Role of Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor (PEDF) in Arsenic-Induced Cell Apoptosis of Liver and Brain in a Rat Model

Although studies have shown that arsenic exposure can induce apoptosis in a variety of cells, the exact molecular mechanism of chronic arsenicosis remains unclear. Based on our previous study on human serum, the present study was to determine whether pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) plays a role in the damage induced by chronic arsenic exposure in a rat model and to explore the possible signaling pathway involved. Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups and the arsenite doses administered were 0, 10, and 50 mg/L, respectively. The experiment lasted for 6 months. Our results showed that level of arsenic increased significantly in serum, liver, brain, and kidney in arsenic-exposed groups. It was indicated that PEDF protein was widely distributed in the cytoplasm of various types of cells in liver, brain, and kidney. PEDF protein level was only changed when the arsenite dose reached 50 mg/L in liver and brain, whereas it was not changed in the kidney. In order to investigate the possible mechanism of PEDF-exerted damages upon arsenite exposure, apoptosis in liver and brain was assessed. The proportion of apoptotic cells gradually increased with increasing arsenic administration. The ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 in the high arsenic group (50 mg/L) was significantly higher than that in the control group. Therefore, we thought PEDF played a role in cell apoptosis of liver and brain which induced by sodium arsenite exposure, and the results also demonstrated that Bax and Bcl-2 might be two key targets in the action of PEDF.     

IL‐1β and TNF‐α induce neurotoxicity through glutamate production: a potential role for neuronal glutaminase

Glutaminase 1 is the main enzyme responsible for glutamate production in mammalian cells. The roles of macrophage and microglia glutaminases in brain injury, infection, and inflammation are well documented. However, little is known about the regulation of neuronal glutaminase, despite neurons being a predominant cell type of glutaminase expression. Using primary rat and human neuronal cultures, we confirmed that interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) and tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), two pro‐inflammatory cytokines that are typically elevated in neurodegenerative disease states, induced neuronal death and apoptosis in vitro. Furthermore, both intracellular and extracellular glutamate levels were significantly elevated following IL‐1β and/or TNF‐α treatment. Pre‐treatment with N‐Methyl‐d ‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist MK‐801 blocked cytokine‐induced glutamate production and alleviated the neurotoxicity, indicating that IL‐1β and/or TNF‐α induce neurotoxicity through glutamate. To determine the potential source of excess glutamate production in the culture during inflammation, we investigated the neuronal glutaminase and found that treatment with IL‐1β or TNF‐α significantly upregulated the kidney‐type glutaminase (KGA), a glutaminase 1 isoform, in primary human neurons. The up‐regulation of neuronal glutaminase was also demonstrated in situ in a murine model of HIV‐1 encephalitis. In addition, IL‐1β or TNF‐α treatment increased the levels of KGA in cytosol and TNF‐α specifically increased KGA levels in the extracellular fluid, away from its main residence in mitochondria. Together, these findings support neuronal glutaminase as a potential component of neurotoxicity during inflammation and that modulation of glutaminase may provide therapeutic avenues for neurodegenerative diseases.     

Palmitoylation of Superoxide Dismutase 1 (SOD1) Is Increased for Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-linked SOD1 Mutants

Mutations in Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (mtSOD1) cause familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS), a neurodegenerative disease resulting from motor neuron degeneration. Here, we demonstrate that wild type SOD1 (wtSOD1) undergoes palmitoylation, a reversible post-translational modification that can regulate protein structure, function, and localization. SOD1 palmitoylation was confirmed by multiple techniques, including acyl-biotin exchange, click chemistry, cysteine mutagenesis, and mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometry and cysteine mutagenesis demonstrated that cysteine residue 6 was the primary site of palmitoylation. The palmitoylation of FALS-linked mtSOD1s (A4V and G93A) was significantly increased relative to that of wtSOD1 expressed in HEK cells and a motor neuron cell line. The palmitoylation of FALS-linked mtSOD1s (G93A and G85R) was also increased relative to that of wtSOD1 when assayed from transgenic mouse spinal cords. We found that the level of SOD1 palmitoylation correlated with the level of membrane-associated SOD1, suggesting a role for palmitoylation in targeting SOD1 to membranes. We further observed that palmitoylation occurred predominantly on disulfide-reduced as opposed to disulfide-bonded SOD1, suggesting that immature SOD1 is the primarily palmitoylated species. Increases in SOD1 disulfide bonding and maturation with increased copper chaperone for SOD1 expression caused a decrease in wtSOD1 palmitoylation. Copper chaperone for SOD1 overexpression decreased A4V palmitoylation less than wtSOD1 and had little effect on G93A mtSOD1 palmitoylation. These findings suggest that SOD1 palmitoylation occurs prior to disulfide bonding during SOD1 maturation and that palmitoylation is increased when disulfide bonding is delayed or decreased as observed for several mtSOD1s.     

