Regulation of Toll-like receptor signaling in innate immunity

Toll-like receptors sense invading pathogens by recognizing a wide variety of conserved pathogen-associated molecular patterns(PAMPs).The members of the TLR family selectively utilize adaptor proteins MyD88,TRIF,TIRAP and TRAM to activate overlapping but distinct signal transduction pathways which trigger production of different panels of mediators such as proinflammatory cytokines and type I interferon.These mediators not only control innate immunity but also direct subsequently developed adaptive immunity...     

Spatial and temporal variation of fish assemblages in a subtropical small stream of the Huangshan Mountain

Spatial and temporal variation of fish assemblages were investigated seasonally from May 2007 to February 2008 across 11 study sites in a subtropical small stream, the Puxi Stream, of the Huangshan Mountain. Along the longitudinal gradient from headwater to downstream, fish species richness and abundance increased gradually, but then decreased significantly at the lower reaches. The highest species richness and abundance were observed in August and the lowest in February. Based on analysis of similarities (...     

Redox physiology in animal function:The struggle of living in an oxidant environment

A strong focus of ecological research for several decades has been to understand the factors underlying the variation in animal life-histories. In recent times, ecological studies have begun to show that oxidative stress may represent another important modulator of competitive trade-offs among fitness traits or of positively integrated patterns of traits. Therefore, incorporating mechanisms underlying oxidative physiology into evolutionary ecology has the potential to help understand variation in life-histo...     

Lamprey buccal gland secretory protein-2(BGSP-2) inhibits human T lymphocyte proliferation

Lamprey is a representative of the agnathans, the most ancient class of vertebrates. Parasitic lampreys secrete anticoagulant from their buccal glands and prevent blood coagulation of host fishes. We identified a buccal gland secretory protein-2 (BGSP-2) from a buccal gland cDNA library of Lampetra japonica. The full-length BGSP-2 gene was cloned and the recombinant BGSP-2 protein was generated. The role of BGSP-2 on lymphocyte proliferation was studied by examining its effects on human T lymphocytes. We found that lamprey BGSP-2 was able to effectively block the proliferation of T cells in vitro by inducing G_1/S cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, it inhibited the proliferation of human T lymphocytes stimulated by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) at a minimum concentration of 0.1μg/ml. Our data suggest that lamprey BGSP-2 is able to block the mitosis of human T lymphocytes at the G1/S point, and has the potential of anti-proliferative effect on PHA-activated T lymphocytes.     

转基因香石竹中F3’5’H基因的克隆、表达和免疫学鉴定

在研究转基因香石竹品系月之霓裳（Moonshade）、月之伊人（Moonlite）中外源基因F3’5’H的表达中,本文克隆了F3’5’H全长基因1.5kb,构建获得工程菌株Escherichia coli BL21（DE3）（＋F3＇5＇H）。SDS-PAGE分析的结果显示,该菌株高效表达出F3’5’H重组蛋白,约占菌体总蛋白的30%。用经纯化的F3’5’H重组蛋白作为抗原,制备F3’5’H重组蛋白的抗血清,经ELISA免疫学分析表明,该抗血清的效价为1：25600。Western blot结果表明F3’5’H重组蛋白具有良好的IgG结合活性,且抗血清与转基因香石竹品系月之霓裳和月之伊人中的外源基因F3’5’H所表达的蛋白发生明显的抗原抗体反应。这样,月之霓裳和月之伊人用于评价转基因香石竹品系的环境安全性在我国也得到了验证。     

Flavonoids:New Roles for Old Molecules

Flavonoids are ubiquitous in the plant kingdom and have many diverse functions including defense, UV protection, auxin transport inhibition, allelopathy, and flower coloring. Interestingly, these compounds also have considerable biological activity in plant, animal and bacterial systems-such broad activity is accomplished by few compounds. Yet, for all the research over the last three decades, many of the cellular targets of these secondary metabolites are unknown. The many mutants available in model plant ...     

