Autophagy-Inducing Effect of Compound Berberine on CNE2 NPC Cells via Interference with the Targets in P13K/AKT/mTOR Signaling Pathway

Objective: To investigate the autophagy-inducing effect of Compound Berberine (CBBR) on CNE2 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells and its possible targets in P13K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Methods: CNE2 cells at exponential growth phase were taken as the target cells in this study. Firstly, IC50 concentration for CBBR was determined by MTT assay. Then, 3 different concentrations of CBBR, 0.25 mg⋅mL−1, 0.50 mg⋅mL−1 and 1.00 mg⋅mL−1, around the concentration of IC50, were taken for followed intervention experiments respectively. Fluorescein labeling method was utilized to assay the inducing effect of CBBR on the autophagic activity of CNE2 cells, followed by Western blot procedure to explore the changes of key messenger molecules in the autophagy-related signaling pathway of P13K/AKT/mTOR, both combined with 3-MA block test in a comparative way and carried out by detecting the expressive levels of Beclin 1, LC3-II and LC3-I as well as the ratio of LC3-II:LC3-I. Results: IC50 of CBBR was determined at the level of 0.5 mg⋅mL−1. The inducing effect of CBBR on autophagy of CNE2 cells was shown occurring in various modes, not a simple concentration-dependent tendency, with its effect minimal at the concentration of 0.25 mg⋅mL−1 and maximal at the concentration of 0.50 mg⋅mL−1, while only slightly higher at the concentration of 1.00 mg⋅mL−1 than that of 0.5 mg⋅mL−1. Although its inducing effect was weakened a little following the pretreatment by 3-MA, the effect combined with CBBR was still significantly higher than that of simply blocked by 3-MA. Moreover, changes in the expressive levels of Beclin1, LC3-II and LC3-I as well as LC3-II:LC3-I all showed a tendency corresponding to the changed autophagic features of CNE2 cells (P Conclusions: CBBR can bring about inhibiting effect on the proliferating activity of CNE2 cells through inducing increased autophagic activity via intervening targets in P13K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, and this effect could not be completely blocked by the antagonist 3-MA.

Improvement of β-phase crystal formation in a BaTiO3-modified PVDF membrane

In this paper,low temperature plasma is used to modify the surface of barium titanate（BaTiO3）nanoparticles in order to enhance the interfacial compatibility between ferroelectric poly（vinylidene fluoride）（PVDF） and BaTiO3 nanoparticles.The results demonstrate that oxygenic groups are successfully attached to the BaTiO3 surface,and the quantity of the functional groups increases with the treatment voltage.Furthermore,the effect of modified BaTiO3 nanoparticles on the morphology and crystal structure of the PVDF/BaTiO3 membrane is investigated.The results reveal that the dispersion of BaTiO3 nanoparticles in the PVDF matrix was greatly improved due to the modification of the BaTiO3 nanoparticles by air plasma.It is worth noting that the formation of a β-phase in a PVDF/modified BaTiO3 membrane is observably promoted,which results from the strong interaction between PVDF chains and oxygenic groups fixed on the BaTiO3 surface and the better dispersion of BaTiO3 nanoparticles in the PVDF matrix.Besides,the PVDF/modified BaTiO3 membrane at the treatment voltage of 24 k V exhibits a lower water contact angle（≈68.4°） compared with the unmodified one（≈86.7°）.Meanwhile,the dielectric constant of PVDF/BaTiO3 nanocomposites increases with the increase of working voltage.

Optimization of Fixed-Bed Design for Natural Gas Mercury Removal by Sulfur Doped into Porous Activated Carbon

The present work reports the synthesis and application of sulfur doped into porous activated carbon for removing elemental mercury from natural gas using a bench-scale fixed-bed reactor. A series of experiments were carried out to investigate the optimization of Hg0 capture. Furthermore, our experimental results about optimum conditions to remove Hg0 were 1:10 of sulfur to activated carbon impregnation ratio, 350°C of impregnation temperature, and 3 hours of impregnation time. This research showed that the prepared adsorbents were capable to remove remarkable amount of Hg0 (23.615 mg/g) at high adsorption efficiency. This study may serve as reference on natural gas power plants for the removal of Hg0 using the same conditions.

Latest Advances in the Treatment of Post-stroke Limb Spasm with Botulinum Neurotoxin

Objective: To describe the latest progress in the use of botulinum neurotoxin for post-stroke limb spasm. Methods: This paper looks up the relevant research literatures in recent years in PubMed, Web of Science, Springer, Ovid, CNKI, WanFang databases and summarizes them. Results: The latest progress in the use of botulinum neurotoxin for post-stroke limb spasm was studied from the following aspects: the action mechanism of botulinum neurotoxin;efficacy evaluation;injection dose;target muscle selection;guiding technology;combination therapy. Conclusion: Botulinum neurotoxin is the first-line treatment for post-stroke limb spasm. We need to make continuous improvement and progress from the treatment period, injection dose, target muscle selection, guiding technology and efficacy evaluation to improve the quality of life of the majority of post-stroke survivors in China.

