A processing product of the Plasmodium falciparum reticulocyte binding protein RH1 shows a close association with AMA1 during junction formation

Plasmodium falciparum responsible for the most virulent form of malaria invades human erythrocytes through multiple ligand‐receptor interactions. The P. falciparum reticulocyte binding protein homologues (PfRHs) are expressed at the apical end of merozoites and form interactions with distinct erythrocyte surface receptors that are important for invasion. Here using a range of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against different regions of PfRH1 we have investigated the role of PfRH processing during merozoite invasion. We show that PfRH1 gets differentially processed during merozoite maturation and invasion and provide evidence that the different PfRH1 processing products have distinct functions during invasion. Using in‐situ Proximity Ligation and FRET assays that allow probing of interactions at the nanometre level we show that a subset of PfRH1 products form close association with micronemal proteins Apical Membrane Antigen 1 (AMA1) in the moving junction suggesting a critical role in facilitating junction formation and active invasion. Our data provides evidence that time dependent processing of PfRH proteins is a mechanism by which the parasite is able to regulate distinct functional activities of these large processes. The identification of a specific close association with AMA1 in the junction now may also provide new avenues to target these interactions to prevent merozoite invasion.     

Language Differences in the Brain Network for Reading in Naturalistic Story Reading and Lexical Decision

Differences in how writing systems represent language raise important questions about whether there could be a universal functional architecture for reading across languages. In order to study potential language differences in the neural networks that support reading skill, we collected fMRI data from readers of alphabetic (English) and morpho-syllabic (Chinese) writing systems during two reading tasks. In one, participants read short stories under conditions that approximate natural reading, and in the other, participants decided whether individual stimuli were real words or not. Prior work comparing these two writing systems has overwhelmingly used meta-linguistic tasks, generally supporting the conclusion that the reading system is organized differently for skilled readers of Chinese and English. We observed that language differences in the reading network were greatly dependent on task. In lexical decision, a pattern consistent with prior research was observed in which the Middle Frontal Gyrus (MFG) and right Fusiform Gyrus (rFFG) were more active for Chinese than for English, whereas the posterior temporal sulcus was more active for English than for Chinese. We found a very different pattern of language effects in a naturalistic reading paradigm, during which significant differences were only observed in visual regions not typically considered specific to the reading network, and the middle temporal gyrus, which is thought to be important for direct mapping of orthography to semantics. Indeed, in areas that are often discussed as supporting distinct cognitive or linguistic functions between the two languages, we observed interaction. Specifically, language differences were most pronounced in MFG and rFFG during the lexical decision task, whereas no language differences were observed in these areas during silent reading of text for comprehension.     

High-throughput fluorescence assay for small-molecule inhibitors of autophagins/Atg4

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved process for catabolizing damaged proteins and organelles in a lysosome-dependent manner. Dysregulation of autophagy may cause various diseases, such as cancer and neurodegeneration. However, the relevance of autophagy to diseases remains controversial because of the limited availability of chemical modulators. Herein, the authors developed a fluorescence-based assay for measuring activity of the autophagy protease, autophagin-1(Atg4B). The assay employs a novel reporter substrate of Atg4B composed of a natural substrate (LC3B) fused to an assayable enzyme (PLA(2)) that becomes active upon cleavage by this cysteine protease. A high-throughput screening (HTS) assay was validated with excellent Z' factor (>0.7), remaining robust for more than 5 h and suitable for screening of large chemical libraries. The HTS assay was validated by performing pilot screens with 2 small collections of compounds enriched in bioactive molecules (n = 1280 for Lopac? and 2000 for Spectrum? library), yielding confirmed hit rates of 0.23% and 0.70%, respectively. As counterscreens, PLA(2) and caspase-3 assays were employed to eliminate nonspecific inhibitors. In conclusion, the LC3B-PLA(2) reporter assay provides a platform for compound library screening for identification and characterization of Atg4B-specific inhibitors that may be useful as tools for interrogating the role of autophagy in disease models.     

Inhibition of Trichoderma reesei cellulase by sugars and solvents

Inhibition of Trichoderma reesei cellulase by sugars (glucose, delta-gluconolactone, and cellobiose) and solvents (ethanol, butanol, and acetone) was studied using cellulose azure. Glucose, cellobiose, ethanol, and butanol were noncompetitive inhibitors, delta-gluconolactone was a mixed inhibitor, and acetone was a noncompetitive activator. Converting cellobiose to glucose reduces the effective inhibitor binding constant by 6 times and converting cellobiose to ethanol reduces it by 16 times.     