Optimizing Seed Water Content:Relevance to Storage Stability and Molecular Mobility

This research was conducted to determine the optimum moisture content (MC) that gave maximum longevity to seeds. Three species were used to represent seeds with different dry matter reserves, which gives them different sorption properties: maize (Zea mays L.), elm (Ulmus pumila L.) and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). The seeds of elm, safflower, and maize embryos with MC ranging from 0.00– 0.15 g H2O/g dry weight (DW) were stored at 35 °C for different periods of time. The results showed that the optim...     

Plant Vascular Biology and Agriculture

The evolution of animal and plant vascular systems played a pivotal role in the advancement from simple to complex organisms, through the provision of a delivery system for the distribution     

海马NMDA受体与神经肽Y在慢性应激性抑郁发生中的作用及其关系

本文旨在探讨N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸(N-methyl-D-aspartic acid,NMDA)受体与神经肽Y(neuropeptide Y,NPY)在慢性应激抑郁发生中的作用与关系。建立慢性不可预见性温和应激(chronic unpredictable mild stress,CUMS)抑郁模型,海马单侧分别微量注射非竞争性NMDA受体拮抗剂MK-801、NPY-Y1受体阻断剂GR231118和NMDA后,利用体重测量及糖水偏爱测试、强迫游泳及敞箱实验等方法观察动物行为变化,运用免疫组织化学方法检测海马CA3区和齿状回(dentate gyrus,DG)内NPY的表达。结果显示,CUMS组大鼠表现出抑郁样行为变化,海马NPY表达显著降低;海马微量注射NMDA或NPY-Y1受体阻断剂GR231118,动物行为学表现均与CUMS组相同,注射NMDA可使NPY表达显著降低;海马微量注射MK-801能明显改善应激引起的抑郁样行为表现,并使海马NPY表达增加。联合注射GR231118与MK-801后,GR231118可以显著减弱MK-801的抗抑郁样行为的效应。以上结果表明,CUMS可能使谷氨酸(glutamic acid,Glu)过量释放,NMDA受体过度激活,抑制NPY表达,导致抑郁发生。NPY抗抑郁作用主要是通过NPY-Y1受体实现。     

雌性棕色田鼠和昆明小鼠在慢性间歇性低氧条件下血象变化的比较

本文旨在对雌性棕色田鼠(Lasiopodomys mandarinus)和昆明小鼠(Mus musculus)在慢性间歇性低氧条件下血象的变化进行比较,从而为地下生活鼠种血液系统对慢性间歇性低氧的应答对策的研究提供基础数据。采用实验氧舱对棕色田鼠和昆明小鼠进行每天4h、持续28d的慢性间歇性低氧(氧浓度10.0%)处理,然后对其血象进行了比较分析。结果显示:(1)常氧下棕色田鼠的红细胞计数(red blood cell count,RBC)显著高于昆明小鼠,而红细胞平均体积(mean corpuscular volume,MCV)则显著小于昆明小鼠,慢性间歇性低氧处理后昆明小鼠的MCV和红细胞压积(hematocrit,HCT)显著增加,而棕色田鼠MCV和HCT无明显影响;(2)常氧条件下棕色田鼠的平均血红蛋白含量(mean corpuscular hemoglobin,MCH)显著低于昆明小鼠,而平均血红蛋白浓度(mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration,MCHC)则显著高于昆明小鼠,慢性低氧处理后昆明小鼠血红蛋白(hemoglobin,HGB)含量和MCH均显著增加,而在棕色田鼠仅出现MCH的明显增加;(3)常氧条件下棕色田鼠的白细胞计数(white blood cell count,WBC)和血小板(platelet,PLT)都显著低于昆明小鼠,慢性低氧处理后棕色田鼠和昆明小鼠的WBC和PLT均未发生显著变化。以上结果表明,棕色田鼠作为地下生活鼠种,对低氧环境具有较好的耐受性,其血液系统对低氧胁迫的应答机制与地面生活鼠种昆明小鼠不同。