OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of the BNIP3-PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in mediating the inhibitory effect of Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BYHWT) on mitochondrial autophagy in human synovial fibroblasts from rheumatoid arthritis patients (FLS-RA) cultured under a hypoxic condition. METHODS: Forty normal Wistar rats were randomized into two groups (n=20) for daily gavage of BYHWT or distilled water for 7 days to prepare BYHWT-medicated or control sera. FLS-RA were cultured in routine condition or exposed to hypoxia (10% O₂) for 24 h wigh subsequent treatment with IL-1β, followed by treatment with diluted BYHWT-medicated serum (5%, 10% and 20%) or control serum. AnnexinV-APC/7-AAD double staining and T-AOC kit were used for detecting apoptosis and total antioxidant capacity of the cells, and the changes in ROS, ATP level, mitochondrial membrane potential and Ca²⁺ homeostasis were analyzed. The changes in mRNA and protein expressions of BNIP3, PI3K and AKT and mRNA expressions of LC3, Beclin-1 and P62 were detected using RT-qPCR and Western blotting. RESULTS: Treatment with BYHWT-medicated serum dose-dependently lowered apoptosis rate of IL-1β-induced FLS-RA with hypoxic exposure. The treatment significantly decreased T-AOC concentration, increased ROS production, autophagosome formation and ATPase levels, and lowered mitochondrial membrane potential and Ca²⁺ level in the cells. In IL-1β-induced FLS-RA with hypoxic exposure, treatment with BYHWT-medicated serum significantly increased BNIP3 protein expression, decreased the protein expressions of PI3K and AKT, increased the mRNA expressions of BNIP3 and P62, and lowered the mRNA expressions of PI3K, AKT, LC3 and Beclin-1 without significantly affecting Beclin-1 protein expression. The cells treated with 5% and 10% BYHWT-medicated serum showed no significant changes in LC3 expression. CONCLUSIONS BYHWT inhibits mitochondrial autophagy in IL-1β-induced FLS-RA with hypoxic exposure possibly by inhibiting BNIP3-mediated PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/pathology* ; Animals ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Autophagy/drug effects* ; Humans ; Fibroblasts/cytology* ; Rats, Wistar ; Membrane Proteins/metabolism* ; Rats ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Mitochondria/metabolism* ; Cells, Cultured ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins/metabolism* ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Cell Hypoxia ; Synovial Membrane/cytology* ; Male ; Mitochondrial Proteins

In China, the crude oil supply is highly dependent on overseas countries, and thus strengthening crude oil self-sufficiency has become an important issue of the national energy security. Tertiary oil recovery, especially polymer flooding, has been widely applied in large oil fields in China, which can increase the recovery rate by 15%-20% compared with water flooding. However, the widely used oil flooding polymers show poor thermal stability and salinity tolerance, complicated synthesis ways of monomers, and environmental unfriendliness. Moreover, the polymer flooding induces problems including pore plugging, heterogeneity intensification, high dispersion of remaining oil resources, pressure rise in injection wells, and low efficiency circulation of injection medium, which restrict the subsequent recovery of old oil fields. Here, we systematically review the developing and current situations of polymer flooding, introduce the innovative biomanufacturing of oil flooding polymers and their monomers or precursors as well as low-cost bio-based chemical raw materials for multiple compound flooding. The comprehensive study of the relationships between microbial fermentation metabolites and polymer flooding will reveal the green and low-carbon paths for polymer flooding. Such study will enable the application of enzymes produced by microorganisms in polymer production and polymer plugging removal after polymer flooding as well as the application of microbial metabolites such as biosurfactants, organic acids, alcohols, biogas, and amino acids in enhancing oil recovery. This review suggests that incorporating biomanufacturing into polymer flooding will ensure the high productivity and stability for crude oil production in China.
Polymers/metabolism* ; China ; Petroleum ; Oil and Gas Fields

