几种因素对牙鲆胚胎玻璃化冷冻保存的影响

鱼类胚胎冷冻保存技术还远没有成熟, 为了寻找最佳的鱼类胚胎玻璃化冷冻保存条件, 我们以牙鲆(Paralichthys olivaceus) 胚胎为例, 研究了影响鱼类胚胎玻璃化冷冻保存的几个主要因子: 玻璃化液、麦管直径、胚胎阶段、平衡时间及平衡温度、洗脱浓度和洗脱时间。发现: (1) 含有多种抗冻剂的玻璃化液PMDD(2% PVP), 玻璃化稳定, 脱玻璃化率较低, 适宜进行玻璃化冷冻; (2) 尾芽期胚胎较其他时期耐受力强, 平衡40 min就足以使玻璃化液渗透完全, 时间延长, 成活率显著降低, 各个时期的胚胎对温度都比较敏感, 0°C与4°C下平衡的成活率显著高于15°C; (3) 洗脱浓度和洗脱时间对胚胎成活率影响不大; (4) 根据优化的条件, 对牙鲆两个时期的胚胎进行超低温冷冻保存实验, 共成活4次, 获得成活胚胎8粒, 其中7粒孵化出健康的鱼苗。本文为鱼类胚胎冷冻保存技术的建立提供基础资料, 并显示了牙鲆胚胎玻璃化冷冻保存是可行的。     

小鼠不同阶段胚胎玻璃化冷冻保存的比较研究

采用玻璃化冷冻法对ICR、C57BL/6、DBA~*C57BL/6杂交F1代三种品系小鼠的不同阶段胚胎进行冷冻保存,比较胚胎解冻后形态良好率、体外发育率和移植后的出生率,结果表明解冻后各品系小鼠胚胎从2细胞到桑椹胚形态良好率在75%以上,其中8细胞胚胎形态良好率在83%以上,而囊胚的形态良好率仅在40%左右。解冻后胚胎体外培养的发育率随胚胎发育阶段的提高而提高,桑椹胚的发育达93%以上。体外受精2细胞冷冻胚与体内受精2细胞冷冻胚比较,二者形态良好率差异无显著意义(74%∶75%),但体内受精冷冻胚的发育率明显高于体外受精冷冻胚(76%:40%,p<0.01);胚胎经过三次反复冻融后形态良好率无显著差别;冷冻2细胞胚移植后的受孕率与仔鼠出生率分别达64%和40%,但均低于新鲜2细胞胚。     

用冷冻胚胎发育的婴儿比自然受精更健康

丹麦哥本哈根大学国家教学研究医院的医生安雅&#183;平博格领导的研究小组,研究了1995～2006年间使用冷冻胚胎生产出的1200名婴儿的资料．同时也比较了17857名自然受精的胎儿的资料。结果发现,由冷冻胚胎经过发育生产出的胎儿,通常体重较大,平均多出20％．发生早产和畸形的概率较小。由冷冻胚胎发育生产的孩子中,产生双胞胎或者三胞胎的比例仅为14．2％,而自然受精生产出的婴儿中,多胞胎的比例是27．3％。多胞胎通常会增加产妇发生并发症的危险性,甚至危及产妇生命。还发现使用冷冻胚胎生产的胎儿的先天畸形比例是7．1％,自然受精分娩的胎儿的先天畸形比例却是8．8％。研究人员推测很可能是因为在冷冻胚胎移植过程中,只有质量很高的胚胎才能够挺过冷冻和解冻的全过程。     

应用乙二醇冷冻小鼠胚胎：优化和简化程序的探索

提高解冻胚胎的发育能力和简化冷冻解冻程序是胚胎冷冻研究的两大永恒的主题。尽管乙二醇（EG）广泛用于家畜胚胎冷冻,但很少用于冷冻小鼠和人胚胎。为数很少的以EG慢冻小鼠或人胚胎的研究均采用较为复杂的人胚冷冻程序,未见简化程序和用EG冷冻小鼠桑椹胚的报道。采用简单的牛胚胎冷冻程序研究了发育时期、EG浓度、平衡方法、添加蔗糖以及解冻后脱除EG等对小鼠胚胎冻后发育能力的影响。结果显示：（1）致密晚期桑椹胚冻后体外培养囊胚发育率（81.92%±2.24%）和孵出率（68.56％±2.43%）显著（P＜0.05)高于4-细胞、8-细胞胚胎和致密早期桑椹胚胎;（2）1.8mol/L EG冷冻小鼠致密晚期桑椹胚的囊胚发育和孵出率显著高于其它浓度;（3）在EG中平衡10min的冻后囊胚发育显著好于平衡5、20或30min;（4）两步平衡冷冻胚胎的囊胚发育率和孵出率显著高于一步平衡;（5）用EG冷冻小鼠胚胎无需添加蔗糖;（6）解冻后可不脱除EG;（7）冻后发育的早期囊胚和囊胚细胞数明显少于体内发育胚胎。因此,用EG冷冻小鼠胚胎的最佳方案为：致密晚期桑椹胚用1.8mol/L EG不添加蔗糖、两步平衡15min、以简单的牛胚胎冷冻程序冷冻解冻、解冻后不脱除EG直接培养或移植。     

两种冷冻保护剂对小鼠2-细胞胚冷冻效果的比较

乙二醇（ETG）和1,2-丙二醇（PROH）具有高细胞渗透性和低毒性特点,常被用于人及多种哺乳动物早期胚胎冷冻保存。为了比较ETG和PROH对小鼠2-细胞胚的冷冻保护效果,本试验分别采用这两种冷冻保护剂,对小鼠2-细胞胚进行冷冻保存,并采用冻后体外培养和囊胚移植进行冷冻效果检测。结果表明,PROH组胚胎解冻后胚胎存活率与ETG组无显著差异,但PROH组4-细胞胚发育率和囊胚发育率显著高于ETG组（82．7％vs．64．6％,61．2％vs．29．1％,P〈0．01）。囊胚移植结果表明,2-细胞胚胎冻存后能够发育为正常的后代,PROH组和ETG组的囊胚移植后妊娠产仔率无统计学差异（P〉0．05）,但均显著低于对照组（P〈0．05）。为了分析两组胚胎冻存后损伤情况,埘解冻后的胚胎细胞微丝进行检测,结果显示ETG组微丝受损的胚胎数高于PROH组。本研究结果证明采用PROH作为冷冻保护剂冷冻保存小鼠2-细胞胚的冻存效果优于ETG[动物学报54（6）：1098—1105,2008]。     

文昌鱼胚胎的程序化冷冻保存

文昌鱼在进化和发育生物学中有重要科学研究价值,然而由于文昌鱼实验室繁殖受产卵季节等因素的限制,以其胚胎为材料的研究工作受到局限,胚胎冷冻保存是解决这一问题的有效途径之一。本文首次对文昌鱼(Branchiostoma japonicum)胚胎的程序化冷冻保存进行了研究,通过筛选合适的程序化抗冻液、适宜的胚胎发育阶段,以及比较不同平衡处理时间、植冰温度、保存温度和洗脱时间对文昌鱼胚胎冷冻保存的影响。结果表明:几种抗冻液中,A2的效果较好,对胚胎的毒性小;原肠中期胚胎较其它时期对抗冻液的耐受力更强,适宜进行冷冻保存;胚胎在抗冻液中的最佳平衡处理时间为40-50min;冷冻降温时,适宜的植冰温度为-7.0℃--10.0℃;植冰后进行程序化冷冻,目前能稳定得到存活胚胎的最低保存温度为-15℃;此外,不同的洗脱时间对胚胎的存活率无显著影响。根据优化后的条件,对文昌鱼胚胎进行程序化冷冻保存(-196℃)实验,获得1粒存活的胚胎,并孵化出膜,发育至两鳃裂时期,幼鱼共存活了8d,但形态畸形。结果提示文昌鱼胚胎冷冻保存的可行性,但需要进一步优化包括抗冻液在内的各种条件,以提高存活率。     

