A series of studies have reported that monoclonal antibody 263 (Mab263), a monoclonal antibody against the growth hormone receptor (GHR), acts as an agonist in vitro and in vivo. However, the intracellular signaling pathways triggered by Mab263 have not yet been delineated. Therefore, we examined the intracellular signaling pathways induced by Mab263 in vivo and in vitro in the present study. The results show that this antibody activated janus kinase 2 (JAK2), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), STAT1 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), but not STAT5. The phosphorylation kinetics of JAK2, STAT3/1 and ERK1/2 induced by Mab263 were subsequently analyzed in dose-response and time course experiments. Our observations indicate that Mab263 induced different intracellular signaling pathways than GH, which indicates that Mab263 is a signal-specific molecule and that Mab263 may be a valuable biological reagent to study the mechanism(s) of GHR-mediated intracellular signaling pathways.

The growth and development of plants are sensitive to their surroundings. Although numerous studies have analyzed plant transcriptomic variation, few have quantified the effect of combinations of factors or identified factor-specific effects. In this study, we performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis on tobacco leaves derived from 10 treatment combinations of three groups of ecological factors, i.e., climate factors (CFs), soil factors (SFs), and tillage factors (TFs). We detected 4980, 2916, and 1605 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that were affected by CFs, SFs, and TFs, which included 2703, 768, and 507 specific and 703 common DEGs (simultaneously regulated by CFs, SFs, and TFs), respectively. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses showed that genes involved in abiotic stress responses and secondary metabolic pathways were overrepresented in the common and CF-specific DEGs. In addition, we noted enrichment in CF-specific DEGs related to the circadian rhythm, SF-specific DEGs involved in mineral nutrient absorption and transport, and SF- and TF-specific DEGs associated with photosynthesis. Based on these results, we propose a model that explains how plants adapt to various ecological factors at the transcriptomic level. Additionally, the identified DEGs lay the foundation for future investigations of stress resistance, circadian rhythm and photosynthesis in tobacco.

Epimedium sagittatum (Sieb. et Zucc) Maxim is a member of the Berberidaceae family of basal eudicot plants, widely distributed and used as a traditional medicinal plant in China for therapeutic effects on many diseases with a long history. Recent data shows that E. sagittatum has a relatively large genome, with a haploid genome size of ~4496 Mbp, divided into a small number of only 12 diploid chromosomes (2n = 2x = 12). However, little is known about Epimedium genome structure and composition. Here we present the analysis of 691 kb of high-quality genomic sequence derived from 672 randomly selected plasmid clones of E. sagittatum genomic DNA, representing ~0.0154% of the genome. The sampled sequences comprised at least 78.41% repetitive DNA elements and 2.51% confirmed annotated gene sequences, with a total GC% content of 39%. Retrotransposons represented the major class of transposable element (TE) repeats identified (65.37% of all TE repeats), particularly LTR (Long Terminal Repeat) retrotransposons (52.27% of all TE repeats). Chromosome analysis and Fluorescence in situ Hybridization of Gypsy-Ty3 retrotransposons were performed to survey the E. sagittatum genome at the cytological level. Our data provide the first insights into the composition and structure of the E. sagittatum genome, and will facilitate the functional genomic analysis of this valuable medicinal plant.

This study aims to provide a theoretical basis on the regulatory mechanism of the α-l,2-fucosyltransferase (FUT1) gene in pigs by analyzing the transcriptional activity of its promoter region. On the basis of the previously obtained promoter sequence, primers upstream and downstream of the gene were designed using the restriction endonucleases KpnI and HindIII respectively, and the recombinant plasmids of the pGL3-promoter were constructed by inserting promoter sequences with partially missing regions. The resultant mutants were observed by transient transfection assay into HEK293 cells, and the transcriptional activity of the promoter region was determined by luciferase activity. The 5'-flanking region of the FUT1 gene (-1150 to +50 bp) exhibited promoter activity. The -1150-bp to -849-bp region showed negative regulation of the gene. The recombinant plasmid pGL3-898 showed the strongest luciferase activity, and the activity showed a decreasing trend when the deleted region was increased. Recombinant plasmids were successfully constructed, verified, and the positive and negative regulation areas and core promoter region were detected, providing a deeper insight into the transcriptional regulatory mechanism of the FUT1 gene.

