The influences of water solvent on the structures and stabilities of Na+–AD conformers

The influences of water solvent on the structures and stabilities of the complex ion conformers formed by the coordination of alanine dipeptide (AD) and Na⁺ have been investigated using supramolecular and polarizable continuum solvation models at the level of B3LYP/6-311++G**, respectively; 12 monohydrated and 12 dihydrated structures of Na⁺–AD complex ion were obtained after full geometrical optimization. The results showed that H₂O molecules easily bind with Na⁺ of Na⁺–AD complex ion, forming an ion-lone pair interaction with the Na–O bond length of 2.1–2.3 Å. Besides, H₂O molecules also can form hydrogen bonds O_W–H_W···O(1), O_W–H_W···O(2), N(1)–H(1)···O_W or N(2)–H(2)···O_W with O or N groups of the Na⁺–AD backbone. The most stable gaseous bidentate conformer C7AB of Na⁺–AD is still the most stable one in the solvent of water. However, the structure of the most unstable gaseous conformer α′B of Na⁺–AD collapses under the attack of H₂O molecules and changes into C7AB conformation. Computations with IEFPCM solvation model of self-consistent reaction field theory give that aqueous C5A is more stable than C7_eqB and that the stabilization energies of water solvent on monodentate conformers of Na⁺–AD complex ion (about 272–294 kJ/mol) are more than those on bidentate ones (about 243 kJ/mol).     

αADα Hybrids of Cryptococcus neoformans: Evidence of Same-Sex Mating in Nature and Hybrid Fitness

Cryptococcus neoformans is a ubiquitous human fungal pathogen that causes meningoencephalitis in predominantly immunocompromised hosts. The fungus is typically haploid, and sexual reproduction involves two individuals with opposite mating types/sexes, α and a. However, the overwhelming predominance of mating type (MAT) α over a in C. neoformans populations limits α–a mating in nature. Recently it was discovered that C. neoformans can undergo same-sex mating under laboratory conditions, especially between α isolates. Whether same-sex mating occurs in nature and contributes to the current population structure was unknown. In this study, natural αADα hybrids that arose by fusion between two α cells of different serotypes (A and D) were identified and characterized, providing definitive evidence that same-sex mating occurs naturally. A novel truncated allele of the mating-type-specific cell identity determinant SXI1α was also identified as a genetic factor likely involved in this process. In addition, laboratory-constructed αADα strains exhibited hybrid vigor both in vitro and in vivo, providing a plausible explanation for their relative abundance in nature despite the fact that AD hybrids are inefficient in meiosis/sporulation and are trapped in the diploid state. These findings provide insights on the origins, genetic mechanisms, and fitness impact of unisexual hybridization in the Cryptococcus population.     

Chronic Anatabine Treatment Reduces Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)-Like Pathology and Improves Socio-Behavioral Deficits in a Transgenic Mouse Model of AD

Anatabine is a minor tobacco alkaloid, which is also found in plants of the Solanaceae family and displays a chemical structure similarity with nicotine. We have shown previously that anatabine displays some anti-inflammatory properties and reduces microgliosis and tau phosphorylation in a pure mouse model of tauopathy. We therefore investigated the effects of a chronic oral treatment with anatabine in a transgenic mouse model (Tg PS1/APPswe) of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) which displays pathological Aβ deposits, neuroinflammation and behavioral deficits. In the elevated plus maze, Tg PS1/APPswe mice exhibited hyperactivity and disinhibition compared to wild-type mice. Six and a half months of chronic oral anatabine treatment, suppressed hyperactivity and disinhibition in Tg PS1/APPswe mice compared to Tg PS1/APPswe receiving regular drinking water. Tg PS1/APPswe mice also elicited profound social interaction and social memory deficits, which were both alleviated by the anatabine treatment. We found that anatabine reduces the activation of STAT3 and NFκB in the vicinity of Aβ deposits in Tg PS1/APPswe mice resulting in a reduction of the expression of some of their target genes including Bace1, iNOS and Cox-2. In addition, a significant reduction in microgliosis and pathological deposition of Aβ was observed in the brain of Tg PS1/APPswe mice treated with anatabine. This is the first study to investigate the impact of chronic anatabine treatment on AD-like pathology and behavior in a transgenic mouse model of AD. Overall, our data show that anatabine reduces β-amyloidosis, neuroinflammation and alleviates some behavioral deficits in Tg PS1/APPswe, supporting further exploration of anatabine as a possible disease modifying agent for the treatment of AD.     

