Rat Mesentery Angiogenesis Assay

The adult rat mesentery window angiogenesis assay is biologically appropriate and is exceptionally well suited to the study of sprouting angiogenesis in vivo [see review papers], which is the dominating form of angiogenesis in human tumors and non-tumor tissues, as discussed in invited review papers^1,2. Angiogenesis induced in the membranous mesenteric parts by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of a pro-angiogenic factor can be modulated by subcutaneous (s.c.), intravenous (i.v.) or oral (p.o.) treatment with modifying agents of choice. Each membranous part of the mesentery is translucent and framed by fatty tissue, giving it a window-like appearance.The assay has the following advantageous features: (i) the test tissue is natively vascularized, albeit sparsely, and since it is extremely thin, the microvessel network is virtually two-dimensional, which allows the entire network to be assessed microscopically in situ; (ii) in adult rats the test tissue lacks significant physiologic angiogenesis, which characterizes most normal adult mammalian tissues; the degree of native vascularization is, however, correlated with age, as discussed in¹; (iii) the negligible level of trauma-induced angiogenesis ensures high sensitivity; (iv) the assay replicates the clinical situation, as the angiogenesis-modulating test drugs are administered systemically and the responses observed reflect the net effect of all the metabolic, cellular, and molecular alterations induced by the treatment; (v) the assay allows assessments of objective, quantitative, unbiased variables of microvascular spatial extension, density, and network pattern formation, as well as of capillary sprouting, thereby enabling robust statistical analyses of the dose-effect and molecular structure-activity relationships; and (vi) the assay reveals with high sensitivity the toxic or harmful effects of treatments in terms of decreased rate of physiologic body-weight gain, as adult rats grow robustly.Mast-cell-mediated angiogenesis was first demonstrated using this assay^3,4. The model demonstrates a high level of discrimination regarding dosage-effect relationships and the measured effects of systemically administered chemically or functionally closely related drugs and proteins, including: (i) low-dosage, metronomically administered standard chemotherapeutics that yield diverse, drug-specific effects (i.e., angiogenesis-suppressive, neutral or angiogenesis-stimulating activities⁵); (ii) natural iron-unsaturated human lactoferrin, which stimulates VEGF-A-mediated angiogenesis⁶, and natural iron-unsaturated bovine lactoferrin, which inhibits VEGF-A-mediated angiogenesis⁷; and (iii) low-molecular-weight heparin fractions produced by various means^8,9. Moreover, the assay is highly suited to studies of the combined effects on angiogenesis of agents that are administered systemically in a concurrent or sequential fashion.The idea of making this video originated from the late Dr. Judah Folkman when he visited our laboratory and witnessed the methodology being demonstrated.Review papers (invited) discussing and appraising the assayNorrby, K. In vivo models of angiogenesis. J. Cell. Mol. Med. 10, 588-612 (2006).Norrby, K. Drug testing with angiogenesis models. Expert Opin. Drug. Discov. 3, 533-549 (2008).     

Mesentery vascular metabolism of substance P

Dipeptidylpeptidase IV (EC 3.4.14.5), an enzyme which metabolizes substance P, is present in crude homogenates of hog mesenteric artery and aorta. Its subcellular localization is closely correlated with the plasma membrane marker enzyme 5'-nucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.5) in addition to the kinin and angiotensin metabolizing enzymes angiotensin I converting enzyme (EC 3.4.15.1) and aminopeptidase M (EC 3.4.11.2). The highest level of dipeptidylpeptidase IV is found on the surface membrane-enriched fraction and is immunologically identical to the kidney brush border-bound enzyme. Vascular dipeptidylpeptidase IV sequentially removes the N-terminal Arg1-Pro2 and Lys3-Pro4 dipeptides of substance P and exposes the biologically active C-terminal heptapeptide product to rapid degradation by vascular aminopeptidases.     

