A sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for adducts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with human serum albumin

Adducts of benzo[a]pyrene-diolepoxide (BPDE) with blood nucleophiles have been used as biomarkers of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The most popular such assay is a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that employs monoclonal antibody 8E11 to detect benzo[a]pyrene tetrols following hydrolysis of BPDE adducts from lymphocyte DNA or human serum albumin (HSA). Here we used 8E11 as the capture antibody in a sandwich ELISA to detect BPDE-HSA adducts directly in 1-mg samples of HSA or 20 μl of serum/plasma. The assay employs an anti-HSA antibody for detection, and this is amplified by an avidin/biotinylated horseradish peroxidase complex. The sandwich ELISA has advantages of specificity and simplicity and is approximately 10 times more sensitive than the competitive ELISA. To validate the assay, HSA samples were assayed from three populations with known high PAH exposures (coke oven workers), medium PAH exposures (steel factory control workers), and low PAH exposures (volunteer subjects) (n = 30). The respective geometric mean levels of BPDE-HSA adducts—67.8, 14.7, and 1.93 ng/mg HSA (1010, 220, and 28.9 fmol BPDE equiv/mg HSA)—were significantly different (P < 0.05). The sandwich ELISA will be useful for screening PAH exposures in large epidemiologic studies and can be extended to other adducts for which capture antibodies are available.     

Slit-Robo signaling mediates lymphangiogenesis and promotes tumor lymphatic metastasis

The Slit family of guidance cues binds to Roundabout (Robo) receptors to modulate neuronal, leukocytic, and endothelial migration. Slit-Robo signaling had been reported to function as chemoattractive signal for vascular endothelial cells during angiogenesis. In this study, we found that Robo1 was expressed in lymphatic endothelial cells to mediate the migration and tube formation of these cells upon Slit2 stimulation, which were specifically inhibited by the function-blocking antibody R5 to Slit2/Robo1 interaction. To further explore the lymphangiogenic effect and significance mediated by Slit-Robo signaling, we intercrossed Slit2 transgenic mice with a non-metastatic RIP1-Tag2 mouse tumor model, and found that transgenic overexpression of Slit2 significantly enhanced tumor lymphangiogenesis and subsequently promoted mesenteric lymph node metastasis of pancreatic islet tumors. Taken together, our findings reveal that through interacting with Robo1, Slit2 is a novel and potent lymphangiogenic factor and contributes to tumor lymphatic metastasis.     

Effects of ecological environment and host genotype on the phyllosphere bacterial communities of cigar tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

Microorganisms of plant phyllosphere play an important role in plant health and productivity and are influenced by abiotic and biotic factors. In this study, we investigated the phyllosphere bacterial communities of three cigar tobacco varieties cultivated in Guangcun (GC) and Wuzhishan (WZS), Hainan, China. Metagenomic DNA was extracted from tobacco leaf samples and sequenced by 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing. Our results showed that bacterial communities of cigar tobacco phyllosphere in GC exhibited remarkably higher alpha diversity than that in WZS. There was slight effect of tobacco genotype variations on the alpha diversity in both cultivation sites, and beta diversity and structure of bacterial community were not influenced significantly by the cultivation sites and tobacco varieties. Statistical analyses of species diversity unraveled that the dominant species in bacterial communities of cigar tobacco phyllosphere among all these samples were phylogenetically affiliated to Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria. At the genus level, the most abundant microorganism was Limnobacter, followed by Brevundimonas, unidentified_Cyanobacteria, and Pseudomonas. Additionally, environmental conditions except for humidity were negatively correlated with the relative abundance of bacterial genera. Further analyses revealed that influence of site‐specific factors on tobacco bacterial community was relatively higher than genotype‐specific factors. In short, this study may contribute to the knowledge base of practical applications of bacterial inoculants for tobacco leaf production.     

Chemiluminescent immunoassay of thyroxine enhanced by microchip electrophoresis

A homogeneous chemiluminescent immunoassay of thyroxine (T4) enhanced by microchip electrophoresis separation has been developed. The method deployed the competitive immunoreaction of T4 and horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled T4 (HRP-T4) with anti-T4 mouse monoclonal antibody (Ab). HRP-T4 and the HRP-T4-Ab complex were separated and quantified by using microchip electrophoresis (MCE) with chemiluminescence (CL) detection. Highly sensitive CL detection was achieved by means of HPR-catalyzed luminol-H₂O₂ reaction. Due to the effective MCE separation, the CL analytical signal was less prone to sample matrix interference. Under the selected assay conditions, the MCE separation was accomplished within 60 s. The linear range for T4 was 5-250 nM with a detection limit of 2.2 nM (signal/noise ratio = 3). The current method was successfully applied for the quantification of T4 in human serum samples. It was demonstrated that the current MCE-CL-enhanced competitive immunoassay was quick, sensitive, and highly selective. It may serve as a tool for clinical analysis of T4 to assist in the diagnosis of thyroid gland functions.     

