肝胆显像螯合物—氮基三乙酸单酰苯胺及其类似物的合成

本课题合成四个氮基三乙酸单酰苯胺(IDA)类及其类似物肝胆显像螯合物。(1)用家兔做了肝胆显像扫描实验,其显像效果较好。(2)～(3)为未见报道的化合物。     

Association between CD14 Promoter -159C/T Polymorphism and the Risk of Sepsis and Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Recent studies on the association between CD14-159C/T polymorphism and sepsis showed inconclusive results. Accordingly, we conducted a comprehensive literature search and a meta-analysis to determine whether the CD14-159C/T polymorphism conferred susceptibility to sepsis or was associated with increased risk of death from sepsis.

Methodology

Data were collected from the following electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, Medline, Web of Knowledge, and HuGE Navigator, with the last report up to June 15, 2012. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the strength of association. We summarized the data on the association between CD14-159C/T polymorphism and sepsis in the overall population and subgroup by ethnicity and sepsis subtype.

Principal Findings

A total of 16 studies on sepsis morbidity (1369 cases and 2382 controls) and 4 studies on sepsis mortality (731 sepsis patients) met the inclusion criteria for meta-analysis. Overall analysis showed no strong evidences of association with sepsis susceptibility under any genetic model. However, slight associations were found in Asian populations (dominant model: OR = 1.38, 95%CI = 0.96–1.98, P = 0.08) and septic shock patients (dominant model: OR = 1.72, 95%CI 1.05–2.83, P = 0.03; allelic model: OR = 1.52, 95%CI 1.09–2.12, P = 0.01) in the stratified analysis. Moreover, there was borderline association between CD14-159C/T and sepsis mortality under the dominant genetic model (OR = 1.44, 95%CI = 0.98–2.11, P = 0.06).

Conclusions/Significance

This meta-analysis suggests that the CD14-159C/T polymorphism may not be a significant susceptibility factor in the risk of sepsis and mortality. Only weak associations were observed in Asian populations and septic shock patients. More studies based on larger sample sizes and homogeneous sepsis patients are needed to confirm these findings.     

Enhanced electrochemiluminescence from luminol at carboxyl graphene for detection of α-fetoprotein

In this study, a novel sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor was constructed by carboxyl graphene (GR) for enhancing luminol–O₂ system emission. Here, carboxyl GR was used to enhance the ECL intensity of luminol that had excellent electron transfer ability and good solubility. The sensing platform was constructed by depositing carboxyl GR on electrodes and immobilizing antibodies on the surface of carboxyl GR through amidation. The specific immunoreaction between α-fetoprotein (AFP) and antibodies resulted in a decrease of ECL intensity, and the intensity decreased linearly with AFP concentrations in the range of 5 pg ml⁻¹ to 14 ng ml⁻¹ with a detection limit of 2.0 pg ml⁻¹. The proposed immunosensor exhibits high specificity, good reproducibility, and longtime stability. It may become a promising technique for protein detection.     

Inhibition of the K+ Channel KCa3.1 Reduces TGF-β1-Induced Premature Senescence,Myofibroblast Phenotype Transition and Proliferation of Mesangial Cells

Objective

K_Ca3.1 channel participates in many important cellular functions. This study planned to investigate the potential involvement of K_Ca3.1 channel in premature senescence, myofibroblast phenotype transition and proliferation of mesangial cells.

Methods & Materials

Rat mesangial cells were cultured together with TGF-β1 (2 ng/ml) and TGF-β1 (2 ng/ml) + TRAM-34 (16 nM) separately for specified times from 0 min to 60 min. The cells without treatment served as controls. The location of K_Ca3.1 channels in mesangial cells was determined with Confocal laser microscope, the cell cycle of mesangial cells was assessed with flow cytometry, the protein and mRNA expression of K_Ca3.1, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and fibroblast-specific protein-1 (FSP-1) were detected with Western blot and RT-PCR. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Student-Newman-Keuls-q test (SNK-q) were used to do statistical analysis. Statistical significance was considered at P<0.05.

Results

K_ca3.1 channels were located in the cell membranes and/or in the cytoplasm of mesangial cells. The percentage of cells in G₀-G₁ phase and the expression of K_ca3.1, α-SMA and FSP-1 were elevated under the induction of TGF-β1 when compared to the control and decreased under the induction of TGF-β1+TRAM-34 when compared to the TGF-β1 induced (P<0.05 or P<0.01).

Conclusion

Targeted disruption of K_Ca3.1 inhibits TGF-β1-induced premature aging, myofibroblast-like phenotype transdifferentiation and proliferation of mesangial cells.     

细菌(Pseudomonas maltophilia)之绒毛膜促性腺激素(hCG)结合物质之研究

 细菌(Pseudomonas moltophilia)与hCG及LH有特异的亲和力,实验发现,细菌之生长曲线与hCG结合活性成平行关系,96小时达高峰,细菌之培养液中含有可溶性结合蛋白,该蛋白经硫酸铵沉淀(80％饱和度)、Sephadex G-100柱层析、DEAE-纤维素柱0.5mol/L NaCl梯度洗脱,再过Sepharose CL-AB柱,收集之活性部分经SDS电泳测得其分子量为70,000,凝胶层析测Stokes radius为41A,Schiff氏染色未见着色带。     

西昆仑、西喀喇昆仑和西北喜马拉雅地区植被的地域分异及其指示意义

 在青藏高原的西北部,喜马拉雅山、喀喇昆仑山和昆仑山汇聚成一个高大山系组。中国-巴基斯坦公路横跨这个山系组,沿线植被的组成及分布显示出极其明显的地域分异：西昆仑山和喀喇昆仑山以荒漠为主,西北喜马拉雅山以山地森林为主;西昆仑山前平原上是暖温带灌木、半灌木荒漠,西北喜马拉雅山前印度河平原上是亚热带稀树草原;山系组腹地谷坡明显较外部山坡干燥,西昆仑山东北坡有完整的山地草原和高山草甸带,以及断续的山地云杉（Picea）和刺柏（Juniperus）疏林灌丛,而西南坡山地荒漠海拔高达3600～4000 m,草原和草甸带     

Alpha-to-beta structural transformation of ovalbumin: heat and pH effects

Ovalbumin is an important member of the serpin superfamily without inhibitory activity. The heat- and pH-induced -to- structural transformations of ovalbumin were investigated by means of circular dichroism and binding of ANS and Congo red dyes. The native ovalbumin shows a mixture of -helix and -sheet, while both the heat and alkali treatments are able to transform the native protein into a predominance of -sheet secondary structure. The free energy changes during transitions to the unfolded state are 5.19 kcal/mol from the native state and 4.00 kcal/mol from the heat-treated one. The binding abilities of the heat-treated and the alkali-treated forms to ANS and Congo red suggest that the altered forms exhibit hydrophobic exposure and intermolecular interaction. The results substantiate that the altered protein forms bearing increased -sheet structures are prone to aggregation, which is implicated in the pathogenesis of some conformational diseases.