Herbal extracts have been extensively used worldwide for their application on memory improvement, especially among aged and memory-deficit populations. In the present study, the memory loss induced by human Abeta protein over-expression in fruitfly Alzheimer's disease (AD) model was rescued by multiple extracts from Gardenia jasminoides. Three extracts that rich with gardenia yellow, geniposide, and gardenoside components showed distinct rescue effect on memory loss. Further investigation on adding gardenoside into a formula of Ganoderma lucidum, Panax notoginseng and Panax ginseng (GPP) also support its therapeutic effects on memory improvement. Interestingly, the application of GPP and gardenoside did not alter the accumulation of Abeta proteins but suppressed the expression of immune-related genes in the brain. These results revealed the importance and relevancy of anti-inflammation process and the underlying mechanisms on rescuing memory deficits, suggesting the potential therapeutic use of the improved GPP formulation in improving cognition in defined population in the future.
Alzheimer Disease ; drug therapy ; Animals ; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides ; genetics ; Brain ; drug effects ; immunology ; Cognition ; drug effects ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drosophila ; Drosophila Proteins ; genetics ; Gardenia ; chemistry ; Gene Expression Regulation ; drug effects ; Immunity, Innate ; drug effects ; Iridoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

NS2 and NS3 are two post-transcriptional gene silencing suppressors that are encoded by Rice stripe virus. Gene silencing suppressors are always related to the pathogenicity of viruses. In this study, the cDNA of NS2 and NS3 were recombined by overlapping PCR assays, ligated to the RNAi vector, and inserted into the PXQ expression vector using Pst I; the expressed vector was transferred into calluses induced from seeds of the japonica rice cultivar, 'Nipponbare', using an Agrobacterium-mediated method. Thirty-one T0 transgenic plants were selected by G418 screening. PCR and southern blot analyses confirmed that the target gene was transformed into transgenic rice successfully, and different transgenic plants contained various copies of the gene. The disease resistance assay revealed that T0 transgenic rice had a delayed onset of RSV for approximately 10-20 d, and the accumulation of virus in the transgenic plants was reduced by 30%-50%. This was related to the delayed onset of disease.
Disease Resistance ; Oryza ; genetics ; immunology ; virology ; Plant Diseases ; genetics ; immunology ; virology ; Plants, Genetically Modified ; genetics ; immunology ; virology ; RNA Interference ; Tenuivirus ; genetics ; immunology ; Viral Nonstructural Proteins ; genetics ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo explore the influence of rosa roxburghii tratt preparation on immune function of arseniasis patients caused by burning coal.

METHODSAccording to the diagnosis standard for endemic arseniasis(WS/T 211-2001), 62 cases of arseniasis patients who resided in endemic arseniasis area in Guizhou province were selected and divided stratified randomly into two groups: rosa roxburghii tratt juice treatment group and superoxide dismutase(SOD)-enriched rosa roxburghii tratt juice treatment group, with 31 patients in each group.Each patient took 120 ml/d rosa roxburghii tratt preparation or SOD-enriched rosa roxburghii tratt orally for one month. Another 30 healthy residents from a neighbour township 12 km away where arsenic was not prevalent were selected as controls. A 2 ml blood and 50 ml urine samples were collected from individuals and the urine arsenic contents, peripheral blood T-lymphocyte subsets (CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+) T cell), serum immunoglobulin (IgG, IgM, IgA) and complement (C3, C4) were detected. The differences between more than two groups on above indicators were compared. The correlations between urinary arsenic and immune parameters were analyzed.

