Effect of Shuanghuanglian Oral Solution on Liver Function in a Mouse Model of Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis

[Objectives]To observe the effect of Shuanghuanglian oral solution on liver function in BABL/cJ mice in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH)model.[Methods]The BABL/cJ mice were randomly divided into three groups:a control group,a model group,and an experimental group.The experimental group was administered with 10%Shuanghuanglian oral solution at a dose of 0.1 mL/(10 g·d),while the control group and experimental group received an equivalent dosage of normal saline.All three groups were treated for a period of 28 d.The liver function of the mice in each group was examined after the treatment.[Results]The body mass,liver index,triacylglycerol(TG),total cholesterol(TC),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),and alanine aminotransferase(ALT)levels were all significantly reduced compared to the model group(P<0.05).[Conclusions]Shuanghuanglian oral solution has a beneficial effect on liver function in BABL/cJ mice.

Semaphorin 7A promotes human vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration through theβ-catenin signaling pathway

Background:Vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs)undergo a conversion from a contractile phenotype to a proliferative synthetic phenotype,contributing to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases.Semaphorin 7A(SEMA7A)is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored membrane protein that plays an important role in vascular homeostasis by regulating endothelial cell behaviors.However,the expression and role of SEMA7A in VSMCs remain unclear.Methods:In this study,we screened for VSMC-regulating genes in publicly available datasets and analyzed the expression of SEMA7A in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells(hCASMCs)treated with platelet-derived growth factor-BB(PDGF-BB).The effects of SEMA7A overexpression and knockdown on hCASMC proliferation and migration were examined.The signaling pathways involved in the action of SEMA7A in hCASMCs were determined.Results:Bioinformatic analysis showed that SEMA7A was significantly dysregulated in VSMCs treated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein or overexpressing progerin,a pro-atherogenic gene.The PDGF-BB stimulation led to a concentration-and time-dependent induction of SEMA7A.Depletion of SEMA7A attenuated PDGF-BB-induced hCASMC proliferation and migration.Conversely,overexpression of SEMA7A enhanced hCASMC proliferation and migration.Mechanistically,SEMA7A stimulated the activation of theβ-catenin pathway and upregulated c-Myc,CCND1,and MMP7.Knockdown ofβ-catenin impaired SEMA7A-induced hCASMC proliferation and migration.Conclusions:SEMA7A triggers phenotype switching in VSMCs through theβ-catenin signaling pathway and may serve as a potential therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases.

An improved method for tubulin staining of ciliated eukaryotes

Ciliated microeukaryotes(ciliates)are distinguished by their cilia,which are rich in tubulin.We developed a method for tubulin staining in ciliate cells that involves using live-cell tubulin-staining dyes instead of antibodies thereby streamlining the staining process,which is effective across diverse ciliate lineages.Moreover,our method allows integration with immunofluorescence staining using antibodies when needed.The potential applications of this technique extend to cell biology and ciliate morphological and ecological studies.

肝细胞NLRP3与PKCε互作驱动肝脏胰岛素抵抗和脂肪变性

肝脏胰岛素抵抗(IR)是非酒精性脂肪性肝病(NAFLD)的重要特征之一,与肝脏脂肪变性密切相关.肝脏IR发病机制仍不清楚,本研究通过转录组学筛选鉴定到肝细胞NLRP3是肝脏IR的重要诱导因子,进一步证实其在人和小鼠NAFLD模型肝脏组织中表达增加.功能方面,肝细胞特异性NLRP3功能丧失或获得分别改善或加重高脂饮食(HFD)诱导的肝脏IR及脂肪变性.机制方面,NLRP3直接结合并促进蛋白激酶C蛋白(PKCs)的激活,从而损害胰岛素信号通路和增加肝脏脂肪变性;相反,抑制PKCe明显阻断HFD诱导的NLRP3缺陷小鼠的有益作用.此外,研究筛选发现转录因子阴阳1(YY1)调控NLRP3启动子.治疗方面,腺相关病毒血清型8介导的肝脏NLRP3敲低减轻瘦素受体缺陷(db/db)小鼠的肝脏IR和脂肪变性.同时,药理抑制NLRP3显著减轻饮食诱导的代谢紊乱.综上,本研究揭示了肝细胞NLRP3是肝脏IR和脂肪变性的直接驱动因素,并提示YY1-NLRP3-PKCε轴为NAFLD的潜在治疗靶点.

