Radix Astragalus has been shown to exert beneficial effects regarding the prevention postmenopausal osteoporosis. However, its mechanism of action remains to be investigated. Calycosin, formononetin, ...and calycosin‐7‐O‐β‐d‐glucoside are the main isoflavone constituents of Astragalus. In this study, the abilities of these 3 compounds to promote osteogenic function of osteoblasts were compared, and the structure–activity relationships of these osteotrophic isoflavones were determined. Calycosin exhibited a greater effect than formononetin and calycosin‐7‐O‐β‐d‐glucoside regarding improvements in osteogenic function of osteoblasts, as demonstrated by cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity, collagen I and osteocalcin secretion, and the number and area of mineralized bone nodules. This suggests that calycosin may be better than formononetin and calycosin‐7‐O‐β‐d‐glucoside at preserving bone mass. In addition, calycosin, formononetin, and calycosin‐7‐O‐β‐d‐glucoside stimulate the expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2 and runt‐related transcription factor 2 proteins, which indicates that all 3 agents may promote the osteogenesis of osteoblasts via regulation of bone morphogenetic protein 2 expression. In conclusion, calycosin may be the best candidate, with higher osteogenic activity than formononetin and calycosin‐7‐O‐β‐d‐glucoside. The higher osteogenic activity of calycosin could be attributable to the superiority of its chemical structure (a hydroxyl group at position C3 of Ring B and no glucosyl group).
Microbial tolerance to phenolic pollutants is the key to their efficient biodegradation. However, the metabolic mechanisms that allow some microorganisms to adapt to high phenol concentrations remain ...unclear. In this study, to reveal the underlying mechanisms of how
Burkholderia
sp. adapt to high phenol concentrations, the strain’s tolerance ability and time-course transcriptome in combination with cell phenotype were evaluated. Surprisingly,
Burkholderia
sp. still grew normally after a long adaptation to a relatively high phenol concentration (1500 mg/L) and exhibited some time-dependent changes compared to unstressed cells prior to the phenol addition. Time-course transcriptome analysis results revealed that the mechanism of adaptations to phenol was an evolutionary process that transitioned from tolerance to positive degradation through precise gene regulation at appropriate times. Specifically, basal stress gene expression was upregulated and contributed to phenol tolerance, which involved stress, DNA repair, membrane, efflux pump and antioxidant protein-coding genes, while a phenol degradation gene cluster was specifically induced. Interestingly, both the catechol and protocatechuate branches of the β-ketoadipate pathway contributed to the early stage of phenol degradation, but only the catechol branch was used in the late stage. In addition, pathways involving flagella, chemotaxis, ATP-binding cassette transporters and two-component systems were positively associated with strain survival under phenolic stress. This study provides the first insights into the specific response of
Burkholderia
sp. to high phenol stress and shows potential for application in remediation of polluted environments.
Key points
• Shock, DNA repair and antioxidant-related genes contributed to phenol tolerance.
• β-Ketoadipate pathway branches differed at different stages of phenol degradation.
• Adaptation mechanisms transitioned from negative tolerance to positive degradation.
Magnetic materials with desired architectures and high performance have become increasingly important for applications. In this work, NiZn ferrites with mesh structures have been successfully ...fabricated from preliminary precursors by three-dimensional (3D) printing accompanied by the solid-state reaction. The influence of compositions on structural and magnetic properties of NiZn ferrites were systematically investigated. It was obvious that the saturation magnetization was significantly enhanced to 77 emu/g for NiZn ferrites with a zinc concentration of 0.4, which was a much higher value compared to Ni ferrites. This is attributed not only to the well-known cationic distribution, but also to the grain growth with extraordinarily high crystallinity. Consequently, NiZn ferrites with intricate mesh structures were utilized for magnetic separation, and the distributions of magnetic flux density were simulated. Overall, the fabrication of NiZn ferrites by 3D printing is attractive for scaled-up applications, and also paves the promising avenue for magnetic separation.
