Isolation of Pancreatic Lipase Activity-inhibitory Component of Spirulina Platensis and It Reduce Postprandial Triacylglycerolemia

In the process of investigating the hypolipidemic effects of Spirulina platensis, we found that the aqueous extract of S. platensis may inhibit the intestinal absorption of dietary fat by inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity. The aqueous extract of S. platensis (500 m/kg) reduced the elevation of rat plasma triacylglycerol levels after oral administration of the lipid emulsion 2 h after administration. To clarify the hypolipidemic effects of S. platensis, the active component was isolated and designated 1'-O-(palmitonyl)-2'-O-(caprylonyl) glyceryl-beta-alpha-D-galactopyranoside (glycolipid H-b2). Glycolipid H-b2 was found to inhibit pancreatic lipase activity in a dose-dependent manner. The fractions containing glycolipid H-b2 (250 mg/kg) reduced the elevation of rat plasma triacylglycerol levels after oral administration of the lipid emulsion 2 h after administration. Furthermore, we examined the effects of phycocyanin isolated from S. platensis on pancreatic lipase activity. Phycocyanin inhibited the pancreatic lipase activity in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that the inhibitory effects of S. platensis on postprandial triacylglycerolemia may be due in part to the inhibition of pancreatic lipase activity by glycolipid H-b2 and phycocyanin.

Mutated-leptin gene transfer induces increases in body weight by electroporation and hydrodynamics-based gene delivery in mice

To investigate whether in vivo gene transfer causes leptin-antagonistic effects on food intake, animal body weight and fat tissue weight, the R128Q mutated-leptin gene, an R to Q substitution at position 128 of mouse leptin, was transferred into mouse liver and leg muscle by electroporation and hydrodynamics-based gene delivery. Mutated-leptin gene transfer by electroporation caused significant increases in body weight at 5 days and after (5.4% increase relative to control; p<0.05). Hydrodynamics-based gene delivery of the mutated-leptin gene also caused an increase in body weight (3.0% increase relative to control; p<0.05). Mutated-leptin gene transfer by electroporation significantly increased the tissue weight of epididymal white fat and neuropeptide Y mRNA expression in the hypothalamus compared with those of the control group 3 weeks after gene transfer (p<0.05). These results suggest that mutated-leptin gene transfer successfully produced leptin-antagonistic effects by modulating the central regulator of energy homeostasis. Also, the extent of leptin-antagonistic effects by electroporation was much higher than hydrodynamics-based gene delivery, with at least single gene transfer.

Alkaloids from Portulaca oleracea L

Five alkaloids (oleraceins A, B, C, D and E) were isolated from Portulaca oleracea L., and their structures determined by spectroscopic methods as 5-hydroxy-1-p-coumaric acyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-indole-2-carboxylic acid-6-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 5-hydroxy-1-ferulic acyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-indole-2-carboxylic acid-6-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 5-hydroxy-1-(p-coumaric acyl-7'-O-beta-D-glucopyranose)-2,3-dihydro-1H-indole-2-carboxylic acid-6-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 5-hydroxy-1-(ferulic acyl-7'-O-beta-D-glucopyranose)-2,3-dihydro-1H-indole-2-carboxylic acid-6-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside and 8,9-dihydroxy-1,5,6,10b-tetrahydro-2H-pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolin-3-one, respectively.

Two new constituents from Rheum sublanceolatum

The chemical investigation of Rheum sublanceolatum has led to the isolation of two new constituents, the structures of which were identified on the basis of physical and spectroscopic analysis as 2-acetyl-3-methyl-6,8-dihydroxy-2,3,4,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-1-one-6-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1) and 2,5-dimethyl-7-hydroxychromone-7-O-beta-D-(6'-O-galloyl)-glucopyranoside (2).

