异位性皮炎患者血清变应原过筛检测结果及其临床意义

目的:探讨异位性皮炎(AD)患者的血清嗜酸细胞阳离子蛋白(ECP)、总IgE、吸入性变应原Phadiatop和食物性变应原fx5E间的相关性。方法:随机选取我院门诊就诊和住院治疗的AD患者60例,选取健康体检者30例为对照组,同期检测ECP、总IgE、Phadiatop和fx5E血清浓度并比较。结果:AD患者血清ECP和总IgE水平均明显高于正常对照组(P<0.05);患者组中血清ECP与总IgE之间无相关性;Phadiatop在患者组中阳性率为86.67%,fx5E阳性率为18.33%。结论:AD患者血清ECP水平是反映嗜酸粒细胞活化和过敏状态的敏感指标,能更有效地监测AD患者病情变化与疗效。吸入性和食物性变应原均可引起AD,尤以吸入性变应原为主。对AD患者进行CAP系统中变应原过筛检测,是AD防治的重要手段之一。     

施氏假单胞菌A1501铁吸收调节蛋白Fur的表达特性与功能鉴定

铁是细胞生理代谢的重要金属元素,是多种氧化还原酶类、过氧化物酶类的重要组成部分。革兰氏阴性菌中,胞内铁转运、储存和利用主要由铁吸收调节蛋白Fur（ferric uptake regulator）调控。水稻根际联合固氮菌——施氏假单胞菌（Pseudomonas stutzeri）A1501基因组中含有一个fur同源基因,但其具体功能尚不清楚。比较了A1501中fur基因及其编码蛋白的序列特征,并通过实时荧光定量PCR（real-time quantitative,qRT-PCR）和Western blotting杂交方法测定了fur基因和Fur蛋白的表达特性,结果发现fur基因表达水平与环境中铁浓度呈负相关,在铁限制条件下高表达,铁过量条件下表达受抑制。构建了fur基因突变株和功能回补株,表型测定发现fur突变影响了A1501的碳源代谢谱,并导致A1501对过氧化氢胁迫敏感。胞内铁含量测定表明,fur突变株内的铁含量为野生型的1.3倍,进一步qRT-PCR测定表明fur突变影响了铁离子转运系统及过氧化物酶编码基因的表达。研究结果为解析根际微生物胞内铁平衡调节及根际环境适应机制奠定了理论基础。     

Cancer risks and prevention practices among Vietnamese refugees.

Although Vietnamese refugees are the fastest-growing Asian minority in the United States, little is known about their health knowledge and practices, especially regarding cancer prevention. To address this problem, we interviewed a randomly selected sample of 215 Vietnamese adults living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Results indicated that 13% had never heard of cancer, 27% did not know that cigarette smoking can cause cancer, and 28% believed that cancer is contagious. Although hepatitis B-related liver cancer is endemic among Vietnamese, 48% had never heard of hepatitis B. Among men (n = 116), 56% were smokers (versus 32% in the general US population). Male cigarette smoking was significantly associated with incomes below the poverty level (P less than .01), residence in the US for 9 years or less (P less than .05), not knowing that smoking causes cancer (P less than .05), and limited English proficiency (P less than .01). Binge drinking was reported by 35% of men. Young Vietnamese of both sexes reported consuming diets higher in fat and lower in fiber than when they lived in Vietnam. Among eligible women, 32% had never had a Papanicolaou test (versus 9% of US women), 28% had never had a breast examination (versus 16%), and 83% had never had a mammogram (versus 62%). Education about cancer and its risk factors, smoking cessation, and cancer screening are high priorities for this population.     

植物乙烯生物合成过程中活性氧的作用

大量的研究结果表明,活性氧参与植物乙烯生物合成过程具有明显的普遍性,超氧阴离子自由基是参与乙烯生物合成过程的主要活性氧。近年来研究的焦点主要从乙烯生物合成的关键调控酶ACC合酶及ACC氧化酶的酶活性、酶动力学特性、酶蛋白空间结构、酶基因表达水平等方面来阐明活性氧调控植物乙烯生物合成的机制。最新的研究表明：植物在各种正常或应激的生长条件下首先诱导了活性氧产生水平的变化,活性氧在基因或蛋白质水平上影响ACC合酶和ACC氧化酶的活性水平,从而调节乙烯的生物合成。本文首次综述了活性氧影响植物乙烯生物合成过程的最新研究进展,并对活性氧在植物乙烯生物合成中具有诱导与抑制并存的“双重性”作用进行了探讨。     

