Interactions of human serum albumin with chlorogenic acid and ferulic acid

The interactions of chlorogenic acid and ferulic acid with human serum albumin (HSA) have been investigated by fluorescence and Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry. Fluorescence results showed that one molecule of protein combined with one molecule of drugs at the molar ratio of drug to HSA ranging from 1 to 10, and their binding affinities (KA) are 4.37 x 10(4) M(-1) and 2.23 x 10(4) M(-1) for chlorogenic acid and ferulic acid, respectively. The primary binding site for chlorogenic acid is most likely located on IIA and that for ferulic acid in IIIA. The main mechanism of protein fluorescence quenching was static quenching process. Combining the curve-fitting results of infrared amide I and amide III bands, the alterations of protein secondary structure after drug complexation were estimated. With increasing the drug concentration, the protein alpha-helix structure decreased gradually and the reduction of protein alpha-helix structure reached about 7% and 5% for protein binding with chlorogenic acid and ferulic acid individually at the drug to protein molar ratio of 30. This indicated a partial unfolding of HSA in the presence of the two acids. From the fluorescence and FT-IR results, the binding mode was discussed.     

Stimulation of Rg3 ginsenoside biosynthesis in ginseng hairy roots elicited by methyl jasmonate

It has been recognized that ginsenoside Rg3 is not naturally produced in ginseng although this ginsenoside can accumulate in red ginseng as the result of a thermal process. In order to determine whether or not Rg3 is synthesized in ginseng, hairy roots were treated with methyl jasmonate (MJ). From HPLC analysis, no peak for Rg3 was observed in the controls. However, Rg3 did accumulate in hairy roots that were MJ-treated for 7?days. Rg3 content was 0.42?mg/g (dry weight). To gain more insight into the effects of MJ on UDP-glucosyltransferase (UGT) activity, we attempted to evaluate ginsenoside Rg3 biosynthesis by UGT. A new peak for putative Rg3 was observed, which was confirmed by LC-MS/MS analysis. Our findings indicate that the proteins extracted from our hairy root lines can catalyze Rg3 from Rh2. This suggests that our ginseng hairy root lines possess Rg3 biosynthesis capacity.     

Association of vitamin D binding protein polymorphism with long-term kidney allograft survival in Hispanic kidney transplant recipients

Polymorphism of genes encoding components of the vitamin D pathway including vitamin D receptor (VDR) and vitamin D binding protein (VDBP), have been widely explored due to the complex role played by vitamin D in renal transplant outcomes. In this study, we investigated whether polymorphisms of genes encoding VDR and VDBP were associated with allograft survival or acute rejection (AR) among a Hispanic kidney transplant population. A total of 502 Hispanic renal allograft recipients at the St. Vincent Medical Center between 2001 and 2010 were genotyped for four different single nucleotide polymorphisms of VDR: FokI C>T (rs2228570), BsmI G>A (rs1544410), ApaI T>G (rs7975232), and TaqI T>C (rs731236). We also performed genotyping for one common polymorphism in the VDBP gene (rs4588). Survival was significantly improved for patients who were homozygous GG for the rs4588 G>T allele in the VDBP gene (GG vs. GT + TT, OR = 0.63, p = 0.02) while GT genotype was associated with a higher risk of graft loss (GT vs. GG + TT, OR = 1.67, p = 0.01). We found no association for polymorphic markers in VDR with allograft survival and AR. The frequency of the haplotype GTCG (in the order of VDR FokI C>T, BsmI G>A, ApaI T>G, and TaqI T>C), was significantly different in the patients with graft rejection compared to the control (p = 0.007) while ACCA haplotype was found to be associated with graft loss (p = 0.02). Hence, the VDBP G>T polymorphism (rs4588) and two haplotypes (GTCG and ACCA) of VDR appear to be associated with renal allograft outcomes among Hispanic allograft recipients.     

Production of transgenic mice expressing the goat H-FABP gene by intratesticular injection

The objective of this study was to explore the possibility of obtaining stable transgenic animals by intratesticular injection. The recombinant vector pEGFP-H-FABP expressing the goat heart-type fatty acid binding protein and green fluorescent protein was mixed with liposome complexes and randomly injected into the testes of mice. Testicular section, fluorescence, and DNA detection assays of mouse sperm were performed to determine the integration of foreign DNA. The results showed that foreign DNA was successfully expressed in the treated mice. Furthermore, the expression and function of the foreign gene were analyzed in F₁ generation and F₂ generation mice at different levels, with the positive rates of foreign gene transfer into the F₁ and F₂ generations being 4.0 and 30.23 %, respectively. These results strongly support testicular injection as an effective method of producing transgenic animals and indicate that foreign genes can be stably passed on to the offspring. This research has theoretical and practical implications for the improvement in the quality of laboratory animals and for gene therapy.     