Consensus on pediatric epilepsy Che up surgery for young children:an investigation by the China Association Against Epilepsy task force on epilepsy surgery

Researchers have widely acknowledged the therapeutic value of epilepsy surgery for drug-resistant epilepsy.None-theless,there is a substantial gap in the surgical treatment for appropriate candidates owing to several factors,particularly in the population of young children.To standardize the protocols of preoperative evaluation and sur-gery of young children for epilepsy surgery,the China Association Against Epilepsy has appointed an expert task force to standardize the protocols of preoperative evaluation and surgery in pediatric epilepsy patients.It adopted the modifed Delphi method and performed two rounds of surveys through an anonymous inquiry among 75 experts from four subgroups including pediatric neurologists,epileptologists,pediatric epilepsy surgeons,and functional neurosurgeons.The survey contents contained:(1)the participants,comprising children aged≤6 years;(2)adopted DRE definition proposed by the International League Against Epilepsy in 2010;and(3)investigated epilepsy surgery,principally referring to curative epilepsy surgeries.The neuromodulation therapies were excluded because of the differences in treatment mechanisms from the above-mentioned surgeries.According to the Delphi process,a con-sensus was achieved for most aspects by incorporating two rounds of surveys including preoperative assessment,sur-gical strategies and techniques,and perioperative and long-term postoperative management,despite controversial opinions on certain items.We hope the results of this consensus will improve the level of surgical treatment and man-agement of intractable epilepsy in young children.

Simultaneous determination of Repaglinide and Irbesartan in biological plasmas using micellar enhanced excitation-emission matrix fluorescence coupled with ATLD method

A highly sensitive and selective 3D excitation-emission fluorescence method has been proposed to rapidly quantify the combined antidiabetics Repaglinide(Re) and Irbesartan(Ir) in rat and human plasmas with the aid of second-order calibration method based on alternating trilinear decomposition(ATLD) method. Re and Ir with weak fluorescence can be endowed with strong fluorescent property by changing the microenvironment in samples and improving the fluorescence quantum yield by using an appropriate micellar enhanced surfactant. The enhanced excitation-emission matrix fluorescence of Re and Ir can be accurately resolved and can simultaneously attain the optimal concentration even in the presence of a potentially strong intrinsic fluorescence from complex biological matrices, such as rat and human plasmas, by using the ATLD method, which completely exploits the "second-order advantage". The average recoveries of Re and Ir obtained from ATLD with the factor number of 3(N=3) were 101.0%±4.3% and 99.1%±4.1% for rat plasma and 100.5%±5.4% and 97.1%±3.6% for human plasma. Several statistical methods, including Student's t-test, figures of merit, and elliptical joint confidence region, have been utilized to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method. Results show that the developed method can maintain second-order advantage in simultaneous determinations of the weak fluorescent analytes of interest in different biological plasma matrices.

Global profiling of O-GlcNAcylated and/or phosphorylated proteins in hepatoblastoma

O-linked-β-N-acetylglucosamine(O-GlcNAc)glycosylation(O-GlcNAcylation)and phosphorylation are critical posttranslational modifications that are involved in regulating the functions of proteins involved in tumorigenesis and the development of various solid tumors.However,a detailed characterization of the patterns of these modifications at the peptide or protein level in hepatoblastoma(HB),a highly malignant primary hepatic tumor with an extremely low incidence in children,has not been performed.Here,we examined O-GlcNAc-modified or phospho-modified peptides and proteins in HB through quantitative proteomic analysis of HB tissues and paired normal liver tissues.Our results identified 114 O-GlcNAcylated peptides belonging to 78 proteins and 3494 phosphorylated peptides in 2088 proteins.Interestingly,41 proteins were modified by both O-GlcNAcylation and phosphorylation.These proteins are involved in multiple molecular and cellular processes,including chromatin remodeling,transcription,translation,transportation,and organelle organization.In addition,we verified the accuracy of the proteomics results and found a competitive inhibitory effect between O-GlcNAcylation and phosphorylation of HSPB1.Further,O-GlcNAcylation modification of HSPB1 promoted proliferation and enhanced the chemotherapeutic resistance of HB cell lines in vitro.Collectively,our research suggests that O-GlcNAc-modified and/or phospho-modified proteins may play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of HB.