GTS40, an active fraction of Gou Teng-San (GTS), protects PC12 from HO-induced cell injury through antioxidative properties / 中国天然药物

Oxidative stress, a predominant cause of apoptosis cascades triggered in neurodegenerative disorders, has been regarded as a critical inducement in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Gou Teng-San (GTS) is a traditional Chinese herbs preparation commonly utilized to alleviate cognitive dysfunction and psychological symptoms of patients with dementia. The present study aimed to investigate the protective effects of GTS40, an active fraction of GTS, on HO-induced oxidative damage and identify the potential active ingredients. Our results revealed that GTS40 exhibited radical scavenging activity, elevated cell viability, decreased the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and stabilized mitochondrial transmembrane potential (MMP) in HO-treated PC12 cells. In addition, GTS40 blocked the apoptotic cascade by reversing the imbalance of Bcl-2/Bax and inhibiting the activity of caspase-3. Furthermore, an HPLC-QTOFMS method was developed to characterize major chemical constituents in GTS40. Our results revealed twenty-seven identified or tentatively characterized compounds through comparing their retention time (t) and MS spectra with reference standards. These results suggested that GTS40 was a promising active fraction that may be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of oxidative stress-mediated neurodegenerative disorders.

Detection of transgenic components in animal feeds on Shanxi markets / 生物工程学报

To assess the presence of genetically modified (GM) maize and soybean in a range of commercialized feed in Shanxi province of China in 2015, improved hexadecyltrimethy ammonium bromide (CTAB) method was used to extract DNA. The screening of packed feeds was carried out by qualitative PCR. Then positive feeds were unpacked and detected by the CaMV 35S promoter, NOS terminator, zSSIIb, Lectin and CryIA (b) genes. The identified maize and soybean events were confirmed by event-specific MON810 and GTS40-3-2. Results showed that 83.3% of the feeds was tested positive for GMOs, in which positive rates of maize, soybean, pig and layer feeds were 6.67%, 100%, 93.3% and 73.3%, respectively. The results of real-time PCR were consistent with qualitative PCR. These results indicated that commercialized GM feed had a wide positive product scope in Shanxi province of China. Further studies are necessary to study effects of feeding livestock and poultry with feed containing GM ingredients on animals and their products.

Analysis of exogenous gene and protein digestion and absorption of SD rats (Rattus norvegicus) fed roundup ready soybean meal / 生物工程学报

Metabolism and deposition of exogenous gene and protein from transgenic glyphosate herbicide-tolerant soybean meal in SD rats were studied in the experiment. The transgenic soybean GTS40-3-2 meal and its non-transgenic counterpart (parent A5403) were fed to the generation and the second generation Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (Rattus norvegicus). The study added the genetically modified (GM) soybean meal and its non-transgenic control soybean meal (parent A5403) in a ratio of 20% respectively to the feeds. By using qualitative, quantitative PCR and ELISA methods to detect transgenic soybean residues of metabolism ingredients in rats, the safety and influence of GM soybean were evaluated. The results showed that the intestinal fecal and cecum contents of rats were detected with residues of GM ingredients, intestinal flora and organs were not found related genes and protein. These results indicated that transgenic glyphosate herbicide-tolerant soybean GTS40-3-2 meal was as safe as its non-GM soybean meal in long-term feeding study.