Blood deoxyribonuclease activity in health and diseases

The review summarizes literature data on (deoxy)ribonuclease activity in blood of healthy donors and patients with diseases. Special attention is paid to methodological aspects of the analysis of deoxyribonuclease activity and factors, which interfere with enzyme activity in blood.     

编者按: 自噬与疾病

自噬是细胞的一个重要生物学功能。细胞通过对自噬底物的识别、自噬囊泡的形成,再经过与溶酶体的融合,清除老化细胞器以及降解长周期蛋白和异常积聚蛋白。因此,自噬在蛋白质的代谢、细胞器更新以及组织发育中有着重要作用,其功能调控直接参与了机体对细胞稳态的维持和对疾病的抵抗。目前已有大量研究表明,自噬与疾病的发生密切相关,如心血管病、肿瘤、炎症和免疫以及神经退行性疾病等。近年来,自噬研究得到了国内外科学家的广泛重视,研究论文的数量直线上升。科技部和国家自然科学基金委均已资助相关课题,这进一步促进了我国在自噬研究领域的发展。我国科学家在自噬的机制和疾病关系研究中也取得了重大进展,许多研究成果已经走在世界前沿。本刊对自噬这一研究领域一直十分关注,为促进对该领域现状及发展的了解,本期汇集了6 篇述评和1 篇研究论文,作为自噬研究专题发表,以飨读者。 本专题主要对自噬与一些相关疾病关系的现状和发展进行了评述,并对自噬研究方法学和基本机制也进行了综述,同时报道了在果蝇脊髓小脑变性3型动物模型中开展的关于自噬与Sir2发挥神经保护作用相关性的研究,反映了目前自噬研究的一个侧面。马泰等主要综述了目前自噬研究的技术和方法进展,评价了自噬的评估指标和这些自噬方法学的应用,提供了一个自噬方法学上的基础交流。吴葩等介绍了PI3K复合物中各组分蛋白与细胞自噬的关系,详细阐述了该通路在细胞自噬调节中的最新研究进展,为这一信号通路研究提供了信息。何云凌等很好地总结了低氧环境诱导线粒体自噬发生的相关分子机制,对参与调节线粒体自噬的重要蛋白进行了系统的描述,为目前人们普遍关注的线粒体自噬与疾病的关系提供了前沿资料。谢凤等对心脏疾病状态下细胞自噬的发生、发展及其对心脏疾病的影响进行了详细的论述,有助于研究者从自噬的角度来探讨心脏疾病的发生发展及其机制。林小龙等围绕当前热点问题对自噬与血管内皮细胞的关系作了描述,介绍了血管内皮细胞在各种药物刺激以及相关蛋白质过表达情况下对于自噬的反应以及所引起的下游应答,探讨了自噬与血管疾病发病的相互关系。向波等介绍了细胞自噬与肿瘤的发生发展的关系,描述了炎症-自噬-肿瘤的相关性以及自噬可能的抑瘤机制。曾爱源等利用果蝇的遗传性脊髓小脑变性3 型模型,研究了Sir2在自噬存在情况下对转基因果蝇的神经保护作用,并发现在自噬抑制后Sir2的保护作用明显减弱,揭示了Sir2通过自噬保护神经元、减缓神经变性蛋白损伤的作用机制。 本刊欢迎和期待更多、更好的有关自噬研究的来稿,以更广泛和深入地促进我国自噬研究领域的发展和学术交流。     

Signaling pathways of prohibitin and its role in diseases

Abstract

Prohibitin (PHB), appearing to be a negative regulator of cell proliferation and to be a tumor suppressor, has been connected to diverse cellular functions including cell cycle control, senescence, apoptosis and the regulation of mitochondrial activities. It is a growth regulatory gene that has pleiotropic functions in the nucleus, mitochondria and cytoplasmic compartments. However, in different tissues/cells, the expression of PHB was different, such as that it was increased in most of the cancers, but its expression was reduced in kidney diseases. Signaling pathways might be very important in the pathogenesis of diseases. This review was performed to provide a relatively complete signaling pathways flowchart for PHB to the investigators who were interested in the roles of PHB in the pathogenesis of diseases. Here, we review the signal transduction pathways of PHB and its role in the pathogenesis of diseases.     

