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According to hard and soft acid base theory, a novel 3D butterfly shaped Eu4(OH)2 cluster-based metal organic framework with lewis basic triazole sites is successfully obtained and shows sensitive luminescence quenching responses to organic amines.

The effective detection of organic amines is particularly important for environmental protection and human health. Herein, according to hard and soft acid base theory, a novel three-dimensional (3D) butterfly shaped Eu

Aloperine (ALO), a quinolizidine alkaloid extracted from Sophora alopecuroides L., modulates hypertension, ventricular remodeling, and myocardial ischemia. However, few studies have evaluated the effects of ALO on other cardiovascular parameters. Accordingly, in this study, we used a rat model of aconitine-induced ventricular arrhythmia to assess the effects of ALO. Notably, ALO pretreatment delayed the onset of ventricular premature and ventricular tachycardia and reduced the incidence of fatal ventricular fibrillation. Moreover, whole-cell patch-clamp assays in rats’ ventricular myocyte showed that ALO (3, 10, and 30 μM) significantly reduced the peak sodium current density of voltage-gated Na+ channel currents (INa) in a concentration-dependent manner. The gating kinetics characteristics showed that the steady-state activation and recovery curve were shifted in positive direction along the voltage axis, respectively, and the steady-state inactivation curve was shifted in negative direction along the voltage axis, i.e., which was similar to the inhibitory effects of amiodarone. These results indicated that ALO had anti-arrhythmic effects, partly attributed to INa inhibition. ALO may act as a class I sodium channel anti-arrhythmia agent.

Organic heterojunctions are widely used in organic electronics and they are composed of semiconductors interfaced together. Good ordering in the molecular packing inside the heterojunctions is highly desired but it is still challenging to interface organic single crystals to form single-crystalline heterojunctions. Here, we describe how organic heterojunctions are formed by interfacing two single crystals from a droplet of a mixed solution containing two semiconductors. Based on crystallization of six organic semiconductors from a droplet on a substrate, two distinct crystallization mechanisms have been recognized in the sense that crystals form at either the top interface between the air and solution or the bottom interface between the substrate and solution. The preference for one interface rather than the other depends on the semiconductor-substrate pair and, for a given semiconductor, it can be switched by changing the substrate, suggesting that the preference is associated with the semiconductor-substrate molecular interaction. Furthermore, simultaneous crystallization of two semiconductors at two different interfaces to reduce their mutual disturbance results in the formation of bilayer single crystals interfaced together for organic heterojunctions. These single-crystalline heterojunctions exhibit ambipolar charge transport in field-effect transistors, with the highest electron mobility of 1.90 cm2 V-1 s-1 and the highest hole mobility of 1.02 cm2 V-1 s-1. Hence, by elucidating the interfacial crystallization events, this work should greatly harvest the solution-grown organic single-crystalline heterojunctions.

Aloperine (ALO), a quinolizidine alkaloid extracted from Sophora alopecuroides L., modulates hypertension, ventricular remodeling, and myocardial ischemia. However, few studies have evaluated the effects of ALO on other cardiovascular parameters. Accordingly, in this study, we used a rat model of aconitine-induced ventricular arrhythmia to assess the effects of ALO. Notably, ALO pretreatment delayed the onset of ventricular premature and ventricular tachycardia and reduced the incidence of fatal ventricular fibrillation. Moreover, whole-cell patch-clamp assays in rats' ventricular myocyte showed that ALO (3, 10, and 30 μM) significantly reduced the peak sodium current density of voltage-gated Na

Here, we propose the use of carboxyl-functionalized ionic liquid, [Hbet][Tf

LeAN2 is an anthocyanin-associated R2R3-MYB transcription factor, but little is known about its function in imparting thermo-tolerance to higher plants. To examine the function of LeAN2 in the regulation of heat stress in tomato, LeAN2 was isolated and transgenic tomato plants were obtained. Overexpression of LeAN2 under the control of the CaMV35S promoter in tomato induced the up-regulation of several structural genes in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway as well as anthocyanin accumulation in transgenic tomato plants. Transgenic tomato plants showed enhanced tolerance to heat stress by maintaining higher fresh weight (FW), net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and maximal photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) (Fv/Fm) compared with wild-type (WT) plants. Furthermore, transgenic plants showed higher non-enzymatic antioxidant activity, lower levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and higher contents of D1 protein than that in WT plants under heat stress. These results indicate that LeAN2 had an important function in heat stress resistance.

