Identification of the infectious source of an unusual outbreak of histoplasmosis,in a hotel in Acapulco,state of Guerrero,Mexico

Three isolates of Histoplasma capsulatum were identified from mice lung, liver, and spleen inoculated with soil samples of the X hotel’s ornamental potted plants that had been fertilized with organic material known as compost. The presence of H. capsulatum in the original compost was detected using the dot-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Nested-PCR, using a specific protein Hcp100 coding gene sequence, confirmed the fungal identification associated with an unusual histoplasmosis outbreak in Acapulco. Although, diversity between the H. capsulatum isolate from the hotel and some clinical isolates from Guerrero (positive controls) was observed using random amplification of polymorphic DNA based-PCR, sequence analyses of H-anti and ole fragment genes revealed a high homology (92–99%) between them.     

LPS／D—GalN诱发ⅣF—KB转基因小鼠急性致死性肝损伤模型的建立

目的以NF—KB转基因BALB／c小鼠建立一个LPS／D—GaIN诱发的急性致死性肝损伤模型。方法采取腹腔注射高剂量的LPS／D-GalN建立急性致死性肝损伤小鼠模型,观察模型小鼠的促炎症细胞因子水平和NF—KB的活性改变,以及肝脏功能和病理改变情况。结果模型组小鼠生存时间为8—10h,模型建立后小鼠血清TNF—a、IL-6和MCP-1水平显著升高,在2—4h达到高峰;肝脏外观出现瘀血和出血,肝脏小叶被严重破坏,肝细胞严重坏死和出血;血清ALT／AST水平在模型诱发后持续迅速上升;整体成像显示胛-KB的活性在4～6h达到高峰。正常对照组小鼠以上指标无显著变化。结论成功建立LPS／D-GalN诱发的M-船转基因小鼠的急性致死性肝损伤模型。     

青年咽部菌群分布状况

目的调查健康青年上呼吸道的微生物群分布,寻找优势菌群,为微生态方法治疗呼吸道感染性疾病提供科学依据。方法随机自愿原则选取沈阳医学院学生61名,采集咽后壁标本分离培养并生化鉴定。结果青年咽后壁共检出19个菌属,42个菌种。需氧菌的95％可信区间为（4．7×10^6,6．8×10^6）CFU／mL,厌氧菌的95％可信区间为（5．9×10^6,8．4×10^6）CFU／mL;需氧菌菌群密度为4．8816±1．0251,厌氧菌菌群密度为5．1347±0．9118。需氧菌中链球菌属检出率为100％,其次为奈瑟球菌属（77．4％）、葡萄球菌属（33．9％）。链球菌中缓症链球菌和口腔链球菌、奈瑟球菌属中的灰色奈瑟球菌的检出率与构成比均较高。厌氧菌中检出率与构成比较高是的韦荣球菌属、拟杆菌属、孪生球菌和放线杆菌属。结论青年上呼吸道菌群种类复杂多样;需氧菌中的口腔链球菌、缓症链球菌、灰色奈瑟球菌,厌氧菌中的韦荣球菌属、拟杆菌属、孪生球菌属为优势菌群,对于维护上呼吸道微生态平衡可能起重要的作用。     

一种基于LC-MS的抗生素敏感性快速确定方法

目的探索利用液相色谱-质谱（LC—MS）进行细菌快速药敏试验的方法。方法选择肠杆菌科和非发酵菌,以头孢他啶作为目标抗生素,测定不同时间段培养肉汤内头孢他啶的残存量作为判断药敏结果的依据。结果不同敏感性的细菌培养基中残留的头孢他啶量差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。结论LC—MS技术可以用于细菌的快速药敏试验。     

贵州省黔东南野生藤本植物多样性研究

对黔东南16个县(市)野生藤本植物进行了调查,结果表明:野生藤本植物共计40科88属364种(含变种),双子叶植物有37科84属322种,单子叶植物有3科4属42种,裸子植物缺乏.该区地理成分复杂多样,科级地理成分有8个分布型,属级地理成分有12个分布型,以热带成分为主,温带成分也占有较大比例,具有从热带成分向温带渗透和过度的性质.藤本植物的生活型,以木质藤本占优势,为79.95％,草质藤本占20.05％.攀援类型分为4型8亚型,以缠绕类为主,占37.09％.该区藤本植物资源丰富,在垂直绿化与经济开发上具有十分广阔的前景.     

NaCl胁迫下海马齿(Sesuvium portulacastrum L.)植株内游离脯氨酸的合成积累途径

以海马齿(Sesuvium portulacastrum L.)为材料,测定了在6个NaCl胁迫水平上(0、0.2、0.4、0.6、0.8、1.0mol· L-1)的植株内游离脯氨酸的含量及其δ-OAT、PSCS、POD、SOD等酶的活性.结果表明:在NaCl胁迫下,海马齿植株内游离脯氨酸积累量比CK显著地增多了14.5％～33.5％,δ-OAT和P5CS活性分别比对照(CK)增强3.1％～10.1％和26.7％ ～46.1％,因此,在NaCl胁迫下海马齿植株内游离脯氨酸合成积累的两个途径均被启动和发生合成积累作用,并表现出以Glu→Pro途径为主,Orn→Pro途径为辅;在5个NaCl胁迫水平上,海马齿植株内游离脯氨酸有显著的积累效应,在0.6 mol·L-1处理水平时达到积累量的高峰值.同时,δ-OAT、P5CS、POD、SOD等酶的活性呈现出与游离脯氨酸积累量有大致相同的变化趋势.     

Two-photon probes for biomedical applications

Two-photon microscopy (TPM), which uses two photons of lower energy as the excitation source, is a vital tool in biology and clinical science, due to its capacity to image deep inside intact tissues for a long period of time. To make TPM a more versatile tool in biomedical research, we have developed a variety of two-photon probes for specific applications. In this mini review, we will briefly discuss two-photon probes for lipid rafts, lysosomes, mitochondria, and pH, and their biomedical applications. [BMB Reports 2013; 46(4): 188-194]     

Gossypol and an HMT G9a inhibitor act in synergy to induce cell death in pancreatic cancer cells

The histone methyltransferase G9a is overexpressed in a variety of cancer types, including pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and promotes tumor invasiveness and metastasis. We recently reported the discovery of BRD4770, a small-molecule inhibitor of G9a that induces senescence in PANC-1 cells. We observed that the cytotoxic effects of BRD4770 were dependent on genetic background, with cell lines lacking functional p53 being relatively resistant to compound treatment. To understand the mechanism of genetic selectivity, we used two complementary screening approaches to identify enhancers of BRD4770. The natural product and putative BH3 mimetic gossypol enhanced the cytotoxicity of BRD4770 in a synergistic manner in p53-mutant PANC-1 cells but not in immortalized non-tumorigenic pancreatic cells. The combination of gossypol and BRD4770 increased LC3-II levels and the autophagosome number in PANC-1 cells, and the compound combination appears to act in a BNIP3 (B-cell lymphoma 2 19-kDa interacting protein)-dependent manner, suggesting that these compounds act together to induce autophagy-related cell death in pancreatic cancer cells.