ACh对人垂体腺瘤细胞内蛋白激酶C、胞内游离钙及cAMP/cGMP的影响

我们曾发现ACh可明显地抑制垂体腺瘤细胞的增殖代谢,为深入探讨ACh抑制垂体腺瘤细胞增殖作用的机制,观察了ACh作用后垂体腺瘤细胞内蛋白激酶C(PKC)、[Ca^2 ]i及cAMP／cGMP的变化。结果发现：(1)与空白处理组相比,使用PKC的激动剂PMA处理培养的人垂体腺瘤细胞时可使胞浆、胞膜和细胞总PKC活性浓度均升高,但ACh(10μmol/L)作用15min后,胞浆、胞膜和细胞总PKC活性均下降,且此作用可被阿托品阻断;(2)ACh(10μmol/L)作用于单个人垂体腺瘤细胞后,立即使垂体腺瘤细胞[Ca^2 ]i相对水平降低,但此作用可被阿托品阻断;(3)ACh作用于人垂体腺瘤细胞15min后,胞内cAMP水平均明显升高,而cGMP没有改变。该结果为探讨ACh抑制垂体腺瘤细胞增殖的分子机制提供了重要线索,同时提示,ACh对垂体瘤细胞增殖分化的调控作用是细胞内多信息系统相互整合的结果。     

Elevated ozone decreases the multifunctionality of belowground ecosystems

Elevated tropospheric ozone (O₃) affects the allocation of biomass aboveground and belowground and influences terrestrial ecosystem functions. However, how belowground functions respond to elevated O₃ concentrations ([O₃]) remains unclear at the global scale. Here, we conducted a detailed synthesis of belowground functioning responses to elevated [O₃] by performing a meta-analysis of 2395 paired observations from 222 publications. We found that elevated [O₃] significantly reduced the primary productivity of roots by 19.8%, 16.3%, and 26.9% for crops, trees and grasses, respectively. Elevated [O₃] strongly decreased the root/shoot ratio by 11.3% for crops and by 4.9% for trees, which indicated that roots were highly sensitive to O₃. Elevated [O₃] impacted carbon and nitrogen cycling in croplands, as evidenced by decreased dissolved organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, total soil nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, microbial biomass nitrogen, and nitrification rates in association with increased nitrate nitrogen and denitrification rates. Elevated [O₃] significantly decreased fungal phospholipid fatty acids in croplands, which suggested that O₃ altered the microbial community and composition. The responses of belowground functions to elevated [O₃] were modified by experimental methods, root environments, and additional global change factors. Therefore, these factors should be considered to avoid the underestimation or overestimation of the impacts of elevated [O₃] on belowground functioning. The significant negative relationships between O₃-treated intensity and the multifunctionality index for croplands, forests, and grasslands implied that elevated [O₃] decreases belowground ecosystem multifunctionality.     

Metabolic compensation constrains the temperature dependence of gross primary production

Gross primary production (GPP) is the largest flux in the carbon cycle, yet its response to global warming is highly uncertain. The temperature dependence of GPP is directly linked to photosynthetic physiology, but the response of GPP to warming over longer timescales could also be shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes that drive variation in community structure and functional trait distributions. Here, we show that selection on photosynthetic traits within and across taxa dampens the effects of temperature on GPP across a catchment of geothermally heated streams. Autotrophs from cold streams had higher photosynthetic rates and after accounting for differences in biomass among sites, biomass‐specific GPP was independent of temperature in spite of a 20 °C thermal gradient. Our results suggest that temperature compensation of photosynthetic rates constrains the long‐term temperature dependence of GPP, and highlights the importance of considering physiological, ecological and evolutionary mechanisms when predicting how ecosystem‐level processes respond to warming.     

Alteration of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases in pancreatic carcinoma

The activities of three N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases ( GnT III, GnT IV and GnT V ) were determined in 10 samples of pancreatic carcinoma (PCa) and compared with those in 9 samples of normal pancreatic tissue (NP). It was found that the specific activities of GnT III , GnT IV and GnT V increased in all of the PCa samples. GnT III increased most significantly, up to 22.3 fold of normal, GnT IV was elevated 12.3 fold, while GnT V increased only 2.4 fold. The elevation of GnTs in pancreatic carcinoma was consistent with the increase in the number of antenna and bisecting GlcNAc structures in N-glycans of pancreatic ribonuclease (RNase) as assessed by Con A affinity chromatography. Polycytidylate specific RNase from the serum of PCa patients showed the same structural changes as that found in in N-glycans of the RNase from PCa tissue.     

