Sphingosine 1-phosphate, a key mediator of the cytokine network: juxtacrine signaling

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a sphingolipid metabolite, which has emerged as an important signaling mediator participating in the regulation of multiple cellular processes. The discovery of a family of S1P receptors, together with the more recently identified intracellular targets, has provided fundamental understanding of the multi-faceted actions of S1P. Evidence from both in vitro and in vivo studies has implicated the S1P signaling system in the control of immunity, inflammation and many associated diseases. Enigmatically, S1P appears to have both pro- and anti-inflammatory effects depending on the cell context. Here, we review this emerging area and argue for a pivotal role for S1P, as a key mediator of the cytokine network, acting through juxtacrine signaling in the immune system.     

shRNA靶向干扰COX-2抑制人肝癌裸鼠皮下移植瘤及其血管生成

目的:探讨重组干扰质粒pshRNA-COX-2对人肝癌细胞Hep3B裸鼠皮下移植瘤生长和肿瘤血管生成的抑制作用。方法:重组干扰质粒pshRNA-COX-2转染Hep3B细胞并筛选后,RT-PCR和Western blot检测COX-2mRNA和蛋白表达,RT-PCR检测VEGFmRNA表达。将被成功转染的Hep3B细胞种植于裸鼠皮下,测量肿瘤大小,4周后处死裸鼠,免疫组织化学法检测肿瘤组织中COX-2蛋白表达和肿瘤微血管密度(MVD)。结果:与未转染细胞相比,干扰组COX-2mRNA和蛋白表达抑制率分别为65.3%和52.8%(P<0.05),干扰组VEGFmRNA表达抑制率为56.5%(P<0.05)。干扰组瘤体大小明显小于阴性组和空白组(P<0.01)。干扰组COX-2得分和MVD均明显低于阴性组和空白组(P<0.01)。结论:pshRNA-COX-2通过抑制COX-2表达明显抑制人肝癌细胞Hep3B裸鼠皮下移植瘤生长和肿瘤血管生成。     

Y-like retinal ganglion cells innervate the dorsal raphe nucleus in the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus)

Background

The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) of the mesencephalon is a complex multi-functional and multi-transmitter nucleus involved in a wide range of behavioral and physiological processes. The DRN receives a direct input from the retina. However little is known regarding the type of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) that innervates the DRN. We examined morphological characteristics and physiological properties of these DRN projecting ganglion cells.

Methodology/Principal Findings

The Mongolian gerbils are highly visual rodents with a diurnal/crepuscular activity rhythm. It has been widely used as experimental animals of various studies including seasonal affective disorders and depression. Young adult gerbils were used in the present study. DRN-projecting RGCs were identified following retrograde tracer injection into the DRN, characterized physiologically by extracellular recording and morphologically after intracellular filling. The result shows that DRN-projecting RGCs exhibit morphological characteristics typical of alpha RGCs and physiological response properties of Y-cells. Melanopsin was not detected in these RGCs and they show no evidence of intrinsic photosensitivity.

Conclusions/Significance

These findings suggest that RGCs with alpha-like morphology and Y-like physiology appear to perform a non-imaging forming function and thus may participate in the modulation of DRN activity which includes regulation of sleep and mood.     

阻塞型睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征与代谢综合征组分关系探讨

目的:探讨阻塞型睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征(OSAHS)与代谢综合征(MS)组分关系。方法:对我院2003年1月至2010年7月39例诊断为OSAHS住院患者进行回顾性调查,30例同期住院病人为对照组,均记录年龄、性别,测量身高、体重、血压,检测空腹血糖、血脂,分析OSAHS患者合并MS组分情况。结果:1.OSAHS组与对照组比较,体重指数(BMI)、血压、血清甘油三酯、总胆固醇、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇、载脂蛋白A1升高,高密度脂蛋白胆固醇降低(P<0.05);2.OSAHS组与对照组相比较,无MS组分比例低于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);3.OSAHS组与对照组相比较,OSAHS组合并MS组分,包括BMI≥25Kg/m2,血脂紊乱的比例,均高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:OSAHS患者易合并代谢综合征组分。     

GPCR-2L: predicting G protein-coupled receptors and their types by hybridizing two different modes of pseudo amino acid compositions

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are among the most frequent targets of therapeutic drugs. With the avalanche of newly generated protein sequences in the post genomic age, to expedite the process of drug discovery, it is highly desirable to develop an automated method to rapidly identify GPCRs and their types. A new predictor was developed by hybridizing two different modes of pseudo-amino acid composition (PseAAC): the functional domain PseAAC and the low-frequency Fourier spectrum PseAAC. The new predictor is called GPCR-2L, where "2L" means that it is a two-layer predictor: the 1st layer prediction engine is to identify a query protein as GPCR or not; if it is, the prediction will be automatically continued to further identify it as belonging to one of the following six types: (1) rhodopsin-like (Class A), (2) secretin-like (Class B), (3) metabotropic glutamate/pheromone (Class C), (4) fungal pheromone (Class D), (5) cAMP receptor (Class E), or (6) frizzled/smoothened family (Class F). The overall success rate of GPCR-2L in identifying proteins as GPCRs or non-GPCRs is over 97.2%, while identifying GPCRs among their six types is over 97.8%. Such high success rates were derived by the rigorous jackknife cross-validation on a stringent benchmark dataset, in which none of the included proteins had ≥40% pairwise sequence identity to any other protein in a same subset. As a user-friendly web-server, GPCR-2L is freely accessible to the public at http://icpr.jci.edu.cn/, by which one can obtain the 2-level results in about 20 s for a query protein sequence of 500 amino acids. The longer the sequence is, the more time it may usually need. The high success rates reported here indicate that it is a quite effective approach to identify GPCRs and their types with the functional domain information and the low-frequency Fourier spectrum analysis. It is anticipated that GPCR-2L may become a useful tool for both basic research and drug development in the areas related to GPCRs.     

