[Effect of drying methods on monoterpenes, phenolic acids and flavonoids in Mentha haplocalyx]

To provide a scientific basis for the selection of the appropriate drying method for Mentha Haplocalyx Herba (MHH), determine 2 monoterpenes, 4 phenolic acids and 5 flavonoids in MHH by GC-MS and UPLC-TQ-MS methods, and investigate the effects of the drying methods on the changes in contents of these analytes. The qualities of products obtained with different drying methods were evaluated by the multivariate statistical method of Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Results showed that the drying methods had the greatest impact on menthol, caffeic acid, and rosemary acid, which were followed by chlorogenic acid and diosmetin-7-O-glucoside. The contents in these analytes processed with hot-air-drying method were higher than those with microwave-drying and infrared-drying methods at the same temperatures. The contents in these analytes processed under low temperature (40-45 °C) were higher than those under higher temperature (60-70 °C). Above all, the contents in phenolic acids processed with microwave fixation (exposed under microwave at 100 °C for several minutes) were obviously higher than those of not being processed, showing an inhibition of some enzymes in samples after fixation. The TOPSIS evaluation showed that the variable temperature drying method of 'Hot-Air 45-60 °C' was the most suitable approach for the primary drying processing of MHH. The results could provide the scientific basis for the selection of appropriate drying method for MHH, and helpful reference for the primary drying proces of herbs containing volatile chemical components.

[Effect on quality of Scrophulariae Radix with modern drying technology]

Modern drying technology was used to explore suitable drying process to provide scientific basis for improving drying processing methods of Scrophulariae Radix. Controlled temperature and humidity drying, vacuum drying apparatus, microwave vacuum drying apparatus, short infrared drying device were used to gain samples for analyzing. The character appearance, concentration of main components and power consumption indicators were chosen for preliminary judging. Six major components, including iridoids and phenylpropanoids were analyzed by UPLC-MS/MS method. The contents of polysaccharides were determined by UV-visible spectrophotometry. The character appearance with controlled temperature and humidity drying and short infrared drying meet the pharmacopoeia standard (Ch. p, edition 2015), while samples with vacuum and microwave vacuum drying apparatus didn't. Compared to fresh sample, concentrations of harpagide, harpagoside, aucubin and catalpol were lower in the dried samples. Angoroside-C showed no significant change before and after drying. Concentration of acteoside increased after drying. Samples with controlled temperature (70 degrees C) and humidity (15% - 10%) drying had high content and short drying time. The better drying process of Scrophulariae Radix was controlled temperature and humidity drying. The method will provide the reference for the drying technology standard of roots medicine.

A Mayan founder mutation is a common cause of deafness in Guatemala

Over 5% of the world's population has varying degrees of hearing loss. Mutations in GJB2 are the most common cause of autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNHL) in many populations. The frequency and type of mutations are influenced by ethnicity. Guatemala is a multi-ethnic country with four major populations: Maya, Ladino, Xinca, and Garifuna. To determine the mutation profile of GJB2 in a ARNHL population from Guatemala, we sequenced both exons of GJB2 in 133 unrelated families. A total of six pathogenic variants were detected. The most frequent pathogenic variant is c.131G>A (p.Trp44*) detected in 21 of 266 alleles. We show that c.131G>A is associated with a conserved haplotype in Guatemala suggesting a single founder. The majority of Mayan population lives in the west region of the country from where all c.131G>A carriers originated. Further analysis of genome-wide variation of individuals carrying the c.131G>A mutation compared with those of Native American, European, and African populations shows a close match with the Mayan population.

Prevalence of migraine in persons with the 3243A>G mutation in mitochondrial DNA

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Over the last three decades mitochondrial dysfunction has been postulated to be a potential mechanism in migraine pathogenesis. The lifetime prevalence of migraine in persons carrying the 3243A>G mutation in mitochondrial DNA was investigated.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, 57 mDNA 3243A>G mutation carriers between May 2012 and October 2014 were included. As a control group, a population-based cohort from our epidemiological studies on migraine in Danes was used. History of headache and migraine was obtained by telephone interview, based on a validated semi-structured questionnaire, performed by trained physicians.

