Accumulating evidences have proved the protective role of traditional Chinese medicine in improving neurological damage induced by cerebral hypoxia‐ischemia. Herein, we hypothesized that Dendrobium ...officinale aqueous extract exerted neuroprotection against brain damage. Initially, a model of hypoxic‐ischemic brain damage (HIBD) was induced in neonatal rats, which were subsequently intragastrically administered with different doses of Dendrobium officinale aqueous extract. Next, the antioxidant capacity was examined by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. 2,3,5‐Triphenyltetrazolium chloride and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated dUTP nick end‐labeling staining assays were adopted to determine neuronal apoptosis in brain tissues. Furthermore, neurotrophic factors and hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) expression was identified by Western blot analysis. The neonatal rat models of HIBD presented impaired neurobehaviors and antioxidant capacity, increased neuronal apoptosis and expression of HIF‐1α and histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1), as well as diminished expression of neurotrophic factors and K+‐Cl−‐cotransporter 2 (KCC2). Notably, in response to different doses of Dendrobium officinale aqueous extract, the impairment on neurobehaviors and antioxidant capacity was alleviated, accompanied by reduced levels of nitric oxide synthase, nitric oxide, and malondialdehyde, and increased superoxide dismutase activity. Besides, the neuronal apoptosis was inhibited as reflected by down‐regulated cleaved caspase‐3 and Bax and up‐regulated Bcl‐2. Moreover, we also found accelerated expression of neurotrophic factors and KCC2 and diminished expression of HIF‐1α and HDAC1. Altogether, this present study highlights that the aqueous extract of Dendrobium officinale can suppress the neuronal apoptosis and enhance the expression of neurotrophic factors to protect neonatal rats against HIBD.
Background and Purpose
Vascular inflammation, including the expression of inflammatory cytokines in endothelial cells, plays a critical role in hyperhomocysteinaemia‐associated vascular diseases. ...Cathepsin V, specifically expressed in humans, is involved in vascular diseases through its elastolytic and collagenolytic activities. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of cathepsin V on l‐homocysteine‐induced vascular inflammation.
Experimental Approach
A high methionine diet‐induced hyperhomocysteinaemic mouse model was used to assess cathepsin V expression and vascular inflammation. Cultures of HUVECs were challenged with l‐homocysteine and the cathepsin L/V inhibitor SID to assess the pro‐inflammatory effects of cathepsin V. Transfection and antisense techniques were utilized to investigate the effects of cathepsin V on the dual‐specificity protein phosphatases (DUSPs) and MAPK pathways.
Key Results
Cathepsin L (human cathepsin V homologous) was increased in the thoracic aorta endothelial cells of hyperhomocysteinaemic mice; l‐homocysteine promoted cathepsin V expression in HUVECs. SID suppressed the activity of cathepsin V and reversed the up‐regulation of inflammatory cytokines (IL‐6, IL‐8 and TNF‐α), adhesion and chemotaxis of leukocytes and vascular inflammation induced by l‐homocysteine in vivo and in vitro. Increased cathepsin V promoted the degradation of DUSP6 and DUSP7, phosphorylation and subsequent nuclear translocation of ERK1/2, phosphorylation of STAT1 and expression of IL‐6, IL‐8 and TNF‐α.
Conclusions and Implications
This study has identified a novel mechanism, which shows that l‐homocysteine‐induced upregulation of cathepsin V mediates vascular endothelial inflammation under high homocysteine condition partly via ERK1/2/STAT1 pathway. This mechanism could represent a potential therapeutic target in hyperaemia‐associated vascular diseases.
Linked Articles
This article is part of a themed section on Spotlight on Small Molecules in Cardiovascular Diseases. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.8/issuetoc
• Different phosphorus (P)-acquisition strategies may be relevant for species coexistence and plant performance in terrestrial communities on P-deficient soils. However, how interspecific P ...facilitation functions in natural systems is largely unknown.
• We investigated the root physiological activities for P mobilization across 19 coexisting plant species in steppe vegetation, and then grew plants with various abilities to mobilize sorbed P in a microcosm in a glasshouse.
• We show that P facilitation mediated by rhizosphere processes of P-mobilizing species promoted growth and increased P content of neighbors in a species-specific manner. When roots interacted with a facilitating neighbor, Cleistogenes squarrosa and Bromus inermis tended to show greater plasticity of root proliferation or rhizosheath acid phosphatase activity compared with other non-P-mobilizing species. Greater variation in these root traits was strongly correlated with increased performance in the presence of a facilitator. The results also show, for the first time, that P facilitation was an important mechanism underlying a positive complementarity effect.
• Our study highlights that interspecific P-acquisition facilitation requires that facilitated neighbors exhibit a better match of root traits with a facilitating species. It provides a better understanding of species coexistence in P-limited communities.