Leptin and chronic kidney diseases

Chronic kidney diseases (CKD), a common outcome of various kidney diseases, cause a series of refractory complications, which lead to great economic burdens on patients. The clinical outcomes of CKD depend on various factors, including metabolic disorders. Leptin, a peptide hormone, produced in adipose tissues, plays an important role in regulating food consumption and energy expenditure. Leptin also influences the immune system and hematopoiesis. Increased leptin status is observed in CKD, leptin deficiency attenuates the immune response in nephritis. Conversely, leptin inhibits the development of obesity, which is closely associated glomerular disorder. Now, the precise role of leptin in CKD remains elusive. This review will give an integrated understanding of the potential role of leptin and its interactions with other signal molecules in CKD.     

Stem cells and neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the neurodegenerative changes or apoptosis of neurons involved in networks, which are important to specific physiological functions. With the de-velopment of old-aging society, the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases is on the increase. How-ever, it is difficult to diagnose for most of neurodegenerative diseases. At present, there are too few effective therapies. Advances in stem cell biology have raised the hope and possibility for the therapy of neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, stem cells have been widely attempted to treat neurodegen-erative diseases of animal model. Here we review the progress and prospects of various stem cells, including embryonic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cell and neural stem cells and so on, for the treatments of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Hunt-ington’s disease and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/Lou Gehrig’s disease.     

结缔组织病伴发疾病分析

目的：对结缔组织病与其常见伴发疾病进行研究分析,探讨肿瘤等疾病与与结缔组织病的相关性。方法：收集确诊有结缔组织病患者共333例,对其临床资料并进行回顾性统计分析。结果：本文中333例结缔组织病中发生肺间质病变79例（23.7%）,发生肿瘤8例（2.4%）,出现肾损害有124例（37.2%）。结论：间质性肺病、肿瘤、肾损害在结缔组织病患者中占一定的比例,其机制可能与结缔组织病本身的病理生理改变、外源性因素等共同作用所致。     

Virus diseases in aquaculture

World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology -     

Dermatoglyphic findings in periodontal diseases

The finger-tip palm and sole prints of 13 male and 23 female, a total of 36 patients with juvenile periodontitis (JP) 24 male and 21 female, a total of 45 patients with rapidly progressive periodontitis (RPP) and 19 male and 19 female, a total of 38 patients with adult periodontitis (AP) were compared with those of 17 male and 22 female, a total of 39 periodontally healthy (PH) individuals for the aim of finding a pattern type that would identify those patients. Besides, the finger-tip and palmar patterns of the patients were compared with those of 446 male and 447 female, a total of 833 school children (SC), and the sole patterns of the patients were compared with those of 250 male and 250 female, a total of 500 SC. When, the finger-tip patterns of the patients were compared with those of PH individuals, the decreased frequencies of twinned and transversal ulnar loops on all fingers of the patients with JP, a decreased frequency of double loops on all fingers and an increased frequency of radial loops on the right second digits of the patients with RPP, and the increased frequencies of concentric whorls and transversal ulnar loops on all fingers of the patients with AP, an increased frequency of t″ triradii on the palms of the patients with JP, the increased frequencies of IV and H loops and tb triradii on the palms of the patients with RPP and an increased frequency of e triradii on the soles of the patients with JP were found. In summary, in the light of these findings dermatoglyphics could be used together with the other diagnostic methods such as clinical and radiologic investigations and in the identifying of the patients from distinct groups of PD’s.     

Glucose,glycolysis, and neurodegenerative diseases

Prolonged survival of a typical postmitotic neuron hinges on a balance between multiple processes, among these are a sustenance of ATP production and protection against reactive oxygen species. In neuropathological conditions, mitochondrial defects often lead to both a drop in ATP levels, as well as increase reactive oxygen species production from inefficient electron transport processes and NADPH-oxidases activities. The former often resulted in the phenomenon of compensatory aerobic glycolysis. The latter stretches the capacity of the cell's redox buffering capacity, and may lead to damages of key enzymes involved in energy metabolism. Several recent reports have indicated that enhancing glucose availability and uptake, as well as increasing glycolytic flux via pharmacological or genetic manipulation of glycolytic enzymes, could be protective in animal models of several major neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Activation of canonical Wnt signaling, which improves disease symptoms in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease also appears to work via an elevation of glycolytic enzymes and enhance glucose metabolism. Here, I discuss these findings and the possible underlying mechanisms of how an increase in glucose uptake and glycolysis could be neuroprotective. Increased glycolytic production of ATP would help alleviate energy deficiency, and ATP's hydrotropic effect may enhance solubility and clearance of toxic aggregates prevalent in many neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, channeling of glucose into the Pentose Phosphate Pathway would increase the redox buffering capacity of the cell.     

