Comparison between pentobarbital- and muscimol-induced feeding in satiated sheep

Twenty sheep were used to study the mechanisms by which the intracerebral administration of pentobarbital and of muscimol induces feeding in ruminants. Injections of 1 mumol calcium induced a weak feeding response at 1 h postinjection compared with control values (108 vs. 63 g, p less than 0.05). Injections of 78 mumol pentobarbital and of 100 nmol muscimol elicited strong feeding responses (p less than 0.01). A preinjection of 1 mumol calcium reduced the response to pentobarbital by about 40% but did not affect the response to muscimol. Administration of 1.1 mmol sodium chloride reduced the effect to pentobarbital by about 60% but only partially decreased the effect to muscimol. Administration of picrotoxin, a GABA antagonist, slightly decreased the feeding response to pentobarbital and to muscimol. Administration of gamma-vinyl GABA, an inhibitor of the enzyme GABA transaminase, did not affect feeding behavior of sheep at any of the doses tested (0-10 mumol). Injections of gamma-vinyl GABA followed by equimolar injections of GABA failed to provoke any feeding response. The data suggest that pentobarbital and muscimol may induce feeding by acting on a similar hypothalamic receptor complex but by different mechanisms. The lack of effect of GABA itself remains unexplained.     

Feeding in satiated sheep elicited by intraventricular injections of CSF from fasted sheep

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected from the lateral ventricles of either 24-hr fasted or “satiated” sheep (donors) and injected into the lateral or third ventricle of either 24-hr fasted or “satiated” sheep (recipients). Recipient “satiated” sheep ate more following injections of CSF from fasted donors, as compared to when the same animals were injected with CSF from equally “satiated” donors (e.g., 73±10 vs 16±6g respectively, 15 min post-injection, P <0.01). Feed intake of fasted recipient sheep was slightly depressed following intraventricular injections of CSF from “satiated” donors. Apparently, the composition of cerebrospinal fluid of the donor sheep was affected by the surfeit-deficit state of their energy stores.     

Degradation of CCK-8 by rat synaptosomal peptidases

By use of an antiserum raised against conjugated ovine corticotropin releasing factor (CRF_1–41), nerve fibres can be stained immunocytochemically in the external zone of the median eminence of rats. The presence of CRF-immunoreactive (CRF_i) nerve fibres and the plasma corticosterone response to ether stress were studied in rats 6–7 days after making various types of lesions in the hypothalamus. Complete anterolateral deafferentation of the mediobasal hypothalamus caused complete disappearance of CRF_i fibres from the median eminence and blocked the corticosterone response to stress. Incomplete anterolateral hypothalamic deafferentation did not prevent the stress-induced increase of corticosterone and in these rats, part of the CRF_i nerve fibres remained intact. A horizontal cut placed ventral to the paraventricular nuclei, completely prevented the corticosterone response in those rats that showed a complete disappearance of CRF_i nerve fibres from the median eminence. Some rats however, still exhibited CRF_i nerve fibres and these animals responded to stress with increased corticosterone levels. A similar horizontal cut made just dorsal to the paraventricular nuclei affected neither the corticosterone response to stress nor the appearance of CRF_i nerve fibres in the median eminence. We conclude that the presence of CRF_i nerve fibres in the median eminence is a prerequisite for rats to show a pituitary-adrenal response to ether stress and therefore represents the first functional evidence for the role of these hypothalamic CRF_i-neurons.     

Identification of new genes regulated by the marRAB operon in Escherichia coli.

Random TnphoA and TnlacZ translational fusions were introduced into an Escherichia coli strain with a deletion of the multiple antibiotic resistance (mar) locus, complemented in trans by a temperature-sensitive plasmid bearing the mar locus with a constitutively expressed mar operon. Five gene fusions (two with lacZ and three with phoA) regulated by the mar operon were identified by increased or decreased marker enzyme activity following loss of the complementary plasmid at the restrictive temperature. Expression of LacZ from both lacZ fusions increased in the presence of the mar operon; expression from the three phoA fusions was represented by the mar operon. The lacZ fusions were mapped at 31.5 and 14 min on the Escherichia coli chromosome. One of the phoA fusions was located at 51.6 min while the two others mapped at 77 min. Cloning and sequencing of a portion of the fused genes showed all of them to be different. The phoA fusions at 77 min were located in a recently identified gene, slp, a lipoprotein of unknown function (D.M. Alexander and A. C. St. John, Mol. Microb. 11:1059-1071, 1994). The others showed no homology with any known genes of E. coli. The insertions caused small but reproducible changes in the antibiotic susceptibility profile. This approach has enabled the identification of new genes in E. coli which are regulated by the marRAB operon and involved in the Mar phenotype.     

