Neurotoxic,cytotoxic, apoptotic and antiproliferative effects of some marine algae extracts on the NA2B cell line

Oxidative stress contributes to cancer pathologies and to apoptosis. Marine algae exhibit cytotoxic, antiproliferative and apoptotic effects; their metabolites have been used to treat many types of cancer. We investigated in culture extracts of Petalonia fascia, Jania longifurca and Halimeda tuna to determine their effects on mouse neuroblastoma cell line, NA2B. NA2B cells were treated with algae extracts, and the survival and proliferation of NA2B cells were assessed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The effects of algae extracts on oxidative stress in NA2B cells also were investigated using nitric oxide synthase (NOS) immunocytochemistry and apoptosis was assessed using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling. We observed significant neurite inhibition with moderate damage by the neurotoxicity-screening test (NST) at IC₅₀ dilutions of the extracts. MTT demonstrated that J. longifurca extracts were more toxic than P. fascia and H. tuna extracts. We found an increase of endothelial and inducible NOS immunostaining for oxidative stress and TUNEL analysis revealed increased apoptosis after application of extract. Our findings suggest that the algae we tested may have potential use for treatment of cancer.     

Molecular evolution of cytochrome c oxidase: rate variation among subunit VIa isoforms

Cytochrome c oxidase (COX) consists of 13 subunits, 3 encoded in the mitochondrial genome and 10 in the nucleus. Little is known of the role of the nuclear-encoded subunits, some of which exhibit tissue-specific isoforms. Subunit VIa is unique in having tissue-specific isoforms in all mammalian species examined. We examined relative evolutionary rates for the COX6A heart (H) and liver (L) isoform genes along the length of the molecule, specifically in relation to the tissue-specific function(s) of the two isoforms. Nonsynonymous (amino acid replacement) substitutions in the COX6AH gene occurred more frequently than in the ubiquitously expressed COX6AL gene. Maximum-parsimony analysis and sequence divergences from reconstructed ancestral sequences revealed that after the ancestral COX6A gene duplicated to yield the genes for the H and L isoforms, the sequences encoding the mitochondrial matrix region of the COX VIa protein experienced an elevated rate of nonsynonymous substitutions relative to synonymous substitutions. This is expected for relaxed selective constraints after gene duplication followed by purifying selection to preserve the replacements with tissue-specific functions.      

京族药用红树林民族植物学知识及现状

京族是我国唯一的海洋民族,在长期与红树林为伴的生存环境中,积累了丰富的利用红树林植物的民族植物学知识。然而,这些知识至今仍不为外界所知。为掌握京族药用红树林民族植物学知识和现状,该研究采用民族植物学和植物分类学方法,调查京族药用红树林知识中的红树林植物种类,记录其具体药用用途,并分析其生存现状及其中包含的可持续利用红树林植物资源经验。结果表明:共记录到京族药用红树林植物15种隶属于10科,具体药用用途共49种。其中,20种已有报道,29种未见报道;通过京族对红树林药用知识认知程度和依赖程度的调查还表明,京族历史上依赖本民族草医的情形已经基本消失,对红树林医药的依赖性和需求性也在消失。最后,剖析了京族在药用红树林植物选择与采集中的可持续利用经验。该研究结果不仅补充和拓宽了红树林民间药物的利用知识,而且为红树植物资源的管理与可持续利用提供了新视角。     

高丹草杂种和亲本叶片基因差异表达研究

以4份高粱不育系和5种类型苏丹草为亲本,按照NCⅡ设计配制成20个杂交组合,分析各组合及亲本的表型值和中亲及超亲优势并筛选出8个优势强的组合为试材,利用cDNA-AFLP技术,分析杂种与亲本苗期叶片基因差异表达类型与主要产量性状的杂种表现及杂种优势的关系。研究表明:(1)12对引物共扩增出315条TDFs,杂种与亲本间基因表达类型有:单亲表达一致一型(P1F1型)和二型(P2F1型)、杂种特异表达类型(F1型)、单亲表达沉默一型(P1型)和二型(P2型)、双亲共沉默类型(P1P2型)和杂种亲本表达一致型(P1F1P2型)7种。(2)在差异展示类型与产量构成因素的相关分析中,有效分蘖数与P1F1型(0.726**)呈极显著正相关,单株鲜重与P1P2型(0.659*)、叶长与P2型(0.647*)呈显著正相关,成株期叶片数与F1型(-0.81**)呈极显著负相关。在与中亲优势相关分析中发现,单株鲜重与P1(0.695*)、P2(0.637*)呈显著正相关,单株鲜重与P1F1P2型(0.743**)呈极显著正相关,叶宽与P1P2型(-0.619*)呈显著负相关。在与超亲优势进行相关分析后发现,穗长与P2F1型(0.732**)呈极显著正相关,叶宽与P2F1型(-0.731**)以及P1P2型(-0.731**)呈极显著负相关。(3)差异展示类型P1F1、P2F1、P1和P2是显性效应类型,共占总检测的91.4%。差异展示类型F1和P1P2表现超显性,共占总检测的4.8%,说明各个性状的杂种表现主要受到的是(超)显性效应影响。(4)对8个与高丹草杂种优势相关的TDFs进行回收及BLAST分析均得到同源核苷酸,并且找到7个同源蛋白,这些蛋白质在控制植物生长发育方面具有重要作用。(5)将克隆测序获得差异片段的核苷酸序列,采用半定量RT-PCR进行了验证。本研究为进一步揭示高丹草杂种优势的分子机制和提高高丹草强优势组合的筛选效率以及种质资源的创建提供依据。     

