Odorant-dependent, spatially restricted induction of c-fos in the olfactory epithelium of the mouse

Volatile odorous chemicals are detected by around a thousand different G protein-coupled odorant receptors in the mouse. We demonstrated that exposure of the behaving mouse to odorant for a few minutes led to induction of the immediate early gene c-fos for several hours in a fraction of the olfactory sensory neurones in the nasal cavity. Associated with this odorant-specific induction event was activation of extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 that preceded increased c-fos expression. The distribution of odorant-activated neurones mimicked the scattered and spatially limited distribution of neurones expressing a single odorant receptor gene. A small change in odorant chemical structure caused a zonal shift in the spatial distribution of activated neurones, suggesting that the gene expression change resulted from specific receptor interaction. Repeated exposure to odorant or use of different concentrations did not change the pattern of c-fos induction. These results indicate that odorant-induced c-fos expression can be used to visualize odorant representations in the olfactory epithelium that reflect late cellular events regulated by adequate odorant receptor stimulation.     

Glutamate receptor-mediated regulation of c-fos expression in cultured microglia

It has been recently shown that the expression of various types of neurotransmitter receptors is not restricted to neurons but also observed in a majority of glial cells. However, their function in glial cells is not known well in both physiological and pathological conditions. Here, we investigated the role of glutamate receptor on c-fos gene expression in primary cultured and BV-2 microglia. Our results demonstrated that both c-fos mRNA and protein were dramatically induced following treatment with various glutamate receptor agonists (500muM); N-methyl-d-aspartic acid, kainic acid, (S)-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid, and (RS)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine. The responses were significantly suppressed by specific antagonists and also by calcium chelating agents EGTA and BAPTA-AM. Our results suggest that glutamate receptor activation regulates c-fos gene expression by modifying intracellular calcium levels in microglia. These findings might provide an insight in to understanding the function of microglial glutamate receptors in neuron-to-glial interaction under the excitotoxic conditions.     

过表达Sirt2抑制猪前体脂肪细胞的分化

本文旨在利用过表达技术研究Sirt2在猪前体脂肪细胞分化中的作用.首先将Sirt2插入腺病毒穿梭载体pAdTrack-CMV,并与骨架载体pAdEasy-1在大肠杆菌BJ5183中同源重组,重组体用Lipofectamine2000包装转染HEK293细胞系,成功获得重组腺病毒vAd-Sirt2.用vAd-Sirt2感染猪前体脂肪细胞,48h后油红O染色法观察脂肪细胞分化情况,RT-PCR检测脂肪细胞分化标志基因PPARγ和aP2的表达.结果显示,过表达Sirt2促使细胞中脂滴减少,同时标志基因PPARγ、aP2mRNA水平显著降低,说明Sirt2抑制猪前体脂肪细胞分化,这为控制猪体脂沉积提供依据以及为人类肥胖和相关疾病的治疗和预防奠定基础.     

