竹节海棠叶外植体脱分化启动的细胞学观察

竹节海棠叶外植体接种于MS+6-BA1ppm+NAA0.1ppm培养基上。外植体脱分化启动过程中,表皮及叶肉细胞主要以劈裂的无丝分裂方式进行分裂:最初核延伸为纺锤形,核仁大而明显,使整个核的轮廓呈“眼”状;随着核的中部出现裂缝,核断开成为两部分,稍后,由原来的母细胞形成两个子细胞。由于核分裂前向细胞中央移动的距离及断裂时断裂面的不同,从而造成细胞团内细胞大小悬殊及分裂面严重混乱的不等分裂现象。文中对栅栏组织细胞脱分化启动后重复进行无丝分裂形成梯状细胞团的现象也进行了讨论。     

滇中常绿阔叶林及云南松林枯落物的初步研究

本文以滇中高原为背景。研究了通海秀山常绿阔叶林及云南松林的凋落物的数量、组成、季节变化规律、营养元素(N、P、K、Ca、Mg、Cu、Mn、Fe)含量、以及林地枯枝落叶层的现量,研究结果表明滇中地区森林的年凋落量是较大的,营养元素含量及贮量也是丰富的。两类森存林的凋落规律相似,常绿阔叶林的凋落量、营养元素含量及其贮量都大于云南松林,但两类森林的枯枝落叶现存量则相接近,说明常绿阔叶林的物质循环周期较云南松林短。文章提出为了提高森林土壤肥力、加快生物循环过程,增加生物产量,要注意保存林地内还原于土壤中的所有凋落物。     

激动素对韭菜叶片衰老的影响与活性氧代谢的关系

本文研究了激动素对韭菜离体叶片衰老的影响与活性氧代谢的关系。结果表明,在暗诱导衰老过程中抗坏血酸、谷胱甘肽含量和超氧物岐化酶、过氧化氢酶活性均呈下降趋势。激动素在延缓衰老的同时,明显抑制了抗坏血酸、谷胱甘肽含量和超氧物岐化酶、过氧化氢酶活性的下降以及膜脂过氧化产物丙二醛的积累。证明激动素延缓衰老的作用是通过调节活性氧代谢来实现的。     

β-甘露聚糖酶AuMan5A/Af酶学性质的改善与其Asp320的相关性分析

【目的】为改善宇佐美曲霉5家族β-甘露聚糖酶(AuMan5A)的酶学性质,本实验室前期将AuMan5A底物结合凹槽内一个7肽(~(316)KSPDGGN~(322))组成的loop替换为烟曲霉5家族β-甘露聚糖酶对应的氨基酸片段(PSPNDHF),得到loop替换突变酶AuMan5A/Af。为揭示AuMan5A/Af酶学性质显著改善与其Asp~(320)的相关性,定点突变构建突变体AuMan5A/Af~(D320G)。【方法】采用大引物PCR技术将AuMan5A/Af基因(Auman5A/Af)中编码Asp~(320)的密码子GAC突变为Gly~(320)的GGT,构建出突变体基因Auman5A/Af~(D320G),并在毕赤酵母GS115中进行表达,分析表达产物AuMan5A/Af~(D320G)的酶学性质。【结果】AuMan5A/Af~(D320G)的最适温度T_(opt)为70.0℃,变性温度T_m为71.5℃,介于AuMan5A(T_(opt)=65.0℃,T_m=64.5℃)和AuMan5A/Af(T_(opt)=75.0℃,T_m=76.6℃)之间;在70.0℃的半衰期为40 min,高于AuMan5A的10 min,但较AuMan5A/Af的480 min显著缩短;比活性分别是AuMan5A和AuMan5A/Af的2.7和0.3倍;催化效率(k_(cat)/K_m)分别是AuMan5A和AuMan5A/Af的3.9和0.3倍。【结论】将Asp~(320)突变为Gly~(320)显著影响了AuMan5A/Af的酶学性质,证明了Asp~(320)对AuMan5A/Af温度特性改善、比活性和催化效率显著提高的重要作用。     

Inhibition of Rac1 reduces store overload‐induced calcium release and protects against ventricular arrhythmia