Relationships between stream macroinvertebrates and environmental variables at multiple spatial scales

1. Aquatic communities are structured by multiple forces, and identifying the driving factors over multispatial scales is an important research issue. The East Asian monsoon region is globally one of the richest environments in terms of biodiversity, and is undergoing rapid human development, yet the river ecosystems in this region have not been well studied. We applied a hierarchical framework to incorporate regional and local environmental effects on stream macroinvertebrate communities in this region. The knowledge gained is expected to improve the understanding of the importance of spatial scale on regional and local diversity in the East Asian monsoon region. 2. A national data set of benthic macroinvertebrates and environmental variables (geographical, land‐use, hydrological, substratum and physicochemical elements) in Korean rivers was used to determine the habitat preferences of macroinvertebrates. 3. Latitude, proportion of forest coverage, riffle habitat, silt substratum and temperature were the most important determinants for the ordinations of macroinvertebrate communities in each category evaluated by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The optimal habitats for stream macroinvertebrates are not the same for all species, and overall community metrics and abundance of sensitive species tended to be lower in open agricultural and urban streams than in forested streams. The sensitivity of mayflies and stoneflies to anthropogenic disturbances implicated them as good indicators to assess the effects of urban and agricultural activities. 4. A partial CCA was used to evaluate the relative importance of macrohabitat and microhabitat variables on community composition at three spatial scales (whole country, the large Han River basin and two small sub‐basins in the lowlands and highlands). The majority of community variation (17–22% for each environmental element) was explained by macrohabitat variables at the regional spatial scale. In contrast, large proportions (15–18%) were explained by microhabitat variables at the local spatial scale. 5. Our findings indicate that the relative importance of habitat scales should be determined by geographical size and that comprehensive understanding of multispatial scale patterns can be important for implementing sound biodiversity conservation programmes.     

基于质谱技术的蛋白质互作研究进展

蛋白质作为生命活动的执行者,其功能往往体现在与其他蛋白质的相互作用中,研究蛋白-蛋白相互作用对于人们深入了解和预防传染病、靶向治疗多基因疾病、阐明蛋白质的分子作用机制及各种复杂的生命现象具有重要意义。目前,有多种技术被用来研究蛋白间的相互作用,研究难点在于实时捕获瞬时或弱蛋白质间的相互作用,质谱技术（mass spectrometry, MS）可在某种程度上解决该难点。由于质谱技术可研究简单的蛋白质复合物再到大规模的蛋白质组实验,基于质谱技术研究蛋白质间相互作用被越来越多地应用于科学研究中。综述了蛋白质间相互作用检测方法的研究进展,重点介绍了氢氘交换质谱法和化学交联质谱法研究蛋白质间相互作用的优缺点及其应用,最后对基于质谱技术研究蛋白质间相互作用进行了总结与展望,以期为深入开展相关研究提供借鉴。     

依赖于微环境的TGFβ信号

转化生长因子β（transforming growth factor β,TGFβ）家族成员是一类分泌的细胞因子,在胚胎发育、免疫调节、伤口修复、细胞增殖和抑制等过程中发挥重要作用。其中,TGFβ1、TGFβ2和TGFβ3在进化上最晚出现,并以潜伏态分泌。有别于家族中的大多数成员,TGFβ1-3的信号具有时空区域性,并依赖于其所处的微环境。阐明依赖于微环境的TGFβ信号的多层次调控机制对于理解TGFβ信号在免疫、癌症等生理、病理条件下的功能,以及开发临床治疗策略具有重要意义。本文从TGFβ前体复合物的结构入手,并从TGFβ的激活,配体-受体识别,跨膜信号传导及转录调控等方面,论述依赖于微环境的TGFβ信号的调控机制,同时讨论肿瘤微环境中多效的TGFβ信号,进而对今后的研究方向进行展望。     

FXR激动剂GW4064对裸鼠肝癌细胞移植瘤增殖及血管生成的影响

目的:探讨研究法尼酯x受体(FXR)激动剂GW4064对裸鼠肝癌细胞移植瘤增殖及血管生成的影响。方法:选取人肝癌细胞系Hep G2进行体外培养,将细胞悬液接种于BALB/c裸鼠皮下。裸鼠成瘤后,随机分为两组,分别腹腔注射DMSO和GW4064。一周后,处死动物取肿瘤组织,通过免疫组织化学法检测肿瘤组织中Ki-67和CD31的表达,同时计数肿瘤组织中的微血管密度(CD31-MVD);Western blot法检测其FXR和白介素-8(IL-8)的蛋白表达。结果:与对照组相比,FXR激动剂GW4064处理组的肿瘤组织中FXR的蛋白表达量明显增高,微血管密度CD31-MVD值显著降低,同时Ki-67、IL-8及CD31的表达水平均显著降低。结论:FXR激动剂GW4064能显著增加FXR的表达,抑制裸鼠肝癌细胞移植瘤的增殖及新生血管的形成。     

黑线姬鼠种群结构与携带汉坦病毒相关性

汉坦病毒(Hantavirus,HV)是肾综合症出血热(Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome,HFRS)的主要病原体之一,HV的主要宿主动物为黑线姬鼠(Apodemus agrarius).针对西安市HFRS的持续高发病率,2010年7月-9月对西安市HFRS 疫区捕获的110只黑线姬鼠(阳性62只)进行年龄、性别鉴定.通过病毒RNA提取分析,发现黑线姬鼠雌雄个体携带病毒无显著差异,但是不同年龄段黑线姬鼠携带汉坦病毒却具有显著差异,年龄结构与病毒携带具有极显著的相关性.