Objective To assess the carotid elasticity using wave intensity(WI) in subjects with different plasma glucose level.Methods 107 subjects were enrolled in this study,according to their plasma glucose levels,subjects were categorized as normal plasma glucose group (group A),normal plasma glucose in higher level group (group B) and pre-diabetes group (group C).Carotid WI examination was performed and analyzed.The parameters included magnitude of the peak during late systole (W2),negative area during the mid-ejection (NA),and stiffness parameter (β),pressure strain elasticity modulus (Ep),arterial compliance(AC),augmentation index(AI),one point pulse wave velocity(PWVβ).Results Compared to group A,W2,β,Ep,PWVβ increased significantly while AC decreased in group C(P ＜0.05),but there was no obvious difference of NA between two groups.Furthermore,this statistically difference was not found in group B(P ＞0.05).Conclusions Carotid elasticity have been altered in pre-diabetes group which can be evaluated by WI,but no marked change is observed in normal plasma glucose of higher level group.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Erzhi Tiangui recipe (ETR) on quality of oocyte in the process of external fertilization and embryo-transplantation.

METHODSEighty mice were randomly divided into 4 groups, Group A treated with ETR plus human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG), Group B with ETR, Group C with HMG and Group D with normal saline. Ovulation test and cleavage test were conducted to observe the effect of treatment on quality of oocytes.

RESULTSThe difference on ovulation number between Group A and C was insignificant, but the difference in comparison between the two groups was significant in aspects of oocyte morphological scoring, fertilization rate and cleavage rate (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONETR could play its effect synergistically with Western medicine, and raise the quality of oocytes.

Animals ; Cell Division ; drug effects ; Drug Synergism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Embryo Transfer ; Female ; Fertilization ; drug effects ; Fertilization in Vitro ; drug effects ; Menotropins ; pharmacology ; Mice ; Oocytes ; drug effects ; physiology ; Ovulation Induction ; Random Allocation

D-psicose 3-epimerase (DPEase) is demonstrated to be useful in the bioproduction of D-psicose, a rare hexose sugar, from D-fructose, found plenty in nature. Clostridium cellulolyticum H10 has recently been identified as a DPEase that can epimerize D-fructose to yield D-psicose with a much higher conversion rate when compared with the conventionally used DTEase. In this study, the crystal structure of the C. cellulolyticum DPEase was determined. The enzyme assembles into a tetramer and each subunit shows a (β/α)(8) TIM barrel fold with a Mn(2+) metal ion in the active site. Additional crystal structures of the enzyme in complex with substrates/products (D-psicose, D-fructose, D-tagatose and D-sorbose) were also determined. From the complex structures of C. cellulolyticum DPEase with D-psicose and D-fructose, the enzyme has much more interactions with D-psicose than D-fructose by forming more hydrogen bonds between the substrate and the active site residues. Accordingly, based on these ketohexose-bound complex structures, a C3-O3 proton-exchange mechanism for the conversion between D-psicose and D-fructose is proposed here. These results provide a clear idea for the deprotonation/protonation roles of E150 and E244 in catalysis.
Binding Sites ; Biocatalysis ; Catalytic Domain ; Clostridium cellulolyticum ; enzymology ; Hexoses ; chemistry ; Manganese ; chemistry ; Protein Structure, Quaternary ; Racemases and Epimerases ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Substrate Specificity

5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), a precursor for biosynthesis of pyrrole compounds in living organisms, has been widely used in agriculture and medical photodynamics therapy and is regarded as a promising value-added bio-based chemical. In the previous investigations on ALA production with recombinant Escherichia coli expressing heterogenous C4 pathway gene, LB media supplemented with glucose and ALA precursors succinate and glycine is widely used, leading to high production cost. Succinate participates in ALA biosynthesis in a form of succinyl-CoA. In this study, genes involved in succinyl-CoA consumption, sdhAB (encoding succinic dehydrogenase) or sucCD (encoding succinyl-CoA synthetase) of E. coli MG1655 was knocked out and tested for ALA accumulation. In comparison with the recombinant E. coli strain expressing heterogenous ALA synthetase, the sdhAB- or sucCD-deficient strain accumulate 25.59% and 12.40%, respectively, more ALA in a 5 L fermentor using a defined synthetic medium with glucose as main carbon source and without supplementation of succinate, providing a novel cost-effective approach for industrial production of ALA.
Aminolevulinic Acid ; metabolism ; Escherichia coli ; enzymology ; genetics ; metabolism ; Industrial Microbiology ; methods ; Metabolic Engineering ; methods ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Succinate Dehydrogenase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Succinate-CoA Ligases ; genetics ; metabolism