沙打旺组织培养中脱分化细胞的超微结构及细胞核的动态变化

对沙打旺的下胚轴、子叶、幼叶组织培养中脱分化细胞进行了超微结构观察,并着重讨论了细胞核的动态变化。脱分化细胞的细胞质中线粒体墙加,嵴明显;多聚核糖体增多;高尔基体增加;质体中积累淀粉。核仁与核内异染色质之间有一个动态过程。此过程暂称“核仁物质喷射“现象。在致有以下：１．核体出现,半嵌在增大的核仁上,核内异染色质沿核膜凝聚;２．异染色质移向核仁,并与核仁接触,核体消失,部分异质进入核仁;３．核仁物质     

Beclin1-binding UVRAG targets the class C Vps complex to coordinate autophagosome maturation and endocytic trafficking

Autophagic and endocytic pathways are tightly regulated membrane rearrangement processes that are crucial for homeostasis, development and disease. Autophagic cargo is delivered from autophagosomes to lysosomes for degradation through a complex process that topologically resembles endosomal maturation. Here, we report that a Beclin1-binding autophagic tumour suppressor, UVRAG, interacts with the class C Vps complex, a key component of the endosomal fusion machinery. This interaction stimulates Rab7 GTPase activity and autophagosome fusion with late endosomes/lysosomes, thereby enhancing delivery and degradation of autophagic cargo. Furthermore, the UVRAG-class-C-Vps complex accelerates endosome-endosome fusion, resulting in rapid degradation of endocytic cargo. Remarkably, autophagosome/endosome maturation mediated by the UVRAG-class-C-Vps complex is genetically separable from UVRAG-Beclin1-mediated autophagosome formation. This result indicates that UVRAG functions as a multivalent trafficking effector that regulates not only two important steps of autophagy - autophagosome formation and maturation - but also endosomal fusion, which concomitantly promotes transport of autophagic and endocytic cargo to the degradative compartments.     

Protective Role of miR-34c in Hypoxia by Activating Autophagy through BCL2 Repression

Hypoxia leads to significant cellular stress that has diverse pathological consequences such as cardiovascular diseases and cancers. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are one of regulators of the adaptive pathway in hypoxia. We identified a hypoxia-induced miRNA, miR-34c, that was significantly upregulated in hypoxic human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and in murine blood vessels on day 3 of hindlimb ischemia (HLI). miR-34c directly inhibited BCL2 expression, acting as a toggle switch between apoptosis and autophagy in vitro and in vivo. BCL2 repression by miR-34c activated autophagy, which was evaluated by the expression of LC3-II. Overexpression of miR-34c inhibited apoptosis in HUVEC as well as in a murine model of HLI, and increased cell viability in HUVEC. Importantly, the number of viable cells in the blood vessels following HLI was increased by miR-34c overexpression. Collectively, our findings show that miR-34c plays a protective role in hypoxia, suggesting a novel therapeutic target for hypoxic and ischemic diseases in the blood vessels.     

Comparison of Cell Wall Polysaccharide Hydrolysis by a Dilute Acid/Enzymatic Saccharification Process and Rumen Microorganisms

Evaluation of biomass crops for breeding or pricing purposes requires an assay that predicts performance in the bioenergy conversion process. Cell wall polysaccharide hydrolysis was compared for a dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment at 121°C followed with cellulase hydrolysis for 72?h conversion assay (CONV) with in vitro rumen microflora incubation for 72?h (RUMEN) for a set of maize (Zea mays L.) stover samples with a wide range in cell wall composition. Residual polysaccharides from the assays were analyzed for sugar components and extent of hydrolysis calculated. Cell wall polysaccharide hydrolysis was different for all sugar components between the CONV and RUMEN assays. The CONV assay hydrolyzed xylose-, arabinose-, galactose-, and uronic acid-containing polysaccharides to a greater degree than did the RUMEN assay, whereas the RUMEN assay was more effective at hydrolyzing glucose- and mannose-containing polysaccharides. Greater hydrolysis of hemicelluloses and pectins by CONV can be attributed to the acid hydrolysis mechanism of the CONV assay for noncellulosic polysaccharides, whereas the RUMEN assay was dependent on enzymatic hydrolysis. While CONV and RUMEN hydrolysis were correlated for most polysaccharide components, the greatest correlation was only r?=?0.70 for glucose-containing polysaccharides. Linear correlations and multiple regressions indicated that polysaccharide hydrolysis by the RUMEN assay was negatively associated with lignin concentration and ferulate ether cross linking as expected. Corresponding correlations and regressions for CONV were less consistent and occasionally positive. Use of rumen microbial hydrolysis to characterize biomass performance in a conversion process may have some limited usefulness for genetic evaluations, but such assays would be unreliable for biomass pricing.     

