Phrenic motoneuron firing rates before, during, and after prolonged inspiratory resistive loading

Road, J. D., and A. M. Cairns. Phrenic motoneuronfiring rates before, during, and after prolonged inspiratory resistive loading. J. Appl. Physiol. 83(3):776-783, 1997.Phrenic motoneuron firing rates during briefinspiratory resistive loading (IRL) are high, and nearly all themotoneurons are recruited. Diaphragmatic fatigue has been difficult todemonstrate during IRL. Furthermore, evidence from studies in limbmuscles has shown variable motoneuron responses to prolongedhigh-intensity loads. We studied phrenic motoneuron firing ratesbefore, during, and after prolonged IRL in anesthetized rabbits. Of 117 phrenic axons, only 2 axons were not recruited; 41 axons were silentduring unloaded breathing but were recruited at higher loads. Silentaxons showed a more rapid increase in firing rate as the loadincreased. Phrenic motoneuron firing rates increased throughout theperiod of loading, whereas airway pressure swings did not. Afterprolonged IRL, higher motoneuron firing rates were needed during briefloads to produce the same airway pressure. No evidence of a decline inmotoneuron firing rates was seen at any point. We conclude that therespiratory muscles can be shown to demonstrate physiological responsesconsistent with fatigue during prolonged IRL, and activation rates arehigh and remain so throughout this prolonged loading.

     

小麦条锈菌吸器母细胞入侵菌丝现象的进一步研究

应用电镜技术对小麦条锈菌吸器母细胞入侵自身菌丝的现象进行了研究,观察发现,在吸器母细胞与寄主细胞和菌丝细胞同时相接触的情况下,入侵栓可在与寄主细胞接触处形成,也可在与菌丝接触处形成;在菌落中心部位,吸器母细胞虽然未与寄主细胞接触,但同样可在与菌丝细胞接触处产生入侵栓;吸器母细胞在与菌丝接触处形成的人侵栓,其超微结构正常,并且可侵入到菌丝细胞壁内,但是未能穿透菌丝细胞壁。本文观察结果表明,小麦条锈菌吸器母细胞和人侵栓形成所需诱导因子可能是物理接触作用,而不涉及到化学作用,并且该病菌与寄主间的识别作用可能发生在入侵栓形成之后。     

Expiratory muscle activity in the awake and sleeping human during lung inflation and hypercapnia.

Expiratory muscle activity has been shown to occur in awake humans during lung inflation; however, whether this activity is dependent on consciousness is unclear. Therefore we measured abdominal muscle electromyograms (intramuscular electrodes) in 13 subjects studied in the supine position during wakefulness and non-rapid-eye-movement sleep. Lung inflation was produced by nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). CPAP at 10-15 cmH2O produced phasic expiratory activity in two subjects during wakefulness but produced no activity in any subject during sleep. During sleep, CPAP to 15 cmH2O increased lung volume by 1,260 +/- 215 (SE) ml, but there was no change in minute ventilation. The ventilatory threshold at which phasic abdominal muscle activity was first recorded during hypercapnia was 10.3 +/- 1.1 l/min while awake and 13.8 +/- 1 l/min while asleep (P less than 0.05). Higher lung volumes reduced the threshold for abdominal muscle recruitment during hypercapnia. We conclude that lung inflation alone over the range that we studied does not alter ventilation or produce recruitment of the abdominal muscles in sleeping humans. The internal oblique and transversus abdominis are activated at a lower ventilatory threshold during hypercapnia, and this activation is influenced by state and lung volume.     

Respiratory muscle length measured by sonomicrometry

The use of sonomicrometry to study the mechanical properties of the diaphragm in vivo is presented. This method consists of the implantation of piezoelectric transducers between muscle fibers to measure the fibers' changes in length. Ultrasonic bursts are produced by one transducer upon electrical excitation and sensed by a second transducer placed 1-2 cm away. The time elapsed between the generation of the ultrasound burst and its detection is used to calculate the intertransducer distance. Excitation and sampling are done at 1.5 kHz and the output is a DC signal proportional to the length change between the transducers. Neither irreversible injury to the diaphragm nor regional differences within an anatomical part or segment were noted. Measurements were stable within the physiological range of temperature. We measured costal and crural length and velocity of contraction in anesthetized dogs during spontaneous breathing, occluded inspirations, passive lung inflation, and supramaximal phrenic nerve stimulation. We found that shortening during spontaneous breathing was 11 and 6% for crural and costal, respectively. The crural leads the costal in velocity of shortening. Supramaximal stimulation results in a velocity of shortening of 5 resting lengths X s-1. During an occluded inspiration crural shortens as much as in the nonoccluded breath, whereas costal shortens less. During passive lung inflation there is a nearly linear relationship between lung volume and diaphragm length; however, the relationships of chest wall dimensions with diaphragm length are nonlinear and cannot be described by any simple function. Some of the implications of these data on the present understanding of diaphragmatic mechanics are discussed.     