Rolipram改善AD小鼠记忆

美国哥伦比亚大学的BingGong等研究发现磷酸二酯酶 4的抑制剂 Rolipram ,能够持久的改善Alzheimer sDisease (AD) [APP(K6 70N ,M6 71L) ;PS 1(M14 6V) ]转基因小鼠模型的突触和记忆缺陷 ,但没有改变 β淀粉样沉积的病理改变。实验结果提示 ,Rolipram可能通过提高环磷酸腺苷 (cAMP)的水平 ,稳定突触间信号传导 ,增加对 β淀粉样沉积的毒性作用。Rolipram引起的AD转基因小鼠行为学改善 ,作用持续停药后 2个月之久 ,并且在老龄鼠中作用更明显。除rolipram外 ,其它的磷酸酯酶抑制剂也可能对抗AD中淀粉样蛋白的毒性作用 ,并可能延缓…     

抗菌肽AD基因的合成

设计并合成了一种新型抗菌肽基因,合成的抗菌肽(cecropin)AD基因全长140个碱基对,克隆于pCR^TM2.1载体上,经DNA序列分析证实,合成的cecropin AD基因的碱基序列与设计序列完全一致.     

Metabolic signatures of human Alzheimer’s disease (AD): 1H NMR analysis of the polar metabolome of post-mortem brain tissue

Brain tissue from so-called Alzheimer’s disease (AD) mouse models has previously been examined using ¹H NMR-metabolomics, but comparable information concerning human AD is negligible. Since no animal model recapitulates all the features of human AD we undertook the first ¹H NMR-metabolomics investigation of human AD brain tissue. Human post-mortem tissue from 15 AD subjects and 15 age-matched controls was prepared for analysis through a series of lyophilised, milling, extraction and randomisation steps and samples were analysed using ¹H NMR. Using partial least squares discriminant analysis, a model was built using data obtained from brain extracts. Analysis of brain extracts led to the elucidation of 24 metabolites. Significant elevations in brain alanine (15.4 %) and taurine (18.9 %) were observed in AD patients (p ≤ 0.05). Pathway topology analysis implicated either dysregulation of taurine and hypotaurine metabolism or alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism. Furthermore, screening of metabolites for AD biomarkers demonstrated that individual metabolites weakly discriminated cases of AD [receiver operating characteristic (ROC) AUC <0.67; p < 0.05]. However, paired metabolites ratios (e.g. alanine/carnitine) were more powerful discriminating tools (ROC AUC = 0.76; p < 0.01). This study further demonstrates the potential of metabolomics for elucidating the underlying biochemistry and to help identify AD in patients attending the memory clinic.     

Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cell Derived Exosomes Potently Ameliorate Cognitive Dysfunction by Enhancing the Clearance of Aβ Through Up-Regulation of P-gp in Mouse Model of AD

Neurochemical Research - Accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides in the brain is regarded as a major contributor to the pathogenesis and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD)....     

Determination of Caffeic Acid in the Digestive Juice of Silkworm Larvae and Its Antibacterial Activity against the Pathogenic Streptococcus faecalis AD–4

Caffeic acid (CA) was identified as an antibacterial substance in the digestive juice of silkworm larvae. Concentrations of CA in the digestive juice decreased from 460 ppm to 3 ppm as the starvation period of the larvae was prolonged from 1 hr to 12 hr. The specimens of digestive juice (ca. pH 10.0) containing 460 ppm and 222 ppm of CA had antibacterial activity against Streptococcus faecalis AD–4, a pathogenic intestinal bacterium affecting silkworm larvae, and an alkaline medium (pH 10.0) containing 500 ppm of authentic CA also exhibited antibacterial activity.

