Tolerance to Various Toxicants by Marine Bacteria Highly Resistant to Mercury

Bacteria highly resistant to mercury isolated from seawater and sediment samples were tested for growth in the presence of different heavy metals, pesticides, phenol, formaldehyde, formic acid, and trichloroethane to investigate their potential for growth in the presence of a variety of toxic xenobiotics. We hypothesized that bacteria resistant to high concentrations of mercury would have potential capacities to tolerate or possibly degrade a variety of toxic materials and thus would be important in environmental pollution bioremediation. The mercury-resistant bacteria were found to belong to Pseudomonas, Proteus, Xanthomonas, Alteromonas, Aeromonas, and Enterobacteriaceae. All these environmental bacterial strains tolerant to mercury used in this study were capable of growth at a far higher concentration (50 ppm) of mercury than previously reported. Likewise, their ability to grow in the presence of toxic xenobiotics, either singly or in combination, was superior to that of bacteria incapable of growth in media containing 5 ppm mercury. Plasmid-curing assays done in this study ascertained that resistance to mercury antibiotics, and toxic xenobiotics is mediated by chromosomally borne genes and/or transposable elements rather than by plasmids.     

Expression of Ezrin in Human Embryonic, Fetal, and Normal Adult Tissues

Ezrin, which cross-links the cytoskeleton and plasma membrane, was involved in a wide variety of cellular processes. Here, to investigate the distribution of ezrin, tissue microarray technology was employed to perform immunohistochemical experiments on human embryos, fetuses at 4 to 22 weeks’ gestation, and adult tissue specimens. Results showed that ezrin was widely expressed in the gastrointestinal tract throughout the human developmental stages studied. At 6 to 8 weeks’ gestation, ezrin was found in epithelial cells, and this staining pattern was particularly pronounced in the brush border of mature absorptive cells lining the villus in later developmental stages and adult tissues. Throughout neural development, ezrin was only expressed in the neural tube at 4 weeks’ gestation. Ezrin was also detected in the cortex and medulla of the adrenal gland at 8 to 12 weeks’ gestation, whereas its immunoreactivity was increased from the zona glomerulosa through the zona reticularis and was essentially undetectable in the adrenal medulla of adult tissues. Significant expression of ezrin was seen throughout development in the kidney, spleen, lymph nodes, and cells of stratified squamous epithelia. However, ezrin was undetectable in lung, liver, heart, and blood vessels. These results demonstrated that the expression pattern of ezrin was highly time specific and tissue specific.     

环境毒物对金黄色葡萄球菌毒性影响的研究

采用毒物在营养琼脂中垂直扩散方法,通过测定毒物在营养球脂中抑制金黄色葡萄球菌生长产生蓝色抑菌带的长度,研究Hg、Cr^6 、Pb、CN^—、As、NO2^—、F^—及苯酚对金黄色葡萄球菌的毒性影响。结果表明：受试毒物的浓度与抑菌带有相关性,相关系数具显著意义;对毒物的敏感性为Cr^6 ＞Hg＞As＞CN^—＞Pb＞NO2^—＞苯酚＞F—;多种毒物共同作用其毒性影响增加。     

人乳腺癌干细胞异种移植动物模型的制备和应用

越来越多的证据显示乳腺癌干细胞是导致乳腺癌发生、发展、复发和转移的根源。因此,模拟出与人乳腺癌发病机制相似的动物模型将对乳腺癌的治疗起着至关重要的作用。本文旨在介绍乳腺癌干细胞异种移植动物模型的制备方法、应用以及近年来的研究进展。     

Effects of Melamine and Cyanuric Acid on Embryo‐Fetal Development in Rats

After the outbreak of acute renal failure associated with melamine‐contaminated pet food, melamine and melamine‐related compounds have become of great interest from a toxicologic perspective. We investigated the potential effects of melamine in combination with cyanuric acid (M + CA, 1:1) on pregnant dams and embryo‐fetal development in rats. M + CA was orally administered to pregnant rats from gestational days 6 through 19 at doses of 0, 3, 10, and 30 mg/kg/day of both melamine and cyanuric acid. Maternal toxicity of rats administered 30 mg/kg/day M + CA was manifested as increased incidences of clinical signs and death; gross pathologic findings; higher blood urea nitrogen and creatinine levels; lower body weight gain and food intake; decreased thymus weight; and increased heart, lung, and kidney weights. Histopathological examinations revealed an increase in the incidence of congestion, tubular necrosis/degeneration, crystals, casts, mineralization, inflammatory cells in tubules, tubular dilation, and atrophy of glomeruli in maternal kidneys, whereas fetal kidneys did not show any histopathological changes. Developmental toxicity included a decrease in fetal (28%) and placental weights and a delay in fetal ossification (n = 7). Increased incidence of gross and histopathological changes in the maternal kidney was also found in the middle dose group (n = 12). No treatment‐related maternal or developmental effects were observed in the low dose group (n = 12). Under these experimental conditions, M + CA is embryotoxic at an overt maternotoxic dose in rats and the no‐observed‐adverse‐effect level of M + CA is considered to be 3 mg/kg/day for pregnant dams and 10 mg/kg/day for embryo‐fetal development.     

