Central reactive oxygen species mediate cardiovascular effects of urotensin II in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Central urotensin II (UII) may participate in the regulation of cardiovascular functions by stimulating sympathy pathway. However, the central mechanism remained unknown. Recent studies have shown that brain reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediate the sympatho-excitatory effects. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that ROS mediate central cardiovascular effects of UII. Experiments were conducted in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Immunocytochemistry, intracerebroventricular (icv) infusion and lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence assay were employed to detect UII receptor expression and ROS level, respectively. The following results were obtained: (1) Expressions of UII receptors of rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) and nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) were increased in SHR rats compared with WKY rats (P < 0.05). (2) UII (icv) significantly increased mean arterial pressure (MAP) (P < 0.05), and the effect of UII was significantly more pronounced in SHR rats than that in WKY rats (P < 0.05); (3) Tempol (a superoxide dismutase mimic) or Urantide (an antagonist of UII receptor) pretreatments eliminated the pressor effect of UII (P < 0.05) in SHR rats; (4) Brain superoxide level was increased in UII-treated SHR rats compared with that in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-treated SHR rats (P < 0.05). These results indicate that ROS mediate central cardiovascular effects of UII in SHR rats and provide evidence for a novel relationship between UII and ROS.     

东北地区玉米生长发育特征及其对热量的响应

在大田条件下,以3个玉米品种（丹玉39、原单29和龙单13）为试验材料,设置早、中、晚3个播种期,分析了2007-2008年不同播期3个玉米品种关键生育阶段特征及其对温度的响应.结果表明： 从播种到出苗所需天数依次为早播(平均值为13 d)>中播(平均值为11 d)>晚播(平均值为8 d);出苗阶段平均气温在18 ℃左右时的出苗速率最快,气温偏高或偏低都会降低出苗速率.3个玉米品种在苗期营养阶段生育期天数的差异不大且受温度影响较小;从穗期阶段开始,晚熟品种龙单13的生长速率提高,成熟天数明显缩短;3个品种在穗期和花粒期阶段生长天数均随温度的增加呈减少趋势.全生育期地上干物质积累速率、产量、百粒重均表现为丹玉39>原单29>龙单13.     

Effect of berberine hydrochloride on grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella serum bactericidal activity against Edwardsiella ictaluri

Bactericidal activity of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) serum was significantly enhanced when pre-treated with 15 mg l?1 or 3 mg l?1 of berberine hydrochloride, an effective component of several commonly used herbal medicines in aquaculture. The complement consumption experiment demonstrated that berberine hydrochloride can certainly activate fish complement system. The results of both experiments suggested that berberine hydrochloride could enhance the serum bactericidal activity in grass carp by activating the complement system and indicating the potential in the prevention or treatment of fish diseases.     

Molecular mechanisms of chromium in alleviating insulin resistance

Type 2 diabetes is often associated with obesity, dyslipidemia and cardiovascular anomalies and is a major health problem approaching global epidemic proportions. Insulin resistance, a prediabetic condition, precedes the onset of frank type 2 diabetes and offers potential avenues for early intervention to treat the disease. Although lifestyle modifications and exercise can reduce the incidence of diabetes, compliance has proved to be difficult, warranting pharmacological interventions. However, most of the currently available drugs that improve insulin sensitivity have adverse effects. Therefore, attractive strategies to alleviate insulin resistance include dietary supplements. One such supplement is chromium, which has been shown to reduce insulin resistance in some, but not all, studies. Furthermore, the molecular mechanisms of chromium in alleviating insulin resistance remain elusive. This review examines emerging reports on the effect of chromium, as well as molecular and cellular mechanisms by which chromium may provide beneficial effects in alleviating insulin resistance.     

Scalable GMP compliant suspension culture system for human ES cells

Suspension bioreactors are an attractive alternative to static culture of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) for the generation of clinically relevant cell numbers in a controlled system. In this study, we have developed a scalable suspension culture system using serum-free defined media with spinner flasks for hESC expansion as cell aggregates. With optimized cell seeding density and splitting interval, we demonstrate prolonged passaging and expansion of several hESC lines with overall expansion, yield, viability and maintenance of pluripotency equivalent to adherent culture. Human ESCs maintained in suspension as aggregates can be passaged at least 20 times to achieve over 1×10(13) fold calculated expansion with high undifferentiation rate and normal karyotype. Furthermore, the aggregates are able to differentiate to cardiomyocytes in a directed fashion. Finally, we show that the cells can be cryopreserved in serum-free medium and thawed into adherent or suspension cultures to continue passaging and expansion. We have successfully used this method under cGMP or cGMP-equivalent conditions to generate cell banks of several hESC lines. Taken together, our suspension culture system provides a powerful approach for scale-up expansion of hESCs under defined and serum-free conditions for clinical and research applications.     