牛卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻保存影响因素的研究

采用毛细玻璃管法对牛卵母细胞进行玻璃化冷冻保存,解冻后再进行体外受精（IVF）和早期胚胎的体外培养（IVC）。在此技术的基础上,分别对冷冻前平衡时间、解冻处理、卵丘细胞层数以及卵母细胞所处的减数分裂阶段等影响卵母细胞冷冻保存的因素进行研究,以期筛选出适合牛卵母细胞冷冻保存的方法。结果发现,处于MⅡ期卵母细胞在10％二甲基亚砜（DMSO）＋10％乙二醇（EG）液（VSl）中平衡1～3min,然后进行玻璃化冷冻保存。解冻时将卵母细胞先移入VS1液中处理15s,然后移入蔗糖稀释液中。另外发现,冷冻保存时部分卵丘细胞对卵母细胞有保护作用。而减数分裂阶段不影响解冻后卵母细胞形态正常率,但对胚胎发育率有严重影响。     

两种玻璃化胚胎冷冻方法对不同品系小鼠胚胎冷冻效果比较

目的探讨EFS和DAP两种玻璃化冷冻方法对不同品系小鼠胚胎冷冻的效果。方法6个品系小鼠（KM、ICR、BALB／c、C57BL／6J、OB／OB、LAP／~TAOF59）的2-cell胚胎分别用EFS和DAP两种玻璃化冷冻方法进行冷冻和复苏,比较两种冷冻方法的胚胎复苏率和着床率。结果6个品系小鼠冷冻胚胎EFS方法的平均复苏率为69．97％（47．9％～83．6％）,DAP方法的平均复苏率47．23％（26．3％-76．7％）,EFS方法明显优于DAP方法。其中KM、ICR和BALB／c小鼠EFS方法的冷冻复苏率显著高于DAP方法（P〈0．01）;冻融胚胎移植后EFS方法的平均着床率27．23％（1．75％一45．0％）,DAP方法的平均着床率31．43％（7．0％一46．3％）。除KM、ICR小鼠外,其他4个品系小鼠的着床率DAP方法高于EFS方法。结论KM和ICR远交群小鼠胚胎适合用EFS方法冷冻保存;C57BL／6J、OB／OB、LAP／aTAOF59三个品系小鼠DAP方法优于EFS方法,但差异不大;BALB／c小鼠两种玻璃化冷冻方法的冻融胚胎着床率均较低,需进一步研究。     

食蟹猴和恒河猴卵母细胞及早期胚胎玻璃化冻存

为了节省经费和使转基因模型动物品种资源得到妥善保存,该研究利用自制的梯度浓度冷冻液和解冻液结合玻璃化方式分别冷冻和解冻了非人灵长类动物的183个卵母细胞（GV期、MI期和MII期）、114个卵裂期胚胎（2-细胞期、4-细胞期和8-细胞期）及25个桑椹期胚胎。其中食蟹猴卵母细胞67个,卵裂期胚胎45个,桑椹期胚胎11个;恒河猴卵母细胞116个,卵裂期胚胎69个,桑椹期胚胎14个。复苏后存活率分别为56/67（83.58%）、36/45（80.00%）、9/11（81.82%）、102/116（87.93%）、55/69（79.71%）和11/14（78.57%）。结果表明,快速玻璃化冷冻法简便且胚胎存活率高,是一种较好的冷冻食蟹猴和恒河猴卵母细胞及胚胎的方法。     

猪胚胎开放式拉长细管玻璃化冷冻保存研究

从20头供体母猪获得的291枚可用胚胎(囊胚/桑葚胚),采用二步法开放式拉长细管(OPS,openpulledstraw)玻璃化冷冻技术进行保存,即胚胎首先在冷冻液I(TCM199 20?S 10%EG 10%DMSO)中平衡3min,然后立即转入冷冻液II(TCM199 20?S 20%EG 20%DMSO 0.4mol/LSUC)中并在1min内装管,直接投入液氮保存;3个月后解冻移植给8头受体母猪,其中1头怀孕产仔(8头活仔),在我国首次获得猪胚胎超低温(-196℃)冷冻后代。     

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.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.