Tyrosine Aminotransferase Gene (SmTAT) Revealed Genetic Diversity and Phylogeny of Cultivated Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) Populations

Chinese traditional medicine Danshen is the radix of the perennial herbs of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, which has a variety of pharmacological effects and is traditionally and extensively applied clinically to treat cardiovascular disorders. In this research, the genomic genes for tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) of 38 cultivated populations of Danshen in China were cloned and bioinformatic analyses were conducted to reveal its genetic diversity and phylogeny. The full-length SmTAT was 2296 - 2444 bp including 6 exons (encoding 411 amino acids) and 5 introns. Overall, the SmTAT genes in cultivated Danshen populations are highly conserved with a relative low level of genetic diversity. The spliced exons (1236 bp) had 23 SNP variations with a rate of 1.86%, of which 22 occurred in the white flower S. miltiorrhiza Bge.f.alba population (W-SCHY-W-1) and led to 5 amino acid variations. The entire 290 SNP variations with a rate of 24% in the 5 introns occurred exclusively in W-SCHY-W-1. Phylogenetic trees based on the full-length, combined introns, the spliced exons, and the deduced amino acid sequences of SmTAT all showed a two-clade basic structure with W-SCHY-W-1 uniquely standing alone. The SmTAT gene of the white flower population (W-SCHY-W-1) is unique and especially rich in variations. The first time clarified genomic SmTAT gene structure and genetic diversity in cultivated Danshen populations laid an excellent foundation for further studies on the biosynthesis of bioactives and the molecular breeding of Danshen as well as in plant tyrosine metabolism.

Anti-melanoma action of small molecular peptides derived from Brucea javanica(L.)Merr.globulin in vitro

Objective:The morbidity of malignant melanoma keeps increasing annually.It has high risks of metastasis,drug resistance,and poor prognosis in clinics.Moreover,the available medicines used commonly,such as dacarbazine,temozolomide,the v-Raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1(BRAF)inhibitor vemurafenib,and the programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitor pembrolizumab,have some limitations at some extent.Therefore,a more effective therapeutic strategy is still urgently necessary.Methods:In this study,Brucea javanica(L.)Merr.globulins were hydrolyzed with pepsin,then ultra-filtrated to collect small molecular peptides(≤3 kDa).The peptides were then analyzed by antiproliferative assay,cell-cycle distribution,apoptosis assay,and in vitro wound-scratch assay.Finally,western blotting was conducted to elucidate the underlying anti-melanoma mechanism.Results:The small molecular peptide from B.javanica significantly inhibited malignant melanoma cell proliferation with the IC_(50) of 2.72 mg/mL for 72 h.Further analysis indicated that B.javanica peptides arrested cell cycle at the S and G2/M phases and induced apoptosis by upregulating p21,p53,Bax,caspase-3,and cleaved PARP while downregulating Bcl-2 expression.The inhibitory migration effects were also confirmed by wound-healing assay.Conclusion:The small molecular biopeptides from B.javanica may be a promising bioactive agent candidate for melanoma treatment.

Microstructure design to improve the efficiency of thermal barrier coatings

The insulation effect of ceramic coating in a turbine blade is of great importance for the service of engine in the field of aviation industry. Fabricating microstructure in the thermal barrier coatings(TBCs) is considered to be able to enhance the thermal insulation effect. In this study, the traditional three-layer structure, containing ceramic top coat, bonding coat and substrate, is firstly simplified into a double-layer structure, where only ceramic layer and substrate are left, for analyzing the thermal insulation. Afterwards, the thermal insulation effect of the designed microstructure in the bonding coat of the three-layer structure is further studied. Column-like microstructures, filled with hollow ceramic microspheres in the interspace, are designed to improve the thermal insulation effect. The size parameters of the designed microstructure were optimized. The existence of the designed microstructure can significantly prolong the efficiency of thermal barrier coatings. The insulation temperature between the heating surface and lower surface of the substrate can exceed 300℃ and the thermal balance time has a big improvement of 240 s, more than 50%, than the traditional TBCs structure. Compared with the TBCs structure without microstructure, the designed microstructure can significantly improve the insulation temperature of more than 110℃.

Gain scheduled L-two-L-infinity filtering for neutral systems with jumping and time-varying parameters

In this paper, global exponential stochastic stability based continuous gain-scheduled robust L-two-L- infinity filtering problem is studied for a class of stochastic neutral systems subject to time-varying parameters. First, the stochastic time-varying neutral systems are described by a series of stochastic time-constant systems at some selected time points, then based on stochastic Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional approach, a new globally exponentially stochastically stabilizable criterion is derived for each of the jumping system by means of linear matrix inequalities. Subsequently, L- two-L-infinity filtering systems are designed for such linear jump systems. Finally; continuous gain-scheduled approach is employed to design time-varying filter systems for the whole working region. A simulation example shows the effectiveness and potential of the developed techniques.

NIR light-induced tumor phototherapy using ICG delivery system based on platelet-membrane-camouflaged hollow bismuth selenide nanoparticles

Near-infrared(NIR)light-triggered photothermal therapy(PTT)is a promising treatment strategy for treating cancer.The combination of nanotechnology and NIR has been widely applied.However,the therapeutic efficacy of the drug-delivery system depends on their ability to avoid phagocytosis of endothelial system,cross the biological barriers,prolong circulation life,localize and rapidly release the therapeutic at target sites.In this work,we designed a platelet membrane(PM)-camouflaged hollow mesoporous bismuth selenide nanoparticles(BS NPs)loading with indocyanine green(ICG)(PM@BS-ICG NPs)to achieve the above advantages.PM-coating has active tumor-targe ting ability which could preve nt drug leakage and provide drug long circulation,causing drug delivery systems to accumulate in tumor sites effectively.Moreover,as a type of the photothermal sensitizers,BS NPs are used as the inner cores to improve ICG stability and are served as scaffolds to enhance the hardness of this drug delivery system.For one hand,the thermal vibration of BS NPs under NIR laser irradiation causes tumor inhibition through hyperthermia.For another hand,this hyperthermia process could damage PM and let ICG rapid release from PM@BS-ICG NPs.The in vitro and in vivo results showed that this biomimetic nano-drug delivery system exhibits obvious antitumor activity which has good application prospect.