A Human Active Lower Limb Model for Chinese Pedestrian Safety Evaluation

A subsystem impactor test for pedestrian lower limb injury evaluation has been brought in China New Car Assessment Protocol(CNCAP).Concerning large anthropometr...     

Quantitative regulation of the thermal stability of enveloped virus vaccines by surface charge engineering to prevent the self-aggregation of attachment glycoproteins

The development of thermostable vaccines can relieve the bottleneck of existing vaccines caused by thermal instability and subsequent poor efficacy, which is one of the predominant reasons for the millions of deaths caused by vaccine-preventable diseases. Research into the mechanism of viral thermostability may provide strategies for developing thermostable vaccines. Using Newcastle disease virus (NDV) as model, we identified the negative surface charge of attachment glycoprotein as a novel determinant of viral thermostability. It prevented the temperature-induced aggregation of glycoprotein and subsequent detachment from virion surface. Then structural stability of virion surface was improved and virus could bind to and infect cells efficiently after heat-treatment. Employing the approach of surface charge engineering, thermal stability of NDV and influenza A virus (IAV) vaccines was successfully improved. The increase in the level of vaccine thermal stability was determined by the value-added in the negative surface charge of the attachment glycoprotein. The engineered live and inactivated vaccines could be used efficiently after storage at 37°C for at least 10 and 60 days, respectively. Thus, our results revealed a novel surface-charge-mediated link between HN protein and NDV thermostability, which could be used to design thermal stable NDV and IAV vaccines rationally.     

捕食者-猎物关系的理论和应用研究

捕食者和猎物相互关系的研究,长期以来一直是动物生态学研究的中心课题之一。这种研究可区分为3种类型:第一是理论研究,即组建各种数学模型以便模拟捕食者和猎物间的相互关系;第二是实验种群研究,通常是在实验室内选用原生动物和节肢动物实验种群对捕食一猎物间的动态关系进行观察,并将观察结果与理论模型进行比较;第三是在田间对自然种群中的捕食者-猎物关系进行研究,并利用从理论研究和实验种群研究中所总结出来的各种基本原理对观察资料进行分析。在应用生态学领域中,常常靠引进新的更加有效的天敌来控制各种害虫。这些实际工作有些已获得成功,也有不少未取得预期效果,不管成功与否,它们都可被看作是对捕食者-猎物关系所进行的田间实验.     

Association between polymorphisms in the promoter region of interleukin-10 and susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease

The aim of this study was to assess the association of polymorphisms in the promoter region of the IL-10 gene with the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Fifteen studies (3,693 cases and 4,574 controls) were included in a meta-analysis of association between IL-10 ?1082G/A, ?819C/T and ?592C/A polymorphisms, and IBD, CD and UC using allele contrast and the recessive, dominant, and additive models. Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium was confirmed for each study. Heterogeneity and study quality were investigated using stratification analyses and sensitivity analyses. Polymorphism ?1082G/A showed significant association with CD, with odds ratios (ORs) for the GG + GA genotype and GG versus AA genotype of 1.278 (1.004–1.627) and 1.238 (1.027–1.492) in all subjects. Significant associations were found in the Caucasian subgroup using the allele contrast, dominant, and additive models. C-allele carriers of the ?819C/T polymorphism were at increased risk of IBD (OR 1.093, 95 % CI 1.004–1.190). Association with the ?819C/T polymorphism was also found in Caucasians with CD (C vs. T: OR 1.104, 95 % CI 1.010–1.206; CC + CT vs. TT: OR 1.328, 95 % CI 1.006–1.754; CC vs. TT: OR 1.339, 95 % CI 1.008–1.778), and with UC (CC vs. CT + TT: OR 1.188, 95 % CI 1.019–1.385). No significant association was found between the ?592C/A polymorphism and IBD, CD or UC. In conclusion, the meta-analysis demonstrated clear association between the IL-10 polymorphisms ?1082G/A and ?819C/T and the risk of IBD.     

藏猪小肠形态、消化酶及微生物多样性研究

[目的]肠道是动物的主要消化器官,同时也是机体抵抗外源病原菌的重要屏障,已有研究表明,动物的品种、饲养方式、生长阶段均会影响动物的肠道菌群结构,但对舍饲和放牧饲养条件下藏猪的肠道菌群结构,以及藏猪和长白、约克与杜洛克三元杂交猪(DLY猪)的肠道菌群结构是否有差异,尚未见报道.[方法]本研究选取6-7月龄的放牧藏猪、舍饲...     