OBJECTIVE Exploring the TNC gene mutations in a family with hereditary hearing loss and their relationship with clinical phenotypes.METHODS Draw the family pedigree chart,analyze the inheritance pattern,and assess the clinical phenotypes of family members using audiologic,imaging,and vestibular function tests.Perform whole exome sequencing on six members of the family to identify candidate mutations potentially related to hearing loss,and validate the distribution of these candidate mutations within the family and in normal controls using Sanger sequencing.RESULTS A heterozygous mutation c.5110G>T(p.Ala1704Ser)in exon 17 of the TNC gene on chromosome 9 was identified in the family.This mutation is associated with hereditary hearing loss.Carriers of this gene mutation all presented with normal hearing at birth and hearing decline during childhood;imaging examinations showed no abnormalities in the middle ear or inner ear structures.CONCLUSION This study reports for the first time the association between the heterozygous mutation c.5110G>T(p.Ala1704Ser)in the TNC gene and hereditary hearing loss,providing new evidence for molecular diagnosis and genetic counseling in cases of hereditary hearing loss.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of β-sitosterol on the function of rheumatoid arthritis （RA） fibroblastic synoviocytes MH7A cells and its mechanism. METHODS Network pharmacology was adopted to screen the targets of β-sitosterol and the targets for the treatment of RA. After the intersection of them， topological analysis was performed to find the most critical target in the treatment of RA. MH7A cells were treated with different concentrations （0， 5， 10， 20， 40 μmol/L） of β-sitosterol， and CCK-8 was used to assay cell viability for screening the optimal concentration of β-sitosterol. MH7A cells were induced by 10 ng/mL TNF-α in vitro and treated with β-sitosterol （the optimum concentration）. CCK-8 and EdU were used to detect the ability of cell proliferation. Scratch experiment and Transwell invasion assay were used to analyze cell migration and invasion. The levels of interleukin-1β （IL-1β） and IL-6 in cell supernatant were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The mRNA and protein expressions of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α （PPARα） were measured by qRT-PCR and Western blot， respectively. The siRNA targeting PPARα was transfected into MH7A cells， and the effects of β-sitosterol on cell proliferation， migration， invasion， the secretion of inflammatory factors and the expression of PPARα after PPARα knockdown were detected by the above experimental methods. RESULTS PPARα was the most critical target of β-sitosterol in the treatment of RA. The optimal concentration of β-sitosterol was 20 μmol/L. Compared with model group， β-sitosterol decreased the viability of MH7A cells， and the number of proliferating cells also decreased significantly （P＜0.05）； the cell migration rate and the number of cell invasion decreased significantly （P＜0.05）. The levels of IL-1β and IL-6 were also significantly decreased （P＜0.05）， and the mRNA 15 and protein expression levels of PPARα were significantly increased （P＜0.05）. Compared with negative control small interfering RNA group， after PPARα knockdown， the cell viability increased by about 35.6% （P＜0.05）， the number of cell proliferation， the cell migration rate and the number of cell invasion increased significantly （P＜0.05）， and the levels of IL-1β and IL-6 also increased significantly （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS β-sitosterol could effectively inhibit the proliferation， migration， invasion and secretion of inflammatory factors in MH7A cells， the mechanism of which may be associated with activating PPARα pathway.

Objective To explore the clinical regularity of drugs on epidemic encephalitis B with text mining technique. Methods The data set on epidemic encephalitis B was downloaded from CBM database. The regularities of Chinese herbal medicine, Chinese patent medicine (CPM), western medicine and the combination of CPM and western medicine on epidemic encephalitis B were mined by data slicing algorithm. The results are showed visually with Cytoscape 2.8 software. Results The main function of herbal pieces was focused on clearing heat and removing toxicity. The herbal pieces such as Rehmanniae Radix Isatidis Raxis, Isatids Folium, Paeoniae Radis rubra and Scutellariae Radix were most often used. Angong Niuhuang Wan and Qingkailing Injection were usually used as CPM. For western medicine, antiviral drugs such as interferon and ribavirin were often used, and they were often used together with brain cells nutrition medicine, hormone, immunopotentiator and so on, and they were also frequently used together with CPM such as Angong Niuhuang Wan and Qingkailing Injection. Conclusion Text mining approach provides an important method in exploring the medication regularity for diseas, and provide refenrence for clinical use.