Cardioprotective effect of isorhamnetin against myocardial ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury in isolated rat heart through attenuation of apoptosis

In this study, we investigated the effects of isorhamnetin on myocardial ischaemia reperfusion (I/R) injury in Langendorff-perfused rat hearts. Isorhamnetin treatment (5, 10 and 20 μg/mL) significantly alleviated cardiac morphological injury, reduced myocardial infarct size, decreased the levels of marker enzymes (LDH and CK) and improved the haemodynamic parameters, reflected by the elevated levels of the left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP), coronary flow (CF) and the maximum up/down velocity of left ventricular pressure (+dp/dt_max). Moreover, isorhamnetin reperfusion inhibited apoptosis of cardiomyocytes in the rats subjected to cardiac I/R in a dose-dependent manner concomitant with decreased protein expression of Bax and cleaved-caspase-3, as well as increased protein expression of Bcl-2. In addition, I/R-induced oxidative stress was manifestly mitigated by isorhamnetin treatment, as showed by the decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) level and increased antioxidant enzymes activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). These results indicated that isorhamnetin exerts a protective effect against I/R-induced myocardial injury through the attenuation of apoptosis and oxidative stress.     

Dietary adaptations and palaeoecology of Lophialetidae (Mammalia,Tapiroidea) from the Eocene of the Erlian Basin,China: combined evidence from mesowear and stable isotope analyses

Lophialetidae is an extinct group of endemic Asiatic tapiroids that are widely distributed in the Eocene sediments of Asia. Schlosseria magister and Lophialetes expeditus are the most abundant species in this family. However, their dietary and ecological characteristics are largely unknown. For the first time, we reconstruct the palaeodiet and habitat of these two lophialetids using a combination of mesowear and stable carbon isotope analysis of fossil teeth excavated from the Erlian Basin, China. Mesowear analysis (n = 141) suggests that the dietary structure of S. magister and L. expeditus shifted from less to more abrasive diets from ~52 to ~42 Ma. Stable carbon isotope analysis (n = 137) suggests that the habitats of S. magister and L. expeditus became drier and/or more open through time. The dietary shifts of the two lophialetids are consistent with evident changes in habitat. The changes in the diet and habitat were probably related to global climate change during that time period. The gradual drop in global temperatures during the early–middle Eocene led to a drier and more open terrestrial ecosystem in the Erlian Basin, probably resulting in changes in floral composition of the environment inhabited by S. magister and L. expeditus. Hence, herbivores highly susceptible to vegetation modification had to develop new resource exploitation strategies to adapt to these changes. Schlosseria magister, considered to be the sister-group of L. expeditus and with a low level of ecological flexibility, was unable to adapt to the habitat changes finally becoming extinct at ~45 Ma.     

Cytological Studies on the Process of Armillaria Mellea Infection Through the Sclerotia of Grifola Umbellata

Adhering to the sclerotium of Grifola umbellata, Armillaria mellea could invade the sclerotium in a manner of rhizomorph without capsule, after which the sclerotium formed a deep coloured stereoscopic septate cavity outside of the rhizomorph. At the early stage of infection, segmentation was visualized either in the cortex or the apex of A. mellea rhizomorph to form a new rhizomorph which penetrated another parts of G. umbellata sclerotium. At the late stage of infection, the cortical hyphae of A. mellea rhizomorph produced a branch to invade the wall of the septate cavity of G. umbellata sclerotium and, in a manner of hyphae, it could further form new rhizomorph after its penetration through that wall. An alternate way of expanding A. mellea infection in sclerotium was to form a invading band which was composed of a few rolls of round ceils derived from cortical hyphae of A. mellea rhizomorph. The band could invade sclerotia to a farther distance and then could connect with each other.     

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for efficient osmotic stress-free production of compatible solute hydroxyectoine