RESULTS

The prevalence of migraine is significantly higher in persons carrying the 3243A>G mutation than in controls (58% vs. 18%; P < 0.001). This applies for both subforms of migraine, migraine without aura (47% vs. 12%; P < 0.001) and migraine with aura (18% vs. 6%; P < 0.001), and in females (58% vs. 24%; P < 0.001) and males (58% vs. 12%; P < 0.001) for any migraine.

CONCLUSIONS

A high prevalence of migraine in persons with the mDNA 3243A>G mutation was found. This finding suggests a clinical association between a monogenetically inherited disorder of mitochondrial dysfunction and susceptibility to migraine. Mitochondrial DNA aberrations may contribute to the pathogenesis of migraine.

Impact of Fighting on Antibody Response to Hepatitis B Virus Vaccine in Mice

Antibody responses to vaccines can be influenced by various behavioral and psychosocial factors. Few reports exist on the impact of fighting on antibody response to vaccines. This study unexpectedly found that fighting could significantly enhance antibody production in male mice immunized with hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines. To confirm the finding, a mouse-fighting model was established in which it was observed that only intense fighting, not mild fighting, enhanced the antibody response to HBV surface antigen in male mice, and that the frequency of fighting and active attacks during fighting showed no obvious relationship with the antibody levels in the male mice that experienced fighting. In addition, fighting can cause significant upregulation of CD80 in CD11c(+) cells in the spleen of male mice. These data suggest that fighting could influence the humoral immune response in individuals immunized with vaccines or infected with microbes.

The NLRP3 Inflammasome and IL-1β Accelerate Immunologically Mediated Pathology in Experimental Viral Fulminant Hepatitis

Viral fulminant hepatitis (FH) is a severe disease with high mortality resulting from excessive inflammation in the infected liver. Clinical interventions have been inefficient due to the lack of knowledge for inflammatory pathogenesis in the virus-infected liver. We show that wild-type mice infected with murine hepatitis virus strain-3 (MHV-3), a model for viral FH, manifest with severe disease and high mortality in association with a significant elevation in IL-1β expression in the serum and liver. Whereas, the viral infection in IL-1β receptor-I deficient (IL-1R1^-/-) or IL-1R antagonist (IL-1Ra) treated mice, show reductions in virus replication, disease progress and mortality. IL-1R1 deficiency appears to debilitate the virus-induced fibrinogen-like protein-2 (FGL2) production in macrophages and CD45⁺Gr-1^high neutrophil infiltration in the liver. The quick release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by the infected macrophages suggests a plausible viral initiation of NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Further experiments show that mice deficient of p47^phox, a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase subunit that controls acute ROS production, present with reductions in NLRP3 inflammasome activation and subsequent IL-1β secretion during viral infection, which appears to be responsible for acquiring resilience to viral FH. Moreover, viral infected animals in deficiencies of NLRP3 and Caspase-1, two essential components of the inflammasome complex, also have reduced IL-1β induction along with ameliorated hepatitis. Our results demonstrate that the ROS/NLRP3/IL-1β axis institutes an essential signaling pathway, which is over activated and directly causes the severe liver disease during viral infection, which sheds light on development of efficient treatments for human viral FH and other severe inflammatory diseases.

