Arsenic (As) in the aquatic environment is a considerable environmental issue, previous studies have reported the toxic effects of low concentrations (≤ 150 μg/L) of As on fish. However, limited ...information is available regarding the impact of low levels of As on apoptosis. To evaluate this, zebrafish embryos were exposed to different concentrations (0, 25, 50, 75, and 150 μg/L) of As (arsenite AsIII and arsenate AsV) for 120 h. Our results indicated that low concentrations of AsIII exposure significantly inhibited the survival of zebrafish larvae, and significantly increased the transcription of Caspase-9 and Caspase-3, the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 transcription, and protein levels of Caspase-3. In contrast, AsV decreased the ratios of Bax/Bcl-2 transcription and protein levels, as well as protein levels of Caspase-3. Our data demonstrated that AsIII and AsV exert different toxic effects, AsIII induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway and the extrinsic pathway, while AsV induced apoptosis only via the mitochondrial pathway.
•Our study focused on the impact of low concentrations of arsenic on the apoptotic toxicity and manner of zebrafish larvae.•Low concentration of arsenite decreased the survival rate of zebrafish larvae, while low concentration arsenate had no effect on it.•Low concentration of arsenite can induce apoptosis of zebrafish larvae stage via the mitochondrial pathway and the extrinsic pathway.•Low concentration of arsenate can induce apoptosis of zebrafish larvae stage via the mitochondrial pathway.
Cold is a major abiotic stress and Huanglongbing and citrus canker disease are two devastating bacterial diseases for citrus. The Ca.sup.2+-CBL-CIPK network is known to regulate different types of ...stress signalling in plants. How do CBL-CIPK signalling networks function in response to cold and infection by CLas or Xcc in citrus? Eight calcineurin B-like proteins (CBLs) and seventeen CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs) were identified from the cold-tolerant satsuma mandarin 'Guijing2501' (Citrus. unshiu) and CLas/Xcc-sensitive sweet orange (C. sinensis). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that both CBL and CIPK family members in citrus were classified into an ancient and a recent clade according to their conserved domain characteristics and/or intron/exon structures. Genome duplication analysis suggested that both tandem and segmental duplications contributed to the amplification of the CBL and CIPK gene families in citrus under intense purifying selection, and the duplication events only existed in the recent clades. Expression comparison of the duplicated gene pairs indicated that the duplicated CBL and CIPK genes underwent functional differentiation. Further expression analysis identified that CBL1, 5, 6, and 8 and CIPK2, 8, 12, 15, 16, and 17 were significantly regulated by multiple stresses, including cold, Xcc infection and/or CLas infection, in citrus, whereas CBL2/7 and CIPK1/4/5/11/13/14 were independently highly regulated by cold and CIPK3 was uniquely responsive to Xcc infection. The combination analyses of targeted Y2H assay and expression analysis revealed that CBL6-CIPK8 was the common signalling network in response to cold and Xcc infection, while CBL6/CBL8-CIPK14 was uniquely responsive to cold in citrus. Further stable transformation and cold tolerance assay indicated that overexpression of CuCIPK16 enhanced the cold tolerance of transgenic Arabidopsis with higher POD activity and lower MDA content. In this study, evolution, gene expression and protein-protein interaction analyses of citrus CBLs and CIPKs were comprehensively conducted over a genome-wide range. The results will facilitate future functional characterization of individual citrus CBLs and CIPKs under specific stresses and provide clues for the clarification of cold tolerance and disease susceptibility mechanisms in corresponding citrus cultivars.
Controllable synthesis of metallic nanocrystals (NCs) with tunable phase, uniform shape, and size is of multidisciplinary interests but has still remained challenging. Herein, a robust phase control ...strategy is developed, in which seeds with a given phase are added to guide the epitaxial growth of the target metal to inherit the seeds’ phase. Through this strategy, M@Ru (M = Pt, Pd) NCs in the face-centered cubic (fcc) phase, a metastable phase for Ru under ambient conditions, were synthesized with the hydrothermal method. The Pt@Ru NCs showed not only the pure fcc phase but also high morphology selectivity to tetrahedrons surrounded by {111} facets. As revealed by density function theory (DFT) calculations, the preferentially epitaxial growth of Ru atom layers on the nonclosest-packed facets of hetero fcc metal seeds led to the formation of fcc Ru shells. Furthermore, the fcc Pt@Ru tetrahedrons/C showed electrocatalytic activity enhancement with more than an order of magnitude toward hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) in acidic electrolyte compared with hydrothermally synthesized Ru/C. Electrochemical measurement combined with DFT calculations revealed that the optimum HOR activity should be achieved on well-crystallized fcc Ru catalysts exposing maximum {111} facets.