Why do woodpeckers resist head impact injury: a biomechanical investigation

Head injury is a leading cause of morbidity and death in both industrialized and developing countries. It is estimated that brain injuries account for 15% of the burden of fatalities and disabilities, and represent the leading cause of death in young adults. Brain injury may be caused by an impact or a sudden change in the linear and/or angular velocity of the head. However, the woodpecker does not experience any head injury at the high speed of 6-7 m/s with a deceleration of 1000 g when it drums a tree trunk. It is still not known how woodpeckers protect their brain from impact injury. In order to investigate this, two synchronous high-speed video systems were used to observe the pecking process, and the force sensor was used to measure the peck force. The mechanical properties and macro/micro morphological structure in woodpecker's head were investigated using a mechanical testing system and micro-CT scanning. Finite element (FE) models of the woodpecker's head were established to study the dynamic intracranial responses. The result showed that macro/micro morphology of cranial bone and beak can be recognized as a major contributor to non-impact-injuries. This biomechanical analysis makes it possible to visualize events during woodpecker pecking and may inspire new approaches to prevention and treatment of human head injury.     

A new crocodylian from the late Maastrichtian of Spain: implications for the initial radiation of crocodyloids

Background

The earliest crocodylians are known primarily from the Late Cretaceous of North America and Europe. The representatives of Gavialoidea and Alligatoroidea are known in the Late Cretaceous of both continents, yet the biogeographic origins of Crocodyloidea are poorly understood. Up to now, only one representative of this clade has been known from the Late Cretaceous, the basal crocodyloid Prodiplocynodon from the Maastrichtian of North America.

Methodology/Principal Findings

The fossil studied is a skull collected from sandstones in the lower part of the Tremp Formation, in Chron C30n, dated at −67.6 to 65.5 Ma (late Maastrichtian), in Arén (Huesca, Spain). It is located in a continuous section that contains the K/P boundary, in which the dinosaur faunas closest to the K/P boundary in Europe have been described, including Arenysaurus ardevoli and Blasisaurus canudoi. Phylogenetic analysis places the new taxon, Arenysuchus gascabadiolorum, at the base of Crocodyloidea.

Conclusions/Significance

The new taxon is the oldest crocodyloid representative in Eurasia. Crocodyloidea had previously only been known from the Palaeogene onwards in this part of Laurasia. Phylogenetically, Arenysuchus gascabadiolorum is situated at the base of the first radiation of crocodyloids that occurred in the late Maastrichtian, shedding light on this part of the cladogram. The presence of basal crocodyloids at the end of the Cretaceous both in North America and Europe provides new evidence of the faunal exchange via the Thulean Land Bridge during the Maastrichtian.     

Differential regulation and recovery of intracellular Ca2+ in cerebral and small mesenteric arterial smooth muscle cells of simulated microgravity rat

Background

The differential adaptations of cerebrovasculature and small mesenteric arteries could be one of critical factors in postspaceflight orthostatic intolerance, but the cellular mechanisms remain unknown. We hypothesize that there is a differential regulation of intracellular Ca²⁺ determined by the alterations in the functions of plasma membrane Ca_L channels and ryanodine-sensitive Ca²⁺ releases from sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in cerebral and small mesenteric vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) of simulated microgravity rats, respectively.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 28-day hindlimb unweighting to simulate microgravity. In addition, tail-suspended rats were submitted to a recovery period of 3 or 7 days after removal of suspension. The function of Ca_L channels was evaluated by patch clamp and Western blotting. The function of ryanodine-sensitive Ca²⁺ releases in response to caffeine were assessed by a laser confocal microscope. Our results indicated that simulated microgravity increased the functions of Ca_L channels and ryanodine-sensitive Ca²⁺ releases in cerebral VSMCs, whereas, simulated microgravity decreased the functions of Ca_L channels and ryanodine-sensitive Ca²⁺ releases in small mesenteric VSMCs. In addition, 3- or 7-day recovery after removal of suspension could restore the functions of Ca_L channels and ryanodine-sensitive Ca²⁺ releases to their control levels in cerebral and small mesenteric VSMCs, respectively.

Conclusions

The differential regulation of Ca_L channels and ryanodine-sensitive Ca²⁺ releases in cerebral and small mesenteric VSMCs may be responsible for the differential regulation of intracellular Ca²⁺, which leads to the altered autoregulation of cerebral vasculature and the inability to adequately elevate peripheral vascular resistance in postspaceflight orthostatic intolerance.     

Molecular cloning of the cDNA encoding laccase from Trametes versicolor and heterologous expression in Pichia methanolica

A cDNA encoding for laccase was isolated from the ligninolytic fungus Trametes versicolor by RNA-PCR. The cDNA corresponds to the gene Lcc1, which encodes a laccase isoenzyme of 498 amino acid residues preceded by a 22-residue signal peptide. The Lcc1 cDNA was cloned into the vectors pMETA and pMETαA and expressed in Pichia methanolica. The laccase activity obtained with the Saccharomyces cerevisiae α-factor signal peptide was found to be twofold higher than that obtained with the native secretion signal peptide. The extracellular laccase activity in recombinants with the α-factor signal peptide was 9.79 U ml⁻¹. The presence of 0.2 mM copper was necessary for optimal activity of laccase. The expression level was favoured by lower cultivation temperature. The identity of the recombinant protein was further confirmed by immunodetection using Western blot analysis. As expected, the molecular mass of the mature laccase was 64.0 kDa, similar to that of the native form.