Platelet endothelial aggregation receptor-1 (PEAR1) is involved in C2C12 myoblast differentiation.

C2C12 murine myoblasts are a common model for studying muscle differentiation. Platelet endothelial aggregation receptor-1 (PEAR1), an epidermal growth factor repeat-containing transmembrane receptor, is known to participate in platelet contact-induced activation. In the present study, we demonstrated that PEAR1 is involved in the differentiation of C2C12 murine myoblasts. Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining were used to determine PEAR1 expression and localization during C2C12 cell differentiation. Subsequently, PEAR1 expression was activated and inhibited using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-dCas9 technology to explore its effects on this process. PEAR1 expression was found to increase over the course of C2C12 cell differentiation. This protein was predominately localized on the membrane of these cells, where it clustered upon induction of differentiation. Expression of the myogenic markers Desmin, MYOG, and MYH2 revealed that PEAR1 positively regulated C2C12 cell differentiation. Moreover, induction of muscle injury by administration of bupivacaine to mice indicated that PEAR1 might play a role in muscle regeneration. In summary, our study confirmed the involvement of PEAR1 in C2C12 cell differentiation, contributing to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying muscle development.

Occurrence, distribution, and attenuation of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the riverside groundwater of the Beiyun River of Beijing, China.

This study investigated the occurrence, seasonal-spatial distribution characteristics, and attenuation process of 15 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in riverside sections of Beiyun River of Beijing. The overall PPCP levels both in surface water and riverside groundwater were moderate on the global scale, and showed higher concentrations in the dry season mainly caused by water temperature variation. Caffeine (CF), carbamazepine (CBZ), metoprolol (MTP), N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), diclofenac (DF), bezafibrate (BF), and gemfibrozil (GF) were seven representative PPCPs, because the rest eight studied compounds occurred in low concentrations and less than 15% of the total concentration of PPCPs. Caffeine and bezafibrate, respectively, was the most abundant compound in surface water and riverside groundwater, with median concentrations of 3020.0 and 125.0 ng L-1. Total concentrations of PPCPs in surface water were much higher than those in the riverside groundwater spatially. Attenuation of PPCPs during riverbank filtration was largely depending on the sources, site hydrogeological conditions, and physical-chemical properties of PPCPs, also was influenced by dissolved organic matter and environmental physicochemical parameters. CF, MTP, DEET, and CBZ were potential groundwater attenuation contaminants; DF, BF, and GF were groundwater-enriched contaminants based on their removal rates. Predominant removal mechanism of PPCPs like CF was biodegradation. Attenuation simulation showed that the one-way supply between Beiyun River and riverside groundwater, and further confirmed Beiyun River, was the main source of pharmaceutical compounds in the riverside groundwater.

[Comparison and Analysis of the Quantitative Methods for Pollutant Sources Load in Groundwater Contamination Risk Assessment].

Groundwater contamination risk assessment is an important basis for the protection of groundwater resources and the prevention and control of groundwater pollution. Its evaluation system is usually composed of three elements, which is vulnerability, pollutant source load and groundwater value. The pollutant source load plays an important role in risk assessment. Because of the difference among methods for pollutant sources load quantification, there will inevitably be different demand for the basic information survey on pollutant sources, as well as unknown impact on the final assessment results. In order to explore the impact of quantitative methods for pollutant sources load on groundwater contamination risk assessment, a case study was conducted in the mesoscale region of alluvial fan in Hutuo River, China. The two representative methods of grading index and quantitative index assessment systems were applied to quantify the pollutant sources load, in combination with the same vulnerability and groundwater value. The results constructed from different risk assessment systems were compared. The results showed that there were great differences between the two methods of quantification for pollutant sources load, and the result of contamination risk assessment also revealed significant differences in the feature of risk valve and the spatial distribution of the risk levels. The results of contamination risk assessment were strongly influenced by the choice of quantification for pollutant sources load methods. The grading index method was suitable for large scale region with lower precision of basic information and was simple, and the results of assessment had relatively lower reliability. The quantitative index method was suitable for the mesoscale and micro-scale region with higher precision of basic information and was relatively complicated, and the results of assessment had relatively higher reliability. It was shown that the scale effect of evaluation region had an important influence on the choice of methods.

MicroRNA-2400 promotes bovine preadipocyte proliferation.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in the proliferation of bovine preadipocytes. miR-2400 is a novel and unique miRNA from bovines. In the present study, we separated and identified preadipocytes from bovine samples. miR-2400 overexpression increased the rate of preadipocyte proliferation, which was analyzed with a combination of EdU and flow cytometry. Simultaneously, functional genes related to proliferation (PCNA, CCND2, CCNB1) were also increased, which was detected by real-time PCR. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assays showed that miR-2400 bound directly to the 3'untranslated regions (3'UTRs) of PRDM11 mRNA. These data suggested that miR-2400 could promote preadipocyte proliferation by targeting PRDM11.

[Distribution Characteristics of Fluoroquinolones Antibiotics in Surface Water and Groundwater from Typical Areas in A City].

In order to investigate the characteristics of 5 typical kinds of fluoroquinolones (FQs) pollution in waters from a city, surface water and groundwater samples from main drainage rivers and typical areas were collected, respectively. The conventional test and FQs concentrations analysis of the water samples were conducted. The results showed the concentration and composition of FQs in groundwater differed substantially from those in surface water. The average concentration of FQs in surface water was 789.1 ng x L(-1) with the main components of ofloxacin (OFL) and lomefloxacin (LOM). This value was higher than the average concentration of FQs in groundwater: 342.7 ng x L(-1) with the main components of norfloxacin (NOR) and lomefloxacin (LOM). The enrofloxacin (ENR) exhibited relatively lower levels in both surface water and groundwater as compared to others. The highest FQs concentrations in surface water were found in trenches, followed by tributaries and the main stream. For groundwater, FQs concentrations were relatively higher in the sewage riverside. A decreasing trend of FQs concentration was monitored with the increasing distance of sampling points to the drainage rivers and all components mentioned above showed similar changing trends. The results of this study preliminarily indicated that FQs in groundwater along the riverside probably came from the surface water.

[Contamination characteristics of fluoroquinolones in different kinds of soil profiles in Southeast suburb of Beijing].

Eighty-six soil samples were collected using Geoprobe soil sampler from 11 borehole profiles of Beijing Southeast suburb. The sampling sites could be divided into 8 kinds of landuse. Physical and chemical properties of samples were analyzed. The concentrations of 5 fluoroquinolones (FQs) were analyzed by the high-performance liquid chromatography. Results show that the average value of total concentrations of 5 FQs is 46.1 µg x kg(-1). Ofloxacin (OFL) is the predominant among them, and then is norfloxacin (NOR). Last comes to enrofloxacin (ENR), ciprofloxacin (CIP) and lomefloxacin (LOM). There are significant differences in FQs concentrations and kinds among the 8 land use types of soil profiles. The average value of total concentrations of 5 FQs decrease with an increasing of soil depth. The average concentration of OFL, NOR, LOM and ENR decrease with an increasing of soil depth. But CIP has the opposite result. Based on FQs concentrations from 42 soil samples with a depth among 0 to 3 meters, contamination characteristics of FQs were analyzed by fuzzy hierarchial clustering. Sampling sites of vegetable greenhouse, woods, sewage irrigation zone, groundwater irrigation zone, livestock and poultry farm, sediments from sewage river have similar components and contents of FQs, with less kinds and low concentration. In contrast, sampling sites of pharmaceutical enterprises and refuse landfill have more kinds and medium concentration of FQs.