寨卡病毒,不仅仅是小头畸形

寨卡病毒(Zika virus,ZIKV)属于黄病毒科黄病毒属,由蚊虫叮咬传播。ZIKV发现于1947年。2007年以来,由于基因突变,ZIKV获得了更强的神经嗜性和在蚊虫体内播散的能力,因而在全球加快流行,并与成人吉兰-巴雷综合征和胎儿小头畸形的发生密切相关。最近的临床观察和动物研究进一步表明,ZIKV感染引起的临床症状复杂多样,所造成的疾病不仅仅是小头畸形,它还能够损伤雄性生殖系统,干扰下丘脑对神经内分泌系统的调节,引起多种激素分泌缺陷,导致生长发育迟缓和学习记忆能力损伤。因此,对于先天感染ZIKV的新生儿,不仅要在孕期监测小头畸形的发生,出生后也需进行长期的跟踪观察;对于出生后感染ZIKV的婴幼儿以及学龄前儿童,无论病情轻重,也需要进行随访,以明确ZIKV感染的远期影响。     

肥大细胞在肿瘤发生发展中的作用

肥大细胞是人体主要免疫细胞之一,因其作为导致过敏反应发生的最直接效应细胞而著称.肥大细胞最主要的结构特征为其胞内含有大量嗜碱性颗粒,该颗粒内又富含种类众多的生物活性物质,包括组胺、血管内皮生长因子(vascular endothelial growth factor,VEGF)、成纤维细胞生长因子(fibroblast...     

裕固族血脂异常人群肠道菌群结构特征分析

探究生活在相同环境下的同一民族血脂异常人群与健康人群的肠道菌群差异,为血脂异常的精准预防和治疗提供参考。

收集甘肃肃南县裕固族血脂异常人群和健康人群粪便样本,提取细菌总DNA,通过16S rDNA高通量测序和生物信息学技术,分析2组人群肠道菌群的差异。

裕固族健康组人群肠道菌群分属26个门,73个纲,169个目,301个科,709个属,门水平上丰度＞1%的物种有4个,属水平上丰度＞1%的物种有22个。裕固族血脂异常组人群肠道菌群分属29个门,75个纲,280个目,304个科,702个属,门水平上丰度＞1%的物种有4个,属水平上丰度＞1%的物种有15个。裕固族血脂异常组人群肠道菌群与健康组间拟杆菌门、厚壁菌门、放线菌门水平以及F/B比值存在显著差异,Р＜0.05的差异物种有5个,Subdoligranulum、Christensenellaceae_R-7_group及Dialister与血脂水平呈负相关,Lachnoclostridium、Parasutterella与血脂水平呈正相关。

肃南县裕固族血脂异常组人群肠道菌群结构与健康组存在差异,为下一步关联分析肠道菌群与血脂异常及环境因素提供了基础数据。

     

High-fat diet-induced lipidome perturbations in the cortex,hippocampus, hypothalamus,and olfactory bulb of mice

Given their important role in neuronal function, there has been an increasing focus on altered lipid levels in brain disorders. The effect of a high-fat (HF) diet on the lipid profiles of the cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and olfactory bulb of the mouse brain was investigated using nanoflow ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry in the current study. For 8?weeks, two groups of 5-week-old mice were fed either an HF or normal diet (6 mice from each group analyzed as the F and N groups, respectively). The remaining mice in both groups then received a 4-week normal diet. Each group was then subdivided into two groups for another 4-week HF or normal diet. Quantitative analysis of 270 of the 359 lipids identified from brain tissue revealed that an HF diet significantly affected the brain lipidome in all brain regions that were analyzed. The HF diet significantly increased diacylglycerols, which play a role in insulin resistance in all regions that were analyzed. Although the HF diet increased most lipid species, the majority of phosphatidylserine species were decreased, while lysophosphatidylserine species, with the same acyl chain, were substantially increased. This result can be attributed to increased oxidative stress due to the HF diet. Further, weight-cycling (yo-yo effect) was found more critical for the perturbation of brain lipid profiles than weight gain without a preliminary experience of an HF diet. The present study reveals systematic alterations in brain lipid levels upon HF diet analyzed either by lipid class and molecular levels.     

