Modulation of muscarinic receptor-mediated adenylate cyclase and phospholipase C responses in rat retina

1. Agonist activation of rat retina muscarinic receptors results in suppression of cyclic AMP (cAMP) generation and enhanced phosphoinositide hydrolysis. 2. Pharmacological manipulations that elevate cAMP or stable analogues of cAMP attenuate the acetylcholine (ACh)-induced enhancement of phosphoinositide hydrolysis. We postulate that cross-talk between adenylate cyclase and phospholipase C signal transducing systems probably exists in rat retina, as has been described for other systems. 3. Intraocular administration of pertussis toxin attenuated the response of both adenylate cyclase and phospholipase C to muscarinic stimulation, suggesting that some retinal muscarinic receptors are apparently coupled to their effector systems via pertussis toxin sensitive G proteins.     

Differential nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of the nucleoprotein of influenza a viruses and association with host tropism

The nucleoprotein (NP) of influenza A virus plays a crucial role in virus replication, infectivity, and host adaptation. As a major component of the viral ribonucleoprotein complexes (vRNP), NP initiates vRNP shuttling between the nucleus and cytoplasm in the host cell. However, the characteristics of the nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of NP from H1N1 influenza A virus still remain unclear. In the present study, the subcellular localization and the related key residues of the H1N1 influenza virus NP were identified and evaluated. The NP of influenza virus A/WSN/33 (H1N1; WSN) displayed a more obvious nuclear accumulation than A/Anhui/1/2013 (H7N9; AH) and A/chicken/Shandong/lx1023/2007 (H9N2; SD). NP residue K4, located in NLS1, and residue F253, located in NES3, from WSN NP are not conserved in H7N9 and H9N2, which instead encode Q4 and I253, respectively. Crucially, these residues are involved in the regulation of NP nucleocytoplasmic shuttling through interactions with CRM1 and importin‐α. Moreover, residues at position 253 also play important roles in the replication of the virus, resulting in an increase in vRNP polymerase activity and an alteration of the cell tropism and pathogenicity in mice. The present data revealed a pivotal role of the Q4 and I253 residues of NP from H7N9 in enhancing the cytoplasmic accumulation of NP and vRNP activity compared to the K4 and F253 residues in WSN‐NP. In addition, an F253I substitution in the NP of WSN altered the survival ratio of infected mice and the growth curve in infected avian‐origin cells (DF‐1). The current data indicate that the F253I mutation results in attenuated pathogenicity of the virus in mice and altered cell tropism. The present study demonstrated the dissimilarity in subcellular NP transport processes between H1N1 virus WSN and other influenza A virus strains, as well as uncovered the mechanism responsible for this difference.     

The protein SET binds the neuronal Cdk5 activator p35nck5a and modulates Cdk5/p35nck5a activity.

The neuronal Cdk5 kinase is composed of the catalytic subunit Cdk5 and the activator protein p35(nck5a) or its isoform, p39(nck5ai). To identify novel p35(nck5a)- and p39(nck5ai)-binding proteins, fragments of p35(nck5a) and p39(nck5ai) were utilized in affinity isolation of binding proteins from rat brain homogenates, and the isolated proteins were identified using mass spectrometry. With this approach, the nuclear protein SET was shown to interact with the N-terminal regions of p35(nck5a) and p39(nck5ai). Our detailed characterization showed that the SET protein formed a complex with Cdk5/p35(nck5a) through its binding to p35(nck5a). The p35(nck5a)-interacting region was mapped to a predicted alpha-helix in SET. When cotransfected into COS-7 cells, SET and p35(nck5a) displayed overlapping intracellular distribution in the nucleus. The nuclear co-localization was corroborated by immunostaining data of endogenous SET and Cdk5/p35(nck5a) from cultured cortical neurons. Finally, we demonstrated that the activity of Cdk5/p35(nck5a), but not that of Cdk5/p25(nck5a), was enhanced upon binding to the SET protein. The tail region of SET, which is rich in acidic residues, is required for the stimulatory effect on Cdk5/p35(nck5a).     

Minimum sample sizes for invasion genomics: Empirical investigation in an invasive whitefly

Analysis of population genetics provides insights into the evolutionary processes, among which the sample size choice is per se a crucial issue in the analysis. Genome‐wide high‐throughput techniques based on RADseq have been increasingly used in studies on the population genomics of invasive species. However, there is little information available regarding optimal sample sizes for analyzing population genomics of invasive species. In this study, we first use type IIB endonucleases restriction site‐associated DNA (2b‐RAD) to mine thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for native and introduced populations in Q1 clade (SPB and 17JN) and Q2 clade (ISQ and UAS0601) of the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) MED (also known as B. tabaci biotype Q). Then, we used resampling techniques to create simulated populations with a random subset of individuals and 3,000 SNPs to determine how many individuals should be sampled for accurate estimates of intra‐ and interpopulation genetic diversity. We calculated the intrapopulation genetic diversity parameters (unbiased expected heterozygosity, observed heterozygosity, and the number of effect alleles) and pairwise genetic differentiation F_ST; finally, an ad hoc statistic, ΔK, was used to determine the optimal value. Our results showed that a sample size greater than four individuals (n ≥ 4) has little impact on estimates of genetic diversity within whitefly populations; moreover, precise estimate of F_ST can be easily achieved at a very small simple size (n = 3 or 4). Our results will provide in‐depth understanding of the optimization of sampling schemes in population genomics of invasive species.     

