Picroside III,an Active Ingredient of Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora,Ameliorates Experimental Colitis by Protecting Intestinal Barrier Integrity

This study aims to explore the protective effects of Picroside III, an active ingredient of Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora, on the intestinal epithelial barrier in tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) induced Caco-2 cells and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induced colitis in mice. Results show that Picroside III significantly alleviated clinical signs of colitis including body weight loss, disease activity index increase, colon shortening, and colon tissue damage. It also increased claudin-3, ZO-1 and occludin expressions and decreased claudin-2 expression in the colon tissues of mice with colitis. In vitro, Picroside III also significantly promoted wound healing, decreased the permeability of cell monolayer, upregulated the expressions of claudin-3, ZO-1 and occludin and downregulated the expression of claudin-2 in TNF-α treated Caco-2 cells. Mechanism studies show that Picroside III significantly promoted AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation in vitro and in vivo, and blockade with AMPK could significantly attenuate the upregulation of Picroside III in ZO-1 and occludin expressions and the downregulation of claudin-2 expression in TNF-α treated Caco-2 cells. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that Picroside III attenuated DSS-induced colitis by promoting colonic mucosal wound healing and epithelial barrier function recovery via the activation of AMPK.     

盐或低温胁迫对花生幼苗下胚轴ATP酶和质膜中PIP2含量的影响

经６％－１２％Ｄｅｘｔｒａｎ Ｔ７０密度梯度离心,获得了纯度较高的７ｄ龄花生幼苗下胚轴质膜和液泡膜制剂。１５０ｍｍｏｌ／Ｌ ＮａＣｌ或１０℃低温处理花生幼苗２４ｈ,其下胚轴质膜上的Ｍｇ＾２＋激活的ＡＴＰａｓｅ活性分别提高了３７．６％和１７．２％;Ｃａ＾２＋－ＡＴＰａｓｅ活性分别提高４５．８％和３３．６％。上述盐或低温处理也提高了液泡膜上Ｍｇ＾２＋激活的ＡＴＰａｓｅ活性,分别为对照的１４１．２％和１     

On line estimation of oxygen uptake rate for insect cells growing in a modified spinner flask

The simple design of traditional spinner flasks makes the on-line estimation of cellular metabolism impossible. An on-line estimation system has been developed and used for the monitoring of oxygen uptake rate (OUR) for insect cells growing in a modified spinner flask. Neglect of oxygen desorption from culture media is a common source of error in OUR measurements for Sf21 cells. Therefore, an algorithm was developed to compensate for the affect of such desorption process on the determination of OUR. A modified spinner flask was successfully used as a low-volume bioreactor for insect cell cultivation and the OUR measurement developed here is both convenient and reliable.     

小麦中期染色体银染蛋白的分析

对小麦中期染色体中银染蛋白的大小、形状和分布频率进行图像分析,看到：染色体顺的银染蛋白以颗粒状的形式存在,其大小不同,分布不均匀,数量差异也较大;从形状来看,大的银粒为点状,小的银粒有的为点状,有的实际为短纤维状,结果表明：染色体骨架在小麦中是真实存在的,骨架蛋白以颗粒和纤维状的形式分布于整个染色体中。     

五步蛇主要数量性状与排毒量的相关分析

本文首次报道了五步蛇身体主要部位的数量性状与其排毒量的关系。其中我们发现与排毒量有关的部位是头积、体粗、体重、佛指长。     

氨基酸酯水解酶产生菌的筛选及其合成头孢立新的研究

From ten genera and 146 bacterial strains, 22 strains producing alpha-amino acid ester hydrolase were selected. Among them, AS 1.586 and 41-2 were the best. The optimal conditions for synthesis of cephalexin by pseudomonas aeruginosa 1.204 were investigated. The optimal pH and temperature for enzymatic synthesis reaction was pH 6.8 and 25 degrees C, respectively. By using 1% 7-ADCA, 3% PGME and 4% biomass, about 70% of 7-ADCA was converted to cephalexin under the mentioned conditions.     