Profiling of lysine-acetylated proteins in human urine

A biomarker is a measurable indicator associated with changes in physiological state or disease.In contrast to the blood which is under homeostatic controls,urine reflects changes in the body earlier and more sensitively,and is therefore a better biomarker source.Lysine acetylation is an abundant and highly regulated post-translational modification.It plays a pivotal role in modulating diverse biological processes and is associated with various important diseases.Enrichment or visualization of proteins with specific post-translational modifications provides a method for sampling the urinary proteome and reducing sample complexity.In this study,we used anti-acetyllysine antibody-based immunoaffinity enrichment combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry to profile lysine-acetylated proteins in normal human urine.A total of 629 acetylation sites on 315 proteins were identified,including some very low-abundance proteins.This is the first proteome-wide characterization of lysine acetylation proteins in normal human urine.Our dataset provides a useful resource for the further discovery of lysine-acetylated proteins as biomarkers in urine.

Urine glucose levels are disordered before blood glucose level increase was observed in Zucker diabetic fatty rats

Many patients with diabetes are not diagnosed at all or are diagnosed too late to be effectively treated, resulting in nonspecific symptoms and a long period of incubation of the disease. Pre-diabetes is an early warning signal of diabetes, and the change of urine glucose in this period has been ignored even though urine has long been related with diabetes. In this study, Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats were used to test if there were changes in urine glucose before blood glucose increases. Six 8-week-old male ZDF rats (fa/fa) and Zucker lean (ZL) rats (fa/+) were fed with Purina 5008 high-fat diet and tested for fasting blood glucose and urine glucose. After 12 weeks of feeding, the urine glucose values of the ZL rats were normal (0–10 mmol L^(-1)), but the values of the ZDF model rats increased 10 weeks before their blood glucose levels elevated. The urine glucose values of the ZDF model rats showed a state of disorder that was frequently elevated (>10 mmol L^(-1)) and occasionally normal (0–10 mmol L^(-1)). This finding may provide an easy early screening for diabetes by long-term monitoring of urine glucose levels: pre-diabetes may be revealed by frequently disordered urine glucose levels over a period.

Collection and preservation of urinary proteins, using a fluff pulp diaper

Change is the most fundamental property of a biomarker. In contrast to the blood, which is under homeostatic controls, urine reflects changes in the body earlier and is more sensitive, thus making it a better biomarker source. Moreover, drawing blood from infants and toddlers is difficult and not tolerated well. For patients limited by language, communicating their chief complaint is difficult. Thus, monitoring biomarkers in urine can provide valuable clues for the diagnosis of diseases, especially pediatric diseases. Collecting urine from young children and some adult patients is more challenging than collecting it from healthy adults.Here, we propose a method that uses a fluff pulp diaper to collect urine. Urinary proteins are then eluted and adsorbed onto a piece of nitrocellulose membrane, which can be dried and stored in a vacuum bag. SDS-PAGE and LC-MS/MS analysis indicated that this method is reproducible, and similar proteins were identified as those obtained by an acetone precipitation method. With this simple and economical method, it is possible to collect and preserve urine samples from infants, toddlers, and patients with special needs, even for large-scale biomarker studies.

Factors to consider in the verification of urinary biomarkers

Dear Editor,Because urine is not under homeostatic control, changes occur earlier in urine than in blood; therefore, urine is a better source of early and sensitive biomarkers. The composition of urine is affected by a variety of factors, and urine is susceptible to complex changes. To exclude the impact of multiple factors, an appropriate animal model can be used in which control over all experimental factors is possible and each factor can be separately observed. Additionally, some common confounding factors should be considered when choosing disease candidate biomarkers for clinical verification.

Optical approaches in study of nanocatalysis with single-molecule and single-particle resolution

Studying the activity of individual nanocata- lysts, especially with high spatiotemporal resolution of single-molecule and single-turnover scale, is essential for the understanding of catalytic mechanism and the designing of effective catalysts. Several approaches have been developed to monitor the catalytic reaction on single catalysts. In this review, we summarized the updated progresses of several new spectroscopic and microscopic approaches, including single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance microscopy and X-ray microscopy, for the study of single-molecule and single-particle catalysis.