RESULTSAmong the rosa roxburghii tratt juice group, SOD-enriched rosa roxburghii tratt juice before intervention group and the control group, the levels of urine arsenic were (76.55 ± 23.02) , (72.60 ± 25.91) and (26.33 ± 11.30) µg/g Cr respectively and IgG were (11.31 ± 1.68), (11.35 ± 1.94) and (9.23 ± 1.75) g/L respectively. The differences were statistically significant(F values were 82.01, 13.82, both P values < 0.05). After intervention with rosa roxburghii tratt preparation, the levels of urine arsenic were (53.21 ± 16.51) and (51.72 ± 17.70)µg/g Cr, both decreased than before intervention (t values were 5.80 and 3.78, both P values < 0.05). The levels of CD3(+) were (44.47 ± 7.14)%, (43.44 ± 6.61)% and (70.78 ± 5.26)%, CD4(+) were (29.87 ± 5.67)%, (29.42 ± 5.87)% and (46.08 ± 5.87)%, CD4(+)/CD8(+) were(1.25 ± 0.42), (1.22 ± 0.39) and (1.79 ± 0.26) and C4 were (0.13 ± 0.08), (0.13 ± 0.09) and (0.20 ± 0.11) g/L respectively among the two treatment group before intervention and the control group. The differences were significant (F values were 178.04, 76.71, 23.13 and 5.26, all P values < 0.05). After intervention, the levels of CD3(+) were (59.73 ± 7.38)% and (66.31 ± 7.57)%, CD4(+) were (34.00 ± 7.97)% and (39.11 ± 5.81)%, CD4(+)/CD8(+) were (1.41 ± 0.37) and(1.58 ± 0.26), all increased than before intervention(t values were 12.47, 25.18, 5.41, 10.47, 3.22 and 5.05, all P values < 0.05). The levels of urine arsenic and CD3(+), CD4(+), CD4(+)/CD8(+), C4 were inversely correlated correlation, while positive correlation existed between the level of urine arsenic and IgG(r values were -0.68, -0.56, -0.51, -0.43 and 0.36, all P values < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe level of urinary arsenic level is closely related to immune function suppression in arseniasis patients caused by burning coal, rosa roxburghii tratt preparation can effectively improve immune function of arseniasis patients.

Adult ; Arsenic ; urine ; Arsenic Poisoning ; etiology ; immunology ; China ; Coal ; Complement System Proteins ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Rosa ; chemistry ; Superoxide Dismutase ; pharmacology ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; immunology

Liposoluble cape jasmine proteins were used to immunize BALB/C mice. Indirect ELISA was utilized to develop one monoclonal antibody by integrating SP2/0 cells and spleen cells from immunized BALB/C mice. The subclass of the monoclonal antibody was identified as IgG2b, with Kappa chain as its light chain. The ascite titer of 2H8 monoclonal antibody was 1:204 080. Western-blot analysis proved that 2H8 reacted with cape jasmine proteins to identify specific liposoluble protein with molecuar weight of around 58.5 kDa. Dot-ELISA was established with 2H8 ascites as the primary antibody, showing the minimum detectable amount of 19.5 ng. This study lays a foundation for the development of protein kits of Reduning injection.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; analysis ; immunology ; Antibody Specificity ; Drug Hypersensitivity ; immunology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; adverse effects ; analysis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Plant Proteins ; analysis ; immunology ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic

Specific IgE to gliadin was proposed as a marker for wheat dependent exercise induced anaphylaxis, while Tri a 14 was found to induce IgE response in baker's asthma. We evaluated whether these components could be used for discriminating phenotypes of wheat allergy. Twenty-nine patients who were wheat-induced anaphylaxis and/or urticaria (n=21, group I) and baker's asthma (n=8, group II) were enrolled. The prevalence of serum specific IgE to Tri a 14 was higher in group II (25%) than in group I (4.8%), while the serum specific IgE to gliadin was significantly higher in group I (70%) than in group II (12.5%). The cutoff value for predicting the baker's asthma using the ratio of serum specific IgE to Tri a 14 to gliadin was 742.8 optical densityx1,000/(kU/L) with high sensitivity and specificity. These findings suggest that Tri a 14/gliadin may be a potential marker for predicting baker's asthma.
Adult ; Anaphylaxis/immunology ; Antigens, Plant/*immunology ; Asthma/blood/diagnosis/immunology ; Biological Markers/blood ; Carrier Proteins/*immunology ; Female ; Gliadin/*immunology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E/*blood/immunology ; Male ; Phenotype ; Triticum/immunology ; Urticaria/immunology ; Wheat Hypersensitivity/*diagnosis/*immunology

