miR-211 regulates the antioxidant function of lens epithelial cells affected by age-related cataracts

AIM： To investigate the effects and mechanism of miR-211 in mediating the antioxidant function of lens epithelial cells affected by age-related cataracts. METHODS： Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （RT-qPCR） was used to detect miR-211 expression in the anterior lens capsules of healthy people, the anterior lens capsules of patients with age-related cataracts, and human epithelial cell line （SRA01/04） cells exposed to oxidative stress. A 2＇, 7＇-dichloro-fluorescein diacetate （DCFH-DA） probe was used to measure the levels of endogenous reactive oxygen species （ROS） in human lens epithelial cells （hLECs） exposed to 400 pmol/L H2O2 for lh. SRA01/04 cells were transfected with either miR-211 mimics, mimic controls, miR-211 inhibitors or inhibitor controls. After 72h, these cells were exposed to 400 IJmollL H2O2 for lh, then p53 and Bax mRNA expression were measured using RT-qPCR. p53 and Bax protein expression were also measured by Western blotting analysis. Finally, cell viability was assessed using an MTS assay. RESULTS： Compared to the control group, expression of miR-211 in the anterior lens capsules of age-related cataract patients and in SRA01/04 cells exposed to oxidative stress was significantly increased （P〈0.001）. Levels of endogenous ROS were significantly elevated in hLECs exposed to oxidative stress （P〈0.001）. Compared to the mimic control group, the hLECs in the miR-211 mimic group expressed significantly higher levels of p53 and Bax mRNA and protein while cell viability was significantly reduced （P〈0.001）. Conversely, p53 and Bax mRNA and protein expression were significantly reduced in the miR-211 inhibitor group as compared to the control group, while the cells in this group had much higher levels of call viability （P〈0.001）. CONCLUSION： miR-211 is upregulatsd in the anterior lens capsules of age-related cataract patients, miR-211 decreased the antioxidative stress capacity of lens epithelial cells by upregulating p53 and Bax, while inhibiting cell proliferation and repair. This finding suggests that miR-211 may play a key role in the development of age-related cataracts.

Production of Benzoic Acid through Catalytic Transformation of Renewable Lignocellulosic Biomass

In the present work, we reported a novel route for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass （sawdust） to a high-value chemical of benzoic acid under atmospheric pressure. The trans- formation involved the catalytic pyrolysis of sawdust into aromatics, the decomposition of heavier alkylaromatics to toluene, and the liquid-phase oxidation of toluene-rich aromatics to benzoic acid. The production of the desired benzoic acid from the sawdust-derived aro- matics, with the benzoic acid selectivity of 85.1 C-mol% and nearly complete conversion of toluene, was achieved using the MnO2/NHPI catalyst at 100 ℃ for 5 h. The in uence of adding methanol on the catalytic conversion of sawdust to the core intermediate of toluene was also investigated in detail.

Effects of Electrolytes on the Oxidation of Carbon Fibres

Effects of electrolytes on the oxidation of carbon fibreswere investigated by ion chromatography and cyclic vol-tammogram measurement.The results indicate that theconcentration of nitrate ion decreases with increase oftreatment time,and the concentration of phosphate ionkeeps a constant in the process of electrochemical oxida-tion.Nitrate ions have more effective electrochemical ox-idation ability than other anions.The mechanism of elec-trochemical oxidation of carbon fibres was suggested.

Catalytic ozonation performance and surface property of supported Fe304 catalysts dispersions

Fe304 was supported on mesoporous A12O3 or SiO2 （50 wt.%） using an incipient wetness impregnation method, and Fe304/A12O3 exhibited higher catalytic efficiency for the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyace- tic acid andpara-chlorobenzoic acid aqueous solution with ozone. The effect and morphology of supported Fe304 on catalytic ozonation performance were investigated based on the characterization results of X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, BET analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that the physical and chemical properties of the catalyst supports especially their Lewis acid sites had a significant influence on the catalytic activity. In comparison with SiO2, more Lewis acid sites existed on the surface of A12O3, resulting in higher catalytic ozonation activity. During the reaction process, no significant Fe ions release was observed. Moreover, Fe304/A12O3 exhibited stable structure and activity after successive cyclic experiments. The results indicated that the catalyst is a promising ozonation catalyst with magnetic separation in drinking water treatment.

Review on research and application of mesoporous transitional metal oxides in water treatment

This paper reviews the application of meso- porous transitional metal oxides in water treatment on basis of the catalysis and adsorption. Mesoporous transitional metal oxides are characterized by their intrinsic features, such as a high surface area, a highly ordered array of unidimensional pores with a very narrow pore size distribution, and highly dispersed active sites. Finally, the suggestions of further study on application are proposed.

Administration with Bushenkangshuai Tang alleviates UV irradiation- and oxidative stress-induced lifespan defects in nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

During normal metabolism,oxidative bypro-ducts will inevitably generate and damage molecules thereby impairing their biological functions,including the aging process.Bushenkangshuai Tang(补肾抗衰方,BT)is a traditional Chinese medicine widely used for clini-cally treating premature ovarian failure.In the present study,BT administration at high concentrations signifi-cantly increased lifespan,slowed aging-related decline,and delayed accumulation of aging-related cellular damage in wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans.BT admin-istration could further largely alleviate the aging defects induced by UV and oxidative stresses,and BT administra-tion at different concentrations could largely rescue the aging defects in mev-1 mutant animals.The protective effects of BT administration on aging process were at least partially dependent on the Ins/IGF-like signaling pathway.Moreover,BT administration at different concentrations obviously altered the expression patterns of antioxidant genes and suppressed the severe stress responses induced by UV and oxidative stresses,suggesting that BT-induced tolerance to UV or oxidative stress might result from reactive oxygen species scavenging.BT administration during development was not necessarily a requirement for UV and oxidative stress resistance,and the concentrations of administrated BT examined were not toxic for nematodes.Therefore,BT administration could effectively retrieve the aging defects induced by UV irradiation and oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans.