The strategic role of ecological research in the design of an environmentally comprehensive plan for a new economic-development area–Meizhou Bay,China

The Government of China is planning a new economic-development area, located at Meizhou Bay on the Chinese mainland, opposite the island of Taiwan. Aspects of this development plant will be subject to an assessment of the potential environmental effects. Especially important considerations are changes in land use associated with urbanization and industrial developments, and any activities that could degrade air and water quality, with potential risks for human health, aquaculture, agriculture, and wildlife. During 1988 to 1990, we conducted studies related to meteorology, environmental geology and engineering, physical oceanography, and marine chemistry and biology.To protect culturally-important orchards of fruit trees (including litchi, orange, and tangerine) from air pollution, and aquaculture facilities for prawn and oyster from oil pollution, these toxic stressors were given priority in our eco-toxicological research, and in the planning of allowable waste discharges. To protect Meizhou Bay from eutrophication, and nutrient-loading eco-dynamic models were developed, to allow simulation of ecological changes potentially associated with nutrient-laden discharges. The results of our ecological research will play a strategic role in reconciling conflicts between economic development and environmental degradation, over both the short- and the long-term.     

Total synthesis and stereochemical reassignment of tasiamide B

The first total synthesis of tasiamide B, an octapeptide bearing 4‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐phenylpentanoic acid unit isolated from the marine cyanobacteria Symploca sp. is described. A simple and efficient way was found to avoid the pyroglutamylation of N^α‐Me‐Gln and led to a reassignment of the N^α‐Me‐L ‐Phe of tasiamide B to be N^α‐Me‐D ‐Phe, which was also supported by 1D and 2D NMR. Copyright © 2010 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Systematic characterization of the murine mitochondrial proteome using functionally validated cardiac mitochondria

Mitochondria play essential roles in cardiac pathophysiology and the murine model has been extensively used to investigate cardiovascular diseases. In the present study, we characterized murine cardiac mitochondria using an LC/MS/MS approach. We extracted and purified cardiac mitochondria; validated their functionality to ensure the final preparation contains necessary components to sustain their normal function; and subjected these validated organelles to LC/MS/MS-based protein identification. A total of 940 distinct proteins were identified from murine cardiac mitochondria, among which, 480 proteins were not previously identified by major proteomic profiling studies. The 940 proteins consist of functional clusters known to support oxidative phosphorylation, metabolism, and biogenesis. In addition, there are several other clusters, including proteolysis, protein folding, and reduction/oxidation signaling, which ostensibly represent previously under-appreciated tasks of cardiac mitochondria. Moreover, many identified proteins were found to occupy other subcellular locations, including cytoplasm, ER, and golgi, in addition to their presence in the mitochondria. These results provide a comprehensive picture of the murine cardiac mitochondrial proteome and underscore tissue- and species-specification. Moreover, the use of functionally intact mitochondria insures that the proteomic observations in this organelle are relevant to its normal biology and facilitates decoding the interplay between mitochondria and other organelles.     

Effect of ultrasound on enzymatic acylation of konjac glucomannan

A comparative study was made of enzymatic acylation of konjac glucomannan with vinyl esters under ultrasonic irradiation and shaking in organic solvent tert-butanol. Among the 13 enzymes selected, Novozym 435 exhibited the highest acylation activity towards KGM whether under ultrasonic irradiation or shaking. The application of ultrasonic irradiation instead of shaking during the acylation led to improvement in the initial reaction rate, yield and degree of substitution of the modified KGM. Appropriate ultrasound power (100 W) and water activity (0.75) were found to accelerate enzymatic reaction. The acceleration effect of ultrasound on Novozym 435-catalyzed acylation decreased with an increase in the chain length of the acyl donors from C2 to C18. Moreover, the acylation of KGM in tert-butanol was proved to be a regioselective one, with C6-OH being acylated. Compared with shaking, ultrasound did not change regioselectivity of Novozym 435 in the acylation.     

Efficient synthesis of enantiopure (S)-4-(trimethylsilyl)-3-butyn-2-ol via asymmetric reduction of 4-(trimethylsilyl)-3-butyn-2-one with immobilized Candida parapsilosis CCTCC M203011 cells

In this paper, we show the substrate 4-(trimethylsilyl)-3-butyn-2-one is unstable, and can be easily cleaved into a carbonyl alkyne and trimethylhydroxysilane in aqueous buffer with pH above 6.0. However, this problem could be effectively solved by lowering the buffer pH. Meanwhile, the efficient synthesis of enantiopure (S)-4-(trimethylsilyl)-3-butyn-2-ol, a key intermediate for preparing a 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor, has been successfully conducted through the asymmetric reduction of 4-(trimethylsilyl)-3-butyn-2-one with immobilized Candida parapsilosis CCTCC M203011 cells. For optimization of the reaction, various influential variables, such as buffer pH, co-substrate concentration, reaction temperature and substrate concentration, were systematically examined. All the factors mentioned above had effect on the reaction to some extent. The optimal buffer pH, co-substrate concentration, reaction temperature and substrate concentration were 5.0, 65.3 mM, 30 °C and 3.0 mM, respectively, under which the maximum yield and product e.e. were as high as 81.3% and >99.9% after a reaction time of 1 h, which are much higher than the corresponding values previously reported.     

