Loss of DNA repair mechanisms in cardiac myocytes induce dilated cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is a progressive disease of the myocardium leading to impaired contractility. Genotoxic cancer therapies are known to be potent drivers of cardiomyopathy, whereas causes of spontaneous disease remain unclear. To test the hypothesis that endogenous genotoxic stress contributes to cardiomyopathy, we deleted the DNA repair gene Ercc1 specifically in striated muscle using a floxed allele of Ercc1 and mice expressing Cre under control of the muscle-specific creatinine kinase (Ckmm) promoter or depleted systemically (Ercc1^−/D mice). Ckmm-Cre^+/−;Ercc1^−/fl mice expired suddenly of heart disease by 7 months of age. As young adults, the hearts of Ckmm-Cre^+/−;Ercc1^−/fl mice were structurally and functionally normal, but by 6-months-of-age, there was significant ventricular dilation, wall thinning, interstitial fibrosis, and systolic dysfunction indicative of dilated cardiomyopathy. Cardiac tissue from the tissue-specific or systemic model showed increased apoptosis and cardiac myocytes from Ckmm-Cre^+/-;Ercc1^−/fl mice were hypersensitive to genotoxins, resulting in apoptosis. p53 levels and target gene expression, including several antioxidants, were increased in cardiac tissue from Ckmm-Cre^+/−;Ercc1^−/fl and Ercc1^−/D mice. Despite this, cardiac tissue from older mutant mice showed evidence of increased oxidative stress. Genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of p53 attenuated apoptosis and improved disease markers. Similarly, overexpression of mitochondrial-targeted catalase improved disease markers. Together, these data support the conclusion that DNA damage produced endogenously can drive cardiac disease and does so mechanistically via chronic activation of p53 and increased oxidative stress, driving cardiac myocyte apoptosis, dilated cardiomyopathy, and sudden death.     

Role of pulmonary epithelial arginase-II in activation of fibroblasts and lung inflammaging

Elevated arginases including type-I (Arg-I) and type-II isoenzyme (Arg-II) are reported to play a role in aging, age-associated organ inflammaging, and fibrosis. A role of arginase in pulmonary aging and underlying mechanisms are not explored. Our present study shows increased Arg-II levels in aging lung of female mice, which is detected in bronchial ciliated epithelium, club cells, alveolar type 2 (AT2) pneumocytes, and fibroblasts (but not vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells). Similar cellular localization of Arg-II is also observed in human lung biopsies. The age-associated increase in lung fibrosis and inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β and TGF-β1 that are highly expressed in bronchial epithelium, AT2 cells, and fibroblasts, are ameliorated in arg-ii deficient (arg-ii^−/−) mice. The effects of arg-ii^−/− on lung inflammaging are weaker in male as compared to female animals. Conditioned medium (CM) from human Arg-II-positive bronchial and alveolar epithelial cells, but not that from arg-ii^−/− cells, activates fibroblasts to produce various cytokines including TGF-β1 and collagen, which is abolished by IL-1β receptor antagonist or TGF-β type I receptor blocker. Conversely, TGF-β1 or IL-1β also increases Arg-II expression. In the mouse models, we confirmed the age-associated increase in IL-1β and TGF-β1 in epithelial cells and activation of fibroblasts, which is inhibited in arg-ii^−/− mice. Taken together, our study demonstrates a critical role of epithelial Arg-II in activation of pulmonary fibroblasts via paracrine release of IL-1β and TGF-β1, contributing to pulmonary inflammaging and fibrosis. The results provide a novel mechanistic insight in the role of Arg-II in pulmonary aging.     

Effects of Allelochemicals on Root Growth and Pod Yield in Response to Continuous Cropping Obstacle of Peanut

Continuous cropping (CC) obstacle is a major threat in legume crops production; however, the underlying mechanisms concerning the roles allelochemicals play in CC obstacle are poorly understood. The current 2-year study was conducted to investigate the effects of different kinds and concentrations of allelochemicals, p-hydroxybenzoic acid (H), cinnamic acid (C), phthalic acid (P), and their mixtures (M) on peanut root growth and productivity in response to CC obstacle. Treatment with H, C, P, and M significantly decreased the plant height, dry weight of the leaves and stems, number of branches, and length of the lateral stem compared with control. Exogenous application of H, C, P, and M inhibited the peanut root growth as indicated by the decreased root morphological characters. The allelochemicals also induced the cell membrane oxidation even though the antioxidant enzymes activities were significantly increased in peanut roots. Meanwhile, treatment with H, C, P, and M reduced the contents of total soluble sugar and total soluble protein. Analysis of ATPase activity, nitrate reductase activity, and root system activity revealed that the inhibition effects of allelochemicals on peanut roots might be due to the decrease in activities of ATPase and NR, and the inhibition of root system. Consequently, allelochemicals significantly decreased the pod yield of peanut compared with control. Our results demonstrate that allelochemicals play a dominant role in CC obstacle-induced peanut growth inhibition and yield reduction through damaging the root antioxidant system, unbalancing the osmolytes accumulation, and decreasing the activities of root-related enzymes.

