Configuration and Stability of 1,1-Diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (FOX-7) Embedded in Graphene

Yan-qun Wang,Gui-xiang Wang 대한화학회 2016 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.37 No.10

The configuration and stability of 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (FOX-7) embedded in graphene were studied using density functional theory with all-electron double numerical polarized basis sets. The results suggested that graphene had a greater impact on the planarity of FOX-7 molecules than did H-bonding. Under the synergistic effect of graphene and H-bonding, the geometry of H-bonded FOX-7 embedded in graphene was flatter than that of FOX-7 without H-bonds, which facilitated π–π stacking, as well as the stability of FOX-7 in graphene. The conjugated structure of FOX-7 contributed to its stability between layers of graphene. When the conjugated structure in FOX-7 was completely disrupted, the stabilization energy decreased by 48.6%. This theoretical work is useful for gaining new insights into the microscopic interaction of energetic molecules with graphene, and it will provide theoretical guidance for the encapsulation and storage of energetic materials.

DFT Analysis of the Adsorption of Methyl Nitrate on Al2O3 Surfaces

Yan-qun Wang,Xiu-fen Yan,Wei Xiao,You-xiang Shao 대한화학회 2017 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.38 No.6

The adsorption of the energetic molecule methyl nitrate (CH3ONO2) on α-Al2O3(0001) and γ-Al2O3(110) surfaces was investigated using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory and the generalized gradient approximation. We found that CH3ONO2 approaches the two surfaces by either the oxygen connected with carbon atom or an oxygen atom of the nitro group; however, the former interaction is more stable. If CH3ONO2 approaches the surface through the oxygen atom of the nitro group, the adsorption is non-dissociative; while it is nearly dissociative if CH3ONO2 adsorbs on the surface via the oxygen connected with carbon atom and a surface tri-coordinated Al atom. Moreover, the dissociation trend on the γ-Al2O3(110) surface is more pronounced. In addition, the adsorption of CH3ONO2 on the γ-Al2O3(110) surface is more favorable. Finally, although strong interactions exist between CH3ONO2 and the surfaces, the structures of the alumina films are not affected by the adsorption of CH3ONO2.

ZNF424, a novel human KRAB/C2H2 zinc finger protein, suppresses NFAT and p21 pathway

( Yue Qun Wang ),( Jun Mei Zhou ),( Xiang Li Ye ),( Yong Qi Wan ),( Yong Qing Li ),( Xiao Yan Mo ),( Wu Zhou Yuan ),( Yan Yan ),( Na Luo ),( Ze Qun Wang ),( Xiong Wei Fan ),( Yun Deng ),( Xiu Shan Wu 한국생화학분자생물학회 (구 한국생화학회) 2010 BMB Reports Vol.43 No.3

Zinc finger-containing transcription factors are the largest single family of transcriptional regulators in mammals, which play an essential role in cell differentiation, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and neoplastic transformation. Here we have cloned a novel KRAB-related zinc finger gene, ZNF424, encoding a protein of 555aa. ZNF424 gene consisted of 4 exons and 3 introns, and mapped to chromosome 19p13.3. ZNF424 gene was ubiquitously expressed in human embryo tissues by Northern blot analysis. ZNF424 is conserved across species in evolution. Using a GFP-labeled ZNF424 protein, we demonstrate that ZNF424 localizes mostly in the nucleus. Transcriptional activity assays shows ZNF424 suppresses transcriptional activity of L8G5-luciferase. Overexpression of ZNF424 in HEK- 293 cells inhibited the transcriptional activity of NFAT and p21, which may be silenced by siRNA. The results suggest that ZNF424 protein may act as a transcriptional repressor that suppresses NFAT and p21 pathway to mediate cellular functions. [BMB reports 2010; 43(3): 212-218]

A novel human KRAB-related zinc finger gene ZNF425 inhibits mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway

( Yue Qun Wang ),( Xiang Li Ye ),( Jun Mei Zhou ),( Yong Qi Wan ),( Hua Ping Xie ),( Yun Deng ),( Yan Yan ),( Yong Qing Li ),( Xiong Wei Fan ),( Wu Zhou Yuan ),( Xiao Yang Mo ),( Xiu Shan Wu ) 생화학분자생물학회(구 한국생화학분자생물학회) 2011 BMB Reports Vol.44 No.1

Zinc finger (ZNF) proteins play a critical role in cell growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and intracellular signal transduction. In this paper, we cloned and characterized a novel human KRAB-related zinc finger gene, ZNF425, which encodes a protein of 752 amino acids. ZNF425 is strongly expressed in the three month old human embryos and then is almost undetectable in six month old embryos and in adult tissues. An EGFP-ZNF425 fusion protein can be found in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm. ZNF425 appears to act as a transcription repressor. Over-expression of ZNF425 inhibits the transcriptional activities of SRE, AP-1, and SRF. Deletion analysis indicates that the C2H2 domain is the main region responsible for the repression. Our results suggest that the ZNF425 gene is a new transcriptional inhibitor that functions in the MAPK signaling pathway. [BMB reports 2011; 44(1): 58-63]