Genetic transformation was adopted to analyze the subcellular localization and the resistance to fungal pathogens of Arabidopsis lipid transfer protein AtDHyPRP1. The coding sequence of AtDHyPRP1 amplified by PCR from Ws ecotype was used to construct the plant binary expression vector pRI101-AN-AtDHyPRP1 and the fusion expression vector pCAMBIA1302-AtDHyPRP1-GFP. Transgenic tobacco and Arabidopsis plants were produced by leaf disc and floral dip protocols, respectively. AtDHyPRP1 could improve the resistance of tobacco to Botrytis cinerea remarkably and the infection sites on transgenic tobacco leaves accumulated large amounts of H2O2. Observation under laser scanning confocal microscope showed that AtDHyPRP1 was localized to cell surface. It suggested that AtDHyPRP1 might play special function after secretion to outside of the cell and was involved in plant defense system against pathogens.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Antigens, Plant ; genetics ; metabolism ; Arabidopsis ; genetics ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Arabidopsis Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Botrytis ; Carrier Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Disease Resistance ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Plant Diseases ; immunology ; microbiology ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plants, Genetically Modified ; genetics ; metabolism ; microbiology ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Subcellular Fractions ; metabolism ; Tobacco ; genetics ; metabolism ; microbiology

The endoplasmic reticulum quality control (ER-QC) is a conserved mechanism in surveillance of secreted signaling factors during cell-to-cell communication in eukaryotes. Recent data show that the ER-QC plays important roles in diverse cell-to-cell signaling processes during immune response, vegetative and reproductive development in plants. Pollen tube guidance is a precisely guided cell-cell communication process between the male and female gametophytes during plant reproduction. Recently, the female signal has been identified as small secreted peptides, but how the pollen tube responds to this signal is still unclear. In this review, we intend to summarize the role of ER-QC in plants and discuss the recent advances regarding our understanding of the mechanism of pollen tube response to the female signals.
Animals ; Endoplasmic Reticulum ; metabolism ; Humans ; Plant Cells ; metabolism ; Plant Development ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plants ; immunology ; Pollen Tube ; cytology ; growth & development ; immunology ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction

Autophagy is a conserved pathway for the bulk degradation of cytoplasmic components in all eukaryotes. This process plays a critical role in the adaptation of plants to drastic changing environmental stresses such as starvation, oxidative stress, drought, salt, and pathogen invasion. This paper summarizes the current knowledge about the mechanism and roles of plant autophagy in various plant stress responses.
Adaptation, Physiological ; Arabidopsis ; genetics ; physiology ; Arabidopsis Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Autophagy ; genetics ; Disease Resistance ; Plant Diseases ; immunology ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; genetics ; Sequence Homology ; Stress, Physiological

Peanut is one of the most popular foods in the world due to its high nutrition; however, it contains multiple seed storage proteins which are identified as allergens and hence are the most common cause of life-threatening, IgE-mediated anaphylaxis among the hypersensitive individuals. Three peanut proteins, Arachis hypogaea allergy 1, 2, 3 (Ara h 1, Ara h 2 and Ara h 3), which have the common biochemical characteristics like resistance to proteases and heat, are considered as the major allergens because they are recognized by serum IgE from a peanut-allergic patient population. The linear IgE-binding epitopes in the allergens lay the foundation of the anaphylaxis in the peanut-allergic individuals. Peanut allergy is often a life-long problem, so many investigators are focusing on decreasing clinical reactivity. In this review, the latest advances in the researches on biochemical characteristics, structure and function of the three major allergens were described and particular attention was given to the immunity properties of the three allergens. The future research directions were also discussed.
2S Albumins, Plant ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology ; Animals ; Antigens, Plant ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology ; Arachis ; chemistry ; DNA ; genetics ; Glycoproteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; genetics ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology

Receptor-like kinase involves self-incompatibility, male sterility, stress responses, and disease resistance. To better understand the physiological function and biological characteristics of rice receptor-like kinase, we cloned five predicted epitope fragments of rice receptor-like kinase. The purified fusion protein was used as antigen to immunize rabbit to get specific polyclonal antibodies. Western blotting analysis shows that the five receptor-like kinases were expressed in rice leaves.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; biosynthesis ; immunology ; Cloning, Molecular ; Epitopes ; immunology ; Immunization ; Oryza ; enzymology ; genetics ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; immunology ; Plantibodies ; immunology ; metabolism ; Protein Kinases ; genetics ; immunology ; Rabbits