The NLRP3 inflammasome and IL-1β play essential roles in mediating the primary inflammatory responses against pathogen invasions in the host. Hyperactivation of this signaling pathway can lead to life-threatening diseases under certain circumstances. However, it is not clear if NLRP3 inflammasome activation participates in the pathogenesis of viral fulminant hepatitis (FH), a clinical severe syndrome characterized by acute inflammation in the liver along with massive necrosis of hepatocytes and hepatic encephalopathy during viral infection. Using a mouse viral FH model by infection with murine hepatitis virus strain-3 (MHV-3), we observed a significant macrophage induction and the serum and liver massive accumulation of IL-1β. Conversely, interruption of IL-1β signals results in attenuation of the MHV-3-induced hepatitis and mortality. Blocking IL-1β activity reduces the virus-induced expression of fibrinogen-like protein-2 (FGL2) in macrophages, and limits the liver recruitment of CD45⁺Gr-1^high neutrophils upon the virus infection. We further show that proIL-1β is bioprocessed by NLRP3 inflammasome. Deletion of the components in the inflammasome complex, including NLRP3 and Caspase-1, leads to reduction in the virus-induced IL-1β production and lessening of disease progression. Further studies show that macrophages in deficiency of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase subunit p47^phox, a protein that controls acute ROS production, prevents NLRP3 inflammasome activation and IL-1β secretion, suggesting that the virus-induced ROS production can directly initiate NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Therefore, p47^phox-/- mice exhibited certain degrees of MHV-3 resistance. Taken together, these results demonstrate that ROS/NLRP3/IL-1β is the key pathway signaling exacerbated inflammatory responses that cause viral FH in mice, suggesting that mediation of this signal cascade may benefit on the disease treatment.

Local cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 immunoglobulin inhibition of rejection response is dependent on indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activities in the allograft

A previous study showed that local gene transfer of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 immunoglobulin (CTLA4Ig) significantly prolonged the survival time of rat flap allografts. However, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is considered to be able to modulate the unresponsiveness state of allografts. In this study, we tested the expression of the CD80 molecule, IDO mRNA, and the level of the tryptophan metabolite kynurenine with or without the application of the IDO blocker 1-methyl-tryptophan (1-MT) in a rat composite tissue allotransplantation model. CD80 expression could be detected in the allograft. The ration of IDO mRNA/glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA and the level of kynurenine were both enhanced (46.3 ± 8.8 versus 4.6 ± 1.8 and 18.9 ± 1.3 μmol/L versus 2.1 ± 0.2 μmol/L separately) after adenovirus-mediated CTLA4Ig (AdCTLA4Ig) transduction. When 1-MT was applied to the AdCTLA4Ig perfusion recipients, the ration of IDO mRNA/GAPDH mRNA (5.2 ± 2.9) and the level of kynurenine (0.8 ± 0.5 μmol/L) were significantly reduced. Moreover, the allograft survival time was greatly reduced when 1-MT was applied to AdCTLA4Ig perfusion recipients compared to single AdCTLA4Ig perfusion therapy recipients (7.2 days versus 13.6 days). We showed that the inhibitory effect of locally delivered CTLA4Ig is dependent on IDO activities within the allograft.

Frankincense and myrrh suppress inflammation via regulation of the metabolic profiling and the MAPK signaling pathway

Frankincense and myrrh are highly effective in treatment of inflammatory diseases, but lacking of thetherapy mechanisms. We undertook this study to evaluate the effects on Adjuvant-induced Arthritis(AIA) rats and to explore the underlying mechanisms by analyzing the metabolic profiling and signalingpathway evaluated by expression of inflammatory cytokines, c-jun and c-fos and corresponding phosphorylationlevels. [corrected]. The results stated the elevated expression levels of TNFα, PGE2, IL-2, NO, and MDA in serum and swelling paw of AIA rats were significantly decreased after treatment, which exerted more remarkable inhibitive effects of combined therapy. The metbolic profiling of plasma and urine were clearly improved and twenty-one potential biomarkers were identified. Moreover, the inhibited effects of five bioactive components on cytokine transcription in PHA stimulated-PBMC showed the MAPK pathway might account for this phenomenon with considerable reduction in phosphorylated forms of all the three MAPK (ERK1/2, p38 and JNK) and down regulation of c-jun and c-fos.

