To investigate the effect of erythromycin on the contractive activity of the isolated gastric antrum smooth muscle and somatostatin (SS), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), motilin (MTL), and ...substance P (SP) in plasma and isolated gastric antrum tissue of diabetes mellitus (DM) rat models.
Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups: control group (n = 10), DM group (n = 10), and erythromycin group (DM models with erythromycin treatment, n = 10). A single dose of streptozotocin (100 mg/kg, dissolved in 0.1 mol/L citric acid buffer, pH4.5) was injected intraperitoneally. After 48 to 72 hours, rats with blood glucose above 16.7 mmol/L and urine glucose level to be (+++) to (+++) over one week were considered successful DM models. The resting tension, mean contractile amplitude and frequency of spontaneous change in isolated longitudinal and circular gastric antrum smooth muscle strips were measured. SS, VIP, MTL, and SP levels in plasma and gastric antrum tissue were measured using radioimmunoassay.
(1) In the isolated gastric antrum smooth muscle strips, the gastric motility parameters were lower in DM group than those in control group except circular smooth muscle contractile amplitude and longitudinal smooth muscle contractile frequency. The gastric motility parameters were significantly strengthened in erythromycin group, compared with DM group except longitudinal smooth muscle resting tension (P < 0.01). (2) Plasma SS, VIP, and MTL concentrations in DM group were higher than those in control (P < 0.05), while the SP level decreased (P < 0.05). In the gastric antrum, SS of DM group was significantly higher than that of control group (P < 0.01), while SP and MTL levels were lower than those of control group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). However, the level of VIP in gastric antrum tissue did not change among three groups. The plasma level of SS in erythromycin group was higher than that of DM group (P < 0.05). (3) The blood glucose was lower in erythromycin group than DM group (P < 0.01).
Erythromycin has direct effects on contractive activity of gastric smooth muscle in diabetic rats, but there are few effects on neuroendocrine peptides. Gastric-motility disorders in diabetic rats have a correlation with the changes of neuroendocrine peptide levels in plasma and gastric antrum tissue.
The activities of several respiratory metabolism enzymes and ATP concentrations in the roots of four genotypes of rice raised in hydroponic culture and treated with three levels of silicon (Si) (0, ...1.25, and 2.00 mM) were studied. ATP concentrations in roots of the four rice cultivars were significantly higher with Si application than in the control. Phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI) activity and the combined activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGDH) in roots were also significantly enhanced by Si addition, as was malate dehydrogenase (MDH) activity. PGI and MDH activity increased more than 50% and 25%, respectively, in TN1 roots supplied with Si compared to the control. Among the four genotypes, higher MDH activity and combined activity of G-6-PDH and 6-PGDH were detected in roots of TN1 and Bai Xiang Jing, which had higher Si uptake. ATPase activity and ATP concentrations were inhibited by four metabolic inhibitors: HgCl₂, 2,4-dinitrophenol (2,4-DNP), malonic acid (C₃H₄O₄), and sodium phosphate (Na₃PO₄). Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity in roots also decreased significantly upon treatment with C₃H₄O₄. In summary, Si application can stimulate activity of key respiratory metabolism enzymes to provide more ATP for energy-dependent processes, including Si uptake, during plant growth.
The sequences of x-type high-molecular-weight glutenin promoter (x-HGP) from 21 diploid
Triticeae
species were cloned and sequenced. The lengths of x-HGP varied from 897 to 955 bp, and there are 329 ...variable sites including 105 singleton sites and 224 polymorphic sites. Genetic distances of pairwise X-HGP sequences ranged from 0.30 to 16.40% within 21 species and four outgroup species of
Hordeum
. All five recognized regulatory elements emerged and showed higher conservation in the x-HGP of 21
Triticeae
species. Most variations were distributed in the regions among or between regulatory elements. A 22 bp and 50 bp insertions which were the copy of adjacent region with minor change, were found in the x-HGP of
Ae. speltoides
and
Ps. Huashanica
, and could be regarded as genome specific indels. The phylogeny of media-joining network and neighbour-joining tree both supported the topology were composed of three sperate clusters. Especially, the cluster I comprising the x-HGP sequences of
Aegilops
,
Triticum
,
Henrardia
,
Agropyron
and
Taeniatherum
was highly supporting by both network and NJ tree. As conferring to higher level and temporal and spatial expression, x-HGP can used as the source of promoter for constructing transgenic plants which allow endosperm-specific expression of exogenous gene on higher level. In addition, the x-HGP has enough conservation and variation; so it should be valuable in phylogenetic analyses of
Triticeae
family members.
Oral squamous cell carcinoma （OSCC） has a high incidence of cervical micrometastases and sometimes metastasizes contralaterally because of the rich lymphatic intercommunications relative to ...submucosal plexus of oral cavity that freely communicate across the midline, and it can facilitate the spread of neoplastic cells to any area of the neck consequently. Clinical and histopathologic factors continue to provide predictive information to contralateral neck metastases （CLNM） in OSCC, which determine prophylactic and adjuvant treatments for an individual patient. This review describes the predictive value of clinical-histopathologic factors, which relate to primary tumor and cervical lymph nodes, and surgical dissection and adjuvant treatments. In addition, the indications for elective contralateral neck dissection and adjuvant radiotherapy （aRT） and strategies for follow-up are offered, which is strongly focused by clinicians to prevent later CLNM and poor prognosis subsequently.
