A review of the leaf-beetle genus Sinoluperus Gressitt & Kimoto, 1963 (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae) from China, with the description of a new species.

In this study, all species of the leaf-beetle genus Sinoluperus Gressitt & Kimoto, 1963 from China are redescribed based on the reexamination of type specimens, and a new species, S.variegatussp. nov. from Nanling Mountains, is described. A key to the three Chinese species of Sinoluperus is provided, as well as photographs of the habiti and aedeagi of these species.

The Relationship between Genus/Species Richness and Morphological Diversity among Subfamilies of Jewel Beetles.

A positive correlation between the species richness and morphological diversity of some organisms has been found in almost all studies at the local community scale. However, this documented relationship has not always been consistent because of diverse niches and the status of an organism in an ecosystem. Global taxon sampling, new morphological approaches, and consideration of more taxonomic categories other than species level are possible methods to further investigate this contradiction. In this study, we proposed a new paradigm for higher taxa biodiversity analysis based on a cosmopolitan dataset. A total of 1106 species from around the world representing all subfamilies and 33% genera of Buprestidae (jewel beetles) were selected to test the correlation between morphological diversity (MD) and genus/species richness (GR/SR) among subfamilies. The MD was quantified by the contours of the pronotum and elytron in dorsal view based on a geometric morphometric approach. The positive correlation between MD and GR was found in all test combinations, but was irrelevant in the species-level test. Interestingly, the correlation between MD and GR was higher than MD and SR in both pronotum and elytron measurements. Additionally, the MD of the pronotum is obviously higher than the MD of the elytron. Our results demonstrate that the geometric morphometric approach could quite accurately reveal diversity patterns of the family Buprestidae. Future studies on different groups, using more characters, more analyses and detailed biological interpretations, are required to fully understand the relationship between MD and SR.

Antitumor and immunomodulatory activity of polysaccharides from the root of Limonium sinense Kuntze.

Limonium sinense (Girard) Kuntze is a traditional Chinese folk medicine used for the treatment of fever, hemorrhage, hepatitis and other disorders. The study focused on the antitumor and immunomodulatory activities of L. sinense polysaccharides (LSP) which was obtained from the root of the plant. The antitumor effects of only LSP and LSP in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) were both evaluated with Heps-bearing tumor mice models. In addition, the macrophage phagocytosis assay, splenocyte proliferation and cytokines production tests were used to assess the immunomodulatory activities of LSP. The results revealed that the LSP (at the dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg) had an obvious inhibition on the growth of transplanted mouse tumor. It also exhibited a significant synergistic effect of antitumor activity when combined with 5-FU (p<0.05). Furthermore, the LSP (at the dose of 100 and 200 mg/kg) remarkably improved macrophage phagocytosis function in immune suppressed mice. In addition, LSP (at the dose of 50-200 µg/ml) showed significant synergistic effects on ConA-stimulated proliferation and IFN-γ and IL-2 production of splenocyte in vitro (p<0.05). These findings suggest that LSP had clear antitumor activity which might be related to its regulation of immune function in mice.

Rg1 reduces nigral iron levels of MPTP-treated C57BL6 mice by regulating certain iron transport proteins.

Elevated iron levels in the substantia nigra (SN) participate in neuronal death in Parkinson's disease, in which the misregulation of iron transporters such as divalent metal transporter (DMT1) and ferroportin1 (FP1) are involved. Our previous work observed that nigral iron levels were increased in MPTP-treated mice and Ginsenoside Rg1 which is one of the main components of ginseng, had neuroprotective effects against MPTP toxicity. Whether Rg1 could reduce nigral iron levels to protect the dopaminergic neurons? And whether its neuroprotective effect is achieved by regulating certain iron transporters? The present studies showed that Rg1 pre-treatment increased the dopamine and its metabolites contents in the striatum, as well as increased tyrosine hydroxylase expression in the SN. Further experiments observed that Rg1 pre-treatment substantially attenuated MPTP-elevated iron levels, decreased DMT1 expression and increased FP1 expression in the SN. These results suggest that the neuroprotective effect of Rg1 on dopaminergic neurons against MPTP is due to the ability to reduce nigral iron levels, which is achieved by regulating the expressions of DMT1 and FP1.