ABSTRACT
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the main type of dementia affecting elderly people. The medicines used for treating AD have limits in their ability to alleviate cognitive and functional decline. Electroacupuncture (EA), an economical alternative and complementary therapeutic measure used in Chinese medicine, has strong clinical applicability, and its treatment effects are more reliable as its stimulation factors can be standardized. EA has been effectively used for ameliorating spatial learning and memory impairment in AD patients and rodent AD models. Here, we summarized the mechanisms of EA on rodent AD models, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for identifying new targets and research directions, and exploring appropriate EA stimulation parameters, then provide a detailed methodology to optimize the effects of EA, ultimately reducing the heavy burden of treating AD patients on families and countries. Our review showed that 8 acupoints were used when treating AD animals; Baihui (GV 20) was the most frequently used. Four mechanisms of EA were studied: (1) protection of cerebral neurons from oxidative stress, apoptosis, neuroinflammation, synaptic plasticity and hormone levels; (2) regulation of metabolism, including glucose metabolism and plasma metabolism; (3) regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor; and (4) regulation of β-amyloid peptide protein deposition.
ABSTRACT
Functional nucleic acids are natural or artificialnucleic acid sequences with specific functions and special structures. Special metal ions are essential trace elements for human health, but excessive metal ions will be harmful to human health. The functional nucleic acids are widely used in the detection of metal ions because of their advantages such as easy modification, low price, high stability and strong specificity. This review describes the function of functional nucleic acid and metal ions, mainly including cutting type, link type, metal ion-mediated base pairing, click chemical type, conformation change type, and other types. Then, biosensor of functional nucleic acid combined with different signal output is introduced. Finally, the research significance and problems of functional nucleic acid in metal ion detection are discussed, and the future development direction and application prospect of functional nucleic acid biosensor are prospected.
ABSTRACT
Excessive mercury ions have negative effects on individual health. So, it is of great significance to develop a method for rapid, sensitive and specific detection of Hg2+. In this study, the method for detection of Hg2+ was developed based on specific T-Hg-T mismatche and G-quadruplex. The template sequence mainly included the recognition region which could combine with Hg2+ specifically, the rich G region which could form G-quadruplex, and the speacer 18 partition zone. The target sequence mainly included 5' ends combining area and 3' end T-rich region. Templates and targets could be combined and the elongation was triggered only in the presence of Hg2+. Furthermore, the G-rich sequences were stripped off the templates and could form a single-stranded structure, because Spacer 18 had partition function. The G-quadruplex was formed with the K+and hemin, and catalyzed H2 O2-2,2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiozoline)-6-sulfonic acid(ABTS) reaction with color variations. The detection could be done within 35 min, and the Hg2+ concentration exhibited a linear correlation with absorbance at 414 nm within range of 20-500 nmol/ L, with a detection limit of 16. 5 nmol/ L (3σ). The recoveries of Hg2+ spiked in tap water were 98. 5％ - 103. 5％ . The method exhibited the advantages such as simple operation, low cost and short time, and operation value in emergency treatment and real-time environmental detection.
ABSTRACT
The present study was aimed to investigate the role and mechanisms of kallistatin in protection against oxidative stress-induced hepatic stellate cell damage. The effects of kallistatin on the viability, the intracellular superoxide level and Akt, eNOS molecules were investigated in human hepatic stellate cell line LX-2 and the incompletely activated primary rat hepatic stellate cells. Two different oxidative-stress related models, the hydrogen peroxide model and the iron-overload model were used in the experiments. The results show that kallistatin protected the hepatic stellate cells from oxidative damage and repaired the cell damage by oxidative stress. The main mechanism is antioxidant activity of kallistatin, which can remove the oxidized substances inside the cells. On the other way, kallistatin activates Akt and eNOS molecules to generate the antioxidant effect. Our results help to explore new anti-fibrotic targets.