Capillary electrophoresis coupled with electrochemiluminescence for determination of atomoxetine hydrochloride and the study on its interactions with three proteins

A simple, rapid and sensitive method for the determination of atomoxetine hydrochloride (AH) by capillary electrophoresis with electrochemiluminescence detection (CE‐ECL) using tris(2,2′‐bipyridyl) ruthenium (II) was developed. Under optimized conditions, the determinations of AH in capsules and rat plasmas and the study on its interactions with three plasma proteins, including bovine serum albumin, cytochrome c and myoglobin were performed successfully. Relative to some previous studies, in this paper the methodologies for the determination of AH in aqueous solution and spiked plasma systems were established, respectively. By comparing the difference between the two work curves of two systems, the matrix effect in plasma samples on the determination of AH by the CE‐ECL method was discussed in detail. The results indicated that the effect of the matrix in plasma samples should not be ignored even if no obvious interference was found in the electropherograms and the establishment of method validation in complex samples by the CE‐ECL method was necessary. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

内皮素对离体大鼠主动脉及主动脉平滑肌细胞作用的研究

本研究着重探讨内皮素对大鼠主动脉的收缩作用及对主动脉平滑肌细胞细胞周期及能量代谢的影响。浓度为1.0～18.0nmol/L的内皮素可引起大鼠主动脉产生浓度依赖性收缩,其EC_(50)为3.75±0.75nmol/L。正常对照组中平滑肌细胞S G_2M期细胞的比例基本稳定在26.3％～29.6％的范围内;浓度为10.0和1000.0pmol/L的内皮素可使S G_2M期细胞比例明显增高,上述变化呈良好的浓度依赖性(P<0.01);内皮素作用3～24h,随作用时间延长,S G_2M期细胞比例逐步增多,呈明显的时间依赖性(P<0.01)。10.0pmol/L的内皮素作用10min后ATP含量增至对照组的139.05±1.11％(P<0.01);20min后ATP含量为对照组的65.25±5.09％(P<0.01),低于对照组水平。结果表明,内皮素具有缩血管作用及促平滑肌细胞增殖作用,上述作用可能在高血压的发病机制中有一定的意义。     

木霉菌合成银纳米粒子条件的优化及其对甜瓜尖孢镰刀菌抑制作用

随着绿色环保观念的普及,生物合成金属纳米粒子的方法备受青睐。纳米银(Silver nanoparticles,AgNPs)由于其抗菌活性强且不易产生抗药性等特点在农业病害防治中越来越受到关注。文中利用橘绿木霉Trichoderma citrinoviride和毛簇木霉Trichoderma velutinous研究了AgNPs的最适合成条件和AgNPs对尖孢镰刀菌抑菌活性。结果表明,所有合成的AgNPs均在400–500 nm处有吸收峰,两种木霉生物合成AgNPs的最适合成条件为CL法(菌丝滤液)静置光照培养,底物AgNO₃浓度为2.0mmol/L,pH值为7,反应温度为45℃。橘绿木霉和毛簇木霉合成的AgNPs均对尖孢镰刀菌有抑制作用,抑菌效果随浓度的增加而增大,AgNPs在浓度为200 mg/L时,抑菌率分别达到33.745%和36.083%。     

一个植物乳杆菌新质粒的序列分析与归类

[目的]分离鉴定植物乳杆菌PC518的质粒并分析滚环复制p C194家族复制起点特征。[方法]从植物乳杆菌PC518中提取质粒,HindⅢ单酶切后克隆测序,然后用反向PCR方法验证质粒序列的完整性。使用DNAMAN V6. 0软件和MEGA X软件对43个p C194家族质粒的复制起点序列和复制蛋白进行比对分析。[结果]分离得到一个3 325 bp的新质粒p LP325。43个p C194家族质粒复制起点中:24个在nick上、下游均有反向重复序列,12个只在nick上游有反向重复序列,4个只在下游有反向重复序列。复制蛋白的聚类与复制起点中反向重复序列的位置是对应的。[结论]p LP325的复制方式推定为滚环复制,属于p C194家族。p C194家族复制起点的bind以反向重复序列为特征,位于nick上游或下游。     

芦笋提取液体外抗氧化、细胞毒作用及抑制α-葡萄糖苷酶活性研究

本文研究了芦笋提取液的抗氧化活性、对结肠癌细胞的细胞毒作用及对α-葡萄糖苷酶活性的抑制作用。通过研究其对DPPH自由基、羟基自由基及亚硝酸盐的清除能力来评价芦笋提取液的抗氧化活性,通过MTT法研究了芦笋提取液对结肠癌细胞株的细胞毒作用,通过α-葡萄糖苷酶体外抑制试验观察了芦笋提取液对大鼠小肠α-葡萄糖苷酶活性的影响。研究结果表明,芦笋提取液清除羟基自由基和亚硝酸盐的能力强于清除DPPH自由基的能力,一定浓度的芦笋提取液对结肠癌细胞株具有较强的细胞毒作用,并能够有效抑制大鼠小肠α-葡萄糖苷酶活性。