[Research on resources chemistry of Chinese medicinal materials and resources recycling utilization ways and goals and tasks]

The objects of research on the resources chemistry of Chinese medicinal materials (RCCMM) are promotion of efficient production, rational utilization and improving quality of CMM and natural products. The development of TCM cause depends on the efficient utilization and sustainable development of CMM, hinges on the technologies and methods for using and discovering medicinal biological resources, stand or fall on the extension of industy chains, detailed utilizaion of resource chemical components by multi-way, multi-level. All of these may help to the recycling utilization and sound development of RCMM. In this article, five respects were discussed to the RCCMM researches and resources recycling utilization ways and goals and tasks. First, based on the principle of resource scarcity, discovering or replacing CMM resources, protecting the rare or endangered species or resources. Second, based on the multifunctionality of CMM, realizing the value-added and value compensation, and promoting the utilization efficiency through systermatic and detailed exploitation and utilization. Third, based on the resource conservation and environment-friendly, reducing raw material consumption, lowering cost, promoting recycling utilization and elevating utilization efficiency. Fourth, based on the stratege of turning harm into good, using the invasive alien biological resources by multi-ways and enriching the medicial resources. Fifth, based on the method of structure modification of chemical components, exploring and enhancing the utility value of resouces chemical substances. These data should provide references and attention for improving the utilization efficiency, promoting the development of recycling economy, and changing the mode of economic growth of agriculture and industry of CMM fundamentally.

An oligodeoxynucleotide with CCT repeats restrains CpG ODN-induced TLR9 trafficking

Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) can sense pathogen DNA and CpG ODN or even self-DNA by trafficking assisted by Unc93B1, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) transmembrane protein, from ER to endolysosomes or cell surface. In previous study, we found that an oligodeoxynucleotide with CCT repeats (SAT05f) could selectively inhibit TLR7/9 activation. However, the mechanism for the inhibitory activity of SAT05f is still unknown. In present research, it was found that SAT05f could inhibit CpG ODN-induced the intracellular trafficking of TLR9 and Unc93B1 with feedback the responses of decreased surface TLR9 and enhanced TLR9 mRNA expression but not influence TLR9 protein level by using human plasmacytoid dendritic cell line CAL-1 cells, suggesting that SAT05f inhibits TLR9 activation by restraining TLR9 trafficking. Since the mitochondrial DNA released from injured tissue can cause systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), this study may provide valuable data for prevention and treatment of SIRS and rescue severe trauma patients.

Abstract 1926: Patient-derived xenografts seem to have closer global expression profile to that of the patient tumors of the corresponding cancer types, than the equivalent cell lines do

Patient derived xenografts (PDXs) without in vitro manipulation are believed to mirror original patients’ histopathologic and genetic profiles, thus to be predictive surrogate models for patients, with superiority over conventional cell lines. We have built the largest and comprehensive PDX library of &gt;1,100 models with genetic profiles of major cancer types, including some major cancer types: 200 NSLCL1, 200 CRC2, 200 gastric3, 100 HCC4, 100 pancreatic, 30 ovarian, 10 brain tumors, and many other cancer types.

We set out to compare these 6 types of our PDXs with the corresponding TCGA5 patient tumor samples and CCLE6 cancer cell lines on their genomic expression by calculating pairwise Spearman rank correlation coefficient ρ, in order to further explore/confirm the similarity and difference among the three collections. PDX were profiled by both RNAseq and microarray (Affymetrix Human Genome U219 Array); CCLE were from microarray (Affymetrix Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Array); and TCGA were from RNAseq. For convenience, these 4 gene expression datasets are called “PDX, PDXchip, CCLE and TCGA”. Only genes common to all 4 datasets were used to compute ρ. The preliminary data seems to lead to two observations. First, for all 6 types, there is always at least one different tumor CCLE-TCGA pair that has higher ρ than the same tumor CCLE-TCGA pair. For example, the TCGA colorectal, lung, and ovarian cancers have higher ρ with CCLE pancreatic cancer than the TCGA pancreatic cancer does. In contrast, for both PDX and PDXchip, only lung and pancreatic cancers show such behavior, and notable, both to TCGA colorectal cancer. Seocnd, for same tumor type comparisons, ρ is 0.73-0.83 (average 0.772) between PDX and TCGA, 0.67-0.76 (average 0.698) between PDXchip and TCGA, 0.67-0.7 (average 0.682) between CCLE and TCGA. Third, about 20% of CCLE lung cancers have much lower ρ with TCGA, PDX, and PDXchip lung cancers than the other CCLE lung cancers. In summary, these observations show that our PDX models are close in genomic expression profile to TCGA patient tumors per tumor types specifically, and more so than CCLE cancer cell lines, which is also less specific.

