Cardiac Fibroblasts Contribute to Myocardial Dysfunction in Mice with Sepsis: The Role of NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation

Myocardial contractile dysfunction in sepsis is associated with the increased morbidity and mortality. Although the underlying mechanisms of the cardiac depression have not been fully elucidated, an exaggerated inflammatory response is believed to be responsible. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor containing pyrin domain 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is an intracellular platform that is involved in the maturation and release of interleukin (IL)-1β. The aim of the present study is to evaluate whether sepsis activates NLRP3 inflammasome/caspase-1/IL-1β pathway in cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) and whether this cytokine can subsequently impact the function of cardiomyocytes (cardiac fibroblast-myocyte cross-talk). We show that treatment of CFs with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces upregulation of NLRP3, activation of caspase-1, as well as the maturation (activation) and release of IL-1β. In addition, the genetic (small interfering ribonucleic acid [siRNA]) and pharmacological (glyburide) inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome in CFs can block this signaling pathway. Furthermore, the inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome in cardiac fibroblasts ameliorated the ability of LPS-chalenged CFs to impact cardiomyocyte function as assessed by intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) responses in cardiomyocytes. Salient features of this the NLP3 inflammasome/ caspase-1 pathway were confirmed in in vivo models of endotoxemia/sepsis. We found that inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome attenuated myocardial dysfunction in mice with LPS and increased the survival rate in mice with feces-induced peritonitis. Our results indicate that the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in cardiac fibroblasts is pivotal in the induction of myocardial dysfunction in sepsis.     

广东种子植物区系地理成分研究

广东种子植物区系共有２１９科１４３４属４９８６种。其中：①热带区系成分占有较大的比例,约占非世界属的６２．３％,表明广东区系受到热带区系的强烈渗透,次之为亚热带（至亚热带山地）成分约占３２．２％,及中国特有分布占５．６％;②以单型属（７２属）,单种属（５８５属）和寡种属（５６２属）占绝对优势,共占８５．０％,充分显示了广东区系的古老性和过渡性特点;③从区系组成和植被结构的特征成分来看,以华夏植物区系成分为主,包括：亚热带分布,亚热带山地分布,中国特有分布,东亚—北美间断分布,及一些亚洲热带分布中以亚热带为主的属：④在这些属中有东亚特有属１３２属,中国特有属７５属以及华南—西南—中南半岛特有属６８属等;这些属的存在毫无疑问地说明,广东区系是华夏植物区系的核心地区之一,同时也显示了热带区系与亚热带区系有着不可分隔的统一性。     

几种猕猴桃种间杂交亲和性的探讨

以中华猕猴桃、毛花猕猴桃、美味猕猴桃及阔叶猕猴桃进行种间杂交,结果表明:各杂交组合的座果率与对照组一样,均为100％;父本花粉萌发率与对照组相近,其杂交当代果实重量、种子数量及种子千粒重也与对照组相近;相同的母本,其当代杂交果实的重量及种子数量与父本花粉萌发率的高低成正比。这不但说明了各杂交组合所采用亲本之间的亲和性,而且为生产上利用不同种生活力强的猕猴桃雄株花粉进行人工辅助授粉提供依据。     

Do Geographically Isolated Grasslands Follow the Principle of Island Biogeography in a Landscape Scale? Taking Poyang Lake Grassland as an Example

As one of the basic theories of biodiversity conservation, island biogeography has been widely accepted in the past decades. Originally, island biogeography was put forward and applied in oceanic environments. But later on, it was found out that the application was not only limited to oceanic islands, but also in terrestrial environments with relatively isolated conditions. In terms of biodiversity level, island biogeography generally focuses on a small scale, such as species diversity and genetic diversity. The studies of biodiversity on a large-scale based on island biogeography, such as ecosystem and landscape scales, were seldomly conducted. Taking Poyang Lake, the largest fresh water lake in China as case study area, 30 grasslands were randomly selected to study whether island biogeography can be applied to grasslands at a landscape level from three island attributes (area, distance and shape), and the most important ecological variable (flooding) in Poyang Lake. The results showed that in general, grasslands have the property of an island, and follow the basic principle of island biogeography. We found the area and flooding duration were the two most important determinants of landscape diversity. There was a significant positive correlation between the grassland area and the landscape diversity, which could be well expressed by logarithmic function model (R² = 0.73). There was a negative correlation between flooding duration and landscape diversity, which could be described by an inverse model (R² = 0.206). The distance to mainland and the shape of grassland were correlated with landscape diversity, but the fitting result of the models was not as good as expected. The possible reason could be that Poyang Lake is a seasonal lake, the water level varies with hydrological conditions, so that the grasslands are not strongly isolated and their shape is not stable enough required by island biogeography. Furthermore, it indicates that besides area, distance and shape attributes, flooding strongly affects the biodiversity of grassland vegetation, and should not be ignored when applying island biogeography theory to Poyang Lake. This study is expected to be a supplement for island biogeography in terrestrial environments, and the results are expected to benefit for the biodiversity conservation in Poyang Lake.     