     

基于双重芯片式数字PCR快速鉴定KPC型碳青霉烯耐药肺炎克雷伯菌的方法

【背景】由于碳青霉烯类药物的泛用和滥用,致使肺炎克雷伯菌碳青霉烯耐药株与日俱增,产碳青霉烯酶是肺炎克雷伯菌对碳青霉烯类药物耐药的主要原因。目前对肺炎克雷伯菌碳青霉烯耐药株的检测方法存在费时费力、特异性差、灵敏度低等问题。【目的】建立一种能同时检测肺炎克雷伯菌和碳青霉烯酶基因bla_KPC的双重芯片式数字PCR方法。【方法】依据肺炎克雷伯菌的特有基因yhaI和碳青霉烯耐药基因bla_KPC保守序列设计特异性引物和探针,确定双重芯片式数字PCR同时对yhaI和bla_KPC两个基因核酸浓度绝对定量的检测范围、检出限和最佳实验体系,并进行方法特异性、灵敏度、重复性分析及临床菌株的检测。【结果】双重芯片式数字PCR检测灵敏度比双重实时荧光定量PCR提高了约1.5个数量级,在两基因同时检出的情况下,最低检出限分别为3.74 copies/μL (yhaI基因)和1.93 copies/μL (bla_KPC基因);优化后的双重芯片式数字PCR对参考菌株检测特异性的结果与双重实时荧光定量PCR结果一致;利用优化后的双重芯片式数字PCR方法共检测58株临床菌株,其中肺炎克雷伯菌43株,属肺炎克雷伯菌且含有bla_KPC基因的菌株13株,这与质谱及耐药谱检测结果一致。【结论】利用双重芯片式数字PCR技术建立了产KPC型碳青霉烯酶肺炎克雷伯菌的绝对定量检测方法。该方法特异性强、灵敏度高、准确度好,可用于检测具有碳青霉烯酶基因bla_KPC的肺炎克雷伯菌的核酸检测和定量分析,也为产其他类型碳青霉烯酶的病原菌检测提供了新的技术参考。     

色氨酸阻遏物与其操纵基因复合物的圆二色性研究

用圆二色性谱来确定色氨酸阻遏物与其操纵基因复合物在溶液中的构象变化。色氨酸阻遏物的圆二色性图谱表明它是一种富含α螺旋的蛋白质,通过比较加入Ｌ－Ｔｒｐ前和后的圆二色性谱,发现活性的与非活性的色酸阻遏物二级结构变化很小,ｔｒｐ Ｐ／Ｏ的圆二色性谱与它的单健、双链理论计算曲线对比,可近拟推测操纵基因在溶液中的存在状态。用色氨酸阻遏物对ｔｒｐ Ｐ／Ｏ进行确定,可以从中找出蛋白质与核酸结合的平衡点。从平衡时     

A new strategy for cellulases application in high temperature industrial scenarios with syringic acid assisting

In the process of bioethanol production, more stable and active cellulase in high temperature condition is required. In this study, syringic acid was applied in cellulase hydrolysis system. At 70°C, TvEG3 activity increased 201.36%, CtBglA activity decreased 72.79% by syringic acid. With syringic acid assisting, TvEG3 thermostability was improved, CtBglA thermostability was reduced. Syringic acid scarcely affected CtCBH. In hydrolysis system with the cellulases containing TvEG3, CtCBH, and CtBglA, the reducing sugar yield improved by 28.37% with syringic acid assisting. With the molecular dynamic simulation in syringic acid system, the backbone root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) and the residue root-mean-square fluctuation (RMSF) of TvEG3, CtCBH reduced, while the RMSD and RMSF of CtBglA increased. The reduction in the number of secondary structures, especially α-helix, caused the structure of CtBglA in the presence of syringic acid to collapse at high temperature. More secondary structures in TvEG3 and more α-helix in CtCBH in the presence of syringic acid make them more stable at high temperatures. These means syringic acid can stabilize TvEG3 and CtCBH structure, destabilize CtBglA structure at high temperature. In summary, this study not only provides insight into cellulase hydrolysis at high temperature with syringic acid assisting but also demonstrates the promoting mechanism of syringic acid.     

I型马立克氏病毒38kD磷蛋白与Ⅱ和Ⅲ型病毒间的交叉免疫反应

由致病性Ⅰ型马立克氏病病毒(MDV)特异性的单克隆抗体H_(19)制备亲和层析柱,从感染重组杆状病毒BP38Ⅱ的昆虫细胞系Sf9细胞中提纯MDV的pp38基因表达产物,以此免疫小鼠制备抗血清,测定其与不同型MDV毒株感染的鸡胚成纤维细胞免疫反应性,同时也用不同型MDV毒株(HVT,Z4)制备的抗血清和自然感染发病鸡血清分别与感染重组病毒的Sf9细胞进行免疫交叉反应.试验结果表明,完整的Ⅰ型MDV来源的pp38基因产物与所试Ⅱ型Z4株和Ⅲ型HVT Fc126毒株在抗原性上有显著交叉反应.这一结果表明,在Ⅱ型和Ⅲ型MDV毒株中可能存在着pp38的类似物.