胎脑提取液对衰老小鼠大脑皮质神经元的影响

目的 观察胎脑提取液对衰老小鼠大脑皮质神经元酸性磷酸酶(ACP)活性和尼氏体含量的影响,探讨胎脑提取液的抗衰老作用。方法 选用健康昆明种小白鼠30只,随机分为3组;采用D-半乳糖制备亚急性衰老模型;组织化学方法显示大脑皮质神经元内的酸性磷酸酶(ACP)和尼氏体;显微图像分析仪进行定量分析。结果 衰老模型组与正常对照组相比,小鼠大脑皮质神经元ACP活性明显升高,尼氏体含量明显减少;给药组与衰老模型组相比,小鼠大脑皮质神经元ACP活性明显降低,尼氏体含量明显增加。结论 胎脑提取液可以稳定大脑皮质神经元的内环境,减少神经元的损伤,促进神经元蛋白质的合成,具有一定的抗衰老作用。     

生态系统健康评价方法初探

生态系统是维持人类环境的最基本单元,生态系统功能主要体现在两个方面：一是生态服务功能（service);二是价值功能（goods)这两种功能是人类生态和发展的基础,生态系统健康是保证生态系统功能正常发挥的前提,结构和功能的完整性,具有抵抗干扰和恢复能力（resilience)、稳定和可持续性是生态系统健康的特征,生态系统健康评价需要基于生态系统的结构、功能过程来确定指标,包括生态系统的完整性,适应性和效率,生态系统健康评价主要有两种方法：一是指示物种评价,二是结构功能指标评价,结构功能指标评价包括单指标评价,复合指标评价和指标体系评价,指标体系评价中又包括自然指标体系评价,社会－经济－自然复合生态系统指标体系评价,本文针对生态系统健康的不同评价方法进行了对比研究,同时,针对不同的生态系统类型应选择其健康评价方法方面进行了简要的阐述。     

Can evolution of sexual dimorphism be triggered by developmental temperatures?

Genetic prerequisites for the evolution of sexual dimorphism, sex-specific heritabilities and low or negative genetic correlations between homologous traits in males and females are rarely found. However, sexual dimorphism is evolving rapidly following environmental change, suggesting that sexual dimorphism and its genetic background could be environmentally sensitive. Yet few studies have explored the sensitivity of the genetic background of sexual dimorphism on environmental variation. In this study, on Drosophila melanogaster, we used a large nested full-sib-half-sib breeding design where families were split into four different developmental temperatures: two constant temperature treatments of 25 and 30 °C and two cycling temperatures with means of 25 and 30 °C, respectively. After emergence, we tested heat shock tolerance of adult flies. We found that sexual dimorphism was strongly affected by temperature during development. Moreover, we found that female heritability was significantly lower in flies developing at hot temperature and more so under hot and cycling temperatures. Interestingly, most of the genetic variation for heat shock tolerance was orthogonal (i.e. noncorrelated) between sexes, allowing independent evolution of heat shock tolerance in males and females. These findings give support to the hypothesis that the evolution of sexual dimorphism can be influenced by the environments experienced during development.     

Pre-targeting and direct immunotargeting of liposomal drug carriers to ovarian carcinoma

Background

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in many solid tumor types, such as ovarian carcinoma. Immunoliposome based drug targeting has shown promising results in drug delivery to the tumors. However, the ratio of tumor-to-normal tissue concentrations should be increased to minimize the adverse effects of cytostatic drugs.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We studied the EGFR-targeted doxorubicin immunoliposomes using pre-targeting and local intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of the liposomes. This approach was used to increase drug delivery to tumors as compared to direct intravenous (i.v.) administration of liposomes. EGFR antibodies were attached on the surface of PEG coated liposomes using biotin-neutravidin binding. Receptor mediated cellular uptake and cytotoxic efficacy of EGFR-targeted liposomes were investigated in human ovarian adenocarcinoma (SKOV-3 and SKOV3.ip1) cells. In vivo distribution of the liposomes in mice was explored using direct and pre-targeting approaches and SPECT/CT imaging. Targeted liposomes showed efficient and specific receptor-mediated binding to ovarian carcinoma cells in vitro, but the difference in cytotoxicity between targeted and non-targeted liposomes remained small. The relatively low cytotoxic efficacy is probably due to insufficient doxorubicin release from the liposomes rather than lack of target binding. Tumor uptake of targeted liposomes in vivo was comparable to that of non-targeted liposomes after both direct and pre-targeting administration. For both EGFR-targeted and non-targeted liposomes, the i.p. administration increased liposome accumulation to the tumors compared to i.v. injections.

Conclusions/Significance

Intraperitoneal administration of liposomes may be a beneficial approach to treat the tumors in the abdominal cavity. The i.p. pre-targeting method warrants further studies as a potential approach in cancer therapy.     