自噬与细胞代谢及疾病关系的研究进展

自噬是以细胞质空泡化为特征的依赖于溶酶体的一种降解途径,是真核细胞特有的普遍生命现象。自噬利用溶酶体降解自身损伤的细胞质和细胞器,降解产物可用于能量生成、新的蛋白质和质膜的合成,以供细胞代谢和老化损伤细胞成分的更新,维持细胞存活、分化、发育和内环境稳态。自噬广泛参与多种生理和病理过程。对自噬与细胞代谢及疾病发生的关系作一概述。     

碘与甲状腺疾病

碘是人体必需的微量元素,是合成甲状腺激素（thyroid hormone,TH）的主要原料。人体内的碘主要从饮水及食物中获取。碘的摄入缺乏或过量,不仅对TH的合成及分泌有至关重要的影响,而且与甲状腺形态及多种甲状腺疾病的发生、发展及转归密切相关。加碘盐的推广有效预防了碘缺乏可能引起的相关疾病;而碘过量导致的甲状腺疾病谱和发病率的急剧变化,也引起各界高度重视。流行病学调查表明,碘的摄入量与甲状腺功能亢进、自身免疫性甲状腺炎、甲状腺功能减退、甲状腺肿大和甲状腺癌等疾病的发病率密切相关。针对碘的相关生物学问题,对近年来的基础研究和人群研究进行综述,希望借此抛砖引玉,引起相关部门的重视,提高人民群众对碘营养的科学认识水平。     

Role of calprotectin in cardiometabolic diseases

Calprotectin represents an interesting peptide known to be involved in the pathophysiology of various inflammatory processes. Being secreted from activated neutrophils and monocytes under various conditions, it can also be found in the extracellular fluids and serve as a biomarker of ongoing inflammation, which property is currently used in the monitoring of inflammatory bowel diseases.Recent studies, however, suggest that calprotectin could serve as an important prognostic factor for cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases, since these are occurring on the basis of low-grade chronic inflammation. We assume that calprotectin may represent a useful marker in predicting the course of atherosclerotic process, coronary artery disease and acute coronary syndromes. Our review is focused on the importance of calprotectin in the diagnosis and prognostic stratification in the field of cardiometabolic risk.     

CD147与炎症性疾病的关系

免疫球蛋白超家族的跨膜蛋白(CD147/basigin)的主要作用是通过诱导基质金属蛋白酶(matrix metalloproteinase,MMP)的产生来促进基质的降解,在多种肿瘤中高表达,也参与多种炎症性疾病的发生发展。本文就CD147与炎症性疾病关系的研究进展做一综述。     

Neurodegenerative diseases and therapeutic strategies using iron chelators

This review will summarise the current state of our knowledge concerning the involvement of iron in various neurological diseases and the potential of therapy with iron chelators to retard the progression of the disease. We first discuss briefly the role of metal ions in brain function before outlining the way by which transition metal ions, such as iron and copper, can initiate neurodegeneration through the generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. This results in protein misfolding, amyloid production and formation of insoluble protein aggregates which are contained within inclusion bodies. This will activate microglia leading to neuroinflammation. Neuroinflammation plays an important role in the progression of the neurodegenerative diseases, with activated microglia releasing pro-inflammatory cytokines leading to cellular cell loss. The evidence for metal involvement in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease as well as Friedreich's ataxia and multiple sclerosis will be presented. Preliminary results from trials of iron chelation therapy in these neurodegenerative diseases will be reviewed.     

益生菌在消化系统感染性疾病中的应用

益生菌具有维护肠道微生态平衡、提高定植抗力及调节免疫等功能,被应用于诸多感染性疾病的临床治疗.本文着重概述益生菌在消化系统感染性疾病中的临床应用效果,包括外科大手术、感染性腹泻、抗生素相关性腹泻、坏死性肠炎、幽门螺旋杆菌感染、腹膜炎.     