Compatible solutes are key for the ability of halophilic bacteria to resist high osmotic stress. They have received wide attention from researchers for their excellent osmotic protection properties. Hydroxyectoine is a particularly important compatible solute, but its production by microbes faces several challenges, including low titer/yield, the presence of the byproduct ectoine, and the requirement of high salinity. Here, we aimed to metabolically engineer Escherichia coli to efficiently produce hydroxyectoine in the absence of osmotic stress without accumulating the byproduct ectoine. First, combinatorial optimization of the expression strength of key genes in the ectoine synthesis module and hydroxyectoine synthesis module was conducted. After optimization of the expression of these genes, 12.12 g/L hydroxyectoine and 0.24 g/L ectoine were obtained at 36 h in shake-flask fermentation with the addition of the co-substrate α-ketoglutarate. Further optimization of the addition of α-ketoglutarate achieved the sole production of hydroxyectoine (i.e., no ectoine accumulation), indicating that the supply of α-ketoglutarate is critically important for sole hydroxyectoine production. Finally, quorum sensing-based auto-regulation of intracellular α-ketoglutarate pool was implemented as an alternative to α-ketoglutarate addition by coupling the expression of sucA with the esaI/esaR circuit, which led to 14.93 g/L hydroxyectoine with a unit cell yield of 1.678 g/g and no ectoine accumulation in the absence of osmotic stress. This is the highest reported titer of sole hydroxyectoine production under salinity-free fermentation to date.     

结核分枝杆菌吡嗪酰胺耐药性检测方法的研究进展

吡嗪酰胺(pyrazinamide,PZA)是重要的一线抗结核药物,与异烟肼、利福平和乙胺丁醇构成治疗方案的核心。因其疗效较好,被广泛应用于结核病的治疗过程。然而,近年来随着耐多药结核病的出现,PZA耐药导致部分患者治疗失败,因此常规开展PZA药物敏感性试验对于减少耐药性的发生显得极为重要。由于PZA在酸性条件下才能发挥作用,而结核分枝杆菌在酸性环境下生长不良,故PZA耐药性检测一直是临床中的难题。本文结合国内外最新研究进展,就结核分枝杆菌PZA耐药性检测方法的研究进行阐述,期望能为更有效地诊治结核病提供新思路。     

Nanoparticle self-assembly by a highly stable recombinant spider wrapping silk protein subunit

Artificial spider silk proteins may form fibers with exceptional strength and elasticity. Wrapping silk, or aciniform silk, is the toughest of the spider silks, and has a very different protein composition than other spider silks. Here, we present the characterization of an aciniform protein (AcSp1) subunit named W₁, consisting of one AcSp1 199 residue repeat unit from Argiope trifasciata. The structural integrity of recombinant W₁ is demonstrated in a variety of buffer conditions and time points. Furthermore, we show that W₁ has a high thermal stability with reversible denaturation at ∼71 °C and forms self-assembled nanoparticle in near-physiological conditions. W₁ therefore represents a highly stable and structurally robust module for protein-based nanoparticle formation.     

基于3种线粒体标记探讨中日沿海角木叶鲽遗传多样性差异

角木叶鲽(Pleuronichthys cornutus)是东亚沿海重要的鲽形目经济鱼类, 为更好地保护和开发利用其种质资源, 有必要全面了解其遗传背景。本研究测定了中国和日本沿海7个群体200尾角木叶鲽线粒体控制区(CR) 5'端、细胞色素b (Cytb)和NADH脱氢酶第二亚基(ND2)基因序列, 比较不同标记在解析遗传多样性和种群结构上的可行性与有效性, 阐明中日沿海角木叶鲽群体间出现遗传分化的分子机制。CR序列分析发现中日沿海7个角木叶鲽群体遗传多样性表现出较高的单倍型多样性(H_d = 0.9699)和较低的核苷酸多样性(π = 0.0061); 各群体间无显著的遗传分化(F_ST = -0.0197-0.0184, P > 0.05); 单倍型网络未显示出明显的地理聚群和谱系结构; 分子方差分析(AMOVA)表明变异主要发生在群体内部(> 99.17%)。进一步通过Cytb和ND2基因分别与CR序列对比分析, 结果表明群体遗传多样性均表现为高H_d (0.9683-0.9829)低π (0.0050-0.0063)模式, 仅有ND2基因分析F_ST值(F_ST = 0.0302, P < 0.05)显示了中国碣石(GDJS)和日本明石(JAP)群体间显著的低水平遗传分化现象。CR、Cytb和ND2的单倍型网络图均无明显的地理聚类和谱系结构, AMOVA分析也显示变异主要来源于群体内(> 98.39%)。种群历史动态分析结果显示, 角木叶鲽可能在第四纪中更新世晚期经历了群体扩张事件, 扩张时间分别为31.93-9.58万年前(CR)、27.53-22.02万年前(Cytb)和26.99-18.75万年前(ND2)。综上所述, 中日沿海的角木叶鲽具有较高遗传多样性, GDJS和JAP群体间存在低度分化; ND2基因比CR和Cytb序列更适于分析角木叶鲽种群遗传结构, 选择多个遗传标记可有效弥补单一标记分析遗传多样性的局限性; 推测冰期两大独立避难所的形成及GDJS和JAP群体距离相隔较远是其发生遗传分化的主要原因。研究结果为中日沿海角木叶鲽渔业资源的种质保护与可持续利用提供了理论依据。     

