In the study, we report the complete mitochondrial genome of giraffe seahorse, Hippocampus camelopardalis Bianconi, 1854. The genome of H. camelopardalis is found to be 16,523 bp in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region (D-loop). The overall base composition of H. camelopardalis is 32.46% for A, 23.54% for C, 14.54% for G, and 29.46% for T, respectively. All PCGs use the typical initiation codon ATG, except for COX1 that uses GTG. The lengths of 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA were 939 and 1685 bp, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis results showed that H. camelopardalis is closely related to the Jayakar's seahorse H. jayakari. The complete mitochondrial genome of Hippocampus camelopardalis provided essential and important molecular data for evolutionary analysis of genus Hippocampus. ARTICLE HISTORY

Introduction: Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most lethal malignancies and has few treatment options. Saikosaponin D (SSD), a major bioactive triterpene saponin isolated from Bupleurum chinense, has been reported to exert cytotoxicity properties toward many cancer cells. However, the effects of SSD on pancreatic cancer have been little scrutinized. Methods: Here, we investigated the effect of SSD on the proliferation and apoptosis of human pancreatic cancer BxPC3 and PANC1 cells and the mouse pancreatic cancer cell line Pan02. Cell viability was determined by MTT assays and cell apoptosis analyzed by DAPI staining and flow cytometry. Expression levels of apoptosis-regulating markers and activity of the MKK4-JNK signaling pathway were determined by Western blotting. The inhibitor SP600125 was applied to confirm the role of the JNK pathway in SSD efficiency. Results: SSD significantly inhibited the proliferation of BxPC3, PANC1, and Pan02 cells in a concentration-and time-dependent manner. Flow-cytometry analysis indicated obvious apoptosis induction after SSD exposure. Furthermore, SSD significantly triggered cleavage of caspase 3 and caspase 9 proteins and increased the expression of FoxO3a. In addition, activity of the MKK4-JNK pathway was dramatically increased after treatment with SSD in BxPC3 cells. SSD obviously stimulated phosphorylation of JNK, cJun, and SEK1/MKK4 proteins within 30 minutes. The addition of SP600125 blocked the activation of SSD on the MKK4-JNK regulatory pathway and reversed the effects of SSD on proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction in BxPC3 cells. Conclusion: These results revealed that SSD was capable of suppressing tumor growth and promoting apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells via targeting the MKK4-JNK signaling pathway, indicating the possibility of further developing SSD as a potential therapeutic candidate for pancreatic cancer.

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Tanshinone I (Tan I) is one of the main bioactive ingredients derived from Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, which has exhibited antitumor activities toward various human cancer cells. However, its effects and underlying mechanisms on human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cells still require further investigation. This study determined the effects and mechanisms of antiproliferative and apoptosis induction activity induced by Tan I against K562 cells. The cytotoxic effect of Tan I at varying concentrations on K562 cells was evaluated via MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was further investigated through DAPI staining and flow cytometry analysis. The expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins and activities of JNK/ATF2 and ERK signaling pathways were analyzed by western blot. Quantitative PCR was performed to further determine mRNA expression levels of JNK1/2 and ERK1/2 after Tan I treatment. The results indicated that Tan I significantly inhibited K562 cell growth and induced apoptosis in a concentration-and time-dependent manner. It induced significant cellular morphological changes and increased apoptosis rates in CML cells. Tan I promoted the cleavages of caspase-related proteins, as well as increased the expression levels of PUMA. Furthermore, Tan I significantly activated JNK and inhibited ATF-2 and ERK signaling pathways. The mRNA expression levels of JNK1/2 and ERK1/2 were up-regulated by Tan I, further confirming its regulatory effects on JNK/ERK signaling pathways. Overall, our results indicated that Tan I suppressed cell viability via JNK-and ERK-mediated apoptotic pathways in K562 cells, suggesting that it might be a promising candidate as a novel anti-leukemia drug.

In the present study, the complete mitochondrial genome of H. grayi was determined and annotated. The circular mitogenome is 16,959 bp in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region. Most of the PCGs start with ATG, but CO1 begins with a GTG start codon. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that H. grayi was strictly related to network pipefish Corythoichthys flavofasciatus with 100% bootstrap support value. This work provides basic molecular information that would be useful for further investigation on conservation genetics and evolutionary relationships of H. grayi.