Familial resemblances in blood leukocyte DNA methylation levels

Epigenetic factors such as DNA methylation are DNA alterations affecting gene expression that can convey environmental information through generations. Only a few studies have demonstrated epigenetic inheritance in humans. Our objective is to quantify genetic and common environmental determinants of familial resemblances in DNA methylation levels, using a family based sample. DNA methylation was measured in 48 French Canadians from 16 families as part of the GENERATION Study. We used the Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array to measure DNA methylation levels in blood leukocytes on 485,577 CpG sites. Heritability was assessed using the variance components method implemented in the QTDT software, which partitions the variance into polygenic (G), common environmental (C), and non-shared environmental (E) effects. We computed maximal heritability, genetic heritability, and common environmental effect for all probes (12.7%, 8.2%, and 4.5%, respectively) and for statistically significant probes (81.8%, 26.9%, and 54.9%, respectively). Higher maximal heritability was observed in the Major Histocompatibility Complex region on chromosome 6. In conclusion, familial resemblances in DNA methylation levels are mainly attributable to genetic factors when considering the average across the genome, but common environmental effect plays an important role when considering statistically significant probes. Further epigenome-wide studies on larger samples combined with genome-wide genotyping studies are needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms of DNA methylation heritability.     

泡囊丛枝（VA）菌根对玉米际磷酸酶活性的影响

以玉米为材料,利用三室隔网培养方法,研究了缺P土壤上施用植酸和卵磷脂时接种几种菌根真菌（Glomus mosseae,Glmous versiformea,Gigaspora margarita)对根际土壤酸性磷酸酶和碱性磷酸酶活性的影响,玉米生长70d后,收获测定距根表不同距离土壤中的磷酸酶活性,结果表明,接种菌根真菌增加了根际土壤酸性和碱性磷酸酶活性,Gigaspora margarita菌根菌的作用大于其它2个菌极菌,不同P源对磷酸酶活性有明显影响。     

Nanotechnology-based intelligent drug design for cancer metastasis treatment

Traditional chemotherapy used today at clinics is mainly inherited from the thinking and designs made four decades ago when the Cancer War was declared. The potency of those chemotherapy drugs on in-vitro cancer cells is clearly demonstrated at even nanomolar levels. However, due to their non-specific effects in the body on normal tissues, these drugs cause toxicity, deteriorate patient's life quality, weaken the host immunosurveillance system, and result in an irreversible damage to human's own recovery power. Owing to their unique physical and biological properties, nanotechnology-based chemotherapies seem to have an ability to specifically and safely reach tumor foci with enhanced efficacy and low toxicity. Herein, we comprehensively examine the current nanotechnology-based pharmaceutical platforms and strategies for intelligent design of new nanomedicines based on targeted drug delivery system (TDDS) for cancer metastasis treatment, analyze the pros and cons of nanomedicines versus traditional chemotherapy, and evaluate the importance that nanomaterials can bring in to significantly improve cancer metastasis treatment.     

Functions of poly-gamma-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) degradation genes in γ-PGA synthesis and cell morphology maintenance

Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is an important biopolymer with greatly potential in industrial and medical applications. In the present study, we constructed a metabolically engineered glutamate-independent Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LL3 strain with considerable γ-PGA production, which was carried out by single, double, and triple markerless deletions of three degradation genes pgdS, ggt, and cwlO. The highest γ-PGA production (7.12 g/L) was obtained from the pgdS and cwlO double-deletion strain NK-pc, which was 93 % higher than that of wild-type LL3 strain (3.69 g/L). The triple-gene-deletion strain NK-pgc showed a 28 % decrease in γ-PGA production, leading to a yield of 2.69 g/L. Furthermore, the cell morphologies of the mutant strains were also characterized. The cell length of cwlO deletion strains NK-c and NK-pc was shorter than that of the wild-type strain, while the ggt deletion strains NK-g, NK-pg, NK-gc, and NK-pgc showed longer cell lengths. This is the first report concerning the markerless deletion of γ-PGA degradation genes to improve γ-PGA production in a glutamate-independent strain and the first observation that γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (encoded by ggt) could be involved in the inhibition of cell elongation.     

