0000000000201327
AUTHOR
Zheng Li
Ca2+ signalling plays a role in celastrol‐mediated suppression of synovial fibroblasts of rheumatoid arthritis patients and experimental arthritis in rats
Background and purpose Celastrol exhibits anti-arthritic effects in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but the role of celastrol-mediated Ca2+ mobilization in treatment of RA remains undefined. Here, we describe a regulatory role for celastrol-induced Ca2+ signalling in synovial fibroblasts of RA patients and adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) in rats. Experimental approach We used computational docking, Ca2+ dynamics and functional assays to study the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase pump (SERCA). In rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs)/rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes (RAFLS), mechanisms of Ca2+ -mediated autophagy were analysed by histological, immunohis…
Mechanical behaviour of natural cow leather in tension
We study experimentally the microstructure and mechanical behavior of natural cow leather. Tensile tests are performed using leather strips to observe their deformation, creep and failure. It is found that the microstructure of cow leather is a layered, complicated network of fibers of different sizes from a few to a few hundreds of nanometers in diameter. They show nonlinear stress-strain relations and viscoelastic behavior. The effect of humidity is also examined. A simple theoretical model of a multilayered beam is proposed to describe the most basic behavior in tension.