CpG联合铝佐剂对HCV免疫原体液免疫作用的影响

目的:探讨胞苷酸鸟苷寡脱氧核苷酸(CpG ODN)联合铝佐剂对丙型肝炎病毒(HCV)重组免疫原的体液免疫作用。方法:采用高交叉HCV-HVR1和E1重组蛋白与CpG ODN、铝佐剂组合,免疫BALB/c小鼠后以ELISA、酶联免疫斑点测定、流式细胞术、免疫沉淀等方法检测相关体液免疫指标和免疫血清多抗的交叉反应性。结果:CpG联合铝佐剂激发了最高的特异性抗体滴度;佐剂通过提高抗体分泌细胞数量、增加脾脏中记忆B细胞数量、增加脾淋巴细胞IL-6、IL-10分泌浓度实现体液免疫增效;CpG则能提高免疫效率,联合铝佐剂时显著提高浆细胞数量;12份HCV阳性血清中有10份可与多抗HVR1 IgG发生免疫沉淀。结论:CpG和铝佐剂联合应用具有协同作用,多抗HVR1 IgG具有较好的交叉反应性。     

Elovl5 regulates the mTORC2-Akt-FOXO1 pathway by controlling hepatic cis-vaccenic acid synthesis in diet-induced obese mice

Elevated hepatic expression of fatty acid elongase-5 (Elovl5) induces FoxO1 phosphorylation, lowers FoxO1 nuclear content, and suppresses expression of genes involved in gluconeogenesis (GNG). In this report, we define the molecular and metabolic basis of Elovl5 control of FoxO1 phosphorylation. Adenoviral-mediated (Ad-Elovl5) induction of hepatic Elovl5 in diet-induced obese, glucose-intolerant mice and HepG2 cells increased the phosphorylation of Akt2-S⁴⁷³ [mammalian target of rapamycin complex-2 (mTORC2) site], but not Akt2-T³⁰⁸ (PDK1 site). The Akt2 inhibitor Akti1/2 blocked Elovl5 induction of FoxO1-S²⁵⁶ phosphorylation in HepG2 cells. Elevated Elovl5 activity in liver and HepG2 cells induced rictor mRNA, rictor protein, and rictor-mTOR interaction, whereas rictor knockdown (siRNA) attenuated Elovl5 induction of Akt2-S⁴⁷³ and FoxO1-S²⁵⁶ phosphorylation in HepG2 cells. FA analysis revealed that the abundance of cis-vaccenic acid (18:1,n-7) was increased in livers of obese mice and HepG2 cells following Ad-Elovl5 infection. Treating HepG2 cells with Elovl5 substrates established that palmitoleic acid (16:1,n-7), but not γ-linolenic acid (18:3,n-6), induced rictor protein, Akt-S⁴⁷³, and FoxO1-S²⁵⁶ phosphorylation. Inhibition of FA elongation blocked 16:1,n-7 but not 18:1,n-7 induction of rictor protein and Akt-S⁴⁷³ and FoxO1-S²⁵⁶ phosphorylation. These results establish a novel link between Elovl5-mediated synthesis of 18:1,n-7 and GNG through the control of the mTORC2-Akt-FoxO1 pathway.     

Antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy in elective percutaneous coronary intervention

Thrombosis plays a major role in acute vessel closure both after coronary balloon angioplasty and after stenting. This review will address the role of antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy in preventing early thrombotic complications after percutaneous coronary intervention. The focus will be on agents that are routinely available and commonly used.     

Migration, invasion and decline: changes in recruitment and forest structure in a warming-linked shift of European beech forest in Catalonia (NE Spain)

Altitudinal upward shifts of species' ranges have occurred across a wide range of taxonomic groups and geographical locations during the twentieth century in response to current climate warming. However, actual data of plant species' altitudinal shifts are still scarce and not always clear. Here we provide a more detailed investigation of a previously reported European beech Fagus sylvatica forest altitudinal shift in the Montseny Mountains (Catalonia, NE Spain) now based on field photographic survey and on the population age structure and the recruitment patterns in the high Fagus limit (HFL), the central forest area (CFA) and the low Fagus limit (LFL). Monitoring of the lowest altitudinal range shows that beech forest is being progressively replaced by Mediterranean holm oak forest. Holm oaks are characterized by recruitment rates more than three times higher than those of beech in the LFL in the last decades. The percentage of young individuals in the LFL is only half that in the HFL and CFA. In the highest altitudinal range, present day and early 20th century photographs show that the HFL has gained density and has shifted altitudinally upwards, advancing with establishment of new, vigorous outpost trees (13 individuals per each 100 m of tree-line). They are mostly (89%) younger than 35 yr old and mostly (97%) located up to 70  m (with a few up to 105 m) ground surface distance above the current tree line (36–51 m altitude) at the highest altitudes (1600–1700 m). The beech forest upward shift is a likely consequence of warming, but land-use practice changes (cessation of burning by shepherds) have made it possible. These changes in vegetation distribution and population structure constitute a new indication of the complex global change effects on life in mountain ecosystems.     

Daily changes in the sensitivity of wax-moth larvae, Galleria mellonella, to cooling stress

ABSTRACT. Sensitivity to cooling stress in the last instar larvae of Galleria mellonella was measured as (a) the number of extra larval moults, (b) the number of larvae retaining the ability to secrete silk, and (c) the number showing arrested development. With respect to (a) and (b) there were considerable differences in sensitivity across the day. A relationship was observed between the number of additional larval moults induced by chilling and the ability of prepupal larvae to spin silk: the periods during the 24 h when the most larvae passed through additional larval moults were periods characterized by the smallest number of larvae capable of spinning, and vice versa. These daily changes were apparently partly independent of developmental age. Daily variations in sensitivity also occurred when larvae of the same age were cooled at different times of day. It is suggested that these rhythms in cold-sensitivity are related to a cold-sensitive rhythm in juvenile hormone secretion, or hormone sensitivity in the tissues.