References

1. Yang, M., et al. Overcoming erlotinib resistance with tailored treatment regimen in patient-derived xenografts from naive Asian NSCLC patients. Int J Cancer 132, E74-84 (2013).

2. Chen, D. Cetuximab response in CRC patient-derived xenografts is predicted by RAS pathway activation rather than KRAS mutation status. ASCO 2013 Annual Conference (2013).

3. Zhang, J. et al. A more efficient RNAi inducible system for tight regulation of gene expression in mammalian cells and xenograft animals. Rna 13, 1375-1383 (2007).

4. Guo, S. et al AACR-Annual Conference (2013).

5. http://cancergenome.nih.gov/.

6. Barretina J, et al. http://www.broadinstitute.org/ccle/home. Nature 28, 603-607 (2012).

Citation Format: Sheng Guo, Wubin Qian, Jie Cai, Jean-Pierre Wery, Henry Qixiang Li. Patient-derived xenografts seem to have closer global expression profile to that of the patient tumors of the corresponding cancer types, than the equivalent cell lines do. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1926. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1926

Abstract 3581: Rapid conversion to resistance, of a colon PDX with ret-fusion, by ponatinib treatment could potentially be attributed to the introduction of the gate keeper mutation V804M

RET encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) involved in cellular mechanisms of proliferation, migration and differentiation. RET fusions with different genes at 10q11.2 result in constitutively activation and drive tumor development in various cancers: 10-20% of sporadic papillary thyroid cancer1, spitzoid neoplasms, CMML and 1% of lung adenocarcinomas2,3. RET fusions have been suggested to be important therapeutic targets. Ponatinib, a multi-kinase inhibitor, was approved for the treatment of Ph+ chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and acute lymphoblast leukemia (ALL), including CML with T315I/imatinib-resistance. Ponatinib has recently been found to potently inhibit the common NSCLC fusion variant, KIF5B-RET at clinically-achievable concentrations.

We have established large collection of colorectal patient derived xenografts (PDXs)4,5. Two of the poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, CR1520 and CR2518, contain two different chromosome 10 in-frame RET-fusions, CCDC6-RET (CR2518) and NCOA4-RET (CR1520), as revealed by RNAseq and Sanger Sequencing6. Both models have also demonstrated over-expressing ret gene at mRNA levels. More importantly, they both responded Ponatinib significantly along with dephosphorylation of RET and downstream AKT, confirming these two types of Ret fusions as oncogenic drivers in these two models6. In addition, we also observed that Ponatinib treatment also rapidly drives CR2518 into its resistance (The resistant derivative is called CR2545). To investigate the underlying mechanism of the resistance, we performed RNAseq analysis of CR2545, which revealed retaining of the ret-fusion, but also the introduction of a previously described gate-keeper mutation, V804M, at ret kinase domain. V804M, a mutation frequently found in familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC), introduces bulky amino acid at position 804 and found to resistant to vandetanib. This may contribute to the resistance. However, this notion apparently contradicts to the previous observation/claim that V804M is sensitive to Ponatinib7, and ponatinib should be used to treat RET-V804M/L cancers. It is possible that the described V804M containing vandetanib resistant cells are sensitive to ponatinib, but via a non-RET mechanism for the multi-kinase inhibition nature of ponatinib; or in our case, there are other non-RET Ponatinib resistant mechanisms been introduced in CR2545 where RET is no longer the key oncogenic driver. We are currently testing other RET inhibitors and also assessing pharmacodanamic (PD) parameters to further investigate RET resistant mechanism. The further findings from the ongoing studies will be presented at the meeting.

