In order to investigate whether defense genes PAL, LOX, PBZ1, PR 1 a and Cht 1 participate in APR(adult plant resistance)to rice bacterial blight, their expression were analyzed using RT-PCR. Enzymatic activities of PAL and LOX were also measured. Results indicated that PAL was induced by pathogen and wounding in adult plants while it only induced by pathogen at the seedlings, and the expression of PAL was stronger in adult plants than that in seedlings. Expression of LOX was induced by pathogen both in seedlings and adult plants and it was stronger in adult plants than that in seedlings. Expression PBZ1 was induced by both pathogen and wounding in both seedlings and adult plants and it is earlier and stronger in adult plants than that in seedlings. No expected fragments were obtained for PR 1 a and Cht 1. Enzymatic activities of PAL and LOX were consistent with their mRNA accumulations, respectively. It is probable that activation of PAL,LOX, and PBZ1 play crucial roles in APR to rice bacterial blight.

Phospholipase C (PLC) is a key enzyme in phosphatidyl inositol turnover during signal transduction. The 12 mammalian PLC isozymes identified to date can be divided into five subtypes, beta-type, gamma-type, delta-type, epsilon-type and zeta-type, with extensive difference in structure, regulatory mechanism and tissue distribution. PLC plays important roles not only in sperm acrosome reaction but also in egg activation. The present studies are reviewed on the structure, regulation and function of PLC, especially its function in male reproduction, including triggering Ca2+ oscillations in eggs to activate the eggs and helping embryo development. And the prospect of the clinical application of PLC is discussed.
Acrosome Reaction ; Animals ; Calcium Signaling ; Humans ; Reproduction ; physiology ; Signal Transduction ; Type C Phospholipases ; chemistry ; physiology

Toxoplasma gondii cathepsin C proteases (TgCPC1, 2, and 3) are important for the growth and survival of T. gondii. In the present study, B-cell and T-cell epitopes of TgCPC1 were predicted using DNAstar and the Immune Epitope Database. A TgCPC1 DNA vaccine was constructed, and its ability to induce protective immune responses against toxoplasmosis in BALB/c mice was evaluated in the presence or absence of the adjuvant α-GalCer. As results, TgCPC1 DNA vaccine with or without adjuvant α-GalCer showed higher levels of IgG and IgG2a in the serum, as well as IL-2 and IFN-γ in the spleen compared to controls (PBS, pEGFP-C1, and α-Galcer). Upon challenge infection with tachyzoites of T. gondii (RH), pCPC1/α-Galcer immunized mice showed the longest survival among all the groups. Mice vaccinated with DNA vaccine without adjuvant (pCPC1) showed better protective immunity compared to other controls (PBS, pEGFP-C1, and α-Galcer). These results indicate that a DNA vaccine encoding TgCPC1 is a potential vaccine candidate against toxoplasmosis.
Animals ; B-Lymphocytes ; Cathepsin C* ; Cathepsins* ; DNA* ; Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte ; Immunoglobulin G ; Interleukin-2 ; Mice* ; Peptide Hydrolases ; Spleen ; Toxoplasma* ; Toxoplasmosis* ; Vaccines, DNA*

Background Natural product sanguinarine chloride (SC) can significantly alleviate liver fibrosis and acute liver injury in mice, but whether it has a protective effect on mouse liver injury caused by sodium arsenite (SA) has not been studied. Objective To verify if SC may present preventive and therapeutic effects on SA-induced liver injury in mice. Methods A total of 140 SPF male Kunming mice were randomly divided into two sub-studies, which included a prevention sub-study and a treatment sub-study. In each sub-study, a blank group (normal saline), a model group (5 mg·kg⁻¹ SA), and a positive control group (11.375 mg·kg⁻¹ bicyclol and 182 mg·kg⁻¹ glutathione), as well as SC low, medium, and high dose groups (25, 50, and 100 mg·kg⁻¹) were arranged with 10 mice in each group. In the prevention sub-study, the blank group was given normal saline, the model group was given SA, and the other groups (the SC low, medium, and high dose groups and the positive control group) were given the corresponding treatment 30 min before gavage of SA, once a day, for 28 d. In the treatment sub-study, except for the blank group which was given normal saline, the other groups were given SA for 28 d, then the model group was given normal saline, and the other groups were given the corresponding treatment every day for 28 d. After the experiment, the mice were sacrificed to evaluate selected physiological and biochemical indicators in serum and liver tissue and to observe histopathological changes after HE staining. Results In either sub-study of preventive effect or treatment effect: compared with the blank group, body weight, liver weight, liver coefficient, as well as serum alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TBIL), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) among all SC groups were not significantly different (P>0.05); but compared with the model group, the SC groups showed increased body weight (P<0.01), decreased liver weight and liver coefficient (P<0.01), reduced ALT, AST, TBIL, and MDA (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and increased GSH and SOD with (P<0.05 or P<0.01) or without significance; compared with the positive control group, no differences were found in the above indicators (P＞0.05). The result of histopathological evaluation showed that the SC groups had a clear liver lobule structure, neatly arranged hepatic cords, and less infiltration of inflammatory cells. Conclusion SC has both preventive and therapeutic effects on SA-induced liver injury in mice.

Objective To analyze the clinical diagnosis and treatment data of 20 children with hypophosphatemic rickets (HR) in order to improve the clinical diagnosis and treatment of HR.Methods The retrospective analysis of clinical data of 20 cases with HR who were hospitalized at Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from May,2010 to April,2016 was performed to summarize the clinical characteristics.All patients were analyzed for the phosphate regulating gene with homologies to endopeptidase on the X chromosome(PHEX) gene by direct sequencing.If no mutations were detected,multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification analysis was performed.Results All of the 20 cases with HR showed different degrees of growth retardation and typical X-ray rickets.After treatment,the clinical features were improved.Height standard deviation score (HSDS) was improved significantly with longer treatment time,and the difference was statistically significant(P =0.027).There was a correlation between the blood phosphorus fluctuation and secondary hyperparathyroidism(P ＜ 0.05).Nineteen cases had PHEX gene mutations.Truncating mutations was the most frequent mutation type,and 4 new mutations were found.Conclusions Clinical characteristics,laboratory test results and X-ray examination are important clinical index for the diagnosis of HR,and PHEX gene test can be used as an important auxiliary diagnostic tool.Early diagnosis and treatment can significantly improve the clinical manifestations of the patients.