Effect of different selenium source (sodium selenite and selenium yeast) on broiler chickens

A feeding experiment was carried out to compare the effects of supplementing a poultry meal-based diet with selenium as sodium selenite or selenium yeast on broiler chickens. Three groups with three replicates of broiler chickens (mean weight 710 ± 5.3 g) were given a basal diet either unsupplemented (control) or supplemented with 0.2 mg Se kg⁻¹ as sodium selenite (trial 1) or selenium yeast (trial 2) respectively, for 21 days. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) of trials 1 and 2 compared with the control. However, there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in FCR between trials 1 and 2. Final weight, survival rate and Daily Gain (DG) were not affected by the dietary Se source. Chickens fed the basal diet showed lower (P<0.05) selenium content in muscle, kidney, liver and pancreas compared to that fed selenium supplements (trials 1 and 2). Furthermore, trial 2 showed the highest value (P<0.05) among these treatments. However, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in muscle selenium content of chickens between trials 1 and 2. Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in broiler chickens plasma and liver of all selenium treatment groups (trials 1 and 2) were significantly different (P<0.05) from that of the control. The GSH-Px activity in plasma was higher (P<0.05) in trial 2 compared with trial 1 and the control. However, there was no difference (P>0.05) in hepatic glutathione peroxidase between trials 1 and 2 although the average value of GSH-Px activity in trial 2 presented the trend of increase.     

噬菌体对黏质沙雷菌感染 BA LB／c小鼠的保护作用

本文旨在观察噬菌体对黏质沙雷菌感染小鼠的治疗作用,为噬菌体疗法应用于细菌性感染提供依据。以黏质沙雷菌为宿主菌,采用双层琼脂噬斑法从污水中分离和纯化裂解性噬菌体。将最小致死量的黏质沙雷菌经腹腔感染BALB／c小鼠后,立即腹腔注射不同剂量的噬菌体,观察动物的生存率并确定噬菌体的保护剂量。在动物感染后的不同时间（0、20、40、60和180 min ）观察噬菌体疗法对动物存活率的影响。将噬菌体和细菌同时或分别注射动物后,分析噬菌体在动物体内的药代动力学。结果显示,经噬斑法从污水中分离出1株裂解性噬菌体（命名为φSM9‐3Y ）,电镜观察发现该噬菌体属有尾噬菌体目肌尾噬菌体科。动物腹腔感染黏质沙雷菌并立即给予噬菌体后发现,当噬菌体的保护剂量为108 PFU／ml时,动物的存活率为100％。动物感染后40和60 min给予噬菌体（1010 PFU／ml）治疗,动物的存活率为60％。药代动力学表明,将噬菌体和细菌同时注入动物体内,在6 h内噬菌体的滴度维持在1010 PFU／ml。结果提示,噬菌体对黏质沙雷菌所致动物腹腔内感染的治疗是有效的,提示针对细菌性感染的噬菌体疗法具有潜在的应用价值。     

植物叶片花青素的光破坏防御机制研究进展

植物花青素广泛分布在植物的根、茎、叶、花和果实等器官中,是植物形态建成过程中或响应逆境而产生的一种次生代谢物质.植物叶片中的花青素具有特殊的化学结构和光谱特性,在光破坏防御机制方面发挥了重要的作用,已经成为植物光合生理生态的研究热点.本文综述了近年来植物叶片花青素与光合作用的研究进展,从叶片花青素的分布、光谱特性及其与光合色素的关系等方面说明花青素对植物光合作用的影响,重点介绍了叶片花青素通过光吸收、抗氧化剂和渗透调节等在植物光破坏防御机制方面的作用,展望了今后的主要研究方向     

钙敏感受体基因、白介素6基因与中国人群骨密度相关联

钙敏感受体是钙新陈代谢的一个重要因素,白介素6是参与破骨细胞分化及功能的一种多效细胞因子。因此,钙敏感受体基因和白介素6基因都为骨矿物质代谢的重要候选基因。本研究旨在利用数量性状传递不平衡检测法,检测白介素6基因和钙敏感受体基因与腰椎和髋部骨密度的关联和连锁,以证实它们是否为影响中国人群骨密度的重要候选基因。本研究的样本为来自中国上海的401个中国核心家庭,共1,263个个体,均为汉族。每个核心家庭由父母双亲和至少一个20～45岁的健康绝经前女儿组成。腰椎与髋部的骨密度采用Hologic QDR 2000＋双能X射线扫描仪进行了检测。用PE377测序仪及相关软件分别对白介素6和钙敏感受体基因中的一个CA重复多态微卫星位点进行了基因分型。分析结果表明钙敏感受体基因（CA）12等位基因（P=0．006）及（Ca）18等位基因（P=0．02）与股骨颈骨密度之间存在显著的整体关联。白介素6基因的（CA）18等位基因与整个髋部（P=0．021）、股骨颈（P=0．041）以及转子间区（P=0．029）骨密度之间均存在显著的家庭内关联。白介素6基因（CA）n位点与腰椎BMD之间存在显著的连锁（P=0．001）。本研究结果表明白介素6基因和钙敏感受体基因可能为与中国人群骨密度变异相关联的候选基因。     

