不同品种水稻对稻纵卷叶螟生长发育和产卵量的影响

研究了4个不同类型水稻品种(中早39、中浙优8号、秀水134和甬优12)对稻纵卷叶螟生长发育和产卵量的影响。取食中早39、中浙优8号、秀水134和甬优12四个不同类型的水稻,对稻纵卷叶螟的幼虫发育历期和存活率无显著影响;取食中早39的稻纵卷叶螟的蛹历期最短,仅9.6 d;在秀水134取食后的稻纵卷叶螟蛹最轻(12.45 mg),羽化后的雌成虫产卵量最低,为34.1粒/雌。综合来看,在供试的4个类型的水稻品种中,与杂交籼稻中浙优8号和籼粳杂交稻甬优12相比,粳稻品种秀水134不利于稻纵卷叶螟的种群发展。     

PLS3 predicts poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer and promotes cancer cell proliferation via PI3K/AKT signaling

Plastin-3 plays a key role in cancer cell proliferation and invasion, but its prognostic value in pancreatic cancer (PACA) remains poorly defined. In this study, we show that PLS3 messenger RNA is overexpressed in PACA tissue compared with normal tissue. We accumulated 207 cases of PACA specimens to perform immunohistochemical analysis and demonstrated that PLS3 levels correlate with T-classification (p < .001) and pathology (p < .001). Furthermore, overall survival rates (p < .001) in tumors with high PLS3 expression were poor, as assessed through Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. PLS3 was found to be an independent prognostic factor for PACA through multivariate Cox regression analysis. Moreover, we found that PLS3 enhances the proliferation and invasion of tumor cells as assessed through Cell Counting Kit-8, wounding healing assays, and Transwell assays. The upregulation of PLS3 also led to enhanced phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/protein kinase B signaling in PACA cells. These data suggest that PLS3 is a biomarker to estimate PACA progression and represents a molecular target for PACA therapy.     

An Antagonism Joint Action of Lead and Di-2-Ethylhexyl Phthalate Explains an Improved Ability of Learning and Memory after Combined Exposure in Weaning Rats

Lead and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) are widely distributed in the environment, and their neurotoxicity has caused a widespread concern. The complexity of environmental exposure provides the possibility of their combined exposure. The present study aims to describe a joint neurotoxicity and clarify the potential mechanism after combined exposure to lead and DEHP. A 2 × 3 factorial design was used to analyze either single effects or their interaction by a subchronic lead and DEHP exposure model of the male weaning rats. Similar to the previous study, lead or DEHP single exposure showed an increased neurotoxicity. Interestingly, our neurobehavioral test showed the rats in the combined exposure groups had a better ability of learning and memory compared with the single-exposure ones. It seemed to reflect an antagonism joint action in neurotoxicity after combined exposure. The content of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in serum and the mRNA level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) in the hippocampus showed a similar trend to the ability of learning and memory. However, there was insufficient evidence to support the joint action on some indexes of oxidative stress such as malondialdehyde (MDA), the ratio of reduced glutathione(GSH) to oxidized glutathione(GSSG), γglutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-GCS), glutathione-s transferase (GST), and nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) mRNA expression in the hippocampus. In a word, our current study reminded a unique antagonism joint action of neurotoxicity after combined exposure to lead and DEHP, which may contribute to understanding some shallow mechanism of the joint toxicity due to the complexity of environmental pollutant exposure.

     

Introduction to Special Issue on ‘Statistical Methods for Cancer Immunotherapy’

Statistics in Biosciences -     

Exogenous maltose enhances Zebrafish immunity to levofloxacin-resistant Vibrio alginolyticus

Understanding the interplay between bacterial fitness, antibiotic resistance, host immunity and host metabolism could guide treatment and improve immunity against antibiotic-resistant pathogens. The acquisition of levofloxacin (Lev) resistance affects the fitness of Vibrio alginolyticus in vitro and in vivo. Lev-resistant (Lev-R) V. alginolyticus exhibits slow growth, reduced pathogenicity and greater resistance to killing by the host, Danio rerio (zebrafish), than Lev-sensitive (Lev-S) V. alginolyticus, suggesting that Lev-R V. alginolyticus triggers a weaker innate immune response in D. rerio than Lev-S V. alginolyticus. Differences were detected in the metabolome of D. rerio infected with Lev-S or Lev-R V. alginolyticus. Maltose, a crucial metabolite, is significantly downregulated in D. rerio infected with Lev-R V. alginolyticus, and exogenous maltose enhances the immune response of D. rerio to Lev-R V. alginolyticus, leading to better clearance of the infection. Furthermore, we demonstrate that exogenous maltose stimulates the host production of lysozyme and its binding to Lev-R V. alginolyticus, which depends on bacterial membrane potential. We suggest that exogenous exposure to crucial metabolites could be an effective strategy for treating and/or managing infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria.