珠海市陆生天然次生林优势种的生态位

在珠海市10个陆生次生林群落中设置了112个10m×10m样方,用于珠海市次生林群落23个优势种的生态位宽度和生态位重叠的研究。结果表明:珠海次生林群落23个优势种的Shannon-Wiener生态位宽度和Levins生态位变度值范围为0.4049～0.7736和0.0551～0.3086,生态位宽度较大的种类分别是山油柑(Acronychia pedunculata)、大头茶(Gordonia axillaris)、银柴(Aporosa dioica)、小盘木(Microdesmis casearifolia)、白颜树(Giron-niera subaequalis)和假苹婆(Sterculia lanceolata);生态位相似性比例值为0～0.3810,银柴与阴香(Cinnamomum burmanii)的生态位相似性比例值最高;山油柑与另外22个优势种均存在不同程度的生态位重叠;大头茶只与少数优势种存在生态位重叠;另有20.6%的种对之间不存在生态位重叠。建议使用山油柑、大头茶、白颜树和黄桐(Endospermum chinense)等生态位宽度较高、分布广泛、适应力强的树种,进行森林恢复与人工林改造。     

海豚的神经系统是如何利用声波定方向的？

海豚和蝙蝠等神经系统利用两耳效应来检测声音的方向,这为大家所熟知,海豚和蝙蝠要靠听觉代替视觉来捕食和躲避敌人,用双耳快速测定声源的方向,神经系统如何能达到这一目的？在数字技术中求两个波形相位差有一套复杂的算法。可是经这篇文章的分析,在神经系统中处理相位差却出奇地简单,它只需一个神经元就可完成计算。这为我们进一步认识神经系统信息处理机理提供了一个例证。经计算机仿真证明它具有很多特别的优点。也为信息处理技术提供了一个新的方法。     

Nicotine inhibits cytokine production by placenta cells via NFkappaB: potential role in pregnancy-induced hypertension

Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), also known as preeclampsia, is one of the major causes of maternal and fetal death. While the precise cause of PIH is not known, aberrant cytokine production and placenta participation are considered to be important factors. Gestational cigarette smoking, which is widely accepted to be harmful to both the mother and fetus, is protective against PIH. Based on the antiinflammatory activity of nicotine, the major component of cigarettes, we examined the effect of nicotine and other cholinergic agonists on placental inflammatory responses ex vivo. We observed that nicotine and other cholinergic agonists significantly suppress placenta cytokine production following stimulation. Placenta cells express the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha7nAChR), and using cholinergic antagonists, we demonstrated that the antiinflammatory effect of nicotine and other cholinergic agonists is, in part, mediated through the nAChR pathway. By contrast, cholinergic stimulation had no effect on the expression of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase (sFlt), an antiangiogenic substance implicated in maternal vascular dysfunction during PIH. Mechanistic studies reveal that cholinergic agonists exert their antiinflammatory effects through the NFkappaB pathway. Taken together, our results suggest that cholinergic agonists, including nicotine, may reduce cytokine production by placenta cells via NFkappaB to protect against PIH.     

编者按: 脂代谢与心血管疾病

心血管病是我国成年人致死的最主要的疾病,而脂代谢异常是心血管疾病的独立危险因素。因此,阐述研究揭示脂代谢异常在心血管疾病发生发展中的作用及其机制,具有重要的理论意义和临床实用价值。本期专题主要一方面综合评述了脂蛋白组分与脂质代谢,以及甘氨酸的心血管疾病保护作用等相关领域的研究新进展,同时并分别展示了国内学者有关于PCSK9/LDLR通路、模拟人apoE结构域的小分子多肽EpK、多不饱和脂肪酸、脂联素、LXRα- ABCA1途径和普罗布考等在脂代谢中的作用及相应分子机制等方面的研究成果,以期让更多的人进一步深入了解脂质代谢以及,了解心血管病发病的复杂机制和及研究现状。     

Infection susceptibility and immune senescence with advancing age replicated in accelerated aging LmnaDhe mice