These findings suggest that CA plays an important role in the defense mechanism of silkworm larvae against the bacterial infection.     

Disease modifying therapy for AD?1

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in industrialized nations. If more effective therapies are not developed that either prevent AD or block progression of the disease in its very early stages, the economic and societal cost of caring for AD patients will be devastating. Only two types of drugs are currently approved for the treatment of AD: inhibitors of acetyl cholinesterase, which symptomatically enhance cognitive state to some degree but are not disease modifying; and the adamantane derivative, memantine. Memantine preferentially blocks excessive NMDA receptor activity without disrupting normal receptor activity and is thought to be a neuroprotective agent that blocks excitotoxicty. Memantine therefore may have a potentially disease modifying effect in multiple neurodegenerative conditions. An improved understanding of the pathogeneses of AD has now led to the identification of numerous therapeutic targets designed to alter amyloid beta protein (Abeta) or tau accumulation. Therapies that alter Abeta and tau through these various targets are likely to have significant disease modifying effects. Many of these targets have been validated in proof of concept studies in preclinical animal models, and some potentially disease modifying therapies targeting Abeta or tau are being tested in the clinic. This review will highlight both the promise of and the obstacles to developing such disease modifying AD therapies.     

Historical water level change of Lake Weishan in East China from 1758–1902 AD: relationship with the flooding of the Yellow River

In order to understand high-resolution environmental changes, historical water level changes on decadal and centennial scales have been conventionally analyzed employing documentary records and lake sediments. However, annual records are still limited. Here we report the discovery of water level observations (up to monthly) in the historical literature of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912 AD). We reconstruct the chronologies of annual mean, maximum and minimum water level changes of Lake Weishan from 1758–1902 AD. The chronologies are compared with the precipitation data (dryness/wetness index data) of four stations in the vicinity of Lake Weishan (i.e., Heze, Jinan, Linyi and Xuzhou). We suggest that the annual water level changes are related to the amount of precipitation at the four stations. In addition, the flooding of the Yellow River significantly affects Lake Weishan, always resulting in extremely high annual mean, maximum and minimum water levels in the lake. The flooding in 1871 and 1873 AD even destroyed the banks between Lake Weishan-Zhaoyang-Nanyang and Lake Dushan, thus forming a united lake. In particular, we identify a high water level interval from 1851–1855 AD, just prior to the Yellow River channel change event in 1855 AD.     

Humanin拮抗AD相关毒性作用的研究进展

阿尔采末病（Alzheimer＇s disease,AD）严重威胁着老年人的健康与生存质量,由于其发病原因复杂、机制不明,目前尚缺乏有效的防治措施。Humanin是近年来发现的能特异性抑制AD相关毒性的分泌性短肽,通过自身二聚化在细胞外发挥神经保护作用。Humanin通过直接或间接作用抑制β-淀粉样蛋白（AB）,以及家族性AD（FAD）基因如早老基因突变诱发的神经毒,而对AD不相关的毒性作用如凋亡诱导剂etoposide及Fas诱导的细胞死亡却不表现拮抗作用。因此,Humanin可通过特异性拮抗AD相关的神经毒而发挥重要的神经保护作用。     

An Event History Analysis of Parcel Extensification and Household Abandonment in Pays Basque,French Pyrenees, 1830–1958 AD

This paper examines local processes of agricultural abandonment, socioeconomic changes, and associated landscape transition in a Pyrenean mountain village. We analyze the effects of socioeconomic and demographic factors contributing to changes in parcel level land use and ownership from 1830 to 1958. We use an event-history analysis to examine how individual etxe (Basque households) influenced the pace and character of landscape transition through their internal composition and their mediation of market pressures. Contrary to conventional narratives of agricultural transitions, our analysis suggests that more rapid “abandonment” of the landscape was prevented by etxe that were able to both engage in markets and maintain higher fertility rates. We conclude that the capacity of agropastoral landscapes to absorb broad-scale change is directly tied to local institutions, such as the etxe, which ultimately mediate socioeconomic drivers of change.     

