Network pharmacology-based strategy combined with molecular docking to explore the potential mechanism of agarwood against recurrent aphthous stomatitis.

To explore the antiinflammatory mechanism of agarwood on recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). RAS is the most common mucosal disease in the oral cavity. The clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine found that agarwood has significant curative effect on peptic ulcer, but the effect and mechanism of agarwood on RAS remain unclear. This study is intended to predict the potential antiinflammatory mechanisms by which agarwood acts on RAS through network pharmacology and molecular docking. TCMSP database was used to screen the active components of agarwood. RAS targets were screened in Genecards, DisGeNET, and OMIM database. Venny, an online tool, screens for interacting genes between the two. Cytoscape software was used to construct the gene regulation map of active compounds target of agarwood. String Database building protein-protein interaction network. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways were enriched in DAVID database. The key active ingredients and core targets were further verified by molecular docking. There were 9 effective compounds and 186 target genes in agarwood; RAS has 793 target genes. There were 41 interacting genes between agarwood and RAS. Interleukin 6, tumor necrosis factor, interleukin 1 beta, and cellular component motif ligand 2 may be key targets. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses predicted multiple pathways associated with RAS. Molecular docking results showed that the active compounds of agarwood combined well and stably with the target. The Chinese herbal medicine agarwood can relieve the inflammation of RAS through multiple targets and various ways. Its active compounds may be nominated as candidates for antiinflammatory drugs of RAS.

Bioremoval and recovery of Cd(II) by Pseudoalteromonas sp. SCSE709-6: Comparative study on growing and grown cells.

Comparison of the bioremoval and recovery of Cd(II) by growing and grown marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. SCSE709-6 was performed in batch systems. Bioremoval with growing cells (Sorption I) showed better performance at low Cd(II) concentrations, whereas bioremoval with grown cells (Sorption II) had significant advantages in both removal efficiency and time consumption at high Cd(II) concentrations. The optimal pH was higher for Sorption I than for Sorption II for achieving the maximum Cd(II) removal efficiency. Complete desorption was achieved using either Na2EDTA or HNO3 as eluent. Cd(II) adsorbed on grown cells had higher tendency to be desorbed. Na2EDTA was a preferable eluent for the recycling biomaterials, whereas HNO3 performed better for the final security disposal of sludge. For Sorption II, both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms well explained the biosorption behavior, and the pseudo-second-order model better expressed biosorption and desorption kinetics.

Bio-removal of cadmium by growing deep-sea bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. SCSE709-6.

Effective bio-removal of heavy metals is important for water treatment. Although a number of microorganism species demonstrated the ability of living cells to remove cadmium, most of them were tested at fixed concentration of metals, salinity, and temperature. This paper reported a research on the screening and performance of a newly developed deep-sea bacterium, Pseudoalteromonas sp. SCSE709-6, for Cd(II) removal by growing cells under a range of experimental conditions: 0-50 mg/L of Cd(II), 15-30 °C of incubation temperatures, 6.5-8.0 of initial pH, and 1.5-5.0 % of salinity. Study results revealed that Pseudoalteromonas sp. SCSE709-6 could remove more than 96 % of Cd(II) on growth. The Cd(II) bioremoval was in correlation but not in accordance with biomass. As cadmium concentrations increased, the Cd(II) removal by cell adsorption played an increasingly important role compared with that of intracellular accumulation. For the removal mechanism, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that carboxyl, amido and hydroxyl of saccharides, and proteins in the extracellular polymeric substances are the most active groups for Cd(II) absorption. The bacterium reported in this study offers a new microbe strain for Cd(II) bioremediation.

[FTIR spectrum and detoxication of extracellular polymeric substances secreted by microorganism].

In order to explore the effect of extracelluar polymeric substances (EPS) on resistance and removal of heavy metals, the production of EPS, secreted by cadmium-resistant strain (SCSE425-7) and cadmium-removal strain (SCSE709-6) was investigated combined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that the high resistance to cadmium of strain SCSE425-7 was related to the high production of soluble EPS, whereas SCSE709-6 secreted more insoluble EPS resulting in better cadmium removal performance. It was indicated that soluble extracellular carbohydrates may help the bacteria to enhance resistance to Cd2+, and insoluble EPS could contribute to Cd2+ removal effectively. The FTIR spectra showed that the peaks of amide and carboxyl were main functional groups for Cd2+ adsorption.

[Dynamic characteristics of forest landscape in Chengdu City in last 20 years].

Based on the remote sensing data of Landsat TM (1985, 1995, and 2000) and CBERS (2006), and by using landscape pattern method and index model of regional land use change in combining with eco-function regionalization, this paper analyzed the dynamic characteristics of forest landscape in Chengdu City in 1985-2006. In the study period, over 17,000 hm2 of forest land lost, and the number and area of small- and medium-size patches changed significantly, indicating the apparent conversion and fragmentation of forest land. Forest land was mainly distributed in mountainous area, accounting for 70% of the total. In contrast, more number of patches was found in plain region, amounting to 70% of the total. The most rapid change of forest land area occurred in 1985-1995, especially in mountainous region. The relative change rate of forest land area in different eco-function regions also varied in different periods. Forest land, converted to or converted from, was mainly related to cropland and grassland. In 2000-2006, forest land was quite stable. Survival-oriented economic welfare, environmental security, and fast urbanization process were the main driving forces of the temporal dynamic change of forest landscape, whereas geographical division and socio-economic layout were the main constraints to the spatial dynamic change of forest landscape.