Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase (sodium pump) is an important target for the development of botanical pesticide as it is responsible for transforming chemical energy in ATP to osmotic work and maintaining electrochemical Na(+ )and K(+ )gradients across the cell membrane of most animal cells. Celangulin IV (C-IV) and V (C-V), which are isolated from the root bark of Celastrus angulatus, are the major active i...

The enzyme aldose (aldehyde) reductase was partially purified (142-fold) and characterized from Euonymus japonica leaves. The reductase, a dimer, had an average molecular weight of 67,000 as determined by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. The enzyme was NADPH specific and reduced a broad range of substrates including aldoses, aliphatic aldehydes, and aromatic aldehydes. Maximum activity was obs...

Pristimerin is a triterpenoid isolated from Celastrus and Maytenus spp. that has been shown to possess a variety of biological activities, including anti-cancer activity. However, little is known about pristimerin's effects on tumor angiogenesis. In this study, we examined the function and the mechanism of this compound in tumor angiogenesis using multiple angiogenesis assays. We found that pri...

This study aimed to explore the inhibitory effect of Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb. (COT) on tumor growth, metastasis and antiogenesis of hepatocelluar carcinoma (HCC) in an orthotopic nude mouse model using fluorescence imaging technology. Human HCC Hep-G2 cells expressing red fluorescent protein (RFP) were orthotopically implanted onto the liver of nude mice. One group of mice was treated with ...

Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb. has been used as a remedy against cancer and inflammatory diseases for thousands of years in China. Maspin is expressed in normal cells and downregulated in prostate tumor cells. The underlying mechanisms between C. orbiculatus extract (COE) and maspin remain unclear. In the present study, 3 target-specific 19-25 nucleotide maspin small interfering RNAs were designe...

Land-use history can play a significant role in shaping forest communities. We considered the effects of agricultural land-use legacies on the distribution of non-native invasive plants a century after abandonment in a watershed in western North Carolina, USA. Forest sites that were previously in cultivation and abandoned ca. 1905 were compared with nearby reference sites that were never cultiv...

BACKGROUND Soil contamination by copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) is a widespread environmental problem. For phytoextraction to be successful and viable in environmental remediation, strategies that can improve plant uptake must be identified. In the present study we investigated the use of nitrogen (N) fertilizer as an efficient way to enhance accumulation of Cu and Pb from contaminated industrial so...