Activins are known to signal through two serine/threonine kinase type II receptors. Activin receptor IIA is widely expressed in the male reproductive axis, including the pituitary and testis. Our previous studies using gene knockout mice have confirmed the essential in vivo role of activin receptor IIA in FSH homeostasis. Activin receptor IIA-null male mice are fertile, have suppressed pituitar...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that Tanshinone (Tan) IIA exerts obvious antitumor efficacy; however, its molecular mechanism remains unclear. This study was conducted to identify the influence of Tan IIA on Eca-109 cell apoptosis, explore its molecular mechanism, and provide a theoretical basis for clinical application. METHODS Eca-109 cells were cultured in vitro and treated with dif...

Tanshinone IIA (Tan-IIA) is extracted from Danshen (Salviae miltiorrhizae radix). It possesses antitumor activity against a variety of human cancer cells and its induction of apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation of gastric cancer cells are well-documented. However, the molecular mechanisms by which Tan-IIA inhibits gastric cancer have not been well-elucidated. In the present study, we eval...

Author investigated the cell infiltrative activity, cell growth and cell proliferative activity of flat type colorectal cancer. Tissue specimens were obtained by surgery. These specimens were examined in expression of CD44 for the evaluation of cell infiltrative activity and Ki67 for growing cell, and then double-staining for AgNORs and Ki67 was performed to evaluate proliferative activity in g...

The effects of tanshinone IIA on the proliferation of the human non-small cell lung cancer cell line A549 and its possible mechanism on the VEGF/VEGFR signal pathway were investigated. The exploration of the interaction between tanshinone IIA and its target proteins provides a feasible platform for studying the anticancer mechanism of active components of herbs. The CCK-8 assay was used to eval...

Recent seroepidemiological and immunohistochemical studies have demonstrated an association between microbial infections and atherosclerosis. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are widely unknown. In the present study, arterial specimens obtained at autopsy after sudden death were analyzed concerning (1) the presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex viru...

The tissue expansion technique has been applied to obtain new skin tissue to repair large defects in clinical practice. The implantation of tissue expander could initiate a host response to foreign body (FBR), which leads to fibrotic encapsulation around the expander and prolongs the period of tissue expansion. Tanshinon IIA (Tan IIA) has been shown to have anti-inflammation and immunoregulatio...

Type II procollagen is synthesized in two forms (IIA and IIB), generated by the alternative splicing of its precursor mRNA. The purpose of this study was to determine whether alternative splicing of type II procollagen pre-mRNA occurs during the dedifferentiation of chondrocytes in monolayer culture. We serially cultured rat epiphyseal chondrocytes for eight weeks in monolayer, and investigated...

Production of tanshinones (tanshinone I and IIA) was determined in roots of Salvia przewalskii micropropagated plants. It was found that the total tanshinone content (tashinone I and tashinone IIA) was dependent on the age of the analyzed plants. The roots of 2-year-old in vitro regenerated plants at flowering stage produced highest tanshinone levels (3.8 mg/g dry weight of tanshinone I and 7.6...

We show that the van der Waals heterostructure formed by MoSe2 and WS2 provides a unique system with near degenerate interlayer and intralayer excitonic states. Photoluminescence measurements indicate that the charge transfer exciton states are approximately 50 meV below the MoSe2 exciton states, with a significant spectral overlap. The transient absorption of a femtosecond pulse was used to st...