Mycobacterium smegmatis strain MC² 155 is an attractive model organism for the study of M. tuberculosis and other mycobacterial pathogens, as it can grow well using cholesterol as a carbon resource. However, its global transcriptomic response remains largely unrevealed. In this study, M. smegmatis MC² 155 cultivated in androstenedione, cholesterol and glycerol supplemented media were collected separately for a RNA-Sequencing study. The results showed that 6004, 6681 and 6348 genes were expressed in androstenedione, cholesterol and glycerol supplemented media, and 5891 genes were expressed in all three conditions, with 237 specially expressed in cholesterol added medium. A total of 1852 and 454 genes were significantly up-regulated by cholesterol compared with the other two supplements. Only occasional changes were observed in basic carbon and nitrogen metabolism, while almost all of the genes involved in cholesterol catabolism and mammalian cell entry (MCE) were up-regulated by cholesterol, but not by androstenedione. Eleven and 16 gene clusters were induced by cholesterol when compared with glycerol or androstenedione, respectively. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the cholesterol responsive transcriptome of M. smegmatis. Our results indicated that cholesterol induced many more genes and increased the expression of the majority of genes involved in cholesterol degradation and MCE in M. smegmatis, while androstenedione did not have the same effect.

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signal activation of macrophages can lead to endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU). Previously, our research group has demonstrated a higher expression of TLR4 in vivo during EIU than normal. In this study, we analyzed levels of peritoneal macrophage cytokines from C3H/HeN mice with LPS stimulation in vitro to elucidate the effect of TLR4 on cytokines during EIU.

Astronauts traveling to Mars will be exposed to high levels of ionizing radiation upon leaving low-Earth orbit. During prolonged space travel, astronauts are exposed to galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) composed of protons; oxygen molecules; and high energy, high mass charged particles. Notably, oxygen molecules can travel through the shielding of spacecraft, potentially impacting 25% of the hippocampus. The aim of the current study was to assess whether 16O-particle radiation induced a behavioral deficit and histological changes in mice. Mice were sent to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory and exposed to particulate 16O radiation at doses of 0 and 0.05 Gy. Nine months after irradiation, the mice were tested for novel object recognition and in the Y-maze, after which the animals were sacrificed. The brains were then dissected along the midsagittal plane for Golgi staining. Exposure to 0.05 Gy significantly impaired novel object recognition. However, short term memory and exploratory activity in the Y-maze were not affected. Micromorphometric analysis revealed significant decreases in mushroom spine density in the dentate gyrus and cornu Ammonis-1 and -3 of the hippocampus. Sholl analysis revealed a significant decrease in dendritic complexity in the dentate gyrus. The present data provide evidence that space radiation has deleterious effects on mature neurons associated with hippocampal learning and memory.

Porcine mammary fatty tissues represent an abundant source of natural biomaterial for generation of breast-specific extracellular matrix (ECM). Here we report the extraction of total ECM proteins from pig breast fatty tissues, the fabrication of hydrogel and porous scaffolds from the extracted ECM proteins, the structural properties of the scaffolds (tissue matrix scaffold, TMS), and the applications of the hydrogel in human mammary epithelial cell spatial cultures for cell surface receptor expression, metabolomics characterization, acini formation, proliferation, migration between different scaffolding compartments, and in vivo tumor formation. This model system provides an additional option for studying human breast diseases such as breast cancer.

