TIANXIANG ZHANG^1,#, MEISHAN ZHANG^1,#, MINGHUI SHI^1,#, WEIJIANG JIN^1,#, SHUMIAO ZHANG^2,#, MENGYUAN FAN³, YIMENG LI¹, YUPING MENG², XUELIN TIAN⁴, SHUQIANG LIU^1,*, DEFU HU^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.2, pp. 281-306, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.010277

Abstract Male muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus L.) secrete musk from their scent glands during musk secretion season. Musk plays an important role as a communication pheromone during the breeding season. In this study, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was used to analyze the main components of musk. The GC–MS results after methyl esterification showed that 71.55% of the musk is composed of fatty acids. The other components of muskrat musk include cholesterol (9.31%) and other organics. Transcriptome comparison between musk secretion and non-secretion seasons showed significant changes in the scent glands for 53 genes involved in fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis and metabolism… More >

Xiaona Li^1,*, Sijia Wang¹, Jie Song¹, Yixian Qin², Jizhong Yang³, Rui He^4,*, Weiyi Chen¹

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.18, No.1, pp. 11-19, 2021, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2021.014071

Abstract The cornea is a load-bearing tissue. Lower biomechanical properties in the local tissue of keratoconic cornea evoke mechanical stress increase. Inflammatory cytokines have been shown to be over-expressed in patients with keratoconus. However, how mechanical stimuli are involved in the production of inflammatory cytokines in keratoconus remains unclear. The objective of the study is to determine the role of mechanical stretch in the regulation of inflammatory cytokines and the underlying mechanisms in keratoconus. Human keratoconic fibroblasts (hKCFs) were subjected to 12% cyclic mechanical stretch at 0.1 Hz or in static conditions as controls. N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate and… More >

HANYU SHEN¹, SHIQI REN², WEI WANG², CHENLIN ZHANG³, HAIYAN HAO⁴, QIUYAN SHEN⁵, YINONG DUAN¹, ZIHENG WANG^2,6,*, WENLIANG GE^7,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.4, pp. 583-589, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.011345

Abstract Sepsis, characterized as life-threatening sequential organ failure, is caused by a dysregulated host immune response to a pathogen. Conventional practice for sepsis is to control the inflammation source and administer highgrade antibiotics. However, the mortality rate of sepsis varies from 25–30% and can reach 50% if a septic shock occurs. In our current study, we used bioinformatics technology to detect immune status profiles in sepsis at the genomic level. We downloaded and analyzed gene expression profiles of GSE28750 from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to determine differential gene expression and immune status between sepsis and normal samples. Next, we… More >

LINNA TAN^1,2, YUYONG TAN^1,2, DELIANG LIU^1,2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.44, No.4, pp. 535-543, 2020, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2020.09171

Abstract ULK1 (unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase 1), a mammalian serine/threonine kinase, is a key component of autophagy initiation complex and helps to induce all types of autophagy. Canonical autophagy is a process in which, through the interactions of a series of autophagy-related proteins, damaged organelles or misfolded proteins are engulfed by autophagosomes and then merged with lysosomes to be degraded. Thus, canonical autophagy is an important constituent part of the cellular “quality control.” Besides, accumulating evidence indicates that ULK1 exerts autophagy-independent effects in a cell-specific manner. For example, ULK1 facilitates neurite elongation through the regulation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–Golgi trafficking… More >

Jiali Wei^*, Ying Zou, Ping Li, Xiaojun Yuan

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.89, No.4, pp. 883-891, 2020, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2020.010973

Abstract TiO₂ nanoparticles (nano-TiO₂) are widely used in the world, and a considerable amount of nano-TiO₂ is released into the environment, with toxic effects on organisms. In the various species of higher plants, growth, including seed germination, root elongation, and biomass accumulation, is affected by nano-TiO₂. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In this study, we observed that nano-TiO₂ promoted root elongation in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, we found that nano-TiO₂ elevated auxin accumulation in the root tips of the auxin marker lines DII-VENUS and DR5:: GUS, and, correspondingly, quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that nano-TiO₂ increased the… More >

NORA MOHAMAD, ALICIA GUTIÉRREZ, MARIEL NÚÑEZ, CLAUDIA COCCA, GABRIELA MARTÍN*, GRACIELA CRICCO, VANINA MEDINA, ELENA RIVERA, ROSA BERGOC*.

BIOCELL, Vol.29, No.2, pp. 149-161, 2005, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2005.29.149

Abstract Apoptosis or programmed cell death (PCD) is a physiological process characteristic of pluricellular organisms leading to self-destruction of the cell. It is therefore involved in development, homeostasis and host defense. However, a significant difference has been shown between mammalian cell apoptosis and non-mammalian cell apoptosis: mitochondria are implicated only in the former. Execution of PCD includes the release of several proapoptotic proteins from the intermembrane space of mitochondria. They could exert their actions through a caspase dependent as well as a caspase independent way. On the other hand, regulation of PCD is mainly given by the Bcl-2 family members, which… More >

QINGXIN LIU^1§ , XIANGGUI CHEN^2§, GUOLIN YANG¹ , XUEWEN MIN³ , AND MAOXIAN DENG^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.35, No.3, pp. 71-80, 2011, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2011.35.071

Abstract Apigenin, a nonmutagenic flavonoid, has been shown to possess free radical scavenging activities, anticarcinogenic properties, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Recently, apigenin was reported to cause gastric relaxation in murine. To assess possible effects of apigenin on migration of bladder smooth muscle (SM) cell, we isolated SM cells from peri-cancer tissue of human bladder and established a cell model that was capable to overexpress transiently MEKK1 (MEK kinase 1). Results showed that overexpression of active human MEKK1 by adenoviruses infection induced migration of human bladder smooth muscle (hBSM) cells and phosphorylation of MAPKs, ERK, JNK and p38, which are the downstream… More >

Buentello Volante¹ B, F Díaz de León-Sánchez¹, F Rivera-Cabrera¹, R Aguilar Caballero², M Ponce-Valadez¹, E Sánchez de Jiménez², LJ Pérez-F lores¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.79, pp. 101-108, 2010, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2010.79.101

Abstract Auxin and insulin promote Zea mays embryo growth, induce S6 ribosomal protein (S6rp) phosphorylation, and promote specific protein synthesis. The objective of this research was to test a possible cross-talk between insulin and auxin transduction pathways in Z. mays coleoptiles, typical auxin target tissues. Auxin and insulin produced differential quantitative and qualitative stimulation of cytoplasmic and ribosomal protein phosphorylation, and specific patterns of de novo synthesized cytoplasmic proteins. In addition, insulin induced S6rp phosphorylation was strongly inhibited by rapamycin, indicating target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase participation; auxin-induced S6rp phosphorylation was insensitive to this inhibitor. Phosphatidic acid (PA), a second messenger… More >

H-Q. Chen^1,2, M. Cheng¹, Y. Li¹, J. Wu¹, X-J. Liu²

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.3, No.4, pp. 221-221, 2006, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2006.003.221

Abstract This article has no abstract. More >

C-W. Lin¹, L-J. Chen¹, C-I. Lee¹, P-L. Lee¹, J-J. Chiu¹

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.3, No.4, pp. 165-166, 2006, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2006.003.165

Abstract This article has no abstract. More >