Project description:We explored whether an ethanol extract of coptidis rhizoma (ECR) exhibited anti-teratoma activity and identified the main active components involved in the selective elimination of undifferentiated iPSCs.
Project description:The anti-diabetes activity of Rhizoma Coptidis was documented in the book âNotes of Elite Physiciansâ written by Hongjing Tao 1500 years ago. Berberine (BBR) is the major isoquinoline alkaloid constituent of the Chinese herb Rhizoma Coptidis, which has the beneficial characteristic of regulating glucose and lipid metabolism and has been extensively used in the treatment of obesity, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia. However, the effect of berberine on specific diabetes treatment targets is unknown. This study was conducted to elucidate the genome-wide gene expression profile in Zucker Diabetic Fatty Rats liver tissues in response to Berberine treatment.
Project description:To investigate the differently expressed genes treated with DMSO, extracts of Rhizoma Coptidis and its main alkoids berberine, coptisine and palmatine
Project description:Alpha-mangostin (α-MG) is a natural xanthone reported to exhibit rapid bactericidal activity against Gram-positive bacteria, and may therefore have potential clinical application in healthcare sectors. This study sought to identify the antibacterial mode of action of α-MG against Staphylococcus epidermidis RP62A through RNA-sequencing technology.
Project description:We use the zebrafish embryo model to study the innate immune response against Staphylococcus epidermidis. Therefore, we injected S. epidermidis into the yolk at 2 hpf and took samples at 5 days post injection.
Project description:The aqueous extract of yerba mate, a South American tea beverage made from Ilex paraguariensis leaves, has demonstrated bactericidal and inhibitory activity against bacterial pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of two unique fractions of yerba mate aqueous extract revealed 8 identifiable small molecules in those fractions with antimicrobial activity. For a more comprehensive analysis, a data analysis pipeline was assembled to prioritize compounds for antimicrobial testing against both MRSA and methicillin-sensitive S. aureus using forty-two unique fractions of the tea extract that were generated in duplicate, assayed for activity, and analyzed with GC-MS. As validation of our automated analysis, we checked our predicted active compounds for activity in literature references and with used authentic standards to test for antimicrobial activity. 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde showed the most antibacterial activity against MRSA at low concentrations in our bioassays. In addition, quinic acid and quercetin were identified using random forests analysis and 5-hydroxy pipecolic acid was identified using linear discriminant analysis. We additionally also generated a ranked list of unidentified compounds that may contribute to the antimicrobial activity of yerba mate against MRSA. Here we utilized GC-MS data to implement an automated analysis that resulted in a ranked list of compounds that likely contribute to the antimicrobial activity of aqueous yerba mate extract against MRSA.
Project description:Biofilm-associated infection by the leading nosocomial pathogen Staphylococcus epidermidis is a major problem for the public health system. Here we used an especially discriminatory, two-step screen to discover key biofilm factors. We identified the transcriptional regulator and SarA paralog SarZ as a novel important determinant of biofilm formation and biofilm-associated infection by S. epidermidis. Notably, a sarZ mutant strain exhibited significantly reduced survival in two different models of biofilm-associated infection. Further, in addition to its significant influence on the transcription of the biosynthetic operon for S. epidermidis biofilm exopolysaccharide, sarZ impacted the expression of a series of virulence factors, including lipases and proteases. As a likely consequence of the regulated proteolytic activity, we observed increased resistance to an important human antimicrobial peptide, indicating a role for sarZ in the regulation of immune evasion. Interestingly, sarZ deficiency led to a hemolytic phenotype, a feature not commonly observed in S. epidermidis. Thus, our study indicates a key role for the SarZ regulator in maintaining the typical S. epidermidis phenotype, which is characterized by pronounced biofilm formation, immune evasion, and suppressed acute virulence, a likely reason for the success of S. epidermidis as a colonizer and pathogen in chronic, biofilm-associated infection. Keywords: Wild type control vs mutant Wild type untreated in triplicate is compared to SarZ mutant in triplicate
Project description:Rhizoma coptidis (R.coptidis) is a widely cultivated traditional Chinese herb. Although the chemical profiles of R.coptidis have been established previously, the biological profiling of R.coptidis has not been conducted yet. Here, we collected R.coptidis varieties from four different regions as well as its analogue, Rabdosia serra (R.serra) were and performed genome-wide biological response fingerprinting (BioReF) on HepG2 cells using a gene expression array.
Project description:To survive during colonization or infection of the human body, microorganisms must defeat antimicrobial peptides, which represent a key component of innate host defense in phagocytes and on epithelia. However, is not known how the clinically important group of Gram-positive bacteria sense antimicrobial peptides to coordinate a directed defensive response. By determining the genome-wide gene regulatory response to human beta defensin 3 in the nosocomial pathogen Staphylococcus epidermidis, we discovered an antimicrobial peptide sensor system that controls major specific resistance mechanisms to antimicrobial peptides and is unrelated to the Gram-negative PhoP/PhoQ system. Wild type untreated in triplicate is compared to wild type treated in triplicate along with three mutants in triplicate with and without treatment of human beta defensin 3, totalling 30 samples