Emotional States Modulate the Recognition Potential during Word Processing

This study examined emotional modulation of word processing, showing that the recognition potential (RP), an ERP index of word recognition, could be modulated by different emotional states. In the experiment, participants were instructed to compete with pseudo-competitors, and via manipulation of the outcome of this competition, they were situated in neutral, highly positive, slightly positive, highly negative or slightly negative emotional states. They were subsequently asked to judge whether the referent of a word following a series of meaningless character segmentations was an animal or not. The emotional induction task and the word recognition task were alternated. Results showed that 1) compared with the neutral emotion condition, the peak latency of the RP under different emotional states was earlier and its mean amplitude was smaller, 2) there was no significant difference between RPs elicited under positive and negative emotional states in either the mean amplitude or latency, and 3) the RP was not affected by different degrees of positive emotional states. However, compared to slightly negative emotional states, the mean amplitude of the RP was smaller and its latency was shorter in highly negative emotional states over the left hemisphere but not over the right hemisphere. The results suggest that emotional states influence word processing.     

Effects of Cortisol and Dexamethasone on Insulin Signalling Pathways in Skeletal Muscle of the Ovine Fetus during Late Gestation

Before birth, glucocorticoids retard growth, although the extent to which this is mediated by changes in insulin signalling pathways in the skeletal muscle of the fetus is unknown. The current study determined the effects of endogenous and synthetic glucocorticoid exposure on insulin signalling proteins in skeletal muscle of fetal sheep during late gestation. Experimental manipulation of fetal plasma glucocorticoid concentration was achieved by fetal cortisol infusion and maternal dexamethasone treatment. Cortisol infusion significantly increased muscle protein levels of Akt2 and phosphorylated Akt at Ser473, and decreased protein levels of phosphorylated forms of mTOR at Ser2448 and S6K at Thr389. Muscle GLUT4 protein expression was significantly higher in fetuses whose mothers were treated with dexamethasone compared to those treated with saline. There were no significant effects of glucocorticoid exposure on muscle protein abundance of IR-β, IGF-1R, PKCζ, Akt1, calpastatin or muscle glycogen content. The present study demonstrated that components of the insulin signalling pathway in skeletal muscle of the ovine fetus are influenced differentially by naturally occurring and synthetic glucocorticoids. These findings may provide a mechanism by which elevated concentrations of endogenous glucocorticoids retard fetal growth.     

Selenoprotein P Status Correlates to Cancer-Specific Mortality in Renal Cancer Patients

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element for selenoprotein biosynthesis. Selenoproteins have been implicated in cancer risk and tumor development. Selenoprotein P (SePP) serves as the major Se transport protein in blood and as reliable biomarker of Se status in marginally supplied individuals. Among the different malignancies, renal cancer is characterized by a high mortality rate. In this study, we aimed to analyze the Se status in renal cell cancer (RCC) patients and whether it correlates to cancer-specific mortality. To this end, serum samples of RCC patients (n = 41) and controls (n = 21) were retrospectively analyzed. Serum Se and SePP concentrations were measured by X-ray fluorescence and an immunoassay, respectively. Clinical and survival data were compared to serum Se and SePP concentrations as markers of Se status by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. In our patients, higher tumor grade and tumor stage at diagnosis correlated to lower SePP and Se concentrations. Kaplan-Meier analyses indicated that low Se status at diagnosis (SePP<2.4 mg/l, bottom tertile of patient group) was associated with a poor 5-year survival rate of 20% only. We conclude that SePP and Se concentrations are of prognostic value in RCC and may serve as additional diagnostic biomarkers identifying a Se deficit in kidney cancer patients potentially affecting therapy regimen. As poor Se status was indicative of high mortality odds, we speculate that an adjuvant Se supplementation of Se-deficient RCC patients might be beneficial in order to stabilize their selenoprotein expression hopefully prolonging their survival. However, this assumption needs to be rigorously tested in prospective clinical trials.