YIBIN RUAN¹, ZHONGMING XIE², QIONG LIU², LIXIAO ZHANG², XIKUI HAN², XIAOYAN LIAO², JIAN LIU^1,*, FENGGUANG GAO^2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 1059-1067, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015261

Abstract Nicotine and menthol, agonists of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) and transient receptor potential melastatin type 8 (TRPM8), serve important roles in the prevention of cell death-involved neurodegenerative diseases. However, the potential synergistic effects of nicotine and menthol on anti-apoptotic ability are still uncertain. In the present study, the potential synergistic effects of nicotine and menthol on cisplatin or amyloid β_1-42 induced cell model of the neurodegenerative diseases were explored by assessing cell viability, TNF-α expression, caspase-3 activation, and the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Statistical significance was tested using Student’s t-test or one-way ANOVA with… More >

CHUNKUN FAN, YONGPENG ZHANG, CHUNBAO YANG, YAWEI TANG, JI QU, BU JIE, DEJI QUZHEN, LIYUN GAO^*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 1121-1135, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014336

Abstract Salinity is a serious challenge for agriculture production by limiting the arable land. Rice is a major staple food crop but very sensitive to salt stress. In this study, we used Arabidopsis for the functional characterization of a rice F-box gene LOC_Os04g48270 (OsPP12-A13) under salinity stress. OsPP12-A13 is a nuclear-localized protein that is strongly upregulated under salinity stress in rice and showed the highest expression in the stem, followed by roots and leaves. Two types of transgenic lines for OsPP12-A13 were generated, including constitutive tissue over-expression using the CaMV35S promoter and phloem specific over-expression using the pSUC2 promoter. Both types… More >

JIYU WANG^#, YING PAN^#, YANG WAN, ZHIXIANG WANYAN, ZHITAO WANG, QIANSHAN TAO, ZHIMIN ZHAI^*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 933-942, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014280

Abstract The present study aimed to clarify the role of SENEX in malignant cell proliferation in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). 22 DLBCL patients (6 newly diagnosed cases, 7 cases at complete remission, and 9 relapsed cases) were included in the study. Our results indicated that both SENEX gene and protein were significantly increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and tumor cells of relapsed DLBCL patients, accompanied by overexpression of p21, p16, and phosphorylated retinoblastoma (Rb). Silencing the SENEX gene in a DLBCL cell line caused a significant decrease in cell proliferation and inhibited cell cycle progression in the G1… More >

QICHAO WANG¹, WUJING ZENG¹, BASHARAT ALI², XUEMIN ZHANG³, LING XU^1,*, ZONGSUO LIANG^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 1107-1119, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015282

Abstract Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata) is a Chinese herbal medicine that clears away heat, reduces inflammation, protects the liver, and promotes choleretics. The WRKYs of A. paniculata are still not well characterized, although many WRKYs have been identified in various plant species. In the present study, 59 A. paniculata WRKY (ApWRKY) genes were identified and renamed on the basis of their respective chromosome distribution. These ApWRKYs were divided into three groups via phylogenetic analysis according to their WRKY domains and combined with WRKY of Arabidopsis. The 59 identified ApWRKY transcription factors were nonuniformity distributed on 23 chromosomes of A. paniculata. From… More >

HANNA AMOANIMAA-DEDE, JIACHENG ZHANG, CHUNTAO SU, HONGBO ZHU^*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 1095-1105, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015053

Abstract Sweet potato is a multifunctional root crop with many essential nutrients and bioactive compounds. Due to its genetic complexity and lack of genomic resources, efficient genetic studies and cultivar development lag far behind other major crops. Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) offer an effective molecular marker technology for molecular-based breeding and for locating important loci in crop plants, but only a few have previously been developed in sweet potato. To further explore new SSR markers and accelerate their use in sweet potato genetic studies, genome-wide characterization and development of SSR markers were performed using the recently published genome of sweet potato… More >

HANXIANZHI XIAO, RONGJIA QI, ZILING WANG, MINGHE XIAO, YUE XIANG, YAPING WANG, LU WANG^*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 1045-1058, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015039

