs revealed that high ranking target genes were implicated in cell, cell part and cellular process categories. The purine metabolism pathway and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway were enriched by the largest number of target genes. These results strengthen the notion that miRNAs and their target genes are involved in AS and the data advance our understanding of miRNA function in the pathogenesis of AS.

Activation of the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM-2) regulates myeloid cell function in vitro. However, the failure to detect TREM-2 protein expression in vivo has hampered studies on immunological and other physiological TREM-2 functions. This study demonstrates that TREM-2 is expressed by human mesenchymal stem cells (h-MSCs) and responds to the toll-like receptor (TLR) ligand lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Knockdown of TREM-2 in h-MSCs using a small interfering RNA (siRNA) reduced the expression levels of TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6, inhibited osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic differentiation under specific induction conditions, and enhanced LPS-evoked inflammatory cytokine production. Thus, activation of TREM-2 may restrain h-MSC immune activation and promote differentiation for tissue repair.

Our aim in this study was to identify and examine the differential expression of microRNAs in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).We employed high-quality, high-throughput Solexa sequencing to clone and identify microRNAs in SLE patients and a control group.From the sequencing data, we identified numerous microRNAs displaying significantly different levels of expression in patients with SLE and in healthy controls. The 212 and 199 microRNAs were upregulated and downregulated, respectively. Only 61 novel microRNAs exhibited significantly different levels of expression in the two groups. The target genes of the novel microRNAs identified in the SLE group were found to have cell metabolism functions. We also analyzed the chromosomal locations of the microRNAs with high level of expression between the two groups. A profile comparison revealed that the majority of transcripts were expressed at a similar level. The functional classes of the most abundant microRNAs were equally represented on each chromosome.We identified novel and known microRNAs significantly enhancing our understanding of the microRNA expression profiles of SLE patients. These data also provide insight into the function of microRNAs in SLE and provide new strategies for future therapies.

In this paper, the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Acrossocheilus parallens was determined. The circle genome (16 591 bp) comprises 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and one control region. The overall base composition of A. parallens is 30.9% for A, 28.1% for C, 24.6% for T, and 16.4% for G, with a higher AT content of 55.5%. Only ND6 and other eight tRNA genes are encoded on the L-strand while most of these genes are located in the H-strand. It has the typical vertebrate mitochondrial gene arrangement. The phylogenetic trees showed that A. parallens was clustered with other species of Acrossocheilus. The complete mitochondrial genomic sequence of A. parallens would contribute for the better understanding of genetic structure, identification, evolution and phylogeny of this species.

Rejection is still a major obstacle in long-term allograft survival of renal transplant recipients. Long non‑coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are an important class of pervasive RNAs involved in a variety of biological functions, and which are often found to be differentially expressed between healthy and pathological conditions. The aim of this study was to compare the expression profiles of lncRNAs between samples from acute rejection following kidney transplantation and control samples. Three patients were enrolled, diagnosed by renal biopsy with acute rejection upon kidney transplantation. We used lncRNA microarrays to study the lncRNA expression profiles in the kidney biopsies of these patients and in kidneys from healthy donors. Reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to validate the microarray results. In addition, potential functions of the identified lncRNAs were further explored by searching the UCSC, RNAdb, RefSeq and NRED databases. Five candidate lncRNAs displaying differential expression in acute rejection samples were validated by RT-qPCR. The results were in agreement with the microarray data. Among the identified lncRNAs, certain have been previously identified in relevant conditions, thereby supporting previous evidence, but certain may constitute novel biomarker candidates. This is the first report to date using lncRNA microarrays to identify unique expression signatures of acute rejection in transplant biopsies. Our data indicate that lncRNAs are potentially involved in the pathogenesis of acute rejection. Our results may have important implications in the identification of diagnostic biomarkers, as well as in the understanding and treatment of acute rejection following renal transplantation.

Background: Aspergillus infection was mostly reported with high mortality rates and a bad prognosis in immunocompromised patients, but data were lacking on the clinical characteristics of aspergillus infection in liver cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to retrospectively assess the morbidity and mortality rate, clinical manifestation, risk factors, and medication of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in liver cirrhosis in The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University. Methods: Patients with liver cirrhosis who had been diagnosed with proven or probable IPA by clinical and laboratory parameters from 1st December 2008 to 1st May2012 were retrospectively evaluated for predisposing factors for IPA and clinical outcome. The follow up ended on 30th July2012. IPA was defined according to European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer/Mysoses Study group criteria. Results: In total, 6,600 patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled, and 19 out of these developed IPA. Seventeen out of 19 patients died. Imaging findings such as the halo sign and lower respiratory tract infection symptoms contributed to the early diagnosis of IPA. Possible risk factors for IPA included a high Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score, broad antibiotic usage and steroid exposure. The use of antifungal compounds may prolong a patient’s life. Conclusions: The mortality of liver cirrhosis with IPA is high. Liver cirrhosis should be considered a risk factor of IPA. Once patients with high CTP scores and steroid and broad spectrum antibiotics exposure present cough and fever, IPA should be taken into consideration and antifungal agents should be used as soon as possible.

