蔗糖和海藻糖对水牛卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻保护效果的比较

本实验比较蔗糖或海藻糖作为非渗透性保护剂对水牛成熟卵母细胞冷冻效果的影响。将体外成熟的水牛卵母细胞随机分成对照组、蔗糖组、海藻糖组,研究玻璃化冷冻后的存活率、细胞骨架和孤雌激活后发育潜能的变化。结果表明:玻璃化冷冻中蔗糖组(89.68%)与海藻糖组(91.81%)的存活率差异不显著;冻融后的卵母细胞在细胞骨架方面的表现为:蔗糖组和海藻糖组的纺锤体结构、染色体形态与微丝分布正常率分别为34.69%、42.83%、39.13%和39.51%、49.43%、42.61%,两组间差异不显著(p0.05),但均明显低于对照组(66.40%,71.82%,76.18%,p0.01);在进一步研究发育潜能中发现,冻融后卵母细胞的卵裂率、囊胚率和囊胚细胞数在实验组中均无显著性差异(p0.05),但两组的卵裂率、囊胚率均显著低于对照组(p0.01)。综上所述,玻璃化冷冻时添加蔗糖或海藻糖作为非渗透性保护剂对水牛成熟卵母细胞的保护作用差异不明显,表明两者均可在冷冻时添加使用。     

微流控芯片用于卵母细胞冷冻保存的实验研究

低温保存对卵母细胞造成渗透损伤、毒性损伤和冰晶损伤,使得细胞冻后质量难以提高.本文首次提出将微流控法添加-去除保护剂分别与三种冷冻载体(OPS、QC及Cryotop)搭配使用,对猪卵母细胞进行冷冻保存,并与传统冷冻法进行比较;然后,首次选用透明陶瓷和玻璃制作集成一体化芯片,对猪卵母细胞进行冷冻保存,以冷冻保存后的细胞存活率和发育率为判断依据,筛选出较好的方案;最后,对冻后卵母细胞的早期凋亡情况、胞内活性氧水平和线粒体膜电位水平进行分析.结果表明,微流控添加-去除保护剂组卵母细胞冻后存活率以及卵裂率都显著高于传统冷冻组,可以有效降低卵母细胞的早期凋亡率和胞内活性氧水平,减小线粒体损伤,提高细胞的冻后质量.透明陶瓷一体化芯片保存卵母细胞得到的存活率和卵裂率与传统OPS冷冻的保存结果无显著差异.微流控芯片技术为卵母细胞的低温保存提供新的思路,有较好的应用前景.     

微流控线性加载低温保护剂减少猪MⅡ期卵母细胞的渗透损伤

在卵母细胞低温保存中,通常需要加载冷冻保护剂来抑制冰晶对细胞的损伤,但高浓度冷冻保护剂的加载会对细胞造成渗透损伤.为了减小细胞的渗透损伤,本文设计并制作了适合卵母细胞冷冻保护剂加载的微流体装置,研究了微流控线性加载30%(v/v)二甲基亚砜(Me2SO)低温保护剂时细胞内保护剂浓度变化、细胞体积变化,以及对细胞存活率与发育率的影响,并与传统的加载方法(一步法、分步法)做了比较.结果表明:微流控法能够实现卵母细胞冷冻保护剂的连续线性加载,避免了卵母细胞体积的骤变,显著减小了细胞的渗透损伤,提高了细胞的存活率.其中细胞的最小渗透体积减小为0.86V0,细胞的存活率达到92.8%,比一步法高33%,比两步法高16.3%,但与四步法之间无显著性差异.经孤雌激活后体外培养,细胞的卵裂率和囊胚率分别达到75.8%和27.4%,都显著高于一步法和分步法(P0.05).因此,微流控线性加载低温保护剂能够显著减小细胞的渗透损伤,为卵母细胞低温保存技术提供新思路.     