蛋白激酶C对鼻咽癌细胞c－myc，c－fos表达的影响

用蛋白激酶Ｃ（ＰＫＣ）抑制剂Ｓｔａｕｒｏｓｐｏｒｉｎｅ（ＳＴ,抑制催化亚基）与Ｓｐｈｉｎｇｏｓｉｎｅ（ＳＳ,抑制调节亚基）处理人鼻咽癌细胞系ＣＮＥ－２Ｚ,经点印迹后扫描定量和免疫细胞化学检测ｃ－ｍｙｃ、ｃ－ｆｏｓ表达及其分布。结果发现：（１）ｃ－ｍｙｃ蛋白：主要分布于胞浆,４０．７％的细胞核与胞浆均为阳性;经ＳＳ或ＳＴ处理后,表达明显减弱,且核阳性率分别为１７．３％与２３．３％。扫描定量在ＳＳ组为对照组的６０％±２５．７％（Ｐ＜０．０５）,ＳＴ组为对照组的５５％±２５．９％（Ｐ＜０．０５）。（２）Ｃ－ｆｏｓ蛋白：主要分布于胞浆,２９．４％的细胞核与胞浆均为阳性,经ＳＳ或ＳＴ处理后,表达明显减弱,且核阳性率分别为９％与１０．２％。扫描定量ＳＳ组为对照组的５８．６％±２５％（Ｐ＜０．０５）,ＳＴ组为对照组的５９．７％±２６．２％（Ｐ＜０．０５）。结果表明：使用ＰＫＣ抑制剂后,两种核癌基因产物量均有不同程度的减少,并且存在细胞内分布的改变,特别是其发挥效应的核内表达明显减少。结合我们以前所发现的ＰＫＣ抑制剂明显抑制ＣＮＥ—２Ｚ细胞生长的结果,提示这些癌基因可能参与了ＰＫＣ对ＣＮＥ—２Ｚ细胞生长的调节。     

松嫩平原旱生芦苇群落土壤呼吸动态及影响因子

为研究松嫩平原旱生芦苇群落土壤呼吸作用的动态变化及其影响因子,于2011年5—10月采用LI-6400土壤呼吸监测系统对旱生芦苇群落土壤呼吸进行连续野外观测,并分析水热因子对土壤呼吸的影响。结果表明:芦苇群落土壤呼吸具有明显的日变化和季节变化特征;其日变化为明显的单峰曲线,土壤呼吸速率峰值出现在中午11:00—13:00;7和8月芦苇群落土壤呼吸作用最强,10月土壤呼吸作用最弱。影响旱生芦苇群落土壤呼吸的主导因子是温度,土壤呼吸与近地表空气温度以及土壤0～10、10～20、20～30cm温度均有显著相关性(P<0.01),而近地表空气温度和土壤表层温度对土壤呼吸的影响最大。在5—10月芦苇群落土壤呼吸温度敏感性Q10值为1.2～1.65,变异系数为15.4%。土壤含水量和近地表空气相对湿度不是影响该地区芦苇群落土壤呼吸的主要因素。     

NaCl和Na2CO3胁迫对桑树幼苗生长和光合特性的影响

以1年生“青龙桑”幼苗为试验材料,研究了中性盐(NaCl)和碱性盐(Na2CO3)胁迫下桑树幼苗的生长和叶片光合特性.结果表明： 盐胁迫明显降低了桑树幼苗的株高、叶片数、生物量和叶片的光合能力.随着Na+浓度的增加,桑树叶片的气孔导度、蒸腾速率、净光合速率、实际光化学效率、电子传递速率和光化学猝灭系数明显降低,过剩光能以非光化学猝灭形式耗散的比例增加,桑树叶片的光能转化效率和光合能力下降.在Na+浓度＜150 mmol·L-1时,桑树幼苗的光合能力和生长受到的抑制较小,通过增加根冠比进一步适应盐胁迫,但这种保护机制随着盐浓度的增加逐渐降低.在Na2CO3胁迫下,＞50 mmol·L-1Na+浓度对桑树的生长和光合能力表现出较强的抑制作用,并随Na+浓度的增加,抑制程度加大.在NaCl＜150 mmol·L-1时,桑树的光合能力主要依赖植株形态和光合代谢双重途径适应中性盐逆境,而在NaCl浓度＞150 mmol·L-1和碱性盐胁迫下,其主要依赖光合代谢来适应逆境.     

