氧化石墨烯在骨组织工程中的应用

传统骨组织工程支架材料存在强度不足、生物活性低等缺点。近年来,碳纳米材料在骨再生方面展现出独特的优势。氧化石墨烯(graphene oxide, GO)是一种具有代表性的二维碳纳米材料,作为石墨烯的氧化形式,GO具有优异的力学性能、良好的生物相容性、大比表面积、易于改性等特点。GO不仅能够直接促进干细胞黏附、增殖和分化,还可以改善传统支架的机械性能、生物活性、抗菌能力、免疫调节能力等,基于GO的复合材料有望成为理想的骨再生支架。综述GO的物理化学性能、生物相容性、生物降解和清除等特性,总结GO作为涂层、控释材料和复合支架在骨组织工程中的最新应用,并对其未来研究方向进行展望。     

两亲性高分子功能化氧化石墨烯的制备与生物相容性评价

二维的氧化石墨烯(GO)的细胞毒性低,且有良好的生物相容性,是良好的光热与成像材料,同时还可以作为纳米载体,用来输运化疗药物、基因等。由于氧化石墨烯的片层之间有较强的范德华力,极易团聚,从而影响其在生物医学方面的进一步应用。本文通过二硬脂酰磷脂酰乙醇胺-聚乙二醇-氨基(DSPE-PEG-NH2)功能化修饰氧化石墨烯,改善了石墨烯在水相中的稳定性、低毒性及生物相容性。功能化氧化石墨烯在水相中放置两周以上仍然具有良好的分散性,且对细胞没有明显的毒副作用,有望在生物医学领域发挥巨大作用。     

荧光碳点在生物医学领域中的应用研究进展

荧光碳点(fluorescent carbon dots,FCDs)是一种利用含碳化合物合成的新型荧光纳米材料。这种FCDs相比传统荧光材料如有机染料和半导体量子点,不仅成本低廉、易于合成和功能化,而且还具有更优秀的光学特性(如无光闪烁性),优秀的生物相容性、化学惰性以及细胞低毒性等特点。目前FCDs已经掀起了继富勒烯(C60)、碳纳米管(CNT)和石墨烯(Graphene)之后又一次碳纳米材料的研究浪潮,吸引了愈来愈多的来自物理、化学、材料及生物医药学等不同领域的科学家们。本文综述了最近FCDs在生物医学领域中的应用研究进展。     

氧化石墨烯在适配体筛选及医学应用方面的研究进展

SELEX是一种较为成熟的适配体筛选技术,在筛选过程中也涌现出了一系列的筛选方法,如磁珠法、硝酸纤维素法、毛细管电泳法、细胞法等。本文介绍了一种更加快速准确的筛选方法——氧化石墨烯法(graphene oxide,GO-SELEX)。氧化石墨烯具有独特的物理化学性质,筛选效率更高,在对小分子的适配体筛选方面具有其独特的优势。另外,基于氧化石墨烯的适配体目前也逐渐应用于药物靶向运输、肿瘤细胞检测、病原体或生化指标检测等领域,在医学方面具有广阔的应用前景。     

氧化石墨烯对黑麦草根系抗逆生理特性的影响

该研究通过向土壤中添加不同含量(1%、2%、3%、4%和5%)的氧化石墨烯(graphene oxide,GO),分析其对黑麦草根系生长及抗逆生理特性的影响。结果表明：(1)低剂量(1%和2%)的GO对黑麦草根系生长没有显著影响,高剂量(3%～5%)的GO处理显著抑制了黑麦草根系生长。(2)1% GO处理对根体积和根生物量没有影响,随着GO添加量的增加,黑麦草根体积和根生物量逐渐减小,在5% GO处理下,降至最低,根干重较对照降低了22.64%。(3)1% GO处理对黑麦草根保护酶活性与丙二醛(MDA)含量影响不显著,随着GO添加量的增加,过氧化物酶(POD)、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)和过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性显著高于对照组,且MDA含量也显著增加,说明GO对黑麦草根系生长产生了氧化胁迫。(4)GO处理超过1%时黑麦草根系活力显著下降,并于5% GO处理下根系活力降至最小,较对照下降了35.07%。研究认为,低剂量(1%~2%)的GO对黑麦草的生长没有影响,而高剂量GO则会对根系产生明显的氧化胁迫,从而造成根系损伤。     

