BYPASS1-LIKE regulates lateral root initiation via exocytic vesicular trafficking-mediated PIN recycling in Arabidopsis.

Auxin and auxin-mediated signaling pathways are known to regulate lateral root development. Although exocytic vesicle trafficking plays an important role in recycling the PIN-FORMED (PIN) auxin efflux carriers and in polar auxin transport during lateral root formation, the mechanistic details of these processes are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that BYPASS1-LIKE (B1L) regulates lateral root initiation via exocytic vesicular trafficking-mediated PIN recycling in Arabidopsis thaliana. b1l mutants contained significantly more lateral roots than the wild type, primarily due to increased lateral root primordium initiation. Furthermore, the auxin signal was stronger in stage I lateral root primordia of b1l than in those of the wild type. Treatment with exogenous auxin and an auxin transport inhibitor indicated that the lateral root phenotype of b1l could be attributed to higher auxin levels and that B1L regulates auxin efflux. Indeed, compared to the wild type, C-terminally green fluorescent protein-tagged PIN1 and PIN3 accumulated at higher levels in b1l lateral root primordia. B1L interacted with the exocyst, and b1l showed defective PIN exocytosis. These observations indicate that B1L interacts with the exocyst to regulate PIN-mediated polar auxin transport and lateral root initiation in Arabidopsis.

Ginsenoside Rb1 alleviates diabetic kidney podocyte injury by inhibiting aldose reductase activity.

Panax notoginseng, a traditional Chinese medicine, exerts beneficial effect on diabetic kidney disease (DKD), but its mechanism is not well clarified. In this study we investigated the effects of ginsenoside Rb1 (Rb1), the main active ingredients of Panax notoginseng, in alleviating podocyte injury in diabetic nephropathy and the underlying mechanisms. In cultured mouse podocyte cells, Rb1 (10 µM) significantly inhibited high glucose-induced cell apoptosis and mitochondrial injury. Furthermore, Rb1 treatment reversed high glucose-induced increases in Cyto c, Caspase 9 and mitochondrial regulatory protein NOX4, but did not affect the upregulated expression of aldose reductase (AR). Molecular docking analysis revealed that Rb1 could combine with AR and inhibited its activity. We compared the effects of Rb1 with eparestat, a known aldose reductase inhibitor, in high glucose-treated podocytes, and found that both alleviated high glucose-induced cell apoptosis and mitochondrial damage, and Rb1 was more effective in inhibiting apoptosis. In AR-overexpressing podocytes, Rb1 (10 µM) inhibited AR-mediated ROS overproduction and protected against high glucose-induced mitochondrial injury. In streptozotocin-induced DKD mice, administration of Rb1 (40 mg·kg-1·d-1, ig, for 7 weeks) significantly mitigated diabetic-induced glomerular injuries, such as glomerular hypertrophy and mesangial matrix expansion, and reduced the expression of apoptotic proteins. Collectively, Rb1 combines with AR to alleviate high glucose-induced podocyte apoptosis and mitochondrial damage, and effectively mitigates the progression of diabetic kidney disease.

TRANSTHYRETIN-LIKE and BYPASS1-LIKE co-regulate growth and cold tolerance in Arabidopsis.

BACKGROUND: Cold stress inhibits normal physiological metabolism in plants, thereby seriously affecting plant development. Meanwhile, plants also actively adjust their metabolism and development to adapt to changing environments. Several cold tolerance regulators have been found to participate in the regulation of plant development. Previously, we reported that BYPASS1-LIKE (B1L), a DUF793 family protein, participates in the regulation of cold tolerance, at least partly through stabilizing C-REPEAT BINDING FACTORS (CBFs). In this study, we found that B1L interacts with TRANSTHYRETIN-LIKE (TTL) protein, which is involved in brassinosteroid (BR)-mediated plant growth and catalyses the synthesis of S-allantoin, and both proteins participate in modulating plant growth and cold tolerance. RESULTS: The results obtained with yeast two hybrid (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays showed that B1L directly interacted with TTL. Similar to the ttl-1 and ttl-2 mutants, the b1l mutant displayed a longer hypocotyl and greater fresh weight than wild type, whereas B1L-overexpressing lines exhibited a shorter hypocotyl and reduced fresh weight. Moreover, ttl-1 displayed freezing tolerance to cold treatment compared with WT, whereas the b1l mutant and TTL-overexpressing lines were freezing-sensitive. The b1l ttl double mutant had a developmental phenotype and freezing tolerance that were highly similar to those of ttl-1 compared to b1l, indicating that TTL is important for B1L function. Although low concentrations of brassinolide (0.1 or 1 nM) displayed similarly promoted hypocotyl elongation of WT and b1l under normal temperature, it showed less effect to the hypocotyl elongation of b1l than to that of WT under cold conditions. In addition, the b1l mutant also contained less amount of allantoin than Col-0. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that B1L and TTL co-regulate development and cold tolerance in Arabidopsis, and BR and allantoin may participate in these processes through B1L and TTL.

[Efficacy observation on infiltrative exophthalmos treated with acupuncture and acupoint massage].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with massage on infiltrative exophthalmos so as to provide a more effective treatment for infiltrative exophthalmos in hyperthyroidism. METHODS: Forty-five cases of infiltrative exophthalmos were randomly divided into an acupuncture massage group (25 cases) and a western medicine group (20 cases). In acupuncture massage group, acupuncture was applied mainly at Jingming (BL 1), Qiuhou (EX-HN 7), Chengqi (ST 1) and Shangming (Extra); and massage was applied in combination on the back of the neck and the local points around the orbit. In western medicine group, Dexamethasone and Methotrexate were used for intravenous infusion, and Prednisone was for oral administration. The exophthalmos extent and clinical efficacy were compared between two groups. RESULTS: Before and after the treatment, the exophthalmos extents were (20.27 +/- 1.22) mm and (18.11 +/- 0.87) mm in acupuncture massage group and were (20.34 +/- 1.20) mm and (19.47 +/- 1.11) mm in western medicine group separately, indicating remarkable improvement in two groups (both P < 0.01). The improvement in acupuncture massage group was superior remarkably to that in western medicine group (P < 0.01). The total effective rate (83.3%, 40/48) in acupuncture massage group was superior to that (53.8%, 21/39) in western medicine group, and with less adverse reaction. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture combined with acupoint massage is an advanced therapy and has definite efficacy on infiltrative exophthalmos, which is superior to the conventional treatment in western medicine.