拟杆菌与肠道微生态

人和动物的肠道正常微生态体系对于维持机体的健康有重要作用.文章主要介绍了肠道中的优势厌氧菌--拟杆菌的作用及其作用机理,从其基因组角度揭示它对宿主益生作用的根源,为进一步认识动物与其共生菌的互惠关系提供了重要依据,同时也为动物肠道疾病的防治提供重要的理论基础.     

肠道菌群参与宿主免疫应答的作用及机制研究进展

肠道菌群作为动物体内重要的组成部分,能够直接参与机体的免疫调控作用,促进机体免疫系统发育,维持正常免疫功能。同时,免疫系统对肠道菌群又有调控和制约作用。本文主要综述了肠道菌群的组成以及影响肠道菌群变化的因素,系统阐述了肠道菌群与疾病相互作用的机制,总结了肠道菌群在宿主感染与免疫应答中的作用,为开展肠道菌群参与机体免疫应答的机制方面的研究提供新的思路。     

ANGPTL4在肠道微生物影响动物脂肪代谢中的作用

血管生成素样蛋白4(Angiopoietin-like protein 4,ANGPTL4)是一种与动物脂肪代谢密切相关的蛋白,在动物体多组织广泛表达,是沟通肠道菌群和宿主脂肪代谢的重要媒介之一。综述了肠道微生物与宿主脂肪沉积的关系、肠道微生物对宿主ANGPTL4的影响、ANGPTL4在动物脂肪代谢中的作用以及肠道微生物-ANGPTL4-动物脂肪代谢关系,讨论了肠道微生物通过ANGPTL4调节动物脂肪代谢研究的意义及存在的问题,为将来更好解释益生菌和酸化剂等饲料添加剂影响畜禽脂肪沉积、促进生产性能的现象提供依据。     

miRNAs对动物肠道健康的调控作用

miRNAs(micro RNAs)是一类长约22 nt,参与mRNA转录后调控的非编码小分子RNA。作为基因表达的关键调控因子,其参与了各类细胞的增殖、分化、凋亡以及机体的生长发育等多种生命活动。肠道不仅是机体营养物质消化吸收的主要部位,也是重要的免疫器官。研究表明,miRNAs在肠道中的表达丰富,对肠道正常的发育及功能起重要的调控作用。文章结合本研究组的研究成果,对miRNAs的生物合成以及其对动物肠道功能的影响、肠道稳态的维持等方面的研究进展做简要综述,以期在分子营养学方面,为深入了解miRNAs对动物肠道健康的调控作用提供理论指导依据。     

果蝇肠道共生菌对宿主作用的研究进展

肠道共生菌是动物体内的重要组成部分,在宿主的生长发育和健康等方面发挥着重要作用,近年来已成为国内外的研究热点。果蝇作为研究肠道微生物菌群功能的优秀模型,在肠道共生菌与宿主关系研究方面已取得许多重要进展。在本文中,我们首先对果蝇肠道微生物的组成和特征作了总结,然后对果蝇肠道共生菌在其生长发育、营养与代谢、行为反应、寿命以及免疫与疾病方面的作用进行了综述,以期为研究人类肠道共生菌功能和肠道健康提供一定理论依据和新的思路。     

非人灵长类肠道微生物研究进展与展望

肠道微生物组被誉为动物的“第二套基因组”,与动物的个体发育、营养获取、生理功能、免疫调节等重要活动密切相关。非人灵长类在生态位、社会结构、地理分布以及进化上与人类相近,开展其肠道微生物研究不仅有助于了解灵长类的生态、保护和进化,而且对深入了解肠道微生物在人类进化中所发挥的作用也具有重要的参考价值。本文总结了影响非人灵长类肠道微生物变化的因素,包括系统发育、觅食、栖息地破碎化、年龄和性别、圈养方式以及社群生活,并探讨了肠道微生物研究在非人灵长类生态、行为、保护以及适应性进化方面的应用。未来,非人灵长类肠道微生物研究将为灵长类生态、进化和人类健康的研究提供新的视角,为灵长类的保护提供新的理论基础和研究方法。     

动物肠道菌群结构分析方法进展

动物肠道菌群形成一个庞大而复杂的微生态平衡系统,在维持胃肠道健康方面起着重要作用,具有营养、屏障和免疫等功能,其科研价值极大。本文就分析动物肠道菌群结构所采用的传统纯培养法、ERIC-PCR分子杂交技术、16SrDNA分子测序技术、荧光原位杂交技术及宏基因组学技术进展进行综述。为进一步对动物肠道微生物研究选择有效合理的分析方法,研究各种动物肠道菌群的组成分布、结构功能、影响因素及其与疾病的关系等提供可行性理论指导。     

表皮生长因子对动物肠道黏蛋白分泌的影响及其作用机制

表皮生长因子(epidermal growth factor, EGF)是一种含有53个氨基酸残基的小分子肽,在黏膜屏障功能的维持与修复中发挥重要作用。黏液层是动物肠道的第一道屏障,可阻止有害菌的入侵,同时也是机体与外部环境交换营养物质、水、气体等物质的重要场所。黏蛋白(mucins, MUCs)是黏液层的主要成分,它是一种相对分子质量较高的糖蛋白。EGF可通过刺激肠道杯状细胞的增殖促进黏蛋白的分泌以维持肠道黏液的不断更新。本文主要综述了黏蛋白的结构和功能以及EGF对肠道黏蛋白分泌的影响及其调控作用机制,以期为EGF在动物肠道健康调节中的作用提供参考。     

动物肠道菌群与宿主肠道免疫系统相互作用的研究进展

作为动物机体中最大的免疫器官之一,动物肠道是机体阻止外源病原体入侵的重要防线。动物肠道中定殖的微生物与宿主的营养物代谢,疾病和免疫系统发育等密切相关。该文主要综述了肠道微生物对于维持肠道屏障完整性的作用、诱导机体T、B淋巴细胞的发育和分化的分子机制及与一些代谢类疾病发生的关系等内容。尽管如此,肠道微生物与宿主免疫系统相互作用的机制还有待深入研究。随着免疫学、微生物学及分子生物学等学科的发展,对动物肠道菌群与宿主免疫系统互作机制的研究也得到快速发展,并为临床上预防和治疗人类疾病提供理论支撑。     

2016年动物胃肠道微生物组研究十大亮点成果

动物胃肠道微生物对生产性能提高具有重要的作用,因此营养、微生物组与生产表型的互作研究已经成为国际研究热点。综述了2016年动物胃肠道微生物组学研究取得的十项重要成果,这些成果通过组学方法,研究了瘤胃纤维分解菌和尿素分解菌的功能基因多样性,揭示了微生物群落与日粮营养素、宿主基因型、环境的互作关系,阐明了反刍动物生产表型相关的瘤胃微生物种类和功能;首次构建猪肠道微生物组参考基因集,解析猪全肠道黏膜微生物组成,阐明了猪增重相关肠道微生物种类。这十大亮点成果将为国内动物营养学家开展动物胃肠道微生物组学研究提供参考。     

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.