Chitooligosaccharide Prolongs Vase Life of Cut Roses by Decreasing Reactive Oxygen Species

Jing, Hong-juan,Li, Huan-qing Korean Society of Horticultural Science 2015 원예과학기술지 Vol.33 No.3

Chitooligosaccharide (COS), as antioxidant, extensively applied to food and juice preservation. In the present study, influences of COS on vase life and ornamental value of cut roses were investigated. Results showed that vase life of cut roses treated by COS was longer 6.4 days than one of control and ornamental character of cut roses was improved effectively by COS. The increase of vase life and ornamental value were chiefly governed by that COS improved water absorption capacity of cut roses. Besides that, COS decreased the contents of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide and lowered the levels of malondialdehyde in turn during the senescence process of cut roses. That was because that COS not only enhanced activities of antioxidant enzymes glutathione reductase, but also improved reduced glutathione contents in petals of cut rose. Therefore, COS could be used in commercial preservatives to improve the longevity of cut roses.

Functional Characterization of aroA from Rhizobium Leguminosarum with Significant Glyphosate Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis

( Jing Han ),( Yong Sheng Tian ),( Jing Xu ),( Li Juan Wang ),( Bo Wang ),( Ri He Peng ),( Quan Hong Yao ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2014 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.24 No.9

Glyphosate is the active component of the top-selling herbicide, the phytotoxicity of which is due to its inhibition of the shikimic acid pathway. 5-Enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) is a key enzyme in the shikimic acid pathway. Glyphosate tolerance in plants can be achieved by the expression of a glyphosate-insensitive aroA gene (EPSPS). In this study, we used a PCR-based two-step DNA synthesis method to synthesize a new aroA gene (aroAR. leguminosarum) from Rhizobium leguminosarum. In vitro glyphosate sensitivity assays showed that aroAR. leguminosarum is glyphosate tolerant. The new gene was then expressed in E. coli and key kinetic values of the purified enzyme were determined. Furthermore, we transformed the aroA gene into Arabidopsis thaliana by the floral dip method. Transgenic Arabidopsis with the aroAR. leguminosarum gene was obtained to prove its potential use in developing glyphosate-resistant crops.

Fotemustine, Teniposide and Dexamethasone in Treating Patients with CNS Lymphoma

Wu, Jing-Jing,Wang, Xin-Hua,Li, Ling,Li, Xin,Zhang, Lei,Sun, Zhen-Chang,Fu, Xiao-Rui,Ma, Wang,Chang, Yu,Zhang, Xu-Dong,Han, Li-Juan,Zhang, Ming-Zhi Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.11

Purpose: We developed and evaluated a regimen including fotemustine, teniposide and dexamethasone (FTD) for treating patients with central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma based on pharmacokinetic properties of individual agents and in combination. Patients and Methods: In a comparison study, 8 patients with primary CNS lymphoma (PCNSL) and 8 with secondary CNS lymphoma (SCNSL) were treated with FTD (comprising fotemustine 100 mg/m2, 1h infusion, day 1; teniposide 60 mg/m2, >0.5 h infusion, on day 2, 3, 4; dexamethasone 40 mg, 1h infusion, on day 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5; and methotrexate 12 mg, cytosine arabinoside 50 mg plus dexamethasone 5 mg intrathecally, on day 2 and 7). Cycles were repeated every 3 weeks. After response assessment, patients received whole brain radiotherapy. Results: Of the 8 PCNSL patients, 4 (50%) achieved CR and 3 (38%) PR, an overall response rate of 88%. Four patients (50%) were in continuing remission at the end of this study after a median follow-up of 30 months (range 10 to 56 months). Of the 8 SCNSL patients the overall response rate was 63% (CR+PR: 38%+25%). All responses were achievable with predictable toxicity mainly reflecting reversible myelosuppression. Conclusion: This study suggests that FTD could be an effective treatment for CNS lymphoma, and is worthy of further evaluation.

Chitooligosaccharide Prolongs Vase Life of Cut Roses by Decreasing Reactive Oxygen Species

Hong-juan Jing,Huan-qing Li 한국원예학회 2015 원예과학기술지 Vol.33 No.3

Chitooligosaccharide (COS), as antioxidant, extensively applied to food and juice preservation. In the present study, influences of COS on vase life and ornamental value of cut roses were investigated. Results showed that vase life of cut roses treated by COS was longer 6.4 days than one of control and ornamental character of cut roses was improved effectively by COS. The increase of vase life and ornamental value were chiefly governed by that COS improved water absorption capacity of cut roses. Besides that, COS decreased the contents of superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide and lowered the levels of malondialdehyde in turn during the senescence process of cut roses. That was because that COS not only enhanced activities of antioxidant enzymes glutathione reductase, but also improved reduced glutathione contents in petals of cut rose. Therefore, COS could be used in commercial preservatives to improve the longevity of cut roses.

