Experimental warming shifts coupling of carbon and nitrogen cycles in an alpine meadow

增温对高寒草甸生态系统碳氮循环耦合关系的影响 陆地生态系统碳吸收受土壤氮素可用性的调节。然而,全球变化背景下的不同生态系统组分的碳氮比及其所反映的碳氮循环耦合关系尚不十分清楚。本文运用数据同化的方法,将一个高寒草甸增温试验的14组数据同化到草地生态系统模型中,从而评估了增温如何影响陆地生态系统的碳氮循环耦合关系。研究结果表明,增温提高了土壤氮素的有效性,降低了土壤活性碳库的碳氮比,导致植物对土壤氮的吸收增加。但是由于植物叶片吸收的碳比吸收的氮增加更多,使得叶片中碳氮比增加,而根部的碳输入增加则低于氮的增加,导致根部的碳氮比减少。同时,增温降低了凋落物碳氮比,可能是在土壤高氮有效性的条件下,凋落物氮的固定得到增强;而且增温加速了凋落物的分解。同时增温还增加了慢速土壤有机质的碳氮比,使得该土壤碳库的碳固存潜力增大。由于大多数模型在不同的环境中通常使用相对固定的碳氮比,本研究所发现的气候变暖条件下碳氮比的差异变化可为模型参数化提供一个有效的参考,有利于模型对未来气候变化背景下生态系统碳氮耦合关系响应的预测。     

Transcriptome Profiles in the Spleen of the Chinese Giant Salamander (Andrias davidianus) Challenged with Citrobacter freundii

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry - The Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) is one of the most important ecological breeding species with distinct characteristics and is cultured in...     

Targeting IFN-γ-inducible lysosomal thiol reductase overcomes chemoresistance in AML through regulating the ROS-mediated mitochondrial damage

The persistence of leukemia stem cells (LSCs) is one of the leading causes of chemoresistance in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). To explore the factors important in LSC-mediated resistance, we use mass spectrometry to screen the factors related to LSC chemoresistance and defined IFN-γ-inducible lysosomal thiol reductase (GILT) as a candidate. We found that the GILT expression was upregulated in chemoresistant CD34+ AML cells. Loss of function studies demonstrated that silencing of GILT in AML cells sensitized them to Ara-C treatment both in vitro and in vivo. Further mechanistic findings revealed that the ROS-mediated mitochondrial damage plays a pivotal role in inducing apoptosis of GILT-inhibited AML cells after Ara-C treatment. The inactivation of PI3K/Akt/ nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) pathway, causing reduced generation of antioxidants such as SOD2 and leading to a shifted ratio of GSH/GSSG to the oxidized form, contributed to the over-physiological oxidative status in the absence of GILT. The prognostic value of GILT was also validated in AML patients. Taken together, our work demonstrated that the inhibition of GILT increases AML chemo-sensitivity through elevating ROS level and induce oxidative mitochondrial damage-mediated apoptosis, and inhibition of the PI3K/Akt/NRF2 pathway enhances the intracellular oxidative state by disrupting redox homeostasis, providing a potentially effective way to overcome chemoresistance of AML.     

Noninvasive ultrasound deep brain stimulation of nucleus accumbens induces behavioral avoidance

Ultrasound stimulation is an emerging noninvasive option in treating neuropsychiatric disorders. The present study investigates the behavioral alterations resulting from ultrasound stimulation on the nucleus accumbens(NAc) in freely moving mice. Our results show that an acute ultrasound stimulation on the NAc, rather than the visual cortex or auditory cortex, led to a pronounced avoidance behavior, while repeated NAc ultrasound stimulation resulted in an obvious conditioned place aversion with changes in synaptic protein(Glu A1/2 subunit) expression. Notably, NAc ultrasound stimulation suppressed the morphine-induced conditioned place preference. The results provide evidence that NAc ultrasound stimulation can be applied as a potential noninvasive therapeutic option in treating psychiatric disorders.     

Protective Antioxidant Effects of Amentoflavone and Total Flavonoids from Hedyotis diffusa on H2O2‐Induced HL‐O2 Cells through ASK1/p38 MAPK Pathway

In this study, total flavonoids and total triterpenoid acid were extracted with ethyl acetate from Hedyotis diffusa Willd, and hepatoprotective activities of them and five compounds from total flavonoids against H₂O₂ induced hepatocyte damage on HL‐02 cells were determined. In particular, amentoflavone and total flavonoids had influence on the leakage of ALT, AST, LDH, the activities of SOD and the content of MDA. They effectively reduced the loss of MMP, the release of Cyt C, and then inhibited activation of caspase‐3/caspase‐9 cascade in hepatotoxic cells. The contents of ROS were significantly reduced to inhibit p38 in amentoflavone and flavonoids groups which decreased ASK1 and p‐p38 levels through increasing thioredoxin Trx1 and reductase TrxR1. These results suggesting that the antioxidant protection of amentoflavone and flavonoids might be reducing ROS to inhibit the H₂O₂‐induced upstream of pathway via increasing levels of Trx1 and TrxR1, which were pivotal in blocking the down streaming effectors of ASK1/p38 MAPK pathway and alleviating hepatotoxicity.