The effects of ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate on the production of 1,3-propanediol from crude glycerol by microbial consortium

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering - Ionic liquids (ILs) as “green” solvents have been widely used owing to their excellent properties, e.g., for biodiesel production. Crude glycerol...     

Identification of differential genes in the ovary relative to the testis and their expression patterns in half-smooth tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis)

Half-smooth tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) is a rare marine flatfish whose mature ovary and testis greatly differ in volume and weight. The length and weight of mature females are over twice greater than those of mature males. To obtain sufficient information on gonad differentiation and the relationship between gonad development and growth in the fish, we compared gene expression between the ovary and testis using suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH). Testis cDNAs are subtracted from...     

Characterization of Cre recombinase mouse lines enabling cell type-specific targeting of postnatal intervertebral discs

Cre/loxP technology is an important tool for studying cell type-specific gene functions. Cre recombinase mouse lines, including Agc1-CreER^T2, Col2a1-Cre; Col2a1-CreER^T2, Shh-Cre, Shh-CreER^T2, and Osx-Cre, have been proven to be valuable tools to elucidate the biology of long bones, yet the information for their activity in postnatal intervertebral disc (IVD) tissues was very limited. In this study, we used R26-mTmG fluorescent reporter to systematically analyze cell specificity and targeting efficiency of these six mouse lines in IVD tissues at postnatal growing and adult stages. We found that Agc1-CreER^T2 is effective to direct recombination in all components of IVDs, including annulus fibrosus (AF), nucleus pulposus (NP), and cartilaginous endplate (CEP), upon tamoxifen induction at either 2 weeks or 2 months of ages. Moreover, Col2a1-Cre targets most of the cells in IVDs, except for some cells in the outer AF (OAF) and NP. In contrast, the activity of Col2a1-CreER^T2 is mainly limited to the IAF of IVD tissues at either stage of tamoxifen injection. Similarly, Shh-Cre directs recombination specifically in all NP cells, whereas Shh-CreER^T2 is active only in a few NP cells when tamoxifen is administered at either stage. Finally, Osx-Cre targets cells in the CEP, but not in the NP or AF of IVDs tissues at these two stages. Thus, our data demonstrated that all these Cre lines can direct recombination in IVD tissues at postnatal stages with different cell type specificity and/or targeting efficiency, and can, therefore, serve as valuable tools to dissect cell type-specific gene functions in IVD development and homeostasis.     

尼泊尔生态系统质量评估与时空格局变化——基于参照条件的评估方法

良好的生态系统质量是维持人类社会供给需求和可持续发展目标实现的重要保障。针对尼泊尔自然地理环境复杂多样，区域间气候差异明显的特点，结合基于参照条件的评估方法可以得到生态系统质量的相对水平值，其结果能够反映出不同的变化信息。植被是区域生态系统质量变化的重要指示器，利用尼泊尔五大地理区以及四种主要植被生态系统类型划分出20个生态评估区，从表征植被生态系统的水平结构、生产功能和垂直结构3个方面计算生态参数相对密度指标（RVI），结合主成分分析法构建植被生态系统质量指数（VEQI），并以其国家自然保护区为参照，构建基于参照条件的生态系统质量评估模型，计算了尼泊尔2016和2020年基于参照条件的植被生态系统质量指数（VEQI''）并分析其生态系统质量的时空格局变化。结果表明：（1）2016至2020年，尼泊尔生态系统质量现实值VEQI的平均值增加了3.49%，总体上，在参照生态系统质量（VEQI_ref）提高（约1.41%）的背景下，生态系统质量相对水平值VEQI''增加了1.42%；（2）对于尼泊尔地区，评估区89%分位数的VEQI与其对应的国家自然保护区的参照值具有很强的相关性，总体差异较小，可以代替作为参照值；（3）从空间格局变化趋势来看，尼泊尔生态系统质量变好、基本稳定和变差的面积分别占植被生态系统总面积的74.16%、14.25%和11.59%。与数量不足、较难收集利用的野外观测台站数据相比，国家自然保护区更接近理想参照生态系统的假设，通过有限的自然保护区确定生态评估区的参照值，实现生态系统质量的快速评估，其结果具有更好的时空可比性，可以为区域生态质量变化评估及量化分析等方面提供参考。     

NOD1 modulates decidual stromal cell function to maintain pregnancy in the early trimester

