Production and excretion of nitrate by human newborn infants: neonates are not little adults.

Endothelium-derived relaxing factor, identified as nitric oxide or its adducts, is metabolized to nitrate and excreted in the urine. Since blood pressures are lower in newborn infants compared to adults, we hypothesized that newborn infants would have increased excretion of nitrate on the day of birth. Neonatal urine was collected before 24 h of age when exogenous intake of nitrate was low. Two different analytical methods showed that nitrate accounted for >99% of nitrogen oxides in urine of healthy neonates and adults. The absolute micromolar concentration of nitrate in urine from infants was significantly below that of adults. When nitrate content was standardized for the reduced renal function in the newborn infant (creatinine content) and body mass (kilogram weight), the concentration of nitrate in neonatal urine was significantly higher than that of adults. Nitrate concentrations in the urine of prematurely born infants were twice that of nitrate measured in urine from term infants. These findings suggested that nitric oxide is produced in larger intravascular quantities in newborn infants versus adults. Thus, we postulated that nitric oxide released from a nitrosothiol would be metabolized to nitrate more readily by neonatal erythrocytes compared to red blood cells obtained from adults. Neonatal erythrocytes, suspended at concentrations of 8, 12, or 16 g per deciliter of hemoglobin, produced 1.7- to 2.1-fold more nitrate than equivalent hemoglobin concentrations of adult erythrocytes that were each incubated with S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (100 microM) over a 2-h period. Taken together, the studies of urinary nitrate in newborn infants and the ability of neonatal erythrocytes to generate nitrate are consistent with a robust production of nitric oxide immediately after birth.     

三苯基锡,二环己基碳二亚胺和寡霉素对叶绿体CF0与CF1功能联系的影响

作用于H~ —ATP酶复合体质子通道的能量传递抑制剂 TPT、DQCD和 OM能明显抑制叶绿体光合磷酸化反应和膜上 ATP酶活性,减小恒态ΛpH值,加速ΛpH和515 nm吸收衰减。这种在正常叶绿体加速H_(in)~ 经CF_0外流与在残缺膜中阻塞质子外流不一致。TPT等物质是干扰了CF_0与CF_1的构象连接,使 CF_0的质子传导失去CF_1的控制,H_(in)~ 无效漏失或质子逆向转移受影响,从而抑制与质子传导紧密相关的光合磷酸化反应和膜上ATP酶活性。     

血管内皮舒张因子在氧自由基所致慢性缺氧大鼠肺内动脉收缩中的作用

以黄嘌岭(X)-黄嘌呤氧化酶(XO)系统产生氧自由基,应用微量生物测定法观察慢性缺氧(5000m,10d)对大鼠氧自由基所致肺内动脉收缩的影响及内皮舒张因子(EDRF)在其中的作用。慢性缺氧大鼠有内皮的肺内动脉环对氧自由基的收缩反应较正常环境中的对照动物明显增强,加入EDRF灭活剂还原型血红蛋白(RHb)后更加显著;而加入超氧化物歧化酶(铜锌SOD)后则减弱,甚至消除。反之,不论加入RHb或SOD对氧自由基所致去内皮肺内动脉环的收缩反应均无明显影响。上述结果表明慢性缺氧引起肺内动脉收缩增强与EDRF有密切关系:慢性缺氧可能使EDRF的作用减弱,肺内动脉对氧自由基的反应性增强。表示EDRF及其与氧自由基的关系在慢性缺氧性肺动脉高压的形成中可能具有十分重要的意义。     

MPDA: Microarray pooled DNA analyzer

Background  

Microarray-based pooled DNA experiments that combine the merits of DNA pooling and gene chip technology constitute a pivotal advance in biotechnology. This new technique uses pooled DNA, thereby reducing costs associated with the typing of DNA from numerous individuals. Moreover, use of an oligonucleotide gene chip reduces costs related to processing various DNA segments (e.g., primers, reagents). Thus, the technique provides an overall cost-effective solution for large-scale genomic/genetic research. However, few publicly shared tools are available to systematically analyze the rapidly accumulating volume of whole-genome pooled DNA data.     

Induction of apoptosis by Centaurea nerimaniae extract in HeLa and MDA-MB-231 cells by a caspase-3 pathway

We investigated the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of a methanol extract of Centaurea nerimaniae, a plant endemic in Turkey, on HeLa and MDA-MB-231 cells. Eight concentrations of C. nerimaniae extract were applied to cells, and cytotoxic effects were measured using the xCELLigence system. The TUNEL assay was used to assess apoptotic cell death and immunohistochemistry was used to determine active caspase-3 using the effective cytotoxic doses of the extract. Doses of 1.42 mg/ml C. nerimaniae inhibited the growth of HeLa cells and 3.67 mg/ml C. nerimaniae inhibited the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The apoptotic indexes for HeLa and MDA-MB-231 cells were increased significantly compared to control groups. Immunohistochemistry showed that the number of caspase-3 immunostained cells increased in the extract treatment groups for both HeLa and MDA-MB-231 cells. In the MDA-MB-231 cell line, caspase-3 immunostaining was observed in nuclei and/or cytoplasm in the extract treated group. Caspase-3 activation was greater in HeLa cells than in MDA-MB-231 cells. We found that the extract of C. nerimaniae had a strong antiproliferative effect and induced apoptosis via caspase-3; MDA-MB-231 cancer cells were more resistant than HeLa cells.     

Features of wild-type human SOD1 limit interactions with misfolded aggregates of mouse G86R Sod1

Mutations in the gene encoding superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) account for about 20% of the cases of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS). It is well established that mutations in SOD1, associated with fALS, heighten the propensity of the protein to misfold and aggregate. Although aggregation appears to be a factor in the toxicity of mutant SOD1s, the precise nature of this toxicity has not been elucidated. A number of other studies have now firmly established that raising the levels of wild-type (WT) human SOD1 (hSOD1) proteins can in some manner augment the toxicity of mutant hSOD1 proteins. However, a recent study demonstrated that raising the levels of WT-hSOD1 did not affect disease in mice that harbor a mouse Sod1 gene (mSod1) encoding a well characterized fALS mutation (G86R). In the present study, we sought a potential explanation for the differing effects with WT-hSOD1 on the toxicity of mutant hSOD1 versus mutant mSod1. In the cell culture models used here, we observe poor interactions between WT-hSOD1 and misfolded G86R-mSod1, possibly explaining why over-expression of WT-hSOD1 does not synergize with mutant mSod1 to accelerate the course of the disease in mice.     

β-蝮蛇毒素对蟾蜍交感神经节突触传递的影响

β-蝮蛇毒素(β-agkistrodotoxin简写β-AgTX)对骨胳肌神经肌肉接头的作用已有实验分析,本文则观察了β-AgTX对蟾蜍交感神经节胆碱能性和非胆碱能性突触电位的作用。结果表明,β-AgTX对胆碱能性快兴奋性突触后电位(f-EPSP)和由压力微量注射ACh产生的ACh电位快成分有可逆性抑制作用,且对f-EPSP的幅值抑制率明显大于对ACh电位的抑制率,方差分析显示β-AgTX对f-EPSP和对ACh电位的抑制之间的差异显著(P<0.01)。β-AgTX对非胆碱能性迟慢兴奋性突触后电位(1s-EPSP)无明显作用。本结果提示β-AgTX可能是通过抑制节前神经末梢释放AGh的突触前机制和占据突触后N型胆碱能受体影响ACh的作用之突触后机制,抑制蟾蜍交感神经节的胆碱能性传递过程。