ICE1 (inducer of CBF expression 1), a MYC-type bHLH transcription factor, is an important activator of CBF3/DREB1A for regulating cold signaling and stress tolerance. In this study, we isolated the novel ICE1-like gene SlICE1a from tomato which contains the conserved bHLH domain, an S-rich motif, and ACT-domain. It is localized in the nucleus and harbors transcription-activating activity in the N-terminal. In addition, the SlICE1a transcript is slightly upregulated by cold stress, salt stress, and osmotic stress. SlICE1a overexpression in tobacco enhances the induction of CBF/DREB and their target genes, consequently increasing the levels of proline, soluble sugars, and late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins, and enhancing tolerance to cold stress, osmotic stress, and salt stress. SlICE1a functions in abiotic stress responses by regulating the expression of stress-tolerant genes, and is thus beneficial for crop improvement.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with high hydrolysis degree and poly(acrylamide) (PAM) was selected to encapsulate carbon black (CB) nanoparticles via a simple method of coacervation. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images clearly demonstrated that the successful encapsulation of the two polymers happened at the surfaces of CB nanoparticles. The particle size distribution measurements indicated that the majority of the obtained polymer-encapsulated CB (CB@polymer) nanoparticles has the nanoscale dimension, and that PVA is more suitable to prepare hydrophilic CB@polymer nanoparticles than PAM. The effect of the nonsolvent of PVA and the shear force during the encapsulation on the size of CB nanoparticles was discussed in detail.

The salt overly sensitive pathway has an important function in plant salinity tolerance. The enhancer of SOS3-1 (ENH1) participates in a new salinity stress pathway with SOS2 but without SOS3. To investigate the physiological effects and functional mechanism of ENH1 under salt stress, ENH1 was isolated from tomato and overexpressed in tobacco. Under salt stress, the sprouting percentage, fresh weight, and dry weight of transgenic plants were higher than those of wild-type (WT) plants. Under salt stress, the chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, and maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII in transgenic plants decreased more slowly than those in WT plants. The overexpression of LeENH1 in tobacco excluded Na(+) from the cytosol and retained high K(+) levels in the cytosol to reestablish ion homeostasis. Higher thylakoid-bound ascorbate peroxidase activity and lower reactive oxygen species levels were found in transgenic plants under salt stress.

To investigate the clinical significance of dynamic changes of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Cr), serum cystatin (Cys C) and urinary protein on renal injury with paraquat poisoning.According to the clinical manifestation and curative effect, the clinical information was analyzed retrospectively in 35 cases of acute paraquat poisoning, survival after eight weeks as the standard. Poisoning patients were taken a fasting blood 5 ml and the middle of urinary on the 1st day, 3rd day, 7th day, 14th day, 21st day and 8 weeks after the poisoning. Then the levels of serum BUN, Cr, Cys C and urinary protein were detected by automatic biochemistry analyzer. 30 cases healthy subjects were randomly selected as normal control group, and discharged kidney disease and other diseases of urinary system history. The same laboratory subjects have been done.The level of serum Bun, Cr, Cys C of survival group increased significantly compared with control group within 21 days (P0.05). The level of serum BUN, Cr Cys C decreased on the 14th day. The decreased level of serum Cys C was lower than that of serum BUN and Cr. The renal function of 29 cases among 35 cases survival patients recovered on 21st day. The renal function of 31 cases among 35 cases survival patients recovered 8 weeks late. The positive rate of urinary protein of survival patients was high in the early intoxication (76.9%).Serum Cys C is sensitive indicator to reveal the kidney injury on paraquat poisoning patients and have higher value of clinical applications in the diagnosis of the kidney injury of paraquat poisoning, which sensitivity is higher than serum BUN and Cr. The kidney injury caused by paraquat poisoning is reversible.

The antennal sensilla of both genders of macropterous and brachypterous adults of the small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus (Fallen) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) were examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. Scanning electron microscopy revealed seven types of antennal sensilla in adult L. striatellus which were not evenly distributed on all antennal segments. Sensilla chaetica, a sensillum campaniformium and a Bohm bristle were found on the scape. Sensilla chaetica, sensilla trichodea, sensilla placodea which always present as plaque organs, sensilla basiconica and a sensillum campaniformium were present on the pedicel. Three sensilla basiconica and one sensillum coeloconicum containing two sensory pegs were located on the swollen sensory region of the basal flagellum. Pores observed on the surface of s. trichodea and s. placodea suggest these organs probably play a role in olfaction, whereas the aporous s. chaetica with flexible sockets probably function as mechanoreceptors. The aporous s. basiconica with inflexible sockets are probable to be thermo-hygroreceptors while the Bohm bristle and s. campaniformia may act as antennal proprioceptors. The function of s. coeloconicum remains uncertain. The numerical dominance of antennal olfactory receptors suggests olfaction is an important function of the antenna in L. striatellus. Although a small degree of sexual/wing dimorphism was observed in the numbers of sensilla and in the length and width of antennae and antennal segments, the basic shape and structure of the antennae and antennal sensilla did not differ between the gender or wing form in L. striatellus.

