Abstract
Objectives
Evodiamine (Evo) possesses strong anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, we determine the antiarthritic effect of Evo.
Methods
Evo was administered to rats with ...adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA). We evaluated arthritis symptoms & histopathological changes and measured inflammatory cell infiltration, pro-inflammatory cytokine production and Th17 & Treg percentages in arthritic rats.
Key findings
Evo significantly improved the clinical signs of AA in rats, including decreases in paw swelling, the polyarthritis index and the number of swollen paw joints. Based on the histopathological analysis, Evo improved synovial inflammation and bone injury by inhibiting inflammatory cell infiltration, synoviocyte proliferation, pannus formation and cartilage erosion. Furthermore, the numbers of synovial CD3+ or CD68+ inflammatory cells were reduced, and the elevated levels of tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and IL-6 were restored to control levels by the Evo treatment. In addition, Evo therapy regulated the abnormal differentiation of Treg and Th17 cells, decreasing IL-17 production and increasing IL-10 levels. Finally, Evo inhibited Stat3 phosphorylation and induced Stat5 phosphorylation in rats with AA.
Conclusions
Based on our results, Evo is a promising antiarthritic agent, potentially due to its inhibitory effect on synovial inflammation and regulatory effects on Treg and Th17 differentiation.
SUMMARY
Floral patterns are unique to rice and contribute significantly to its reproductive success. SL1 encodes a C2H2 transcription factor that plays a critical role in flower development in rice, ...but the molecular mechanism regulated by it remains poorly understood. Here, we describe interactions of the SL1 with floral homeotic genes, SPW1, and DL in specifying floral organ identities and floral meristem fate. First, the sl1 spw1 double mutant exhibited a stamen‐to‐pistil transition similar to that of sl1, spw1, suggesting that SL1 and SPW1 may located in the same pathway regulating stamen development. Expression analysis revealed that SL1 is located upstream of SPW1 to maintain its high level of expression and that SPW1, in turn, activates the B‐class genes OsMADS2 and OsMADS4 to suppress DL expression indirectly. Secondly, sl1 dl displayed a severe loss of floral meristem determinacy and produced amorphous tissues in the third/fourth whorl. Expression analysis revealed that the meristem identity gene OSH1 was ectopically expressed in sl1 dl in the fourth whorl, suggesting that SL1 and DL synergistically terminate the floral meristem fate. Another meristem identity gene, FON1, was significantly decreased in expression in sl1 background mutants, suggesting that SL1 may directly activate its expression to regulate floral meristem fate. Finally, molecular evidence supported the direct genomic binding of SL1 to SPW1 and FON1 and the subsequent activation of their expression. In conclusion, we present a model to illustrate the roles of SL1, SPW1, and DL in floral organ specification and regulation of floral meristem fate in rice.
Significance Statement
The morphology of rice flowers is crucial for successful reproduction and grain yield. However, research on floral organ specification gene regulatory network (FOS‐GRN) in rice and other grass species is not as extensive as in Arabidopsis. In this study, we unveil the crucial role of the C2H2 zinc finger transcription factor SL1 in regulating flower organ development and floral meristem fate in rice. Our experimental evidence indicates that SL1 positively regulates the expression of SPW1, which, in turn, activates B‐class genes OsMADS2 and OsMADS4 to indirectly suppress DL expression, influencing the formation of floral organs. Additionally, we identify a cooperative role of SL1 and DL in terminating floral meristem fate.
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). The current treatment for toxoplasmosis remains constrained due to the absence of pharmaceutical interventions. Thus, the pursuit ...of more efficient targets is of great importance. Lipid metabolism in T. gondii, including fatty acid metabolism, phospholipid metabolism, and neutral lipid metabolism, assumes a crucial function in T. gondii because those pathways are largely involved in the formation of the membranous structure and cellular processes such as division, invasion, egress, replication, and apoptosis. The inhibitors of T. gondii's lipid metabolism can directly lead to the disturbance of various lipid component levels and serious destruction of membrane structure, ultimately leading to the death of the parasites. In this review, the specific lipid metabolism pathways, correlative enzymes, and inhibitors of lipid metabolism of T. gondii are elaborated in detail to generate novel ideas for the development of anti-T. gondii drugs that target the parasites' lipid metabolism.
Crack is one of the main causes for the failure of marine structure due to the action of waves and ocean. It is necessary to monitor the initiation and extension of the crack timely and accurately, ...so as to provide effective suggestion for maintenance and prolong the service life of the structure. A novel distributed optical fiber sensing tape based on optical frequency domain reflectometer (OFDR) has been proposed in previous research, which can be used to find and locate cracks. In this paper, distributed optical fiber sensing (DOFS) technology is used to obtain the strain data around the crack, and the identification of crack extension is carried out based on the strain data combining with support vector regression (SVR). The parameter set of the SVR is optimized by particle swarm optimization (PSO) to improve the accuracy of the identification model. The results show that the crack extension identification system has a root mean square error (RMSE) as low as 3.59 when no noise is added. The influence of noise is investigated by simulation. The results show that the mean relative error (MRE) is 0.066 when 5% Gaussian white noise is added, which indicates that the crack extension length can still be identified accurately under the influence of noise.
•Strain variations around crack path can be extracted by DOFS during crack growth.•SVR model is applied to establish nonlinear relationship between strain and crack extension.•The parameters of SVR model are optimized by PSO to obtain the highest accuracy.•The integrated method of multiscale strain and PSO-SVR shows good feasibility and robustness.
Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis is a type of red alga that contains seaweed polysaccharide agar. In this study, a novel non-agar seaweed polysaccharide fraction named GCP (short of crude polysaccharide ...obtained from Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis) was isolated from Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis. Structural analysis showed that GCP shows triple helical chain conformation when dissolved in water and has many branches and long side chains. Also, 1→3 linkage is the major linkage and the sugar structures are galactopyranose configurations linked by β-type glycosidic linkages. Two macromolecular substance fractions (GCP-1 and GCP-2) were purified by DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow column chromatography. Moreover, a splenocyte damage assay and splenocyte proliferation assay were used to analyse the bioactivities of GCP, GCP-1 and GCP-2. It was demonstrated that polysaccharides could protect splenocyte damaged by H2O2; GCP-2 shows a greatest protection rate, that is, 92.8%, which significantly enhanced the splenocyte proliferation, and GCP showed the highest proliferation rate, 9.30%. The results suggested that this type of novel non-agar polysaccharide displayed remarkable antioxidant and immunomodulatory activities and early alkali treatment could decrease the activities. It may represent a potential material for health food and clinical medicines.
To discuss the long-term outcome of convex epiphysiodesis in the treatment for congenital scoliosis (CS).
The clinical data of 22 patients with hemivertebral deformity undergoing convex ...epiphysiodesis from the October 1998 to Febuary 2008 were respectively analyzed. There were 12 males and 10 females. The whole spine anteroposterior radiographs were taken preoperatively, at 3-month postoperatively and at the final follow-up to measure the main curve and the compensatory curve. The progression rate was calculated for each patient. Observing the correlation between the progression rate and annual progression of the scoliosis and age, gender, hemivertebral number, hemivertebral position, preoperative main curve Cobb angle and compensatory curve Cobb angle, comparing different ages, genders, hemivertebral number and position, and preoperative main curve Cobb angle on the progression of postoperative curve.
The mean Cobb angle of main curve changed from (40.5±9.8) ° before surgery to (39.5±11.1) ° at 3 months afte
Ship noise received by passive sonar is multiple harmonic sources, from which the recognition features of ship can be extracted. Based on the multiple signal classification estimation theory, a joint ...estimation method of harmonic sources number, harmonic orders and fundamental frequencies is developed in this article. The observed signal vector is decomposed into multiple harmonics vector and noise vector, and the spectral factorization of spatial covariance matrix is evaluated to obtain the signal subspace and noise space. By exploiting the orthogonal property between subspaces, the spatial spectral representing cost function is presented. The number of harmonic sources, model orders and fundamental frequencies are obtained by maximizing the cost function. The simulation results verified the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
In this study, different methods were used to prepare MoO3/ZrO2 catalysts for sulfur resistant methanation reaction. It was found that MoO3/ZrO2 catalyst prepared by one-step co-precipitation method ...achieved high methanation performance. CO conversion could reach up to 90% on 25 wt% MoO3/ZrO2 catalyst, much higher than that on the conventional 25 wt% MoO3/Al2O3 catalyst. The Mo-based catalysts were characterized by XRF, XRD, Raman, BET, TEM and H2-TPR etc. It was found that MoO3 particles were highly dispersed on ZrO2 support for 25 wt% MoO3/ZrO2 catalyst prepared at 65-85℃ because of its relatively larger pore size, which contributed to a high CO conversion. Meanwhile, when MoO3 loading exceeded the monolayer coverage, the formed crystalline MoO3 and ZrM020g might block the micropores of the catalyst and make the methanation activity declined. These results are useful for preparing highly efficient catalyst for CO methanation process.
•Scutellarin inhibits the expression of MMP1, MMP13 and ADAMTS-5.•Scutellarin inhibits the expression of wnt3a and frizzled7.•Scutellarin increases the expression of aggrecan and type II ...collagen.•Scutellarin attenuates Wnt/β-catenin and MAPK signaling induced by IL-1β.•Scutellarin ameliorates cartilage degradation in the animal osteoarthritis (OA) model.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that is the basis of cartilage extracellular matrix degeneration and joint inflammation. Scutellarin is an herbal flavonoid glucuronide, isolated from the Chinese traditional herb Erigeron breviscapus, has been reported to have anti-inflammatory effect. Here, we showed that Scutellarin could inhibit inflammation and protects cartilage from degeneration in vitro and in vivo. Scutellarin downregulate the mRNA and protein expression of MMP1, MMP13, and ADAMTS-5, Wnt3a, Frizzled7 and promote the expression of Collagen II and Aggrecan. Moreover, scutellarin inhibit the migration of β-catenin and phosphorylation of p38 into the nucleus, which may relate to the mediation of the Wnt/β-catenin and MAPK signaling pathway. Furthermore, scutellarin significantly inhibit the cartilage degradation of DMM-induced OA mice by safranin-O and fast green staining. In conclusion, our study indicates that scutellarin may be a potential drug for the treatment of OA.
•The sensor can be used to monitor crack growth at structural joints.•Equal-strength beam is used to realize the desensitization mechanism of the sensor.•The sensor shows good linearity and ...repeatability in calibration tests.•The sensor is used in model experiments and shows good consistency with simulation.
Monitoring of cracks on offshore platforms is necessary to ensure the safe operation and prolong their service life. The crack extension width is of great significance for the calculation of stress intensity factor (SIF). This paper developed a measuring device for crack extension width based on Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensing technique. The designing principle was detailed introduced upon which a sensor with measuring range of 0–5 mm and sensitivity of 0.4 nm/mm was encapsulated according to engineering requirements. The calibration results indicated that the sensor has good linearity and repeatability within the design range. Based on local model experiment with prefabricated crack, results demonstrated that the sensor has high precision and feasibility for different crack damage conditions as well as good stability towards cyclic loading tests, showing potential prospective for offshore platform crack monitoring.
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