Thyroid hormone (TH) is critical for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis during stress responses, but its role in lung fibrosis is unknown. Here, we found that the activity and expression of iodothyronine deiodinase 2 (DIO2), an enzyme that activates TH, was higher in lungs of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis compared to control individuals and correlated with disease severity. We also found that Dio2 knockout mice exhibited enhanced bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis. Aerosolized TH delivery increased survival and resolved fibrosis in two models of pulmonary fibrosis in mice (intratracheal bleomycin and inducible TGF-β1). Sobetirome, a TH mimetic, also blunted bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis. Given after bleomycin-induced injury, TH promoted mitochondrial biogenesis, improved mitochondrial bioenergetics and attenuated mitochondria-regulated apoptosis in alveolar epithelial cells both in vivo and in vitro. TH did not blunt fibrosis in Ppargc1a or Pink1 knockout mice suggesting dependence on these pathways. We conclude that the TH anti-fibrotic properties are associated with protection of alveolar epithelial cells and restoration of mitochondrial function and thus may represent an effective therapy for pulmonary fibrosis.

A bio-sourced, low-toxic monomer was facilely synthesized and used to build controlled degradable, strong and tough thermosetting plastics.

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Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) was developed to prepare assemblies of conjugated block copoly-(phenylacetylene)s for the first time. The living dispersion polymerization of (R/S)-4-(1-phenethylbamoyl)phenylacetylene (rmAN/smAN) can be achieved in the presence of poly-(phenylacetylene) (PPA) macro-initiators. The assemblies prepared from the copolymers PPA m -b-PrmAN n with the short coreforming PrmAN blocks tended to form vesicles in tetrahydrofuran because of the rigid conformation of the block copolymers. As the length of PrmAN blocks increased, the assemblies preferred to form lamellae, and then, the lamellae twisted to form helical ribbons. The helicity of copolymers could transfer to the helical assemblies accurately. This work not only expanded applications of PISA into living coordination polymerization but also enhanced the efficiency of the assembly preparation of rigid conjugated block copoly(phenylacetylene)s.

Two antitumor promoters against tumor promoter-induced Epstein-Barr virus activation were isolated from the leaves of jute (Corchorus capsularis L.). The antitumor-promoting activity was examined by an immunoblotting analysis. Their active components were identified as phytol (3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol) and monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (1,2-di-O-␣-linolenoyl-3-O-␤-D-galactopyranosyl-sn-glycerol) by spectroscopic data and chemical and enzymatic reactions. The content of the latter in four cultivars of C. capsularis L. and C. olitorius L. was found to vary with the cultivar. The detectable amount of each active component increased by treatment of the leaves with hot water.Keywords: Corchorus capsularis L., Corchorus olitorius L., jute, phytol, monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, antitumor promoter, cancer chemoprevention Recent epidemiological investigations have been providing increasing evidence that a high consumption of vegetables and fruits could be associated with a reduced risk of cancer, especially that in the gastrointestinal tract (Steinmetz & Potter, 1991a, 1991bBlock et al., 1992;Ziegler, 1991). These epidemiological predictions suggest that vegetables and fruits contain anticancer or antitumor-promoting components. Thus the physiologically functional components in vegetables could be good sources of chemopreventive agents with low-toxicity available in our daily food supply.Jute (white jute, Corchorus capsularis L.; nalta jute or tossa jute, C. olitorius L.; Tiliaceae family), known as a fiber plant, is a time-honored medicinal vegetable in North Africa, the Middle and Near East and Southeast Asia. The young leaves of C. olitorius that have been introduced into Japan as a healthy vegetable, moroheiya, are rich in vitamins, carotenoids, calcium, potassium and dietary fiber (Resources Council, Science and Technology Agency, Japan, 2000).During our investigation of edible plants as sources of functional constituents, we found that jute leaves contain two active components against tumor promoter-induced Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) activation in Raji cells. We report herein the identification of the active components (phytol and monogalactosyldiacylglycerol), variation of their contents among four cultivars of jute and change in their detectable amounts by treatment with hot water. Materials and MethodsGeneral procedure NMR spectra were recorded with a JEOL A400 FT NMR spectrometer at 400 MHz for Plant materials Several cultivars of Corchorus capsularis L. were cultivated in a field on our faculty farm in 1998, and the leaves were used for isolation of the active components.The seeds of C. olitorius L., tentatively called cultivar M, were purchased from Ubagai Seed Co. (Ehime), and the other seeds of C. capsularis L. (cultivars A-38 and C-443) and C. olitorius L.(O-9897) were provided from the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture, Bangladesh. Four of the cultivars were grown in the same field in 2000. Two months after sowing the seeds, the leaves were harvested, freeze-dried and powdered; these ...

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