人胚细胞提取物抗突变作用的研究

本文应用体外培养人淋巴细胞和小鼠骨髓微核与染色体畸变检测,研究了人胚细胞水提物(胚提物)的遗传毒性和抗突变效应。结果表明,(1)胚提物(3和30μg/ml,下同)可显著抑制培养人淋巴细胞的自发和γ-射线诱发的微核形成;(2)胚提物对培养淋巴细胞的自发染色体畸变无明显影响,但可显著抑制丝裂酶素C(MMC)诱发的染色体畸变; (3)胚提物显著抑制环磷酰胺诱发的小鼠骨髓多染性红细胞微核(PCE-MN)的增加; (4)胚提物的上述抗突变效应呈剂量依赖性增加。因此,作者认为,人胚细胞水提物是一种抗突变剂, 可望用于肿瘤的化学预防,并可用作为肿瘤放疗和化疗的辅助药物,以减少毒付反应和二次肿瘤的发生率。 Abstract:Genetially toxic and antimutagenic effects of the aqueous extracts of human fetal cells(HFCAE) against mutagen-induced chromosomal aberrations and micronucleus formation in human lymphocytes in vitro and bone marrow of mice were studied.HFCAE (3 and 30 μg/ml)significantly inhibited spontaneous and γ-rays-induced micronucleus formation and MMC-induced chromosomal aberrations in human lymphocytes in vitro.HFCAE (3 and 30μg/ml) strongly suppressed also micronucleus formation induced by CP in PCEs of mice.These antimutagenic effects of HFCAE were dose-dependent.Our results suggest that HFCE might be an antimutagen and have potential value in its clinical application.     

人体组织反射光谱的检测研究

反射光谱是一种非侵入式的光学技术,可提高癌症实时反馈和诊断效率。本文综述了基于反射光谱技术在人体皮肤、口腔、肺、鼻咽等组织疾病的研究概况,包括离体组织和活体组织反射光谱的检测,展望了发展前景。     

Sublethal Effects of Environmental Toxicants on Oligochaete Escape Reflexes

Soft-bodied oligochaetes that reside in soil and benthic environmentsare frequently exposed to pesticides and other environmentaltoxicants. Using noninvasive electrical recording techniques,some of the sublethal neurophysiological effects of these toxicantshave been assessed in selected terrestrial and freshwater oligochaetes:Lumbricus terrestris, Eisenia foetida, and Lumbriculus variegatus.Under laboratory conditions, short-term cutaneous exposure toa wide variety of toxicants produces sublethal and reversibledisruptions of giant nerve fiber spike activity and other bioelectricevents that mediate rapid escape reflexes. Generally, electrophysiologicaleffects include one or more of the following: (a) hypo- or hyper-excitability of giant fibers to mechanosensory stimulation,(b) reduction in giant fiber conduction velocity, (c) inductionof abnormal giant fiber activity (i.e., spontaneous, rebound,or ectopic spiking), (d) increased delay or block of centraltransmission between the medial giant interneuron (MGF) andits associated pool of motorneurons, and (e) attenuation ofMGF-mediated electrical potentials in longitudinal muscle. Theseefforts to describe the systemic impact and time course of neurotoxicanteffects in vivo are necessary steps in ultimately predictingthe ecological consequences of neurotoxicant exposure in situ.     

