Objective To investigate the mechanism by which angiopoietin-like protein 8(ANGPTL8)regulates vascular smooth muscle cell(VSMCs)apoptosis.Methods An in vitro abdominal aortic aneurysm cell model was established by stimulating human VSMCs(HUSMCs)with angiotensin Ⅱ(AngⅡ).Stable ANGPTL8 knockdown and over-expression VSMC cell strains were generated using lentiviral transfection.TUNEL staining was used to de-tect apoptosis.Western blot analysis was performed to measure the protein expression of ANGPTL8,caspase9,caspase3,Bcl-2,Bax,p53,and PUMA,while RT-qPCR was used to assess mRNA expression of ANGPTL8,Bcl-2 and Bax.Results AngⅡ significantly induced ANGPTL8 expression in HVSMCs in a time-and dose-de-pendent manner(P＜0.05).ANGPTL8 knockdown significantly reduced the expression of apoptosis-related proteins caspase9,caspase3,and Bax,while increased the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2(P＜0.05).Con-versely,ANGPTL8 over-expression markedly induced HVSMCs apoptosis,which was significantly suppressed by treatment with the p53 pathway inhibitor pifithrin-α(PFT-α).Conclusions ANGPTL8 may promote VSMC apop-tosis by activation of p53 signaling pathway.

Angiopoietin-like protein 8(ANGPTL8)secreted by liver and adipose tissue,is a glycoprotein exerting paramount effects on facilitation of vascular remodeling and regulation of inflammatory response;ANGPTL8 is in-volved in the initiation and progression of cardiovascular diseases including coronary artery disease,hypertension,aortic aneurysm and pathological cardiac hypertrophy,and holds promise for being a new target for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

OBJECTIVETo find out the optimal condition for the germination and cultivation condition on Magnolia officinalis, and offer the basis for standardized culture of M. officinalis.

METHODThe study was carried out with in-door experiment, using light, temperature, soil water content and seed soaking in different water temperature treatments, the effects of different treatments on seed germination percentage of M. officinalis were investigated.

RESULT AND CONCLUSIONThe germination percentage between light and dark treatments was significantly difference, it is indicated that the seed is light-sensitive. M. officinalis can germinate in a wide range of temperature, from 20 degrees C to 35 degrees C, and the suitable temperature was 25-30 degrees C, at which germination percentages were 59.2% and 54.6%. Germination percentage at 20/30 degrees C was 65%. The optimum soil water content was 25% for seed germination, at which germination percentages were 66.7%. The suitable soil water content was 20%-25%. In order to find out optimal temperature for soaking, seeds were soaked in water at the temperatures of 40, 60, 80, 90 degrees C for 10 minutes. The optimum water temperature was 60 degrees C for seed germination, and hard coated seed percentage was reduced. Seed germination rate can be inhibited under too high water temperature. Seed germination percentage was significantly difference in different germinating bed.

Conservation of Natural Resources ; Ecosystem ; Germination ; radiation effects ; Light ; Magnolia ; growth & development ; physiology ; radiation effects ; Seeds ; growth & development ; physiology ; radiation effects ; Soil ; analysis ; Temperature