Roles of the polypyrimidine tract and 3' noncoding region of hepatitis C virus RNA in the internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome contains a 3'noncoding region (3'NCR) consisting of a variable region, a polypyrimidine tract (polyU/UC) and the X region. To examine the roles of 3'NCR and polyU/UC tract in the internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation process, a variety of 3'NCRs containing different lengths of polyU/UC tract were obtained from HCV infected patients and cloned respectively to the downstream of the firefly luciferase coding gene linked to HCV 5'NCR and 30 nucleotides of core gene (containing IRES element). The results of in vitro translation in rabbit reticulocyte lysate (RRL) and cell transfection assay in mammalian cells showed that the IRES-mediated translation efficiency could be enhanced by the full-length of 3'NCR of HCV RNA. However, contradictory results were observed when the role of polyU/UC tract in the IRES-mediated translation was studied. While the IRES-mediated translation efficiency was inhibited by the presence of polyU/UC tract in in vitro translation experiments, transfection of these expression cassettes into hepatic cell line showed that polyU/UC tract enhanced IRES-mediated translation efficiency in vivo. Cellular-fraction complement experiments showed that cellular factors were required for the enhancement by the polyU/UC tract. Further antibody blocking assay and UV cross-linking assay suggested the correlation of IRES-mediated translation with host factors, including the La protein. The data above also indicated that the modulations of the IRES-mediated translation by the HCV 3'NCR and the polyU/UC tract were in a length-independent manner.

The effects of agouti-related protein gene transfer in vivo by electroporation in mice

In the present study, the cDNA encoding agouti-related protein (AGRP) gene known as an orexigenic factor was transferred in vivo to test whether food intake and body weight gain is improved in mice. When the expression plasmid of AGRP gene driven by mouse beta-actin, pActAGRP, was transferred into leg muscle by electroporation, body weight of gene-transferred mice was significantly increased at 14 days and afterwards compared with that of control counterparts (p < 0.05). Likewise, daily food intake was also significantly higher in the AGRP gene-transferred mice than in the control mice at 4 days and afterwards (p < 0.05). A significant increase in serum AGRP concentration of the AGRP gene-transferred group was detected compared with the control group at 1 week (p < 0.01), but the difference quickly disappeared at 3 weeks. However, the hypothalamic NPY mRNA abundance of AGRP gene-transferred mice was significantly higher than that of the control mice at 3 weeks (p < 0.05). These results suggested that instead of hormone administration per se, in vivo AGPR gene transfer into skeletal muscle was found to mimic hormonal effects. The present methodology of in vivo gene transfer by electroporation might be useful to promote growth and food intake in farm livestock as well as experimental animals.

Pharmacokinetic study of ellagic acid in rat after oral administration of pomegranate leaf extract

Quantification of ellagic acid, the principal bioactive component of pomegranate leaf extract, in rats plasma following oral administration of pomegranate leaf extract was achieved by using a high-performance liquid chromatographic method. The calibration curve for ellagic acid was linear (r2=0.9998) ver the concentration range 0.026-1.3 microg/ml. The intra- and inter-day assays of ellagic acid from rat plasma were less than 6.52% at concentration range from 26 to 1300 ng/ml and good overall recoveries (94.5-102.4%) were found on same concentrations. The concentration-time profile was fitted with an open two-compartment system with lag time and its max concentration of ellagic acid in plasma was 213 ng/ml only 0.55 h after oral administration extract 0.8 g/kg. The pharmacokinetic profile indicates that ellagic acid has poor absorption and rapid elimination after oral administration pomegranate leaf extract, and part of it was absorbed from stomach.