Production of L(+)-lactic acid with Rhizopus oryzae immobilized in polyurethane foam cubes

Summary Polyurethane foam cubes were employed as carriers to immobilize Rhizopus oryzae for L(+)-lactic acid production. The immobilizing capacity reached 450 g-fresh cell/l-cube. The production rate of L(+)-lactic acid could be threefold increased by using the immobilized R. oryzae. The immobilized cells could be steadily used in repetitive fermentations for more than 10 batches.     

水通道蛋白1-C末端肽段/GST融合蛋白的原核表达(简报)

水通道蛋白(Aquaporin,AQP)是一类选择性高效转运水分子的细胞膜通道蛋白,广泛存在于原核和真核生物细胞的细胞膜上,主要介导自由水分子的被动跨膜转运,对保持细胞内外液环境的稳态平衡起着重要的作用.     

大气CO2浓度升高对稻季土壤中麦秸降解及氮素分趋的影响

利用中国唯一的稻麦轮作FACE(free-air carbon dioxide enrichment,开放式空气CO2浓度增高)试验平台,研究大气CO2浓度升高对稻季土壤中小麦秸秆降解速率及其氮素分趋的影响.试验设置Ambient(目前空气对照)和FACE(Ambient+200 μmol·mol-1)两个CO2浓度以及低氮处理(LN,150 kg·hm-2)和高氮处理(HN,250 kg·hm-2)两个氮肥水平,在稻季之初按标记麦秸/土壤重量比0.3%添加15N标记小麦秸秆,根据水稻生长时期依次采样测定秸秆降解速率,并通过分析土壤全氮、植株全氮及其15N丰度来观察已降解秸秆的氮素分趋情况.结果发现,大气CO2浓度升高对高氮处理土壤中小麦秸秆降解速率没有显著影响,但显著促进了低氮处理土壤中小麦秸秆的降解(p < 0.05),使其提高到与高氮处理土壤相当水平;大气CO2浓度升高显著增加了已降解秸秆中氮素的流失,在高氮处理土壤中尤为严重,而对植物吸收已降解秸秆中的氮素没有显著影响.结果表明,大气CO2浓度升高在土壤氮素相对不足时会加速土壤中小麦秸秆的降解,而在土壤氮素相对充足时又会加大降解秸秆中氮素的流失.     

中国黏菌的三个新记录种

报道了采自内蒙古自治区的3个黏菌中国新记录种：榄色孔膜菌Enteridium olivaceum,疏网发丝菌Stemonaria laxiretis和硬网发菌Comatricha rigidireta。通过扫描电镜观察,描述了它们的形态特征,与相近种进行了比较和讨论。考证标本保存于吉林农业大学菌物标本馆（MHJAU）。     

Critical role of interleukin-17/interleukin-17 receptor axis in mediating Con A-induced hepatitis

Concanavalin A (Con A)-induced hepatitis is thought to be a T-cell-mediated disease with active destruction of liver cells. Interleukin (IL)-17 is a cytokine produced principally by CD4(+) T cells. However, whether IL-17/IL-17 receptor (IL-17/IL-17R)-mediated responses are involved in T-cell-mediated Con A-induced liver injury remains unclear. In this study, we found that IL-17 expression was highly elevated in liver tissues during Con A-induced hepatitis. The increased levels of IL-17 were paralleled with the severity of liver injury reflected by Alanine aminotransaminase and histological assay as well as the secretion of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and IL-6. Blockage of IL-17 significantly ameliorated Con A-induced hepatitis, while overexpression of IL-17 systemically resulted in massive hepatocyte necrosis in mice. Furthermore, overexpression of an IL-17R immunoglobulin G1 fusion protein significantly attenuated liver inflammation after acute Con A treatment. High expression of IL-17R on Kupffer cells was also observed along with the production of cytokines including TNF-α and IL-6. Inhibition of Kupffer cells by gadolinium chloride completely prevented Con A-induced liver injury and cytokine release. Finally, IL-17-expressing CD4(+) T and natural killer T cells were greatly increased in Con A-injected mice compared with that in controls. Overall, our results indicate that IL-17R signaling is critically involved in the pathogenesis in Con A-induced hepatitis, and blockade of IL-17/IL-17R signaling pathway may represent a novel therapeutic intervention in human autoimmune-related hepatitis.