BINGJIE WANG¹, YEWEN ZHOU^1,2,3, TONGJUAN NIU¹, MENGQING YIN¹, SHENG CUI^1,2,3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.48, No.2, pp. 327-338, 2024, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.044630

Abstract Introduction: The regulation of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) synthesis involves neurotransmitters, with melatonin being a subject of ongoing debate. TSH transcription, synthesis, and secretion from the pituitary pars distalis (PD) is primarily regulated in a photoperiodic manner by thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). In contrast, in the pituitary pars tuberalis (PT), mRNA transcription and alpha/beta chain synthesis, but not secretion, of a TSH-like product is regulated by melatonin. Conversely, non-photoperiodic melatonin might also affect the secretion of a TSH-like product from the PT. Nevertheless, the impact of exogenous melatonin on the underlying PD-TSH synthesis remains unclear. Casein kinase 1α (CK1α) plays a negative… More >

Limin Yin^#, Chang Liu^#, Zicong Liang, Dajun Liu, Guojun Feng, Zhishan Yan^*, Xiaoxu Yang^*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.11, pp. 2981-2998, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.043151

Abstract The phenotype of a common bean plant is often closely related to its yield, and the yield of plants with reduced height or poor stem development during growth is low. Mutants serve as an essential gene resource for common bean breeding genetic research. Although model plants and crops are studied to comprehend the molecular mechanisms and genetic basis of plant phenotypes, the molecular mechanism of phenotypic variation in common beans remains underexplored. We here used the mutant ‘nts’ as material for transcriptome sequencing analysis. This mutant was obtained through ⁶⁰Co-γ irradiation from the common bean variety ‘A18’. Differentially expressed genes… More >

AN-SOO JANG^*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.8, pp. 1703-1708, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028975

Abstract Exposure to air pollutants such as PM₁₀, PM_2.5, PM_0.1, O₃, CO, NO₂, and SO₂, and biological pollutants are important factors causing the evolution and furtherance of obstructive lung diseases (OLD), including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Asthma is the most frequent chronic inflammatory airway disease, characterized by breathlessness, wheezing, chest tightness, and cough, together with the presence of exaggerated expiratory airflow fluctuation that varies over time. COPD is a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea, cough, expectoration, and/or exacerbations due to abnormalities of the airways and/or alveoli that cause persistent, often progressive, airflow… More >

JUNYU HE^1,2,3, FENG ZENG^1,2,3, XI JIN^1,2,3, LIN LIANG^1,2,3, MENGXIANG GAO^1,2,3, WENTAO LI^1,2,3, GUIYUAN LI^1,2,3, YANHONG ZHOU^1,2,3,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.4, pp. 615-630, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.029698

Abstract Fos-related antigen 1 (Fra-1) is a nuclear transcription factor that regulates cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. It is involved in the proliferation, invasion, apoptosis and epithelial mesenchymal transformation of malignant tumor cells. Fra-1 is highly expressed in gastric cancer (GC), affects the cycle distribution and apoptosis of GC cells, and participates in GC occurrence and development. However, the detailed mechanism of Fra-1 in GC is unclear, such as the identification of Fra-1-interacting proteins and their role in GC pathogenesis. In this study, we identified tyrosine 3-monooxygenase/tryptophan 5-monooxygenase activation protein eta (YWHAH) as a Fra-1-interacting protein in GC cells using co-immunoprecipitation… More >

LAURA MARRONE¹, MASSIMO D’AGOSTINO¹, CAROLINA GIORDANO², VALERIA DI GIACOMO¹, SIMONA URZINI¹, CHIARA MALASOMMA¹, MARIA PAOLA GAMMELLA¹, MARTINA TUFANO¹, SIMONA ROMANO^1,*, MARIA FIAMMETTA ROMANO^1,*

Oncology Research, Vol.31, No.4, pp. 423-436, 2023, DOI:10.32604/or.2023.028392

Abstract Scaffold proteins are crucial regulators of signaling networks, and their abnormal expression may favor the development of tumors. Among the scaffold proteins, immunophilin covers a unique role as ‘protein-philin’ (Greek ‘philin’ = friend) that interacts with proteins to guide their proper assembly. The growing list of human syndromes associated with the immunophilin defect underscores the biological relevance of these proteins that are largely opportunistically exploited by cancer cells to support and enable the tumor’s intrinsic properties. Among the members of the immunophilin family, the FKBP5 gene was the only one identified to have a splicing variant. Cancer cells impose unique… More > Graphic Abstract