Does the AD7c-NTP locus encode a protein?

AD7c-NTP, the only known protein entirely encoded by tandem and nested cassettes of Alu repetitive elements, is reportedly over-expressed in brains of Alzheimer's disease patients [de la Monte et al., J. Clin. Invest. 15 (1997)]. Based on these findings a commercial diagnostic assay ("7c Gold"/"AlzheimAlert" ) has been developed. We analyzed the published cDNA sequence and compared it to corresponding EST clones as well as the genomic sequences of human and chimpanzee. We come to the conclusion that the existence of the gene and in particular the predicted protein is inconsistent with EST and genomic data. Previously published data need to be reassessed.     

抗菌肽AD与haFGF融合基因的合成及其表达

通过PCR技术和体外DNA重组技术将CecropinAD连接在haFGF改构体的5′端,构建成融合基因CADAF。将其克隆到表达载体pET3c上,然后转化到BL21(DE3)中经IPTG诱导表达。经DNA序列分析,合成的CADAF基因序列与设计序列一致。构建的CADAF基因在BL21(DE3)中获得了表达 。     

AD发病机制的新探索:轴浆运输障碍假说

阿尔采末病(Alzheimer's disease,AD)是一种以老年斑、神经纤维缠结、突触密度减少和神经元丢失为主要病理改变的神经退行性疾病.目前对该病发病机制解释普遍接受的是淀粉样沉淀假说.而最新研究发现,早在β淀粉样多肽(Aβ)沉积和神经纤维缠结出现之前就有另一种病理改变,即轴突肿胀的出现.并且这一病理改变是由轴浆运输障碍引起的,最终可以导致Aβ沉积、突触功能障碍等其它AD相关的病理变化.据此推测,各种原因引起的轴浆运输障碍导致了AD的发病.本文通过介绍轴浆运输假说及其相关实验依据,对近年来AD发病机制的最新研究进展和尚待解决的问题作一综述.     

补肾活血法对AD模型小鼠行为学的影响

目的:研究中医补肾活血法指导下中药复方(益智健脑方浓缩液)以及针刺("补肾活血针刺法")对阿尔茨海默病模型小鼠SAMP8(Senescgnce Accelerated Mouse P8,SAMP8)的行为学影响,从不同侧面阐明补肾活血法对SAMP8小鼠的治疗作用以及防治AD的可行性.方法:将5月龄雄性SAMP8 30只随机分为中药治疗组(n=10)、针刺治疗组(n=10)和模型对照组(n=10),中药治疗组以益智健脑方浓缩液灌胃;针刺治疗组予以"补肾活血针刺法"干预;模型对照组不予任何处理;另设5月龄雄性SAMR1小鼠(n=10)作为正常对照组.4周后,采用Morris水迷宫对各组小鼠的行为学进行检测分析其学习记忆能力的变化.结果:Morris水迷宫实验中,模型对照组SAMP8小鼠的逃避潜伏期较正常对照组SAMR1小鼠的逃避潜伏期时间明显延长(P<0.05),停留在原平台象限的时间和穿越原平台次数较正常对照组SAMR1小鼠明显减少(P<0.05);补肾活血法指导下,采用中药复方益智健脑方浓缩液以及"补肾活血针刺法"干预均能够明显缩短SAMP8小鼠的逃避潜伏期(P<0.05),增加其停留在原平台象限的时间和穿越原平台次数(P<0.05).结论:补肾活血法能够明显改善AD模型小鼠SAMP8的学习记忆能力以及记忆巩固、再现能力.     

Synthetic β-hydroxy ketone derivative inhibits cholinesterases,rescues oxidative stress and ameliorates cognitive deficits in 5XFAD mice model of AD

Molecular Biology Reports - Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive, chronic and age-related neurodegenerative disorder that affects millions of people across the world. In pursuit of new...