Project description:Neuropathic pain (NP) is a chronic and intractable disease that is widely present in the general population. It causes painful behavior and even mood changes such as anxiety and depression by altering the metabolism of substances. However, there have been limited metabolomics studies conducted in relation to neuropathic pain. Therefore, in this study, the effects of NP on metabolites in serum and the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) were investigated using a non-targeted metabolomics approach detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to uncover differential metabolites and affected metabolic pathways associated with NP. Sixty mice were divided into the following two groups: a chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve group and a sham group (n = 30, each). After 7 days of CCI modeling, the metabolite profiles of serum and the DRG were analyzed using GC/LC-MS for both the CCI and sham groups of mice. Multivariate analysis revealed differential metabolites and altered metabolic pathways between the CCI and sham groups. In the CCI group, our findings provided insights into the complex phospholipid, amino acid and acylcarnitine metabolic perturbations of DRG metabolism. In addition, phospholipid metabolic disorders and impaired glucose metabolism were observed in the serum. Moreover, the metabolic differences in the DRG and serum were correlated with each other. The results from this untargeted metabolomics study provide a perspective on the metabolic impact of NP on serum and the DRG.
Project description:Sera of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) or control mice were collected at day 18 post immunization. Comprehensive analysis of cytokine levels were performed by using commercially available RayBio Mouse Cytokine Array 2 (RayBiotech, Inc.) according to manufacturer’s protocol
Project description:Nitrogen (N) can be absorbed by plants, thereby affects plant physiological activity, interferes gene expression, alters metabolite content and influences plant growth. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the potato tuberization response to nitrogen remains unclear. The plants were cultivated in the pots using N-deficient, N-Routine and N-sufficient conditions. Physiological response analysis, transcriptomics and metabolomics were performed on potato stolon exposed to Nitrogen stress. Transcriptomics analysis revealed that 2756 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) responded to nitrogen stress. By using metabolomics analysis, a total of 600 d differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were identified. Further correlation analysis of major DEGs and DAMs showed that 9 key DEGs were involved in alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, 16 key DEGs in starch and sucrose metabolism, 7 key DEGs in nitrogen metabolism, and 16 key DEGs in ABC transporters. Nitrogen deficiency significantly up-regulated the contents of sucrose, GDP-glucose and L-glutamic acid, and promoted the growth of stolon by up-regulating the expression of AMY, SBE, SS, SPS, AGPS and NR-related genes. However, High nitrogen is the opposite. In addition, high nitrogen treatment up-regulated EG, SUS and GDH related genes, accumulated a large number of 9 (S) -HpOTr E, 13 (S) -HpOTr E and L-Glutamine, ultimately affected the balance between plant growth and defense. In general, our study revealed the co-expressed genes and potential pathways related to potato tuber formation under different nitrogen conditions. These comprehensive analysis data provide a better understanding of improving potato tuber traits at the molecular and metabolic levels.
Project description:The bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum can produce ʟ-glutamic acid under certain growth conditions. ʟ-glutamic acid is used as a flavor enhancer, food supplement, or primary chemical raw material. It, therefore, plays an essential economic role with an annual production of over 2½ million tons. Due to metabolic development, the product range of C. glutamicum has been expanded to include all biogenic amino acids, vitamins, and more. Previously published metabolic models of C. glutamicum have been supplemented with new metabolic data and expanded with data from new systems biology programs to result in this consensus model.
Project description:The first step in biomarkers discovery is to identify the best protocols for their purification and analysis. We have identified an optimal RNA extraction method of microRNAs from human plasma samples. We also report that the addition of low doses of carrier RNA before starting RNA extraction improves microRNA extraction and quantification.