Central cardiovascular and thermal effects of prostacyclin in rats

Prostacyclin (PGI₂) induced a dose-dependent decrease in blood pressure with slight increases in heart rate and body temperature, when administered at the doses of 0.1–100 μg into the lateral cerebral ventricle (i.c.v.) of the urethane-anaesthetised rat. When the same doses were administered intravenously, both the blood pressure and heart rate decreased. Central pretreatment with sodium meclofenamate (1 mg/rat i.c.v.) antagonised the central hypotensive effect of PGI₂ but i.c.v. pretreatment of the rats with indomethacin (1 mg/rat) failed to affect the PGO₂-induced hypotension. Central pretreatment with two histamine H₂-receptor antagonists, cimetidine (500 μg/rat i.c.v.) or metiamide (488 μg/rat i.c.v.), antagonised the blood pressure lowering effect of 0.1 μg dose of PGI₂ but failed to affect the hypotension induced by higher PGI₂ doses. Therefore the main central hypotensive effect of PGI₂ seems not to be associated with the stimulation of histamine H₂ -receptors in the brain.The hypotensive effect of i.c.v. administered PGI₂ appears to be due to an action upon the central nervous system rather than to a leakage into the peripheral circulation. This assumption is supported by the fact that sodium meclofenamate i.c.v. antagonished the effect of PGI₂. In addition, the chronotropic response to i.c.v. PGI₂ was opposite to that induced by intravenous administration. The results also suggest that there may be differences in the mode of action between sodium meclofenamate and indomethacin.     

Central cardiovascular and thermal effects of prostaglandin F2α in rats

Administration of PGF_2α (0.2–6.4 μg) into the lateral cerebral ventricle (i.c.v.) induced dosedependent increases in blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature in urethane-anaesthetised rats, but had no effect on these parameters when the same dose range was administered intravenously. Peripheral pretreatment with sodium meclofenamate (50 mg/kg s.c.) shifted all the dose-response curves for PGF_2α (i.c.v.) to the left, but indomethacin (50 mg/kg s.c.) did not significantly affect those changes. Central pretreatment with sodium meclofenamate or indomethacin (1.25 mg per rat i.c.v.) failed to modify significantly the effects of centrally administered PGF_2α.The results support previous suggestions that PGF_2α may participate in the central control of the cardiovascular and thermoregulatory systems, and also suggest that there may be differences in the sites and/or modes of action between sodium meclofenamate and indomethacin.     

Effects of Erythropoietin in Murine-Induced Pluripotent Cell-Derived Panneural Progenitor Cells

Induced cell fate changes by reprogramming of somatic cells offers an efficient strategy to generate autologous pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from any adult cell type. The potential of iPS cells to differentiate into various cell types is well established, however the efficiency to produce functional neurons from iPS cells remains modest. Here, we generated panneural progenitor cells (pNPCs) from mouse iPS cells and investigated the effect of the neurotrophic growth factor erythropoietin (EPO) on their survival, proliferation and neurodifferentiation. Under neural differentiation conditions, iPS-derived pNPCs gave rise to microtubule-associated protein-2 positive neuronlike cells (34% to 43%) and platelet-derived growth factor receptor positive oligodendrocytelike cells (21% to 25%) while less than 1% of the cells expressed the astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein. Neuronlike cells generated action potentials and developed active presynaptic terminals. The pNPCs expressed EPO receptor (EPOR) mRNA and displayed functional EPOR signaling. In proliferating cultures, EPO (0.1–3 U/mL) slightly improved pNPC survival but reduced cell proliferation and neurosphere formation in a concentration-dependent manner. In differentiating cultures EPO facilitated neurodifferentiation as assessed by the increased number of β-III-tubulin positive neurons. Our results show that EPO inhibits iPS pNPC self-renewal and promotes neurogenesis.     