基因转移治疗血友病B的动物试验和安全性探讨

本文报道了皮肤成纤维细胞基因治疗血友病Ｂ的新西兰大白兔试验及安全性检测。转有人凝血因子ＩＸｃＤＮＡ的兔皮肤成纤维细胞包埋于胶原基质中,然后进行不同方式的自体或同种异体移植,移植兔血浆中人ＩＸ因子蛋白有高水平的表达且持续稳定,腹腔移植有ＲＳＦ－ｐＣＭＶＩＸ转化细胞的兔血浆中人ＩＸ因子表达水平达１００ｎｇ／ｍｌ．持续５个月以上,腹腔移植有ＲＳＦ－ｐＣＭＶＩＸｌ转化细胞的兔血中人ＩＸ因子表达水平达２９５     

Alternative consent models for biobanks: the new Spanish law on biomedical research

This article provides an overview of recent contributions to the debate on the ethical use of previously collected biobank samples, as well as a country report about how this issue has been regulated in Spain by means of the new Biomedical Research Act, enacted in the summer of 2007. By contrasting the Spanish legal situation with the wider discourse of international bioethics, we identify and discuss a general trend moving from the traditional requirements of informed consent towards new models more favourable to research in a post-genomic context.     

猪水肿病大肠杆菌志贺样毒素Ⅱ型突变体新基因的分子特征

从仔猪水肿病样品中分离的一株大肠杆菌菌株NP9621,抽提染色体DNA,构建NP9621的总DNA文库,经菌落原位杂交筛选、限制酶酶切和Southern印迹等分析,获得含有志贺样毒素基因的重组质粒,核苷酸序列分析表明, 该基因的 A亚基与SLTIIes的同源性为97.6%～98.1%,与SLTIIc、SLTIId及EHEC O157:H7产生的SLTII 的A亚基之间的同源性分别为93.1%、93.0%和92.9%;B亚基与SLTIIes的同源性为99.62%～100%,与SLTIic、SLTIid及SLTII的同源性分别为81.5%、81.1%和81.5%;与29种已知序列的SLTII 、SLTI及志贺毒素STX进行聚类分析,结果证实大肠杆菌NP9621菌株中的志贺样毒素基因属于一种新的SLTIIe亚型。SLTIie/NP9621的A亚基与其它SLTIIe之间存在7～9个氨基酸的差异,B亚基的氨基酸序列完全相同,与A亚基毒力活性密切相关的氨基酸分别为Thr4、Glu167、Arg170和Arg176。     

克仑特罗对绵羊肝脏血液中IGF-Ⅰ、GH和胰岛素水平的影响

克仑特罗 (ｃｌｅｎｂｕｔｅｒｏｌ ,ＣＬ)为一种 β -肾上腺素能受体激动剂。自 80年代初发现 β -受体激动剂可促进机体生长并改变机体胴体组成以来 ,许多研究均显示 β -激动剂具促进脂肪动员、减少体脂沉积、增加氮素贮存和促进蛋白质合成等作用 ,进而调节机体的生长发育 ,因而 β -激动剂又被称为“营养分重分配剂” (Ｙａｎｇ＆ＭｃＥｌｌｉｇｏｔｔ ,1989;Ｃａｒｄｏｓｏ＆Ｓｔｏｃｋ ,1996;Ｓｍｉｔｈ ,1998)。然而机体内代谢水平在很大程度上受内分泌的调控。在对影响机体生长发育的内分泌研究中 ,越来越多的证据表明胰岛素样生长…