Citation Format: Mengmeng Yang, Jie Cai, Sheng Guo, Jean-Pierre Wery, Henry Qixiang Li. Rapid conversion to resistance, of a colon PDX with ret-fusion, by ponatinib treatment could potentially be attributed to the introduction of the gate keeper mutation V804M. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3581. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3581

Abstract 1472: Building comprehensive and fully annotated patient tumor derived xenogragft (PDX) library mirroring cancer patient population

Patient derived xenografts (PDXs) mirrors patients’ pathology and genetic profiles, thus valued as predictive experimental models for studying oncogenesis and personalized treatments. Cancer is not a single disease but diseases of complex genetic components and oncogenic processes. Limited number of PDX models with minimal genetic characterization is insufficient to meet current research needs. For this, we have built the largest and most comprehensive PDX library with full genetic profiles. By far, our PDX library contains over 1,100 models derived from patients of both Asian and Western origins, covering over 20 major cancer types, including large panels (over 100 models each) of NSLCL(1), CRC(2), gastric(3), HCC(4), and pancreatic, and smaller panels (&lt;100) of esophageal, H&N, ovarian, cholangiocarcinoma, breast, brain, etc. Our PDX models come with original patient and pathology diagnosis information, and verified at the level of histopathology and genetic fingerprints. These models have tumor growth and standard of care (SOC) treatment information. They are fully profiled using GeneChip based technology (U219, SNP6.0, miRNA), NGS (RNAseq and WES), and hotspot mutation, etc (HuPrime® 1.0), with HLA typing readily available to enable immuno-oncology research. Comparing our PDXs’ genomic profiles with published patient genomic profiles in literature (4) and TCGA data source (Guo et al., 2015 AACR Annual) revealed high degree of similarity. Subsets of models have been comprehensively characterized for special relevance to specific clinical characteristics and specific drug targeting mechanisms (HuPrime® 2.0). These subsets include all clinically observed EGFR mutated NSCLC(1, 5, 6); c-MET activation diseases(7); FGFR driven diseases; RET-fusion driven CRC(8); FLT3-LTD driven AML (9), IDH mutated AML(9) and CRC; RSPO-fusion driven CRC; BCL-ABL fusion disease, HER driven gastric and breast cancers, and ALK fusion NSCLC, etc. We have also established numeric drug resistant models to various SOCs of both chemotherapy and target therapies. The resistance could be de novo (1) or induced (10). These resistant models can be great tools to investigate drug resistant mechanisms and approaches to overcome them. Many PDXs can also been tested orthotopically, including liver, brain, colon, pancreatic, ovarian, and breast etc. Models have great metastatic potential have also been identified, enabling study metastatic mechanism and identifying agents to block the metastasis. A number of PDXs can grow in humanized mice (HuPrime® 3.0), where human immunity has been reconstituted in the immune-compromised mouse background (11) to facilitate immune-oncology research.

Our large library of different disease panels are particularly useful in conducting mouse clinical trial (MCT of HuTrialTM) (2, 5, 12), which can be used to discover predictive biomarker (2, 5, 13) and guide clinical study design.

Citation Format: Jie Cai, Dawei Chen, Rajendra Kumari, Sheng Guo, Jie Yang, Mengmeng Yang, Andrew McKenzie, Zhun Wang, Xuesong Huang, Xiaoyu An, Jinping Liu, Jean-Pierre Wery, Henry Li. Building comprehensive and fully annotated patient tumor derived xenogragft (PDX) library mirroring cancer patient population. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1472. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1472

[Establishment of quality standard for Corni Fructus based on the multiple bioactive constituents]

