Search Results
You are looking at 41 - 49 of 49 items for
- Author or Editor: P. Wang x
- Refine by Access: All Content x
A method was developed for the preparative separation of two alkaloids from the crude extract of the radix of Rauvolfia verticillata (Lour.) Baill. in a single run. The two-phase solvent system composed of petroleum ether–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (5:5:2:8, v/v), where triethylamine (40 mmol/L) was added to the upper organic phase as the stationary phase and hydrochloric acid (10 mmol/L) was added to the lower aqueous phase as the mobile phase, was selected for this separation by pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography (PZRCCC). For the preparative separation, the apparatus was rotated at a speed 850 rpm, while the mobile phase was pumped into the column at 2 mL/min. As a result, 112 mg of reserpine and 21 mg of yohimbine were obtained from 3 g of crude extract in a single run. The analysis of the isolated compounds was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) at 230 nm with purities of over 91.0%, and the chemical identification was carried out by the data of electrospray ionization–mass spectrometry (ESI–MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The technique introduced in this paper is an efficient method for preparative separation of reserpine and yohimbine from devil pepper radix. It will be beneficial to utilize medicinal materials and also useful for the separation, purification, and pharmacological study of Chinese herbal ingredients.
Summary
Department of Technical Physics, School of Physics, Peking Unive
Abstract
Emerging studies show that blast exposure causes traumatic brain injury (TBI) and auditory dysfunction without rupture of tympanic membrane, suggesting central auditory processing impairment after blast exposure. There is limited information on the mechanisms of blast-induced TBI and associated peripheral and central auditory processing impairments. We utilized a repetitive blast exposure mouse model to unravel the mechanisms of blast TBI and auditory impairment. C57BL/6J mice were exposed to three repeated blasts (20.6 psi) using a shock tube, and the cerebellum was subjected to proteomic analysis. The data showed that calretinin and parvalbumin, two major calcium buffering proteins, were significantly up-regulated after repeated blast exposures, and this was confirmed by Western blotting. Since these proteins are reportedly involved in auditory dysfunction, we examined the inner ear and found both calretinin and parvalbumin were up-regulated, suggesting that modulation of these proteins plays a role in blast-induced peripheral and central auditory processing impairments. Expression of cleaved caspase-3 was also up-regulated in both regions indicating ongoing cellular apoptosis, possibly due to altered calcium homeostasis. These results provide a molecular basis for changes in central and peripheral auditory processing involving abnormal calcium homeostasis resulting in hearing impairment after blast exposure.
It is well demonstrated that wheat-rye 1BL/1RS translocated chromosome leads to some valuable novel traits such as disease resistance, high yield and functional stay-green after anthesis. To understand the physiological mechanism of 1BL/1RS translocation responsible for osmotic stress, two wheat cultivars, CN12 and CN17, carrying the translocated chromosome and MY11 without the translocated chromosome were employed in the study. During 5-day osmotic stress, fresh weight inhibition, chlorophyll content, soluble protein content, MDA concentration, antioxidant enzymes activity and free polyamines content were examined. CN12 and CN17, especially cultivar CN17, registered greater biomass and minor oxidative damage compared with their wheat parent. Meanwhile, the concentration of Spd and Spm in CN17 was significantly higher than the others. In addition, we found a positive correlation of fresh weight inhibition (FWI) and Put concentration, and a negative one with the parameters (Spd + Spm): Put ratio, indicating the importance of higher polyamine (Spd and Spm) accumulation on the adaptation to osmotic stress. Therefore, we proposed that the accumulation of higher polyamines (Spd and Spm) should play an important role on the adaptation of 1BL/1RS translocation lines to osmotic stress and might be important factors for the origin of novel traits introduced by 1BL/1RS.
Crop seeds are the main staples in human diet, especially in undeveloped countries. In any case, the diet needs to be rich not only in macro-nutrients like carbohydrates and protein, but also in micro-nutrients. Nevertheless, both the macro- and micro-nutrients presented in seeds largely vary in consequence of field and environment conditions. In this research, 60 lines of a barley RILs population segregating for the SSR marker Hvm74, which is genetically linked to the GPC (grain protein content) locus (HvNAM-1), were studied in 4 environments (two growing years and two field managements) by carrying out a comprehensive profile of seed macro- (starch, total nitrogen and total soluble protein) and micro-nutrients (phytate, phenolics, flavonoids, Pi, Zn and Fe). Under field conditions, all the components were largely affected by the environment, but TN (total nitrogen) exhibited high genotype contribution, while micro-nutrients displayed higher genotype × environments interactions (GEI) than macro-nutrients. In order to approach the effects of carbon-nitrogen (C–N) balance on other seed components, two C/N ratios were calculated: C/TN (CNR1) and C/TSP (CNR2). CNR2 exhibited stronger negative correlations with all micro-nutrients. Hence, the significant GEI and its negative relationships with CNR2 highlighted the different characters of micro-nutrients in barley seeds.
New high-molecular-weight glutenin (HMW glutenin) sequences isolated from six Psathyrostachys juncea accessions by thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR differ from previous sequences from this species. They showed novel modifications in all of the structural domains, with unique C-terminal residues, and their N-terminal lengths were the longest among the HMW glutenins reported to date. In their repetitive domains, there were three repeatable motif units: 13-residue [GYWH(/I/Y)YT(/Q)S(/T)VTSPQQ], hexapeptide (PGQGQQ), and tetrapeptide (ITVS). The 13-residue repeats were restricted to the current sequences, while the tetrapeptides were only shared by D-hordein and the current sequences. However, these sequences were not expressed as normal HMW glutenin proteins because an in-frame stop codon located in the C-termini interrupted the intact open reading frames. A phylogenetic analysis supported different origins of the P. juncea HMW glutenin sequences than that revealed by a previous study. The current sequences showed a close relationship with D-hordein but appeared to be more primitive.
Abstract
The occupational health impact of atmospheric pollution on exposed workers at one iron and steel complex was studied by instrumental neutron activation analysis of workers' hair samples and medical examination. The experimental results indicate that there is a positive correlation between the high inhalation amounts of iron and other trace elements by the exposed workers and the symptom of their high blood pressure and hypoglycemia, which implies that the atmospheric environment polluted by iron and steel industry has an adverse health impact on the exposed workers. The measures to relieve and abate the occupational diseases caused by air-borne particulate matter should be taken
The objective of the present study was to understand the developmental regularity of wheat endosperm cells at different Days After Pollination (DAP) using microscopic and histochemical methods. Resin semi-thin sections of the endosperm and the enzymatically dissociated Starchy Endosperm Cells (SECs) were observed under a light microscope. The results showed that: (1) SECs were irregular-shaped and had two types of starch granules: large oval-shaped A-type starch granules and small spherical B-type starch granules. (2) The growth shape of SECs was referred to as S-curve and the fastest cell growth period was at 16–24 DAP. (3) The largest increase and growth of A-type starch granules were mainly at 4–16 DAP. B-type starch granules increased rapidly after 16 DAP and made up over 90% of the total starch granules in SEC during the late stage of endosperm development. (4) The nuclei of SEC deformed and degenerated during the middle and late stages of endosperm development and eventually disappeared. However, starch granules still increased and grew after the cell nuclei had degenerated. The investigations showed the development regularity of starch endosperm cells and starch granules, thereby improving the understanding of wheat endosperm development.