Determination of paeoniflorin in rat hippocampus by high-performance liquid chromatography after intravenous administration of Paeoniae Radix extract

A rapid and simple high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay for the determination of paeoniflorin in rat hippocampus was developed in this study. The chromatographic analysis was carried out using reversed-phase isocratic elution with a Zorbax SB-C(18) column, a mobile phase of methanol-water (32:68, v/v), and detection by ultraviolet (UV) absorption at 233 nm. The lower limits of quantitation (LLQ) were 1 microg/ml for paeoniflorin. The calibration curve for paeoniflorin was linear (r = 0.9999) over the concentration range of 1-50 microg/ml. The coefficients of variation of intra- and inter-day assays were 7.00, 0.58, 1.46% and 5.48, 1.79, 1.70% at concentrations of 1, 10, 50 microg/ml, respectively. The recoveries of paeoniflorin from rat hippocampus were 98.28 +/- 2.14, 98.96 +/- 1.48, and 95.34 +/- 0.92 at concentrations of 1, 10 and 50 microg/ml, respectively. Stability studies showed that paeoniflorin was stable at temperatures of 2-8 degrees C in methanol for at least 20 days. The method was applied to determine the time course of paeoniflorin in rat hippocampus, following the administration of a 60 mg/kg i.v. dose of paeoniflorin in Paeoniae Radix extract to a male Wistar rat.

Bioleaching of heavy metals from anaerobically digested sewage sludge using FeS2 as an energy source

The effect of using FeS2 as an energy source, on the bioleaching of heavy metals (Zn, Cr, Cu, Pb and Ni) and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from anaerobically digested sludge using isolated indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria was investigated in this paper. Addition of FeS2 in the range of 0.5-4.0 g l(-1) accelerated the acidification of sludge and raised the oxidation-reduction potential of sludge medium with an inoculation of 15% (v/v) of active bacteria, thus resulting in an overall increase in metal dissolution efficiency. After 16 days of bioleaching at 28 degrees C and an initial pH of 3.0, up to 99% of Zn, 65% of Cr, 74% of Cu, 58% of Pb and 84% of Ni can be removed from the sludge. In contrast, only 94% of Zn, 12% of Cr, 21% of Cu, 32% of Pb and 38% of Ni were leached out in the control without inoculation of iron-oxidizing bacteria and the addition of FeS2. Less than 15% of nitrogen and 6% of phosphorous were lost after 16 days of bioleaching when using FeS2 as the energy source. Comparing to 39% and 45% loss respectively for these two nutrients when using FeSO4.7H2O as the energy source, FeS2 appears to be a more suitable energy source for preserving nutrients in sludge while removing heavy metals from sludge.

T helper 2 immunity to hepatitis B surface antigen primed by gene-gun-mediated DNA vaccination can be shifted towards T helper 1 immunity by codelivery of CpG motif-containing oligodeoxynucleotides

Gene-gun-mediated DNA immunization usually induces predominant T helper 2 (Th2) type immune response. As oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN)-containing unmethylated CpG motifs can activate the innate immune system in a Th1-biased way, the potential of codelivery of CpG motifs-containing ODN (CpG-ODN) with plasmid DNA to switch the gene-gun-mediated Th2 immune response was evaluated in this study. Here we show that codelivery of CpG-ODN with plasmid DNA at certain ratio (10/1) can enhance the Th1 humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in gene-gun-mediated DNA immunization in BALB/c mice, including increasing the hepatitis B surface antigen-specific total immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgG2a subclass, cytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte activity as well as interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) secretion. Taken together, these results demonstrate that codelivery of CpG-ODN with recombinant plasmid DNA by gene gun can shift the gene-gun-mediated DNA immune response from Th2 towards Th1.

Effects of leptin gene expression in mice in vivo by electroporation and hydrodynamics-based gene delivery

In vivo electroporation and hydrodynamics-based gene delivery were utilized to test the effect of leptin gene transfer on food intake, and body and fat weights of mice. Gene transfer of pVRmob by electroporation caused a significant reduction in body weight compared with the control counterpart (p<0.05), although a lesser effect was found in food intake, and the weights of interscapular brown and epididymal fat by electroporation. As might be expected, the hydrodynamics-based transfection method significantly reduced body weight over 1 week post-transfection (p<0.05). Furthermore, epididymal fat was decreased by 50% at 1 week after gene transfer (p<0.001). These results suggest that both electroporation and hydrodynamics-based gene delivery may be effective approaches for systemic delivery of recombinant leptin to the central nervous system, and that the efficiency of gene transfer in hydrodynamics-based gene delivery was markedly higher than that in electroporation at least within the first week after transfection.

Allopurinol inhibits CXC chemokine expression and leukocyte adhesion in endotoxemic liver injury

OBJECTIVE

Leukocyte activation and recruitment are rate limiting steps in endotoxemic liver injury. We investigated the effect of allopurinol on the expression of CXC chemokines and leukocyte-endothelium interactions, microvascular perfusion failure, and cellular injury and apoptosis in endotoxemic liver injury.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Mice were treated with allopurinol prior to challenge with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) + D-Galactosamine (Gal). Intravital microscopy of the liver microcirculation and analysis of liver enzymes were conducted 6 h later.

RESULTS

We observed that allopurinol pre-treatment reduced the number of firmly adherent leukocytes by more than 57% in postsinusoidal venules of endotoxemic mice. Indeed, endotoxin-induced liver injury enzymes were decreased by 76% and sinusoidal perfusion failure was reversed in mice pre-treated with allopurinol. Moreover, administration of allopurinol reduced LPS-induced hepatocyte apoptosis by 56%. Notably, it was found that allopurinol significantly decreased the levels of CXC chemokines (more than 83% reduction) in livers of endotoxemic mice.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that allopurinol markedly protects against endotoxemic liver injury and indicates that reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediate synthesis of CXC chemokines and leukocyte adhesion in the liver in vivo.

The application of an artificial neural network in the identification of medicinal rhubarbs by near-infrared spectroscopy

This paper describes a method to combine near-infrared spectroscopy and a three layer back-propagation artificial neural network in order to identify official and unofficial rhubarbs. Thirty-three samples were taken as the training set, and 62 samples as the test set. The effects of input node number, learning rate and momentum on the final error and recognition accuracy for the training set, and on prediction accuracy for the test set were determined. A neural network with eight input nodes, a 0.5 learning rate, and a momentum of 0.3 can achieve a recognition accuracy of 100% for the training set and a prediction accuracy of 96.8% for the test set. The method described offers a quick and efficient means of identifying rhubarbs.

Inhibitory effects of the combination of HER-2 antisense oligonucleotide and chemotherapeutic agents used for the treatment of human breast cancer

Poor response to chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer is often associated with overexpression of HER-2/neu. Interference with HER-2 mRNA translation by means of antisense oligonucleotides might improve the efficacy of chemotherapy. To test this hypothesis, eight breast cancer cell lines and a normal human fibroblast cell line were examined for their level of HER-2 expression, their sensitivity to phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides (AS HER-2 ODN), and to various chemotherapeutic agents, and the combination of the two. No correlation was found between the intrinsic HER-2 level and either the sensitivity to a particular chemotherapeutic agent alone, or the amount of growth inhibition observed with a specific AS HER-2 ODN concentration. Although sequence specificity and extent of AS HER-2 ODN inhibition of HER-2 synthesis were somewhat higher in the HER-2 overexpressing MDA-MB-453 and SK-BR-3 cells, we found that antisense treatment significantly sensitized all of the breast cancer cells, even MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 cells, with approximately basal levels of HER-2, to various chemotherapeutic agents. In addition, the combination of AS HER-2 ODN and taxol was shown to synergistically induce apoptosis in MDA-MB-435. These results demonstrate that overexpression of HER-2 would not be a prerequisite for the effective use of AS HER-2 ODN as a combination treatment modality for breast cancer and suggest that the use of AS HER-2 ODN, as part of a combination treatment modality, need not be limited to breast tumors that display elevated levels of HER-2.

[Non-anthraquinone constituents from Rheum sublanceolatum C. Y. Cheng et Kao]

OBJECTIVE

Study on the non-anthraquinone constituents from rhizoma and radix of Rheum sublanceolatum.

METHOD

The constituents were isolated through column chromatography and identified on the basis of their physiochemical and spectral data.

