Deletion of aquaporin-4 in APP/PS1 mice exacerbates brain Aβ accumulation and memory deficits

Background

Preventing or reducing amyloid-beta (Aβ) accumulation in the brain is an important therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recent studies showed that the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4) mediates soluble Aβ clearance from the brain parenchyma along the paravascular pathway. However the direct evidence for roles of AQP4 in the pathophysiology of AD remains absent.

Results

Here, we reported that the deletion of AQP4 exacerbated cognitive deficits of 12-moth old APP/PS1 mice, with increases in Aβ accumulation, cerebral amyloid angiopathy and loss of synaptic protein and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the hippocampus and cortex. Furthermore, AQP4 deficiency increased atrophy of astrocytes with significant decreases in interleukin-1 beta and nonsignficant decreases in interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in hippocampal and cerebral samples.

Conclusions

These results suggest that AQP4 attenuates Aβ pathogenesis despite its potentially inflammatory side-effects, thus serving as a promising target for treating AD.

     

DomeTree: a canonical toolkit for mitochondrial DNA analyses in domesticated animals

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is widely used in various genetic studies of domesticated animals. Many applications require comprehensive knowledge about the phylogeny of mtDNA variants. Herein, we provide the most up‐to‐date mtDNA phylogeny (i.e. haplogroup tree or matrilineal genealogy) and a standardized hierarchical haplogroup nomenclature system for domesticated cattle, dogs, goats, horses, pigs, sheep, yaks and chickens. These high‐resolution mtDNA haplogroup trees based on 1240 complete or near‐complete mtDNA genome sequences are available in open resource DomeTree ( http://www.dometree.org ). In addition, we offer the software MitoToolPy ( http://www.mitotool.org/mp.html ) to facilitate the mtDNA data analyses. We will continuously and regularly update DomeTree and MitoToolPy.     

浮游细菌群落变化对锥状斯氏藻藻华的影响

目的:本实验以大亚湾原发性锥状斯氏藻为例,采集野外样品,分析藻华不同时期主要菌群的结构和环境样品的硫化物与赋存形态。方法:应用末端限制性片段长度多态性技术和主成分分析方法,分析藻华发生过程中浮游细菌群落相似程度的情况,得到差异显著的浮游细菌类群。选出代表类群的样品进行16S r DNA高变区测序,获取浮游细菌的分类结果及相对丰度。采用Pearson相关性分析浮游细菌、藻、硫化物两两间的相互关系。结果:早期藻华以Enterobacteriaceae为主导,各优势菌群(Enterobacteriaceae:Alteromonadaceae:Rhodobacteraceae)的比例约为8:1:21,硫元素主要以DMS形式存在;而后期Alteromonadaceae成为优势物种,各优势菌群的比例转变为3:5:25,硫的赋存形态由DMS转变为DMSO;Rhodobacteraceae在藻华的前期与后期均以优势种存在。本实验还发现藻华不同时期4种与藻呈正向相关的细菌,以及8种对藻起负向调节作用的细菌,它们在藻华生消的过程中扮演着不同的角色。结论:菌群的组成性改变与藻华生消具有一定的相关性,并对藻类的硫代谢产生影响。结果的获得有助于认识藻华微生物学过程中硫代谢的生态学功能,拓展锥状斯氏藻藻华的理论认识。     

Fe3O4/ 生物可降解复合材料研究

磁性氧化铁纳米粒子因具有尺寸小、低毒性和超顺磁性等特点,已经引起了生物化工、医药工业领域的广泛关注。生物可降解高分子材料是生物医用高分子研究中最活跃的领域之一,已广泛用于外科手术缝合线,植入体材料及药物释放载体等。将Fe3O4和生物可降解高分子材料进行复合,可以扩大两者的应用范围,达到理想的治疗效果,并有望开创临床治疗的新时代。本文介绍了磁性四氧化三铁粒子的化学制备方法,包括共沉淀法、溶胶-凝胶法、微乳液法,并对各种方法的优缺点进行了比较;重点阐述了磁性壳聚糖,磁性聚乳酸,磁性PEG,磁性PCL复合材料的制备,及它们在酶的固定化、磁靶向药物及基因载体等医学领域的应用,显示了Fe3O4/生物可降解复合材料在医学领域的广阔应用前景;最后对复合材料走向临床应用所面临的问题及发展前景进行了讨论。     

参芪扶正注射液对急性淋巴细胞白血病化疗患者造血和免疫功能的影响

目的:观察参芪扶正注射液对急性淋巴细胞白血病化疗患者造血及免疫功能的影响。方法:收集96例处于初治诱导缓解治疗阶段的急性淋巴细胞白血病患者,并将其随机分为治疗组和对照组。治疗组48例患者在进行常规化疗的同时给予参芪扶正注射液250 m L,1次/天,共28天;对照组48例患者仅接受常规化疗,两组患者均给予相同的支持对症治疗。治疗结束后,观察两组患者的疾病缓解率、治疗前后造血系统、T和B淋巴细胞亚群的变化情况。结果:化疗结束后,治疗组患者的疾病缓解率为89.6%,对照组为83.3%,两组比较无统计学差异(P0.05);化疗14天及化疗结束后1周,治疗组患者的白细胞、红细胞计数和血红蛋白水平明显高于对照组(P0.05);且化疗结束后1周,治疗组患者的CD3+、CD4+及CD4+/CD8+含量均明显高于对照组(P0.05)。而两组患者治疗前后的血小板计数、CD3-CD19+含量比较均不具有统计学差异(P0.05)。结论:参芪扶正注射液辅助治疗不仅能够改善化疗所致的急性淋巴细胞白血病患者的骨髓抑制,而且能够提高其细胞免疫功能,有助于患者化疗后的恢复。     