Crocetin Induces Cytotoxicity in Colon Cancer Cells Via p53-independent Mechanisms

Li, Cai-Yan,Huang, Wen-Feng,Wang, Qun-Li,Wang, Fan,Cai, E.,Hu, Bing,Du, Jia-Cheng,Wang, Jing,Chen, Rong,Cai, Xiao-Jing,Feng, Jing,Li, Hui-Hui Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.8

Objective: Crocin has been proposed as a promising candidate for cancer chemoprevention. The purpose of this investigation was to investigate the chemopreventive action and the possible mechanisms of crocin against human colon cancer cells in vitro. Methods: Cell proliferation was examined using MTT assay and the cell cycle distribution fractions were analyzed using fow cytometric analysis after propidium iodide staining. Apoptosis was detected using theTUNEL Apoptosis Detection Kit with laser scanning confocal microscope. DNA damage was assessed using the alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis assay, while expression levels of p53, cdk2, cyclinA and P21 were examined by Western blot analysis. Results: Treatment of SW480 cells with crocetin (0.2, 0.4, 0.8 mmol/L) for 48 h signifcantly inhibited their proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. Crocetin (0.8 mmol/L) signifcantly induced cell cycle arrest through p53-independent mechanisms accompanied by P21 induction. Crocetin (0.8 mmol/L) caused cytotoxicity in the SW480 cells by enhancing apoptosis and decreasing DNA repair capacity in a time-dependent manner. Conclusions: This report provides evidence that crocetin is a potential anticancer agent, which may be used as a chemotherapeutic drug.

Effects of Free Anthraquinones Extract from the Rhubarb on Cell Proliferation and Accumulation of Extracellular Matrix in High Glucose Cultured-Mesangial Cells

Wang, Jianyun,Fang, Hui,Dong, Bingzheng,Wang, Dongdong,Li, Yan,Chen, Xiao,Chen, Lijuan,Wei, Tong,Wei, Qunli The Korean Society of Pharmacology 2015 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.19 No.6

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of end-stage failure of the kidney, but the efficacy of currently available strategies for the prevention of DN remains unsatisfactory. In this study, we investigated the effects of free anthraquinones (FARs) extract, which was extracted from the rhubarb and purified by macroporous resin DM130 with gradient mixtures of ethanol/water as the lelution solvents, in high glucose-cultured glomerular mesangial cells (MCs). The cell proliferation was determined by CCK-8 assay, the levels of TGF-${\beta}1$, CTGF, ColIV and FN proteins in the supernatant of MCs were measured by ELISA assays, and the mRNA levels of these four genes were detected by RT-PCR. The results showed that the increased proliferation of MCs, the mRNA levels and protein expression of TGF-${\beta}1$, CTGF, ColIV and FN induced by high glucose were inhibited after the treatment with the FARs extract. This indicated that FARs extract could inhibit cell proliferation and the expression of main extracellular matrix induced by high glucose in MCs. The FARs extract exhibited potential values for prophylaxis and therapy of DN.

Electrophysiological and alarm behavioral responses of Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) to alkoxypyrazines

Yan Sun,Kai-Min Shao,Yongyue Lu,Qun-Hui Shi,Wen-Kai Wang,Li Chen 한국응용곤충학회 2017 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.20 No.2

The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta produces an alarm pheromone component, 2-ethyl-3,6- dimethylpyrazine, and responds to its pyrazine analogs in a similar manner but at varied detection thresholds. Herein, the responses of fire ant workers by electroantennogram (EAG) and behavior were tested with twelve structurally-related oxygen-containing pyrazines (alkoxypyrazines) and the synthetic alarm pheromone. All tested compounds elicited a dose-dependent EAG response, with S. invicta responding greatest to the synthetic alarmpheromone. Chemical structure of pyrazines influenced the EAG response but not always alarmbehavioral response. Among the 13 tested compounds, 7 compounds displayed significantly greater EAG response than 2- isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine and 2-ethoxy-3-isopropylpyrazine at the dose of 1000 μg. Four of these 7 compounds, 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine, 2-methoxy-3-methylpyrazine, 2-ethoxy-3(5 or 6)-methylpyrazine, and 2-chloro-3-methoxypyrazinewith characteristic substituents on pyrazine ringwere further subjected to bait discovery bioassay.Hotdog bait containing pyrazines attracted significantlymore fire antworkers in the first 15-min period, resulting in quicker recruitment to food block than hexane control. The potential of using alkoxypyrazines in fire ant control is discussed.

