No abstract

Abstract. Inflammatory response in the vasculature, including the overexpression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-1β, has been demonstrated to increase the risk of thrombosis development. Chebulagic acid (CA) is a key chemical component in the traditional Mongolian anti-thrombotic drug Garidi-13, and has been suggested to exert anti-inflammatory and anti-infective effects. The present study aimed to evaluate the regulatory impact of CA on a number of biological processes, including lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation, LPS-promoted mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation and the expression of toll-like receptor (TLR)4 in EA.hy926 human endothelial cells. The results indicated that CA significantly inhibited the LPS-induced upregulation of TNF-α and IL-1β in a dose-and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, LPS-activated MAPK signaling was inhibited by CA treatment in the EA.hy926 cells. However, TLR4, which serves a key function in LPS-induced inflammation as the receptor of LPS, was not regulated by the CA treatment. In summary, the results of the present study indicate that CA inhibits the LPS-induced promotion of TNF-α and IL-1β in endothelial cells by suppressing MAPK activation, which may contribute to the anti-thrombotic effect of Garidi-13.

4Alkali-salinity exerts severe osmotic, ionic and high-pH stresses to plants. To understand the 6 5 alkali-salinity responsive mechanisms underlying photosynthetic modulation and reactive 6 6 oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis, physiological and diverse quantitative proteomics 6 7 analyses of alkaligrass (Puccinellia tenuiflora) under Na 2 CO 3 stress were conducted. In 6 8 addition, Western blot, real-time PCR, and transgenic techniques were applied to validate the 6 9 proteomic results and test the functions of the Na 2 CO 3 -responsive proteins. A total of 104 and 7 0 102 Na 2 CO 3 -responsive proteins were identified in leaves and chloroplasts, respectively. In 7 1 addition, 84 Na 2 CO 3 -responsive phosphoproteins were identified, including 56 new 7 2 phosphorylation sites in 56 phosphoproteins from chloroplasts, which are crucial for the 7 3 regulation of photosynthesis, ion transport, signal transduction and energy homeostasis. A 7 4 full-length PtFBA encoding an alkaligrass chloroplastic fructose-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA) 7 5 was overexpressed in wild-type cells of cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC 6803, 7 6leading to enhanced Na 2 CO 3 tolerance. All these results indicate that thermal dissipation, 7 7 state transition, cyclic electron transport, photorespiration, repair of photosystem (PS) II, PSI 7 8 activity, and ROS homeostasis were altered in response to Na 2 CO 3 stress, and they have 7 9improved our understanding of the Na 2 CO 3 -responsive mechanisms in halophytes. 8 0 8 1 8 2 Puccinellia tenuiflora 8 3 8 4 8 7 most severe abiotic stresses, limiting the productivity and geographical distribution of plants. 8 8Saline-alkali stress exerts osmotic stress and ion damage, as well as high-pH stress to plants 8 9[2]. However, little attention has been given to the sophisticated tolerance mechanisms 9 0 underlying plant response to saline-alkali (e.g. Na 2 CO 3 and NaHCO 3 ) stresses [3,4]. As the 9 1 organelle for photosynthesis, chloroplasts are extremely susceptible to saline-alkali stress [5]. 2Excessive accumulation of Na + reduces the CO 2 diffusion through stomata and mesophyll, 9 3 negatively affecting plant photosynthesis [6]. As a consequence, excessive excitation energy 9 4 causes generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), resulting in damage to the thylakoid 9 5 membrane [6]. 9 6 4 Current high-throughput proteomic approaches are powerful to untangle the complicated 9 7 mechanisms of chloroplast development, metabolism and stress response [7−10]. More than 9 8 522 NaCl-responsive chloroplast proteins were found in different plant species, such as 9 9 tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) [11], wheat (Triticum aestivum) [12], and other plant species 1 0 0 [13−18]. The presence of these proteins indicate that the light harvesting, photosynthetic 1 0 1 electron transfer, carbon assimilation, ROS homeostasis, energy metabolism, signaling, and 4 9 5

Alkali-salinity exerts severe osmotic, ionic, and high-pH stresses to plants. To understand the alkali-salinity responsive mechanisms underlying photosynthetic modulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis, physiological and diverse quantitative proteomics analyses of alkaligrass ( Puccinellia tenuiflora ) under Na 2 CO 3 stress were conducted. In addition, Western blot, real-time PCR, and transgenic techniques were applied to validate the proteomic results and test the functions of the Na 2 CO 3 -responsive proteins. A total of 104 and 102 Na 2 CO 3 -responsive proteins were identified in leaves and chloroplasts , respectively. In addition, 84 Na 2 CO 3 -responsive phosphoproteins were identified, including 56 new phosphorylation sites in 56 phosphoproteins from chloroplasts, which are crucial for the regulation of photosynthesis, ion transport, signal transduction, and energy homeostasis. A full-length PtFBA encoding an alkaligrass chloroplastic fructose-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA) was overexpressed in wild-type cells of cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC 6803, leading to enhanced Na 2 CO 3 tolerance. All these results indicate that thermal dissipation, state transition, cyclic electron transport, photorespiration, repair of photosystem (PS) II, PSI activity, and ROS homeostasis were altered in response to Na 2 CO 3 stress, which help to improve our understanding of the Na 2 CO 3 -responsive mechanisms in halophytes.

By employment of a pre-designed molecular building block [(pzTp)Fe(CN) 3 ], one cyano-bridged trinuclear complex [MnMe 4 TACD][(pzTp)Fe(CN) 3 ] 2 (H 2 O) 16 1, [pzTp = tetrakis(pyrazoly) borate, Me 4 TACD = 1,4,7,10-tetramethyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane] and two 1D chain-like coordination polymers {[(pzTp)Fe(CN) 3 ] 2 [M(Bim) 2 ](H 2 O) 2 } n [M = Cu(II) for 2 and Mn(II) for 3, Bim = bis(1-imidazolyl)methane] were synthesized by making use of different nitrogen-containing organic linkers. Furthermore, in vitro cytotoxicity of compounds 1-3 was studied against four human liver cancer cells (HepG2, Bel-7402, SMMC7721, and MHCC97) via the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay experiments.