A syndrome (Zheng in Chinese) plays a critical role in disease identification, diagnosis, and treatment in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Clinically, the liver Qi stagnation and spleen ...deficiency syndrome (LQSSDS) is one of the most common syndrome patterns. Over the past few decades, several animal models have been developed to understand the potential mechanisms of LQSSDS, but until now, simulation of the syndrome is still unclear. Recently, several studies have confirmed that an animal model combining a disease and a syndrome is appropriate for simulating TCM syndromes. Overlapping previous studies have reported that depression is highly associated with LQSSDS; hence, we attempted to develop a rat model combining depression and LQSSDS. We exposed the rats to different durations of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Subsequently, the evaluation indicators at macrolevel consisted of behavioral tests including open field test, sucrose preference test, and forced swim test, food intake, body weight, white adipose tissue, fecal water content, visceral hypersensitivity, and small bowel transit, and the evaluation indicators at microlevel included changes of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Serum D‐xylose absorption was used to comprehensively confirm and assess whether the model was successful during the CUMS‐induced process. The results showed that rats exposed to 6‐week CUMS procedure exhibited significantly similar traits to the phenotypes of LQSSDS and depression. This study provided a new rat model for the LQSSDS and could potentially lead to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of LQSSDS and the development of new drugs for this syndrome.
Methane hydrate is considered as a potential source of methane for energy supply. Therefore, developing approaches for enhancing gas recovery from hydrate reservoir is attracting extensive attention. ...The Pilot-Scale Hydrate Simulator (PHS), with an inner volume of 117.8 L, was applied to investigate gas recovery approach from hydrate reservoir. A novel cycling depressurization was carried out to improve the production efficiency of depressurization method. Three different schemes for gas recovery from hydrate reservoir were performed in the PHS, which were the Regular Depressurization (RD), the Semi-Cycling Depressurization (Semi-CD), and the Cycling Depressurization (CD), respectively. The production behaviors and heat transfer characteristics during hydrate dissociation in sandy sediments by different methods were compared and investigated. The advantages of the novel cycling depressurization were analyzed. The experimental results indicate that the effective average gas production rate in the experiments by CD is 17 times larger than that by RD. The energy cost per volume of gas production by the CD scheme can be significantly reduced by comparing with the RD scheme. Therefore, the production efficiency can be strongly enhanced by using cycling depressurization method. If the hydrate is dissociated by RD, the heat transfer is strongly coupled with the hydrate dissociation. However, if the hydrate is dissociated by Semi-CD or CD, the coupling of heat transfer and hydrate dissociation may be changed. During the well closing stage in the Semi-CD or CD scheme, the lower fluids flow rate in pores leads to a lower heat transfer rate, which leads to a lower hydrate dissociation rate in well closing stage.
•A novel cycling depressurization scheme for hydrate decomposition is performed.•Average heat transfer rate by CD scheme is lower than that by RD scheme.•Coupling of heat transfer and hydrate dissociation by different schemes are analyzed.•Production efficiency can be strongly enhanced by cycling depressurization method.
Rickettsia raoultii is frequently detected in multiple tick species, whereas human infection remains scarcely studied.
A surveillance study was performed at 3 sentinel hospitals in China, to recruit ...participants with suspected tick exposure. Rickettsia raoultii infection was identified through polymerase chain reaction, followed by sequencing, and confirmed serologically. Isolation by cell culture was performed and the isolates were genome sequenced.
Twenty-six subjects were determined to have R. raoultii infection, including 7 with asymptomatic infection, 15 with mild to moderate illness, and 4 with severe illness. Common nonspecific manifestations in the 19 patients with mild to moderate or severe illness included fever (100%), malaise (95%), myalgia (58%), lymphadenopathy (53%), and nausea (42%). Only 5% of them had rash, and 16% had eschar. Scalp eschar and neck lymphadenopathy after a tick bite syndrome was only seen in 2 patients. Of the 4 patients with severe complications, 3 developed pulmonary edema, and 1 developed clouding of consciousness and lethargy. Frequent abnormalities of laboratory testing included leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, lymphopenia, neutropenia, hypoproteinemia, and elevated levels of total bilirubin, hepatic aminotransferases, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatine kinase. All the 19 patients recovered without sequelae after receiving doxycycline treatment. Two R. raoultii strains were isolated, and a significantly less degraded genome was observed than other more virulent Rickettsia strains, indicating a low pathogenicity of the current strain.
Human infection with R. raoultii has a wide clinical spectrum that ranged from subclinical infection to severe complications. Physicians need to be aware of the high potential and clinical complexity of R. raoultii infection, to ensure appropriate testing and treatment in endemic regions.