Xenotransplantation of Human Stem Cells into the Chicken Embryo

The chicken embryo is a classical animal model for studying normal embryonic and fetal development and for xenotransplantation experiments to study the behavior of cells in a standardized in vivo environment. The main advantages of the chicken embryo include low cost, high accessibility, ease of surgical manipulation and lack of a fully developed immune system. Xenotransplantation into chicken embryos can provide valuable information about cell proliferation, differentiation and behavior, the responses of cells to signals in defined embryonic tissue niches, and tumorigenic potential. Transplanting cells into chicken embryos can also be a step towards transplantation experiments in other animal models. Recently the chicken embryo has been used to evaluate the neurogenic potential of human stem and progenitor cells following implantation into neural anlage^1-6. In this video we document the entire procedure for transplanting human stem cells into the developing central nervous system of the chicken embryo. The procedure starts with incubation of fertilized eggs until embryos of the desired age have developed. The eggshell is then opened, and the embryo contrasted by injecting dye between the embryo and the yolk. Small lesions are made in the neural tube using microsurgery, creating a regenerative site for cell deposition that promotes subsequent integration into the host tissue. We demonstrate injections of human stem cells into such lesions made in the part of the neural tube that forms the hindbrain and the spinal cord, and into the lumen of the part of the neural tube that forms the brain. Systemic injections into extraembryonic veins and arteries are also demonstrated as an alternative way to deliver cells to vascularized tissues including the central nervous system. Finally we show how to remove the embryo from the egg after several days of further development and how to dissect the spinal cord free for subsequent physiological, histological or biochemical analyses.     

Laminin α1-Chain Shows a Restricted Distribution in Epithelial Basement Membranes of Fetal and Adult Human Tissues

Two novel monoclonal antibodies were raised and used to study the expression of laminin (Ln) α1-chain in developing and adult human tissues. In both fetal and adult kidney, a distinct immunoreactivity was seen in basement membranes (BM) of most proximal tubules but not in the distal tubular or glomerular BM or in the basal laminae of blood vessels. Immunoprecipitation of metabolically labeled cultured human renal proximal tubular cells showed an abundant production and deposition of Ln α1-chain to the extracellular matrix, suggestive of an epithelial origin of kidney Ln-1. Quantitative cell adhesion experiments with JAR choriocarcinoma cells showed that purified human Ln-1 is a good substrate for cell adhesion that it is differently recognized by integrin receptors when compared to mouse Ln-1. In fetal and adult testes immunoreactivity was solely confined to BM of the seminiferous epithelium. In the airways BM-confined reaction was only seen in fetal budding bronchial tubules (16–19 weeks) at the pseudoglandular stage of development. In the skin a distinct immunoreactivity was confined to BM of developing hair buds but not in epithelial BMs of adult epidermis or of epidermal appendages. In other adult tissues, immunoreactivity was found in BMs of thyroid, salivary, and mammary glands as well as in BMs of endometrium and endocervix, but not of ectocervix or vagina. No immunoreactivity was found in BMs of most of the digestive tract, including the liver and pancreas, except for BMs of esophageal submucosal glands and duodenal Brunner's glands. In fetal specimens, BMs of the bottoms of the intestinal and gastric glands were positive. Basal laminae of blood vessels were generally negative for Ln α1 chain with the exception of specimens of both fetal and adult central nervous system in which immunoreactivity for Ln α1 chain was prominently confined to capillary walls. The results suggest that outside the central nervous system, Ln α1 chain shows a restricted and developmentally regulated expression in BMs of distinct epithelial tissues.     

人胚鼻咽组织基因表达谱

以水囊引产５、６、７、８个月人胚胎鼻咽组织总ＲＮＡ逆转录标记ｃＤＮＡ探针,与代表５８８个基因的Ａｔｌａｓ＾ＴＭｃＤＮＡ阵列进行杂交,观察了这些基因在不同发育时期内的表达差异。结果发现与细胞分裂增殖及细胞生长相关的基因明显高表达,不同胎龄存在多个表达水平不同的基因及同一基因在不同时期表达水平也不一样,如早期生长反应蛋白１（ｅａｒｌｙ ｇｒｏｗｔｈ ｒｅｓｐｏｎｓｅ ｐｒｏｔｅｉｎ１）基因ＥＧＲＰ１在     

恒定磁场出生前暴露对小鼠胚胎发育的影响

目的:探讨不同强度恒定磁场对小鼠胚胎发育的影响。方法:将52只受孕母鼠分别暴露于不同强度的恒定磁场下(0.04T、0.08T、0.12T),17只怀孕雌鼠作为对照,孕18日时处死母鼠,解剖后记录仔鼠总数,活胎数、吸收胎数,并称重胎重,测量胎仔身长、尾长以及计算心脏、肝、脑、肾脏与体重的比值。结果:在0.08T及0.12T磁场暴露下,平均活胎数较对照组明显减少。平均吸收胎数明显增加,与对照组相比差异有显著性(P<0.05)。胎鼠尾长、心、肝、脑、肾与体重比值各组间无显著性差异,但体重与身长在0.12T磁场环境中要较另外三组显著增加(P<0.05)。0.12T磁场暴露下畸形胎仔增加,其中外表畸形较另外三组差异有显著性。结论:磁场对小鼠胚胎发育有一定的影响,并且其影响与磁场强度相关。     

