[Quantitative proteomics reveals the abnormal liver metabolism-relieving effect of Anemarrhenae rhizoma in type 2 diabetes mellitus rats]

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a global metabolic disease with potentially life- threatening complications. Liver metabolism plays a vital role in the occurrence and development of diabetes mellitus. It has been reported that the Chinese medicinal Anemarrhenae rhizoma (AR) can relieve insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus. However, the effect on abnormal liver metabolism in diabetes mellitus is still unclear. Therefore, we extracted liver proteins of T2DM rats induced by high-fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ), T2DM rats treated with AR extract (ARE), obesity rats (fed with HFD), and normal control rats (fed with normal diet). Then, through tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling combined with mass spectrometry (MS), we obtained the quantitative proteomic data. Bioinformatics software was used for hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis of the data in each group. The volcano map for differentially expressed proteins (P < 0.05, fold change > 1.5) was plotted. It was found that the treatment group was closer to the normal control group, indicating that the quantitative proteomic data of liver tissue can reflect the therapeutic effect of ARE on T2DM rats. Key protein clusters closely related to the treatment of ARE were screened out. The Gene Ontology (GO) terms and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways of the protein clusters were analyzed by David, and the result showed that AR's alleviation of abnormal fatty acid metabolism in livers of T2DM rats may be related to the regulation of the expression of key proteins Ndufa6 and Prkar2b.

[Advances and application of enrichment technology in SH2 superbinder-based tyrosine phosphoproteomics]

Tyrosine phosphorylation is one of the important protein phosphorylations in eukaryotes responsible for a variety of biological processes including cell signaling transduction, cell migration, and apoptosis. In the study of phosphoproteomics, due to the low stoichiometry of tyrosine phosphorylation (pTyr) proteins and sometimes limited initial sample, traditional phosphoproteomics enrichment technology is inefficient for the enrichment of pTyr peptides. Here, we review the substantial progress in tyrosine phosphoproteomics by preparation of limited amount sample and the newly introduced SH2 superbinder.

A new phenomenon in the induction period of the methane dehydroaromatization reaction

The induction period of dehydroaromatization of methane to benzene over Mo/HZSM-5 had been investigated in real-time by the resonant-enhanced two-photon ionization (RE2PI) technique; it is remarkable that there is a small amount of benzene formed in the early stage of the induction period; we suggest that the trace amount of benzene was caused by the reduction of the original Mo6+ ion during the induction period and the Mo6+ species has a slight catalytic activity for methane-benzene conversion.

Superresolution optical disk with a thermoreversible organic thin film

Recording and retrieving small marks far beyond the optical diffraction limit in a high-speed rotating phase-change optical disk have been investigated by use of a thermoreversible organic thin film as a superresolution mask layer. The organic thin film exhibited significant thermoreversibility and rapid response on laser irradiation. Recorded marks as small as 120 nm in length could be detected by a dynamic disk tester with a laser wavelength of 635 nm and a numerical aperture of 0.6.

Analysis of social and economic factors affecting mortality in China

"In this study, the author compares the data from the 1982 and 1990 [Chinese] censuses...,conducts on the basis of the 1990 census a gradual regression analysis of the social and economic factors that affect mortality in various regions, including both urban and rural areas, selects the major factors, and proposes [methods of] further lowering mortality in China."