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•66 ent-clerodane diterpenoids, including 52 new compounds, were isolated from Callicarpa arborea.•Their bioactivity against pyroptosis were evaluated, and the typical ...α,β-unsaturated-γ-hemiacetal lactone ring was a key active segments from SAR analysis.•Compound 1 showed potent inhibitory activity against pyroptosis by blocking NLRP3 inflammasome activation.•Compound 1 treatment markedly reduced infiltration of CD11b+F4/80+ macrophages into lung and protected lung injury in LPS- induced septic mice.
Pyroptosis is a programmed-inflammatory cell death, which leads to release of inflammatory cellular contents and formation of inflammation. Uncontrollable pyroptosis can result in serious immune diseases, such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS), sepsis, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and acute organ damage, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and acute kidney injury (AKI). Members of the Callicarpa genus are significant raw materials for traditional Chinese medicine, widely used for analgesia, hemostasis, and anti-inflammation. Previously, we have reported some ent-clerodane diterpenoids from Callicarpa arborea, shown potent inhibitory effects against pyroptosis. In this study, we went on investigating this kind of diterpenoids, and yielded 66 ent-clerodane diterpenoids, including 52 new compounds, from Callicarpa arborea. Their structures featured with a 5/6- (1–25) or a 6/6- (26–66)-fused double-ring scaffolds, were elucidated using spectroscopic data, electrostatic circular dichroism (ECD) and X-ray diffraction analyses. Screening for the inhibitory activity against pyroptosis by detecting of IL-1β secretion in J771A.1 cells, revealed 28 compounds with an IC50 below 10.5 μM. Compound 1 was the most potent with an IC50 of 0.68 μM and inhibited the J774A.1 macrophage pyroptosis by blocking the NLR pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation. An in vivo study further revealed that compound 1 decreased infiltration of CD11b + F4/80 + macrophages into lung and attenuated the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung injury. Taken together, this study indicated the potential of compound 1 as a candidate for pyroptosis-related inflammation treatment, as well as provided the chemical and pharmacological basis for the further development of Callicarpa genus as a herbal medicine.
The electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a core electrode reaction for the renewable production of high‐purity hydrogen, carbon‐based fuel, synthetic ammonia, etc. However, the sluggish ...kinetics of the OER result in a high overpotential and limit the widespread application of OER‐based technologies. Recent studies have shown that bimetallic‐based materials with the synergism of different metal components to regulate the adsorption and dissociation energy of intermediates are promising OER electrocatalyst candidates with a lower cost and energy consumption. In the past two decades, tremendous efforts have been devoted to developing OER applications of bimetallic‐based materials with a focus on compositions, phase, structure, etc., to highlight the synergism of different metal components. However, there is a lack of critical thinking and organized analysis of OER applications with bimetallic‐based materials. This review critically discusses the challenges of developing bimetallic‐based OER materials, summarizes the current optimization strategies to enhance both activity and stability, and highlights the state‐of‐the‐art electrocatalysts for OER. The relationship between the componential/structural features of bimetallic‐based materials and their electrocatalytic properties is presented to form comprehensive electronic and geometric modifications based on thorough analysis of the reported works and discuss future efforts to realize sustainable bimetallic‐based OER applications.
The impressive progress in the rational design of bimetals and bimetallic compounds toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is summarized. Based on the main advantages and challenges for the bimetallic‐based OER electrocatalysts, the optimization strategies are presented to modify the electronic structure and geometric construction to highlight the synergism characteristics, including compositional regulation, elemental doping, coordination adjustment, interfacial structure establishment, morphology control, and support interaction for achieving efficient OER performance.
•Recent breakthroughs which changed our views on SMMs are highlighted.•The latest advances of this challenging field in China were emphasized.•Synthetic strategies to design high-performance SMMs are ...demonstrated.•Directions to which further efforts should be focused in the field are discussed.
The discovery of the first example of lanthanide-based single molecule magnets (Ln-SMMs), a revolutionary progress, marked the beginning of a new age for SMMs, has greatly inspired researchers to invest their efforts in the design of high-performance SMMs by introducing lanthanide ions, especially dysprosium ions. Lanthanide ions have always been considered as excellent candidates to construct single-molecule magnets for high-density data storage and quantum calculation. Impressive progress has been made in field of Ln-SMMs where synthetic chemists have played a major role through producing suitable systems for detailed study by physicists and materials scientists. In this review, some recent breakthroughs changing the perspective of the field will be highlighted with special emphasis on the synthetic efforts made in this fascinating and challenging field. Their findings on the elucidation of relaxation dynamics and the synthetic strategies towards high-performance Ln-SMMs provide valuable insights required to optimize the contribution of an Ising type spin to a molecular magnet and indicate the directions to which further synthetic efforts should be focused.
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