Structure and analysis of phospholipase D gene from Ricinus communis L

Phospholipase D (PLD; EC 3.1.4.4) has been proposed to play a pivotal role in various cellular processes, but molecular understanding of this enzyme is rather limited. This report describes the nucleotide sequence, structure, and genomic organization of a PLD gene from castor bean (Ricinus communis L. cv. Hale). The PLD gene was isolated from a castor bean genomic library using the PLD cDNA as a hybridization probe. Sequence comparison with the PLD cDNA revealed that the PLD gene consisted of four exons and three introns, one of which interrupts the 5-untranslated region. Southern blot analysis indicated that the cloned PLD gene was present as a single-copy gene, and yet there were other PLD or PLD-related sequences in the castor bean genome.     

Polymorphisms of Genes in Neurotransmitter Systems Were Associated with Alcohol Use Disorders in a Tibetan Population

Studies of linkage and association in various ethnic populations have revealed many predisposing genes of multiple neurotransmitter systems for alcohol use disorders (AUD). However, evidence often is contradictory regarding the contribution of most candidate genes to the susceptibility of AUD. We, therefore, performed a case-control study to investigate the possible associations of genes selected from multiple neurotransmitter systems with AUD in a homogeneous Tibetan community population in China. AUD cases (N = 281) with an alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT) score ≥10, as well as healthy controls (N = 277) with an AUDIT score ≤5, were recruited. All participants were genotyped for 366 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 34 genes selected from those involved in neurotransmitter systems. Association analyses were performed using PLINK version 1.07 software. Allelic analyses before adjustment for multiple tests showed that 15 polymorphisms within seven genes were associated with AUD (p<0.05). After adjustment for the number of SNPs genotyped within each gene, only the association of a single marker (rs10044881) in HTR4 remained statistically significant. Haplotype analysis for two SNPs in HTR4 (rs17777298 and rs10044881) showed that the haplotype AG was significantly associated with the protective effect for AUD. In conclusion, the present study discovered that the HTR4 gene may play a marked role in the pathogenesis of AUD. In addition, this Tibetan population sample marginally replicated previous evidence regarding the associations of six genes in AUD.     

Prognostic Value and Clinicopathological Differences of HIFs in Colorectal Cancer: Evidence from Meta-Analysis

Background

The prognostic value of HIFs in colorectal cancer was evaluated in a large number of studies, but the conclusions were inconclusive. Meanwhile, clinicopathologic differences of HIF-1α and HIF-2α were rarely compared in recent studies.

Methodology

Identical search strategies were used to search relevant literatures in the PubMed and Web of Science databases. The prognostic significances and clinicopathological differences of HIFs in CRC were analyzed.

Principal Findings

A total of 23studies comprising 2984 CRC patients met the inclusion criteria. The results indicated that overexpressed HIFs were significantly associated with increase of mortality risk, including overall survival (OS) (HR 2.06 95%CI 1.55–2.74) and disease free survival (HR 2.84, 95%CI 1.87–4.31). Subgroup analysis revealed that both overexpressed HIF-1α and HIF-2α had correlations with worse prognosis. The pooled HRs were 2.01 (95% CI: 1.55–2.6) and 2.07(95% CI: 1.01–4.26). Further subgroup analysis on HIF-1α was performed by study location, number of patients, quality score and cut-off value. The results showed that HIF-1α overexpression was significantly associated with poor OS, particularly in Asian countries (HR 2.3, 95% CI: 1.74–3.01), while not in European or other countries. In addition, overexpression of HIF-1α was closely related with these clinicopathological features, including Dukes'' stages (OR 0.39, 95% CI: 0.17–0.89), UICC stages (OR 0.42 95% CI: 0.3–0.59), depth of invasion (OR 0.71, 95% CI: 0.51–0.99), lymphnode status (OR 0.49, 95% CI: 0.32–0.73) and metastasis (OR 0.29, 95% CI: 0.11–0.81). While overexpression of HIF-2α was only associated with grade of differentiation (OR 0.48, 95% CI: 0.29–0.81).

Conclusions

This study showed that both HIF-1α and HIF-2α overexpression were associated with an unfavorable prognosis. HIF-1α overexpression seemed to be associated with worse prognosis in Asian countries. Additionally, HIF-1α and HIF-2α indicated distinct clinicopathologic features.