Ultrasound-assisted adsorption of anionic nanoscale pigment on cationised cotton fabrics

Application of pigments in textile coloring has many advantages such as less water and energy consumption, less effluent load and higher efficiency, so the pigments are perfect alternatives to dyes for eco-friendly coloring. In this work, a stable anionic nanoscale pigment suspension was prepared using a polymeric dispersant to color the cationised cotton with the exhaust method. Meanwhile, ultrasound was carried out during the adsorption to evaluate the ultrasonic influences on the uptake of pigment, adsorption efficiency and final product quality. The uptake of pigment is found to be higher with ultrasonic method than that with conventional technique because of the good dispersing capacity of ultrasound to pigment particles. Besides, it is found that nanoscale pigment has higher adsorption rate when using ultrasonic method because the ultrasound promotes the diffusion of pigment through the fiber-liquid boundary layer. Lastly, the color difference (ΔE) reveals the nanoscale pigment can be deposited on cotton surface more uniformly under ultrasonic condition, improving the product quality obviously.     

双歧杆菌表达系统的研究进展

双歧杆菌作为表达外源基因的宿主备受关注,成为近年来研究的热点。本文从双歧杆菌表达系统的组成、外源蛋白的表达等角度综述了近期的研究成果,对该系统在口服疫苗和抗肿瘤方面的研究及应用前景进行了展望。     

Effect of ketamine on ERK expression in hippocampal neural cell and the ability of learning behavior in minor rats

To study the effects of ketamine on ERK expression in hippocampal neural cell and the ability of learning behavior in minor rats. Seventy-two Sprague–Dawley rats of 21 days old were randomly divided into nine groups. The Y-maze was used to test the ability of learning and spatial localization. At the end of training, all rats were killed and the expression levels of ERK1, ERK2 and p-ERK1/2 were tested by immunohistochemistry. The learning times and total reaction time (TRT) of group K2a, K2b, K2c and K3 have significant differences compared with T group (P < 0.05). Immunohistochemical staining showed that the level of ERK1, ERK2 and p-ERK1/2 in all rats which received light-electricity integrated training increased remarkably relative to the C group (P < 0.01). The expression levels of ERK1, ERK2 and p-ERK1/2 in hippocampal neural cell of group K2a, K2b and K3 significantly decreased when compared with T group (P < 0.05). Therefore, the results demonstrate that administration of over-anesthetic ketamine may impair learning ability of 21 days old rats within 24 h. ERK signal transduction pathway may be involved in the ability of learning and spatial localization. The inhibition of ERK signal transduction pathway may be one of the mechanisms of the impairment of learning and memory ability by ketamine.     

Spred2 Modulates the Erythroid Differentiation Induced by Imatinib in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells

Differentiation induction is currently considered as an alternative strategy for treating chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Our previous work has demonstrated that Sprouty-related EVH1 domainprotein2 (Spred2) was involved in imatinib mediated cytotoxicity in CML cells. However, its roles in growth and lineage differentiation of CML cells remain unknown. In this study, we found that CML CD34⁺ cells expressed lower level of Spred2 compared with normal hematopoietic progenitor cells, and adenovirus mediated restoration of Spred2 promoted the erythroid differentiation of CML cells. Imatinib could induce Spred2 expression and enhance erythroid differentiation in K562 cells. However, the imatinib induced erythroid differentiation could be blocked by Spred2 silence using lentiviral vector PLKO.1-shSpred2. Spred2 interference activated phosphorylated-ERK (p-ERK) and inhibited erythroid differentiation, while ERK inhibitor, PD98059, could restore the erythroid differentiation, suggesting Spred2 regulated the erythroid differentiation partly through ERK signaling. Furthermore, Spred2 interference partly restored p-ERK level leading to inhibition of erythroid differentiation in imatinib treated K562 cells. In conclusion, Spred2 was involved in erythroid differentiation of CML cells and participated in imatinib induced erythroid differentiation partly through ERK signaling.