Differential effect of three-repeat and four-repeat tau on mitochondrial axonal transport

Tau protein is present in six different splice forms in the human brain and interacts with microtubules via either 3 or 4 microtubule binding repeats. An increased ratio of 3 repeat to 4 repeat isoforms is associated with neurodegeneration in inherited forms of frontotemporal dementia. Tau over-expression diminishes axonal transport in several systems, but differential effects of 3 repeat and 4 repeat isoforms have not been studied. We examined the effects of tau on mitochondrial transport and found that both 3 repeat and 4 repeat tau change normal mitochondrial distribution within the cell body and reduce mitochondrial localization to axons; 4 repeat tau has a greater effect than 3 repeat tau. Further, we observed that the 3 repeat and 4 repeat tau cause different alterations in retrograde and anterograde transport dynamics with 3 repeat tau having a slightly stronger effect on axon transport dynamics. Our results indicate that tau-induced changes in axonal transport may be an underlying theme in neurodegenerative diseases associated with isoform specific changes in tau's interaction with microtubules.     

NMR studies on novel antitumor drug candidates, deoxoartemisinin and carboxypropyldeoxoartemisinin

Artemisinin and its derivatives, which have been known as antimalarial drugs, have also demonstrated their cytotoxicity against tumor cells. It has been proposed that antitumor activity depends on the lipophilicity of functional group on artemisinin derivatives. Solution structures of two artemisinin derivatives as antitumor drug candidates, deoxoartemisinin and carboxypropyldeoxoartemisinin, were determined by NMR spectroscopy to elucidate structure-activity relationship. According to biological assay, antitumor efficiencies are not dependent upon lipophilicity. Instead, these compounds demonstrated their distinctive structural features of boat/chair conformation and capability to interact with receptors, as they have different efficiencies on antitumor activity. Especially, carboxypropyl moiety or carbonyl moiety in artemisinin derivatives influences the conformation and stability of ring structure. Although the detailed mechanism of antitumor activity by artemisinin derivatives has not been addressed, we suggest that antitumor activity is not determined only with lipophilicity and that artemisinin derivatives have specific target proteins in each type of cancer.     

非洲菊亲环素家族基因GCyP的克隆与生物信息学分析

亲环素(Cyclophilins,CyPs)具有肽脯氨酰顺反异构酶活性,催化蛋白质折叠过程,并且起着分子伴侣的作用,同时参与mRNA加工和信号转导等生物学过程.本研究在抑制性消减杂交获得表达序列标签(EST)的基础上,通过生物信息学方法获得了非洲菊亲环素家族基因GCyP的cDNA.进而设计特异引物,以非洲菊舌状花为材料,通过RT-PCR扩增并经T-A克隆后测序,获得一条长度为732 bp的序列.该序列经生物信息学分析确认其为GCyP,编码的GCyP含172个氨基酸残基,属于单结构域胞质型亲环素.GCyP序列提交GenBank后接收,登录号为EU1269167.     

病毒衣壳结构亚单位的种类数与三角形剖分数关系的研究和探讨

本文报道了在正廿面体病毒衣壳中,当蛋白结构亚单位以“三聚体”的形式聚集在单位三角形(?)时,其亚单位的种类数应等于该病毒的三角形剖分数值。     

Using 137Cs technique to quantify soil conservation capacities of different ecosystems in Wolong Natural Reserve, southwestern China

Reliable information about soil conservation capacities of different natural ecosystems is an important reference for the design of targeted erosion and sediment control strategies. The objective of this paper is to quantify the soil conservation capacities of different natural ecosystems that can represent different climatic zones. The 137Cs technique has been used to estimate soil redistribution rates in different natural ecosystems over the past 40 years in Wolong Nature Reserve. The reserve, transiting from the Chengdu plain to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, maintains rich ecosystems from subtropical to frigid.The net soil erosion rates of 5 selected ecosystems that represent a warm coniferous-broadleaf-mixed forest, a cold-resistant deciduous taiga forest, a cold-resistant shrub, an evergreen cold-resistant taiga servation capacities are reversed in order. The reference inventories for 137Cs in different ecosystems velop effective erosion and sediment strategies in areas with similar climates should consider natural ecosystem types.     

植物黄酮二氢杨梅素的提纯及结晶形态研究

显齿葡萄属植物富含黄酮物质。研究对显齿葡萄黄酮提取物二氢杨梅素的提纯及结晶态进行了初步探讨。结果表明:以水作为结晶溶剂进行多次重结晶,可有效去除植物黄酮提取物的杂质,总黄酮含量由原来的86%提高至96.5%。二氢杨梅素在水相中的结晶态多为针状结晶,水相保温结晶呈放射性棒状结晶。在pH4.5的条件下,其溶解度最低可获得较高的回收率。     

酿酒酵母与粟酒裂殖酵母属间原生质体融合选育降解苹果酸强的葡萄酒酵母

采用赖氨酸缺陷型酿酒酵母（Ｓａｃｃｈａｒｏｍｙｃｅｓ ｃｅｒｅｎｉｓｉａｅ）Ｌ１原生质与肌醇缺陷型粟酒裂殖酵母（Ｓｃｈｉｚｏｓａｃｃｈａｒｏｍｙｃｅｓ ｐｏｍｂｅ）ＰＭ－５原生质体事例选育了葡萄酒发酵性能良好且具有降解苹果酸能力的酵母菌株。对融合子菌落形态、遗传稳定性、降解苹果酸能力和葡萄酒发酵性能进行了研究。结果表明：用促融合剂「３０％聚乙二醇（ＭＷ６０００）、０．０２ｍｏｌ／Ｌ ＣａＣｌ２和１     

临泽绿洲边缘区棉花群体光合速率、蒸腾速率及水分利用效率

在甘肃河西走廊中部黑河中游绿洲边缘区,于6月下旬和8月上旬,利用Li-8100土壤碳通量测定系统与改进的同化箱联合对田间条件下早熟陆地棉(Gossypium hirsutum)品种新陆早8号的群体光合特性进行了研究.结果表明：试验地6月下旬的土壤呼吸速率和土壤蒸发速率显著高于8月上旬（P＜0.01）;棉花群体光合速率日变化均呈“单峰型”,6月下旬的群体光合速率显著高于8月上旬,其日平均值分别为（43.11±1.26）和（24.53±0.60）μmol CO₂·m^-2·s^-1, 差异极显著（P＜0.01）;群体蒸腾速率日变化也呈“单峰型”,6月下旬和8月上旬的日平均值分别为（3.10±0.34）和（1.60±0.26）mmol H₂O·m^-2·s^-1,两者存在极显著差异（P＜0.01）;6月下旬和8月上旬的群体水分利用效率日平均值分别为（15.67±1.77）和（23.08±5.54） mmol CO₂·mol^-1 H₂O,但差异不显著（P＞0.05）.两生育时期棉花群体光合速率与温度、光合有效辐射及土壤含水量均呈正相关关系.表明棉花群体光合速率在6月下旬和8月上旬均没有出现中午光合下调,8月由于土壤水分降低和植物叶片衰老,棉花群体光合速率和蒸腾速率显著降低,但水分利用效率并无显著下降.