To study the suppressive effect of LRRC4 gene on human glioma U251 cells and further investigate its biological functions.HE, DNA and AgNORs stainings were performed on LRRC4-transfected U251 cells, mock-transfected U251 cells and non-transfected U251 cells, respectively. Quantitative analysis including cell morphometry, DNA content, DNA ploidy, silver stained argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) were investigated by image analysis. Flow cytometry was employed to determine the difference of cell cycle distribution and MTT staining was used to elucidate the activity of the LRRC4-transfected U251 cells.The morphological cell parameters such as area, perimeter and diameter, DNA content, chromosomal aneupoloidy, mean area of AgNORs particles and mean nucleus area of the LRRC4-transfected U251 cells were remarkably decreased compared to those of the mock-transfected and non-transfected U251 cells (P0.05, P0.01). Meanwhile, significant accumulation of cells in G(0)/G(1) phase but decrease of cells in S and G(2)/M phase, was observed in transfected U251 cells compared to those of the mock-transfected and non-transfected U251 cells (P0.05, P0.01). MTT staining showed that proliferation activity of both the mock- and non-trasfected U251 cells was significantly higher than that of the U251 cells transfected with LRRC4 gene (P0.01).LRRC4 gene might be involved in tumor suppression by restraining DNA synthesis and the nucleoli organizer regions-associated proteins, keeping the cell cycles in phase G(0)/G(1) and reducing proliferation activity of the glioma cells. Morphometry combined with other techniques such as flow cytometry and MTT staining can well elucidate the biological function of novel genes.

LRRC4 is a novel relatively specific gene, which displays significant down-regulation in primary brain tumor biopsies and has the potential to suppress brain tumor growth. In this study, we investigated the growth inhibitory effect of LRRC4 on tumorigencity in vivo and on cell proliferation in vitro by a tetracycline-inducible expression system. Results showed that LRRC4 significantly reduced the growth and malignant grade of xenografts arising from glioblastoma U251MG cells. Cell proliferation was markedly inhibited after U251MG Tet-on-LRRC4 cell induction with doxycycline. Flow cytometry and Western blot analysis demonstrated that LRRC4 mediated a delay of the cell cycle in late G1, possibly through up-regulating the expressions of p21Waf1/cip1 and p27Kip1 and down-regulating the expressions of cyclin-dependent kinase 2, retinoblastoma protein and epidermal growth factor receptors. Together, these findings provide clues to the function of LRRC4 as a negative regulator of cell growth and underscore a link between the above-mentioned cyclins, cyclin-associated molecules and tumorigenicity.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) poses one of the serious health problems in southern Chinese, with an incidence rate ranging from 15 to 50/100,000. Chromosome translocation t(1;3) and frequent loss of heterogeneity on short arms of chromosome 3 and 9 have been reported to be associated with NPC, and a genome-wide scan identified an NPC susceptibility locus on chromosome 4p15.1-q12 recently. In our study, we collected samples from 18 families at high risk of NPC from the Hunan province in southern China, genotyped with a panel of polymorphic markers on short arms of chromosomes 3, 9, and 4p15.1-q12. A locus on 3p21 was identified to link to NPC with a maximum logarithm of odds for linkage score of 4.18. Fine mapping located the locus to a 13.6-cM region on 3p21.31-21.2, where a tumor suppressor gene cluster resided. Our findings identified a novel locus for NPC and provided a map location for susceptibility genes candidates. In contrast to a recent study, no significant evidence for NPC linkage to chromosomes 4 and 9 was observed.

LRRC4 is a novel gene that the author has identified recently, which displayed significant downregulation in primary brain tumor biopsies. This study was designed to investigate if LRRC4 has the potential of suppressing brain tumor growth.The full-length coding region of LRRC4 gene was subcloned into the expression vector pcDNA3.1, the recombinant was introduced into the glioblastoma cell line U251 by liposome transfection, and the U251 cells stably expressing LRRC4 gene were established by G418 selection. Furthermore, cell proliferation assay, soft agar assay, tumorigenesis assay were taken to examine the effect of LRRC4 expression on cell growth and tumor formation.U251 cells stably expressing full-length coding region of LRRC4 were established by lipofection-mediated transfection and selected for further study. Compared with the nontransfected and vector-transfected cells, the cells transfected with LRRC4 cDNA exhibited a significant increase of expression of LRRC4 mRNA by Northern blot analysis. Further, when cell proliferation was followed over several days, the cells expressing the transfected LRRC4 cDNA grew more slowly than nontransfected cells. Consistently, the cells transfected with LRRC4 exhibited markedly lower colony formation rate. These clones were injected into athymic nude mice who was killed after 40 days and the tumor sizes were evaluated. Tumor volume in mice was significantly smaller in the group of cells stably transfected with LRRC4 cDNA than in the control.LRRC4 gene may be transfected into the human glioblastoma cell line U251. The expression of LRRC4 in U251 cells may have the potential to suppress tumor cell growth and the tumorigenesis of U251 cell transplanted in nude mice.