Aging confers increased susceptibility to common pathogens including influenza A virus. Despite shared vulnerability to infection with advancing age in humans and rodents, the relatively long time required for immune senescence to take hold practically restricts the use of naturally aged mice to investigate aging‐induced immunological shifts. Here, we show accelerated aging Lmna^Dhe mice with spontaneous mutation in the nuclear scaffolding protein, lamin A, replicate infection susceptibility, and substantial immune cell shifts that occur with advancing age. Naturally aged (≥20 month) and 2‐ to 3‐month‐old Lmna^Dhe mice share near identically increased influenza A susceptibility compared with age‐matched Lmna^WT control mice. Increased mortality and higher viral burden after influenza infection in Lmna^Dhe mice parallel reduced accumulation of lung alveolar macrophage cells, systemic expansion of immune suppressive Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells, and skewed immune dominance among viral‐specific CD8⁺ T cells similar to the immunological phenotype of naturally aged mice. Thus, aging‐induced infection susceptibility and immune senescence are replicated in accelerated aging Lmna^Dhe mice.     

vMIP-II-TfN融合蛋白在毕赤酵母中的表达和纯化

目的:构建pPIC-vMIP-II-TfN酵母表达载体,表达纯化vMIP-II-TfN融合蛋白。方法:利用PCR方法扩增编码人转铁蛋白N端半分子的基因片段,通过酶切、连接、转化等分子克隆方法构建pPIC-vMIP-II-TfN酵母表达载体;电击法转化X33酵母菌;用甲醇诱导重组酵母菌表达融合蛋白,利用硫酸铵沉淀、透析、Ni-NTA层析等技术进行蛋白纯化,SDS-PAGE和Western blot检测蛋白表达和纯化情况,利用趋化实验进行纯化蛋白活性检测。结果:经过两次PCR扩增了一个长约1.1kb的包含Xba I酶切位点的IgG3-TfN基因片段,插入pPIC-vMIP-II的Xba I酶切位点,经菌液PCR鉴定获得重组子,测序结果表明构建载体pPIC-vMIP-II-TfN的表达框正确无误,转化X33酵母菌,用甲醇诱导表达出48kDa的vMIP-II-TfN融合蛋白,经硫酸铵沉淀、透析、Ni-NTA纯化后得到纯度约为95%的vMIP-II-TfN融合蛋白。Western印迹结果表明融合蛋白能与转铁蛋白抗体特异性结合。活性检测表明经过诱导表达的vMIP-II-TfN融合蛋白具有趋化抑制活性。结论:成功构建pPIC-vMIP-II-TfN酵母表达载体,重组酵母工程菌经甲醇诱导成功表达出vMIP-II-TfN融合蛋白,纯化后的vMIP-II-TfN融合蛋白具有趋化抑制活性。     

氨基酸型肠内营养制剂支持后克罗恩病患者肠道微生物和非靶向代谢组学指标的分析

探讨氨基酸型肠内营养制剂支持后克罗恩病患者的肠道微生物和非靶向代谢组学指标的变化,为该类患者的治疗提供参考。

选择我院收治的20例克罗恩病活动期患者作为研究对象,所有患者均采用氨基酸型肠内营养制剂进行支持治疗。比较患者治疗前后肠道菌群结构、菌群多样性以及非靶向代谢组学检测结果的差异。

治疗后,患者肠道乳杆菌属（t=5.200,P＜0.001）、大肠埃希菌（t=11.974,P＜0.001）、克雷伯菌属（t=15.033,P＜0.001）、糖单胞菌（t=12.166,P＜0.001）、恶臭假单胞菌（t=31.063,P＜0.001）、肠球菌属（t=28.867,P＜0.001）数量均显著升高;同时患者肠道菌群OUTs（t=40.435,P＜0.001）、Observed species（t=5.475,P＜0.001）、Chao1指数（t=12.348,P＜0.001）、Simpson指数（t=2.961,P=0.005）、Shannon指数（t=3.330,P=0.002）均显著升高。相比治疗前,治疗后患者血清以及粪便中的氨基酸、多肽、脂肪酸、胆固醇及碳水化合物水平均显著改善。

氨基酸型肠内营养制剂支持后,克罗恩病患者肠道菌群丰度提高,同时患者脂质代谢的改善可能与氧化应激反应通路相关联。

     

基于成果导向教育理念的“微生物工程工艺与设备”课程教学改革与实践

"微生物工程工艺与设备"课程是生物工程专业的核心课程,具有较强的实践性和应用性。将成果导向教育理念引入到该课程教学改革中,围绕三个方面进行:明确课程培养学生的能力,制定课程的预期学习产出;在预期学习产出的基础上优化教学过程,通过整合教学内容,构建"课堂理论强化—网络教学平台—现场教学—仿真模拟"多元立体化教学平台,强化学生的主体地位,实现预期学习产出;建立合理的学习考评体系,评估学习产出,促进课程持续改进。