Animals ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; Enzyme Activation ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; genetics ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; genetics ; Humans ; Neoplasms ; chemically induced ; enzymology ; genetics ; Phosphoinositide Phospholipase C ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; physiology ; Signal Transduction ; Skin Neoplasms ; chemically induced ; enzymology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; genetics ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; ras Proteins ; metabolism

Objective:To explore the effect of lipoic acid (LA) on chronic oxidative stress,cytokines and inflammatory gene expression with mice fed with high fat diet (HFD) and whether LA supplementation could prevent development of chronic inflammation.Methods:C57BL/6 mice were randomly assigned to three groups.The control group were administrated with an ordinary diet.The two experimental groups were fed with a high fat diet or high fat plus 0.1% LA.Antioxidants defense index such as SOD,CAT,GSH-Px and MDA were examined after 10 week.Cytokines such as IFN-?,IL-4,IL-6,TNF-? and IL-10 were examined after 10 week,respectively.Gene expression related to oxidative stress and inflammation were confirmed by QRT-PCR.Results:HFD led to potently weaken antioxidant defenses in mice.HFD significantly increased levels of IFN-?,IL-6 and TNF-?,and decreased levels of IL-4 and IL-10 in mice plasma.QRT-PCR results showed an up-regulation of inflammation related genes and a down-regulation antioxidant-related genes.Conclusion:LA is a possibly effective supplementation with HFD,both to prevent from the development of long-term oxidative stress and to attenuate chronic inflammation.

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is a complex system, featured with integrity and characteristics. Structural component TCM is a well-organized integrity of traditional Chinese medicine, reflecting multi-component integration effect of TCM. It gives us a new view on the material basis of TCM. Currently, conventional researching strategies are not enough to deal with the relationship between material basis and efficacy, multi-composition, multi-targets, and multi-section mechanism. Post-genome area gives a birth to bioinformatics, which involves systematic biology, different levels of omics, corresponding mathematics and computer techniques. It increasingly becomes a powerful tool to understand complicated system and life essential laws. Research ideas, methods. and knowledge of data mining technology of bioinformatics combined with the theory of structural components of Chinese medicine bring a new opportunity for developing structural components of Chinese medicine, systematically exploring the essence of TCM and promoting the modernization of TCM.
Animals ; Biomedical Research ; Computational Biology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans

More and more studies have shown that NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome has become the regulatory factor of inflammatory response and protective immunity, and the assembly and activation of NLRP3 inflammasomes are closely related to the anti-tumor immunity effect. Depending on the cell type and stimuli, activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome can induce immune cells to become polarized, hyperactive, or pyroptotic, releasing interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18, which leads to cascade immune or inflammatory responses, and its role in tumor immunity has received extensive attention. Here, we review the mechanisms of the NLRP3 inflammasome enhancing CD8⁺ T cells-mediated anti-tumor immunity by inducing the pyroptosis of tumor cell, the pyroptosis or hyperactive state of dendritic cells (DCs), and the pyroptosis or polarization of the macrophages. Different anti-tumor immune roles of NLRP3 inflammasome activation in tumor cells and immune cells provide new directions for future research and may influence the development of next-generation immunotherapy.

Objective As brucellosis epidemic is constantly rising in Harbin in recent years,we analyze the epidemic and surveillance results at municipal surveillance spots of brucellosis from 2008 to 2012,to find out the epidemic characteristics of Harbin brucellosis,and to provide scientific evidences for development of countermeasures.Methods Brucellosis surveillance data which were collected from the National Diseases Surveillance Information Management System from 2008 to 2010,the epidemic characteristics of Harbin brucellosis (including regional,time and population distribution) and the municipal surveillance results in Harbin (including epidemiological investigation and serological surveillance) were analyzed.Results A total of 1348 cases of brucellosis were reported in Harbin from 2008 to 2012,and the incidence of brucellosis increased from 1.79 per 100 000 to 4.62 per 100 000; in addition to Pingfang District (2008-2011) and Fangzheng County(2009 and 2011),all eighteen districts (counties or cities) in Harbin had reported epidemic in the past five years,the highest incidence was in Yilan (382 cases),and the incidence was significantly increased in Shuangcheng(111 cases) and Binxian(73 cases) in 2012; the time of onset focused on March to July,which accounted for 62.54％(843/1348) of annual incidence; age distribution,mainly young adults aged 30 to 60(71.59％,965/1348); gender distribution predominantly male (75.45％,1017/1348) ; occupational distribution farmers(84.87％,1144/1348),and the number of infected students and house workers were also high in the past five years(4.23％,57/1348 and 2.52％,34/1348).In the municipal surveillance spots from 2008 to 2012,13 010 cases were surveyed,of which 2695 cases received serological test,the positive rate was 3.93％ (106/2695),and the positive rate was increasing year by year.Conclusions The incidence of Harbin brucellosis is increasing year by year,onset season mainly in the spring and summer,young men with a high incidence,and farmers are main professional people.Brucellosis has also occurred among students,domestic workers,which should be vigilant.Therefore,we should further strengthen surveillance,timely analyze and report the epidemic,and provide a scientific basis to ensure each measure of eliminating the sources of infection put in place,vigorously develop health education,strengthen inter-departments cooperation,and control the spread of epidemic.