Metformin has been reported to have body weight lowering effects while treating type 2 diabetes. However, limited studies examined the effects of metformin on adipogenesis in vitro, and available data are inconclusive and contradictory. In this study, we examined the effects of a variety of concentrations of metformin on adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and found metformin exhibits a dual effect on adipogenesis. Metformin at lower concentrations (1.25⁻2.5 mM) significantly induced adipogenesis while at higher concentrations (5⁻10 mM) metformin significantly inhibited adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells. The biphasic effect of different doses of metformin on adipogenesis was accompanied by increasing or decreasing the expression of adipogenic and lipogenic genes including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARγ), CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), and fatty acid synthase (FASN) at both messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels. Furthermore, only the higher concentrations of metformin induced the phosphorylation of adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK), p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and reduced the phosphorylation of extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK) and Akt. Pretreatment with compound C, a specific AMPK inhibitor, significantly countered high concentration of metformin-induced inhibition of adipogenesis. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the effect of metformin on adipocyte differentiation is biphasic and dose-dependent. Lower concentrations of metformin induce adipogenesis, which could be mediated in an AMPK-independent manner, while higher concentrations of metformin inhibit adipogenesis via AMPK activation.

β-fructofuranosidase (β-FFase) belongs to the glycosyl-hydrolase family 32 (GH32), which can catalyze both the release of β-fructose from β-d-fructofuranoside substrates to hydrolyze sucrose and the synthesis of short-chain fructooligosaccharide (FOS). BmSuc1 has been cloned and identified from the silkworm Bombyx mori as a first animal type of β-FFase encoding gene. It was hypothesized that BmSUC1 plays an important role in the silkworm-mulberry adaptation system. However, there is little information about the enzymatic core sites of BmSUC1. In this study, we mutated three amino acid residues (D63, D181, and E234) that represent important conserved motifs for β-FFase activity in GH32 to alanine respectively by using site-directed mutagenesis. Recombinant proteins of three mutants and wild type BmSUC1 were obtained by using a Bac-to-Bac/BmNPV expression system and BmN cells. Enzymatic activity, kinetic properties, and substrate specificity of the four proteins were analyzed. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to compare the hydrolyzing and transfructosylating activities between D181A and wtBmSUC1. Our results revealed that the D63A and E234A mutations lost activity, suggesting that D63 and E234 are key amino acid residues for BmSUC1 to function as an enzyme. The D181A mutation significantly enhanced both hydrolyzing and transfructosylating activities of BmSUC1, indicating that D181 may not be directly involved in catalyzation. The results provide insight into the chemical catalyzation mechanism of BmSUC1 in B. mori. Up-regulated transfructosylating activity of BmSUC1 could provide new ideas for using B. mori β-FFase to produce functional FOS.

Microglial activation and the resulting neuroinflammation are associated with a variety of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Thus, the control of microglial activation is an important factor in the development of drugs that can treat or prevent inflammation-related neurodegenerative disorders. Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba (ARA) has been reported to exhibit antioxidant, gastroprotective, and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the effects of ARA ethanolic extract (ARAE) on microglia-mediated neuroinflammation have not been fully elucidated. In this work, we explored the anti-neuroinflammatory properties and underlying molecular mechanisms of ARAE in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated microglial BV2 cells. Our results showed that ARAE significantly attenuates the production of nitric oxide (NO) and inflammatory cytokines induced by LPS. ARAE treatment also inhibited the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 without causing cytotoxicity. ARAE markedly attenuated the transcriptional activities of nuclear factor (NF)-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) phosphorylation, and induced heme oxygenase (HO)-1 expression. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis showed that ARAE contains three main components-atractylenolide I, atractylenolide III, and atractylodin-all compounds that significantly inhibit the production of inflammatory factors. These findings indicate that ARAE may be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of inflammation-related neurodegenerative diseases.