基于石墨烯复合材料的电化学传感器在基因检测中的研究进展

近年来,石墨烯由于其优异的物理化学性能,被广泛应用于电化学传感领域。为了解石墨烯复合材料在基因检测中的应用研究现状,笔者首先介绍了石墨烯组成结构、理化特性和制备方法;然后,重点综述了基于石墨烯复合材料(石墨烯/无机复合材料、石墨烯/有机复合材料、石墨烯/有机/无机复合材料以及其他石墨烯复合材料)修饰的电化学传感器在基因检测应用中取得的最新进展;最后,总结了石墨烯复合材料在基因检测研究应用中的优缺点并对其进一步研究提出一些建议。     

内质网在纳米材料毒性效应形成中的作用及机制

随着纳米材料在食品、药物、生物医学等多领域的应用,其在生产使用过程中对人类健康的影响引起了广泛关注.内质网是蛋白质折叠与加工修饰、脂质合成以及Ca~(2+)储存的主要场所,是维护细胞内稳态的重要细胞器.内质网作为纳米材料的主要靶细胞器之一,在纳米材料引起的毒性效应中起重要作用.本文结合近年来国内外相关研究进展,阐述了纳米银(Ag-NPs)、纳米金(Au-NPs)、纳米二氧化钛(TiO_2-NPs)、纳米氧化锌(ZnO-NPs)、纳米二氧化硅(SiO_2-NPs)、富勒烯(C_(60))、单壁与多壁碳纳米管(SWCNTs/MWCNTs)以及石墨烯与氧化石墨烯(GO)等典型纳米材料对内质网结构与功能的影响,并归纳总结了内质网在不同纳米材料诱导的毒性效应中的作用及其异同点.纳米材料可通过引起内质网应激诱导细胞凋亡、炎症反应以及细胞自噬,还可通过激活IP_3信号通路诱导内质网Ca~(2+)释放激活钙依赖的细胞凋亡.纳米材料可在内质网中积累造成结构损伤及功能障碍,还可诱导内质网自噬.     

有机荧光探针辅助的近红外荧光成像技术在宫颈癌中的应用

荧光成像已被广泛应用于生物医学和临床诊断领域。近红外(Near-infrared,NIR,700–1 700nm)荧光成像在NIR波段对生物组织显影,与可见光波段(400–760 nm)的传统荧光成像相比,更有助于提高成像的信噪比和灵敏度。高质量的荧光成像需要借助良好的荧光探针,纳米技术的快速发展使具备良好荧光特性的有机染料不断涌现。与无机荧光探针相比,有机荧光探针具有安全性高、生物相容性好、光学稳定性强等优点。因此有机荧光探针辅助的NIR荧光成像可为研究者提供生物样品的结构和动态信息,是当前光学、化学、生物医学等多学科交叉研究领域的热点。文中结合近年来有机荧光探针在宫颈癌成像应用中的研究,概述了几种典型的有机荧光探针辅助NIR荧光成像在宫颈癌中的应用,如吲哚青绿、七甲川菁染料、罗丹明类荧光探针和聚合物荧光纳米颗粒,并对其发展前景和应用价值进行了展望。     

量子点的荧光特性在生物标记成像中的应用及展望

与传统的荧光染料相比,量子点作为一种新型的无机荧光纳米材料,具有激发光谱宽而连续、发射光谱窄而对称、光稳定性好、荧光寿命长、量子产率高和生物毒性小等优点,被广泛地应用于生命科学的许多领域,其在细胞标记(固定细胞和离体活细胞)和活体示踪成像领域具有独特的应用优势.它突破了传统的有机荧光染料在荧光性能及生物毒性等方面的不可克服的缺陷.它的应用,极大地推动了生命体系高灵敏、原位、实时、动态示踪成像研究的发展.该文综述了量子点的荧光性质及其在细胞标记(固定细胞和离体活细胞)和活体实时动态示踪成像中的应用,并对其在荧光原位杂交,流式细胞术,实时荧光定量pcr等方面的应用前景进行了展望.     

