GMF-Knockout Mice are Unable to Induce Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor after Exercise

We earlier reported that overexpression of glia maturation factor (GMF) in cultured astrocytes enhances the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The current study was conducted to find out whether BDNF production is impaired in animals devoid of GMF. To this end GMF-knockout (KO) mice were subjected to exercise and the neurotrophin mRNAs were determined by real-time RT-PCR. Compared to wild-type (WT) mice, there is a decrease in exercise-induced BDNF in the KO mice. The observation was correlated with the finding that, in WT mice, exercise increases GMF expression. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that GMF is necessary for exercise-induction of BDNF, and that GMF may promote neuroprotection through BDNF production.     

珍稀水生植物——宽叶泽苔草的核型研究

宽叶泽苔草（Caldesia granis Samuel）。是一种珍稀濒危水生植物。它曾经一度被认为已经从中国大陆灭绝,但最近又在湖南省的一个高山沼泽中被发现。本文首次报道了依据上述新发现地点的宽叶泽苔草材料进行的细胞学研究结果。核型分析结果表明：本种染色体数目为22,其染色体组型高度不对称。结合前人对宽叶泽苔草一些近缘种的细胞学及古生物学研究结果,作者认为泽苔草属植物很可能是泽泻科中最进化的一个属。     

Identification of the nuclear matrix and chromosome scaffold in dinoflagellate Crypthecodinium cohnii~1

Dinoflagellate is one of the primitive eukaryotes,whosenucleus may represent one of the transition stages fromprokaryotic nucleoid to typical eukaryotic nucleus.Usingselective extraction together with embeddment-free sectionand whole mount electron microscopy,a delicate nuclearmatrix filament network was shown,for the first time,indinoflagellate Crypthecodinium cohnii nucleus.Chromosomeresidues are connected with nuclear matrix filaments to forma complete network spreading over the nucleus.Moreover,we demonstrated that the dinoflagellate chromosome retainsa protein scaffold after the depletion of DNA and solubleproteins.This scaffold preserves the characteristic mor-phology of the chromosome.Two dimensional elec-trophoreses indicated that the nuclear matrix and chromo- some scaffold are mainly composed of acidic proteins.Ourresults demonstrated that a framework similar to the nuclearmatrix and chromosome scaffold in mammalian cells appearsin this primitive eukaryote,suggesting that these structuresmay have been originated from the early stages of eukaryoteevolution.