Rac1 is a small GTPase and plays key roles in multiple cellular processes including the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, whether Rac1 activation during myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion (I/R) contributes to arrhythmogenesis is not fully understood. We aimed to study the effects of Rac1 inhibition on store overload‐induced Ca²⁺ release (SOICR) and ventricular arrhythmia during myocardial I/R. Adult Rac1^f/f and cardiac‐specific Rac1 knockdown (Rac1^ckd) mice were subjected to myocardial I/R and their electrocardiograms (ECGs) were monitored for ventricular arrhythmia. Myocardial Rac1 activity was increased and ventricular arrhythmia was induced during I/R in Rac1^f/f mice. Remarkably, I/R‐induced ventricular arrhythmia was significantly decreased in Rac1^ckd compared to Rac1^f/f mice. Furthermore, treatment with Rac1 inhibitor NSC23766 decreased I/R‐induced ventricular arrhythmia. Ca²⁺ imaging analysis showed that in response to a 6 mM external Ca²⁺ concentration challenge, SOICR was induced with characteristic spontaneous intracellular Ca²⁺ waves in Rac1^f/f cardiomyocytes. Notably, SOICR was diminished by pharmacological and genetic inhibition of Rac1 in adult cardiomyocytes. Moreover, I/R‐induced ROS production and ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2) oxidation were significantly inhibited in the myocardium of Rac1^ckd mice. We conclude that Rac1 activation induces ventricular arrhythmia during myocardial I/R. Inhibition of Rac1 suppresses SOICR and protects against ventricular arrhythmia. Blockade of Rac1 activation may represent a new paradigm for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia in ischaemic heart disease.     

Identification of Serum Biomarkers for Gastric Cancer Diagnosis Using a Human Proteome Microarray

We aimed to globally discover serum biomarkers for diagnosis of gastric cancer (GC). GC serum autoantibodies were discovered and validated using serum samples from independent patient cohorts encompassing 1,401 participants divided into three groups, i.e. healthy, GC patients, and GC-related disease group. To discover biomarkers for GC, the human proteome microarray was first applied to screen specific autoantibodies in a total of 87 serum samples from GC patients and healthy controls. Potential biomarkers were identified via a statistical analysis protocol. Targeted protein microarrays with only the potential biomarkers were constructed and used to validate the candidate biomarkers using 914 samples. To provide further validation, the abundance of autoantibodies specific to the biomarker candidates was analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the serum biomarkers. Finally, the efficacy of prognosis efficacy of the final four biomarkers was evaluated by analyzing the clinical records. The final panel of biomarkers consisting of COPS2, CTSF, NT5E, and TERF1 provides high diagnostic power, with 95% sensitivity and 92% specificity to differentiate GC patients from healthy individuals. Prognosis analysis showed that the panel could also serve as independent predictors of the overall GC patient survival. The panel of four serum biomarkers (COPS2, CTSF, NT5E, and TERF1) could serve as a noninvasive diagnostic index for GC, and the combination of them could potentially be used as a predictor of the overall GC survival rate.Gastric cancer (GC)¹ is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. A total of 952,000 new GC cases (6.8% of the total of the new cancer case) and 723,000 deaths (8.8% of the total new cancer case) occurred in 2012 (1). The highest mortality rates have been reported in East Asia, including China, Japan, and Korea (2–4), and ∼60% of new GC cases and deaths worldwide occur in this region. As GC has a 5-year survival rate of less than 15%, accurate diagnosis and prognostic assessment of patients are essential for optimizing therapeutic strategies, predicting the outcome of treatment, extending the survival period of patients, and potentially healing to reduce cancer mortality (5).A variety of serum antigen biomarkers has been used for GC diagnosis and prognosis, e.g. carcinoembryonic antigen, carbohydrate antibody 19-9 (CA19-9), carbohydrate antibody 72-4 (CA72-4), and carbohydrate antibody 50 (CA50); the protein levels of these antigens in serum are usually used as signatures indicating cancer risk. However, generally, these serum antigen biomarkers lack sufficient sensitivity and specificity (6–8).Autoantibodies against proteins that result from abnormal gene expression and gene mutation in patients with various tumors represent another type of serum biomarker (9–12). The corresponding antigens of the autoantibodies are usually recognized as tumor-specific antigens or tumor-associated antigens (13–16). There is particular interest in these autoantibodies due to the potential diagnostic and prognostic applications of the autoantibodies and their corresponding antigens. Indeed, there is a need to identify novel autoantibody-based biomarkers to improve the sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of GC.In this study, we used a human proteome microarray containing 16,368 proteins to discover and independently validate serum autoantibodies with potential for diagnosis and prognosis of GC in a set of 1,401 serum samples. The samples were from 537 GC patients, 550 healthy controls, and 314 individuals of GC-related diseases. Four autoantigen serum biomarkers, COP9 constitutive photomorphogenic homolog subunit 2 (COPS2), CTSF, ecto-5′-nucleotidase (NT5E), and telomeric repeat binding factor 1 (TERF1), were identified with a combined diagnostic sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 92%. Furthermore, our data suggested COPS2, CTSF, NT5E, and TERF1 could also serve as potential predictors for prognostic assessment.     

