ClC-3 chloride channel prevents apoptosis induced by hydrogen peroxide in basilar artery smooth muscle cells through mitochondria dependent pathway

ClC-3 Cl⁻ channel plays an important role in cell volume regulation and cell cycle. In vascular smooth muscle cells, we have found that ClC-3 was involved in ET-1 induced cell proliferation. The present study was designed to further investigate the role of ClC-3 Cl⁻ channel in H₂O₂-induced apoptosis and its underlying mechanisms in rat basilar arterial smooth muscle cell (BASMCs). By using ClC-3 cDNA and small interference RNA (siRNA) transfection strategy, it was found that overexpression of ClC-3 significantly decreased the apoptotic rate of H₂O₂-treated BASMCs and increased the cell viability, whereas silencing of ClC-3 with siRNA produced opposite effects and increased the apoptotic rate. ClC-3 overexpression decreased cytochrome C release and caspase-3 activation, and increased both the stability of mitochondrial membrane potential and the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax, whereas silencing of ClC-3 produced opposite effect. Furthermore, we demonstrated that overexpression of ClC-3 attenuated, whereas silencing of ClC-3 facilitated, the degradation of LaminA, one of the structural matrix proteins, in BASMCs. Our data suggest that ClC-3 Cl⁻ channel can modulate H₂O₂-induced apoptosis in BASMCs via the intrinsic, mitochondrial pathway.     

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ES-2发酵产抗菌脂肽消泡剂的筛选及脂肽的提取和纯化

将大豆油、有机硅消泡剂和聚醚类消泡剂3种消泡剂分别用于Bacillus amyloliquefaciens ES-2抗菌脂肽发酵,研究表明大豆油既可以实现消泡,又有利于抗菌脂肽的发酵,使其产量达到了2497.67mg/L。经过提取得到纯度为55.68%的产品,提取率达到88.72%。此外还比较了不同大孔树脂对抗菌脂肽吸附和解吸附效果,发现大孔树脂X-5最适合抗菌脂肽的纯化。纯化的工艺参数为:上样浓度14.4mg/ml、上样速率1ml/min,洗脱速率2ml/min、洗脱剂用量2.5BV,产品的回收率达90.01%,纯度达74.4%。     

Adjuvant chemotherapy, with or without taxanes, in early or operable breast cancer: a meta-analysis of 19 randomized trials with 30698 patients

Background

Taxanes have been extensively used as adjuvant chemotherapy for the treatment of early or operable breast cancer, particularly in high risk, node-negative breast cancer. Previous studies, however, have reported inconsistent findings regarding their clinical efficacy and safety. We investigated disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and drug-related toxicities of taxanes by a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methodology and Principal Findings

We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Center Register of Controlled Trials, proceedings of major meetings, and reference lists of articles for studies conducted between January 1980 and April 2011. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing chemotherapy with and without taxanes in the treatment of patients with early-stage or operable breast cancer were eligible for inclusion in our analysis. The primary endpoint was DFS. Nineteen RCTs including 30698 patients were identified, including 8426 recurrence events and 3803 deaths. Taxanes administration yielded a 17% reduction of hazard ratio (HR) for DFS (HR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.79–0.88, p<0.001) and a 17% reduction of HR for OS (HR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.77–0.90, p<0.001). For high risk, node-negative breast cancer, the pooled HR also favoured the taxane-based treatment arm over the taxane-free treatment arm (HR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.77–0.87, p = 0.022). A significantly increased rate of neutropenia, febrile neutropenia, fatigue, diarrhea, stomatitis, and oedema was observed in the taxane-based treatment arm.

Conclusions/Significance

Adjuvant chemotherapy with taxanes could reduce the risk of cancer recurrence and death in patients with early or operable breast cancer, although the drug-related toxicities should be balanced. Furthermore, we also demonstrated that patients with high risk, node-negative breast cancer also benefited from taxanes therapy, a result that was not observed in previous studies.     

Overexpression of COL9, a CONSTANS-LIKE gene, delays flowering by reducing expression of CO and FT in Arabidopsis thaliana

CONSTANS (CO) is an important floral regulator in the photoperiod pathway, integrating the circadian clock and light signal into a control for flowering time. It is known that CO promotes flowering in Arabidopsis under long-day conditions. CONSTANS-LIKE 9 (COL9) is a member of the CONSTANS-LIKE gene family, encoding a nuclear protein. The expression of COL9 is regulated by the circadian clock in the photoperiod pathway and is detected in various organs. Unexpectedly, overexpression of COL9 in transgenic Arabidopsis resulted in delayed flowering, while co-suppression lines and a transferred DNA (T-DNA) knockout line showed earlier flowering under long-day conditions. Overexpression of COL9 did not enhance the late-flowering phenotype in a co mutant background. Double overexpressors produced by overexpression of CO in COL9 transgenic lines showed an early flowering phenotype similar to single CO overexpressors. The pattern of oscillation of a number of circadian-associated genes remained unchanged in the COL9 transgenic lines. Compared with wild-type plants, the abundance of CO and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) mRNA was reduced in the COL9 overexpression lines. Our results indicate that COL9 is involved in regulation of flowering time by repressing the expression of CO, concomitantly reducing the expression of FT and delaying floral transition.     