Disease resistance genes encoding proteins with nucleotide binding sites and Leucine-Rich Repeat (NB-LRR) domains include many members involved in the effector-triggered immunity pathway in plants. The transcript levels of these defense genes are negatively regulated by diverse microRNAs (miRNAs) in angiosperms and gymnosperms. In wheat, using small RNA expression datasets and degradome datasets, we identified five miRNA families targeting NB-LRR defense genes in monocots, some of which arose in the Triticeae species era. These miRNAs regulate different types of NB-LRR genes, most of them with coil-coiled domains, and trigger the generation of secondary small interfering RNAs (siRNA) as a phased pattern in the target site regions. In addition to acting in response to biotic stresses, they are also responsive to abiotic stresses such as heat, drought, salt, and light stress. Their copy number and expression variation in Triticeae suggest a rapid birth and death frequency. Altogether, non-conserved miRNAs as conserved transcriptional regulators in gymnosperms and angiosperms regulating the disease resistance genes displayed quick plasticity including the variations of sequences, gene copy number, functions, and expression level, which accompanied with NB-LRR genes may be tune-regulated to plants in natural environments with various biotic and abiotic stresses.

Spag17 encodes a protein present in the axoneme central pair complex of motile cilia and flagella. A mutation in this gene has been reported to be associated with infertility caused by defects in sperm motility. Here, we report that Spag17 knockout mice are infertile because of a severe defect in spermatogenesis. The histological evaluation of testis sections from mutant mice revealed seminiferous tubules with spermatogenesis arrested at the spermatid stage and cell debris in the cauda epididymis. The few sperm collected from the cauda epididymis were immotile and displayed abnormal tail and head morphology. Immunofluorescence analysis of Spag17 knockout germ cells showed spermatids with abnormally long manchette structures and morphological defects in the head. Electron microscopy showed altered manchette microtubules, reduced chromatin condensation, irregular nuclear shape, and detached acrosomes. Additionally, the transport of proteins (Pcdp1 and IFT20) along the manchette microtubules was disrupted in the knockout elongating spermatids. Our results show for the first time that Spag17 is essential for normal manchette structure, protein transport, and formation of the sperm head and flagellum, in addition to its role in sperm motility.

Reduced NME1 expression in melanoma cell lines, mouse models of melanoma, and melanoma specimens in human patients is associated with increased metastatic activity. Herein, we investigate the role of NME1 in repair of double-stranded breaks (DSBs) and choice of double-strand break repair (DSBR) pathways in melanoma cells. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, NME1 was shown to be recruited rapidly and directly to DSBs generated by the homing endonuclease I-PpoI. NME1 was recruited to DSBs within 30 min, in concert with recruitment of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) protein, an early step in DSBR complex formation, as well as loss of histone 2B. NME1 was detected up to 5 kb from the break site after DSB induction, suggesting a role in extending chromatin reorganization away from the repair site. shRNA-mediated silencing of NME1 expression led to increases in the homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathways of double-strand break repair (DSBR), and reduction in the low fidelity, alternative-NHEJ (A-NHEJ) pathway. These findings suggest low expression of NME1 drives DSBR towards higher fidelity pathways, conferring enhanced genomic stability necessary for rapid and error-free proliferation in invasive and metastatic cells. The novel mechanism highlighted in the current study appears likely to impact metastatic potential and therapy-resistance in advanced melanoma and other cancers.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the most lethal gynecologic malignancies. To date, the etiology of this deadly disease remains elusive. FHL2, a member of the four and a half LIM domain family, has been shown to serve either as an oncoprotein or as a tumor suppressor in various cancers. Our previous study showed that FHL2 plays a critical role in the initiation and progression of ovarian granulosa cell tumor via regulating AKT1 transcription. However, direct and systematic evidence of FHL2 in the initiation and progression of EOC remains unclear. In the present study, immunohistochemical analysis from EOC patient tissues showed that positivity and intensity of FHL2 immunosignal were up-regulated in the EOC tissues compared with normal ovary tissues. Knockdown of FHL2 in SKOV-3 cell line reduced cell growth and cell viability, blocked cell cycle progression, and inhibited cell migration. Ectopic expression of FHL2 in IGROV-1 cells which have low endogenous FHL2, promoted cell growth, improved cell viability and enhanced cell migration. Additionally, knock down of FHL2 in the SKOV-3 cell line significantly inhibited anchorage-independent growth indicated by the soft agar assay. In comparison, overexpression of FHL2 in IGROV-1 cell improved the colonies growth in soft agar. Western blot data showed that knockdown of FHL2 downregulated AKT expression level, and upregulated apoptosis related proteins such as cleaved PARP, and cleaved-lamin A. Finally, by employing stable SKOV-3/FHL2 stable knock down cell line, our data clearly showed that knockdown of FHL2 inhibited EOC xenograft initiation in vivo. Taken together, our results showed that FHL2, via regulating cell proliferation, cell cycle, and adhesion, has a critical role in regulating EOC initiation and progression. These results indicate that FHL2 could be a potential target for the therapeutic drugs against EOC.