Curdione Inhibits Proliferation of MCF-7 Cells by Inducing Apoptosis

Li, Juan,Bian, Wei-He,Wan, Juan,Zhou, Jing,Lin, Yan,Wang, Ji-Rong,Wang, Zhao-Xia,Shen, Qun,Wang, Ke-Ming Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.22

Background: Curdione, one of the major components of Curcuma zedoaria, has been reported to possess various biological activities. It thus might be a candidate anti-flammatory and cancer chemopreventive agent. However, the precise molecular mechanisms of action of curdione on cancer cells are still unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of curdione on breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Xenograft nude mice were used to detect the effect of curdione on breast cancer in vivo; we also tested the effect of curdione on breast cancer in vitro by MTT, Flow cytometry, JC-I assay, and western blot. Results: Firstly, we found that curdione significantly suppressed tumor growth in a xenograft nude mouse breast tumor model in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, curdione treatment inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis. Moreover, after curdione treatment, increase of impaired mitochondrial membrane potential occurred in a concentration dependent manner. Furthermore, the expression of apoptosis-related proteins including cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9 and Bax was increased in curdione treatment groups, while the expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 was decreased. Inhibitors of caspase-3 were used to confirm that curdione induced apoptosis. Conclusions: Overall, our observations first suggested that curdione inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells by inducing apoptosis. These results might provide some molecular basis for the anti-cancer activity of curdione.

Long Non-coding RNAs and Drug Resistance

Pan, Jing-Jing,Xie, Xiao-Juan,Li, Xu,Chen, Wei Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.18

Background: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as key players in gene expression that govern cell developmental processes, and thus contributing to diseases, especially cancers. Many studies have suggested that aberrant expression of lncRNAs is responsible for drug resistance, a substantial obstacle for cancer therapy. Drug resistance not only results from individual variations in patients, but also from genetic and epigenetic differences in tumors. It is reported that drug resistance is tightly modulated by lncRNAs which change the stability and translation of mRNAs encoding factors involved in cell survival, proliferation, and drug metabolism. In this review, we summarize recent advances in research on lncRNAs associated with drug resistance and underlying molecular or cellular mechanisms, which may contribute helpful approaches for the development of new therapeutic strategies to overcome treatment failure.

Streptomyces zhihengii sp. nov., isolated from rhizospheric soil of Psammosilene tunicoides

Huang, Mei-Juan,Fei, Jing-Jing,Salam, Nimaichand,Kim, Chang-Jin,Hozzein, Wael N.,Xiao, Min,Huang, Hai-Quan,Li, Wen-Jun Springer-Verlag 2016 Archives of microbiology Vol.198 No.8

<P>An actinomycete strain, designated YIM T102(T), was isolated from the rhizospheric soil of Psammosilene tunicoides W. C. Wu et C. Y. Wu collected from Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China. The taxonomic position of the new isolate was investigated by a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain YIM T102(T) belongs to the genus Streptomyces. Strain YIM T102(T) was most closely related to Streptomyces eurocidicus NRRL B-1676(T) with a pairwise 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 98.9 %. However, DNA-DNA relatedness value between strain YIM T102(T) and S. eurocidicus NBRC 13491(T) was found to be 37.8 +/- 1.8 %. The menaquinone composition detected for strain YIM T102(T) was MK-9 (H-6) and MK-9 (H-8), while the major fatty acids were summed feature 4 (38.0 %), anteiso-C-15:0 (13.1 %), iso-C-16:0 (10.1 %), summed feature 3 (9.8 %) and C-16:0 (9.0 %) and iso-C-15:0 (5.2 %). The whole-cell hydrolysates contained galactose, glucose, ribose and mannose, along with ll-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid in the peptidoglycan. The DNA G+C content was 70.7 mol%. Strain YIM T102(T) also exhibited antagonistic activity against Alternaria alternata, Alternaria brassicae and Colletotrichum nicotianae Averna, based on the findings from the comparative analyses of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics; it is proposed that strain YIM T102 represents a novel species of the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces zhihengii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM T102(T) (=KCTC 39115(T) = DSM 42176(T) = CGMCC 4.7248(T)).</P>

rs12904 Polymorphism in the 3'UTR of EFNA1 is Associated with Colorectal Cancer Susceptibility in a Chinese Population

