Anthocyanins are natural colorants belonging to the flavonoid family. They are widely distributed among flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Using the automated oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay developed in our laboratory, we determined the antioxidant capacity of 14 anthocyanins including the aglycons delphinidin, cyanindin, pelargonidin, malvidin, peonidin, and their derivatives with different sugar linkages. Among these anthocyanins, kuromanin (cyanidin-3-glucoside) had the highest ORAC activity, which was 3.5 times stronger than Trolox (vitamin E analogue), while pelargonin had the lowest antioxidant activity but was still as potent as Trolox. Different patterns of hydroxylation and glycosylation in anthocyanins appear to modulate their antioxidant properties. Therefore, in addition to their colorful characteristics, anthocyanins possess potent antioxidant properties.

Submillimeter single-crystal monolayer and multilayer graphene domains were prepared by an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition method with suppressing nucleation on copper foils through an annealing procedure. A facile oxidation visualization method was applied to study the nucleation density and morphology of graphene domains on copper foils. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, polarized optical microscopy, and Raman spectra showed that the submillimeter graphene domains were monolayer single crystals.

Human RNA-binding protein (HuR), a ubiquitously expressed member of the Hu protein family, plays an important role in mRNA degradation and has been implicated as a key post-transcriptional regulator. HuR contains three RNA-recognition motif (RRM) domains. The two N-terminal tandem RRM domains can selectively bind AU-rich elements (AREs), while the third RRM domain (RRM3) contributes to interactions with the poly-A tail of target mRNA and other ligands. Here, the X-ray structure of two methylated tandem RRM domains (RRM1/2) of HuR in their RNA-free form was solved at 2.9 Å resolution. The crystal structure of RRM1/2 complexed with target mRNA was also solved at 2.0 Å resolution; comparisons of the two structures show that HuR RRM1/2 undergoes conformational changes upon RNA binding. Fluorescence polarization assays (FPA) were used to study the protein-RNA interactions. Both the structure and the FPA analysis indicated that RRM1 is the primary ARE-binding domain in HuR and that the conformational changes induce subsequent contacts of the RNA substrate with the inter-domain linker and RRM2 which greatly improve the RNA-binding affinity of HuR.

A discontinuous pattern of LOH at chromosome 3p has been reported in 87% of primary breast cancers. Despite the identification of several tumor suppressor genes in this region, there has yet to be a detailed analysis of noncoding RNAs including miRNAs in this region. In this study, we identified 16 aberrant miRNAs in this region and determined several that are frequently lost or amplified in breast cancer. miR-128-2 was the most commonly deleted miRNA. Embedded in the intron of the ARPP21 gene at chromosome 3p22.3, miR-128-2 was frequently downregulated along with ARPP21 in breast cancer, where it was negatively associated with clinicopathologic characteristics and survival outcome. Forced expression of miR-128 impeded several oncogenic traits of mammary carcinoma cells, whereas depleting miR-128-2 expression was sufficient for oncogenic transformation and stem cell-like behaviors in immortalized nontumorigenic mammary epithelial cells, both in vitro and in vivo. miR-128-2 silencing enabled transforming capacity partly by derepressing a cohort of direct targets (BMI1, CSF1, KLF4, LIN28A, NANOG, and SNAIL), which together acted to stimulate the PI3K/AKT and STAT3 signaling pathways. We also found that miR-128-2 was directly downregulated by SNAIL and repressed by TGF-b signaling, adding 2 additional negative feedback loops to this network. In summary, we have identified a novel TGF-b/SNAIL/miR-128 axis that provides a new avenue to understand the basis for oncogenic transformation of mammary epithelial cells. Cancer Res; 72(22); 6036-50. Ó2012 AACR.

Background: hGH is an orthotopically expressed oncoprotein associated with mammary epithelial cell tumorigenesis. Results:The miR-96-182-183 cluster is regulated by autocrine/paracrine hGH and targets BRMS1L and GHR. Conclusion: Autocrine/paracrine hGH promotes breast cancer epithelial-mesenchymal transition and invasion via stimulating the miRNA-96-182-183 cluster. Significance: Autocrine/paracrine hGH and the miR-96-182-183 cluster might be exploited as a therapy or prognostic marker for breast cancer.