地衣芽孢杆菌β－甘露聚糖酶的纯化及酶学性质

地衣芽孢杆菌（Ｂａｃｉｌｌｕｓｌｉｃｈｅｎｉｆｏｒｍｉｓ）ＮＫ－２７菌株发酵产生的β－甘露聚糖酶（β－ｍａｎｎａｎａｓｅ）经硫酸铵盐析沉淀,两次ＤＥＡＥ纤维素和ＳｅｐｈａｄｅｘＧ－１００离子交换柱层析以及制备ＰＡＧＥ筹步骤,获得了凝胶电泳均一的样品。用ＳＤＳ－凝胶电泳测得纯化后的β－甘露聚糖酶分子量为２６ｋＤ,用凝胶聚焦电泳测得等电点ＰＩ为５．０。酶反应的最适ｐＨ为９．０,最后温度为６０℃,稳定ｐＨ为６．０—９．０,稳定温度为４０℃。金属离子中Ｍｇ￣（２＋）、Ｃａ￣（２＋）、Ｆｅ￣（２＋）、Ｎｉ￣（２＋）对该酶有一定的激活作用;而Ｓｎ￣（２＋）、Ｚｎ￣（２＋）、Ａｌ￣（３＋）、Ａｇ￣＋和Ｈｇ￣（２＋）对该酶有强烈的抑制作用。ＮＫ－２７菌株的β－甘露聚糖酶对魔芋葡萄甘露聚糖和角豆胶半乳甘露聚糖的Ｋｍ值分别为７．１４和５．５６ｍｇ·ｍｌ￣（－１）;Ｖ＿（ｍａｘ）分别为２００．５３和１５７．４５μｍｏｌ·ｍｇ￣（－１）·ｍｉｎ￣（－１）。     

Protective effect of Agrimonia pilosa polysaccharides on dexamethasone‐treated MC3T3‐E1 cells via Wnt/β‐Catenin pathway

A water‐soluble polysaccharide (APP‐AW) was isolated from Agrimonia pilosa and prepared to three sulphated derivatives (S1, S2 and S3). The results showed that pre‐treatment with APP‐AW, S1, S2 and S3 each at the concentration of 50 μg/mL for 48 hours was able to prevent cytotoxicity induced by 1 μmol/L dexamethasone (Dex) in MC3T3‐E1 cells via inhibition of apoptosis, which is in line with the findings in flow cytometry analysis. Meanwhile, the decreased ALP activity, collagen content, mineralization, BMP2, Runx2, OSX and OCN protein expression in DEX‐treated MC3T3‐E1 cells were reversed by the addition of APP‐AW, S1, S2 and S3. Moreover, APP‐AW, S1, S2 and S3 rescued DEX‐induced increase of Bax, cytochrome c and caspase‐3 and decrease of Bcl‐2, Wnt3, β‐catenin and c‐Myc protein expression in MC3T3‐E1 cells. Our findings suggest that pre‐treatment with APP‐AW, S1, S2 and S3 could significantly protect MC3T3‐E1 cells against Dex‐induced cell injury via inhibiting apoptosis and activating Wnt/β‐Catenin signalling pathway, thus application of these polysaccharides may be a promising alternative strategy for steroid‐induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head (SANFH) therapy.     

