The clinical significance of ubiquitin carboxyl hydrolase L1 and its autoantibody in neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVES: To identify specific cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for the diagnosis and disease severity evaluation of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE). METHODS: Patients presented with neuropsychiatric symptoms were recruited and categorised as 36 NPSLE, 19 SLE controls, 4 other connective tissue disease (CTD) controls and 10 nervous system disorder (NSD) controls. The NPSLE group consisted of severe NPSLE (sNPSLE) and mild NPSLE (mNPSLE). Potential biomarkers were determined by Luminex multiplex assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: 1) Among a variety of neurological disease-related proteins, only ubiquitin carboxyl hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) levels were significantly elevated in the CSF samples of sNPSLE patients compared with those of mNPSLE patients (p=0.020) and SLE controls (p=0.037). CSF UCH-L1 levels were significantly positively correlated with SLE disease activity index and overlap number of NPSLE manifestations. 2) CSF anti-UCH-L1 autoantibodies were significantly elevated in patients with NPSLE in comparison to all of the control groups, with a sensitivity of 53% and a specificity of 91% for NPSLE. CSF anti-UCH-L1 levels were associated with organ involvement and were positively correlated with serum anti-UCH-L1 levels in the NPSLE patients (r=0.4551, p=0.0382). CONCLUSIONS: Anti-UCH-L1 is a promising CSF biomarker for NPSLE diagnosis with high specificity, and the elevated levels of CSF UCH-L1 reflect the clinical severity of NPSLE. The elevation of UCH-L1 and its autoantibody in NPSLE patients showed us novel aetiological insights on NPSLE.

The molecular properties of biochar carbon released in dilute acidic solution and its effects on maize seed germination.

It is not yet clear whether the carbon released from biochar in the soil solution stimulates biological activities. Soluble fractions (AQU) from wheat and maize biochars, whose molecular content was thoroughly characterized by FTIR, 13C and 1H NMR, and high-resolution ESI-IT-TOF-MS, were separated in dilute acidic solution to simulate soil rhizospheric conditions and their effects evaluated on maize seeds germination activity. Elongation of maize-seeds coleoptile was significantly promoted by maize biochar AQU, whereas it was inhibited by wheat biochar AQU. Both AQU fractions contained relatively small heterocyclic nitrogen compounds, whose structures were accounted by their spectroscopic properties. Point-of-Zero-Charge (PZC) values and van Krevelen plots of identified masses of soluble components suggested that the dissolved carbon from maize biochar behaved as humic-like supramolecular material capable to adhere to seedlings and deliver bioactive molecules. These findings contribute to understand the biostimulation potential of biochars from crop biomasses when applied in agricultural production.

Root-Derived Short-Chain Suberin Diacids from Rice and Rape Seed in a Paddy Soil under Rice Cultivar Treatments.

Suberin-derived substituted fatty acids have been shown to be potential biomarkers for plant-derived carbon (C) in soils across ecosystems. Analyzing root derived suberin compounds bound in soil could help to understand the root input into a soil organic carbon pool. In this study, bound lipids were extracted and identified in root and topsoil samples. Short-chain suberin diacids were quantified under rice (Oryza sativa L.) and rape (Brassica campestris) rotations with different cultivar combinations in a Chinese rice paddy. After removal of free lipids with sequential extraction, the residual bound lipids were obtained with saponification and derivatization before analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Diacids C16 and C18 in bound lipids were detected both in rice and rape root samples, while diacids C20 and C22 were detected only in rape root samples. Accordingly, diacids were quantified in both rhizosphere and bulk soil (0-15 cm). The amount of total root-derived diacids in bulk soil varied in a range of 5.6-9.6 mg/kg across growth stages and crop seasons. After one year-round rice-rape rotation, root-derived suberin diacids were maintained at a level of 7-9 mg/kg in bulk soil; this was higher under a super rice cultivar LY than under a hybrid cultivar IIY. While concentrations of the analyzed diacids were generally higher in rhizosphere than in bulk soil, the total diacid (DA) concentration was higher at the time of rape harvest than at rice harvest, suggesting that rape roots made a major contribution to the preservation of diacids in the paddy. Moreover, the net change in the concentration and the ratios of C16:0 DA to C18:1 DA, and of C16:0 DA to C18:0 DA, over a whole growing season, were greater under LY than under IIY, though there was no difference between cultivars within a single growth stage. Overall, total concentration of root-derived suberin diacids was found to be positively correlated to soil organic carbon concentration both for bulk soil and rhizosphere. However, the turnover and preservation of the root suberin biomolecules with soil property and field conditions deserve further field studies.