对虾的慢与快牵张感受器的放电型式与镁离子浓度的关系

对虾的慢适应和快适应感受器的放电型式可因环境中 Mg~( )浓度的改变而发生转变:在用蔗糖代替全部 Mg~( )的海水(无镁海水)中,当感受器肌肉受到持续性牵拉时,两种感受器都发出持续性节律放电,即快感受器也给出了慢适应型放电;反之,在 Mg~( )浓度加倍的海水(高镁海水)中,两者都只在感受器肌肉受到牵拉的瞬时给出短暂的放电,即慢感受器也给出了快适应型放电。这种放电型式的转变只有当无镁或高镁海水接触感受器细胞体时才出现。在正常海水中,10~(-3)M 的γ-氨基丁酸(GABA)即可完全抑制由牵拉引起的对虾牵张感受器的放电,但在无镁海水中,必需10~(-2)M GABA 方能达到同样的抑制效果。若在无镁亦无钙海水中,即使用1M 的 GABA 亦不能抑制感受器的牵拉放电。不仅如此,在这种海水中抑制神经对感受器细胞放电的抑制作用也消失。     

Adaptive evolution of G-protein coupled receptor genes

The phylogeny and patterns of nucleotide substitutions in the visual pigment genes, adrenergic receptor genes, muscarinic receptor genes, and in the human mas oncogene were studied by comparing their DNA sequences. The evolutionary tree obtained shows that the visual pigment genes and mas oncogene form one cluster and that the receptor genes form another. In the evolution of rhodopsin genes, synonymous substitutions outnumber nonsynonymous substitutions. This is consistent with the neutral theory of molecular evolution. However, the early evolutionary stages of alpha- and beta-adrenergic and muscarinic receptors are notable for significantly more nonsynonymous substitutions than synonymous substitutions, suggesting the acquisition of novel functional adaptations. Variable rates of nonsynonymous changes in different domains of these proteins reveal DNA segments that might have been important in their functional adaptations.      

The contributions of the second and third chromosomes to selection response in Drosophila melanogaster

Summary A new approach was made to comparing the contributions to response of chromosomes 2 and 3 of Drosophila in lines selected for high and low sternopleural bristle number.Separate response curves for chromosomes 2 and 3 were obtained from changes in the effect of standard second and third chromosomes marked Cy and Mé which were kept segregating with their wild-type homologues during selection.Dominance interaction between marker and wild chromosomes caused some bias in estimating responses in each direction, but the amount by which the responses diverged in the two directions of selection was relatively free from bias. On a log. scale divergences of chromosomes 2 and 3 were in the ratio 11.7 and their heritabilities realised early in selection were 0.14 and 0.26 respectively.There was interaction between the Cy and the Mé chromosomes which was not altered by the selection. Almost all the responses in the lines could be accounted for by addition of the responses in single chromosomes 2 and 3, chromosomes 1 and 4 making a negligible contribution.Sampling, as a cause of variation between selection lines, was reflected in the variation between them in response in chromosomes 2 and 3.     

T-cell hybridoma secreting hemopoietic regulatory molecules: granulocyte-macrophage and eosinophil colony-stimulating factors.

Murine spleen cells stimulated in vitro with pokeweed mitogen were fused with a HAT-sensitive AKR thymoma (BW5147) to produce T-cell hybridomas secreting hemopoietic colony-stimulating factors (CSFs). A stable cloned T-cell hybridoma has been isolated which expressed the H-2 antigens of both fusion parents, has a median chromosome number of 56 and secretes a factor(s) which stimulates the growth of granulocyte-macrophage and eosinophil colonies. The CSF-secreting hybridoma exhibited only the Thy 1.1 associated with the parent tumor, but no markers normally associated with normal T-cells or macrophages were detected. No CSF was secreted by the parent tumor line, but the hybridoma-conditioned medium, when used at 10% (v/v), contained sufficient CSF to stimulate 10–30 colonies per 10⁵ bone marrow cells. Lipopolysaccharide (1 μg/ml) stimulated the production of CSF by the hybridoma cells 3 fold. CSF production also increased when the cells were held at high density in serum-free medium. The colony-stimulating factor(s) secreted by the hybridoma exhibited similar molecular properties to those produced by pokeweed mitogen-stimulated spleen cells, and both the GM- and EO-CSFs had an apparent molecular weight by gel filtration of approximately 35,000.     

Factors affecting nest-site choice and reproductive success of Curlews Numenius arquata on farmland

Nest-site choice and reproductive success of Curlews Numenius arquata in different habitats were studied at a mixed farmland site (grasslands and flooded tilled fields relatively common) and at an arable farmland site (dry tilled fields more dominant than at the mixed site) in central Sweden. At both sites Curlews preferred to nest on grassland and fallow fields, where hatching success was higher than on tillage fields. Nests were also situated further away from forest edges than random sites, but hatching success did not vary with distance to the forest edge. Only 35.6% of the pairs were estimated to hatch young. The main cause of nest loss was predation and the second most important factor was destruction by farming practices, which was an important factor in tillage early in season. Surprisingly, nest survival was higher at the arable than at the mixed farmland site, probably being an effect of the increased proportion of fallowing during recent years. Mortality of chicks was 79.7% before fledgling age (both sites combined) and, surprisingly, chick survival was lower on meadows than on arable fields and leys. The mean production of young was only 0.25 fledglings per pair, which is lower than in areas less affected by farming practice. The low production of young is probably an important factor in the decline of Curlew populations on Swedish farmland. On bogs 1.4 fledglings per pair were produced, indicating that reproductive success of Curlews is higher in more natural habitats.