Sustainable limits to crop residue harvest for bioenergy: maintaining soil carbon in Australia's agricultural lands

The use of crop residues for bioenergy production needs to be carefully assessed because of the potential negative impact on the level of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. The impact varies with environmental conditions and crop management practices and needs to be considered when harvesting the residue for bioenergy productions. Here, we defined the sustainable harvest limits as the maximum rates that do not diminish SOC and quantified sustainable harvest limits for wheat residue across Australia's agricultural lands. We divided the study area into 9432 climate‐soil (CS) units and simulated the dynamics of SOC in a continuous wheat cropping system over 122 years (1889 – 2010) using the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM). We simulated management practices including six fertilization rates (0, 25, 50, 75, 100, and 200 kg N ha^?1) and five residue harvest rates (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%). We mapped the sustainable limits for each fertilization rate and assessed the effects of fertilization and three key environmental variables – initial SOC, temperature, and precipitation – on sustainable residue harvest rates. We found that, with up to 75 kg N ha^?1 fertilization, up to 75% and 50% of crop residue could be sustainably harvested in south‐western and south‐eastern Australia, respectively. Higher fertilization rates achieved little further increase in sustainable residue harvest rates. Sustainable residue harvest rates were principally determined by climate and soil conditions, especially the initial SOC content and temperature. We conclude that environmental conditions and management practices should be considered to guide the harvest of crop residue for bioenergy production and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the life cycle of bioenergy production.     

Altered Localization of p120 Catenin in the Cytoplasm Rather than the Membrane Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background

P120 catenin (p120ctn), a regulator of cell adhesion, has previously been found in many malignancies, and suggested a role in invasion, metastasis and survival. The aim of this study was to investigate correlations between altered localization of p120ctn and clinical-pathological characteristics in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods

Immunohistochemical staining for p120^ctn was performed on tissue samples from 118 patients with ESCC. The expression of p120^ctn was scored for intensity and cellular localization by Image-pro Plus 6.0. Correlations between immunohistochemical staining of p120^ctn and pathological characteristics and clinical prognosis were determined using SPSS 18.0 software.

Results

Membrane expression of p120^ctn in ESCCs was lower than that in adjacentnormal esophageal epithelial tissues (P = 0.041), while overall cellular expression of p120^ctn was not different between the two tissue types (P = 0.787). Furthermore, neither overall cellular expression nor localized membrane expression was associated with histological and clinical variables. The high ratio of membrane expression to overall cellular expression (M/C) of p120^ctn was inversely associated with lymph node invasion (P = 0.001), tumor differentiation (P = 0.012) and advanced tumor stage (P = 0.005); however, it was poorly associated with T stage (P = 0.274). The high M/C ratio of p120^ctn was inversely correlated with poor survival; the 5-year OS (overall survival) and the 5-year DFS (disease free survival) for the high M/C ratio group were significantly higher than those of the low M/C ratio group (41.0% vs. 6.7%, P = 0.000; 44.1% vs. 24.9%, P = 0.007). Both the M/C ratio of p120^ctn and N status were independent variables for the prediction of overall survival (P = 0.007 and P = 0.027). The M/C of p120^ctn predicted a 0.49-fold risk of ESCC death (p = 0.007, 95% CI 0.29–0.83).

Conclusions

The reduced M/C ratio of p120^ctn acted as an independent prognostic factor for ESCC patient survival and for the migration and invasive behavior of the disease.     

Genomic and transcriptomic analysis of the endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis fici reveals its lifestyle and high potential for synthesis of natural products

Background

In recent years, the genus Pestalotiopsis is receiving increasing attention, not only because of its economic impact as a plant pathogen but also as a commonly isolated endophyte which is an important source of bioactive natural products. Pestalotiopsis fici Steyaert W106-1/CGMCC3.15140 as an endophyte of tea produces numerous novel secondary metabolites, including chloropupukeananin, a derivative of chlorinated pupukeanane that is first discovered in fungi. Some of them might be important as the drug leads for future pharmaceutics.

Results

Here, we report the genome sequence of the endophytic fungus of tea Pestalotiopsis fici W106-1/CGMCC3.15140. The abundant carbohydrate-active enzymes especially significantly expanding pectinases allow the fungus to utilize the limited intercellular nutrients within the host plants, suggesting adaptation of the fungus to endophytic lifestyle. The P. fici genome encodes a rich set of secondary metabolite synthesis genes, including 27 polyketide synthases (PKSs), 12 non-ribosomal peptide synthases (NRPSs), five dimethylallyl tryptophan synthases, four putative PKS-like enzymes, 15 putative NRPS-like enzymes, 15 terpenoid synthases, seven terpenoid cyclases, seven fatty-acid synthases, and five hybrids of PKS-NRPS. The majority of these core enzymes distributed into 74 secondary metabolite clusters. The putative Diels-Alderase genes have undergone expansion.

Conclusion

The significant expansion of pectinase encoding genes provides essential insight in the life strategy of endophytes, and richness of gene clusters for secondary metabolites reveals high potential of natural products of endophytic fungi.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-014-1190-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.