A possible strategy against head and neck cancer: in silico investigation of three-in-one inhibitors

Overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Her2, and uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (UROD) occurs in a variety of malignant tumor tissues. UROD has potential to modulate tumor response of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, and EGFR and Her2 are common drug targets for the treatment of head and neck cancer. This study attempts to find a possible lead compound backbone from TCM Database@Taiwan (http://tcm.cmu.edu.tw/) for EGFR, Her2, and UROD proteins against head and neck cancer using computational techniques. Possible traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) lead compounds had potential binding affinities with EGFR, Her2, and UROD proteins. The candidates formed stable interactions with residues Arg803, Thr854 in EGFR, residues Thr862, Asp863 in Her2 protein, and residues Arg37, Arg41 in UROD protein, which are key residues in the binding or catalytic domain of EGFR, Her2, and UROD proteins. Thus, the TCM candidates indicated a possible molecule backbone for evolving potential inhibitors for three drug target proteins against head and neck cancer.

An animated interactive 3D complement (I3DC) is available in Proteopedia at http://proteopedia.org/w/Journal:JBSD:35     

Salidroside Inhibits Reactive Astrogliosis and Glial Scar Formation in Late Cerebral Ischemia via the Akt/GSK-3β Pathway

Neurochemical Research - Cerebral ischemia leads to reactive astrogliosis and glial scar formation. Glial scarring can impede functional restoration during the recovery phase of stroke. Salidroside...     

基于杂交链式(HCR)反应的甲型流感病毒检测技术研究

甲型流感病毒的现场快速检测对于流感的及时有效防控具有重要意义．本研究基于杂交链式(HCR)反应,利用GO对荧光基团的猝灭作用及共同实现了对甲型流感病毒的快速检测．当目标序列存在时,可引发HCR反应,使短链DNA形成长链,保护FAM荧光基团不被猝灭,从而实现目标物的检测．实验结果表明,该方法在10～40 nmol/L范围内荧光强度与目标检测物浓度表现出了良好的线性关系,检测范围为5～100 nmol/L．这种HCR等温扩增检测技术具有较好的样本检测能力,具有等温、无酶、反应体系简单、操作步骤简便等优点,表现出良好的现场检测应用前景．     

Assessing Changes in Biomass of Riverbed Periphyton

Periphytic biomass in a downriver riffle of the Grand River in Southern Ontario, Canada was measured with concrete-block glass slide samplers from May to December 1971. Average rate of accumulation of periphyton on glass slides was 266.2 mg/m²/day ash-free weight, 120.9 mg/m²/day carbon, 20.4 mg/m²/day nitrogen, or 1.11 mg/m²/day chlorophyll a and on concrete blocks was 590.0 mg/m²/day ash-free weight, 202.9 mg/m²/day carbon, 22.8 mg/m²/day nitrogen, or 2.95 mg/m²/day chlorophyll a. The standing biomass of periphyton on glass slides varied from a maximum of 21.6 g/m² between May 28 and July 15 to a minimum of 0.7 g/m² in December with an average of 8.6 g/m². The biomass on concrete blocks ranged from a high of 132.5 g/m² in August to a low of 29.9 g/m² in October with a mean of 66.1 g/m². The well established periphyton on concrete blocks towards the end of the study period was similar to that from native rocks with respect to biomass, carbon and nitrogen contents, and ratios of biomass to chlorophyll a. This suggests that concrete blocks are a better substrate than glass slides for measuring riverbed periphyton. By comparing biomass of periphyton on slides and on concrete blocks, the average rate of loss of periphyton from concrete blocks was estimated to be 2.9 g/m²/day, representing 63% of the mean total accumulation rate of the periphyton. The magnitude of the estimated total loss and the high standing biomass of the periphyton on concrete blocks manifest the importance of the periphyton as a source of organic matter in the river.     