Mao, Ying-Ying,Jing, Fang-Yuan,Jin, Ming-Juan,Li, Ying-Jun,Ding, Ye,Guo, Jing,Wang, Fen-Juan,Jiang, Long-Fang,Chen, Kun Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.9

Accumulated evidence has indicated that Ephrin A1 (EFNA1) is associated with angiogenesis and tumorigenesis in various types of malignancies, including colorectal cancer (CRC). In the current study, we performed an online search using the public microarray database to investigate whether EFNA1 expression might be altered in CRC tissues. We then conducted a case-control study including 306 subjects (102 cases and 204 well-matched controls) in Xiaoshan County to assess any association between genetic polymorphisms in EFNA1 and CRC susceptibility. Searches in the Oncomine expression profiling database revealed EFNA1 to be overexpressed in CRC tissue compared with adjacent normal tissue. The rs12904 G-A variant located in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of EFNA1 was observed to be associated with CRC susceptibility. Compared with the AA homozygous genotype, those carrying GA genotype had a decreased risk of developing CRC (odds ratio (OR)=0.469, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.225-0.977, and P=0.043). The association was stronger among smokers and tea drinkers, however, no statistical evidence of interaction between rs12904 polymorphism and smoking or tea drinking on CRC risk was found. Our results suggest that EFNA1 is involved in colorectal tumorigenesis, and rs12904 A>G polymorphism in the 3' UTR of EFNA1 is associated with CRC susceptibility. Larger studies and further mechanistic investigations are warranted to confirm our findings.

Alu Tandem Sequences Inhibit GFP Gene Expression by Triggering Chromatin Wrapping

Xiu Fang Wang,Xiao Yan Wang,Jing Liu,Jing Jing Feng,Wen Li Mu,Xiao Juan Shi,Qin Qing Yang,Xiao Cui Duan,Ying Xie,Zhan Jun Lu 한국유전학회 2009 Genes & Genomics Vol.31 No.3

Alu elements belonging to the short interspersed nuclear elements (SINE) of repetitive elements are present in more than one million copies which altogether represent 10% of the whole human genome. In this study, the roles of Alu tandem sequences in the process of GFP gene (GFP) expression and packing into chromatin of its DNA were studied. To detect the effect of Alu repeats on gene expression, different copies of Alus were inserted GFP downstream respectively in pEGFP-C1 vector. We found that Alu sequences decreased the amount of GFP transcription, the percentage of GFP positive cells and the accessibility to DNase I in length-dependent manner. Inserting Alu caused the production of higher-molecular-mass RNA, indicating Alu sequence did not induce premature transcriptional termination. Tight packing chromatins keep silent and resist to DNase I digestion, which is a general phenomenon. We suggested that head and tail tandem Alu sequences suppressed GFP expression in length dependent manner by triggering chromatin packing.

Clinical Study of Thalidomide Combined with Dexamethasone for the Treatment of Elderly Patients with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma

Chen, Hai-Fei,Li, Zheng-Yang,Tang, Jie-Qing,Shen, Hong-Shi,Cui, Qing-Ya,Ren, Yong-Ya,Qin, Long-Mei,Jin, Ling-Juan,Zhu, Jing-Jing,Wang, Jing,Ding, Jie,Wang, Ke-Yuan,Yu, Zi-Qiang,Wang, Zhao-Yue,Wu, Tian Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.9

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the efficacy and safety of different doses of thalidomide (Thal) plus dexamethasone (Dex) as the initial therapy in elderly patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). Methods: Clinical data of 28 elderly patients with newly diagnosed MM who underwent the TD regimen as the initial therapy were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups according to the maximal sustained dose of Thal: lower dose (group A) and higher dose (group B). The overall response rate (ORR), progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AES) were compared between the two groups. Results: A total of 28 patients were followed up with a median of 18 months. The ORR was 60.1%. The median response time and PFS were 2.0 and 17.0 months, respectively. The mean sustained dose of Thal in group B was significantly higher than group A (292.9 mg v 180.4 mg, P=0.01). There was no significantly difference in ORR (57.1% v 64.3%, P=1.00) and PFS (9.63months v 17.66 months, P=0.73) between groups A and B. During the follow up, only five patients died (<40%) and, therefore, median OS values were not available. It is estimated, however, that the mean survival time in the two groups was 35.6 and 33.4 months (P>0.05), respectively. All of the patients tolerated the treatment well. The incidence of AES in patients with a grading above 3 in group B was significantly higher than in group A (P=0.033). Conclusions: The TD regimen results in a high response rate and manageable AES as the initial therapy in elderly patients with MM. TD should be considered as the front line regimen for the treatment of elderly patients with MM in areas with financial constraints. The clinical response can be achieved at a low dose Thal with minimal toxicity.