海草形态、生长的种间差异及其相关生长关系

海草是海洋沉水高等植物,属典型的根茎克隆植物.根状茎直径和分株重分别是其个体大小的第一、二表征指标,个体大小是海草重要的种间识别特征.对海草6个形态构件指标和18个生长指标的综合分析表明:果实大小、单株叶面积、分株重具有显著的种特异性;分株发出的时间差、水平根状茎分枝率、叶年产量、分株寿命和垂直茎分枝率是海草种特异性最强的5个生长动态指标,海草生长动态的差异主要体现在克隆生长能力强弱和分株生活史长短上;大海草趋于游击型克隆构型,而小海草则趋于密集型,但小海草Cymodocea nodosa例外;大海草基株水平扩展能力较小海草差.海草个体大小与生长特征的相关生长关系表明:随个体的增大,海草在有机构件生长上表现出两相邻叶、相邻分株、相邻节发出的时间差延长,分株、叶、茎寿命延长的特点;在克隆生长水平上表现出根状茎节间长变短、延伸速率降低,分枝率和根状茎上年产分株数降低,分枝角度变小和间隔子增大的趋势;在克隆片段水平上表现为生理整合性增强;在种群层面则表现出生物量增大和种群密度降低的特点.因此,海草个体大小对其形态、生长特征、克隆构型、种群密度和生产力起到了决定作用.大小海草不同的形态、生长动态和克隆构型特征导致它们的生存策略及生态功能也不同,这一点可能对海草场修复基础理论研究具有一定的指示作用.     

Spinal NTS1 receptors regulate nociceptive signaling in a rat formalin tonic pain model

Central administration of the neuropeptide neurotensin (NT) was shown to induce antinociceptive responses both spinally and supraspinally. Although NTS2 receptors play an important role in modulating the activity of spinal neurons, we have recently implicated NTS1 receptors in NT's analgesic effects in acute spinal pain paradigms. The current experiments were thus designed to examine the antinociceptive effects of intrathecal administration of NTS1 agonists in formalin-induced tonic pain in rats. We first established, using immunoblotting and immunohistochemical approaches, that NTS1 receptors were present in small- and medium-sized dorsal root ganglion cells and localized in the superficial layers of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. We then examined the effects of intrathecal injection of NT (1–15 μg/kg) or NTS1 preferring agonists on the nocifensive response to intraplantar formalin. Both NTS1-agonists, PD149163 (10–120 μg/kg) and NT69L (1–100 μg/kg), dose-dependently attenuated the formalin-induced behaviors. Accordingly, NTS1 agonists markedly suppressed pain-evoked c- fos expression in the superficial, nucleus proprius and neck regions of the spinal dorsal horn. The concomitant administration of PD149163 with the NTS1 antagonist SR48692 (3 μg/kg) significantly reversed PD149163-induced antinociception, confirming the implication of NTS1 in tonic pain. In contrast, NT69L's analgesic effects were partly abolished by co-administration of SR48692, indicating that NT69L-induced effects may also be exerted through interaction with NTS2. These results demonstrate that NTS1 receptors play a key role in the mediation of the analgesic effects of NT in persistent pain and suggest that NTS1-selective agonists may represent a new line of analgesic compounds.     

高寒草原优势种叶片结构变化与生态因子的关系

 为了揭示青藏高原高寒草原优势物种青藏苔草（Carex moorcroftii）和紫花针茅（Stipa purpurea）对高原特殊环境的适应性,该文研究了 它们的叶片结构在自然环境梯度下的变化以及这些变化与生态因子之间的关系。结果表明：这两个物种叶片的大多数结构特征在各个样地间变 化显著,其结构特征与环境因子间存在显著的相关关系。紫花针茅叶肉细胞大小随土壤有效K含量的增高而减小,下表皮细胞厚度和韧皮部面积 随生长季云盖度的增高而增加,单一导管半径和导管平均面积随生长季月均湿度的增加而增大;青藏苔草上表皮细胞厚度随生长季月均最低温 的降低而增厚,泡状细胞厚度（径向直径）随大陆度的增强而增加,上表皮细胞大小随土壤pH值的增大而增大,导管总数和韧皮部面积随土壤 速效P含量的增高而增加。青藏苔草的保护组织、光合组织以及综合指标变异系数明显大于紫花针茅,仅维管组织指标变异系数小于紫花针茅。