Transcriptional Analysis of 10 Selected Genes in a Model of Penicillin G Induced Persistence of Chlamydophila psittaci in HeLa Cells

( Yan Qun Hu ),( Li Li Chen ),( Chuan Wang ),( Ya Feng Xie ),( Zhi Xi Chen ),( Liang Zhuan Liu ),( Ze Hong Su ),( Yi Mou Wu ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2015 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.25 No.8

Chlamydophila psittaci is an important intracellular pathogen. Persistent infection is an important state of the host-parasite interaction in this chlamydial infection, which plays a significant role in spreading the organism within animal populations and in causing chronic chlamydiosis and serious sequelae. In this study, a C. psittaci persistent infection cell model was induced by penicillin G, and real-time quantitative PCR was used to study the transcriptional levels of 10 C. psittaci genes (dnaA, dnaK, ftsW, ftsY, grpE, rpsD, incC, omcB, CPSIT_0846, and CPSIT_0042) in acute and penicillin-G-induced persistent infection cultures. Compared with the acute cultures, the penicillin-G-treated cultures showed a reduced chlamydial inclusion size and a significantly decreased number of elementary body particles. Additionally, some enlarged aberrant reticulate body particles were present in the penicillin- G-treated cultures but not the acute ones. The expression levels of genes encoding products for cell division (FtsW, FtsY) and outer membrane protein E encoding gene (CPSIT_0042) were downregulated (p < 0.05) from 6 h post-infection onward in the persistent infection cultures. Also from 6 h post-infection, the expression levels of DnaA, DnaK, IncC, RpsD, GrpE, and CPSIT_0846 were upregulated (p < 0.05); however, the expression level of OmcB in the persistent infection was almost the same as that in the acute infection (p > 0.05). These results provide new insight regarding molecular activities that accompany persistence of C. psittaci, which may play important roles in the pathogenesis of C. psittaci infection.

Identification and characterization of differentially expressed miRNAs between bamboo shoot and rhizome shoot

Qun-Ying Jin,Hua-Zheng Peng,Er-Pei Lin,Nan Li,Dan-Ni Huang,Yan-Li Xu,Xi-Qi Hua,Kui-Hong Wang,Tang-Jun Zhu 한국식물학회 2016 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.59 No.4

As one of the largest members of Poaceae family, bamboo is a very important agricultural plant in the world. The development of bamboo shoot is very special and particularly significant to bamboo production. Understanding the developmental differences between bamboo shoot and rhizome shoot is extremely valuable for us to further elucidate the mechanism of bamboo shoot formation since both bamboo shoot and rhizome shoot develop directly from rhizome bud underground. In this paper, miRNA chips with 413 miRNA probes were used to compare miRNA expressions between bamboo shoot and rhizome shoot. The experiment revealed 64 bamboo shoot upregulated and 56 rhizome shoot up-regulated miRNAs which were classified into four major categories according to deep sequencing based target prediction. Meristem and morphological development related miRNAs were most important in bamboo shoot, especially miR171 and miR156 members. While in rhizome shoot the mainstream of miRNA expressions was metabolism and nutrition related ones, especially miR395 members. The meristem and morphological development related miRNAs in bamboo shoot showed some embryonic characteristics and suggested the participation of several phytohormones like gibberellin, cytokinin and auxin, which were absent in those miRNAs of rhizome shoot. Further qRT-PCR detections of 21 up-regulated miRNAs in bamboo seedlings indicated that 12 ones were regulated to varying degrees by some environmental factors. Among them, rhizome shoot upregulated osa-miR395b was the most environment-sensitive miRNA, particularly to dehydration. And the bamboo shoot up-regulated osa-miR399j proved uniquely and strongly induced by phosphor. The existence of multiple regulation sites from same miRNA suggested the probability of crosstalks among meristem development, metabolism and stress response during bamboo shoot and rhizome shoot development.

Effects of Free Anthraquinones Extract from the Rhubarb on Cell Proliferation and Accumulation of Extracellular Matrix in High Glucose Cultured-Mesangial Cells

Jianyun Wang,Hui Fang,Bingzheng Dong,Dongdong Wang,Yan Li,Xiao Chen,Lijuan Chen,Tong Wei,Qunli Wei 대한약리학회 2015 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.19 No.6

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of end-stage failure of the kidney, but the efficacy of currently available strategies for the prevention of DN remains unsatisfactory. In this study, we investigated the effects of free anthraquinones (FARs) extract, which was extracted from the rhubarb and purified by macroporous resin DM130 with gradient mixtures of ethanol/water as the lelution solvents, in high glucose-cultured glomerular mesangial cells (MCs). The cell proliferation was determined by CCK-8 assay, the levels of TGF-β1, CTGF, ColIV and FN proteins in the supernatant of MCs were measured by ELISA assays, and the mRNA levels of these four genes were detected by RT-PCR. The results showed that the increased proliferation of MCs, the mRNA levels and protein expression of TGF-β1, CTGF, ColIV and FN induced by high glucose were inhibited after the treatment with the FARs extract. This indicated that FARs extract could inhibit cell proliferation and the expression of main extracellular matrix induced by high glucose in MCs. The FARs extract exhibited potential values for prophylaxis and therapy of DN.