Cytoplasmic dynein: a key player in neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases

Cytoplasmic dynein is the most important molecular motor driving the movement of a wide range of cargoes towards the minus ends of microtubules.As a molecular motor protein,dynein performs a variety of basic cellular functions including organelle transport and centrosome assembly.In the nervous system,dynein has been demonstrated to be responsible for axonal retrograde transport.Many studies have revealed direct or indirect evidence of dynein in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease,Alzheimer’s disease,Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.Among them,a number of mutant proteins involved in various neurodegenerative diseases interact with dynein.Axonal transport disruption is presented as a common feature occurring in neurodegenerative diseases.Dynein heavy chain mutant mice also show features of neurodegenerative diseases.Moreover,defects of dynein-dependent processes such as autophagy or clearance of aggregation-prone proteins are found in most of these diseases.Lines of evidence have also shown that dynein is associated with neurodevelopmental diseases.In this review,we focus on dynein involvement in different neurological diseases and discuss potential underlying mechanisms.     

人类白细胞抗原的检测以及与临床疾病的关系

人类白细胞抗原(HLA)的检测最初用于器官移植,但近年来,HLA作为免疫遗传基因在与免疫调节有关的疾病中所扮演的重要角色愈来愈受到重视。本就HLA的检测方法以及与某些临床疾病的关系加以论述。     

Impaired autophagy: a link between neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases

Protein misfolding, and subsequent aggregation have been proven as the leading cause of most known dementias. Many of these, in addition to neurodegeneration, show profound changes in behaviour and thinking, thus, psychiatric symptoms. On the basis of the observation that progressive myoclonic epilepsies and neurodegenerative diseases share some common features of neurodegeneration, we proposed autophagy as a possible common impairment in these diseases. Here, we argue along similar lines for some neuropsychiatric conditions, among them depression and schizophrenia. We propose that existing and new therapies for these seemingly different diseases could be augmented with drugs used for neurodegenerative or neuropsychiatric diseases, respectively, among them some which modulate or augment autophagy.     

Neuropathology of mitochondrial diseases

The term “mitochondrial diseases” (MD) refers to a group of disorders related to respiratory chain dysfunction. Clinical features are usually extremely heterogeneous because MD may involve several tissues with different degrees of severity. Muscle and brain are mostly affected, probably because of their high dependence on oxidative metabolism. Muscle can be the only affected tissue or involved as a part of a multi-system disease; ragged red fibers, accumulation of structurally altered mitochondria and cytochrome-c-oxidase (COX) negative fibers are the main pathological features. In mitochondrial encephalopathies, central nervous system (CNS) structures are affected according to different patterns of distribution and severity. Characteristic lesions are neuronal loss, vasculo-necrotic changes, gliosis, demyelination and spongy degeneration. In accordance with either grey matter or white matter involvement two main groups of diseases may be distinguished. Neuronal loss and vasculo-necrotic multifocal lesions are the common features of grey matter involvement; demyelination and spongy degeneration occur when white matter is affected, often associated with less severe lesions of the grey structures. Grey matter lesions are prevalent in MERRF, MELAS, Alpers and Leigh syndromes. White matter involvement is always seen in Kearns-Sayre syndrome and was recently described in mtDNA depletion syndrome linked to dGK mutations and in the rare conditions associated with complex I and II deficiency. In this review we describe the main histopathological features of muscle and CNS lesions in mitochondrial diseases.     

Autophagy and senescence: A new insight in selected human diseases

Senescence and autophagy play important roles in homeostasis. Cellular senescence and autophagy commonly cause several degenerative processes, including oxidative stress, DNA damage, telomere shortening, and oncogenic stress; hence, both events are known to be interrelated. Autophagy is well known for its disruptive effect on human diseases, and it is currently proposed to have a direct effect on triggering senescence and quiescence. However, it is yet to be proven whether autophagy has a positive or negative impact on senescence. It is known that elevated levels of autophagy induce cell death, whereas inadequate autophagy can trigger cellular senescence. Both have important roles in human diseases such as aging, renal degeneration, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer. Therefore, this review aims to highlight the relevance of senescence and autophagy in selected human ailments through a summary of recent findings on the connection and effects of autophagy and senescence in these diseases.