海珠国家湿地公园浮游植物群落结构时空变化

浮游植物是湿地生态系统的重要组成成分,其数量及群落结构变化会对湿地生态系统的结构和功能产生重要影响。为了解海珠国家湿地公园浮游植物群落结构及时空动态变化特征,于2017年冬、2018年夏两季分别进行了调查。结果表明:海珠国家湿地公园共检到浮游植物171种,隶属7门64属,其中绿藻门、硅藻门和蓝藻门种类分别占总种类的44%、26%和13%;广州平裂藻(Merismopedia cantonensis)和细小平裂藻(Merismopedia minima)在两季均为优势种,冬季啮蚀隐藻(Cryptomonas erosa)也较多;浮游植物群落结构、丰度与生物多样性指数具有明显季节变化,冬季硅藻和绿藻占优,分别占藻类总丰度的32%和29%;夏季蓝藻占绝对优势,占68%;夏季浮游植物平均丰度达(25.58±18.47)×10⁶cells·L^-1,约为冬季的3倍; Shannon物种多样性指数和Pielou均匀度指数冬季分别为4.38和0.77,夏季分别为2.92和0.51;从空间上看,海珠湖浮游植物种类、多样性指数均较低,而丰度较高;塘涌和西江涌硅藻...     

Scanning by DOVAM-S detects all unique sequence changes in blinded analyses: evidence that the scanning conditions are generic

The [detection of virtually all mutations]-SSCP (DOVAM-S) is a highly sensitive variant of single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). Mutations in the factor IX gene were used to find a set of five SSCP conditions that detects virtually all mutations. A blinded analysis of the factor IX gene in patients with hemophilia B detected 82 of 82 unique mutations. Since the method was developed and tested on the factor IX gene, it is possible that the conditions selected work more efficiently in the factor IX gene than in other genes. To test the general applicability of the conditions under which DOVAM-S detected all mutations in this gene, blinded analyses were performed in the human factor VIII and ataxia-telangiectasia (ATM) genes. Segments were amplified individually, combined into groups of 16 to 18 amplified segments and electrophoresed in five different nondenaturing conditions of varying matrices, buffers, temperatures and additives. Blinded analyses were performed in 92 samples from patients with hemophilia A (factor VIII gene) and 19 samples from A-T patients (ATM gene). Combined with an earlier blinded analysis in the factor IX gene, all of the 250 mutations and polymorphisms (180 of which are unique) were detected in both analyses. For two, three and four joint conditions, the average detection frequency ranged from 77%-97%, 91%-100% and 95%-100%, respectively. For each of the genes, one mutation may have been missed if only four conditions were used. With DOVAM-S, approximately 500 kb of autosomal sequence can be scanned in five gels with virtually 100% detection of mutations within the scanned region. The detection of 180 out of 180 unique sequence changes implies that DOVAM-S detects at least 96.5% (P = 0.03) of mutations. Blinded analyses that detect 400 unique sequence changes are required to determine that a scanning method detects at least 98.5% of mutations.     

The diagnostic potential of MPT63‐derived HLA‐A*0201‐restricted CD8+T‐cell epitopes for active pulmonary tuberculosis

MPT63 protein is found only in Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, including M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. Detection of MPT63‐specific IFN‐γ‐secreting T cells could be useful for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) diseases. In the present study, the HLA‐A*0201 restriction of ten predicted MPT63‐derived CD8 ⁺ T‐cell epitopes was assessed on the basis of T2 cell line and HLA‐A*0201 transgenic mice. The diagnostic potential of immunogenic peptides in active pulmonary TB patients was evaluated using an IFN‐γ enzyme‐linked immunospot assay. It was found that five peptides bound to HLA‐A*0201 with high affinity, whereas the remaining peptides exhibited low affinity for HLA‐A*0201. Five immunogenic peptides (MPT63_18–26, MPT63_29–37, MPT63_20–28, MPT63_5–14 and MPT63_10–19) elicited large numbers of cytotoxic IFN‐γ‐secreting T cells in HLA‐A*0201 transgenic mice. Each of the five immunogenic peptides was recognized by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 45% to 73% of 40 HLA‐A*0201 positive TB patients. The total diagnostic sensitivity of the five immunogenic peptides was higher than that of a T‐SPOT.TB assay (based on ESAT‐6 and CFP‐10) (93% versus 90%). It is noticeable that the diagnostic sensitivity of the combination of five immunogenic peptides and T‐SPOT.TB assay reached 100%. These MPT63‐derived HLA‐A*0201‐restricted CD8 ⁺ T‐cell epitopes would likely contribute to the immunological diagnosis of M. tuberculosis infection and may provide the components for designing an effective TB vaccine.