Extraction of biomedical compounds from the wood of Pterocarpus macarocarpus Kurz heartwood.
Some wood can be used as traditional Chinese medicine. The medicinal value of wood is associated with its extractives. Pterocarpus macarocarpus Kurz heartwood is a kind of top valuable reddish hardwood in making furniture and handicrafts, but the research about medicine value of this wood is not enough. In order to investigate the high value biomedical compounds in Pterocarpus macarocarpus Kurz heartwood, the woody extractives were obtained by Soxhlet extraction and ultrasonic extraction with benzene-ethanol (1:2, v/v) solvent simultaneously and were analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS). Combining with the results of the two extraction methods, 44 compounds can be identified in total. Amony these identified compounds, there were 5 flavonoids, 15 terpenes and 3 steroidal compounds. The representative biomedical compositions were homopterocarpin, medicarpin, (-)-pterocarpin, formononetin, β-eudesmol, stigmasterol, linoleic acid and so on, which indicated that the extractives from Pterocarpus macarocarpus Kurz heartwood have huge potential in biomedicine. This research provides scientific basis for further comprehensive utilization of Pterocarpus macarocarpus Kurz heartwood as Chinese medicine.
The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Pterocarpus macrocarpus
Abstract The first complete chloroplast genome (cpDNA) sequence of Pterocarpus macrocarpus was determined from Illumina HiSeq pair-end sequencing data in this study. The cpDNA is 154,734 bp in length, contains a large single copy region (LSC) of 88,418 bp and a small single copy region (SSC) of 18,790 bp, which were separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IR) regions of 23,763 bp. The genome contains 127 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 8 ribosomal RNA genes, and 35 transfer RNA genes. The overall GC content of the whole genome is 36.3%, and the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 33.8%, 30.2%, and 43.3%, respectively. Further phylogenomic analysis showed that P. macrocarpus in Pterocarpus genus clade in Papilionoideae subfamily.
Tight junctions in inflammatory bowel diseases and inflammatory bowel disease associated colorectal cancer.
Inflammatory bowel diseases are characterised by inflammation that compromises the integrity of the epithelial barrier. The intestinal epithelium is not only a static barrier but has evolved complex mechanisms to control and regulate bacterial interactions with the mucosal surface. Apical tight junction proteins are critical in the maintenance of epithelial barrier function and control of paracellular permeability. The characterisation of alterations in tight junction proteins as key players in epithelial barrier function in inflammatory bowel diseases is rapidly enhancing our understanding of critical mechanisms in disease pathogenesis as well as novel therapeutic opportunities. Here we give an overview of recent literature focusing on the role of tight junction proteins, in particular claudins, in inflammatory bowel diseases and inflammatory bowel disease associated colorectal cancer.