Substituted indanylacetic acids as PPAR-alpha-gamma activators

A series of oxazole-substituted indanylacetic acids were prepared which show a spectrum of activity as ligands for PPAR nuclear receptor subtypes.     

Smoking and risk of meningioma: A meta-analysis

Objective: The relationship between smoking and the development of meningioma has been investigated in several epidemiological studies. However, the results of these studies are inconsistent. We conducted a meta-analysis in order to identify any potential association. Methods: PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and EMBASE databases were searched to identify relevant articles that investigated the risk of meningioma following cigarette smoking. Two researchers evaluated study eligibility and extracted the data independently, and disagreements were resolved by discussion. The variables used to estimate the pooled risk of smoking in meningioma development were the multivariate-adjusted risk estimates presented in the literature. Results: Seven case–control and two cohort studies were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled estimated risks associated with ever smoking for meningioma were 1.02 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.85–1.21) in the case–control studies, 0.93 (95% CI: 0.83–1.04) in the cohort studies and 0.95 (95% CI: 0.87–1.05, P = 0.32) in all studies when the cohort and case–control data were combined. Subgroup analyses suggested that the risk estimates were 1.49 (95% CI: 1.06–2.09, P = 0.02), 0.86 (95% CI: 0.65–1.13), 0.79 (95% CI: 0.50–1.25) and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.69–1.03) for men, women, current and past smoking respectively. Sensitivity analyses restricted to studies with different adjustments for confounders yielded similar results. No evidence of publication bias was observed. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis suggests that there is no association between ever smoking and the risk of meningioma. However, a small but significant risk elevation is present among men smokers.     

The transcriptome in blood: challenges and solutions for robust expression profiling

Peripheral blood may be the most feasible tissue source in clinical assessment of differences in gene expression between diseases and drug treatments due to accessibility. Yet, gene expression profiling from blood remains a challenge. Blood is a complicated biological system consisting of a variety of cell types at different stages of development. In addition, blood is also one of the most variable tissue types for gene expression analysis. The success of a blood microarray study depends on the choice of cell isolation method and preparation technique. In this review, we give a brief overview of the current status of using blood as a source for expression profiling and discuss potential applications of this method in the practices of clinical research.     

大兴安岭植被生物量的ALOS PALSAR估算

利用野外实测调查数据,系统分析了ALOS PALSAR L波段HH(L-HH)极化数据与大兴安岭地区森林各成分参数的关系,并采用简单线性模型、指数模型和加入地理因子模型建立森林生物量的估算模型进行最优反演.结果表明:后向散射系数与树木地上部分总生物量相关性最大,其次是干生物量,L-HH数据可以用来反演正确的树木地上部分总生物量.3种模型中,加入地理因子模型降低了植被生物量估算的误差,精度达0.851,反演结果与实际相符.在41.5°入射角L-HH极化数据下,大兴安岭塔河林业局和阿木尔林业局的森林生物量饱和点在15.4 kg·m-2.     

葛根素,生石膏配伍对致热原作用下猫POAH温敏神经元放电…

应用微电极细胞外记录技术,在３４只猫ＰＯＡＨ区记录了温敏神经元单位放电,研究中药葛根素和生石膏解热可能的中机制。致热原使４例热敏神经元放电频率减少;使１１例冷敏神经元放电频率增加,注射等量葛根素和生石膏能反转上述作用。致热原及二药对５例温度不敏感神经元放电无影响。结果显示,葛根素和生石膏是影响致热原作用下ＰＯＡＨ区温敏神经元的电活动而解热的。二者配伍使用对冷敏神经元放电频率的影响比单独使用作用强,     

天胡荽属三种药用植物果实的形态组织结构特征

对天胡荽属3种药用植物果实进行了形态组织学方面的研究,发现三者中果皮内侧石细胞的存在情况则随品种的不同而不同,结果可作为这三种植物的品种鉴别特征,同时为伞形科植物学研究提供新的内容.     

Leaf development and photosynthetic properties of three tropical tree species with delayed greening

Leaf developmental patterns were characterized for three tropical tree species with delayed greening. Changes in the pigment contents, photosynthetic capacity, stomata development, photosystem 2 efficiency, rate of energy dissipation, and the activity of partial protective enzymes were followed in developing leaves in an attempt to elucidate the relative importance of various photoprotective mechanisms during leaf ontogeny. Big leaves of Anthocephalus chinensis, a fast-growing light demanding species, expanded following an exponential pattern, while relatively small leaves of two shade-tolerant species Litsea pierrei and Litsea dilleniifolia followed a sigmoidal pattern. The juvenile leaves of A. chinensis and L. pierrei contained anthocyanin located below the upper epidermis, while L. dilleniifolia did not contain anthocyanin. Leaves of A. chinensis required about 12 d for full leaf expansion (FLE) and photosynthetic development was delayed 4 d, while L. pierrei and L. dilleniifolia required 18 or 25 d for FLE and photosynthetic development was delayed 10 or 15 d, respectively. During the leaf development the increase in maximum net photosynthetic rate was significantly related to changes in stomatal conductance and the leaf maturation period was positively related to the steady-state leaf dry mass per area for the three studied species. Dark respiration rate of leaves at developing stages was greater, and pre-dawn initial photochemical efficiency was lower than that of mature leaves. Young leaves displayed greater energy dissipation than mature leaves, but nevertheless, the diurnal photoinhibition of young L. dilleniifolia leaves was higher than that of mature leaves. The young red leaves of A. chinensis and L. pierrei with high anthocyanin contents and similar diurnal photoinhibition contained more protective enzymes (superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase) than mature leaves. Consequently, red leaves may have higher antioxidant ability.     

Cloning and functional analysis of PKZ (PKR-like) from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus)

The new teleost fish PKZ (PKR-like) full-length cDNA (GU299765) had been cloned and identified from grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus). The cDNA of grass carp PKZ (CiPKZ) has 2185 bp in length with a largest open reading frame (ORF) encoding 513aa. CiPKZ possesses a conserved C-terminal catalytic domain of eIF2α kinase family. Within its N-terminal there are two binding domain (Zα) named Zα1 (1-67aa) and Zα2 (81-152aa). BLAST homologous search reveals that CiPKZ has a high-level homology with other fish PKZs and PKRs. Like other fish PKZs and PKRs, CiPKZ is a ubiquitous tissue expression gene that had a very low level of constitutive expression but up-regulated in response to Poly I:C or hot stress (34 °C). For the purpose of searching for the potential function of CiPKZ, we obtained CiPKZ polypeptide via Escherichia coli Rosetta prokaryotic expression and purified with Ni-NTA His-Bind Resin affinity chromatography. CiPKZ polypeptide was used for the test of phosphorylating eIF2αin vitro. The results demonstrated that CiPKZ could be activated by Z-DNA but not by Poly I:C, and with subsequent could phosphorylate eIF2α. Meanwhile, four pcDNA3.1/PKZ recombinant plasmids, including pcDNA3.1/PKZ-wet, pcDNA3.1/PKZ-wet-K198R, pcDNA3.1/PKZ-wet-C, pcDNA3.1/PKZ-wet-C-K198R had been constructed, respectively. Mouse Myeloma cells (Sp2/0) and Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) were transiently cotransfected with pcDNA3.1/PKZ recombinant plasmid and PGL-3-promoter plasmid. The results revealed that CiPKZ could greatly decrease luciferase level in these cells. Zα and the K198 amino acid residue may play a key role in its function.