Quasi one-dimensional (1D) BiVO4 microribbons were prepared by sol-gel combined with electrospinning method. The prepared samples were characterized with thermogravimeter, differential scanning calorimeter, Fourier tr...
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Quasi one-dimensional (1D) BiVO4 microribbons were prepared by sol-gel combined with electrospinning method. The prepared samples were characterized with thermogravimeter, differential scanning calorimeter, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and UV-vis absorbance spectroscopy. The as-prepared products showed a well-defined ribbon structure with 2-3 mu m in width, tens of microns in length and about 0.4 mu m in thickness, respectively and exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity in the photodegradation of methylene blue under visible light irradiation.
The WRKY gene family,which encode proteins in the regulation processes of diverse developmental stages,is one of the largest families of transcription factors in higher *** I genes of WRKY family(WRKY I)serve as the n...
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The WRKY gene family,which encode proteins in the regulation processes of diverse developmental stages,is one of the largest families of transcription factors in higher *** I genes of WRKY family(WRKY I)serve as the node for signal transduction,and play important roles in the response to abiotic stress in *** with those researches in function,molecular evolutionary mechanism in
Rare-cold-inducible (RCI2) genes are structurally conserved members that encode small, highly hydrophobic proteins involved in response to various abiotic stresses. Phylogenetic and functional analyses of these genes ...
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Rare-cold-inducible (RCI2) genes are structurally conserved members that encode small, highly hydrophobic proteins involved in response to various abiotic stresses. Phylogenetic and functional analyses of these genes have been conducted in Arabidopsis, but an extensive investigation of the RCI2 gene family has not yet been carried out in maize. In the present study, 10 RCI2 genes were identified in a fully sequenced maize genome. Structural characterization and expression pattern analysis of 10 ZmRCI2s (Zea mays RCI2 genes) were subsequently determined. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses indicated that ZmRCI2s are highly conserved, and most of them could be grouped with their orthologues from other organisms. Chromosomal location analysis indicated that ZmRCI2s were distributed unevenly on seven chromosomes with two segmental duplication events, suggesting that maize RCI2 gene family is an evolutionarily conserved family. Putative stress-responsive cis-elements were detected in the 2-kb promoter regions of the 10 ZmRCI2s. In addition, the 10 ZmRCI2s showed different expression patterns in maize development based on transcriptome analysis. Further, microarray and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that each maize RCI2 genes were responsive to drought stress, suggesting their important roles in drought stress response. The results of this work provide a basis for future cloning and application studies of maize RCI2 genes.
Organic functionalization of periodic mesoporous silicas (PMSs) offers a way to improve their excellent properties and wide applications owing to their structural superiority. In this study, a new strategy for organic...
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Assigning valid functions to proteins identified in genome projects is challenging: overprediction and database annotation errors are the principal concerns(1). We and others(2) are developing computation-guided strat...
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Assigning valid functions to proteins identified in genome projects is challenging: overprediction and database annotation errors are the principal concerns(1). We and others(2) are developing computation-guided strategies for functional discovery with 'metabolite docking' to experimentally derived(3) or homology-based(4) three-dimensional structures. Bacterial metabolic pathways often are encoded by 'genome neighbourhoods' (gene clusters and/or operons), which can provide important clues for functional assignment. We recently demonstrated the synergy of docking and pathway context by 'predicting' the intermediates in the glycolytic pathway in Escherichia coli(5). Metabolite docking to multiple binding proteins and enzymes in the same pathway increases the reliability of in silico predictions of substrate specificities because the pathway intermediates are structurally similar. Here we report that structure-guided approaches for predicting the substrate specificities of several enzymes encoded by a bacterial gene cluster allowed the correct prediction of the in vitro activity of a structurally characterized enzyme of unknown function (PDB 2PMQ), 2-epimerization of trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline betaine (tHyp-B) and cis-4-hydroxy-D-proline betaine (cHyp-B), and also the correct identification of the catabolic pathway in which Hyp-B 2-epimerase participates. The substrate-liganded pose predicted by virtual library screening (docking) was confirmed experimentally. The enzymatic activities in the predicted pathway were confirmed by in vitro assays and genetic analyses;the intermediates were identified by metabolomics;and repression of the genes encoding the pathway by high salt concentrations was established by transcriptomics, confirming the osmolyte role of tHyp-B. This study establishes the utility of structure-guided functional predictions to enable the discovery of new metabolic pathways.
Oxidative stress caused by doxorubicin (DOX) is believed to be a major underlying molecular mechanism of DOX-induced cardiotoxicity. Sesamin (Ses), an active component extracted from sesame seeds, exhibits antioxidati...
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Oxidative stress caused by doxorubicin (DOX) is believed to be a major underlying molecular mechanism of DOX-induced cardiotoxicity. Sesamin (Ses), an active component extracted from sesame seeds, exhibits antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. In the present study, possible protective mechanisms of Ses on DOX-induced cardiotoxicity were investigated in rats and cultured H9C2 cells. We demonstrated that Ses exhibits a significant protective effect on cardiac tissue in animal and cell models of DOX-induced cardiac injury. Moreover, Ses can ameliorate DOX-induced oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage. Further studies suggested that Ses is able to up-regulate the protein expression of Mn-SOD in normal rats and to restore the decreased expression of Mn-SOD in DOX-induced cardiac injury rats. Exposure to Ses or DOX alone slightly increased the protein expression of Sirt1;however, a more remarkable increase in Sirt1 protein level was detected in the Ses + DOX group. Treatment with a pan-sirtuin inhibitor (nicotinamide) or a Sirt1-specific inhibitor (EX-527) partially antagonised the effect of Ses on DOX-induced mitochondrial damage and completely abolished the effect of Ses on Mn-SOD expression. These findings indicate that the protective mechanisms of Ses on DOX-induced cardiotoxicity are involved in the alleviation of oxidative stress injury and Mn-SOD dysfunction, partially via the activation of Sirt1. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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