一种安全有效的卵母细胞封闭式玻璃化冷冻载体

目的探讨封闭式玻璃化冷冻载体冻存小鼠卵母细胞的可行性。方法以小鼠MII期卵母细胞为模型,以开放式玻璃微细管法（GMP）为对照组,比较两种玻璃化冷冻载体对小鼠卵母细胞冷冻后的存活率、受精率、卵裂率及囊胚率的影响。结果卵母细胞经冻融后,封闭式冷冻载体组和GMP组的存活率、受精率、卵裂率和囊胚率均没有明显差异（92.80%vs93.11%,49.80%vs51.67%,36.73%vs35.83%,12.65%vs14.17%%;P〉0.05）。结论封闭式冷冻载体能安全、有效的冷冻保存小鼠卵母细胞。     

猪卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻后细胞骨架的变化

为研究玻璃化冷冻后猪卵母细胞纺锤体、染色体和微丝的变化，从屠宰猪卵巢表面直径2—5 mm卵泡中采集未成熟(GV)期卵母细胞，由GV期卵母细胞经成熟培养获得体外成熟(MⅡ)期卵母细胞。GV期和MⅡ期卵母细胞各分为3组：对照组、冷冻保护剂处理组和玻璃化冷冻组。MⅡ期卵母细胞经分组处理后直接用于激光扫描共聚焦显微镜(LSCM)观察样本；而GV期卵母细胞处理后先经44 h成熟培养，再用作LSCM观察样本。供试卵母细胞经固定、免疫荧光染色后，于LSCM下观察。结果表明，冷冻保护剂处理组GV期卵母细胞经成熟培养后，其纺锤体结构、染色体排列与微丝分布正常率分别为42.9%、89.6%和28.6%；玻璃化冷冻组此3项指标的正常率分别为10.1%、36.4%和16.9%，两组间差异显著(P<0.05)；除冷冻保护剂处理组染色体正常率与对照组无较大差异外，两试验组的其他指标均明显低于对照组(分别为79.5%、93.1%和72.3%，P<0.05)。MⅡ期卵母细胞冷冻保护剂处理组的纺锤体结构、染色体排列与微丝分布正常率分别为34.4%、61.3%和47.9%，而冷冻组分别为12.9%、56.7%和37.2%，两组均显著低于对照组(分别为78.3%、90.1%和72.8%，P<0.05)。结果表明，猪GV期和MⅡ期卵母细胞经冷冻保护剂处理或玻璃化冷冻保存后，均造成了纺锤体、染色体和微丝不可逆的损伤，这可能是影响卵母细胞成熟、受精与发育的重要原因。     

活体肺癌组织玻璃化保存的研究

保存活体的肺癌组织将为肺癌发病基因筛查和靶向药物筛选等体外实验研究提供更完整的样本信息. 本文对活体肺癌组织的玻璃化保存方法进行研究，首先采用针浸法玻璃化保存单块肺癌组织，对所需低温保护剂的浓度和平衡时间进行了优化；其次采用冻存管对多块肺癌组织样本进行玻璃化保存，对低温保护剂溶液体积以及平衡时间进行了优化；最后对慢速冷冻、不加低温保护剂快速冷冻、玻璃化冷冻3种冷冻方法的冻存效果进行比较并通过低温显微分析其冰晶损伤机理.结果表明，20% EG+20% DMSO+0.5 mol/L海藻糖作为低温保护剂，在平衡溶液和玻璃化溶液分别加载3 min和1 min时，针浸法和0.25 ml冻存管内玻璃化冻存，复苏后组织活力最高，分别约为79.96%与80.44%. 免疫组化显示玻璃化保存肺癌组织经过复苏后，相比慢速冷冻和无保护剂快速冷冻，组织结构损伤较小，组织内细胞TUNEL阳性表达较少. 低温显微结果表明，玻璃化保存组织内部及周围只出现少量细小冰晶，而慢速冷冻、快速冷冻组织皆出现明显冰晶.     

利用体细胞核移植技术生产表达绿色荧光蛋白的猪转基因克隆胚胎

以转染了质粒pEGFP-N1的猪胎儿成纤维细胞与体外成熟(in vitro maturation, IVM)的猪卵母细胞构建克隆胚, 比较了细胞转染后G418筛选与否, 卵母细胞IVM持续时间及IVM时氧分压高低对克隆胚早期发育的影响. 结果如下: (ⅰ) G418连续筛选10天所得转GFP细胞的克隆胚卵裂率显著低于非筛选组(47.5% vs. 71.6%, P<0.05), 而囊胚率差异不显著(10% vs. 10.4%, P>0.05); (ⅱ) 相比于36 h IVM, 延长IVM时间至 42 h卵母细胞的核成熟明显改善(83.6% vs. 96.7%, P<0.05); 另外, 虽然IVM 42 h也使得克隆胚卵裂率(59.3% vs. 73.6%)及囊胚率(9. 3% vs. 13.2%)都略有提高, 但效果不显著 (P>0.05); (ⅲ) 7%氧IVM 42 h 的卵母细胞与20%氧处理组相比, 克隆胚的卵裂率(70.6% vs. 67.1%)以及囊胚率(11.8% vs. 12.3%)差异都不明显(P>0.05). 上述结果显示: (ⅰ) G418筛选对转绿色荧光蛋白基因(GFP)克隆胚卵裂不利; (ⅱ) IVM 36和42 h的卵母细胞对克隆胚早期发育影响不明显, 但IVM 42 h有利于核成熟, 因此构建克隆胚时仍以IVM 42 h的卵母细胞为宜; (ⅲ) 低氧对猪转GFP克隆胚早期发育无明显促进作用.     