以内部审核促进医院质量管理持续改进

目的 分析医院质量管理体系运行情况,促进医院质量管理持续改进。方法 通过内部审核,发现不合格项并对其进行统计分析,找出影响医院质量管理的主要问题,采取相应的改进措施。结果 2003—2008年医院共组织内部审核7次,发出不合格项118项,通过采取纠正措施和预防措施,并制定医院质量管理工作重点,不合格项目逐年减少。 结论 医院质量管理体系的运行符合ISO9001标准的要求,是适宜的、有效的。内部审核促进了医院质量管理持续改进。     

Aperture pattern ontogeny in angiosperms

Pollen grains display a wide range of variation in aperture number and arrangement (pattern) in angiosperms. Apertures are well-defined areas of the pollen wall surface that permit pollen tube germination. For low aperture numbers, aperture patterns are characteristic of the major taxonomic divisions of angiosperms. This paper presents a developmental model that explains most of the aperture patterns that are recorded in angiosperms. It is based on the analysis of the different events that occur during meiosis and lead to microspore differentiation. It demonstrates that variation occurring during meiosis in angiosperms is sufficient to produce the core morphological set of the most commonly observed pollen morphologies.     

门静脉高压症大鼠肠系膜组织内皮素B受体表达的变化

目的:探讨胆汁性肝纤维化引起的门静脉高压症(PHT)大鼠肠系膜组织内皮素B受体表达(ETBR)的变化.方法:取体重250±10 g左右的清洁级SD雄性大鼠30只,根据体重随机分为假手术组、模型组,模型制作采用胆总管结扎的方法造成大鼠胆汁性肝纤维化.术后2周和4周分别测定各组的门静脉压力,应用免疫组化和免疫印迹的方法观察肠系膜组织ETBR的表达.结果:术后2周和4周模型组门静脉压力显著升高,分别为11.89±1.38 mmHg和16.34±1.63 mmHg.免疫组化显示假手术组肠系膜组织ETBR主要见于细动脉内皮细胞,而模型组大鼠ETBR的表达不仅见于细动脉内皮细胞,细动脉平滑肌细胞和微动脉表达也很显著.免疫印迹发现假手术组肠系膜组织ETBR含量很少,模型组大鼠ETBR表达明显增多.结论:正常大鼠肠系膜血管组织ETBR表达较少,随着肝组织损伤加剧和PHT形成,肠系膜组织ETBR表达明显增加,可能参与胆汁性肝硬化PHT形成过程.     

Microperfusion Technique to Investigate Regulation of Microvessel Permeability in Rat Mesentery

Experiments to measure the permeability properties of individually perfused microvessels provide a bridge between investigation of molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating vascular permeability in cultured endothelial cell monolayers and the functional exchange properties of whole microvascular beds. A method to cannulate and perfuse venular microvessels of rat mesentery and measure the hydraulic conductivity of the microvessel wall is described. The main equipment needed includes an intravital microscope with a large modified stage that supports micromanipulators to position three different microtools: (1) a beveled glass micropipette to cannulate and perfuse the microvessel; (2) a glass micro-occluder to transiently block perfusion and enable measurement of transvascular water flow movement at a measured hydrostatic pressure, and (3) a blunt glass rod to stabilize the mesenteric tissue at the site of cannulation. The modified Landis micro-occlusion technique uses red cells suspended in the artificial perfusate as markers of transvascular fluid movement, and also enables repeated measurements of these flows as experimental conditions are changed and hydrostatic and colloid osmotic pressure difference across the microvessels are carefully controlled. Measurements of hydraulic conductivity first using a control perfusate, then after re-cannulation of the same microvessel with the test perfusates enable paired comparisons of the microvessel response under these well-controlled conditions. Attempts to extend the method to microvessels in the mesentery of mice with genetic modifications expected to modify vascular permeability were severely limited because of the absence of long straight and unbranched microvessels in the mouse mesentery, but the recent availability of the rats with similar genetic modifications using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology is expected to open new areas of investigation where the methods described herein can be applied.