We sought to explore the functions and modulated factors of NOD1 in normal decidual stromal cells (DSCs) derived from the first trimester pregnancy and whether existed different expression of NOD1 between normal and unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (URPL) in DSCs. Twenty‐six patients with normal pregnancies that required abortion and 12 URPL patients at first trimester were enrolled for the study. As a result, we found lower levels of NOD1 in the DSCs derived from URPL compared with those from normal early trimester pregnancy. Furthermore, increased NOD1 expression in the normal DSCs induced apoptosis and increased monocyte chemotactic protein‐1 (MCP‐1) and IL‐1β (interleukin 1 beta) secretion but decreased their invasion capacity. In addition, several cytokines such as IL‐1β, tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α), interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ), and interleukin‐17 (IL‐17) were present at the maternal‐fetal interface in RPL and were found to regulate NOD1 expression in primary DSCs. Our study indicates that RPL may be associated with NOD1 aberrant expression in DSCs, which plays a significant role in maintaining pregnancy via infection control and regulation of immune responses that might affect the pregnancy outcome. We expect that our results will bring more comprehensively understanding about the connection between NOD1 and RPL for researchers.     

Lyoniresinol 3α-O-β-D-Glucopyranoside-Mediated Hypoglycaemia and Its Influence on Apoptosis-Regulatory Protein Expression in the Injured Kidneys of Streptozotocin-Induced Mice

Averrhoa carambola L. (Oxalidaceae) root (ACLR) has a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine for treating diabetes and diabetic nephropathy (DN). (±)-Lyoniresinol 3α-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (LGP1, LGP2) were two chiral lignan glucosides that were isolated from the ACLR. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of LGP1 and LGP2-mediated hypoglycaemia on renal injury in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice. STZ-induced diabetic mice were administrated LGP1 and LGP2 orally (20, 40, 80 mg/kg body weight/d) for 14 days. Hyperglycaemia and the expression of related proteins such as nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), caspase-3, -8, -9, and Bcl-associated X protein (Bax) were markedly decreased by LGP1 treatment. However, LGP2 treatment had no hypoglycaemic activity. Diabetes-dependent alterations in the kidney such as glomerular hypertrophy, excessive extracellular matrix amassing, and glomerular and tubular basement membrane thickening were improved after 14 days of LGP1 treatment. B cell lymphoma Leukaemia-2 (Bcl-2) expression was reduced in the STZ-induced diabetic mouse kidneys but was enhanced by LGP1 treatment. These findings suggest that LGP1 treatment may inhibit diabetic nephropathy progression and may regulate several pharmacological targets for treating or preventing diabetic nephropathy.     

Viral tegument proteins restrict cGAS-DNA phase separation to mediate immune evasion

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五株乳酸菌和三株芽孢杆菌的生物学特性和功能

【背景】乳酸菌和芽孢杆菌是应用于生产最多的益生菌,但不同菌株间的生长特性均不相同,因此了解菌株的生物学特性具有重要意义。【目的】研究菌株的生物学特性,能合理地开发和利用菌株,以保证菌株生产应用的安全性。【方法】活化后鉴定5株乳酸菌和3株芽孢杆菌并对其形态进行观察,探究菌株的生长曲线、产酸能力及最适生长条件,测定菌株的抑菌活性和产酶性能,同时探究菌株的益生性和安全性。【结果】五株乳酸菌分别编号鉴定为干酪乳杆菌R1、副干酪乳杆菌R2、香肠乳杆菌R3、福莱乳杆菌R4和唾液乳杆菌R5;3株芽孢杆菌分别编号命名为贝莱斯芽孢杆菌Y1、枯草芽孢杆菌Y2和地衣芽孢杆菌Y3。八株菌形态结构均不相同但都为杆状,均在2–10 h为对数生长期,18–24 h为稳定期,培养24 h时乳酸菌和芽孢杆菌的活菌数均保持在10⁹和10⁸ CFU/mL,最适生长温度为37.0℃。乳酸菌具有较强的产酸能力和抑菌活性,芽孢杆菌有较强的产酶性,在人工胃液中都有较强的耐受性。八株菌都无溶血活性、无毒力基因、对抗生素都保持中度敏感以上;其中唾液乳杆菌有四环素耐药基因,但对四环素抗性为中度敏感。【结论】八株菌生长繁殖速度快,乳酸菌产酸能力和抑菌活性较强,芽孢杆菌具有较强的产酶性能,在体外具有较好的益生性和安全性,可应用于生产实践。