ER stress response induced by the production of human IL-7 in rice endosperm cells

Rice seed has been used as a production platform for high value recombinant proteins. When mature human interleukin 7 (hIL-7) was expressed as a secretory protein in rice endosperm by ligating the N terminal glutelin signal peptide and the C terminal KDEL endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retention signal to the hIL-7 cytokine to improve production yield, this protein accumulated at levels visible by Coomassie Brilliant Blue staining. However, the production of this protein led not only to a severe reduction of endogenous seed storage proteins but also to a deterioration in grain quality. The appearance of aberrant grain phenotypes (such as floury and shrunken) was attributed to ER stress induced by the retention of highly aggregated unfolded hIL-7 in the ER lumen, and the expression levels of chaperones such as BiPs and PDIs were enhanced in parallel with the increase in hIL-7 levels. The activation of this ER stress response was shown to be mainly mediated by the OsIRE1-OsbZIP50 signal cascade, based on the appearance of unconventional splicing of OsbZIP50 mRNA and the induction of OsBiP4&5. Interestingly, the ER stress response could be induced by lower concentrations of hIL-7 versus other types of cytokines such as IL-1b, IL-4, IL-10, and IL-18. Furthermore, several ubiquitin 26S proteasome-related genes implicated in ER-associated degradation were upregulated by hIL-7 production. These results suggest that severe detrimental effects on grain properties were caused by proteo-toxicity induced by unfolded hIL-7 aggregates in the ER, resulting in the triggering of ER stress.     

Syntheses and antitumor activities of N′1,N′3-dialkyl-N′1,N′3-di-(alkylcarbonothioyl) malonohydrazide: The discovery of elesclomol

A series of N′¹,N′³-dialkyl-N′¹,N′³-di(alkylcarbonothioyl) malonohydrazides have been designed and synthesized as anticancer agents by targeting oxidative stress and Hsp70 induction. Structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies lead to the discovery of STA-4783 (elesclomol), a novel small molecule that has been evaluated in a number of clinical trials as an anticancer agent in combination with Taxol.     

椭圆背角无齿蚌贝壳棱柱层的结构

用光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜对椭圆背角无齿蚌Anadonta woodiana elliptica贝壳的横截面、纵截面和水平截面进行了观测。结果表明,边长为10～50μm、高度为35～47μm的多边棱柱体是贝壳棱柱层结构的基本单元。它们在贝壳的水平轴和横轴的二维空间方向逐步进行堆砌,以形成棱柱层。在堆砌时所形成的夹角,导致了贝壳在横轴和纵轴方向形成一定的弧度。在外套膜分泌形成贝壳的过程中,依次形成角质层、棱柱层、珍珠层。     

甘草属植物中三萜类化合物的抗病毒作用研究进展

甘草为豆科甘草属植物,是我国重要的传统中草药,三萜类化合物是其主要活性成分之一。近年来,多种甘草属植物中的三萜类化合物被证明具有显著而广谱的抗病毒活性,成为抗病毒免疫研究的热点,并有望作为新型广谱抗病毒药物而被广泛应用于临床治疗中。本文综述了近年来国内外关于甘草酸、甘草甜素、甘草次酸及其衍生物等甘草属三萜类化合物的抗病毒作用研究进展,主要对该类化合物抗疱疹病毒、人类免疫缺陷病毒(human immunodeficiency virus,HIV)、肝炎病毒、严重急性呼吸综合征(severe acute respiratory syndrome,SARS)冠状病毒、流感病毒等的作用进行简要综述。     

地塞米松抑制卡氏肺孢子菌肺炎β2-防御素和Dectin-1受体的表达

目的研究卡氏肺孢子菌肺炎（Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia,PCP）鼠肺Dectin-1和β2-防御素的表达变化,探讨地塞米松对Deetin-1和B2-防御素的影响与疾病发生的相互关系。方法实验分4组：正常对照组、Pc刺激组、PCP模型组以及PCP模型恢复组。免疫抑制方法建立PCP动物模型,改良四胺银（Groeoti’s methenamine—silver nitrate method,GMS）染色检测Pc包囊;肺组织切片HE染色观察肺组织病理变化;实时荧光定量和Westernblot检测Deetin-1和B2-防御素的mRNA以及蛋白的表达。结果Pc刺激组的Dectin．1和β2-防御素的mRNA以及蛋白的表达明显高于正常对照组（P〈0．05）;Pc刺激组和PCP恢复组的Dectin-1和β2-防御素的mRNA以及蛋白显著高于PCP组（P〈0．05）,而PCP恢复组与PCP组肺部炎症无明显差别。结论对免疫功能正常宿主,Dectin-1受体和p2-防御素可能在防Pc感染中起重要作用;地塞米松抑制了鼠肺Deetin-1和β2-防御素的表达,这可能与PCP疾病的发生和发展有关。