ABSTRACT
RNA helicases, the largest family of proteins that participate in RNA metabolism, stabilize the intracellular environment through various processes, such as translation and pre-RNA splicing. These proteins are also involved in some diseases, such as cancers and viral diseases. Autophagy, a self-digestive and cytoprotective trafficking process in which superfluous organelles and cellular garbage are degraded to stabilize the internal environment or maintain basic cellular survival, is associated with human diseases. Interestingly, similar to autophagy, RNA helicases play important roles in maintaining cellular homeostasis and are related to many types of diseases. According to recent studies, RNA helicases are closely related to autophagy, participate in regulating autophagy, or serve as a bridge between autophagy and other cellular activities that widely regulate some pathophysiological processes or the development and progression of diseases. Here, we summarize the most recent studies to understand how RNA helicases function as regulatory proteins and determine their association with autophagy in various diseases.
ABSTRACT
To explore the volatile profiles and the contents of ten bioactive components (polyphenols and caffeine) of sun-dried Pu-erh tea leaves from ancient tea plants on Bulang Mountain, 17 samples of three tea varieties were analyzed by headspace-solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A total of 75 volatile components were tentatively identified. Laomaner (LME), Laobanzhang (LBZ), and other teas on Bulang Mountain (BL) contained 70, 53, and 71 volatile compounds, respectively. Among the volatile compounds, alcohols (30.2%-45.8%), hydrocarbons (13.7%-17.5%), and ketones (12.4%-23.4%) were qualitatively the most dominant volatile compounds in the different tea varieties. The average content of polyphenol was highest in LME (102.1 mg/g), followed by BL (98.7 mg/g) and LBZ (88.0 mg/g), while caffeine showed the opposite trend, 27.3 mg/g in LME, 33.5 mg/g in BL, and 38.1 mg/g in LBZ. Principal component analysis applied to both the volatile compounds and ten bioactive components showed a poor separation of samples according to varieties, while partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) showed satisfactory discrimination. Thirty-four volatile components and five bioactive compounds were selected as major discriminators (variable importance in projection (VIP) >1) among the tea varieties. These results suggest that chromatographic data combined with multivariate analysis could provide a useful technique to characterize and distinguish the sun-dried Pu-erh tea leaves from ancient tea varieties on Bulang Mountain.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the spatial distribution of Keshan disease(KD) in the 15 surveillance provinces(municipalities,autonomous regions ) and to provide the basis for the development of prevention and control strategies.MethodsBased on the KD surveillance data of the 15 provinces in 2007,five indicators were selected.Moreover,a comprehensive indicator score to assess KD of different areas was made through the method of principle components analysis,which was applied for regionalization of the KD areas by the subsection method of standard deviation in whole China.The KD areas were divided into mild,moderate and severe endemic areas.The spatial distribution feature of the comprehensive indicator score was displayed by using geographic information system (GIS).ResultsThe three principal components contained 88.123％ information of all the selected indicators,the first principal component had a close relationship with total KD detection rate,chronic KD detection rate and latent KD detection rate; the second principal component had a close relationship with the threatened number in KD areas,and the third principal component had a close relationship with new KD detection rate; the comprehensive indicator indicates that Gansu,Jilin,Heilongjiang,Hebei,and Liaoning provinces were serious prevalent KD areas; Inner Mongolia,Shandong,Hubei,Sichuang provinces (autonomous region) were moderate prevalent KD areas,and Shanxi,Shaanxi,Yunnan,Henan,Guizhou,Chongqing provinces(municipality)were mild prevalent KD areas.Conclusions The introduction of the GIS to Keshan disease monitoring,provides a convenient and direct method to observe the spatial distribution of the disease,and the results point out the key areas for further KD surveillance according to local conditions.