Expression of A152T human tau causes age‐dependent neuronal dysfunction and loss in transgenic mice

A152T‐variant human tau (hTau‐A152T) increases risk for tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease. Comparing mice with regulatable expression of hTau‐A152T or wild‐type hTau (hTau‐WT), we find age‐dependent neuronal loss, cognitive impairments, and spontaneous nonconvulsive epileptiform activity primarily in hTau‐A152T mice. However, overexpression of either hTau species enhances neuronal responses to electrical stimulation of synaptic inputs and to an epileptogenic chemical. hTau‐A152T mice have higher hTau protein/mRNA ratios in brain, suggesting that A152T increases production or decreases clearance of hTau protein. Despite their functional abnormalities, aging hTau‐A152T mice show no evidence for accumulation of insoluble tau aggregates, suggesting that their dysfunctions are caused by soluble tau. In human amyloid precursor protein (hAPP) transgenic mice, co‐expression of hTau‐A152T enhances risk of early death and epileptic activity, suggesting copathogenic interactions between hTau‐A152T and amyloid‐β peptides or other hAPP metabolites. Thus, the A152T substitution may augment risk for neurodegenerative diseases by increasing hTau protein levels, promoting network hyperexcitability, and synergizing with the adverse effects of other pathogenic factors.     

Construction of Radial Defect Models in Rabbits to Determine the Critical Size Defects

Many studies aimed at investigating bone repair have been conducted through animal models in recent years. However, limitations do exist in these models due to varying regeneration potential among different animal species. Even using the same animal, big differences exist in the size of critical size defects (CSD) involving the same region. This study aimed to investigate the standardization of radial bone defect models in rabbits and further establish more reliable CSD data. A total of 40 6-month-old New Zealand white rabbits of clean grade totaling 80 radial bones were prepared for bone defect models, according to the principle of randomization. Five different sizes (1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.7 and 2.0 cm) of complete periosteal defects were introduced under anesthesia. At 12 weeks postoperatively, with the gradual increase in defect size, the grades of bone growth were significantly decreased in all 5 groups. X-ray, CT scans and H&E staining of the 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0-cm groups showed lower grades of bone growth than that of the 1.0 and 1.2-cm groups respectively (P < 0.05). Using rabbit radial defect model involving 6-month-old healthy New Zealand white rabbits, this study indicates that in order to be critical sized, defects must be greater than 1.4 cm.     

Disease Burden Due to Herpes Zoster among Population Aged ≥50 Years Old in China: A Community Based Retrospective Survey

ObjectiveTo understand the disease burden due to Herpes Zoster (HZ) among people aged ≥50 years old in China and provide baseline data for future similar studies, and provide evidence for development of herpes zoster vaccination strategy.MethodsRetrospective cohort study was conducted in 4 townships and one community. A questionnaire was used to collect information on incidence and cost of HZ among people aged ≥ 50 years old.ResultsThe cumulative incidence rate was 22.6/1,000 among people aged ≥ 50 years old. The average annual incidence rate of HZ was 3.43/1,000 among people aged ≥ 50 years old in 2010–2012. Cumulative incidence and average annual incidence rate increased with age: the cumulative incidence of HZ among people aged ≥ 80 years old was 3.34 times of that among 50- years old (52.3/1000vs15.7/1,000); average annual incidence rate rises from 2.66/1,000 among 50- years old to 8.55/1,000 among 80- year old. Cumulative incidence and average annual incidence rate for females were higher than that for males (cumulative incidence, 26.5/1000vs18.7/1,000; annual incidence rate, 3.95/1000vs2.89/1,000). Cumulative incidence and average annual incidence rate in urban were higher than in rural (cumulative incidence, 39.5/1000vs 17.2/1,000; annual incidence rate, 7.65/1000vs2.06/1,000). The hospitalization rate of HZ was 4.53%. And with the increase of age, the rate has an increasing trend. HZ costs 945,709.5 RMB in total, corresponding to 840.6 RMB per patient with a median cost of 385 RMB (interquartile range 171.7–795.6). Factors associated with cost included the first onset year, area, whether hospitalized and whether sequelae left.ConclusionIncidence rate, complications, hospitalization rate and average cost of HZ increase with age. We recommend that the HZ vaccinations should target people aged ≥50 years old if Zoster vaccine is licensed in China.     

CT Scanning Imaging Method Based on a Spherical Trajectory

In industrial computed tomography (CT), the mismatch between the X-ray energy and the effective thickness makes it difficult to ensure the integrity of projection data using the traditional scanning model, because of the limitations of the object’s complex structure. So, we have developed a CT imaging method that is based on a spherical trajectory. Considering an unrestrained trajectory for iterative reconstruction, an iterative algorithm can be used to realise the CT reconstruction of a spherical trajectory for complete projection data only. Also, an inclined circle trajectory is used as an example of a spherical trajectory to illustrate the accuracy and feasibility of this new scanning method. The simulation results indicate that the new method produces superior results for a larger cone-beam angle, a limited angle and tabular objects compared with traditional circle trajectory scanning.