Biogeochemical niche conservatism relates to plant species diversification and life form evolution in a subtropical montane evergreen broad-leaved forest.

The evolutionary mechanisms underlying the biogeochemical niche conservatism in forests remain incompletely understood. Here we aimed to determine how the strengths of biogeochemical niche conservatism vary among elements and between life forms. We measured leaf concentrations of basal elements (C, N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) in a wide range of life forms in a subtropical montane evergreen broad-leaved forest. We found that differences in life forms such as evergreen/deciduous woody species and herbaceous/woody species significantly affected leaf elemental composition. The significant phylogenetic signal was present in leaf C, N, K, and Mg concentrations but absent in leaf P and Ca concentrations in all species. These contrasting strengths of biogeochemical niche conservatism were best generated by Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes toward optima. Woody species were evolutionarily selected to show lower optimal leaf N, P, and K concentrations and higher optimal leaf C, Ca, and Mg concentrations than herbaceous species. The number of optima varied from the least in leaf C concentration to the most in leaf Ca concentration, suggesting the stronger convergent evolution of leaf Ca concentration. The positions of optima toward the tips were more selected in woody species, suggesting the more frequency of species-specific adaptations in woody species. The positions of optima were also selected at the nodes towards the species groupings from certain life forms (e.g., the group of 12 Polypodiales ferns in leaf Ca evolution and the group of three evergreen Theaceae species in leaf P evolution) that were converged to present similar leaf elemental composition. During the evolution of biogeochemical niche, strong correlations were found among leaf C, N, P, and K concentrations and between leaf Ca and Mg concentrations. In conclusion, the strengths of biogeochemical niche conservatism can vary among elements and between life forms due to the different tempo and mode of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes.

Cofilin Acts as a Booster for Progression of Malignant Tumors Represented by Glioma.

Cofilin, as a depolymerization factor of actin filaments, has been widely studied. Evidences show that cofilin has a role in actin structural reorganization and dynamic regulation. In recent years, several studies have demonstrated a regulatory role for cofilin in the migration and invasion mediated by cell dynamics and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)/EMT-like process, apoptosis, radiotherapy resistance, immune escape, and transcriptional dysregulation of malignant tumor cells, particularly glioma cells. On this basis, it is practical to evaluate cofilin as a biomarker for predicting tumor metastasis and prognosis. Targeting cofilin regulating kinases, Lin11, Isl-1 and Mec-3 kinases (LIM kinases/LIMKs) and their major upstream molecules inhibits tumor cell migration and invasion and targeting cofilin-mediated mitochondrial pathway induces apoptosis of tumor cells represent effective options for the development of novel anti-malignant tumor drug, especially anti-glioma drugs. This review explores the structure, general biological function, and regulation of cofilin, with an emphasis on the critical functions and prospects for clinical therapeutic applications of cofilin in malignant tumors represented by glioma.

Association of miR-9-5p and NFIC in the progression of gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer is the most common malignant neoplasm of digestive system. Herein, we aim to detect the expression of nuclear factor I C (NFIC) in gastric cancer cells, and to explore the effect and mechanism of its expression on the development of gastric cancer. METHODS: qPCR and Western blot assays were carried out to detect NFIC expression. Then, BGC-823 and SGC-7901 cell lines were selected to perform the following functional experiments. The function of NFIC on gastric cancer cells was analyzed by biological experiments. The associations between miR-9-5p and NFIC were searched on the bioinformatics website and identified by dual luciferase assay. The effects of miR-9-5p and NFIC on cells were verified by co-transfection experiments. The related genes expression was examined by Western blot. RESULTS: A marked augmentation of NFIC was observed in gastric cancer cells. Knockdown of NFIC significantly inhibited the viability, colony formation, invasion, and migration of gastric cancer cells. Overexpression of miR-9-5p obviously suppressed the viability, colony formation, invasion, and migration of gastric cancer cells, and this phenomenon was aggravated by si-NFIC. Additionally, the expression levels of PCNA, vimentin, and Snail were obviously decreased after miR-9-5p mimic or/and si-NFIC treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that NFIC was highly expressed in gastric cancer cells, and knockdown of NFIC suppressed the growth and mobility of gastric cancer cells; miR-9-5p was identified as an upstream regulator of NFIC and suppressed the malignant behaviors of gastric cancer cells by targeting NFIC through affecting PCNA, vimentin, and Snail expression.

The therapeutic effect of secretome from human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells in age-related osteoporosis.

Senile osteoporosis is closely related to the loss of function of stem cells. In this study, we tried to investigate the potential of secretome from human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) in recovering stem cell ability from senescence and then delaying bone loss. We first harvested bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) from young and old rats and then compared their cellular characteristics such as cell growth, anti-senescence and differentiation. The results showed that these abilities were negatively affected by animal aging. Subsequently, aged BMSCs were exposed to secretome from hUCMSCs, and we found that this loss of cell potential can be modified by secretome treatment. Thereafter, the secretome was loaded into silk fibroin-based hydrogels and used for an in vivo animal study. The results showed that compared to the old untreated group, the bone formation capacity of aged rats was improved by local treatment of secretome-loaded silk fibroin hydrogels. In conclusion, these findings demonstrated that secretome from hUCMSCs has the capacity to recover stem cell potential and delay local bone loss in age-related osteoporosis, which could potentially be applied in osteoporosis therapy in the future.

New clerodane diterpenoids from the twigs and leaves of Croton euryphyllus.

Three new nor-clerodane diterpenoids, crotoeurins A-C (1-3), together with four known ones were isolated from the twigs and leaves of Croton euryphyllus. Among them, crotoeurin A (1) is a new nor-clerodane diterpenoid dimer with a unique cyclobutane ring via a [2+2] cycloaddition. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses and the stereochemistry of 1 was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Compounds 1-3 exhibited neurite outgrowth-promoting activity on NGF-mediated PC12 cells at concentration of 10µM.

A new daphnane diterpenoid from Excoecaria venenata with inhibitory effect on human leukaemia HL-60 cells.

A new daphnane diterpenoid, venenatin (1), along with six known compounds, was isolated from the aerial parts of Excoecaria venenata. The structure of 1 was elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis. Compound 1 exhibited growth inhibitory effect on human leukaemia HL-60 cell line with IC50 value of 28.10 µM.