Wake Vortex Structure Characteristics of a Flexible Oscillating Fin

We compute the wake of a two-dimensional and three-dimensional flexible fin in an unsteady flow field with heaving and pitching motions using FLUENT. Deflexion mode is used for a non-uniform cantilever beam with non-uniformly distributed load. The effect of chordwise deflexion length on the characteristics of propulsion is discussed for two-dimensional flexible fin. The thrust coefficient decreases, propulsive efficiency increases and the intensity of turbulence attenuates gradually as the deflexion length increases. For a three-dimensional flexible fin, the intensity of the vortex in the plane of symmetry is higher than that in the plane at 3/4 span length of the caudal fin. But the propulsive perform.ance achieved is not what we expected with the given deflexion mode.     

鼻咽癌细胞系CNE2中NPCEDRG基因mRNA剪接变异体的分析

NPCEDRG基因是采用基因定位候选克隆策略获得的1个鼻咽癌候选抑瘤基因. NPCEDRG在鼻咽癌细胞和组织中表达下调,重新恢复NPCEDRG基因在CNE2细胞系的表达,可部分逆转CNE2 的恶性表型. 本研究对CNE2细胞所表达的NPCEDRG基因mRNA剪接变异体克隆、鉴定,发现NPCEDRG基因至少有7个转录起始位点,其中NM_032316的TSS位于ATG上游-85 nt处,AF538150和AK094248的TSS位于-25 nt处;AF538150不存在第2外显子中6核苷酸序列（5′-TTGCAG-3′）的缺失,其CDs为516 bp,编码1种由171个氨基酸组成的蛋白质（而非GenBank中公布的CDs为510 bp,1种由169个氨基酸组成的蛋白质）. 本研究成功克隆得到1种新的NPCEDRG基因的mRNA剪接变异体V2,其TSS位于-23 nt处,其CDs为297 bp,编码1种由98个氨基酸组成的蛋白质.     

杀菌/渗透性增强蛋白功能及应用前景

杀菌/通透性增强蛋白(BPI)是存在于中性粒细胞中的阳离子蛋白,约为55 kD.BPI能与革兰氏阴性菌外膜上的脂多糖结合,增加外膜对抗菌药的通透性,具有特异性杀灭革兰氏阴性菌及结合/中和内毒素的生物学功能,在革兰氏阴性菌感染的治疗方面有良好的发展前景.近年来,国内外对BPI研究颇多,并逐渐发现BPI还具有调理 作用、抗真菌、抗原虫和抑制血管生成等许多功能,被学者称为未来的“超级抗生素 ”.本文主要就BPI的结构、分布、生理功能、作用机理及临床研究方面的研究进展作一综述.     

EGCG在肿瘤预防及治疗中作用的分子机制

表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯(EGCG)可多通路多途径预防和治疗肿瘤。本文综述了EGCG通过Nrf2通路预防肿瘤,从膜受体通路、线粒体通路、P53-Bax、67-LR-eEF1A、VEGF等通路促进肿瘤细胞的凋亡及周期阻滞,抑制肿瘤的侵袭和迁移的研究新进展。     

Silencing of lncRNA LINC00514 inhibits the malignant behaviors of papillary thyroid cancer through miR-204–3p/CDC23 axis

Numerous studies have provided that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) possess important roles in regulating tumorigenesis. However, up to data, the role of LINC00514 in cancer, including thyroid cancer, remains unknown. In the present study, we found that LINC00514 expression was significantly upregulated in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) tissues by bioinformatics analysis. Loss-of-function studies revealed that LINC00514 silencing inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of PTC cells while promoting apoptosis in vitro. Moreover, LINC00514 knockdown suppressed PTC growth in vivo. RNA-FISH showed that LINC00514 mainly locates in the nucleus of PTC cells. Through bioinformatics prediction, we identified that LINC00514 served as the sponge for miR-204–3p, and miR-204–3p directly targeted CDC23. Thus, LINC00514 promoted CDC23 expression via restraining miR-204–3p activity, leading to PTC progression. In sum, our findings demonstrated that LINC00514 contributes to PTC progression and might be a potential target for PTC therapy.     

In vivo length-force relationship of canine diaphragm

Diaphragmatic length was measured by sonomicrometry and transdiaphragmatic pressure (Pdi) by conventional latex balloons in eight dogs anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium under passive conditions and during supramaximal phrenic stimulation. The passive length-pressure relationship indicates that the crural part of the diaphragm is more compliant than the costal part. With supramaximal stimulation the costal diaphragm showed a length-pressure relationship similar in shape to in vitro length-tension curves previously described for the canine diaphragm. The crural part has a smaller pressure-length slope than the costal part in the length range from 80% of optimum muscle length (Lo) to Lo. At supine functional residual capacity (FRC) the resting length (LFRC) of the costal and crural diaphragms are not at Lo. The costal part is distended to 105% of Lo, and crural is shortened to 92% of Lo. Tidal shortening will increase the force output of costal while decreasing that of the crural diaphragm. The major forces setting the passive supine LFRC are the abdominal weight (pressure) and the elastic recoil of the lungs. The equilibrium length (resting length of excised diaphragmatic strips) was 79 +/- 3.6% LFRC for the costal diaphragm and 87 +/- 3.9% LFRC for the crural diaphragm. Similar shortening was obtained in the upright position, indicating passive diaphragmatic stretch at supine LFRC.