Dose–Response Effects of Diphenylhydantoin on Pregnant Dams and Embryo‐Fetal Development in Rats

Despite the widespread use of diphenylhydantoin (DPH), there is a lack of reliable information on the teratogenic effects, correlation with maternal and developmental toxicity, and dose–response relationship of DPH. This study investigated the dose–response effects of DPH on pregnant dams and embryo‐fetal development as well as the relationship between maternal and developmental toxicity. DPHwas orally administered to pregnant rats from gestational days 6 through 15 at 0, 50, 150, and 300 mg/kg/day. At 300 mg/kg, maternal toxicity including increased clinical signs, suppressed body weight, decreased food intake, and increased weights of adrenal glands, liver, kidneys, and brain were observed in dams. Developmental toxicity, including a decrease in fetal and placental weights, increased incidence of morphological alterations, and a delay in fetal ossification delay also occurred. At 150 mg/kg, maternal toxicity manifested as an increased incidence of clinical signs, reduced body weight gain and food intake, and increased weights of adrenal glands and brain. Only minimal developmental toxicity, including decreased placental weight and an increased incidence of visceral and skeletal variations, was observed. No treatment‐related maternal or developmental effects were observed at 50 mg/kg. These results show that DPH is minimally embryotoxic at a minimal maternotoxic dose (150 mg/kg/day) but is embryotoxic and teratogenic at an overt maternotoxic dose (300 mg/kg/day). Under these experimental conditions, the no‐observed‐adverse‐effect level of DPH for pregnant dams and embryo‐fetal development is considered to be 50 mg/kg/day. These data indicate that DPH is not a selective developmental toxicant in the rat.     

Free Radical Production by Azomethine H: Effects on Pancreatic and Hepatic Tissues

The antimalarial properties of azomethine H represent the basis for its use as a chemotherapeutic agent. This work was carried out in order to verify the biological side effects of azomethine H and to clarify the contribution of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in this process. It was shown that azomethine H increased serum activities of amylase, alanine transaminase (ALT) and the TBARS concentrations, in rats. No changes were observed in glutathione peroxidase and catalase activities. The drug-induced tissue damage might be due to superoxide radicals (O₂), since Cu-Zn superoxide dis-mutase activities were increased by azomethine H treatment. This study allows tentative conclusions to be drawn regarding which reactive oxygen metabolites play a role in azomethine H activity. We concluded that (O₂) maybe produced as a mediator of azomethine H action.     

应用cDNA芯片分析79个新基因的人胚组织表达谱

大规模cDNA测序和生物信息学技术相结合,得到来自于商品化的人胚肾cDNA文库79个代表新基因的表达序列标签(EST).随后,采用高速度机械手制备这些cDNA的基因芯片,用于鉴定79个新基因的ESTs在20周、26周两个胚胎时期6种组织中的基因表达状况,以研究这些EST片段代表的新基因功能提供线索.通过芯片杂交及结果分析,得到同一个组织两个不同时相8个差异表达的基因,随后的RNA印迹分析的结果与芯片杂交的结果相一致.     

Construction of Defined Human Engineered Cardiac Tissues to Study Mechanisms of Cardiac Cell Therapy

Human cardiac tissue engineering can fundamentally impact therapeutic discovery through the development of new species-specific screening systems that replicate the biofidelity of three-dimensional native human myocardium, while also enabling a controlled level of biological complexity, and allowing non-destructive longitudinal monitoring of tissue contractile function. Initially, human engineered cardiac tissues (hECT) were created using the entire cell population obtained from directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells, which typically yielded less than 50% cardiomyocytes. However, to create reliable predictive models of human myocardium, and to elucidate mechanisms of heterocellular interaction, it is essential to accurately control the biological composition in engineered tissues. To address this limitation, we utilize live cell sorting for the cardiac surface marker SIRPα and the fibroblast marker CD90 to create tissues containing a 3:1 ratio of these cell types, respectively, that are then mixed together and added to a collagen-based matrix solution. Resulting hECTs are, thus, completely defined in both their cellular and extracellular matrix composition.Here we describe the construction of defined hECTs as a model system to understand mechanisms of cell-cell interactions in cell therapies, using an example of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) that are currently being used in human clinical trials. The defined tissue composition is imperative to understand how the hMSCs may be interacting with the endogenous cardiac cell types to enhance tissue function. A bioreactor system is also described that simultaneously cultures six hECTs in parallel, permitting more efficient use of the cells after sorting.     