Apple Sucrose Transporter SUT1 and Sorbitol Transporter SOT6 Interact with Cytochrome b5 to Regulate Their Affinity for Substrate Sugars

Sugar transporters are central machineries to mediate cross-membrane transport of sugars into the cells, and sugar availability may serve as a signal to regulate the sugar transporters. However, the mechanisms of sugar transport regulation by signal sugar availability remain unclear in plant and animal cells. Here, we report that a sucrose transporter, MdSUT1, and a sorbitol transporter, MdSOT6, both localized to plasma membrane, were identified from apple (Malus domestica) fruit. Using a combination of the split-ubiquitin yeast two-hybrid, immunocoprecipitation, and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays, the two distinct sugar transporters were shown to interact physically with an apple endoplasmic reticulum-anchored cytochrome b5 MdCYB5 in vitro and in vivo. In the yeast systems, the two different interaction complexes function to up-regulate the affinity of the sugar transporters, allowing cells to adapt to sugar starvation. An Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) homolog of MdCYB5, AtCYB5-A, also interacts with the two sugar transporters and functions similarly. The point mutations leucine-73 → proline in MdSUT1 and leucine-117 → proline in MdSOT6, disrupting the bimolecular interactions but without significantly affecting the transporter activities, abolish the stimulating effects of the sugar transporter-cytochrome b5 complex on the affinity of the sugar transporters. However, the yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cytochrome b5 ScCYB5, an additional interacting partner of the two plant sugar transporters, has no function in the regulation of the sugar transporters, indicating that the observed biological functions in the yeast systems are specific to plant cytochrome b5s. These findings suggest a novel mechanism by which the plant cells tailor sugar uptake to the surrounding sugar availability.     

Fragile X mental retardation protein is required for chemically-induced long-term potentiation of the hippocampus in adult mice

Fragile X syndrome (FXS), a common form of inherited mental retardation, is caused by the lack of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). The animal model of FXS, Fmr1 knockout mice, have deficits in the Morris water maze and trace fear memory tests, showing impairment in hippocampus-dependent learning and memory. However, results for synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP), a key cellular model for learning and memory, remain inconclusive in the hippocampus of Fmr1 knockout mice. Here, we demonstrate that FMRP is required for glycine induced LTP (Gly-LTP) in the CA1 of hippocampus. This form of LTP requires activation of post-synaptic NMDA receptors and metabotropic glutamateric receptors, as well as the subsequent activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2. However, paired-pulse facilitation was not affected by glycine treatment. Genetic deletion of FMRP interrupted the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, suggesting the possible role of FMRP in the regulation of the activity of ERK1/2. Our study provide strong evidences that FMRP participates in Gly-LTP in the hippocampus by regulating the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, and that improper regulation of these signaling pathways may contribute to the learning and memory deficits observed in FXS.     

Comparative analysis of carbohydrate binding properties of Sambucus nigra lectins and ribosome-inactivating proteins

In the past three decades a lot of research has been done on the extended family of carbohydrate-binding proteins from Sambucus nigra, including several so-called type 2 RIPs as well as hololectins. Although all these proteins have been studied for their carbohydrate-binding properties using hapten inhibition assays, detailed carbohydrate specificity studies have only been performed for a few Sambucus proteins. In particular SNA-I, has been studied extensively. Because of its unique binding characteristics this lectin was developed as an important tool in glycoconjugate research to detect sialic acid containing glycoconjugates. At present much less information is available with respect to the detailed carbohydrate binding specificity of other S. nigra lectins and RIPs, and as a consequence their applications remain limited. In this paper we report a comparative analysis of several lectins from S. nigra using the glycan microarray technology. Ultimately a better understanding of the ligands for each lectin can contribute to new/more applications for these lectins in glycoconjugate research. Furthermore, the data from glycan microarray analyses combined with the previously obtained sequence information can help to explain how evolution within a single lectin family eventually yielded a set of carbohydrate-binding proteins with a very broad specificity range.     

丹桂和籽银桂花芽分化的研究

采用石蜡切片技术, 对不育的丹桂(Osmanthus fragrans ‘Dangui’ )和可育的籽银桂(Osmanthus fragrans ‘Ziyingui’)花芽分化的过程进行了研究。结果表明, 桂花(Osmanthus fragrans Lour.)花芽形态分化可分为花芽分化初始期、总苞分化期、花原基分化期、顶花花被分化期、雄蕊分化期和雌蕊分化期6个阶段。雄蕊的发育在丹桂和籽银桂之间基本没有区别, 都能形成完整的花粉囊和成熟的花粉粒。但是, 雌蕊的发育在可育的籽银桂与不育的丹桂之间存在明显差异。根据花芽分化的过程证明, 丹桂的不育是由于雌蕊发育不正常导致的。