Butanol Extract of Acanthopanax senticosus (Rupr. et Maxim.) Harms Alleviates Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet

This study investigated the effect of butanol extract of AS (ASBUE) on atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE^−/−) mice. The mice were administered ASBUE (390 or 130 mg/kg/day) or rosuvastatin (RSV) via oral gavage for eight weeks. In ApoE^−/− mice, ASBUE suppressed the abnormal body weight gain and improved serum and liver biochemical indicators. ASBUE remarkably reduced the aortic plaque area, improved liver pathological conditions, and lipid metabolism abnormalities, and altered the intestinal microbiota structure in ApoE^−/− mice. In the vascular tissue of ASBUE-treated mice, P-IKKβ, P-NFκB, and P-IκBα levels tended to decrease, while IκB-α increased in high fat-diet-fed atherosclerotic mice. These findings demonstrated the anti-atherosclerotic potential of ASBUE, which is mediated by the interaction between the gut microbiota and lipid metabolism and regulated via the Nuclear Factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway. This work paves the groundwork for subsequent studies to develop innovative drugs to treat atherosclerosis.     

猫后内侧上雪氏区视神经元对运动棒反应的取向和方向特征

猫后内侧上雪区（ｐｏｓｔｅｒｏｍｅｄｉａｌｌａｔｅｒａｌｓｕｐｒａｓｙｌｖｉａｎａｒｅａ,ＰＭＬＳ）的绝大多数神经元（１７１／２００）对运动棒的取向调谐,６２％（１２４／２００）细胞的取向调谐宽度（半高波宽）小于９０°：按方向选择性和取向选择性可分辨出几类特征明显的细胞类型：１、强取向和强方向选择性细胞;２、强取向调谐的双向选择细胞;３、弱取向调谐的强方向选择细胞;４、无取向无方向选择性细胞;以及５、特征不明显的或中间类型细胞。它们与最近光学记录揭示的鹰猴中颞叶视区（ｍｉｄｄｌｅｔｅｍｐｏｒａｌｖｉｓｕａｌａｒｅａ,ＭＴ）的组织有很好的吻合。     

四川55种鱼生活史型的研究

四川５５种鱼生活史型的研究刁晓明,罗一兵李波（西南农业大学水产系,重庆６３０７１６）（重庆大学计算机系,６３００００）ＬｉｆｅＨｉｓｔｏｒｙＰａｔｔｅｒｎｓｏｆ５５ＦｉｓｈＳｐｅｃｉｅｓｉｎＳｉｃｈｕａｎ￥ＤｉａｏＸｉａｏｍｉｎｇ;ＬｕｏＹｉｂｉｎｇ...     

Complementing amino acid substitutions within loop 6 of the alpha/beta-barrel active site influence the CO2/O2 specificity of chloroplast ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase

Photosynthesis-deficient mutant 45-3B of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii contains a chloroplast mutation that causes valine-331 to be replaced by alanine within the large subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. This amino acid substitution occurs in loop 6 of the alpha/beta-barrel active site, three residues distant from catalytic lysine-334. The mutation reduces the specific activity of the enzyme and also reduces its CO2/O2 specificity factor by 42%, but the amount of holoenzyme is unaffected. In a previous study, an intragenic-suppressor mutation, named S40-9D, was selected that causes threonine-342 to be replaced by isoleucine, thereby increasing the CO2/O2 specificity of the mutant enzyme by 36%. To determine which other residues might be able to complement the original mutation, nine additional genetically independent revertants have now been analyzed. Another intragenic suppressor, represented by mutation S61-2J, causes glycine-344 to be replaced by serine. This change increases the CO2/O2 specificity of the mutant enzyme by 25%. Of the revertants recovered and analyzed, the mutant enzyme was improved only due to true reversion or by intragenic suppression mediated by substitutions at residues 342 or 344. Changes in the physical properties of the two pairs of complementing substitutions indicate that steric effects within loop 6 are responsible for the observed changes in the CO2/O2 specificity of the enzyme.     

Comprehensive profiling of accessible surface glycans of mammalian sperm using a lectin microarray

It is well known that cell surface glycans or glycocalyx play important roles in sperm motility, maturation and fertilization. A comprehensive profile of the sperm surface glycans will greatly facilitate both basic research (sperm glycobiology) and clinical studies, such as diagnostics of infertility. As a group of natural glycan binders, lectin is an ideal tool for cell surface glycan profiling. However, because of the lack of effective technology, only a few lectins have been tested for lectin-sperm binding profiles. To address this challenge, we have developed a procedure for high-throughput probing of mammalian sperm with 91 lectins on lectin microarrays. Normal sperm from human, boar, bull, goat and rabbit were collected and analyzed on the lectin microarrays. Positive bindings of a set of ~50 lectins were observed for all the sperm of 5 species, which indicated a wide range of glycans are on the surface of mammalian sperm. Species specific lectin bindings were also observed. Clustering analysis revealed that the distances of the five species according to the lectin binding profiles are consistent with that of the genome sequence based phylogenetic tree except for rabbit. The procedure that we established in this study could be generally applicable for sperm from other species or defect sperm from the same species. We believe the lectin binding profiles of the mammalian sperm that we established in this study are valuable for both basic research and clinical studies.     