RESULT

Six non-anthraquinone constituents were isolated and identified as n-octacosanic acid, sitosterol, daucosterol, 2-methyl-5-carboxymethyl-7-hydroxychromone, piceatannol and 6-hydroxymusizin-8-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside.

CONCLUSION

All these compounds were firstly isolated from R. sublanceolatum.

Expression of transthyretin gene in Pichia pastoris

Plasmid pSK-TTR was digested by BamHI and the DNA fragment containing Transthyretin gene was cloned into the BamHI site of vector pHIL-SI. The recombinant plasmid pHIL-SI-TTR was digested by BglII; the larger fragment was transformed into yeast Pichia pastoris. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the yeast transformant can express and secrete TTR as a fusion protein, TTRF. To purify TTRF,the DEAE-Sepherose F.F. chromatography and Sephacryl S-200 chromatography were used. The in vitro test showed that TTRF could inhibit the growth of human hepatoma cells.

Progesterone inhibits glucocorticoid-induced murine thymocyte apoptosis

Sex and sex hormones modulate immune development and responses. A primary target of their effects is the structure and cellularity of the thymus; therefore, we examined the effects of sex and sex steroids on thymocyte apoptosis. We demonstrate initially that male DBA mice have a significantly higher percentage of glucocorticoid-induced apoptotic thymocytes (46.1+/-3.8%) than their female counterparts (31.6+/-3.1%; P=0.012). We postulated that this gender difference was due to differential modulation of glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis by sex hormones such as estrogen, testosterone or progesterone. Both estrogen and testosterone increased in vitro thymocyte apoptosis. In contrast, progesterone not only inhibited spontaneous in vitro thymocyte apoptosis, but also prevented in vitro glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis. Progesterone administration also suppressed glucocorticoid-induced in vivo thymocyte apoptosis. These results suggest that anti-apoptotic effects of progesterone may influence T cell development and subsequent immune responses.

Population-specific gender-biased hybridization between Dryopteris intermedia and D. carthusiana: evidence from chloroplast DNA

As has been shown for many kinds of organisms, barriers to interspecific hybridization may differ in strength between reciprocal crosses, resulting in a bias in the probability that one or the other species may be the maternal or paternal parent of hybrids. The fern Dryopteris Xtriploidea, the "backcross" hybrid between the diploid D. intermedia and the tetraploid D. carthusiana, occurs in large numbers in nature, providing an opportunity to investigate whether such a bias exists. Differences in the chloroplast genome distinguishing the two parental species were discovered in the sequence of the trnL region following amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), including a Mse I restriction site. This allowed rapid identification of the donor of the chloroplast genome, and therefore the maternal parent of each hybrid, assuming chloroplast DNA to be maternally inherited in Dryopteris. Analysis was carried out on 127 hybrids, shown to be of independent origin using allozymes, occurring at three localities in Virginia and West Virginia. When samples from all localities were pooled, 91 possessed the D. carthusiana trnL genotype and 36 possessed the D. intermedia genotype, a ratio that is significantly different (P < 0.001) from the null hypothesis of no gender bias. The strength of the bias differed significantly among the three sites, however, with bias at the West Virginia site much stronger (5.6:1 carthusiana:intermedia; P < 0.001) than at either Virginia site (1.55:1 and 1.43:1 carthusiana:intermedia, respectively; P > 0.05 in both cases). The cause of the strong bias in the West Virginia sample is unknown, as is the cause of the population differences. Causes of bias could include differences between the parental species related to their ploidy difference, including sizes of gametes and/or gametangia, sperm motility, breeding system (D. intermedia is outcrossing while D. carthusiana is selfing), or the nature and strength of interspecific isolating mechanisms.