HIV-1附属蛋白特异性细胞毒性T细胞应答研究

人类免疫缺陷病毒(Human immunodeficiency virus, HIV)附属蛋白Nef、Vpu、Vpr和Vif 在病毒复制中起着关键作用,并能被细胞毒性T细胞(Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte, CTL)识别.然而,对我国HIV感染者体内附属蛋白特异性的CTL应答研究比较少.本研究应用覆盖HIV-1B、C亚型附属蛋白(Nef、Vpu、Vpr和Vif)的142个肽段作为抗原,通过酶联免疫斑点实验(Enzyme-Linked Immunospot,ELISPOT)检测61例中国HIV/AIDS患者和10例HIV-1血清阴性对照的HIV-1附属蛋白特异性CTL应答.无论对HIV-1B 亚型还是HIV-1C亚型附属蛋白都能产生特异性CTL 应答,特别是Nef区蛋白的反应频率和累积应答强度都较高(P＜0.001),B、C亚型间的应答频率和累积应答强度都无显著差别(P＞0.05),其免疫优势区也大致相同.附属蛋白特异性的累积CTL应答强度将近达到总应答的21%.这些结果表明尽管HIV-1附属蛋白的体积小,但它们在诱导特异性的CTL应答中发挥了重要作用,对评价HIV-1免疫应答的幅度和特异性以及研发针对中国人群的HIV疫苗有重要的意义.     

贵州九香虫营养成分分析

分析贵州产九香虫Aspongopus chinensis Dallas体内的营养成分。结果表明:从江和习水产九香虫都具有丰富的营养,其中粗蛋白分别为350.9mg·g-1和356.5mg·g-1、粗脂肪432.6mg·g-1和436.2mg·g-1、粗灰分22.9mg·g-1和22.8mg·g-1;总氨基酸含量为334.3mg·g-1和253mg·g-1,其中必需氨基酸占总氨基酸的41.22%和33.34%,必需氨基酸与非必需氨基酸之比分别为0.70和0.50;九香虫体内脂肪酸多以油酸和软脂酸为主,其中油酸占总脂肪酸的49.48%和41.54%;含有丰富的矿物质和微量元素,尤其是Mg的含量达到1.26mg·g-1和1.32mg·g-1,且不含有对人体有害的Hg、Pb和As;含有多种维生素,其中维生素C含量最为丰富,为0.78mg·g-1和0.79mg·g-1。作为具有保健功能的中药昆虫,同时具有丰富的营养成分,九香虫是极具潜力的药食两用食品。     

Nipah病毒一步法Real-time RT-PCR检测方法的建立

目的建立针对Nipah病毒N基因的一步法Real-time RT-PCR检测方法,用于Nipah病毒感染样本的快速准确检测和定量。方法针对Nipah病毒的保守基因N设计引物和探针,建立一步法Real-time RT-PCR反应方法并分析敏感性和特异性。结果所设计的引物经Blast检索可以用于检测所有已知的Nipah病毒株。本研究建立的一步法Real-time RT-PCR方法可以特异性检测出Nipah病毒,不与Hendra病毒产生交叉反应。检测灵敏度为1.1×100～1.1×101copies/μl。标准曲线的线性范围为1.1×102～1.1×106copies/μl。结论本研究建立的一步法real-time RT-PCR方法敏感性和特异性较高,且不易出现污染引起的假阳性结果,适合用于Nipah病毒感染样本的检测。     

N末端亲和标签可增进人硫氧还蛋白-1对氧化剂的敏感性

人细胞质硫氧还蛋白(hTrx1)在抗氧化和氧化还原调控中起重要作用.如果静脉注射重组hTrx1,动物抗氧化能力将增高.近年来,随着人们对氧化还原调控的关注,hTrx1需求不断增加.为了快速获得高纯度重组hTrx1,N末端亲和标签,如组氨酸标签(His-tag)和谷胱甘肽S-转移酶标签(GST-tag),被用于hTrx1亲和纯化.带N末端标签的hTrx1融合蛋白在实验中用的越来越多.但N末端延长是否会影响hTrx1特性尚不清楚.我们构建与优化了hTrx1原核表达质粒,在大肠杆菌中高效表达了含天然N末端、带His-tag或带GST-tag的3种重组hTrx1.纯化蛋白在SDS-PAGE上呈现1条带,对应的分子量分别为12kD、17kD及38kD.在无氧化剂存在时,它们催化胰岛素还原的能力不分仲伯.当有H2O2存在时,天然N末端hTrx1通过形成可逆二聚体,对H2O2表现出较强的耐受性;而N末端亲和标签有干扰二聚体形成,使hTrx1对H2O2耐受性降低的作用,其中GST-tag干扰作用明显大于His-tag.此外,体内重要的氧化还原对GSH/GSSG,有增进hTrx1及其还原酶催化NADPH氧化的作用,N末端亲和标签可明显扩大GSH/GSSG的这种作用.我们分析了N末端亲和标签对hTrx1活性影响的可能机理.     

2008年夏季青岛近海浒苔无机元素含量分析

2008年夏季对青岛近海栈桥、汇泉湾和五四广场三个海域的漂浮浒苔进行了样本采集,针对其12种无机元素进行了含量分析与比较,并与2007年夏季三个海域的浒苔的无机元素含量进行了比较。结果表明,2008年采自汇泉湾海域的漂浮浒苔的Ca,Cu,N,Na和P含量在三个海域中最高,而采自五四广场的漂浮浒苔的Fe,Mn,Pb和Zn含量最高,Cd,K和Mg的含量在三个海域的水平相差不大。与2007年相同海域比较,2008年的漂浮浒苔更富含Fe,K,Mg,Mn,Na和P。另外,与海带和紫菜比较,浒苔中的Fe,Mg和Na含量较高,而P和Zn含量较低,Ca和K含量,低于海带而高于紫菜中的含量;有害元素Cd和Pb含量远低于相应的藻类制品卫生标准（GB19643—2005）和无公害产品海藻（NY5056-005）中的限量要求。结果从无机元素角度为浒苔的综合利用提供数据支持。     

结香的组织培养和快速繁殖

1 植物名称 结香（Edgeworthia chrysantha Lindl.）。