Phenotypic responses of hatchlings to constant versus fluctuating incubation temperatures in the multi-banded krait, Bungarus multicintus (Elapidae)

Most studies on egg incubation in reptiles have relied on constant temperature incubation in the laboratory rather than on simulations of thermal regimes in natural nests. The thermal effects on embryos in constant-temperature studies often do not realistically reflect what occurs in nature. Recent studies have increasingly recognized the importance of simulating natural nest temperatures rather than applying constant-temperature regimes. We incubated Bungarus multicintus eggs under three constant and one fluctuating-temperature regimes to evaluate the effects of constant versus fluctuating incubation temperatures on hatching success and hatchling phenotypes. Hatching success did not differ among the four treatments, and incubation temperature did not affect the sexual phenotype of hatchlings. Incubation length decreased as incubation temperature increased, but eggs incubated at fluctuating temperatures did not differ from eggs incubated at constant temperatures with approximately the same mean in incubation length. Of the hatchling phenotypes examined, residual yolk, fat bodies and locomotor performance were more likely affected by incubation temperature. The maximal locomotor speed was fastest in the fluctuating-temperature and 30 degrees C treatments and slowest in the 24 degrees C treatment, with the 27 degrees C treatment in between. The maximal locomotor length was longest in the fluctuating-temperature treatment and shortest in the 24 degrees C and 27 degrees C treatments, with the 30 degrees C treatment in between. Our results show that fluctuating incubation temperatures do not influence hatching success and hatchling size and morphology any differently than constant temperatures with approximately the same mean, but have a positive effect on locomotor performance of hatchlings.     

Requirement for Lamin B Receptor and Its Regulation by Importin β and Phosphorylation in Nuclear Envelope Assembly during Mitotic Exit

Lamin B receptor (LBR), a chromatin and lamin B-binding protein in the inner nuclear membrane, has been proposed to target the membrane precursor vesicles to chromatin mediated by importin β during the nuclear envelope (NE) assembly. However, the mechanisms for the binding of LBR with importin β and the membrane targeting by LBR in NE assembly remain largely unknown. In this report, we show that the amino acids (aa) 69–90 of LBR sequences are required to bind with importin β at aa 45–462, and the binding is essential for the NE membrane precursor vesicle targeting to the chromatin during the NE assembly at the end of mitosis. We also show that this binding is cell cycle-regulated and dependent on the phosphorylation of LBR Ser-71 by p34^cdc2 kinase. RNAi knockdown of LBR causes the NE assembly failure and abnormal chromatin decondensation of the daughter cell nuclei, leading to the daughter cell death at early G₁ phase by apoptosis. Perturbation of the interaction of LBR with importin β by deleting the LBR N-terminal spanning region or aa 69–73 also induces the NE assembly failure, the abnormal chromatin decondensation, and the daughter cell death. The first transmembrane domain of LBR promotes the NE production and expansion, because overexpressing this domain is sufficient to induce membrane overproduction of the NE. Thus, these results demonstrate that LBR targets the membrane precursor vesicles to chromatin by interacting with importin β in a LBR phosphorylation-dependent manner during the NE assembly at the end of mitosis and that the first transmembrane domain of LBR promotes the LBR-bearing membrane production and the NE expansion in interphase.     

Inhibition of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-induced Apoptosis by Silkworm Storage Protein 1

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays essential roles indispensable for cellular activity and survival, including functions such as protein synthesis, secretory and membrane protein folding, and Ca²⁺ release in cells. The ER is sensitive to stresses that can lead to the aggregation and accumulation of misfolded proteins, which eventually triggers cellular dysfunction; severe or prolonged ER stress eventually induces apoptosis. ER stress-induced apoptosis causes several devastating diseases such as atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes. In addition, the production of biopharmaceuticals such as monoclonal antibodies requires the maintenance of normal ER functions to achieve and maintain the production of high-quality products in good quantities. Therefore, it is necessary to develop methods to efficiently relieve ER stress and protect cells from ER stress-induced apoptosis. The silkworm storage protein 1 (SP1) has anti-apoptotic activities that inhibit the intrinsic mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. However, the role of SP1 in controlling ER stress and ER stress-induced apoptosis has not been investigated. In this paper, we demonstrate that SP1 can inhibit apoptosis induced by a well-known ER stress inducer, thapsigargin, by alleviating the decrease in cell viability and mitochondrial membrane potential. Interestingly, SP1 significantly blocked increases in CHOP and GRP78 expression as well as ER Ca2+ leakage into the cytosol following ER stress induction. This indicates that SP1 protects cells from ER stressinduced apoptosis by functioning as an upstream inhibitor of apoptosis. Therefore, studying SP1 function can offer new insights into protecting cells against ER stress-induced apoptosis for future applications in the biopharmaceutical and medicine industries.     

