Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are considered as a potential biotechnological tool for improving phytostabilization efficiency and plant tolerance to heavy metal-contaminated soils. However, the mechanisms through which AMF help to alleviate metal toxicity in plants are still poorly understood. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of two AMF species (Funneliformis mosseae and Rhizophagus intraradices) on the growth, Pb accumulation, photosynthesis and antioxidant enzyme activities of a leguminous tree (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) at Pb addition levels of 0, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg kg-1 soil. AMF symbiosis decreased Pb concentrations in the leaves and promoted the accumulation of biomass as well as photosynthetic pigment contents. Mycorrhizal plants had higher gas exchange capacity, non-photochemistry efficiency, and photochemistry efficiency compared with non-mycorrhizal plants. The enzymatic activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidases (APX) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were enhanced, and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were reduced in mycorrhizal plants. These findings suggested that AMF symbiosis could protect plants by alleviating cellular oxidative damage in response to Pb stress. Furthermore, mycorrhizal dependency on plants increased with increasing Pb stress levels, indicating that AMF inoculation likely played a more important role in plant Pb tolerance in heavily contaminated soils. Overall, both F. mosseae and R. intraradices were able to maintain efficient symbiosis with R. pseudoacacia in Pb polluted soils. AMF symbiosis can improve photosynthesis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging capabilities and decrease Pb concentrations in leaves to alleviate Pb toxicity in R. pseudoacacia. Our results suggest that the application of the two AMF species associated with R. pseudoacacia could be a promising strategy for enhancing the phytostabilization efficiency of Pb contaminated soils.

α-Mangostin, isolated from the hulls of Garcinia mangostana L., was found to have in vitro cytotoxicity against 3T3-L1 cells as well as inhibiting fatty acid synthase (FAS, EC 2.3.1.85). Our studies showed that the cytotoxicity of α-mangostin with IC50 value of 20 µM was incomplicated in apoptotic events including increase of cell membrane permeability, nuclear chromatin condensation and mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) loss. This cytotoxicity was accompanied by the reduction of FAS activity in cells and could be rescued by 50 µM or 100 µM exogenous palmitic acids, which suggested that the apoptosis of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes induced by α-mangostin was via inhibition of FAS. Futhermore, α-mangostin could suppress intracellular lipid accumulation in the differentiating adipocytes and stimulated lipolysis in mature adipocytes, which was also related to its inhibition of FAS. In addition, 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were more susceptible to the cytotoxic effect of α-mangostin than mature adipocytes. Further studies showed that α-mangostin inhibited FAS probably by stronger action on the ketoacyl synthase domain and weaker action on the acetyl/malonyl transferase domain. These findings suggested that α-mangostin might be useful for preventing or treating obesity.

Understanding the roles of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in plant interaction is essential for optimizing plant distribution to restore degraded ecosystems. This study investigated the effects of AMF and the presence of legume or grass herbs on phytoremediation with a legume tree, Robinia pseudoacacia, in Pb polluted soil. In monoculture, mycorrhizal dependency of legumes was higher than that of grass, and AMF benefited the plant biomass of legumes but had no effect on grass. Mycorrhizal colonization of plant was enhanced by legume neighbors but inhibited by grass neighbor in co-culture system. N, P, S and Mg concentrations of mycorrhizal legumes were larger than these of non-mycorrhizal legumes. Legume herbs decreased soil pH and thereby increased the Pb concentrations of plants. The neighbor effects of legumes shifted from negative to positive with increasing Pb stress levels, whereas grass provided a negative effect on the growth of legume tree. AMF enhanced the competition but equalized growth of legume-legume under unpolluted and Pb stress conditions, respectively. In conclusion, (1) AMF mediate plant interaction through directly influencing plant biomass, and/or indirectly influencing plant photosynthesis, macronutrient acquisition, (2) legume tree inoculated with AMF and co-planted with legume herbs provides an effective way for Pb phytoremediation.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is implicated in the pathophysiology of various cardiovascular diseases, but the role of ER stress in cardiac rupture and/or remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI) is still unclear. Here we investigated whether ER stress plays a major role for these processes in mice. We ligated the left coronary artery (LCA) without reperfusion in mice and administered either NaCl or 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA, 20 mg/kg/d) intraperitoneally for 4 weeks. Cardiac rupture rates during the first week of MI were 37.5% and 18.2% in the control and 4-PBA groups, respectively. The extent of ventricular aneurysm and fibrosis was less, and the cardiac function better, in the 4-PBA group compared with the control group. The protein levels of ER stress markers in the heart tissues of the control group remained elevated during the entire 4-week period after MI, while pro-apoptotic proteins mainly increased in the early phase, and the pro-fibrotic proteins markedly increased in the late phase post MI; 4-PBA decreased all of these protein levels. In the primary cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes or fibroblasts, hypoxia (3% O 2 ) increased the number of apoptotic cardiomyocytes and promoted the proliferation and migration of fibroblasts, all of which were attenuated by 4-PBA (0.5 mM). These findings indicate that MI induces ER stress and provokes cardiac apoptosis and fibrosis, culminating in cardiac rupture and remodeling,

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers and is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in women worldwide. Novel therapies and chemo-therapeutic drugs are urgently needed to be developed for the treatment of breast cancer. Increasing evidence suggests that fatty acid synthase (FAS) plays an important role in breast cancer, for the expression of FAS is significantly higher in human breast cancer cells than in normal cells. Tannic acid (TA), a natural polyphenol, possesses significant biological functions, including bacteriostasis, hemostasis, and anti-oxidant. Our previous studies demonstrated that TA is a natural FAS inhibitor whose inhibitory activity is stronger than that of classical FAS inhibitors, such as C75 and cerulenin. This study further assessed the effect and therapeutic potential of TA on FAS over-expressed breast cancer cells, and as a result, TA had been proven to possess the functions of inhibiting intracellular FAS activity, down-regulating FAS expression in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells, and inducing cancer cell apoptosis. Since high-expressed FAS is recognized as a molecular marker for breast cancer and plays an important role in cancer prognosis, these findings suggest that TA is a potential drug candidate for treatment of breast cancer.

To select suitable tree species associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) for phytoremediation of heavy metal (HM) contaminated area, we measured the AMF status and heavy metal accumulation in plant tissues in a lead-zinc mine area, Northwest China. All 15 tree species were colonized by AM fungi in our investigation. The mycorrhizal frequency (F%), mycorrhizal colonization intensity (M%) and spore density (SP) reduced concomitantly with increasing Pb and Zn levels; however, positive correlations were found between arbuscule density (A%) and soil total/DTPA-extractable Pb concentrations. The average concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd in plant samples were 168.21, 96.61, 41.06, and 0.79 mg/kg, respectively. Populus purdomii Rehd. accumulated the highest concentrations of Zn (432.08 mg/kg) and Cu (140.85 mg/kg) in its leaves. Considerable amount of Pb (712.37 mg/kg) and Cd (3.86 mg/kg) were concentrated in the roots of Robinia pseudoacacia Linn. and Populus simonii Carr., respectively. Plants developed different strategies to survive in HM stress environment: translocating more essential metals (Zn and Cu) into the aerial parts, while retaining more toxic heavy metals (Pb and Cd) in the roots to protect the above-ground parts from damage. According to the translocation factor (TF), bioconcentration factor (BCF), growth rate and biomass production, five tree species (Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, Cotinus coggygria Scop., P. simonii, P. purdomii, and R. pseudoacacia) were considered to be the most suitable candidates for phytoextraction and/or phytostabilization purposes. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that the efficiency of phytoremediation was enhanced by AM symbioses, and soil pH, Pb, Zn, and Cd levels were the main factors influencing the HM accumulation characteristics of plants.

Background: Acridine and thiourea derivatives are important compounds in medicinal chemistry due to their diverse biological properties including anticancer and antimicrobial effects. However, literature reveals some side effects associated with use of acridines. It is suggested that hybrid molecules may reduce the side effects and enhance the beneficial properties due to synergistic activity. The objectives of the present study are to synthesize and evaluate the anticancer and antimicrobial properties of new hybrids of acridine thiosemicarbazides derivatives. Results: The structures of the synthesized compounds 4a–4e were elucidated by MS and NMR spectra. In antimicrobial assay, Compound 4c exhibited potent antimicrobial activity compared to the other four compounds. In anticancer studies, we observed that compounds 4a, 4b, 4d and 4e exhibited high cytotoxicity against the MT-4 cell line, with IC50 values of 18.42 ± 1.18, 15.73 ± 0.90, 10.96 ± 0.62 and 11.63 ± 0.11 μM, respectively. The evaluation of anticancer effects, and the associated mechanism reveals that, the anticancer activities may be related to Topo I inhibitory activity, apoptosis and cell-cycle. Molecular docking studies revealed that the presence of planar naphtho-fused rings and a flexible thiourea group together, could improve DNA-intercalation and inhibition of DNA-Topo I activity. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate that the rational design of target derivatives as novel antimicrobial or antitumor leads is feasible.

High levels of fatty acid synthase (FAS) expression have been found in many tumors, including prostate, breast, and ovarian cancers, and inhibition of FAS has been reported to obstruct tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Curcumin is one of the major active ingredients of Curcuma longa, which has been proven to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. In the present study, we investigated the potential activity of curcumin as a FAS inhibitor for chemoprevention of breast cancer. As a result, curcumin induced human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell apoptosis with the half-inhibitory concentration value of 3.63 ± 0.26 µg/ml, and blocked FAS activity, expression and mRNA level in a dose-dependent manner. Curcumin also regulated B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), Bax and p-Akt protein expression in MDA-MB-231 cells. Moreover, FAS knockdown showed similar effect as curcumin. All these results suggested that curcumin may induce cell apoptosis via inhibiting FAS.