Axial gout may be a common feature of chronic gouty arthritis. The lack of correlation with back pain, the infrequent use of CT imaging in patients with back pain, and the lack of recognition of the problem of spinal involvement in gouty arthritis suggest that this diagnosis is often missed.

We previously reported that the polyamide 3a derived from bis(5-carboxy-1,3-phenylene)-32-crown-10 (BCP32C10, 1a) and 4,4‘-oxydianiline (ODA, 2) was completely insoluble and attributed this to the formation of mechanical cross-links via self-threading of the crown ether moieties by the amide backbone through hydrogen bonding. Moreover, polycondensation of 1a with bis[4-(m-aminophenoxy)phenyl]phenylphosphine oxide (m-BAPPO, 4) produced polyaramide 5a that, like its analogue 3a, was insoluble in all solvents examined, including H2SO4. In the present work bis(5-carboxy-1,3-phenylene)−(3x+2)-crown-x ethers [BCP(3x+2)Cx] with 26-membered (BCP32C10, 1b), 20-membered (BCP20C6, 1c) and 14-membered (BCP14C4, 1d) rings were utilized to investigate further the proposed topological branching via in situ threading during polymerization. Condensation of BCP26C8 (1b) with ODA (2) and m-BAPPO (4) gave two new poly(amide crown ether)s, 3b and 5b, which were soluble in dipolar aprotic solvents. However, the GPC traces of aramides 3b and 5b exhibited bimodal behavior indicative of two distinct molecular weight fractions, one very high, DPn > 800! Similarly the aramide 3c formed by condensation of BCP20C6 (1c) and ODA (2) displayed a bimodal GPC curve. As a reference system BCP14C4 (1d) was prepared and polymerized with ODA; the resultant aramide 3d displayed a monomodal GPC trace and relatively narrow molecular weight distribution. Mass spectrometric studies show that cyclic aramides (lactams) form in the larger crown ether-based systems 3b and 5b. Model aramide 6 from isophthalic acid and ODA also contains cyclic polymers, as expected from Kricheldorf's recent results, but has a “normal” molecular weight distribution. Mass spectrometric examination of aramides 3c and 3d does not indicate any cyclic polymer formation. Inasmuch as lactam formation by itself does not necessarily produce branching or cross-linking, e.g., 6, we conclude that threading of the crown ether moieties is the key step, leading to polypseudorotaxane, polyrotaxane and polycatenane structures to an extent dependent upon the their cavity size and the propensity for cyclization of the polymer backbone.

The 9th–15th century Angkorian state was Southeast Asia’s greatest premodern empire and Angkor Wat in the World Heritage site of Angkor is one of its largest religious monuments. Here we use excavation and chronometric data from three field seasons at Angkor Wat to understand the decline and reorganization of the Angkorian Empire, which was a more protracted and complex process than historians imagined. Excavation data and Bayesian modeling on a corpus of 16 radiocarbon dates in particular demand a revised chronology for the Angkor Wat landscape. It was initially in use from the 11th century CE with subsequent habitation until the 13th century CE. Following this period, there is a gap in our dates, which we hypothesize signifies a change in the use of the occupation mounds during this period. However, Angkor Wat was never completely abandoned, as the dates suggest that the mounds were in use again in the late 14th–early 15th centuries until the 17th or 18th centuries CE. This break in dates points toward a reorganization of Angkor Wat’s enclosure space, but not during the historically recorded 15th century collapse. Our excavation data are consistent with multiple lines of evidence demonstrating the region’s continued ideological importance and residential use, even after the collapse and shift southward of the polity’s capital. We argue that fine-grained chronological analysis is critical to building local historical sequences and illustrate how such granularity adds nuance to how we interpret the tempo of organizational change before, during, and after the decline of Angkor.