Material Properties and Constitutive Modeling of Infant Porcine Cerebellum Tissue in Tension at High Strain Rate

Background

The mechanical characterization of infant porcine cerebellum tissue in tension at high strain rate is crucial for modeling traumatic cerebellum injury, which is in turn helpful for understanding the biomechanics of such injuries suffered in traffic accidents.

Material and Method

In this study, the infant porcine cerebellum tissue was given three loading velocities, ie, 2s^-1, 20s^-1 and 100s^-1 with up to 30% strain to investigate the tensile properties. At least six tensile tests for each strain rate were validly performed. Fung, Gent, Ogden and exponential models were applied to fit the constitutive equations, so as to obtain material parameters from the experimental data.

Results

The Lagrange stress of infant porcine cerebellum tissue in tension appeared to be no more than 3000Pa at each loading velocity. More specifically, the Lagrange stress at 30% strain was (393.7±84.4)Pa, (928.3±56.3)Pa and (2582.4±282.2)Pa at strain rates of 2s^-1, 20s^-1 and 100s^-1, respectively. Fung (0.833≤R²≤0.924), Gent (0.797≤R²≤0.875), Ogden (0.859≤R²≤0.944) and exponential (0.930≤R²≤0.972) models provided excellent fitting to experimental data up to 30% strain.

Conclusions

The infant cerebellum tissue shows a stiffer response with increase of the loading speed, indicating a strong strain-rate sensitivity. This study will enrich the knowledge on the material properties of infant brain tissue, which may augment the biofidelity of finite element model of human pediatric cerebellum.     

A dual functional fluorescent probe for glioma imaging mediated by Blood-brain barrier penetration and glioma cell targeting

Glioma is a huge threat for human being because it was hard to be completely removed owing to both the infiltrating growth of glioma cells and integrity of blood brain barrier. Thus effectively imaging the glioma cells may pave a way for surgical removing of glioma. In this study, a fluorescent probe, Cy3, was anchored onto the terminal of AS1411, a glioma cell targeting aptamer, and then TGN, a BBB targeting peptide, was conjugated with Cy3-AS1411 through a PEG linker. The production, named AsT, was characterized by gel electrophoresis, ¹H NMR and FTIR. In vitro cellular uptake and glioma spheroid uptake demonstrated the AsT could not only be uptaken by both glioma and endothelial cells, but also penetrate through endothelial cell monolayer and uptake by glioma spheroids. In vivo, AsT could effectively target to glioma with high intensity. In conclusion, AsT could be used as an effective glioma imaging probe.     

Characterization of Protein Flexibility Using Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering and Amplified Collective Motion Simulations

Large-scale flexibility within a multidomain protein often plays an important role in its biological function. Despite its inherent low resolution, small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) is well suited to investigate protein flexibility and determine, with the help of computational modeling, what kinds of protein conformations would coexist in solution. In this article, we develop a tool that combines SAXS data with a previously developed sampling technique called amplified collective motions (ACM) to elucidate structures of highly dynamic multidomain proteins in solution. We demonstrate the use of this tool in two proteins, bacteriophage T4 lysozyme and tandem WW domains of the formin-binding protein 21. The ACM simulations can sample the conformational space of proteins much more extensively than standard molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Therefore, conformations generated by ACM are significantly better at reproducing the SAXS data than are those from MD simulations.     

Inhibition of human lung adenocarcinoma growth using survivint34a by low-dose systematic administration

Anti-apoptosis plays an important role in tumour formation and development. Survivin is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family, which is a target for anti-cancer drug exploitation was replaced as development. We investigated the role of the homo dominant-negative mutant Survivin-T34A in suppressing human lung adenocarcinomas (A549). The anti-tumour activity of HSurvivinT34A plasmid was evaluated in the A549 cell line and nude mice bearing A549 subcutaneous tumours. Low-dose systemic administration was continuously used. The HSurvivinT34A plasmid (5 µg/one) complexed with a cationic liposome (DOTAP/Chol) significantly inhibited tumour growth in our model. We observed microvessel density degradation by CD31 immunohistochemistry and apoptotic cell increase by TUNEL assay, PI staining and flow cytometric analysis in the treated group. The present findings suggest that the HSurvivinT34A plasmid complexed with a cationic liposome may provide an effective approach to inhibit the growth of human lung adenocarcinomas in vitro and in vivo.     

Discovery of a vorapaxar analog with increased aqueous solubility

An analog of the thrombin receptor antagonist vorapaxar (SCH 530348) with increased aqueous solubility, compound 9c (SCH 602539), was discovered through incorporation of polar substituents on the pyridine ring of the himbacine-derived lead series. This analog retained the excellent potency, pharmacokinetic and safety properties of vorapaxar while increasing the aqueous solubility by 20-fold. Also presented are in vivo evaluations of this compound in a cynomolgus monkey platelet aggregation assay and in a Folts model of thrombosis in anesthetized monkeys.     