Spironolactone Attenuates Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Injury Partially via Modulating Mononuclear Phagocyte Phenotype Switching in Circulating and Alveolar Compartments

Background

Recent experimental studies provide evidence indicating that manipulation of the mononuclear phagocyte phenotype could be a feasible approach to alter the severity and persistence of pulmonary injury and fibrosis. Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) has been reported as a target to regulate macrophage polarization. The present work was designed to investigate the therapeutic potential of MR antagonism in bleomycin-induced acute lung injury and fibrosis.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We first demonstrated the expression of MR in magnetic bead-purified Ly6G-/CD11b+ circulating monocytes and in alveolar macrophages harvested in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from C57BL/6 mice. Then, a pharmacological intervention study using spironolactone (20mg/kg/day by oral gavage) revealed that MR antagonism led to decreased inflammatory cell infiltration, cytokine production (downregulated monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, transforming growth factor β1, and interleukin-1β at mRNA and protein levels) and collagen deposition (decreased lung total hydroxyproline content and collagen positive area by Masson’ trichrome staining) in bleomycin treated (2.5mg/kg, via oropharyngeal instillation) male C57BL/6 mice. Moreover, serial flow cytometry analysis in blood, BALF and enzymatically digested lung tissue, revealed that spironolactone could partially inhibit bleomycin-induced circulating Ly6C^hi monocyte expansion, and reduce alternative activation (F4/80+CD11c+CD206+) of mononuclear phagocyte in alveoli, whereas the phenotype of interstitial macrophage (F4/80+CD11c-) remained unaffected by spironolactone during investigation.

Conclusions/Significance

The present work provides the experimental evidence that spironolactone could attenuate bleomycin-induced acute pulmonary injury and fibrosis, partially via inhibition of MR-mediated circulating monocyte and alveolar macrophage phenotype switching.     

CHS基因起源初探及其在被子植物中的进化分析

利用PCR与TAIL-PCR方法,从半月苔(Lunulariacruciata(L.)Dum.exLindb.)中获得了一段长约1000bp的基因片段,它与已知的CHS基因在核苷酸水平上的相似性大于56%,在氨基酸水平上的相似性大于60%,所推断的氨基酸序列中酶反应的4个催化位点与已知晶体结构的紫花苜蓿MCHS2A上的催化位点相同,首次证明了苔类植物中可能存在类CHS基因,将CHS基因的起源时间推到苔藓类植物出现之前。以该序列和两种蕨类植物(Psilotumnudum(L.)Griseb.和EquisetumarvenseL.)的CHS序列作为外类群,应用邻接法、最大简约法和最大似然法分别构建了被子植物的CHS的分子系统树。结果表明,大部分科中的CHS分布在不同的分支上,而十字花科、豆科和禾本科各自聚成一个单系类群。以邻接树为依据,对茄科、旋花科和菊科的CHS基因进行了相对碱基替换速率的检测,发现这三个科内或科间序列的替换速率不一致。被子植物的CHS基因在基因拷贝数目、碱基替换速率以及重复/丢失事件的发生上都存在较大的差异,这种差异可能与被子植物的生活史、生活环境、花的特性以及对外界的防御系统等的多样性相关。     

环境污染物对巨噬细胞的影响及生物监测意义

随着工农业的发展,环境污染问题日趋严重。作为常见的环境污染物,二氧化硫经呼吸道转化为亚硫酸盐能引起多种呼吸系统疾病,并可能有促癌作用;重金属汞能引起中枢神经系统和多种器官损害,同时具有一定的免疫毒性,其危害已引起人们广泛关注。生物监测(bi0H10nitoring)是使用活     

离子注入对微生物细胞的刻蚀与对DNA的损伤及修复

以耐辐射异常球菌为试材,以E. coli 为对照,用显微扫描电镜和3H-TdR标记,研究了离子注入对微生物细胞的刻蚀与对DNA的损伤及其修复。结果表明,注入离子对细胞存在着刻蚀损伤;中性蔗糖梯度密度离心沉降分析证明, 大剂量下离子注入可直接导致DNA损伤,并观察到在对应的存活率峰值注入剂量下,D. radiodurans修复损伤DNA的能力比E. coli 强,还证明了细胞经不同时间温育后,损伤的DNA分子得到了部分修复。 Abstract：　The direct action of N+implantationin on D. radioduransand E. coliwas investigated by SEM, and their cells were labeled with 3H-TdR, which were implanted by 20keV N+after incubation 18hours, then the DNA of lysed cells was subjected to the neutral sucrose gradient(5%～20%) ultra-centrifugation sedimentation analysis. The results showed that N+implantation exerted direct action on two kinds of microorganisms; the momentum transfer and energy deposition of implantation ions produced the direct etching damage on cells, and repair DNA efficiency of D.radiodurans was higher than that of E. coli. Meanwhile, the damaged DNA incomplete repairing was observed. When incubation was continued up to 6 hours, the rejoined DNA molecules broke again. The repair of damaged DNA could be inhibited by 200μg/ml chloramphenicol. This suggested that DNA damage was serious by ion implantation and damaged DNA repair of cells need continuously synthesizing repair enzyme.     

Interaction between GAMs and Mean Flow Shear During SMBI Injection into HL-2A Tokamak

Plasma Physics Reports - The interactions among geodesic acoustic modes (GAMs), mean flow, and mean flow shear were investigated using Langmuir probe arrays under periodic supersonic molecular beam...     

保护生物学概要

保护生物学的形成是对生物危机的反应和生物科学迅速发展的结果。它是应用科学解决由于人类活动干扰或其它因素引起的物种、群落和生态系统出现的问题的新学科。其”目的是提供保护生物多样性的原理和工具“,其基础科学和应用科学的综合性交叉学科。系统学、生态学、生物地理学和种群生态学的原理和方法是保护生物学重要的理论和实践基础。