Vascular plant species richness on wetland remnants is determined by both area and habitat heterogeneity

There is an ongoing ecological debate on whether area per se or habitat heterogeneity is the main driver for species richness. The wetland remnants in the Sanjiang Plain, NE China harbor a high biodiversity and play an important role for local ecosystems. Fifty-one wetland remnants were sampled to examine the effect of area and habitat heterogeneity on vascular plant species richness. Number of community types, elevation, water heterogeneity and soil resource heterogeneity were employed as habitat heterogeneity variables, but only water heterogeneity was identified as the proper surrogate for habitat heterogeneity. Compared with the classic species-area model, the choros model achieved better fitness when water heterogeneity and elevation were employed as habitat heterogeneity variables. Nevertheless, elevation was poorly correlated with species richness. It suggests, without a comprehensive analysis of habitat heterogeneity variables, the choros model might result in a misleading result. In this study, species richness was significantly influenced by water heterogeneity, area and number of community types. Water heterogeneity and area both controlled the number of community types, and they were the two main determinants of species richness. As area was significantly and positively correlated with water heterogeneity, the variance in species richness was mainly related to the mutual effect of area and water heterogeneity. The results of this study confirmed that the relationship between the area per se hypothesis and the habitat heterogeneity hypothesis was conjunct rather than mutually exclusive. In addition, it is critical that both area and water heterogeneity should be taken into account for biodiversity conservation and management in wetland remnants.     

Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of hydroxyl-substituted Schiff bases

Eight hydroxyl-substituted Schiff bases with the different number and position of hydroxyl group on the two asymmetric aromatic rings (A and B rings) were prepared by the reaction between the corresponding aromatic aldehyde and aniline. Their antioxidant effects against the stable galvinoxyl radical (GO) in ethyl acetate and methanol, and 2,2′-azobis(2-amidinopropane hydrochloride) (AAPH)-induced DNA strand breakage, and their antiproliferative effects on human hepatoma HepG2 cells, were investigated. Structure–activity relationship analysis demonstrates that o-dihydroxyl groups on the aromatic A ring and 4-hydroxyl group attached to the aromatic B ring contribute critically to the antioxidant and antiproliferative activities.     

Fatty acid synthase inhibitors of phenolic constituents isolated from Garcinia mangostana

Natural inhibitors of fatty acid synthase (FAS) are emerging as potential therapeutic agents to treat cancer and obesity. The bioassay-guided chemical investigation of the hulls of Garcinia mangostana led to the isolation of 13 phenolic compounds (1–13) mainly including xanthone and benzophenone, in which compounds 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 were isolated from this plant for the first time and compound 9 was a new natural product. These isolates possess strong inhibitory activity of FAS with the IC₅₀ values ranging from 1.24 to 91.07 μM. The study indicates that two types of natural products, xanthones and benzophenones, could be considered as promising FAS inhibitors.     

抗人红细胞单链抗体与猪瘟E2蛋白双功能融合蛋白的构建及生物学活性检测

为构建具有凝集性、免疫反应性的双功能融合蛋白,本研究采用重叠延伸PCR方法将2E8ScFv(抗人红细胞H抗原单链抗体基因)和mE2(猪瘟病毒E2蛋白主要抗原编码区基因)拼接成融合基因2E8mE2,并插入原核表达载体pET-DsbA,将重组表达质粒pET-DsbA-2E8mE2转化入大肠杆菌Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)PlysS中进行IPTG诱导表达,表达的融合蛋白经SDS-PAGE和Western blotting分析鉴定,结果表明:2E8mE2融合基因在大肠杆菌中获得了表达,表达产物以包涵体形式存在,分子量约为65kDa,与预期的大小一致。分别采用亲和层析法和谷胱甘肽再氧化法对融合蛋白进行纯化和复性,红细胞凝集试验证实:2E8mE2融合蛋白复性效果良好,既能够与人红细胞结合,又能够与猪瘟病毒抗体反应,具有双功能特性。     

黄曲酶尿酸氧化酶突变体的构建、表达、纯化及生物学活性分析

采用融合PCR的方法将黄曲霉尿酸氧化酶(UOX) 基因的307~309 bp的TGC(Cys) 突变为GCC(Ala),将所获得的突变体基因克隆到原核表达质粒pET-42a(+) 后转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)。经IPTG诱导,突变体蛋白 (UOX-Ala103) 得到高水平的可溶性表达,目的蛋白占总蛋白含量的45％。疏水柱及阴离子柱纯化后,UOX-Ala103蛋白纯度＞98％。Western blotting分析证实UOX-Ala103能与抗UOX单抗特异结合。与天然型相比较,其体外生物学活性增加约60％,在高尿酸血症小鼠模型体内也有良好的降解尿酸的活性。     

Immunohistochemical localization of LIM mineralization protein 1 during mouse molar development

LIM mineralization protein 1 (LMP-1) is an essential positive regulator of osteoblast differentiation, maturation and bone formation. Our previous investigations on the distribution of LMP-1 in mature human teeth indicated that LMP-1 might play a role in the odontoblast differentiation and dentin matrix mineralization. The aim of the present study was to use immunohistochemistry to determine the expression of LMP-1 during tooth development in mouse molars. In embryonic and postnatal Kunming mice, LMP-1 protein was expressed during molar development, but the expression levels and patterns differed at various developmental stages. At embryonic day 13.5 (E13.5), LMP-1 was found in the enamel organ. At E14.5, LMP-1 was detected in the entire enamel organ and in the underlying mesenchyme. At E16.5, LMP-1 was observed in the inner and outer enamel epithelium and the stratum intermedium. The expression also converged at the cusps in the dental papilla. At E18.5 and postnatal day 2.5 (P2.5), LMP-1 was restricted to the stratum intermedium, in differentiating dental papilla cells at cusps, while it disappeared in terminal differentiated ameloblasts and odontoblasts. At P13.5, no positive staining was detected in the odontoblasts or in the dental pulp cells. Therefore, LMP-1 showed spatiotemporal expression patterns during molar development and might participate in molar crown morphogenesis and odontoblast differentiation at late molar development.     

Analysis of cyclosporine A and its metabolites in rat urine and feces by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

A sensitive and specific liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the quantification of cyclosporine A (CyA) and the identification of its metabolites in rat urine and feces. The analytes were extracted from waste samples via liquid–liquid extraction. A Turboionspray source was used as a detector. It was operated in a positive ion mode with transitions of m/z 1225 → m/z 1112 for CyA and in a selected multiple reactions monitoring (MRM) mode with transitions of m/z 1239 → m/z 1099 for the internal standard (cyclosporine D, CyD). Linear calibration curves were obtained for CyA concentration ranges of 12.5–250 ng mL^?1 in urine and 2.5–375 ng mg^?1 in feces. The intra- and inter-day precision values (relative standard deviation) obtained were less than 8%, and the accuracy was within ±15% for each of the analytes. Extraction recoveries of CyA and CyD were both over 80%. The identification of the metabolites and elucidation of their structure were performed on the basis of their retention times and mass spectrometry fragmentation behaviors. A total of seven metabolites in rat feces were identified as dimethyl CyA, hydroxy CyA, and dihydroxy CyA after the oral administration of cyclosporine A-Eudragit^® S100 nanoparticles (CyA-NP). Six of these metabolites were also detected in rat urine. A possible metabolic pathway was also proposed. The newly developed method was proven to be sensitive, simple, reproducible, and suitable for the rapid determination of CyA. It was successfully employed to study the excretion of CyA in rats and could be used to better understand the in vivo metabolism of CyA-NP, a potentially effective nanoparticle system.