A series of benzamide derivatives such as 1-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-ylcarbonyl) piperidine (1-BCP) were synthesized by the reaction of substituted benzoic acids with piperidine, morpholine or pyrrolidine ...using a novel method. The crystals of these benzamide derivatives were obtained by recrystallization. Structures of target and intermediate compounds were determined via FT-IR, 1H-NMR and elemental analysis and X-ray crystallography of select examples. The crystal structures of these compounds have potential applications to identify the binding site for allosteric modulators of the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) receptor. The anti-fatigue effects of the benzamide derivatives in weight-loaded forced swimming mice were investigated in a swimming endurance capacity test used as an indicator of fatigue. The swimming times to exhaustion were longer in the b3, d3, and e3 groups than in the caffeine group (p<0.05). In conclusion, b3, d3 and e3 enhanced the forced swimming capacity of mice. The mechanism of the anti-fatigue effects will be studied in the future.
This study aims to explore the relationship between osteoarthritis and the trace elements zinc and copper and to provide a theoretical basis for research on the related mechanisms for the prevention, ...diagnosis, and treatment of osteoarthritis. We searched all the literature indexed in Web Of Science, Embase, and PubMed as of January 10, 2024, summarized the zinc and copper detection indexes in patients with osteoarthritis, obtained clinical data through literature screening, quality assessment, and data extraction, and analyzed the data using Revman 5.4. A total of 13 papers were included in this study, totaling 7983 study subjects. These were divided into osteoarthritis and healthy control groups. The results from the meta-analysis showed that in patients with osteoarthritis, circulating copper levels, but not zinc levels, were significantly higher compared to healthy individuals. The level of copper in the blood of patients with osteoarthritis is significantly higher than that of healthy people.
The uneven allocation of water resources and the shortage of regional water resources pose great challenges to the economic development and regional development balance of the Fujian province. ...Optimizing the water allocation structure in different regions can effectively alleviate water pressure. In this study, a type-2 fuzzy bi-level programming (T2FBL) method is proposed to plan the agricultural water resource system in the Fujian province. This method uses an improved fuzzy sorting algorithm to deal with uncertain parameters in the system and combines the bi-level programming method to balance the trade-off between two levels of decision-makers, the uncertain information contained in the secondary membership function omitted in the interval type-2 fuzzy theory is considered in the new ranking algorithm. Multiple scenarios related to different food security needs and different risk indices are examined. The major findings are as follows: (i) With an average tolerance of 75%, the average gross agricultural output value under various scenarios increased (0.4% ∼ 7%) (average 3.89%) after optimization. (ii) The regional water allocation scheme under different food demands and different water availability scenarios is calculated, and the results show that prioritizing adjustments to the industrial water distribution structure of Fuzhou and Zhangzhou will greatly relieve the water pressure in the Fujian province. (iii) The relationship between the availability of system water resources and economic benefits is given through the calculation results of the T2FBL model. These findings can provide an in-depth understanding of the interaction between agricultural, industrial and tertiary industry water allocation and provide technical support for agricultural water resource planning issues.
Display omitted
•The type-2 fuzzy sorting algorithm is improved.•T2 fuzzy theory is integrated into the bi-level programming method.•The relationship between system benefits and uncertainties in agricultural water allocation issues is revealed.•The needs of different levels of decision makers on agricultural water distribution systems are well balanced.•Multiple uncertainties inherent in agricultural water allocation systems are addressed through the developed T2FBL model.
The tracking control problem of nonholonomic mobile robots with uncertainties is investigated in this paper. Based on the visual feedback and the state and input transformations, we obtain a new ...uncertain model of nonholonomic kinematic system in the image plane for a kind of mobile robot firstly, which is a new kind of chained form with uncertainties. Then based on the idea of backstepping and the structure of tracking error system, two new transformations are used. Barbalat theorem and Lyapunov techniques are exploited to design a new adaptive dynamic feedback robust controller that enables tracking the desired trajectory of the mobile robot despite the lack of depth information and the lack of precise visual parameters. The convergence of the error system by using the adaptive method is proved rigorously. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method finally.