山羊卵巢大小对卵母细胞体外成熟的影响

目的探讨卵巢大小对卵母细胞体外成熟的影响。方法根据质量将卵巢分为3组,Ⅰ组质量小于0.95 g,Ⅱ组质量介于0.95~1.7 g,Ⅲ组质量大于1.7 g,并统计了不同组卵母细胞的体外成熟率、孤雌激活胚的卵裂率和囊胚率,以及克隆胚的卵裂率和囊胚率。结果 3组卵母细胞体外成熟率分别为62.25%、43.58%和40.7%;3组孤雌激活胚卵裂率分别为83.77%、82.92%和79.73%;孤雌激活胚囊胚发育率分别为19.51%、18.9%和18.78%;3组克隆胚的卵裂率分别为67.36%、65.97%和66.33%;克隆胚囊胚发育率分别为11.63%、13.41%和12.29%。Ⅰ组卵母细胞体外成熟率显著高于其余2组,3组之间孤雌激活胚卵裂率、孤雌激活胚囊胚率、克隆胚卵裂率和克隆胚囊胚发育率差异无统计学意义。结论上述结果表明来源于小卵巢的卵母细胞体外成熟率最高。卵巢大小仅影响卵母细胞的体外成熟率,对发育能力无影响。     

有无卵丘细胞对猪GV期卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻的影响

本研究探讨卵丘细胞对猪GV期卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻效果的影响。根据卵丘细胞层数将体外收集的猪卵母细胞分成对照组、A组(3层以上卵丘细胞)、B组(2~3层以上卵丘细胞)、C组(裸卵),研究卵母细胞玻璃化冷冻后的存活率、成熟率和孤雌激活后发育潜能的变化。结果表明:玻璃化冷冻后B组和A组的卵母细胞存活率显著高于C组(p0.01);冻融后的卵母细胞在成熟率方面的表现为:A、B、C三组的成熟率分别为22.17%、27.2%和18.15%,其中B组的成熟率显著高于C组(p0.05),但均明显低于对照组(p0.01)。通过进一步的孤雌激活发现,冻融后卵母细胞的卵裂率、4~8细胞卵裂率和囊胚率在3组中均无显著性差异(p0.05),均显著低于对照组(p0.01),但B组与其中两组相比具有上升趋势。综上所述,玻璃化冷冻时保留部分卵丘细胞可以降低冷冻对猪GV期卵母细胞造成的损伤。     

3种玻璃化冷冻液对水牛MⅡ期卵母细胞冷冻-解冻后体外发育的影响

本试验主要探索了3种玻璃化冷冻液对水牛MⅡ期卵母细胞冷冻一解冻后体外发育的影响.水牛MⅡ期卵母细胞经3组玻璃化冷冻液(Ⅰ:20%乙二醇(EG)+20%二甲基亚砜(DMSO);Ⅱ:20%EG+20%丙二醇(PROH);Ⅲ:20%EG+20%PROH+10%DMSO)毒性试验后,Ⅰ、Ⅱ和Ⅲ组体外受精的分裂率、8-细胞率和囊胚率之间差异不显著(P>0.05),分裂率均显著低于对照组(P<0.05),但Ⅱ组8-细胞以后的发育潜力跟对照组无显著差异(P>0.05).进一步比较了3组玻璃化冷冻液对卵母细胞的玻璃化冷冻效果.卵子解冻后进行体外受精后,Ⅰ、Ⅱ和Ⅲ组的发育潜力均显著低于对照组(P<0.05),各组的8-细胞率和囊胚率之间无显著差异(P>0.05),但Ⅱ组卵裂率明显高于Ⅰ组(24.8±4.6%vs12.7±1.5%,P<0.05).结果表明,3种冷冻玻璃化保护液均可用于冷冻水牛MⅡ期卵母细胞,其中Ⅱ组处理的卵母细胞体外受精效果相对较好.     

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.