圈养雄獐领域行为和粪便睾酮水平变化的关系

2011年8月到2012年4月间,在上海市浦东新区华夏公园獐重引入试点,采用目标取样、扫描取样和全事件记录法,对圈养条件下6只成体雄獐(Hydropotes inermis)的6种领域行为进行观察,并利用放射免疫分析法(RIA)测定雄獐粪便中的睾酮水平变化.结果表明,雄獐的许多领域行为发生频次表现出明显的月间变化,包括打斗、威胁、取代、追逐和粪尿标记;擦额标记行为频次虽月间差异不显著,但与其他领域行为一样在11月份出现频次峰值.发情期(2011年10月～2012年1月)和非发情期(2011年9月、2012年2～4月),打斗、威胁、粪尿标记和擦额标记行为发生频次差异显著;取代和追逐行为频次差异不显著.6种领域行为的发生频次均在发情期明显高于非发情期.粪便睾酮含量在发情期和非发情期差异显著,发情期明显高于非发情期,其含量在12月份达到峰值(51.16±9.85) ng/g.雄獐的威胁、擦额标记、粪尿标记和打斗行为发生频次与睾酮水平呈显著的正相关性,而取代和追逐行为与睾酮水平变化不具有显著相关性.     

不同年龄鼠骨髓干细胞移植治疗心梗后心衰的实验研究

目的：通过对比观察不同年龄鼠骨髓干细胞在体外的生长状态和移入受损心肌后对心肌梗死大鼠心功能的影响,说明年龄对骨髓干细胞的增殖能力和对移植效果的影响。方法：分别分离培养3日龄,1月龄,6月龄,12月龄Wister雄鼠骨髓干细胞,观察细胞生长状态,描记生长曲线。将60只大鼠用结扎冠状动脉前降支的方法制成心肌梗死模型后两周,随机分为三组：Ⅰ组：3日龄组（n=20只）：给予3日龄的5-溴脱氧尿嘧啶（Brdu）标记的鼠骨髓干细胞;Ⅱ组：6月龄组（n=20只）：给予6月龄的Brdu标记的鼠骨髓干细胞;Ⅲ组：对照组（n=20只）：给予培养液。各组均于治疗前及治疗后4周进行心脏超声检查评价心功能改善情况。处死动物取出心脏,进行直接测量后取左心室作石蜡切片,行苏木素-伊红（HE）染色及免疫组化检测,鉴定植入的细胞和心肌、毛细血管再生情况。结果：不同年龄鼠骨髓干细胞培养结果示3日龄及1月龄组增殖能力均高于6月龄及12月龄组,但3日龄与1月龄组之间无统计学差异,12月龄组在原代培养后期即死亡。治疗前超声心动图显示Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ组心功能无显著差异（P〉0.05）,治疗之后四周超声心动图检查结果示：Ⅰ、Ⅱ组LVEF、FS、IVST、LVPW和LVESD较治疗前均有明显提高,且显著高于Ⅲ组;Ⅰ组LVEF、FS、IVST、LVPWs和LVESD又明显高于Ⅱ组;Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ组LVEDD与治疗前比较无统计学意义。心脏直测结果显示Ⅰ、Ⅱ组的Wh、Wh、Wb、L、I度均较第Ⅲ组有所增加,其中Ⅰ组又明显高于Ⅱ组。免疫组化结果显示：Ⅰ、Ⅱ组于梗死周边均发现Brdu（＋）细胞存在,心肌特异性抗体阳性,且Ⅰ组阳性率明显高于Ⅱ组。毛细血管密度检测结果显示Ⅰ组毛细血管增生情况明显优于Ⅱ组。结论：不同年龄鼠骨髓干细胞的体外增殖能力不同,年龄越小,增殖能力越强。骨髓干细胞移植可以改善心肌梗死后大鼠的心脏功能,增加梗死区毛细血管密度,抑制心室重构,且年龄与移植效果成反比。     

The Helicobacter pylori Protein CagM is Located in the Transmembrane Channel That is Required for CagA Translocation

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a human gastric pathogen that colonizes the stomach in more than 50 % of the world’s human population. Infection with this bacterium can induce several gastric diseases ranging from gastritis to peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. Virulent H. pylori isolates harboring the cag pathogenicity island (cag PAI), which encodes a Type IV Secretion System (T4SS), form a pilus for the injection of its major virulence protein CagA into gastric cells. Several cag PAI genes have been identified as homologues of T4SS genes from Agrobacterium tumefaciens, while the other members in cag PAI still have no known function. We studied one of such proteins with unknown function, CagM, which was predicted to have a putative N-terminal signal sequence and at least three transmembrane helices. To determine the subcellular localization of CagM, we performed a cell fractionation procedure and produced rabbit anti-CagM polyclonal antibodies for immunoblotting assays. Furthermore, we generated an isogenic ΔcagM mutant to investigate the ability of CagA translocation compared with the wild-type NCTC 11637 strain using GES-1 and MKN-45 cell infection experiments. Our results indicated that CagM was mainly located in the bacterial membrane, partially located in the periplasm, and essential for CagA translocation both in GES-1 and MKN-45 cells, which suggested that CagM was one of the core members of Cag T4SS and localized in the transmembrane channel.     