Altered proteome biology of cardiac mitochondria under stress conditions

Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion induces mitochondrial dysfunction and, depending upon the degree of injury, may lead to cardiac cell death. However, our ability to understand mitochondrial dysfunction has been hindered by an absence of molecular markers defining the various degrees of injury. To address this paucity of knowledge, we sought to characterize the impact of ischemic damage on mitochondrial proteome biology. We hypothesized that ischemic injury induces differential alterations in various mitochondrial subcompartments, that these proteomic changes are specific to the severity of injury, and that they are important to subsequent cellular adaptations to myocardial ischemic injury. Accordingly, an in vitro model of cardiac mitochondria injury in mice was established to examine two stress conditions: reversible injury (induced by mild calcium overload) and irreversible injury (induced by hypotonic stimuli). Both forms of injury had a drastic impact on the proteome biology of cardiac mitochondria. Altered mitochondrial function was concomitant with significant protein loss/shedding from the injured organelles. In the setting of mild calcium overload, mitochondria retained functionality despite the release of numerous proteins, and the majority of mitochondria remained intact. In contrast, hypotonic stimuli caused severe damage to mitochondrial structure and function, induced increased oxidative modification of mitochondrial proteins, and brought about detrimental changes to the subproteomes of the inner mitochondrial membrane and matrix. Using an established in vivo murine model of regional myocardial ischemic injury, we validated key observations made by the in vitro model. This preclinical investigation provides function and suborganelle location information on a repertoire of cardiac mitochondrial proteins sensitive to ischemia reperfusion stress and highlights protein clusters potentially involved in mitochondrial dysfunction in the setting of ischemic injury.     

热量限制延缓人二倍体成纤维细胞衰老的体外模型

为建立人二倍体成纤维细胞IMR 90的热量限制体外模型 ,分别采用低浓度、正常浓度和高浓度葡萄糖培养条件 ,常规传代培养IMR 90细胞 ,利用综合细胞衰老指标对模型进行评价 .低、正常和高浓度葡萄糖培养条件组IMR 90细胞平均寿限分别为 5 8 3、5 5 0和 4 7 2PDL(群体倍增水平 ) .低浓度葡萄糖培养IMR 90细胞早期增长速度有所减慢 ,但仍保持对生长因子诱导的细胞增殖能力 ,并使晚期IMR 90处于细胞周期S期的比例以及其DNA修复能力显著高于其他条件培养的晚期细胞 .低浓度葡萄糖培养IMR 90晚期细胞的半乳糖苷酶染色阳性率亦明显低于其他条件培养的晚期细胞 .实验结果表明 ,低浓度葡萄糖培养可以延缓IMR 90复制衰老 ,建立了热量限制延缓衰老体外模型 ,为进一步探讨热量限制延缓衰老作用机制的研究打下基础     

Spatial distribution of Holcocerus hippophaecolus (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) pupae in a seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) stand

The seabuckthorn carpenter moth, Holcocerus hippophaecolus, which has a generation time of four years, is recently becoming one of the major pests of the seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) in Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Shanxi, Ningxia and Shaanxi of China (Hua et al., 1990). The larvae of the H. hippophaecolus mainly damage the stems and roots of the seabuckthorn, and the mature larvae pupate in the soil. The spatial distribution of the pupae was analyzed by using biostatistics and geostatistics in order to effectively control the insect and further study the spatial distribution of the population. Results show that most of the pupae (90%) had an eclosion time span from early June to the end of July. The sex ratio of the pupae was nearly 1:1 in the woodland samples. In addition, 24.3% of the 971 trees investigated had pupae and it ranged from 0 to 4 per tree within a distance of 1.3 m from the base of the stem. 90% of the pupae were aggregated within a distance of 1 m from the base of the stem. The pupae show intense spatial aggregation in the sampled woodland which had an 11.1 m spatial dependence and a 90.7% intensity in the local spatial continuity. Moreover, the population presented an intensive spotted distribution and many aggregated spots were found in the woodlands. As for the relationship between grid size and variogram of the pupae, the variations in the range, the intensity of local spatial continuity and the sill were all very low or non-existent when the grid size was 5 m, 6 m or 7 m. Whereas, the value of the decisive coefficient was the biggest when the grid size was 5 m making it the ideal grid size. __________ Translated from Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2006, 26(10): 3232–3237 [译自: 生态学报]     

Cu^2＋对大蒜生长的影响及大蒜根，叶及蒜瓣对Cu^2＋的累积

研究不同浓度（10^-6-10^-4mol/L)硫酸铜（CuSO4,5H2O)溶液对大蒜（Allium satiuwn L.)根,叶和蒜瓣生影响及其这些器官对Cu^2 的积累能力,研究结果指出：在106-5-10^-4mol/L,Cu的处理下,Cu严重影响大蒜根和叶生长,大蒜具有较强吸收和积累Cu^2 的能力,随着Cu^2 处理浓度的增加,大蒜根中的Cu^2 含量递增,大蒜经10^-4mol/L,Cu处理,根部积累了大量的Cu,其含量是对照的52倍,在10^-5和10^-6mol/L Cu处理中,根中Cu的含量分别是对照的13倍和1．4倍,Cu主要积累在极中（10^-5-10^-4mol/L Cu处理）,只有少量的转移到叶子和蒜瓣中。     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of novel N- or O-fluoroalkyl derivatives of tropane: potential positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents for the dopamine transporter.

A series of novel fluoroalkyl-containing tropane derivatives was synthesized, and their binding affinities for the dopamine transporter (DAT), serotonin transporter (SERT), and norepinephrine transporter (NET) were determined via competitive binding assays. Among these derivatives, the fluoropropyl ester of beta-CIT (19), the fluoroethyl ester of beta-CIT (20), the N-fluoropropyl derivative of beta-CBT (12), and the fluoropropyl ester of beta-CMT (18) displayed higher affinity and greater selectivity for the DAT versus SERT and NET than FP-CIT, which indicates that they are attractive candidates for the development of (18)F-labeled PET imaging agents for the DAT.