Normal pairing and exchanging is an important basis to evaluate the genetic relationship between homologous chromosomes in a wheat background. The pairing behavior between 6V#2 and 6V#4, two chromosomes from different Dasypyrum villosum accessions, is still not clear. In this study, two wheat alien substitution lines, 6V#2 (6A) and 6V#4 (6D), were crossed to obtain the F1 hybrids and F2 segregating populations, and the testcross populations were obtained by using the F1 as a parent crossed with wheat variety Wan7107. The chromosomal behavior at meiosis in pollen mother cells (PMCs) of the F1 hybrids was observed using a genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) technique. Exchange events of two alien chromosomes were investigated in the F2 populations using nine polymerase chain reaction (PCR) markers located on the 6V short arm. The results showed that the two alien chromosomes could pair with each other to form ring- or rod-shaped bivalent chromosomes in 79.76% of the total PMCs, and most were pulled to two poles evenly at anaphase I. Investigation of the F2 populations showed that the segregation ratios of seven markers were consistent with the theoretical values 3:1 or 1:2:1, and recombinants among markers were detected. A genetic linkage map of nine PCR markers for 6VS was accordingly constructed based on the exchange frequencies and compared with the physical maps of wheat and barley based on homologous sequences of the markers, which showed that conservation of sequence order compared to 6V was 6H and 6B > 6A > 6D. In the testcross populations with 482 plants, seven showed susceptibility to powdery mildew (PM) and lacked amplification of alien chromosomal bands. Six other plants had amplification of specific bands of both the alien chromosomes at multiple sites, which suggested that the alien chromosomes had abnormal separation behavior in about 1.5% of the PMCs in F1, which resulted in some gametes containing two alien chromosomes. In addition, three new types of chromosome substitution were developed. This study lays a foundation for alien allelism tests and further assessment of the genetic relationship among 6V#2, 6V#4, and their wheat homoeologous chromosomes.

Mycobacteria produce two major lipoglycans, lipomannan (LM) and lipoarabinomannan (LAM), whose broad array of biological activities are tightly related to the fine details of their structure. However, the heterogeneity of these molecules in terms of internal and terminal covalent modifications and complex internal branching patterns represent significant obstacles to their structural characterization. Previously, an endo-α-(1→6)-D-mannanase from Bacillus circulans proved useful in cleaving the mannan backbone of LM and LAM, allowing the reducing end of these molecules to be identified as Manp-(1→6) [Manp-(1→2)]-Ino. Although first reported 45 years ago, no easily accessible form of this enzyme was available to the research community, a fact that may in part be explained by a lack of knowledge of its complete gene sequence. Here, we report on the successful cloning of the complete endo-α-(1→6)-D-mannanase gene from Bacillus circulans TN-31, herein referred to as emn. We further report on the successful production and purification of the glycosyl hydrolase domain of this enzyme and its use to gain further insight into its substrate specificity using synthetic mannoside acceptors as well as LM and phosphatidyl-myo-inositol mannoside precursors purified from mycobacteria.