MALT1 is a potential therapeutic target in glioblastoma and plays a crucial role in EGFR‐induced NF‐κB activation

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common malignant tumour in the adult brain and hard to treat. Nuclear factor κB (NF‐κB) signalling has a crucial role in the tumorigenesis of GBM. EGFR signalling is an important driver of NF‐κB activation in GBM; however, the correlation between EGFR and the NF‐κB pathway remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of mucosa‐associated lymphoma antigen 1 (MALT1) in glioma progression and evaluated the anti‐tumour activity and effectiveness of MI‐2, a MALT1 inhibitor in a pre‐clinical GBM model. We identified a paracaspase MALT1 that is involved in EGFR‐induced NF‐kB activation in GBM. MALT1 deficiency or inhibition significantly affected the proliferation, survival, migration and invasion of GBM cells both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, MALT1 inhibition caused G1 cell cycle arrest by regulating multiple cell cycle–associated proteins. Mechanistically, MALTI inhibition blocks the degradation of IκBα and prevents the nuclear accumulation of the NF‐κB p65 subunit in GBM cells. This study found that MALT1, a key signal transduction cascade, can mediate EGFR‐induced NF‐kB activation in GBM and may be potentially used as a novel therapeutic target for GBM.     

模拟氮沉降对长白山苔原灌草混合群落中植物光合特性的影响

由于草本植物持续上侵长白山灌木苔原,形成了强烈的灌草群落种间竞争。本研究以牛皮杜鹃-小叶章群落（Comm.Rhododendron aureum-Deyeuxia purpurea）为对象,根据小叶章的入侵程度设置4种盖度差异显著的样方（无、轻度、中度、重度入侵）,并设3个施氮水平（自然状态、添加11.8 kgN·hm^-2·a^-1及添加23.6 kgN·hm^-2·a^-1）,进行原位氮沉降模拟实验,监测灌木牛皮杜鹃和草本植物小叶章光合特性的差异和变化趋势,研究小叶章入侵苔原带的内在生理机制。结果显示：（1）小叶章净光合速率大于牛皮杜鹃,小叶章盖度越高、其叶绿素含量越高,而牛皮杜鹃叶绿素含量降低,随着小叶章入侵程度的增加,其净光合速率增强;（2）施氮可以提高牛皮杜鹃和小叶章的叶绿素含量和净光合速率,促进植物生长,但小叶章的增幅更大,从而增强了小叶章的竞争优势;（3）施氮和小叶章入侵具有复合作用,小叶章盖度越大,对其施氮导致小叶章净光合速率与叶绿素含量的增幅越大,而牛皮杜鹃的增幅减小。所以小叶章的成功入侵可能与其具有较高的净光合速率有关,并且施氮有利于提高小叶章的净光合速率,随着氮沉降的继续增加,更有利于小叶章的生长并提高其竞争力。     

Chromosomes in the Porcine First Polar Body Possess Competence of Second Meiotic Division within Enucleated MII Stage Oocytes

To determine whether chromosomes in the porcine first polar body (PB1) can complete the second meiotic division and subsequently undergo normal pre-implantation embryonic development, we examined the developmental competence of PB1 chromosomes injected into enucleated MII stage oocytes by nuclear transfer method (chromosome replacement group, CR group). After parthenogenetic activation (PA) or in vitro fertilization (IVF), the cleavage rate of reconstructed oocytes in the IVF group (CR-IVF group, 36.4 ± 3.2%) and PA group (CR-PA group, 50.8 ± 4.2%) were significantly lower than that of control groups in which normal MII oocytes were subjected to IVF (MII-IVF group, 75.8 ± 1.5%) and PA (MII-PA group, 86.9 ± 3.7%). Unfertilized rates was significantly higher in the CR-IVF group (48.6 ± 3.3%) than in the MII-IVF group (13.1 ± 3.4%). The blastocyst formation rate was 8.3 ± 1.9% in the CR-PA group, whereas no blastocyst formation was observed in the CR-IVF group. To produce tetraploid parthenogenetic embryos, intact MII stage oocytes injected with PB1chromosomes were electrically stimulated, treated with 7.5 μg/mL cytochalasin B for 3 h (MII oocyte + PB1 + CB group), and then cultured without cytochalasin B. The average cleavage rate of reconstructed oocytes was 72.5% (48 of 66), and the blastocyst formation rate was 18.7% (9 of 48). Chromosome analysis showed similar proportions of haploid and diploid cells in the control (normal MII oocytes) and CR groups after PA; overall, 23.6% of blastocysts were tetraploid in the MII oocyte + PB1 + CB group. These results demonstrate that chromosomes in PB1 can participate in normal pre-implantation embryonic development when injected into enucleated MII stage oocytes, and that tetraploid PA blastocysts are produced (although at a low proportion) when PB1 chromosomes are injected into intact MII stage oocytes.