人工湿地植物种类及多样性对甲烷释放及功能基因丰度的影响

为了研究人工湿地处理中碳/氮水平的废水时植物种类及多样性对系统甲烷释放及功能基因丰度的影响,我们构建了实验尺度的人工湿地微宇宙实验系统。选取千屈菜(Lythrum salicaria L.)和海寿花(Pontederia cordata L.)2种人工湿地常用、景观效果好的植物,在系统中配置了单种处理和两物种混种处理。结果表明:千屈菜与海寿花混种系统的甲烷释放强度(8.78 mg CH_4 m~(-2) d~(-1))高于两物种单种系统的平均值(6.97 mg CH_4 m~(-2) d~(-1))(P0.001),同甲烷释放一样,混种系统的mcrA基因绝对丰度(977541.6 copies/g dw soil)也高于两物种单种系统的平均值(585146.8 copies/g dw soil),但混种系统的pmoA基因绝对丰度(326956.6 copies/g dw soil)低于两物种单种系统的平均值(1043616.0 copies/g dw soil)(P0.001)。此外,混种系统的微生物量、植物生物量高于两物种单种系统的平均值(P0.01),但出水铵态氮浓度低于两物种单种系统的平均值(P0.05),出水总有机碳浓度和硝态氮浓度在单混种系统间无显著差异(P0.05)。千屈菜单种系统和海寿花单种系统间的甲烷释放强度、pmoA基因绝对丰度、微生物量、植物生物量和出水铵态氮浓度存在显著差异(P0.05),但mcrA基因绝对丰度、出水总有机碳和硝态氮浓度无显著差异(P0.05)。为了达到人工湿地的高净化效率,需要将千屈菜与海寿花混合种植,但混合种植强化甲烷释放。通过植物种类和丰富度对各指标变异的解释度(ω~2)分析发现,植物种类对甲烷释放、pmoA基因绝对丰度、出水铵态氮的影响大于植物丰富度,但对mcrA基因绝对丰度的影响小于植物丰富度。     

Erythropoietin therapy for acute stroke is both safe and beneficial

BACKGROUND: Erythropoietin (EPO) and its receptor play a major role in embryonic brain, are weakly expressed in normal postnatal/adult brain and up-regulated upon metabolic stress. EPO protects neurons from hypoxic/ ischemic injury. The objective of this trial is to study the safety and efficacy of recombinant human EPO (rhEPO) for treatment of ischemic stroke in man. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The trial consisted of a safety part and an efficacy part. In the safety study, 13 patients received rhEPO intravenously (3.3 X 10(4) IU/50 ml/30 min) once daily for the first 3 days after stroke. In the double-blind randomized proof-of-concept trial, 40 patients received either rhEPO or saline. Inclusion criteria were age <80 years, ischemic stroke within the middle cerebral artery territory confirmed by diffusion-weighted MRI, symptom onset <8 hr before drug administration, and deficits on stroke scales. The study endpoints were functional outcome at day 30 (Barthel Index, modified Rankin scale), NIH and Scandinavian stroke scales, evolution of infarct size (sequential MRI evaluation using diffusion-weighted [DWI] and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequences [FLAIR]) and the damage marker S100ss. RESULTS: No safety concerns were identified. Cerebrospinal fluid EPO increased to 60-100 times that of nontreated patients, proving that intravenously administered rhEPO reaches the brain. In the efficacy trial, patients received rhEPO within 5 hr of onset of symptoms (median, range 2:40-7:55). Admission neurologic scores and serum S100beta concentrations were strong predictors ofoutcome. Analysis of covariance controlled for these two variables indicated that rhEPO treatment was associated with an improvement in follow-up and outcome scales. A strong trend for reduction in infarct size in rhEPO patients as compared to controls was observed by MRI. CONCLUSION: Intravenous high-dose rhEPO is well tolerated in acute ischemic stroke and associated with an improvement in clinical outcome at 1 month. A larger scale clinical trial is warranted.     

Cell Type Specific Signalling by Hematopoietic Growth Factors in Neural Cells

Correct timing and spatial location of growth factor expression is critical for undisturbed brain development and functioning. In terminally differentiated cells distinct biological responses to growth factors may depend on cell type specific activation of signalling cascades. We show that the hematopoietic growth factors thrombopoietin (TPO) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) exert cell type specific effects on survival, proliferation and the degree of phosphorylation of Akt1, ERK1/2 and STAT3 in rat hippocampal neurons and cortical astrocytes. In neurons, TPO induced cell death and selectively activated ERK1/2. GCSF protected neurons from TPO- and hypoxia-induced cell death via selective activation of Akt1. In astrocytes, neither TPO nor GCSF had any effect on cell viability but inhibited proliferation. This effect was accompanied by activation of ERK1/2 and inhibition of STAT3 activity. A balance between growth factors, their receptors and signalling proteins may play an important role in regulation of neural cell survival.     