Overexpression of the persimmon abscisic acid β‐glucosidase gene (DkBG1) alters fruit ripening in transgenic tomato

β‐Glucosidases (BG) are present in many plant tissues. Among these, abscisic acid (ABA) β‐glucosidases are thought to take part in the adjustment of cellular ABA levels, however the role of ABA‐BG in fruits is still unclear. In this study, through RNA‐seq analysis of persimmon fruit, 10 full‐length DkBG genes were isolated and were all found to be expressed. In particular, DkBG1 was highly expressed in persimmon fruits with a maximum expression 95 days after full bloom (DAFD). We verified that, in vitro, DkBG1 protein can hydrolyze ABA‐glucose ester (ABA‐GE) to release free ABA. Compared with wild‐type, tomato plants that overexpressed DkBG1 significantly upregulated the expression of ABA receptor PYL3/7 genes and showed typical symptoms of ABA hypersensitivity in fruits. DkBG1 overexpression (DkBG1‐OE) accelerated fruit ripening onset by 3–4 days by increasing ABA levels at the pre‐breaker stage and induced early ethylene release compared with wild‐type fruits. DkBG1‐OE altered the expression of ripening regulator NON‐RIPENING (NOR) and its target genes; this in turn altered fruit quality traits such as coloration. Our results demonstrated that DkBG1 plays an important role in fruit ripening and quality by adjusting ABA levels via hydrolysis of ABA‐GE.     

外源EBR对NaCl胁迫下燕麦幼苗无机离子吸收、运输和分配的影响

为了探讨外源2,4-表油菜素内酯(2,4-epibrassinolide,EBR)诱导燕麦(Avena sativa L.)幼苗抗盐性的效果及其生理调节机制,以"青引2号"和"加燕2号"燕麦为材料,研究NaCl胁迫下施用外源EBR对燕麦幼苗无机离子吸收、运输和分配的影响。结果表明:100mmol·L-1NaCl胁迫下,"青引2号"和"加燕2号"燕麦幼苗叶片和根系中的Na+、Cl-含量均显著升高,对阳离子的吸收产生了拮抗作用,导致燕麦幼苗叶片和根系中的K+、Ca2+、Mg2+、Mn2+、Fe2+、Zn2+、Cu2+含量显著降低,离子稳态平衡被打破;100 mmol·L-1NaCl胁迫下,施用0.01μmol·L-1外源EBR后,"青引2号"和"加燕2号"燕麦幼苗叶片和根系中的Na+和Cl-含量显著降低,促进了燕麦幼苗根系对K+、Ca2+、Mg2+、Fe2+、Mn2+、Cu2+和Zn2+的吸收,叶片和根系中K+/Na+、Cl-/Na+、Ca2+/Na+、Mg2+/Na+、Fe2+/Na+、Mn2+/Na+、Cu2+/Na+和Zn2+/Na+显著升高,并且有效调控燕麦幼苗体内无机离子的运输比和阳离子的运输选择性比率,离子稳态重新达到平衡状态;说明外源EBR能够缓解NaCl胁迫下Na+和Cl-对燕麦幼苗所造成的离子毒害作用,有效调控燕麦幼苗对无机离子的选择性吸收、运输和分配,对维持燕麦幼苗体内的离子稳态平衡具有正向调控作用。     

中亚热带典型人工林土壤酶活性及其化学计量特征

以中亚热带典型的马尾松林、湿地松林和马尾松-木荷混交林(针阔混交林)为研究对象,分析不同林分类型下0～10和10～20 cm土层的β-D-葡萄糖苷酶(BG)、β-N-乙酰氨基葡萄糖苷酶(NAG)、亮氨酸氨基肽酶(LAP)、酸性磷酸酶(AP)、多酚氧化酶(POX)、过氧化物酶(POD)6种土壤酶活性,以及酶化学计量比及土壤理化性质特征,分析驱动中亚热带典型林分类型土壤酶活性及其计量比变异的主要因素。结果表明: 林分类型显著影响了土壤BG和LAP活性,表现为湿地松林10～20 cm土层土壤BG显著高于马尾松林,而LAP在马尾松林最高;湿地松林10～20 cm土层土壤BG/(NAG+LAP)、BG/AP显著高于马尾松林,而马尾松林(NAG+LAP)/AP显著高于湿地松林和针阔混交林;林分类型间酶化学计量的向量长度在10～20 cm土层差异显著,表现为湿地松林>针阔混交林>马尾松林。3种人工林酶化学计量的向量角度均大于45°,其中在湿地松林10～20 cm土层向量角度显著大于马尾松林。冗余分析表明,土壤碳质量指数和有机碳与全磷的比值(C/P)以及土壤含水量和C/P分别是0～10和10～20 cm土层土壤酶活性及其化学计量的关键影响因素,土壤碳和磷的数量和质量,以及土壤含水量在调节中亚热带人工林生态系统养分循环中发挥关键作用。