This study was designed to identify differential expression patterns in tumor and normal tissues of the human novel gene, UBAP1, a putative nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) relate gene, which is located at human chromosome 9p21-22 where loss of heterozygosity frequently occurs in NPC.Based on the generation of expressed sequence tags (ESTs), in the authors' electronic Northern blot, complete cDNA of ubap1 gene was taken as a "probe" sequence, and human EST Database search of GenBank was carried out using BLASTn programs. A report generated in a BLAST search of ubap1 gene sequence against an EST database consisting of such 'pedigree' ESTs allows the inference of the gene's tissue distribution. Furthermore, differential RT-PCR was used to describe the expression patterns of ubap1 in partial tumor tissues.Database surveys indicated ubap1 gene was not only ubiquitously expressed in many normal tissues with various levels but also differentially expressed in different tumor tissues, especially down-regulated in multiple neoplastic tissues such as brain, breast, skin, colon, testis, and uterus tumor tissues. Furthermore, differential RT-PCR analysis demonstrated expression of ubap1 was down-regulated or absent in 7 of 11(64%) meningioma samples and 13 of 18 (72%) colorectal tumor tissues respectively.The authors present an EST approach that proved to be useful for the identification of differential expression patterns of ubap1 in different tumors. These findings could be valuable for the investigation of the mechanism of UBAP1 gene exhibiting differential expression, potentially involved in the progression of multiple cancers.

The 9p21-22 region shows loss of heterozygosity in up to 60% of human nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC), indicating the presence of a tumor suppressor gene in this region. We have identified a novel minimal common deletion region at 9p21-22. Twenty-two epithelial-derived expressed sequence tags (ESTs) in this critical region were systematically screened by differential RT-PCR to investigate the expression patterns in NPC cell line HNE1 and primary cultures of normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. One of these ESTs was found down-expressed in HNE1, whose differential expression was confirmed by Northern blot. Subsequently the corresponding gene sequence for this EST was established by cDNA cloning and RACE procedures (GenBank Accession No.AF222043). Furthermore, a mouse homologueof this gene was identified (GenBank Accession No.AF275549). This gene is 2.7 kb long and contains two UBA domains. It is a new member of UBA domain protein family, encoding a putative protein of 502 amino acids with a theoretical molecular mass of 55 kD, so we have named this gene UBAP1 for ubiquitin associated protein 1 (HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee-approved symbol). Northern blot and RT-PCR analysis demonstrated a ubiquitous pattern of gene expression in human and mouse tissues. Direct sequencing analysis of the coding region of hUBAP1 following RT-PCR failed to reveal any mutations in a preliminary screening of NPC cell line HNE1 and primary nasopharyngeal carcinomas samples. However, more detailed analysis is to be performed to reveal if fine mutations of this gene are present in NPC.

In search of mechanisms of function of NAG7 gene, a powerful new tool for the unambiguous characterization of gel-separated proteins is accomplished by the combination of mass spectrometry and sequence database searching. NAG7, a novel putative tumor suppressor gene, located on 3p25.3, was introduced into HNE1 cells by liposome transfection. We used two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) to identify proteins that were overexpressed in NAG7 transfected cells. After staining and image analysis, spots of interest were isolated and subjected to mass spectrometry (MS). We found nine proteins, which up-regulated in NAG7 transfected cells and be identified by MS. These proteins included growth arrest specific protein, DNA binding protein, c-myc promoter-binding protein and caspase 6 etc., which involved in cell cycling, transcription regulation, and apoptosis. NAG7 may exert the function by up-regulating the expression of these proteins.

In the previous study, we cloned a new gene, named NGX6, related to nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) at 9p. To study its function in the pathogenesis of NPC, we have investigated changes in protein synthesis between NPC cell line HNE1 and that transfected with the gene. Using high-resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis, we found that 22 protein spots showed variations that were significant and reproducible. Analysis of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and database searches identified seven proteins that were upregulated and seven proteins that were downregulated. These proteins included Fas, zinc-finger protein (ZNF), RAB, and Ah receptor-interacting protein (AIP). The functional implications of the identified proteins are discussed.

@@ Urinary incontinence is a common problem, usually classified as stress incontinence or urge incontinence[1]. With the development of medical science, people have got more and more profound knowledge towards urinary incontinence. We treated urinary incontinence with electroacupuncture since 2006, and now reported it as follows.