Four cyclodextrins (CD) including β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD), heptakis-O-(2-hydroxypropyl)-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD), and heptakis-O-(2, 6-di-O-methyl)-β-cyclodextrin (DM-β-CD) were used as solubilizer to study the solubility enhancement of myricetin. The results of the phase solubility study showed that the presence of CDs could enhance the solubility of myricetin by forming 1:1 complexes. Among all CDs, HP-β-CD had the highest solubilization effect to myricetin. The concentration of myricetin could be 1.60 × 10-4 moL/L when the presence of HP-β-CD reached 1.00 × 10-2 moL/L, which was 31.45 times higher than myricetin's aqueous solubility. Subsequently, the HP-β-CD:myricetin complex was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In order to get an insight of the plausible structure of the complex, molecular docking was used to study the complexation process of HP-β-CD and myricetin. In the complex, the A ring and C ring of myricetin were complexed into the hydrophobic cavity of HP-β-CD, while the ring B was located at the wide rim of HP-β-CD. Four hydrogen bonding interactions were found between HP-β-CD and -OH groups of the guest in the HP-β-CD: myricetin complex. The complexation energy (△E) for the host-guest interactions was calculated with a negative sign, indicating the formation of the complex was an exergonic process. A 30-ns molecular dynamics simulation was conducted to the HP-β-CD: myricetin complex. Calculation results showed that no large structural deformation or position change were observed during the whole simulation time span. The average root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) changes of the host and guest were 2.444 and 1.145 Å, respectively, indicating the complex had excellent stability.

Salt stress seriously affects yield and quality of crops. The fruit of Lycium barbarum (LBF) is extensively used as functional food due to its rich nutrient components. It remains unclear how salt stress influences the quality of LBF. In this study, we identified 71 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) and 1396 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among ripe LBF with and without 300 mM of NaCl treatment. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that the metabolomic changes caused by salt stress were strongly related to oxidoreductases; hydrolases; and modifying enzymes, in particular, acyltransferases, methyltransferases and glycosyltransferases. Further analysis revealed that salt stress facilitated flavonoid glycosylation and carotenoid esterification by boosting the expression of structural genes in the biosynthetic pathways. These results suggested that salt stress prompts the modification of flavonoids and carotenoids to alleviate ROS damage, which in turn improves the quality of LBF. Our results lay a solid foundation for uncovering the underlying molecular mechanism of salt stress orchestrating LBF quality, and the candidate genes identified will be a valuable gene resource for genetic improvement of L. barbarum.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma) is a chronic fibrotic disease involving TGF-β1. Low serum vitamin D (vit D) correlates with the degree of fibrosis and expression of TGF-β1. This study was designed to determine whether the noncalcemic vit D analog, 17,20S(OH)2pD, suppresses fibrosis and mediators of the TGF-β1 pathway in the bleomycin (BLM) model of fibrosis. Fibrosis was induced into the skin of female C57BL/6 mice by repeated injections of BLM (50 μg/100 μL) subcutaneously. Mice received daily oral gavage with either vehicle (propylene glycol) or 17,20S(OH)2pD using 5, 15, or 30 μg/kg for 21 days. The injected skin was biopsied; analyzed histologically; examined for total collagen by Sircol; and examined for mRNA expression of MMP-13, BMP-7, MCP-1, Gli1, and Gli2 by TR-PCR. Spleen was analyzed for lymphocytes using flow cytometry. Serum was analyzed for cytokines using a multiplexed ELISA. Results showed that all three doses of 17,20S(OH)2pD suppressed net total collagen production, dermal thickness, and total collagen content in the BLM fibrosis model. 17,20S(OH)2pD also increased MMP-13 expression, decreased MCP-1 and Gli-2 expression in vivo, and suppressed serum levels of IL-13, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, and IL-12p70. In summary, 17,20S(OH)2pD modulates the mediators of fibrosis in vivo and suppresses total collagen production and dermal thickness. This antifibrotic property of 17,20S(OH)2pD offers new therapeutic approaches for fibrotic disorders.