Elevated maternal IL-16 levels, enhanced IL-16 expressions in endothelium and leukocytes, and increased IL-16 production by placental trophoblasts in women with preeclampsia

Cytokine IL-16 plays an important role in innate immune responses. However, little information is available about IL-16 function in human pregnancy. In this study, we collected maternal blood samples from 125 pregnant women between 26 and 41 wk of gestation, 63 from normal pregnant women and 62 from women with preeclampsia (PE). Serum IL-16C levels were measured by ELISA. We also examined IL-16C and IL-16N immunostaining in maternal vessels and protein expression in leukocytes from normal and PE pregnant women. In addition, IL-16C production by placental trophoblasts was also determined. Our results showed that IL-16C levels were significantly higher in severe PE than in mild PE and normal pregnant controls, 515 +/- 58 vs 287 +/- 46 (p < 0.05) and 163 +/- 9 pg/ml (p < 0.01), respectively, indicating that increased IL-16 levels in PE is associated with the severity of the disease. There was no difference for the IL-16C levels in normal pregnant women throughout the third trimester. The correlation of maternal IL-16C levels with labor and body mass index was also analyzed. IL-16C levels were neither associated with labor nor associated with body mass index. Moreover, increased IL-16C immunostaining in maternal vessel endothelium and enhanced IL-16C protein expression in leukocytes were observed in PE. We also found that IL-16C production was increased by trophoblasts from PE placentas. Our study demonstrated up-regulation of the IL-16 profile in both the maternal and the placental systems in PE, suggesting that IL-16 could be an important cytokine engaged in the altered immune system and exaggerated inflammatory response in PE syndrome.     

陕西黄土区不同施肥条件下农田土壤动物的群落组成和结构

为探明长期施肥与土壤动物群落之间的关系,于2001年6月至2002年10月,在陕西黄土区对不同施肥条件下的农田土壤动物类群的群落组成和结构进行了研究.在6种不同施肥处理的小区内,即对照组(不施肥,简称CK)、撂荒(不施肥、不耕作、不种植,简称ABAND)、施氮磷钾(简称NPK)、施氮磷钾+秸秆(简称SNPK)、施氮磷钾+有机肥(简称MNPK)和施1.5倍MNPK(简称1.5MNPK),两年4次共采集了72个定点土壤样品.采用手捡法和Cobb过筛法共获得农田土壤动物标本5495个,隶属6门11纲22目61科2亚科35属.结果显示6种施肥处理中,大型农田土壤动物的个体总数从多到少依次为SNPK＞1.5MNPK＞NPK＞ABAND＞MNPK＞CK,类群数依次是1.5MNPK＞NPK＞SNPK＞CK＞ABAND=MNPK.中小型农田土壤动物个体总数由多到少依次为1.5MNPK＞MNPK＞ABAND＞SNPK＞NPK＞CK,类群数依次是SNPK=MNPK＞CK=NPK=1.5MNPK＞ABAND.大型农田土壤动物个体数和类群数分布最多的分别是SNPK和1.5MNPK处理,而中小型农田土壤动物则分别是1.5MNPK和SNPK处理.表明农田土壤动物类群分布与施肥处理有关.农田土壤动物优势类群分布以施氮磷钾(NPK)小区最多,常见类群以对照组(CK)最多,极稀有类群以施1.5倍MNPK小区最多.群落相似性指数分析结果表明,在不同施肥处理之间,农田土壤动物的相似性系数一般较低,而其群落组成的异质性较高如大型土壤动物群落在撂荒地与其他施肥处理之间的相似性明显低于其他各施肥处理之间;而中小型土壤动物群落在对照小区与其他施肥之间的相似性指数明显低于其他各施肥处理之间,反映出不同施肥处理对土壤生态系统内部环境,进而对土壤动物群落产生的影响.