This study is to establish the methods for determination of iridoid glycosides and triterpenic acids in Corni Fructus and provide technical support for the quality control of Corni Fructus. Morroniside, loganin and sweroside were determined by HPLC-UV method with acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid as the mobile phase, and the detective wavelength was set at 240 nm. Oleanolic acid and ursolic acid were determined by HPLC-ELSD method with methanol-0.5% ammonium acetate (87:13) as the mobile phase. The results showed that the linear ranges of morroniside, loganin and sweroside were 5.335-213.4 mg · L(-1) (r = 0.9999), 5.515-220.6 mg · L(-1) (r = 1.0000), 1.992-79.68 mg · L(-1) (r = 1.0000), respectively. The average recoveries of the above three iridoid glycosides were 98.49%-99.28% with RSDs of recoveries being less than 2%. The linear ranges of oleanolic acid and ursolic acid were 7.74-154.8 mg · L(-1) (r = 0.9964), 10.82-216.4 mg · L(-1) (r = 0.9996), respectively. The average recoveries of the above two triterpenic acids were 98.11%-99.27% with RSDs of recoveries being less than 3%. The method established in this research is simple, rapid and reliable, and can be used for quality control of Corni Fructus. Furthermore, the research provided experimental data for the improvement of present quality standard of Corni Fructus, which has important significance to guarantee its quality and clinical curative effect.

Endoplasmic reticulum ribosome-binding protein 1, RRBP1, promotes progression of colorectal cancer and predicts an unfavourable prognosis

BACKGROUND

Ribosome-binding protein 1 (RRBP1) has been implicated in the regulation of unfolded protein response, which is involved in almost every aspect of cancer development. We aimed to explore the significance of RRBP1 in the progression and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC).

METHODS

The study population consisted of 856 patients with stage I-III CRC from two hospitals. RRBP1 expression was examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in colorectal tissues. The correlation of RRBP1 expression and CRC occurrence was assessed in paired cancer-adjacent tissues. Factors contributing to prognosis were evaluated in a training-validation design with univariate and multivariate Cox analysis. Colorectal cancer aggressiveness caused by RRBP1 knockdown or overexpression was evaluated in CRC cells.

RESULTS

RRBP1 was aberrantly overexpressed in CRC. Compared with low-RRBP1 patients, high-RRBP1 patients had shorter disease-specific survival in the training (hazard ratio (HR), 2.423; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.531-3.835) and validation cohorts (HR, 3.749; 95% CI, 2.166-6.448) in multivariate Cox analysis. High-RRBP1 independently predicted a shorter disease-free survival (HR, 4.821; 95% CI, 3.220-7.218) in the validation cohort. RRBP1 knockdown reduced the aggressiveness of CRC cells in vitro and inhibited the growth of CRC xenografts in vivo.

CONCLUSIONS

High RRBP1 expression facilitates CRC progression and predicts an unfavourable post-operative prognosis.

[The action mechanisms of Morus alba leaves extract for the treatment of diabetes based on plasma metabolomics]

In order to evaluate the effect and mechanism of the mulberry leaf alkaloid, flavones, and polysaccharide intervention on diabetes, the overall metabolite profiling characteristics for the plasma of diabetic mouse was performed by using an ultra-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS). The 8 potential biomarkers were found in diabetic mice plasma based on the data of MS/MS characteristics obtained from the UPLC-OrbitrapMS analysis, which mainly involved in sphingolipids, amino acid metabolic pathway. The principal component analysis showed that the normal group and model group were obviously distinguished and implied that metabolic disturbance was happened in diabetic mice plasma. The extracts of mulberry leaf flavonoids, polysaccharide, alkaloid had exhibited the effects of callback function for diabetic mice through regulating the amino acid metabolism and sphingolipid metabolism.

Impact of peginterferon beta-1a and disease factors on quality of life in multiple sclerosis

BACKGROUND

The Phase III ADVANCE study has shown clinical benefits for peginterferon beta-1a 125 µg dosed every 2 weeks versus placebo at 1 year in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). This study assessed the impact of peginterferon beta-1a and disease factors on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) using data from ADVANCE.

METHODS

HRQoL was assessed at baseline and 12, 24, and 48 weeks using the 29-item Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29) and other generic HRQoL measures. Changes in scores from baseline within each group and differences in mean change from baseline between groups were evaluated. Post-hoc mixed-effects repeated measures analyses were performed to assess the impact of confirmed disability progression and relapses, and the interactions of treatment and these MS events on HRQoL. Predictors with p≥0.1 were excluded from the final models, unless they were clinically meaningful.