Effects of Cell Density on Lipids of Human Glioma and Fetal Neural Cells

Abstract: Gangliosides, phospholipids, and cholesterol of human glioma (12-18) and fetal neural cells (CH) were analyzed at specified cell densities, from sparse to confluent. Total ganglioside sialic acid, phospholipid phosphorus, and cholesterol increased in the glioma cells on a per cell, mg protein, or mg total lipid basis two- to threefold as cell density increased 25-fold. These same three constituents in the fetal cells increased with cell density on a per cell and mg protein basis but not on a per mg total lipid basis. In glioma cells, the di- and trisialogangliosides (GD₂+ GD_lb+ GT₁) increased from 1–2% of total ganglioside sialic acid at sparse densities to 7–8% at intermediate (logarithmic phase) densities to 10–13% at confluent densities. The set of simpler gangliosides (GM₄+ GM₃+ GM₂) decreased from 50% of total ganglioside sialic acid at sparse glioma cell densities, to 36% at intermediate and 30% at confluent densities. In the fetal neural cells, the set of gangliosides (GM₄+ GM₃+ GM₂) had about 48% of total ganglioside sialic acid in both sparse and confluent preparations. The fetal cells were twofold higher in GM₃ (32.4 ± 2.1%) than the glioma cells (16.8 ± 1.6%), but lower in GM_t (9.1 ± 0.9% versus 18.2 ± 1.8%), cell densities notwithstanding. Confluent cell preparations of both cell lines were consistently higher in ethanolamine plasmalogen than sparse cells. We conclude that in these two neural cell lines quantitative changes in ganglioside and phospholipid species occurred correlatively as cell densities increased. Higher glioma cell densities were associated with greater proportions of complex ganglioside species. These changes in cell membrane constituents during growth may result from cell contact and may indicate a role for them in cell growth regulation and/or differentiation.     

Effects of Environmental Toxicants on Metabolic Activity of Natural Microbial Communities

Two methods of measuring microbial activity were used to study the effects of toxicants on natural microbial communities. The methods were compared for suitability for toxicity testing, sensitivity, and adaptability to field applications. This study included measurements of the incorporation of ¹⁴C-labeled acetate into microbial lipids and microbial glucosidase activity. Activities were measured per unit biomass, determined as lipid phosphate. The effects of various organic and inorganic toxicants on various natural microbial communities were studied. Both methods were useful in detecting toxicity, and their comparative sensitivities varied with the system studied. In one system, the methods showed approximately the same sensitivities in testing the effects of metals, but the acetate incorporation method was more sensitive in detecting the toxicity of organic compounds. The incorporation method was used to study the effects of a point source of pollution on the microbiota of a receiving stream. Toxic doses were found to be two orders of magnitude higher in sediments than in water taken from the same site, indicating chelation or adsorption of the toxicant by the sediment. The microbiota taken from below a point source outfall was 2 to 100 times more resistant to the toxicants tested than was that taken from above the outfall. Downstream filtrates in most cases had an inhibitory effect on the natural microbiota taken from above the pollution source. The microbial methods were compared with commonly used bioassay methods, using higher organisms, and were found to be similar in ability to detect comparative toxicities of compounds, but were less sensitive than methods which use standard media because of the influences of environmental factors.     

尼古丁对全身及口腔牙周组织的病理作用研究

在烟草的毒性物质中,尼古丁是主要成分。作为烟草的活性成分,尼古丁可对全身多系统产生病理性危害作用。除此以外,进入母体血液中的尼古丁可对正在发育的胎儿产生影响。牙周炎是口腔常见病,是成人牙齿丧失的主要原因之一。吸烟是牙周炎的重要危险因素。吸烟者较不吸烟者牙周炎的患病率高、病情重。大量研究表明:吸烟与牙周袋形成、附着丧失、骨丧失及牙齿丧失有关。牙周炎的发生发展存在牙周组织破坏和再生修复两种相互交替的过程,而尼古丁对牙周炎的影响也在于加速牙周组织破坏,抑制再生修复从而使得较之于非吸烟者而言,吸烟者的病情更加严重。同时,尚可使吸烟者经系统性牙周治疗的预后较差。本文通过文献回顾,旨在探讨吸烟对多种全身系统性疾病的影响尤其是在牙周病发生发展过程中的可能作用。同时提出未来研究的可能方向及临床应用。