Health promoting activities and corresponding mechanism of(–)-epicatechin-3-gallate

(–)-Epicatechin-3-gallate(ECG),a bioactive polyphenolic compound,has contributed a lot to the health benefits of green tea.Great attention has been focused on(–)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate(EGCG),but limited research has been performed towards ECG.Like EGCG,ECG also possesses various pharmacological and physiological properties,such as mediation of antioxidant activities,anti-inflammation response,regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis,as well as anticancer properties during angiogenesis,invasion and metastasis stages.Nontoxic ECG has various molecular targets within the cells,including CYP enzymes,phaseⅡdetoxification and antioxidant enzymes,as well as pro-inflammatory mediators.The antineoplastic mechanism contains inhibition of phase 1 CYP enzymes,induction of phaseⅡdetoxification and antioxidant enzymes,high anti-inflammatory efficacy,arrest of cell cycle progression,regulation of apoptosis,as well as mediation of metastasis processes.In particular,the gallate moiety of ECG is critical for mediating inhibitory effects towards cancer cells.Besides regulation of intracellular signaling pathways,ECG also inhibits RNase A and matrix metalloproteinase enzymatic activity via chelating metals(copper and zinc)in cancer cells.This review has summarized recent studies on pharmacological properties of ECG,and discussed corresponding mechanism on modulation of cellular signaling events by ECG,hoping to broaden its multiple usage.

Analysis of DNA Methylation Changes during the Late Fruit Development Stage in Luotian Persimmon

Persimmon （ Diospyros kaki Thunb. ） , a member of Ebenaceae family, is known as ＂woody grain＂ and ＂iron-stem crop＂. However, the epigenetie research has been rarely reported. In this study, tannin content in late fruit development periods was determined. Moreover, the MSAP （methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism） method was used to analyze methylation profile, and 13 primer combinations were selected. In total, 5 differential fragments were cloned and sequenced. This research would be helpful for further gene cloning, research on deastringency mechanism, as well as molecular breeding of D. kaki.

Construction of a Microsatellite-enriched Library of Rhododendron simsii Planch.

In this study, an （AG） n microsatellite-enriched library of Rhododendron simsii Planch. was constructed with FIASCO （ fast Isolation by AFLP sequences containing repeats） method. Among 356 positive colonies verified by colony PCR of the （AG）n microsatellite-enriched library, 233 colonies were selected for further sequencing. According to the results, 202 colonies containing microsatellites were obtained, accounting for 86.7%. Discarding sequences with miscella- neous peaks, overlapping peaks and weak signals, 39 sequences were screened finally for subsequent primer exploitation, including 22 perfect type SSR loci, 5 im- perfect type SSR loci and 12 compound type SSR loci. The FIASCO method is efficient and feasible for constructing microsatellite-enriched libraries of Rhododendron spp. , which laid a solid foundation for isolation of microsatellite loci and investigation of genetic diversity and genetic structure of Rhododendron spp.