Objective To obtain antibiotic-resistant mutants producing metabolites with antitumor activity from wild-type actinomycete strains without antitumor activity. Methods An actinomycete strain L35-1 was used as an initial strain for obtaining antibiotic-resistant mutants, which is a marine-derived wild-type strain without antitumor activity with an inhibition rate of 2.8% at the 1000 μg/ml of high sample concentration on K562 cells. The antibiotic-resistant mutants both from auto-mutagenesis and chemical mutagen-induced mutagenesis were selected by single colony isolation on antibiotic-containing plates according to the method for obtaining drug-resistant mutants in ribosome engineering. The antitumor activity was assayed by the MTT method using K562 cells for the mutants with aqueous acetone extracts of the whole broth of their fermentation.Results A total of 114 neomycin-resistant (ner) and 68 streptomycin-resistant (str) mutants, all from auto-mutagenesis, was obtained on drug-containing plates. Among them, the 7 ner and 3 str mutants appeared to be bioactive with an inhibition rate above 20% at the 100 μg/ml sample concentration on K562 cells. On the other hand, 41 str and 32 ner mutants from DES-induced mutagenesis and 46 ner mutants from NTG-induced mutagenesis were obtained by mutagen-induced mutation coupled with the single colony isolation on antibiotic-containing plates, among which, one str mutant from DES-induced mutagenesis and one ner mutant from NTG-induced mutagenesis were bioactive with an inhibition rate over 20% at the 100 μg/ml sample concentration on K562 cells. Conclusions The present result has revealed that the wild-type actinomycete strains without bioactivity might become a great source initial strains to obtain bioactive mutants by drug-resistant mutation technique.

To prepare ginseng saponin Compound K with ultrasound-assisted total zymolytic ginseng saponins. The conversion rate was taken as the index to detect the pre-treatment factors such as ultrasonic power and ultrasonic time, as well as the impact of enzymatic factors, such as pH value, temperature, concentration of substrate, dosage of enzyme and reaction time, on the conversion rate. The response surface method was used to optimize the preparation conditions. The enzymolytic products were identified with MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR. The results showed that the optimum conditions of the ultrasound-assisted enzymolysis were 250 W for ultrasonic power, 15 min for ultrasonic time, 5.5 for enzymolytic pH, 50 degrees C for enzymolytic temperature, 36 h for enzymolytic time, 4:5 for enzymolytic dosage: substrate and 1.0 g x L(-1) for concentration of substrate. The relative molecular mass of reaction products was 622.4. Therefore, the nuclear magnetic map verified that the reaction product was rare ginseng saponin Compound K. Under the above conditions, based on the total zymolytic ginseng saponins, the conversion rate of rare ginseng saponin Compound K was 6.91% in proportion to the total of ginsenosides. The process features gentle reaction conditions, high conversion rate and simple and reliable process, which is suitable for industrial production.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Enzymes ; chemistry ; Panax ; chemistry ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Saponins ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Ultrasonics ; methods

To prepare sagittatoside B with epimedin B Hydrolyzed from cellulase. With the conversion ratio as the index, the effects of pH value, temperature, reaction time, dosage of enzyme and concentration of substrates on the conversion ratio were detected. L9 (3(4)) orthogonal design was adopted to optimize the preparation process. Hydrolyzed products were identified by MS, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. The results showed that the optimum reaction conditions for the enzymatic hydrolysis were that the temperature was 50 degrees C, the reaction medium was pH 5.6 acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer solution, the concentration of substrates was 20 g x L(-1), the mass ratio between enzyme and substrate was 3: 5, and the relative molecular mass of the reaction product was 646.23. NMR data proved that the product was sagittatoside B. The process is simple and reliable under mild reaction conditions, thus suitable for industrial production.
Cellulase ; metabolism ; Drug Compounding ; methods ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hydrolysis ; Temperature ; Time Factors

Objective To observe dynamically osteopontin(OPN) expression in the renal tubules of streptozotocin(STZ) induced diabetic rats, and to explore the relationship between OPN and angiotensinⅡ(AngⅡ), nuclear transcription factor-?B(NF-?B), and renal injuries. Methods Male SD rats were injected with STZ to induce diabetes mellitus, which were randomly divided into 5 groups and meanwhile there were other 5 age-matched normal control groups. Immunohistochemistry was employed to observe the expression of OPN, AngⅡ, NF-?B and fibronectin(FN) in renal tubules. The OPN and I-?B protein in renal cortex was detected by Western blot methods. Blood glucose, serum creatinine and 24 h urine protein were examined. The renal morphology was checked through light microscopy.Results The AngⅡand NF-?B expression from DM day 3, OPN expression from day7, FN from week 2 in renal cortex or tubules was increased as compared with control groups, while I-?B protein in renal cortex was gradually decreased since day 3. In DM week 4, there were positive correlations between OPN and AngⅡ, NF-?B, FN and 24 h urine protein. Conclusion An increase of OPN expression in the renal tubules of diabetic rats may be regulated by AngⅡ and NF-?B, and therefore participates the injury mechanisms of renal tubulo-intestitium.