Autophagy occurs upstream or parallel to the apoptosome during histolytic cell death

Histolysis refers to a widespread disintegration of tissues that is morphologically distinct from apoptosis and often associated with the stimulation of autophagy. Here, we establish that a component of the apoptosome, and pivotal regulator of apoptosis, is also required for histolytic cell death. Using in vivo and ex vivo assays, we demonstrate a global apoptogenic requirement for dark, the fly ortholog of Apaf1, and show that a required focus of dark(-) organismal lethality maps to the central nervous system. We further demonstrate that the Dark protein itself is a caspase substrate and find that alterations of this cleavage site produced the first hypermorphic point mutation within the Apaf1/Ced-4 gene family. In a model of ;autophagic cell death', dark was essential for histolysis but dispensable for characteristic features of the autophagic program, indicating that the induction of autophagy occurs upstream or parallel to histolytic cell death. These results demonstrate that stimulation of autophagy per se is not a ;killing event' and, at the same time, establish that common effector pathways, regulated by the apoptosome, can underlie morphologically distinct forms of programmed cell death.     

贵州苏铁根的解剖学研究

对贵州苏铁（Cycas guizhouensis K.M.Lan et R.F.Zou）的根进行了解剖学研究,结果表明：（1）据外部形态和内部结构不同,贵州苏铁的根可分为正常根、珊瑚状根和肉质根三种类型。（2）正常根与肉质根的木栓形成层起源于表皮内方第1～2层皮层薄壁细胞,珊瑚状根的木栓形成层则起源于外方皮层的第2～3层细胞,而非中柱鞘。（3）首次发现肉质根一种新的增粗方式,是由周皮内方的皮层薄壁细胞恢复分裂能力,持续或周期性产生新的皮层薄壁细胞,引起根的增粗。     

高黎贡山地区雉类多样性及其保护

根据高黎贡山地形和气候变化,将其分为南、中、北三段。通过查阅文献、访谈和野外调查,在该地区共记录到21种雉类。分布在海拔2500m以上的仅有9种,占45%;在海拔2500m以下的地域分布有雉类17种,占85%。北段有雉类13种,中段有11种,南段有12种。其中北、中、南段均有分布的仅有3种,北段和中段共有种为9种,中段和南段共有种为5种,北段和南段共有种也是5种。结果表明雉类多样性随海拔升高而降低,北段高于南段。生境破坏与狩猎是该区雉类生存的主要威胁因子。加强管理,恢复和建立生境走廊,加强宣传教育和执法力度以及开展观鸟旅游,可使该区雉类得到更好的保护。     

Plasma lipid profiling across species for the identification of optimal animal models of human dyslipidemia

In an attempt to understand the applicability of various animal models to dyslipidemia in humans and to identify improved preclinical models for target discovery and validation for dyslipidemia, we measured comprehensive plasma lipid profiles in 24 models. These included five mouse strains, six other nonprimate species, and four nonhuman primate (NHP) species, and both healthy animals and animals with metabolic disorders. Dyslipidemic humans were assessed by the same measures. Plasma lipoprotein profiles, eight major plasma lipid fractions, and FA compositions within these lipid fractions were compared both qualitatively and quantitatively across the species. Given the importance of statins in decreasing plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol for treatment of dyslipidemia in humans, the responses of these measures to simvastatin treatment were also assessed for each species and compared with dyslipidemic humans. NHPs, followed by dog, were the models that demonstrated closest overall match to dyslipidemic humans. For the subset of the dyslipidemic population with high plasma triglyceride levels, the data also pointed to hamster and db/db mouse as representative models for practical use in target validation. Most traditional models, including rabbit, Zucker diabetic fatty rat, and the majority of mouse models, did not demonstrate overall similarity to dyslipidemic humans in this study.     

Discovery of benzodihydroisofurans as novel, potent, bioavailable and brain-penetrant prolylcarboxypeptidase inhibitors

A series of benzodihydroisofurans were discovered as novel, potent, bioavailable and brain-penetrant prolylcarboxypeptidase (PrCP) inhibitors. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) is focused on improving PrCP activity and metabolic stability, and reducing plasma protein binding. In the established diet-induced obese (eDIO) mouse model, compound ent-3a displayed target engagement both in plasma and in brain. However, this compound failed to induce significant body weight loss in eDIO mice in a five-day study.     