The flavonoid eupatorin inactivates the mitotic checkpoint leading to polyploidy and apoptosis

The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) is a conserved mechanism that ensures the fidelity of chromosome distribution in mitosis by preventing anaphase onset until the correct bipolar microtubule-kinetochore attachments are formed. Errors in SAC function may contribute to tumorigenesis by inducing numerical chromosome anomalies (aneuploidy). On the other hand, total disruption of SAC can lead to massive genomic imbalance followed by cell death, a phenomena that has therapeutic potency. We performed a cell-based high-throughput screen with a compound library of 2000 bioactives for novel SAC inhibitors and discovered a plant-derived phenolic compound eupatorin (3',5-dihydroxy-4',6,7-trimethoxyflavone) as an anti-mitotic flavonoid. The premature override of the microtubule drug-imposed mitotic arrest by eupatorin is dependent on microtubule-kinetochore attachments but not interkinetochore tension. Aurora B kinase activity, which is essential for maintenance of normal SAC signaling, is diminished by eupatorin in cells and in vitro providing a mechanistic explanation for the observed forced mitotic exit. Eupatorin likely has additional targets since eupatorin treatment of pre-mitotic cells causes spindle anomalies triggering a transient M phase delay followed by impaired cytokinesis and polyploidy. Finally, eupatorin potently induces apoptosis in multiple cancer cell lines and suppresses cancer cell proliferation in organotypic 3D cell culture model.     

Functional neuronal cells generated by human parthenogenetic stem cells

Parent of origin imprints on the genome have been implicated in the regulation of neural cell type differentiation. The ability of human parthenogenetic (PG) embryonic stem cells (hpESCs) to undergo neural lineage and cell type-specific differentiation is undefined. We determined the potential of hpESCs to differentiate into various neural subtypes. Concurrently, we examined DNA methylation and expression status of imprinted genes. Under culture conditions promoting neural differentiation, hpESC-derived neural stem cells (hpNSCs) gave rise to glia and neuron-like cells that expressed subtype-specific markers and generated action potentials. Analysis of imprinting in hpESCs and in hpNSCs revealed that maternal-specific gene expression patterns and imprinting marks were generally maintained in PG cells upon differentiation. Our results demonstrate that despite the lack of a paternal genome, hpESCs generate proliferating NSCs that are capable of differentiation into physiologically functional neuron-like cells and maintain allele-specific expression of imprinted genes. Thus, hpESCs can serve as a model to study the role of maternal and paternal genomes in neural development and to better understand imprinting-associated brain diseases.     

An enzymatic solid-phase method for trace iodination of proteins and peptides with 125-iodine.

Solid-phase methodology has previously been applied to labeling of proteins and peptide hormones used in immunoassay with the aid of enzyme sorbent. In this publication a method based on the use of a new carrier-copolymer of maleic anhydride and butanediol divinylether is introduced. As a model, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was labeled using three different procedures: Chemical, with chloramine-T as oxidizing agent: enzymatic, in a liquid phase with lactoperoxidase (LP) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP); and enzymatic, in a solid phase with maleic anhydride butanediol divinylether-copolymer as the carrier of lactoperoxidase and horseradish peroxidase.The lactoperoxidase-mediated iodinating activity in both the liquid and solid phases was similar (incorporating 47 and 39% for the total ¹²⁵iodine added, 1 $\text{mCi}\text{10 μ}\text{g BSA}$), while HRP was more efficient in a liquid (11%) than in a solid phase (3%).Although the specific activity of the BSA labeled with chloramine-T was highest, this ¹²⁵I-labeled BSA was badly degraded during iodination. However, in either liquid or solid phase enzymatic iodinations, no degradation of the protein could be observed.Peptide hormones, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and angiotensin II, iodinated with lactoperoxidase or lactoperoxidase sorbent for radioimmunoassays reacted better than peptide hormones iodinated with chemical oxidants and remained unaltered during storage.