一株多花黄精内生真菌的鉴别及其抗菌代谢产物

【目的】药用植物内生真菌是一类重要的微生物资源,能代谢产生多种生物活性物质。本研究从浙江庆元百山祖自然保护区多花黄精(Polygonatum cyrtonema)分离获得1株具有抗菌活性的菌株zjqy610。【方法】通过形态和ITS rDNA序列分析,鉴定为变灰青霉(Penicillium canescens)。采用正相硅胶柱层析和凝胶(Sephadex LH-20)柱层析,以紫外光或碘蒸汽显迹,配合活性追踪等,从zjqy610发酵液中分离获得3个具抗真菌活性的化合物。【结果】通过质谱和核磁共振波谱技术分别将其结构鉴定为:乙基氧苯氨基亚胺乙酸(o-acetylbenzeneamidinocarboxylic acid)、灰黄霉素(griseofulvin)和[1,2-b]呋喃2-甲基3-羧甲基4-羟基-5-甲氧基萘(naphtho[1,2-b]furan-3-carboxylic acid,4-hydroxy-5-methoxy-2-methyl-)。抑菌活性测试表明,3个化合物对多种植物病原真菌具有抑制活性,其中化合物zjqy610D-4对番茄灰葡萄孢、圆形炭疽菌、泻根亚隔孢壳和核盘菌4种病原真菌的活性最强,半抑制浓度EC50分别为0.68、0.38、0.91和0.61mg/L。【结论】该化合物具有开发成农用抗生素的价值。     

肝郁脾虚证模型大鼠血流变及TXB2、PGFla的变化

目的:探查中医肝郁脾虚证模型的血流变及相关调节因子的状态。方法:采用慢性束缚应激+过度疲劳+饮食失节法建立大鼠肝郁脾虚证模型,测定大鼠造模三周、自然恢复一周时的血流变和血浆TXB2、PGF1a。结果:与正常组相比,模型组大鼠造模三周150/s、38/s、10/s、5/s切变率下的全血粘度、还原粘度均显著升高(P<0.001),红细胞聚集指数显著降低(P<0.001),红细胞压积显著升高(P<0.01),红细胞变形指数无显著性差异(P>0.05);血浆TXB2显著升高(P<0.001),6-keto-PGF1a显著降低(P<0.05),TXB2/PGF1a显著升高(P<0.01);模型组大鼠第四周150/s、38/s、10/s、5/s切变率下的全血粘度、还原粘度仍显著升高(P<0.001或P<0.01);红细胞聚集指数显著降低(P<0.001);红细胞压积与变形指数无显著性差异(P>0.05);血浆TXB2和TXB2/PGF1a显著降低(P<0.05),6-keto-PGF1a显著升高(P<0.05)。结论:肝郁脾虚证大鼠存在血液高粘和血栓易形成状态,恢复期血液高粘同时伴有扩血管因素的加强。提示肝郁脾虚证有血流...     

大鼠去神经支配脾脏内淋巴细胞ERK表达变化的研究

目的:探讨脾脏神经支配与免疫功能关系.方法:清洁级成年雄性SD大鼠20只,随机分成实验组、对照组.手术切除实验组10只大鼠脾脏神经纤维,饲养1周后取出脾脏,4%多聚甲醛固定,石蜡切片行HE染色及ABC免疫组织化学染色.结果:(1)HE染色两组大鼠脾脏结构结构清晰,动脉周围淋巴鞘内淋巴细胞密集成团状,红髓内可见大量红细胞,在去除大鼠脾脏神经支配的实验组较对照组脾脏大体结构无明显变化;(2)两组脾脏淋巴细胞均有ERK表达,对照组正常脾脏表达ERK阳性细胞占16.2%,实验组仅占6.0%.实验组脾脏内表达ERK阳性细胞数量明显低于对照组,差异具有显著性(P＜0.01),同时ERK表达量也低于对照组,且差异具有显著性(P＜0.01).结论:在去除神经支配后,脾脏内淋巴细胞增殖活性明显降低,在一定程度上影响到脾脏免疫功能.     

脾神经与脾脏免疫功能研究进展

脾脏是人体外周最大的免疫器官,其与细胞免疫以及体液免疫关系密切,对脾内及外周血内的免疫活性细胞的量和比例有重要的调节作用,近年来随着对脾脏免疫功能的研究愈来愈深入,尤其是神经对脾脏免疫的调控研究方面取得了较大进展.支配脾脏的神经主要是腹腔交感神经节后纤维,其既参与调节脾脏免疫功能,同时也受到免疫应答系统的影响,二者相互作用,共同完成脾脏功能.明确相互之间作用机制,对临床某些疾病发病机理以及治疗都有一定的指导意义.     

针刺足三里穴对胃运动影响的神经机制

针灸在中国已应用了2500多年,并且越来越广泛的被全世界的医患人员所接受,针刺在治疗消化系统疾病方面有着很好的疗效,大量的临床实践和动物实验证实了针刺对胃运动具有良性双向调整作用,但其作用机制尚不十分清楚,尤其是神经机制方面,仍存在着诸多问题需进一步探讨.本文回顾了近些年来针刺足三里穴对胃运动影响神经机理的实验数据,并从中枢神经系统及中枢核团,外周神经系统和肠神经系统这三大方面综述针刺足三里对胃运动影响的神经机制.     

四川省遂宁地区吸烟人群的城乡对比

目的:了解四川省遂宁地区城乡自然人群中吸烟者的分布特征,比较城市及农村的吸烟人群在吸烟状况等方面的差异,为今后在该地区的不同人群中开展戒烟干预活动提供基础数据。方法:采用访谈和问卷调查相结合的形式,对四川省遂宁市下辖的五区城乡常住人口进行随机抽样。被调查者年龄范围为18岁至65岁。调查项目包括:一般情况、吸烟率、吸烟量、戒烟意愿和戒烟原因等。结果:从总体上看,男性吸烟率高于女性,文化程度越高在吸烟者中所占比例越小。城乡之间有统计学显著意义的差异如下:1.农村人群的吸烟率高于城市人群(男性:农村64.7%,城市45.7%;女性:农村4.6%,城市3.1%);2.农村吸烟群体的文化程度明显低于城市;3.农村吸烟者的日平均吸烟量高于城市吸烟者;4.农村吸烟者的烟龄比城市吸烟者烟龄长;5.城乡之间的戒烟原因各自不同。结论:城乡之间的吸烟者有着各自不同的特征和吸烟情况,在开展戒烟或控烟等宣称防治工作时应针对不同群体有不同的工作策略与方法。