Neuromedin B induces angiogenesis via activation of ERK and Akt in endothelial cells

Neuromedin B (NMB) is one of the bombesin-like peptides in mammals. Recently, bombesin-like peptides have been characterized as growth factors in highly vascularized tumors. In this study, we report that NMB potently stimulates in vivo neovascularization in a mouse Matrigel plug and the sprouting of endothelial cells ex vivo in rat aortic rings. In addition, NMB increases the migration and tube formation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Moreover, treatment of HUVECs with NMB activates the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK_1/2), Akt, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and increases the level of NO production in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, ERK activation and angiogenic sprouting in response to NMB are significantly blocked by the MEK inhibitor. Inhibition of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) suppresses the NMB-stimulated tubular formation of HUVECs, along with reduction in the phosphorylation of Akt and eNOS. Taken together, these results indicate that NMB is a novel angiogenic peptide, and its angiogenic activity is mediated by activating the MEK/ERK- and PI3K/Akt/eNOS-dependent pathways. This study suggests that NMB may play important roles in mediating a variety of pathophysiological angiogenesis.     

Molecular biology of wound-inducible proteinase inhibitors in plants

Abstract. The techniques of molecular biology are being employed to investigate at the gene level the systemically mediated, wound-induced accumulation of two defensive proteinase inhibitor proteins in plant leaves. These techniques have added a new dimension to biochemical and physiological studies already underway to understand the mechanism of induction by wounding. The acquisition of cDNAs from the RNAs coding for the two inhibitors facilitated studies of mRNA synthesis in leaves in response to wounding, and provided probes to obtain wound-inducible proteinase inhibitor genes from tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum ) and potato (Solarium tuberosum) genomes. Successful transformations of tobacco plants with fused genes, containing the 5' and 3' regions of the inhibitor genes with the open reading frame of the chloramphenicol acelyltransferase ( cat ) gene, have provided a wound-inducible chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CATase) activity with which to seek cis- and transacting elements that regulate wound-inducibility to help to understand the interaction of cytoplasmic and nuclear components of the intracellular communication systems that activate the proteinase inhibitor genes in response to wounding by insect pests.     

Effect of chronic hypoxia on proliferation, apoptosis, and HSP70 expression in mouse bronchiolar epithelial cells

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) can be induced by various stresses and play an important role in cell cycle progression. HSP70 has been shown to act as an inhibitor of apoptosis. We studied HSP70 expression in bronchial epithelial cells of C57BL/6 mice and homozygous HPS70 knockout mice (hsp70.1-/-) exposed to chronic hypoxic stress. We also investigated changes in cellular proliferation and apoptosis in relation to HSP70. Lungs were removed from mice after a three-week period of exposure to 10 % O(2). Immunoblots for HSP70 and immunohistochemical staining for HSP70 and Ki-67 were performed. Apoptosis was assessed using the TUNEL assay. The three-week period of hypoxic stress did not change HSP70 levels in total lung tissue, but a significant reduction in HSP70 expression was observed in bronchiolar epithelial cells. In wild type mice, both HSP70 and Ki-67 expression were significantly reduced in bronchiolar epithelial cells. In homozygous HPS70 knockout mice (hsp70.1-/-), apoptosis of bronchiolar epithelial cells was significantly increased. Our results suggest that HSP70 may exert anti-apoptotic effects in mouse bronchiolar epithelial cells.     

宁夏盐池荒漠草原植被的数量分类和排序

为检验荒漠草原封育恢复的效果,对宁夏盐池围封9年的退化草场进行了植被调查,共记录34个物种,分属于12个科、27个属,其中豆科(9种)、禾本科(7种)、菊科(6种)所含物种数较多.与封育前相比,物种组成基本相同,常见种和建群种发生了明显变化.采用PCA排序和分层聚类将80个样方分为长芒草、白草、赖草3个群系,依据建群种或优势种的生物学特性将其生境划分为旱生生境、中生生境和轻度盐渍化生境.3个群系的演替速率不同,其中长芒草群系演替进入反应阶段,赖草群系的演替等级相对较高.群系间存在激烈的资源竞争关系,风蚀能够促进赖草群系的进一步扩大.建议通过划区轮牧的方式合理调控长芒草群系和赖草群系的放牧时期,以提高草场的放牧利用价值,降低赖草群系的扩张危险.