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Chronic pain management represents a serious healthcare problem worldwide. The use of opioid analgesics for pain has always been hampered by their side effects; in particular, the addictive liability associated with chronic use. Finding a morphine replacement has been a long-standing goal in the field of analgesia. In traditional Chinese medicine, processed Buthus martensii Karsch (BmK) scorpion has been used as a painkiller to treat chronic inflammatory arthritis and spondylitis, so called "Scorpio-analgesia". However, the molecular basis and the underline mechanism for the Scorpio-analgesia are still unclear.The study aims to investigate the molecular basis of "Scorpio analgesia" and identify novel analgesics from BmK scorpion.In this study, the analgesic abilities were determined using formalin-, acetic acid- and complete Freund's adjuvant-induced pain models. The effect of BmK venom and processed BmK venom on Nav1.7 were detected by whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings on HEK293-hNav1.7 stable cell line. Action potentials in Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons induced by Makatoxin-3-R58A were recorded in current-clamp mode. The content of Makatoxin-3 was detected using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on the Makatoxin-3 antibody. High performance liquid chromatography, western blot and circular dichroism spectroscopy were used to analysis the stability of Makatoxin-3.Here we demonstrate that Makatoxin-3, an α-like toxin in BmK scorpion venom targeting Nav1.7 is the critical component in Scorpio-analgesia. The analgesic effect of Makatoxin-3 could not be reversed by naloxone and is more potent than Nav1.7-selective inhibitors and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in inflammatory models. Moreover, a R58A mutant of Makatoxin-3 is capable of eliciting analgesia effect without inducing pain response.This study advances ion channel biology and proposes Nav1.7 agonists, rather than the presumed Nav1.7-only blockers, for non-narcotic relief of chronic pain.

To quantify the relationship between the soil organic matter and color parameters using the CIE-Lab system, 62 soil samples (0–10 cm, Ferralic Acrisols) from tea plantations were collected from southern China. After air-drying and sieving, numerical color information and reflectance spectra of soil samples were measured under laboratory conditions using an UltraScan VIS (HunterLab) spectrophotometer equipped with CIE-Lab color models. We found that soil total organic carbon (TOC) and nitrogen (TN) contents were negatively correlated with the L* value (lightness) (r = –0.84 and –0.80, respectively), a* value (correlation coefficient r = –0.51 and –0.46, respectively) and b* value (r = –0.76 and –0.70, respectively). There were also linear regressions between TOC and TN contents with the L* value and b* value. Results showed that color parameters from a spectrophotometer equipped with CIE-Lab color models can predict TOC contents well for soils in tea plantations. The linear regression model between color values and soil organic carbon contents showed it can be used as a rapid, cost-effective method to evaluate content of soil organic matter in Chinese tea plantations.

Tea (Camellia sinensis), an economically important crop grown in mountain regions, has been planted for thousands of years in South China. Tea plantations can potentially act as carbon (C) sink in local agrosystems due to their high plant biomass and provide soil conservation service. To assess the contribution of tea plantations to C sequestration, the chronosequence variations of C storage were assessed in the plants and soils (0–20 cm) of tea plantations in China from 1950 to 2010, and then the inter–annual and decadal variabilities of total C storage were estimated. Total C stocks in tea plants and soils in 2010 were 34.4 and 93.45 Tg, respectively. Carbon sequestration from 1950 to 2010 was 30.6 and 39.0 Tg in the plants and soils, respectively. The highest C sequestration happened during the 1980s and the lowest during the 1950s. The decadal average C sequestration rate ranged from 20.4 to 113.9 g m−2 year−1 in the standing tea plants, and from 54.6 to 98.8 g m−2 year−1 in soils during the period of 1950 to 2010. The average ratio of C storage in soils to that in plants was 3.00 ± 0.35 before 1970 and 2.44 ± 0.18 after 1970. The results suggested that tea plantation ecosystems made an important contribution to the C sinks in Chinese tea–producing regions.

Parkinson’s disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying dopaminergic neuronal degeneration in PD remain unclear, neuroinflammation is considered as the vital mediator in the pathogenesis and progression of PD. Bushen-Yizhi Formula (BSYZ), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been demonstrated to exert antineuroinflammation in our previous studies. However, it remains unclear whether BSYZ is effective for PD. Here, we sought to assess the neuroprotective effects and explore the underlying mechanisms of BSYZ in a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine- (MPTP-) induced mouse model of PD. Our results indicate that BSYZ significantly alleviates the motor impairments and dopaminergic neuron degeneration of MPTP-treated mice. Furthermore, BSYZ remarkably attenuates microglia activation, inhibits NLPR3 activation, and decreases the levels of inflammatory cytokines in MPTP-induced mouse brain. Also, BSYZ inhibits NLRP3 activation and interleukin-1βproduction of the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-pyridinium (MPP+) stimulated BV-2 microglia cells. Taken together, our results indicate that BSYZ alleviates MPTP-induced neuroinflammation probably via inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation in microglia. Collectively, BSYZ may be a potential therapeutic agent for PD and the related neurodegeneration diseases.

Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are the key and early events during the pathological process of Parkinson's disease (PD). Thus, therapeutic intervention to regulate oxidative stress and neuroinflammation would be an effective strategy to alleviate the progression of PD. Astragaloside IV, the main active component isolated from Astragalus membranaceus, has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties in neurodegeneration diseases, however, the molecular mechanisms of Astragaloside IV in the pathology of PD are still unclear. In this study, we explored the mechanisms of Astragaloside IV of PD on 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced mice model and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BV2 microglia cells. Our results showed Astragaloside IV significantly alleviated behavioral impairments and dopaminergic neuron degeneration induced by MPTP. Also, Astragaloside IV inhibited microglia activation and reduced the oxidative stress of MPTP mouse model. In addition, Astragaloside IV significantly inhibited NFκB mediated NLRP3 inflammasome activation and activated Nrf2 both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, Astragaloside IV lessened reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in LPS-induced BV2 microglia cells remarkably. These findings demonstrate that Astragaloside IV protects dopaminergic neuron from neuroinflammation and oxidative stress which are largely dependent upon activation of the Nrf2 pathways and suppression of NFκB/NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathway. Therefore, Astragaloside IV is a promising neuroprotective agent that should be further developed for neurodegeneration diseases.

In order to examine the intensity of surficial sediment resuspension in Lake Taihu, a large shallow lake in eastern China, suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs) were measured on the basis of analysis of water samples collected using an innovative multi-level water sampler. The results show that under calm weather conditions, the SSC is relatively homogenous through the entire water column. However, when strong winds occur, the SSC in the bottom layer is 1–2 orders of magnitude greater than in the surface layer; thus, in this case, the amount of total suspended matter in the water column cannot be estimated using the SSC values of the surface layer alone. Furthermore, the depth of disturbance, or the thickness of the sediment layer that is set in motion by wind-wave induced currents, is of the order of 100 mm.