Tramadol (TRA) and fentanyl (FEN) are used as common painkillers in clinical practice, but they have been increasingly abused in recent years due to their addictive nature. Two substances and their ...metabolites enter wastewater through urine and are collected and treated by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) before being discharged into the aquatic environment. In this study, wastewater analysis was performed to examine the patterns of TRA and FEN use in the urban area of Beijing for the first time. Influent and effluent samples were collected from 23 WWTPs during two sampling campaigns. Concentrations TRA in influents were found to range from(10.2±8.7)to(175.3±59.7) ng·L
, while FEN was not detected in most of the samples, or occurred at very low concentrations. Relatively low TRA removal was observed at plants with activated sludge processes. Moreover, TRA loads in the central area of Beijing were significantly higher than those in the suburban areas. Annual TRA use was estimated through wastewater-based ep
New psychoactive substances (NPS) are emerging continuously, as the crackdown against traditional drugs becomes stricter. Metabolites of NPSs and the unchanged drugs enter wastewater through urine ...and are collected and treated by wastewater treatment plants before being discharged into the aquatic environment. Based on previous research, solid phase extraction (SPE) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) were used and the detection method of 11 NPSs was optimized. Influences of wastewater pretreatment procedures, including SPE columns; pH values of water samples; and processes of flushing and redissolving on NPS recoveries were compared. It was shown that the best recovery was achieved when Oasis MCX columns were used and the pH value of wastewater samples was adjusted to 2. A flushing process with 2 mL water at pH=2 followed by 2 mL methanol was needed. Redissolution of the residue after evaporation was best achieved with 400 μL of a 20% methanol water solution. It
Secondary metabolites of rice sheath blight pathogen Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn and their biological activities XU Liang, WANG Xiao-han, LUO Rui-ya, LU Shi-qiong, GUO Ze-jian, WANG Ming-an, LIU Yang, ZHOU Li-gang (National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement/Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P.R.China)
Journal of Integrative Agriculture,
2015, 2015-01-01, 2015-01-00, Letnik:
14, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Eight compounds were isolated from the fermentation cultures of rice sheath blight pathogen Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn. They were identified as ergosterol （1）, 6β-hydroxysitostenone （2）, sitostenone ...（3）, m-hydroxyphenylacetic acid （4）, methyl m-hydroxyphenylacetate （5）, m-hydroxymethylphenyl pentanoate （6）, （Z）-3-methylpent-2-en-1,5-dioic acid （7） and 3-methoxyfuran-2-carboxylic acid （8） by means of physicochemical and spectroscopic analysis. Among them, 2, 3, 5-8 were isolated from R. solani for the first time. All the compounds were evaluated for their biological activities. 4-6 and 8 showed their inhibitory activities on the radical and germ elongation of rice seeds. 1,4 and 7 showed moderate antibacterial activity to some bacteria. 4, 7 and 8 exhibited weak inhibitory activities on spore germination of Magnaporthe oryzae. 8 showed moderate antioxidant activity with the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryhydrazyl （DPPH） andβ-carotene-linoleic acid assays. This is the first time to reveal compounds 5, 6 and 8 from rice sheath blight pathogen R. solani to have in vitro phytotoxic activity.
To investigate the effect of diallyl disulfide (DADS), a component of garlic, on apoptosis in human mammary cancer cell line (MCF-7) and its mechanisms.
Cytotoxicity was analyzed by ...3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide assays. Morphology of apoptotic cells was detected by acridine orange and ethidium bromide staining. Apoptotic cells stained with propidium iodide were examined using flow cytometry. Protein levels were detected by Western blot analysis.
DADS inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells and induced the apoptotic ratio to increase rapidly. Cleavage of the caspase-3 and caspase-3 substrate poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase was observed in MCF-7 cells after 24 h of treatment with DADS. When the MCF-7 cells were treated with 200 micromol x L DADS, the stress-activated protein kinase extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), a mitogen-activated protein kinase, was inhibited after 6 h; c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), that is stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK), and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase were activated after 6 h.
These results suggest that DADS both inhibits the proliferation of MCF-7 cells and induces apoptosis of MCF-7 cells. The mechanisms may include the inhibition of ERK and the activation of the SAPK/JNK and p38 pathways.
Mitochondrial dynamics plays an important role in tumour progression. However, how these dynamics integrate tumour metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis is still unclear.
The ...mitochondrial fusion protein mitofusin-1 (MFN1) expression and its prognostic value are detected in HCC. The effects and underlying mechanisms of MFN1 on HCC metastasis and metabolic reprogramming are analysed both in vitro and in vivo.
Mitochondrial dynamics, represented by constant fission and fusion, are found to be associated with HCC metastasis. High metastatic HCC displays excessive mitochondrial fission. Among genes involved in mitochondrial dynamics, MFN1 is identified as a leading downregulated candidate that is closely associated with HCC metastasis and poor prognosis. While promoting mitochondrial fusion, MFN1 inhibits cell proliferation, invasion and migration capacity both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, disruption of mitochondrial dynamics by depletion of MFN1 triggers the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of HCC. Moreover, MFN1 modulates HCC metastasis by metabolic shift from aerobic glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation. Treatment with glycolytic inhibitor 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) significantly suppresses the effects induced by depletion of MFN1.
Our results reveal a critical involvement of mitochondrial dynamics in HCC metastasis via modulating glucose metabolic reprogramming. MFN1 may serve as a novel potential therapeutic target for HCC.
Additionally, no study, to our knowledge, has investigated the common genetic factors for LSc and SSc. ...it would be of significant interest to examine the susceptibility of LSc and determine ...whether there are any correlations between the genetic profiles of SSc and LSc. The combined analysis of the LSc and SSc samples revealed significant associations for SNPs rs7574865, rs10168266, rs3821236 within the STAT4 gene and SNP rs9303277 in the Ikaros family zinc finger protein 3 gene (IKZF3) (Pmeta = 1.97 × 10−7 – 8.92 × 10−6, OR = 1.30–1.35). Because SNPs rs7574865, rs10168266, and rs3821236 were all located within chromosome 2, we went on to perform linkage disequilibrium analysis which uncovered a weak correlation between rs7574865 and rs3821236 (r2 = 0.33) and a strong correlation between rs7574865 and rs10168266 (r2 = 0.80). CSK is involved in the development of fibrosis via its regulation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), which is needed to transmit integrin signaling when fibroblasts adhere to the extracellular matrix. ...polymorphisms in the CSK gene can be linked to SSc pathogenesis making CSK mutations another potential risk factor for SSc. ...our study was limited by the relatively small number of SSc and LSc cases. ...our future research should be expanded to include a larger group of patients to allow for the validation of these SNPs and to determine if these SNPs are causative for LSc or SSc.
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