BACKGROUND: A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms in liver regeneration holds promise for exploring the new potential therapy for liver failure. The present study was to investigate the ...role of zinc finger and BTB domain-containing protein 20(ZBTB20), a potential factor associated with liver regeneration, in a model of 70% hepatectomy in mice. METHODS: Parameters for liver proliferation such as liver/body ratio and BrdU positivity were obtained via direct measurement and immunohistochemistry. The levels of zinc fingers and homeoboxes 2(ZHX2), ZBTB20, alpha-fetoprotein(AFP) and glypican 3(GPC3) transcripts in the regenerating liver tissue of a 70% hepatectomy rodent model were monitored by real-time PCR analysis at different time points. Knockdown of ZBTB20 was performed to characterize its regulatory function. RESULTS: A negatively regulating relationship between ZHX2, ZBTB20 and AFP, GPC3 was revealed from 24 to 72 hours after 70% hepatectomy. ZBTB20 appears to negatively regulate AFP and GPC3 transcription since the knockdown of ZBTB20 promoted the proliferation of hepatocytes and the expression of AFP and GPC3. CONCLUSION: In addition to AFP, GPC3 and ZHX2, ZBTB20 is a new regulator in liver regeneration and the decrease of ZBTB20 expression following 70% hepatectomy promotes AFP and GPC3 expression.
Summary
Rice grain filling rate contributes largely to grain productivity and accumulation of nutrients. Micro
RNA
s (mi
RNA
s) are key regulators of development and physiology in plants and become a ...novel key target for engineering grain size and crop yield. However, there is little studies, so far, showing the mi
RNA
regulation of grain filling and rice yield, in consequence. Here, we show that suppressed expression of rice miR1432 (
STTM
1432) significantly improves grain weight by enhancing grain filling rate and leads to an increase in overall grain yield up to 17.14% in a field trial. Molecular analysis identified rice Acyl‐CoA thioesterase (
Os
ACOT
), which is conserved with
ACOT
13 in other species, as a major target of miR1432 by cleavage. Moreover, overexpression of miR1432‐resistant form of
Os
ACOT
(
OX
m
ACOT
) resembled the
STTM
1432 plants, that is, a large margin of an increase in grain weight up to 46.69% through improving the grain filling rate. Further study indicated that
Os
ACOT
was involved in biosynthesis of medium‐chain fatty acids. In addition,
RNA
‐seq based transcriptomic analyses of transgenic plants with altered expression of miR1432 demonstrated that downstream genes of miR1432‐regulated network are involved in fatty acid metabolism and phytohormones biosynthesis and also overlap with the enrichment analysis of co‐expressed genes of
Os
ACOT
, which is consistent with the increased levels of auxin and abscisic acid in
STTM
1432 and
OX
m
ACOT
plants. Overall, miR1432‐
Os
ACOT
module plays an important role in grain filling in rice, illustrating its capacity for engineering yield improvement in crops.
The presence/absence variants （PAVs） are a major source of genome structural variation and have profound effects on phenotypic and genomic variation in animals and humans. However, little is ...understood about PAVs in plant genomes. Our previous resequencing effort on three sorghum （Sorghum bicolour L.） genomes, each 12？ coverage, uncovered 5 364 PAVs. Here, we report a detailed characterization of 51 large-size （＆gt;30 kb） PAVs. These PAVs spanned a total size of 2.92 Mb of the sorghum genome containing 202 known and predicted genes, including 38 genes annotated to encode celldeath and stress response genes. The PAVs varied considerably for repeat sequences and mobile elements with DNA trans-posons as the major components. The frequency and distribution of these PAVs differed substantial y across 96＆amp;nbsp;sorghum inbred lines, and the low-and high frequency PAVs differed in their gene categories. This report shed new light on the occurrence and diversity of PAVs in sorghum genomes. Our research exemplifies a new perspective to explore genome structural variation for genetic improvement in plant breeding.
Rice panicles are composed of many branches with two types of extreme grains, the superior and the inferior. Traditional y, it has been wel accepted that earlier lfowers result in superior grains and ...late lfowers generate inferior grains. However, these correlations have never been strictly examined in practice. In order to determine the accurate relationship between superior and inferior grains and the lfowering order, we localized al the seeds in a panicle in four distinct rice species and systematical y documented the rice lfowering order, lfower locations and the ifnal grain weight for their relationships. Our results demonstrated that the grain weight is more heavily determined by the position of the seeds than by the lfowering order. Despite earlier lfowering has a positive correlation with the grain weight in general, grains from lfowers blooming on the second day after anthesis general y gained the highest weight. This suggests earlier lfowers may not result in superior grains. Therefore, we concluded that superior and inferior grains, commonly determined by grain weight, are not ful y cor-related with the lfowering order in rice. Fol owing the order of the grain weight, the superior grains are general y localized at the middle parts of the primary branches, whereas inferior grains were mainly on the last two secondary branches of the lower half part of the panicle. In addition, the weight of inferior grains were affected by spikelet thinning and spraying with exogenous plant growth regulators, indicating that physiological incompetence might be the major reason for the occurrence of the inferior grains.
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