Aims & BackgroundsAlthough inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are emerging and increasing in China, epidemiologic data are rarely available. This study was to investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of IBD in Northern China.MethodsThis is a prospective, population-based study of incidence of IBD in Daqing,Heilongjiang province of Northern China from March 1, 2012 to February 28, 2013. All incident patients with IBD were clinically identified by IBD specialist group from five main General Hospitals covering the healthcare service for 1,343,364 residents in the urban areas of Daqing. IBD cases included in this study were followed-up for three months for diagnosis confirmation.ResultsA total of 27 new IBD cases including 25 cases of ulcerative colitis (UC) and 2 cases of Crohn's disease (CD) were identified. The population at risk was 1,343,364 person years. Age-adjusted incidence for total IBD, CD and UC were 1.77, 0.13, and 1.64 per 100,000population, respectively. A male predominance was found in CD patients (male to female ratio was 2∶0). In contrast, no obvious gender predominance was found in UC patients (male to female ratio was 1∶1.1). CD patients were diagnosed at an average age of 39.5 years. The main disease phenotypes of UC were distal colitis with a 24% of proctitis and 56% of left-sided colitis. The mean diagnostic age of UC patients was 48.9 years.ConclusionsThis is the first report on the incidence of IBD in the Northern Chinese population. A lower incidence of IBD, similar male predominance for CD, similar disease phenotype of UC, and lower disease activity was observed in Daqing compared to that in Southern China.

BackgroundSelaginellaceae is a family of nonseed plants with special evolutionary significance. Plants of the family Selaginellaceae are similarly shaped and easily confused, complicating identification via traditional methods. This study explored, for the first time, the use of the DNA barcode ITS2 to identify medicinal plants of the Selaginellaceae family.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn our study, 103 samples were collected from the main distribution areas in China; these samples represented 34 species and contained almost all of the medicinal plants of Selaginellaceae. The ITS2 region of the genome was amplified from these samples and sequenced using universal primers and reaction conditions. The success rates of the PCR amplification and sequencing were 100%. There was significant divergence between the interspecific and intraspecific genetic distances of the ITS2 regions, while the presence of a barcoding gap was obvious. Using the BLAST1 and nearest distance methods, our results proved that the ITS2 regions could successfully identify the species of all Selaginellaceae samples examined. In addition, the secondary structures of ITS2 in the helical regions displayed clear differences in stem loop number, size, position, and screw angle among the medicinal plants of Selaginellaceae. Furthermore, cluster analysis using the ITS2 barcode supported the relationship between the species of Selaginellaceae established by traditional morphological methods.ConclusionThe ITS2 barcode can effectively identify medicinal plants of Selaginellaceae. The results provide a scientific basis for the precise identification of plants of the family Selaginellaceae and the reasonable development of these resources. This study may broaden the application of DNA barcoding in the medicinal plant field and benefit phylogenetic investigations.

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Two β-glucosidase/xylosidase genes, Rubg3A and Rubg3B, were cloned from yak rumen uncultured microorganisms by metagenome method and function-based screening. Recombinant RuBG3A and RuBG3B purified from Escherichia coli were characterized for enzymatic properties, and they exhibited activity against 4-nitrophenyl-β-D: -glucopyranoside and 4-nitrophenyl-β-D: -xylopyranoside, suggesting bifunctional β-glucosidase/xylosidase activity. Chromatography analysis showed that they could effectively hydrolyze cellooligosaccharide substrates, indicating the facilitation in saccharification of cellulose. RuBG3A and RuBG3B can also increase the reducing sugar released in xylan hydrolysis to 218% and 169%, respectively, through synergism with xylanase, suggesting their application in hemicellulose saccharification. Molecular modeling and substrate docking showed that there should be one active center responsible for the bifunctional activity in each enzyme, since the active site pocket is substantially wide to allow the entry of both β-glucosidic or β-xylosidic substrates, which elucidated the structure-function relationship in substrate specificities. Therefore, the enzymatic properties, the participation in hydrolysis of cellooligosaccharides, and the synergism with xylanase make RuBG3A and RuBG3B very interesting candidates for saccharification of both cellulose and hemicellulose.

Activated rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes (RAFLSs) play an important role in the initiation and progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Rapid proliferation and defective apoptosis of RAFLSs are two main mechanisms contributing to synovial hyperplasia. Berberine, the major constituent of Coptidis Rhizoma, has been widely used as an antitumor and anti-inflammation agent. Here we show that berberine significantly inhibited cell proliferation of serum-starved human RAFLSs in a dose-dependent manner. Cell cycle analysis of berberine-treated RAFLSs indicated a cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. The inhibitory effects of berberine correlated with an induction of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitors Cip1/p21 and Kip1/p27 and a reduction of CDK2, CDK4 and CDK6, and cyclins D1, D2 and E. Furthermore, an apoptosis assay showed that berberine treatment increased apoptotic death of RAFLSs, which was associated with an increased expression of proapoptotic protein Bax and decreased expression of antiapoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl, disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential, and activation of caspase-3, caspase-9 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. Taken together, these results demonstrate that berberine exerts antiproliferative effects against RAFLSs, likely through deregulation of numerous cell cycle and apoptosis regulators, thus having potential therapeutic implications in the treatment of RA.

Tengia has been called a "natural peloria" in the family Gesneriaceae because it exhibits an almost perfect actinomorphic flower from whorl one to whorl three. It would be especially interesting to know whether or how CYC-like gene activities are related to this type of perfect actinomorphic flower. To address this, we have isolated four CYC-like TCP genes and carried out an investigation on their expression patterns in Tengia. TsCYC1C and TsCYC1D have similar expression patterns with strong signals being detected in all five petals and stamens, whereas TsCYC2A and TsCYC2B are only transiently expressed in the very early floral meristem. Our results suggest that the expansion of the expressions of TsCYC1C and TsCYC1D from the dorsal to the ventral petals is likely responsible for the evolutionary formation of the fully dorsalized actinomorphic corolla, that is, an expanded functional domain of CYC-like gene dorsal identity in Tengia corolla. However, the expressions of TsCYC1C and TsCYC1D are not correlated with stamen abortion; therefore, TsCYC genes do not functionally repress the stamen development in Tengia flowers. This is probably due to changed cis-activities that result in the cell cycle-related genes uncoupling from the TsCYC regulatory pathway in Tengia.

These findings indicate that HRP-3 plays an essential role in HCC pathogenesis and suggest that it may serve as a novel prognostic marker and molecular target for development of drugs for treatment of HCC.

The detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antibodies in human sera has been a rapid and important diagnostic aid for tuberculosis (TB) control and prevention. However, any single antigen is not enough to be used to cover the antibody profiles of all TB patients. In this study, a novel fusion protein was constructed using gene splicing by overlap extension (SOEing), and then the antibody level against it in 171 TB patients and 86 controls was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Compared with the three individual antigen (16 kDa: sensitivity 19.9%, specificity 96.5%; MPT64: sensitivity 75.4%, specificity 34.9%; 38 kDa: sensitivity 33.3%, specificity 83.7%), the fusion protein antigen (sensitivity 42.1%, specificity 89.5%) gave the best diagnostic performance with the largest receiver operating characteristic curve area 0.656 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.590-0.721; P<0.01). These results suggested that the novel fusion protein antigen successfully constructed by gene SOEing provided the improved diagnostic performance for TB, and other mycobacterial multiepitope fusion proteins may also be worthy of investigation for further enhancing the detection sensitivity.