Removal of heavy metals from anaerobically digested sewage sludge by isolated indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria

The removal of heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni and Pb) from anaerobically digested sludge from the Yuen Long wastewater treatment plant, Hong Kong, has been studied in a batch system using isolated indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria. The inoculation of indigenous iron-oxidizing bacteria and the addition of FeSO4 accelerated the solubilization of Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni and Pb from the sludge. pH of the sludge decreased with an increase in Fe2+ concentrations and reached a low pH of 2-2.5 for treatments receiving both bacterial inoculation and FeSO4. After 16 days of bioleaching, the following heavy metal removal efficiencies were obtained: Cr 55.3%, Cu 91.5%, Zn 83.3%, Ni 54.4%, and Pb 16.2%. In contrast, only 2.6% of Cr, 42.9% of Cu, 72.1% of Zn, 22.8% of Ni and 0.56% of Pb were extracted from the control without the bacterial inoculation and addition of FeSO4. The residual heavy metal content in the leached sludge was acceptable for unrestricted use for agriculture. The experimental results confirmed the effectiveness of using the isolated iron-oxidizing bacteria for the removal of heavy metals from sewage sludge.

Genetic localization and molecular characterization of the nonS gene required for macrotetrolide biosynthesis in Streptomyces griseus DSM40695

The macrotetrolides are a family of cyclic polyethers derived from tetramerization, in a stereospecific fashion, of the enantiomeric nonactic acid (NA) and its homologs. Isotope labeling experiments established that NA is of polyketide origin, and biochemical investigations demonstrated that 2-methyl-6,8-dihydroxynon-2E-enoic acid can be converted into NA by a cell-free preparation from Streptomyces lividans that expresses nonS. These results lead to the hypothesis that macrotetrolide biosynthesis involves a pair of enantiospecific polyketide pathways. In this work, a 55-kb contiguous DNA region was cloned from Streptomyces griseus DSM40695, a 6.3-kb fragment of which was sequenced to reveal five open reading frames, including the previously reported nonR and nonS genes. Inactivation of nonS in vivo completely abolished macrotetrolide production. Complementation of the nonS mutant by the expression of nonS in trans fully restored its macrotetrolide production ability, with a distribution of individual macrotetrolides similar to that for the wild-type producer. In contrast, fermentation of the nonS mutant in the presence of exogenous (+/-)-NA resulted in the production of nonactin, monactin, and dinactin but not in the production of trinactin and tetranactin. These results prove the direct involvement of nonS in macrotetrolide biosynthesis. The difference in macrotetrolide production between in vivo complementation of the nonS mutant by the plasmid-borne nonS gene and fermentation of the nonS mutant in the presence of exogenously added (+/-)-NA suggests that NonS catalyzes the formation of (-)-NA and its homologs, supporting the existence of a pair of enantiospecific polyketide pathways for macrotetrolide biosynthesis in S. griseus. The latter should provide a model that can be used to study the mechanism by which polyketide synthase controls stereochemistry during polyketide biosynthesis.

Quantitative alleles of CR1: coding sequence analysis and comparison of haplotypes in two ethnic groups

The quantitative expression of complement receptor type 1 (CR1) on erythrocytes is regulated by two CR1 alleles that differ in having genomic HindIII fragments of either 7.4 or 6.9 kb and that determine high (H allele) or low (L allele) CR1 expression, respectively, across a 10-fold range. To investigate whether the product of the L allele may contain amino acid substitutions that make it more susceptible to proteolysis, cDNA sequence spanning the CR1 coding region was analyzed in two donors who were homozygous for the H and L alleles and differed by 7-fold in their mean numbers of CR1 per erythrocyte. Sequence differences were detected at 10 nucleotide positions, including 6 that would cause amino acid substitutions. The HindIII RFLP and 3 of the latter 6 sites were analyzed in genomic DNA of 85 Caucasians and 75 African Americans; sites encoding the other amino acid substitutions were analyzed less extensively. Two major haplotypes defined prototypic H and L alleles in both ethnic groups, suggesting that these alleles existed before the African and European populations diverged. Decreased erythrocyte CR1 expression is associated with impaired clearance of immune complexes from blood. Persistence of the L allele in all populations that have been analyzed may suggest a compensatory survival advantage, perhaps related to malaria or another infectious disease.