RESULTS

Relapses and confirmed disability progression were major drivers of HRQoL. When comparing week 48 to baseline, in placebo-treated patients (n=500), confirmed disability progression was associated with a 6.0-point worsening (p<0.0001) of MSIS-29 physical scores, relative to a 1.9-point worsening (p=0.044) with peginterferon beta-1a every 2 weeks (n=512). Such findings were observed consistently with other generic HRQoL measures. Additionally, having a recent relapse (≤29 days before the HRQoL assessment) was associated with a 10.0-point worsening (p<0.0001) of MSIS-29 psychological scores in placebo-treated patients, compared with a 3.5-point (p=0.031) worsening with peginterferon beta-1a every 2 weeks.

CONCLUSION

Treatment with peginterferon beta-1a could help to improve or maintain HRQoL in addition to clinical outcomes.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00906399.

IL-17A Autoantibody Induced by Recombinant Mycobacterium smegmatis Expressing Ag85A-IL-17A Fusion Protein

Interleukin-17A is a newly described proinflammatory cytokine, which plays important roles in autoimmune diseases as well as asthma. In current work, we constructed a recombinant plasmid pMFA42S-Ag85a-IL-17a by inserting fusion gene Ag85a-IL-17a into shuttle vector pMFA42S, which was transformed to Mycobacterium smegmatis by electroporation to obtain recombinant M. smegmatis named rMS-Ag85a-IL-17a. The comparison of growth pattern between M. smegmatis and rMS-Ag85a-IL-17a suggested fusion gene had no significant influence on the growth of strains, and rMS-Ag85a-IL-17a expressed fusion protein Ag85A-IL-17A which had good immunogenicity revealed by Western blot. M. smegmatis and rMS-Ag85a-IL-17a were performed to intranasally immunize mice; then, antibody response in sera was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our findings demonstrated that rMS-Ag85a-IL-17a could induce specific IL-17A autoantibody in mice, which laid the foundation for further study.

[Determine resource chemical component in ginkgo pollen simultaneously by UPLC-TQ-MS]

The present study is to determine the flavonoid glycosides, terpene lactones, biflavones, gingko acid and procyanidins of ginkgo pollen. UPLC-TQ-MS technology was used for the determination of 24 kinds of resource chemical composition in ginkgo pollen qualitatively and quantitatively. The results shows that the contents of rutin, quercetion 3-O-[4-O-(α-L-rhamnosyl )-β-D-glucoside] and kaempferolis were 120.9, 114.0, 222.1 μg x g(-1). In this paper, the contents of 24 kinds of chemical components of ginkgo pollen were determinated by UPLC-TQ-MS for the first time. This method is simple and quick, which will be benefit for recycling utilization of ginkgo pollen.

[Weibull distribution for modeling drying of Angelicae Sinensis Radix and its application in moisture dynamics]

To establish the water dynamics model for drying process of Angelicae Sinensis Radix, the Weibull distribution model was applied to study the moisture ratio variation curves, and compared the drying rate and drying activation energy with the drying methods of temperature controllable air drying, infrared drying under different temperatures (50, 60, 70 degrees C). The Weibull distribution model could well describe the drying curves, for the moisture ratio vs. drying time profiled of the model showed high correlation (R2 = 0. 994-0. 999). The result proved that the drying process of Angelicae Sinensis Radix belonged to falling-rate drying period. For the drying process, the scale parameter (a) was related to the drying temperature, and decreased as the temperature increases. The shape parameter (β) for the same drying method, drying temperature had little impact on the shape parameter. The moisture diffusion coefficient increase along with temperature increasing from 0.425 x 10(-9) m2 x s(-1) to 2.260 x 10(-9) m2 x s(-1). The activation energy for moisture diffusion was 68.82, 29.60 kJ x mol(-1) by temperature controllable air drying and infrared drying, respectively. Therefore, the Weibull distribution model can be used to predict the moisture removal of Angelicae Sinensis Radix in the drying process, which is great significance for the drying process of prediction, control and process optimization. The results provide the technical basis for the use of modern drying technology for industrial drying of Angelicae Sinensis Radix.