A Multifunctional Drug Combination Shows Highly Potent Therapeutic Efficacy against Human Cancer Xenografts in Athymic Mice

The tumor microenvironment plays a crucial role during tumor development. Integrated combination of drugs that target tumor microenvironment is a promising approach to anticancer therapy. Here, we report a multifunctional combination of low-cytotoxic drugs composed of dipyridamole, bestatin and dexamethasone (DBDx) which mainly acts on the tumor microenvironment shows highly potent antitumor efficacy in vivo. In mouse hepatoma H22 model, the triple drug combination showed synergistic and highly potent antitumor efficacy. The combination indices of various combinations of the triple drugs were between 0.2 and 0.5. DBDx inhibited the growth of a panel of human tumor xenografts and showed no obvious systemic toxicity. At tolerated doses, DBDx suppressed the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma BEL-7402, HepG2, and lung adenocarcinoma A549 xenografts by 94.5%, 93.7% and 96.9%, respectively. Clonogenic assay demonstrated that DBDx showed weak cytotoxicity. Western blot showed that Flk1 and Nos3 were down-regulated in the DBDx-treated group. Proteomic analysis showed that DBDx mainly affected the metabolic process and immune system process; in addition, the angiogenesis and VEGF signaling pathway were also affected. Conclusively, DBDx, a multifunctional drug combination of three low-cytotoxic drugs, shows synergistic and highly potent antitumor efficacy evidently mediated by the modulation of tumor microenvironment. Based on its low-cytotoxic attributes and its broad-spectrum antitumor therapeutic efficacy, this multifunctional combination might be useful in the treatment of cancers, especially those refractory to conventional chemotherapeutics.     

A variant-proof SARS-CoV-2 vaccine targeting HR1 domain in S2 subunit of spike protein

The emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, commonly with many mutations in S1 subunit of spike (S) protein are weakening the efficacy of the current vaccines and antibody therapeutics. This calls for the variant-proof SARS-CoV-2 vaccines targeting the more conserved regions in S protein. Here, we designed a recombinant subunit vaccine, HR121, targeting the conserved HR1 domain in S2 subunit of S protein. HR121 consisting of HR1–linker1–HR2–linker2–HR1, is conformationally and functionally analogous to the HR1 domain present in the fusion intermediate conformation of S2 subunit. Immunization with HR121 in rabbits and rhesus macaques elicited highly potent cross-neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, particularly Omicron sublineages. Vaccination with HR121 achieved near-full protections against prototype SARS-CoV-2 infection in hACE2 transgenic mice, Syrian golden hamsters and rhesus macaques, and effective protection against Omicron BA.2 infection in Syrian golden hamsters. This study demonstrates that HR121 is a promising candidate of variant-proof SARS-CoV-2 vaccine with a novel conserved target in the S2 subunit for application against current and future SARS-CoV-2 variants.Subject terms: Mechanisms of disease, Molecular modelling     

假单胞菌降解微囊藻毒素的效能及酶作用机理

以从福州市某富营养化水库底泥中筛选出的假单胞菌M-6为研究对象,分别考察接种量、温度、供氧量(转速)、pH值、微囊藻毒素MCLR初始浓度等条件因素对假单胞菌M-6降解MCLR的影响,并探讨假单胞菌M-6降解MCLR的分子生物学机理.结果表明,当接种量为10%时,菌体的降解效果较好,6d的降解率可达90%;降解反应的最适pH为7.0,最佳温度为30℃,摇床转速控制在150 r/min;MCLR初始浓度过高都将影响假单胞菌M-6对碳源和氮源的吸收和利用,最佳浓度为15.7 mg/L.SDS-PAGE电泳分析表明,假单胞菌M-6降解藻毒素过程中,主要有3种酶参与反应,且这3种酶都是细胞内本身所含有的组织酶.     

Monitoring of the bacterial and fungal biodiversity and dynamics during Massa Medicata Fermentata fermentation

The microbial community dynamics play an important role during Massa Medicata Fermentata (MMF) fermentation. In this study, bacterial and fungal communities were investigated based on the culture-dependent method and polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis. Meanwhile the dynamic changes of digestive enzyme activities were also examined. Plating results showed that MMF fermentation comprised two stages: pre-fermentation stage (0–4 days) was dominated by bacterial community and post-fermentation stage (5–9 days) was dominated by fungal community. The amount of bacteria reached the highest copy number 1.2?×?10¹⁰ CFU/g at day 2, but the fungi counts reached 6.3?×?10⁵ CFU/g at day 9. A total of 170 isolates were closely related to genera Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Mucor, Saccharomyces, Rhodotorula, and Amylomyces. DGGE analysis showed a clear reduction of bacterial and fungal diversity during fermentation, and the dominant microbes belonged to genera Enterobacter, Pediococcus, Pseudomonas, Mucor, and Saccharomyces. Digestive enzyme assay showed filter paper activity; the activities of amylase, carboxymethyl cellulase, and lipase reached a peak at day 4; and the protease activity constantly increased until the end of the fermentation. In this study, we carried out a detailed and comprehensive analysis of microbial communities as well as four digestive enzymes' activities during MMF fermentation process. The monitoring of bacterial and fungal biodiversity and dynamics during MMF fermentation has significant potential for controlling the fermentation process.