磁场下铁基氧化物纳米材料的生物医学应用

在过去的几年中,磁性纳米材料的快速发展对生物医学变革产生了巨大的影响。作为磁性纳米材料家族重要的一大分类,纳米级铁基氧化物由于其良好的生物相容性、表面易功能化、独特的磁学性质等特点,在生物医学相关领域展现出巨大的应用前景。本综述围绕磁场下铁基氧化物纳米材料的生物医学应用,介绍了近年来其在磁分离、磁性药物靶向(magnetic drug targeting, MDT)、磁共振成像(magnetic resonance imaging, MRI)、磁性粒子成像(magnetic particle imaging, MPI)、磁响应药物释放、磁流体热疗(magnetic fluid hyperthermia, MFH)等领域的研究进展,并对铁基氧化物纳米材料在生物医学领域未来的发展方向进行了展望。     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Selection with two alleles and complete dominance

For a plant selection model with frequency-independent viabilities, fertilities and selfing rates, it is shown that apart from global fixation, for certain parameter combinations a protected polymorphism and facultative fixation (either allele may become fixed according to initial frequencies) may both occur. Facultative fixation requires different selling rates for the dominant and recessive type. Protection of the polymorphism requires resource allocation for male and female function. In this connection the problem of purely genetically caused population extinction is discussed.
For general frequency dependence and regular segregation, the chances for establishment of a completely recessive gene are compared to those of a completely dominant gene. It is proven that the process of establishment of the recessive gene, despite a fitness advantage, may be considerably endangered by drift effects if random mating prevails. The recessive gene may reach the same effectivity in establishment as a dominant gene, only if the recessive homozygote mates exclusively with its own type during the period of establishment.     

Composition and diversity of bird communities in Swedish farmland–forest mosaic landscapes

CapsuleThe amount of forest (at local and landscape scales) and occurrence of residual habitats at the local scale are shown to be the major factors influencing bird community composition in farmland–forest landscapes in central Sweden.

Aims To investigate the importance of local habitat and landscape structure for breeding birds in farmland–forest landscapes in central Sweden.

Methods Breeding birds were censused at 292 points. A detailed habitat mapping was made within 300 m of the points. Within a 300–600 m radius only two major habitats (forests and arable fields) were identified.

Results Cluster analyses of bird communities identified three site types that also differed in habitat composition: (i) partially forested sites in forested landscapes; (ii) heterogeneous sites with residual habitats in mosaic landscapes; and (iii) field-dominated farmland sites in open landscapes. A total of 19 of 25 farmland bird species (restricted to farmland or using both farmland and forest) had the highest abundance in farmland sites with mosaics of forest and farmland, while only six farmland species had the highest abundance in field-dominated sites. The bird community changed from being dominated by farmland species to being dominated by forest species (common in forest landscapes without farmland) at small proportions (10–20%) of forest at the local scale. A major difference in habitat composition between heterogeneous and field-dominated sites was the occurrence of different residual habitats (e.g. shrubby areas and seminatural grasslands). These habitats seemed to influence bird community composition more than land-use, despite covering <10% of the area. Seminatural grasslands were important for bird community composition and species-richness, but grazing seemed to be less important. Among different land-use types, cereal crops were the least preferred fields. Set-asides with tall vegetation and short rotation coppices were positively associated with species-richness of farmland birds.

Conclusion In general, the composition of the landscape was important for bird community composition, although amount and distribution of forests, occurrence of residual habitats and land-use of fields at the local scale had the strongest influence on bird community composition. The possible implications of these patterns for managing farmland–forest landscapes are discussed.     

Chemical constituents from the fruits of Rhus typhina L. and their chemotaxonomic significance

This work describes the isolation and characterization of twenty-nine compounds from the fruits of Rhus typhina L., including eleven flavonoids (1–11), eleven phenols (12–22), two pentacyclic triterpenes (23–24), two organic acids (25–26), one lumichrome (27), one courmarin (28) and one pyrimidine (29) on the basis of their spectroscopic data. Compounds apigenin (1), daidzein (4), orobol (5), 3′, 5, 5′, 7-tetrahydroxyflavanone (6), naringenin (7), butein (8), (-)-catechin (9), quercetin-3-O-α-L-(3″-O-galloyl)-rhamnoside (11), 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (13), 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (14), vanillin (15), methyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate (16), 3,5-dihydroxybenzamide (18), tyrosol (19), caffeic acid (20), 3-(2,4,6-trihydroxyphenyl)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-propan-1-one (21), phlorizin (22), friedelin (23), oleanolic acid (24), 4,4-dimethyl-heptanedioic acid (25), anthranilic acid (26), lumichrome (27), scoparone (28) and uracil (29) have not been recorded before in this plant. This is the first report on the occurrence of compounds 4–7, 9, 11, 13–14, 16, 18–21, 25–29 from the genus Rhus. Moreover, the chemotaxonomic significance of these isolated compounds was also summarized.