Background Pure 1, 3-diacylglycerols (1, 3-DAG) have been considered to be significant surfactants in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, as well as the effect on obesity prevention. Methods In this study, a vacuum-driven air bubbling operation mode was developed and evaluated for the enzymatic synthesis of 1, 3-DAG of saturated fatty acids, by direct esterification of glycerol with fatty acids in a solvent-free system. The employed vacuum-driven air bubbling operation mode was comparable to vacuum-driven N2 bubbling protocol, in terms of lauric acid conversion and 1, 3-dilaurin content. Results Some operation parameters were optimized, and 95.3% of lauric acid conversion and 80.3% of 1, 3-dilaurin content was obtained after 3-h reaction at 50°C, with 5 wt% of Lipozyme RM IM (based on reactants) amount. Of the lipases studied, both Lipozyme RM IM and Novozym 435 exhibited good performance in terms of lauric acid conversion. Lipozyme TL IM, however, showed low activity. Lipozyme RM IM showed good operational stability in this operation protocol, 80.2% of the original catalytic activity remained after 10 consecutive batch applications. Some other 1, 3-DAG were prepared and high content was obtained after purification: 98.5% for 1, 3-dicaprylin, 99.2% for 1, 3-dicaprin, 99.1% for 1, 3-dilaurin, 99.5 for 1, 3-dipalmitin and 99.4% for 1, 3-disterin. Conclusion The established vacuum-driven air bubbling operation protocol had been demonstrated to be a simple-operating, cost-effective, application practical and efficient methodology for 1, 3-DAG preparation.

BackgroundBovine serum albumin (BSA) contains high affinity binding sites for several endogenous and exogenous compounds and has been used to replace human serum albumin (HSA), as these two compounds share a similar structure. Naringin palmitate is a modified product of naringin that is produced by an acylation reaction with palmitic acid, which is considered to be an effective substance for enhancing naringin lipophilicity. In this study, the interaction of naringin palmitate with BSA was characterised by spectroscopic and molecular docking techniques.Methodology/principal findingsThe goal of this study was to investigate the interactions between naringin palmitate and BSA under physiological conditions, and differences in naringin and naringin palmitate affinities for BSA were further compared and analysed. The formation of naringin palmitate-BSA was revealed by fluorescence quenching, and the Stern-Volmer quenching constant (KSV ) was found to decrease with increasing temperature, suggesting that a static quenching mechanism was involved. The changes in enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS) for the interaction were detected at -4.11 ± 0.18 kJ·mol(-1) and -76.59 ± 0.32 J·mol(-1)·K(-1), respectively, which indicated that the naringin palmitate-BSA interaction occurred mainly through van der Waals forces and hydrogen bond formation. The negative free energy change (ΔG) values of naringin palmitate at different temperatures suggested a spontaneous interaction. Circular dichroism studies revealed that the α-helical content of BSA decreased after interacting with naringin palmitate. Displacement studies suggested that naringin palmitate was partially bound to site I (subdomain IIA) of the BSA, which was also substantiated by the molecular docking studies.Conclusions/significanceIn conclusion, naringin palmitate was transported by BSA and was easily removed afterwards. As a consequence, an extension of naringin applications for use in food, cosmetic and medicinal preparations may be clinically and practically significant, especially in the design of new naringin palmitate-inspired drugs.

Protein phosphorylation is a complex regulatory event that is involved in the signaling networks that affect virtually every cellular process. The protein phosphorylation may be a novel source for discovering biomarkers and drug targets. However, a systematic analysis of the phosphoproteome in patients with SLE has not been performed. To clarify the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we compared phosphoprotein expression in PBMCs from SLE patients and normal subjects using proteomics analyses. Phosphopeptides were enriched using TiO2 from PBMCs isolated from 15 SLE patients and 15 healthy subjects and then analyzed by automated LC-MS/MS analysis. Phosphorylation sites were identified and quantitated by MASCOT and MaxQuant. A total of 1035 phosphorylation sites corresponding to 618 NCBI-annotated genes were identified in SLE patients compared with normal subjects. Differentially expressed proteins, peptides and phosphorylation sites were then subjected to bioinformatics analyses. Gene ontology(GO) and pathway analyses showed that nucleic acid metabolism, cellular component organization, transport and multicellular organismal development pathways made up the largest proportions of the differentially expressed genes. Pathway analyses showed that the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway and actin cytoskeleton regulators made up the largest proportions of the metabolic pathways. Network analysis showed that rous sarcoma oncogene (SRC), v-rel reticuloendotheliosis viral oncogene homolog A (RELA), histone deacetylase (HDA1C) and protein kinase C, delta (PRKCD) play important roles in the stability of the network. These data suggest that aberrant protein phosphorylation may contribute to SLE pathogenesis.

In this paper, the complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence of Mastacembelus armatus was determined. The mitochondrial genome is 16,486 bp in length, including 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and a noncoding control region as those found in other vertebrates, with the gene identical to that of typical vertebrates. The overall base composition of the heavy strand are 25.28% of A, 29.13% of T, 14.65% of C and 30.93% of G, with a slight AT bias of 54.41%. With the exception of ND6 and eight tRNA genes, all other mitochondrial genes are encoded on the heavy strand.