Cong Hou¹, Kang Ning¹, Xiuye Wei¹, Yufei Cheng¹, Huatao Yu¹, Haibin Yu², Xia Liu^1,*, Linlin Dong^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.7, pp. 2087-2103, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.029041

Abstract Abscisic acid (ABA) is involved in regulating diverse biological processes, but its signal transduction genes and roles in hemp seed germination are not well known. Here, the ABA signaling pathway members, PYL, PP2C and SnRK2 gene families, were identified from the hemp reference genome, including 7 CsPYL (pyrab-actin resistance1-like, ABA receptor), 8 CsPP2CA (group A protein phosphatase 2c), and 7 CsSnRK2 (sucrose nonfermenting1-related protein kinase 2). The content of ABA in hemp seeds in germination stage is lower than that in non-germination stage. Exogenous ABA (1 or 10 μM) treatment had a significant regulatory effect on the selected PYL, PP2C,… More >

CHENHAO SHI¹, MAOHONG HUA², GUANHUA XU^3,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1329-1344, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028381

Abstract Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic disease that often presents with abdominal pain, diarrhea, hematochezia, and significant morbidity. Gancao Xiexin decoction (GXD), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been applied for the clinical treatment of UC, while its action mechanisms are unclear. Methods: The active ingredients and their targets of GXD, and UC-related targets, were derived from public databases. Protein-protein interaction, Gene Ontology (GO), and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used to analyze the important active compounds, key targets, and signaling pathways. Then, molecular docking and animal experiments were performed to verify the findings. A total… More >

JINXIAN LIU¹, JINGFANG FENG², CHANG ZHANG², YONGJUAN REN², WEIHUA SU², GUANGHENG WU¹, XIANYU FU¹, NING HUANG³, YOUXIONG QUE², HUI LING^3,*, JUN LUO^2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.1, pp. 215-225, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.022477

Abstract Calmodulin (CaM) proteins play a key role in signal transduction under various stresses. In the present study, the effects of a sugarcane ScCaM gene (NCBI accession number: GQ246454) on drought and salt stress tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana and Escherichia coli cells were evaluated. The results demonstrated a significant negative role of ScCaM in the drought and salt stress tolerance of transgenic lines of A. thaliana, as indicated by the phenotypes. In addition, the expression of AtP5CS and AtRD29A, two genes tightly related to stress resistance, was significantly lower in the overexpression lines than in the wild type. The growth… More >

Yulan Hu¹, Lulu Zhi¹, Ping Li¹, John T. Hancock², Xiangyang Hu^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.12, pp. 2591-2605, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.023733

Abstract In nature, plants are constantly affected by adverse conditions. Unlike animals, plants can resist these adverse stresses only by insisting on their original positions. Stress can be divided into biological stress and abiotic stress, abiotic stress directly affects the growth, development and yield of plants, it spans all developmental stages from seed germination to senescence. In order to adapt to changing environment, plants have evolved well-developed mechanisms that help to perceive the stress signals and enable optimal growth response. Salicylic acid (SA) is an important endogenous signal molecule in plants, which not only regulate some plant growth and development processes,… More >

PANPAN WANG^1,2, GANG LI³, LI GAO^1,2, CHUANJIANG ZHAO^1,2

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.5, pp. 1197-1207, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.016607

Abstract Periodontal disease is the leading cause of tooth loss, which is also a high-risk factor for other diseases including oral cancer and cardiovascular disease. Periodontitis is one of the most common type of periodontal diseases. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) plays a key role in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. However, the mechanism how IL-1β is produced during periodontitis is still unclear. In the present study, we found that human β-defensin 2 (hBD2) enhances IL-1β production through an LPS-primed human acute monocytic leukemia (THP-1) macrophage model. Inhibition of P2X purinoceptor 7 (P2X7) reduced hBD2-enhanced IL-1β production. Incubation of LPS-primed THP-1 macrophages with potassium chloride… More >