Radix Astragalus has been shown to exert beneficial effects regarding the prevention postmenopausal osteoporosis. However, its mechanism of action remains to be investigated. Calycosin, formononetin, ...and calycosin‐7‐
O
‐β‐
d
‐glucoside are the main isoflavone constituents of Astragalus. In this study, the abilities of these 3 compounds to promote osteogenic function of osteoblasts were compared, and the structure–activity relationships of these osteotrophic isoflavones were determined. Calycosin exhibited a greater effect than formononetin and calycosin‐7‐
O
‐β‐
d
‐glucoside regarding improvements in osteogenic function of osteoblasts, as demonstrated by cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity, collagen I and osteocalcin secretion, and the number and area of mineralized bone nodules. This suggests that calycosin may be better than formononetin and calycosin‐7‐
O
‐β‐
d
‐glucoside at preserving bone mass. In addition, calycosin, formononetin, and calycosin‐7‐
O
‐β‐
d
‐glucoside stimulate the expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2 and runt‐related transcription factor 2 proteins, which indicates that all 3 agents may promote the osteogenesis of osteoblasts via regulation of bone morphogenetic protein 2 expression. In conclusion, calycosin may be the best candidate, with higher osteogenic activity than formononetin and calycosin‐7‐
O
‐β‐
d
‐glucoside. The higher osteogenic activity of calycosin could be attributable to the superiority of its chemical structure (a hydroxyl group at position C3 of Ring B and no glucosyl group).
Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks third in incidence and second in mortality among all types of cancer, and due to its insidious onset and lack of early symptoms, it is usually diagnosed at a later ...stage. Saponins, a class of compounds abundant in plants, have been reported to possess prominent anti-tumour properties. The use of ginsenoside Rg3 in the clinical setting was authorized by the National Medicinal Products Administration of China. In the present study, total saponins from Rhizoma Panacis Majoris (RPMTG) were prepared, and the pharmacological mechanisms underlying the anti-CRC effects of RPMTG were investigated. The effect of RPMTG on the proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis of HCT116 and SW620 cells were detected by MTT, flow cytometry and western blotting assays, and it was demonstrated that RPMTG could inhibit the proliferation of HCT116 and SW620 cells with IC50 values of 315.8 and 355.1 microg/ml, respectively, induce cell cycle arrest in the S and G.sub.0/G.sub.1 phase, and trigger apoptosis by down-regulating the expression of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and induced myeloid leukaemia cell differentiation protein Mcl-1, and increasing the expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Bad, cleaved caspased-3 and poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase. These findings suggested that RPMTG induced apoptosis through mitochondrial-related pathways. In addition, RPMTG also decreased the expression of phosphorylated (p)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase and increased p-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK) and p-p38. Moreover, the effects of RPMTG on cell proliferation and apoptosis were partially reversed when the JNK and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways were inhibited, indicating that RPMTG triggered apoptosis mainly via regulating JNK and p38 MAPK signalling. Therefore, RPMTG may have potential as an anti-CRC agent, and further evaluations are needed. Key words: RPMTG, colorectal cancer, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, MAPK signalling pathways
Astragaloside III (AS‐III) is a triterpenoid saponin contained in Astragali Radix and has potent anti‐inflammatory effects on vascular endothelial cells; however, underlying mechanisms are unclear. ...In this study, we provided the first piece of evidence that AS‐III induced phosphorylation of TNF‐α converting enzyme (TACE) at Thr735 and enhanced its sheddase activity. As a result, AS‐III reduced surface TNFR1 level and increased content of sTNFR1 in the culture media, leading to the inhibition of NF‐κB signaling pathway and attenuation of downstream cytokine gene expression. Furthermore, AS‐III induced TACE‐dependent epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) transactivation and activation of downstream ERK1/2 and AKT pathways. Finally, AS‐III induced activation of p38. Both TACE activation and EGFR transactivation induced by AS‐III were significantly inhibited by p38 inhibitor SB203580. Taken together, we concluded that AS‐III activates TACE‐dependent anti‐inflammatory and growth factor signaling in vascular endothelial cells in a p38‐dependent fashion, which may contribute to its cardiovascular protective effect.
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