大花栀子植物挥发物成分测定及其日变化分析

为探究大花栀子植物挥发物成分组成及其一天内早、中、晚的差异,采用热脱附气质联用技术对其进行香气成分的分析。结果表明:全天从其花朵中共鉴定出62种成分,主要为萜烯类、酯类、醇类物质,且不同时间其成分差异显著,如早、中、晚3个时间段,β-蒎烯相对含量分别为1.93%、1.69%、8.81%,顺式-β-罗勒烯分别为28.22%、4.35%、16.47%。3-蒈烯(3.45%)、异丁子香酚(0.21%)等只在早上检出;月桂烯(0.38%)、伞花烃(2.46%)等只在晚上检出;芳樟醇、金合欢烯等在早上和午间两个时间段相对含量较高,而在晚上却未检测出。从植物VOCs角度结合其日变化动态,为大花栀子园林配置及其综合开发利用提供理论依据。     

早熟油菜成花相关基因LFY的克隆与分析

以甘蓝型油菜晚熟品种RG-8的早熟突变体RG-8M为材料,通过同源克隆法得到1个LEAFY(LFY)同源基因,命名为BnLFY。该基因cDNA全长为1 310bp,包含1个长为1 248bp的开放阅读框,编码415个氨基酸。序列分析表明,推测的氨基酸序列含双子叶植物LFY类蛋白特有的N端脯氨酸富集区、中央酸性区、亮氨酸拉链结构以及富含赖氨酸与精氨酸的碱性区;且与几种十字花科植物LFY类蛋白的氨基酸序列一致性均在84%以上。转录表达分析表明,BnLFY基因在油菜中为组成型表达。     

湘中丘陵区毛竹纯林、竹杉混交林土壤有机碳库动态

研究了湘中丘陵区毛竹纯林、竹杉混交林土壤总有机碳及不同形式活性有机碳储量的垂直分布与季节动态.结果表明:竹杉混交林总有机碳及不同形式活性有机碳储量均高于毛竹纯林,SOC、MBC、HWC、WSOC和ROC平均储量分别是毛竹纯林的1.20、1.74、1.35、1.15和1.27倍,0～20 cm土层是土壤有机碳库的主要分布区;不同形式有机碳储量季节动态存在差异,表现为SOC以1月最高,10月最低,MBC 7月最高,1月份最低,ROC10月最高,4月最低,1月WSOC储量显著高于其他季节;竹杉混交林不同形式活性有机碳储量所占比例均高于毛竹纯林,土壤碳库稳定性较差,土壤ROC储量占总有机碳的比例最大,MBC次之,WSOC较低,HWC最低,分别为18.85％ ～ 19.93％、0.34％～0.49％、0.24％～0.25％和0.19％～0.22％;SOC与不同形式活性有机碳均呈正相关,ROC与MBC、HWC,MBC与HWC,HWC与WSOC的正相关关系也达显著水平.     

ELV对青春期大鼠睾丸中VEGF与VEGFR2蛋白表达的影响

目的研究血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)及其受体2(VEGFR2)在实验性左侧精索静脉曲张大鼠睾丸中的表达和定位,探讨精索静脉曲张中VEGF和VEGFR2的可能作用。方法通过部分结扎左肾静脉建立大鼠实验性左侧精索静脉曲张模型,于术后2周和4周取材,采用免疫组化法检测VEGF、VEGFR2在睾丸上的表达变化。结果 ELV2周与4周组大鼠两侧睾丸中VEGF蛋白表达均上调,但ELV组间VEGF蛋白表达没有明显变化;ELV2周组大鼠睾丸中VEGFR2蛋白的表达与对照组比较增强,而4周组比对照组和2周组均显著增强。结论实验性左侧精索静脉曲张对VEGF、VEGFR2蛋白的表达有影响,说明它们与男性不育可能有一定的关系。