Abstract Chemotherapy may cause cellular oxidative stress to bone marrow. Oxidative damage of bone marrow hematopoietic microenvironment is closely related to chronic myelosuppression after chemotherapeutic treatment. Angelica sinensis polysaccharides (ASP) are major effective ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine Angelica with multi-target anti-oxidative stress features. In the current study, we investigated the protective roles and mechanisms of ASP on chemotherapy-induced bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) damage. The human bone marrow stromal cell line HS-5 cells were divided into control group, 5-FU group, 5-FU + ASP group, and 5-FU + LiCl group to investigate the mechanism of ASP to alleviate 5-FU-induced BMSC proliferation… More >

XINYAN CHEN^1,2, HAIXIA ZHANG^1,2, LIN LI^1,2,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 1023-1032, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014873

Abstract Corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) has revolutionized the treatment of keratoconus in the past decade. In order to evaluate the 3-month effects of CXL on corneal fibroblasts, a longitudinal study at the tissue and cellular level was carried out with a total of 16 rabbits that underwent CXL, deepithelialization (DEP), or non-treatment (control) and kept for 1 to 3 months. The duration of corneal stromal remodeling after CXL was determined by examining the differentiation, apoptosis, and number changes of keratocytes in tissue sections from animals 1, 2, or 3 months post-treatment. Upon the finish of tissue remodeling, separate rabbits were used… More >

ZHIPING WEI^1,2, YAJUN LIU¹, MEIWEN YANG³, MENGDI LI¹, KEXIN LI¹, LUXI ZHENG¹, HUIQIONG GUO¹, FENFANG HONG^4,*, SHULONG YANG^1,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 1005-1012, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014581

Abstract Background and Objective: LTB4 has been shown to be involved in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis. The effect of Dioscin(Dio) on the LTB4 pathway of RA have not been reported yet. This study aimed at further exploring whether Dioscin’s effects on TNF-α induced collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rat fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) connected with the LTB4 and its receptor pathway. Materials & Methods: In this experiment, control group, TNF-α group, and different concentrations of Dioscin groups were established. Cell viability was evaluated using MTT assay. The levels of LTB4 in the samples of above groups were measured using ELISA. The mRNA expression levels… More >

LIYAN SU^1,2,#, HONG YU^3,#, JIUDONG ZHANG¹, XIAOHONG ZHAO¹, XUAN LIU¹, QIANG LI^1,4,*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 1153-1166, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014499

Abstract Auxin signaling and its components (Auxin/Indole-3-Acetic Acid (Aux/IAA)) are critical for plant growth and development. Here, we performed a genome-wide annotation and identified twenty-one Aux/IAA genes in strawberry (Fragaria vesca). Most FveIAAs were located on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, while no FveIAAs were found in chromosomes 3 and 7. Phylogenetic analysis divided these genes into nine subfamilies. Most FveIAAs contained the DNA-binding and Aux/IAA domains, as well as motifs I–IV. There were 2–6 exons in the FveIAA genes based on the gene structure analysis. Also, we found that four pairs of FveIAA genes underwent segment duplications. Moreover,… More >

THARANGANI WELEGAMA¹, MOHD Y. RAFII^1,2,*, KHAIRULMAZMI AHMAD^1,3, SHAIRUL I. RAMLEE^1,2, YUSUFF OLADOSU¹

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 1069-1079, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.014354

Abstract Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) belonging to the family Solanaceae is the second most consumed and cultivated vegetable globally. Since the ancient time of its domestication, thousands of cultivated tomato varieties have been developed targeting an array of aspects. Among which breeding for yield and yield-related traits are mostly focused. Cultivated tomato is extremely genetically poor and hence it is a victim for several biotic and abiotic stresses. Among the biotic stresses, the impact of viral diseases is critical all over tomato cultivating areas. Improvement of tomato still largely rely on conventional methods worldwide while molecular approaches, particularly Marker Assisted Selection… More >