Generation of a stable anti-human CD44v6 scFv and analysis of its cancer-targeting ability in vitro

CD44v6 is a cancer-associated antigen that mainly expresses in a subset of adenocarcinomas. Therefore, in this study, anti-human CD44v6 single-chain variable fragment (scFv) has been selected and characterized because it is the first step of primary importance towards the construction of a novel cancer-targeted agent for cancer diagnosis and therapy. In our study, anti-human CD44v6 scFv was selected from a human phage-displayed scFv library based on its ability to bind in vitro to CD44v6 antigen. Subsequently, immunofluorescent staining and Western blot analyses were performed to measure the binding characteristics of this scFv. In addition, flow cytometric analysis was done to verify its cancer-targeting ability in vitro. And a flow cytometry-based assay was used to determine its equilibrium dissociation constant (K _D). Finally, one functional anti-CD44v6 scFv was selected and characterized. Nucleotide sequencing verified that it was an incomplete scFv gene but had a variable heavy chain (V_H) alone. However, anti-CD44v6 scFv demonstrated cell-binding and antigen-binding activities by immunofluorescent staining and Western blot analyses. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis proved that this scFv specifically targeted CD44v6-expressing cancer cells other than CD44v6 non-expressing normal cells or tumor cells in vitro. The K _D of this scFv was calculated to be 7.85 ± 0.93 × 10⁻⁸ M. In summary, the selected human scFv against CD44v6 has specific binding activity and favorable binding affinity despite lacking a variable light chain (V_L). Moreover, it can effectively and specifically target CD44v6-expressing cancer cells. All these characteristics make anti-CD44v6 scFv a promising agent for cancer detection and anti-cancer therapy.     

再生水浇灌方式对芦苇地土壤水文生态特性的影响

为提高再生水资源在芦苇群落生态恢复中的高效利用,采用温室内模拟实验的方法,以未灌溉(CK)为对照,对再生水(FS)、再生水清水轮灌(QF)及清水灌溉(QS)等3种浇灌方式下的芦苇地盐碱含量及水文物理参数进行测定分析,以其阐明不同浇灌方式下芦苇地的土壤水文生态效应。结果表明:清水灌溉、清废轮灌降盐压碱效果显著(P0.001),而再生水灌溉后土壤含盐量增加12.8%。与未灌溉相比,3种浇灌方式均使土壤容重减小,孔隙度增大,改善土壤水文物理效果表现为清废轮灌清水灌溉再生水灌溉。Horton模型比较适合描述灌溉后芦苇地土壤水分入渗过程,清水灌溉、清废轮灌改善了土壤水分的渗透性能,初渗率和稳渗率均比未灌溉增加,而再生水灌溉后初渗率下降15.0%。3种浇灌方式均能增强芦苇地贮蓄和保持土壤水分的能力,清废轮灌、清水灌溉、再生水灌溉的饱和蓄水量分别比未灌溉增加11.5%、4.3%、2.4%,涵蓄降水和供植物生长有效水分贮存能力表现为清废轮灌最好,其次为清水灌溉,而再生水灌溉则较差。     

Stress Granule Formation is One of the Early Antiviral Mechanisms for Host Cells Against Coxsackievirus B Infection

Stress granules (SGs) are intracellular granules formed when cellular translation is blocked and have been reported to be involved in a variety of viral infections. Our previous studies revealed that SGs are involved in the coxsackievirus B (CVB) infection process, but the role of SGs in CVB infection has not been fully explored. In this study, we found that CVB type 3 (CVB3) could induce SG formation in the early phase of infection. Results showed that levels of CVB3 RNA and protein were significantly inhibited during the early stage of CVB3 infection by the elevated formation of SGs, while viral RNA and protein synthesis were significantly promoted when SG formation was blocked. Our findings suggest that SG formation is one of the early antiviral mechanisms for host cells against CVB infection.     

Extraction and retrieval of potassium from water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

Studies were carried out on extraction and retrieval of potassium from water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). The stem and leaf were subjected to 13 treatments. The highest rate of K removal following HCl treatment was 69.7% K. Most effective removal of suspended organic substances, Ca2+ and Mg2+ were achieved at pH approximately 13, when 88.0% of K remained in filtrate. Maximum K in precipitate following this step was achieved with tartaric acid additions at n(C4H6O6)/n(K+) of 1.72 when precipitating at 4 degrees C for 3h, which resulted in 72.3% of K removal from the solution. Over the entire process, 44.3% of K in the dried stem-leaf sample of water hyacinth was retrieved in the form of KC4H5O6. This process demonstrated the potential for use of water hyacinth as a resource of potassium to produce potassium salts and provide a valuable end use for the plant, which could be highly invasive in aquatic ecosystems.