Chromosome organization revealed upon the decondensation of telophase chromosomes inAllium

Chromosomes of root tip cells ofAllium cepa andAllium sativum were studied in early, middle and late telophase to examine the organization of mitotic chromosomes, taking advantage of the naturally occurring chromosome dispersion during the process of decondensation in telophase. Longitudinal and transverse sections of telophase chromosomes viewed under the transmission electron microscope showed that mitotic chromosomes inAllium were composed of helically coiled 400–550 nm chromatin fibres. In some regions of the longitudinal sections, these chromatin fibres were seen to be orientated parallel to one another but formed roughly a right angle to the long axis of the chromosome. In transverse sections, the telophase chromosome appeared to have a hollow centre encircled by the 400–550 nm chromatin fibre which in turn was a hollow tube structure formed by the coiling of a thinner fibre of 170–200 nm. In addition, cross views of chromatin fibres of 170–200 nm and 50–70 nm were also identified in telophase chromosome preparations. These two organizational levels of chromatin fibres also showed a hollow centre. The process of decondensation of telophase chromosomes is described, and some morphological characteristics associated with the activities of chromosome decondensation are analysed. Based on the observations made onAllium chromosomes in this study, various models of chromosome organization are discussed.     

A protein–protein interaction map reveals that the Coxiella burnetii effector CirB inhibits host proteasome activity

Coxiella burnetii is the etiological agent of the zoonotic disease Q fever, which is featured by its ability to replicate in acid vacuoles resembling the lysosomal network. One key virulence determinant of C. burnetii is the Dot/Icm system that transfers more than 150 effector proteins into host cells. These effectors function to construct the lysosome-like compartment permissive for bacterial replication, but the functions of most of these effectors remain elusive. In this study, we used an affinity tag purification mass spectrometry (AP-MS) approach to generate a C. burnetii-human protein-protein interaction (PPI) map involving 53 C. burnetii effectors and 3480 host proteins. This PPI map revealed that the C. burnetii effector CBU0425 (designated CirB) interacts with most subunits of the 20S core proteasome. We found that ectopically expressed CirB inhibits hydrolytic activity of the proteasome. In addition, overexpression of CirB in C. burnetii caused dramatic inhibition of proteasome activity in host cells, while knocking down CirB expression alleviated such inhibitory effects. Moreover, we showed that a region of CirB that spans residues 91–120 binds to the proteasome subunit PSMB5 (beta 5). Finally, PSMB5 knockdown promotes C. burnetii virulence, highlighting the importance of proteasome activity modulation during the course of C. burnetii infection.     

A secreted ribonuclease effector from Verticillium dahliae localizes in the plant nucleus to modulate host immunity

The arms race between fungal pathogens and plant hosts involves recognition of fungal effectors to induce host immunity. Although various fungal effectors have been identified, the effector functions of ribonucleases are largely unknown. Herein, we identified a ribonuclease secreted by Verticillium dahliae (VdRTX1) that translocates into the plant nucleus to modulate immunity. The activity of VdRTX1 causes hypersensitive response (HR)‐related cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana and cotton. VdRTX1 possesses a signal peptide but is unlikely to be an apoplastic effector because its nuclear localization in the plant is necessary for cell death induction. Knockout of VdRTX1 significantly enhanced V. dahliae virulence on tobacco while V. dahliae employs the known suppressor VdCBM1 to escape the immunity induced by VdRTX1. VdRTX1 homologs are widely distributed in fungi but transient expression of 24 homologs from other fungi did not yield cell death induction, suggesting that this function is specific to the VdRTX1 in V. dahliae. Expression of site‐directed mutants of VdRTX1 in N. benthamiana leaves revealed conserved ligand‐binding sites that are important for VdRTX1 function in inducing cell death. Thus, VdRTX1 functions as a unique HR‐inducing effector in V. dahliae that contributes to the activation of plant immunity.