獾油促进深Ⅱ度烫伤小鼠创面愈合作用的研究

目的:检测獾油对小鼠深Ⅱ度烫伤创面愈合的促进作用.方法:制备小鼠深Ⅱ度烫伤模型,分为烫伤对照组(A组)、植物油治疗组(B组)和獾油治疗组(C组).创面依次用生理盐水纱布、植物油纱布、獾油纱布覆盖.无菌纱布包扎固定,每日换药一次.于伤后7天、10天、15天按照Nagelschmidt法观察并记录创面愈合面积,计算创面愈合率;取创面组织,制成石蜡切片,观察病理及组织形态学变化.结果:獾油能加速烫伤创面的再上皮化,促进创面的愈合;提高烫伤组织细胞的增殖活性;促进烫伤创面表皮干细胞的增殖分化.结论:獾油对深Ⅱ度烫伤创面愈合有促进作用     

Genetic and comparative genomics mapping reveals that a powdery mildew resistance gene Ml3D232 originating from wild emmer co-segregates with an NBS-LRR analog in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Powdery mildew caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici is one of the most important wheat diseases worldwide and breeding for resistance using diversified disease resistance genes is the most promising approach to prevent outbreaks of powdery mildew. A powdery mildew resistance gene, originating from wild emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum var. dicoccoides) accessions collected from Israel, has been transferred into the hexaploid wheat line 3D232 through crossing and backcrossing. Inoculation results with 21 B. graminis f. sp. tritici races indicated that 3D232 is resistant to all of the powdery mildew isolates tested. Genetic analyses of 3D232 using an F₂ segregating population and F₃ families indicated that a single dominant gene, Ml3D232, confers resistance in the host seedling stage. By applying molecular markers and bulked segregant analysis (BSA), we have identified polymorphic simple sequence repeats (SSR), expressed sequence tags (EST) and derived sequence tagged site (STS) markers to determine that the Ml3D232 is located on chromosome 5BL bin 0.59–0.76. Comparative genetic analyses using mapped EST markers and genome sequences of rice and Brachypodium established co-linearity of the Ml3D232 genomic region with a 1.4 Mb genomic region on Brachypodium distachyon chromosome 4, and a 1.2 Mb contig located on the Oryza sativa chromosome 9. Our comparative approach enabled us to develop new EST–STS markers and to delimit the genomic region carrying Ml3D232 to a 0.8 cM segment that is collinear with a 558 kb region on B. distachyon. Eight EST markers, including an NBS-LRR analog, co-segregated with Ml3D232 to provide a target site for fine genetic mapping, chromosome landing and map-based cloning of the powdery mildew resistance gene. This newly developed common wheat germplasm provides broad-spectrum resistance to powdery mildew and a valuable resource for wheat breeding programs.     

植物雌激素对大鼠成骨细胞TGF-β信号转导蛋白Smad4表达的影响

从分子水平探讨不同类别的植物雌激素对体外培养的新生大鼠颅骨成骨细胞基因表达的影响,用改良的组织块培养法分离培养新生大鼠颅骨成骨细胞,在成骨细胞体系中加入浓度均为10-7moL/L的不同类别的植物雌激素,采用Redzol总RNA提取试剂提取mRNA,采用RT-PCR的方法检测不同种类的植物雌激素在分子水平对成骨细胞基因表达影响的差别。结果显示各类植物雌激素组与空白组相比均能明显的促进Smad4mRNA的表达,其中属香豆素类的补骨脂素促进该基因表达的效果最为突出,明显的优于其它组别。香豆素类植物雌激素补骨脂素可能是通过Smad4这条途径来影响的成骨细胞的,其它类别的植物雌激素可能存在另外的作用途径,根据作用途径的差别我们可以选择不同的种类的植物雌激素进行多途径联合用药,寻找到药物有效成分的高效配伍,以期达到治疗骨质疏松的最佳疗效。     

中国苦苣苔科植物濒危现状与多样性保护(附表)

截至2021年12月31日，中国已知苦苣苔科植物共有805种(含种下等级，下同),隶属于45个属，主要分布在我国西南至华南地区，其中特有种和狭域种十分丰富。由于苦苣苔科大部分种类仅适应于某些特化的微生境，因此极易因自身原因和外界因素的干扰而致危。为更好地了解中国苦苣苔科已知物种的濒危风险，该研究在查阅相关文献且结合最近发表的新分类群中关于濒危等级评估的相关内容，辅以近年来实地调查掌握的第一手资料，对中国苦苣苔科已知物种的濒危等级进行了统计分析和重新评估。同时，依托中国野生植物保护协会苦苣苔专业委员会、广西植物研究所国家苦苣苔科种质资源库和中国苦苣苔科植物保育中心平台，首次创新了从新种发现和发表到濒危状况评估、即时启动保育和园艺新品种培育同步进行的物种保护新模式。分析结果表明，有必要提高政府相关部门对苦苣苔科植物多样性保护的重视程度。因此，建议：(1)进一步加强对中国苦苣苔科植物种质资源保护紧迫性的认识；(2)针对濒危的尤其是被评估为极危(CR)和濒危(EN)的类群开展“抢救性”保护、迁地与就地保护和野外回归；(3)积极开展新品种培育等方面的研究。以上结果和建议是将来苦苣苔科植物多样性保...     

Flagellin contamination of recombinant heat shock protein 70 is responsible for its activity on T cells

Heat shock proteins (Hsp) 60 and 70 have been intensively studied for their ability to activate innate immunity. Heat shock proteins had been shown to induce the activation of dendritic cells, T cells, and B cells. However, the possible contamination of endotoxin in heat shock protein preparations makes their function as an activator of immune system ambiguous. Here, we examined the ability of bacterial Hsp60 and Hsp70 to activate Jurkat T cells and primary T cells. We found that Burkholderia pseudomallei Hsp70 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis Hsp70 could costimulate Jurkat T cells to make IL-2 and signal through TLR5. This costimulatory activity is not due to endotoxin or contaminants signaling via TLR2 nor TLR4. However, recombinant Hsp70 expressed in Escherichia coli DeltafliC strain completely lost its ability to costimulate T cells. Thus, the activation of T cells by recombinant Hsp70 is ascribed to flagellin contamination.