Description of new mitochondrial genomes (Spodoptera litura, Noctuoidea and Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, Pyraloidea) and phylogenetic reconstruction of Lepidoptera with the comment on optimization schemes

We newly sequenced mitochondrial genomes of Spodoptera litura and Cnaphalocrocis medinalis belonging to Lepidoptera to obtain further insight into mitochondrial genome evolution in this group and investigated the influence of optimal strategies on phylogenetic reconstruction of Lepidoptera. Estimation of p-distances of each mitochondrial gene for available taxonomic levels has shown the highest value in ND6, whereas the lowest values in COI and COII at the nucleotide level, suggesting different utility of each gene for different hierarchical group when individual genes are utilized for phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetic analyses mainly yielded the relationships (((((Bombycoidea + Geometroidea) + Noctuoidea) + Pyraloidea) + Papilionoidea) + Tortricoidea), evidencing the polyphyly of Macrolepidoptera. The Noctuoidea concordantly recovered the familial relationships (((Arctiidae + Lymantriidae) + Noctuidae) + Notodontidae). The tests of optimality strategies, such as exclusion of third codon positions, inclusion of rRNA and tRNA genes, data partitioning, RY recoding approach, and recoding nucleotides into amino acids suggested that the majority of the strategies did not substantially alter phylogenetic topologies or nodal supports, except for the sister relationship between Lycaenidae and Pieridae only in the amino acid dataset, which was in contrast to the sister relationship between Lycaenidae and Nymphalidae in Papilionoidea in the remaining datasets.     

NaCl处理下两种引进红树的光合及抗氧化防御能力

在长期盐胁迫(28天, NaCl浓度从100 mmol·L^-1升至400 mmol·L^-1)下, 比较研究了引进的无瓣海桑(Sonneratia apetala)和拉关木(Laguncularia racemosa)幼苗叶片的气体交换、叶绿素含量、最大光化学效率(F_v/F_m)、O₂^-_· 产生速率以及抗氧化酶的活性, 探讨了两种红树幼苗光合、抗氧化防御能力的差异与耐盐性的关系。结果显示: NaCl处理没有明显地影响两种红树幼苗的生长, 表明盐生植物对盐环境的适应性, 但两种红树的生理反应对NaCl处理存在较大的差异。在实验的第28天(苗木的NaCl累计处理浓度递增到400 mmol·L^-1)时, 与对照相比, 无瓣海桑叶片的净光合速率、水分利用效率增加, 气孔导度、蒸腾速率和胞间CO₂浓度/大气CO₂浓度(C_i/C_a)相应降低; 然而, 拉关木叶的净光合速率、蒸腾速率和水分利用效率均回落到对照的水平, 而气孔导度和C_i/C_a均增加, 表明同样的NaCl浓度处理对拉关木叶的净光合速率影响大于无瓣海桑。在NaCl处理期间, 无瓣海桑F_v/F_m一直保持在0.8以上, 而拉关木的F_v/F_m为0.75以下, 说明无瓣海桑具有高于拉关木的潜在最大光合能力。在实验的第7天(NaCl浓度为100 mmol·L^-1)和14天(苗木的NaCl累计处理浓度递增到200 mmol·L^-1)时, 两种红树O₂^-_· 产生速率迅速增加, 在实验的第28天(苗木的NaCl累计处理浓度递增到400 mmol·L^-1)时, 无瓣海桑O₂^-_· 产生速率是对照的5.3倍, 差异极显著, 此时, 拉关木叶中O₂^-_· 产生速率已降低到低于对照的水平。盐处理诱导了两种红树叶中抗氧化酶(超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、抗坏血酸过氧化物酶(APX)、谷胱甘肽还原酶(GR)、过氧化物酶(POD))活性增加, 但拉关木增加的幅度大于无瓣海桑, 表明拉关木能响应盐胁迫并上调抗氧化酶活性, 降低盐诱导的膜脂过氧化, 提高耐盐的能力, 无瓣海桑通过提高水分利用效率来保持体内的水分, 同时, 保持PSII的最大光化学量子产量, 使得无瓣海桑在高盐处理时仍能保持高于对照水平的光合速率。