Effect of exogenous spermidine on polyamine metabolism in water hyacinth leaves under mercury stress

The influence of exogenous spermidine (Spd) on arginine decarboxylase (ADC), ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), polyamine oxidase (PAO) activities and polyamines (PAs), proline contents in water hyacinth leaves under Mercury (Hg) stress was investigated after 6 days treatment. The results showed that free putrescine (Put) content increased, the contents of free spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm) and the (Spd + Spm)/Put ratio in water hyacinth leaves decreased significantly with the increase of the Hg concentrations. Hg stress also disturbed the activities of ADC, ODC and PAO and caused changes on proline content. Compared to the Hg-treatment only, exogenous Spd (0.1 mM) significantly reduced the accumulation of free Put, increased the contents of free Spd and Spm and the ratio of (Spd + Spm)/Put in water hyacinth leaves. Furthermore, exogenous Spd enhanced the activities of ADC, ODC and PAO and significantly increased proline content. The PS-conjugated PAs and PIS-bound PAs changed in the same trend as free PAs. These results suggest that exogenous Spd can alleviate the metabolic disturbance of polyamines caused by Hg in water hyacinth leaves.     

香豆素的^1H—NMR检测及其在阿魏亚族化学分类中的应用

利用１ＨＮＭＲ法检测中国阿魏亚族（ＦｅｒｕｌｉｎｅａｅＤｒｕｄｅ）８属２７种３变种根部乙醚提取物的香豆素成分类型,其中主要为线型二氢呋喃型香豆素（Ⅰ）和角型二氢吡喃型香豆素（Ⅳ）,线型二氢吡喃型香豆素（Ⅲ）和角型二氢呋喃型香豆素（Ⅱ）较少。据此,将８属分成４类：（１）阿魏属（ＦｅｒｕｌａＬ．）、球根阿魏属（ＳｃｈｕｍａｎｎｉａＫｕｎｔｚｅ）、簇花芹属（ＳｏｒａｎｔｈｕｓＬｅｄｅｂ．）和伊犁芹属（ＴａｌａｓｉａＫｏｒｏｖ．）未测出（不含）香豆素;（２）弓翅芹属（ＡｒｃｕａｔｏｐｔｅｒｕｓＳｈｅｈｅｔＳｈａｎ）和川明参属（ＣｈｕａｎｍｉｎｓｈｅｎＳｈｅｈｅｔＳｈａｎ）含Ⅰ类;（３）胀果芹属（ＰｈｌｏｊｏｄｉｃａｒｐｕｓＴｕｒｃｚ．ｅｘＢｅｓ．）含Ⅳ类;（４）前胡属（ＰｅｕｃｅｄａｎｕｍＬ．）含Ⅰ类和Ⅳ类。上述结果支持将球根阿魏、簇花芹和伊犁芹３个属并入阿魏属,另３个寡种属与前胡属关系最密切。所分析的前胡属１７种２变种可分成５组,其中不含香豆素的剌尖前胡和含Ⅲ类香豆素的紫花前胡及其变种最特殊,支持将它们分出前胡属的处理。     

栀子提取物ZG对单纯疱疹病毒1型细胞吸附的影响

采用负染技术,借助高倍电子显微镜观察栀子提取物ZG作用后,病毒颗粒及其病毒吸附蛋白(virus attach-ment protein,VAP)的变化,考察药物是否直接改变或破坏病毒包膜蛋白的结构,使其失去感染性;采用异硫氰酸荧光素(fluorescein isothiocyanate,FITC)标记病毒,以肝素钠为参照,借助冷却慢扫描电荷耦合器件荧光成象技术,用Aquacomos软件进行图象分析,以探讨栀子提取物ZG不同加药方式对HSV-1吸附量的影响。结果表明栀子提取物ZG对HSV-1包膜表面的VAP无直接破坏作用,不影响病毒对Hep-2细胞的感染性;先加入肝素钠再进行病毒吸附及肝素钠病毒同时加入培养细胞这两种用药方式可明显减少细胞表面病毒的吸附量;栀子提取物ZG各种不同加药方式均能阻止HSV-1对Hep-2细胞表面的吸附,使病毒吸附量减少。     

Loss of viability during freeze–thaw of intact and adherent human embryonic stem cells with conventional slow-cooling protocols is predominantly due to␣apoptosis rather than cellular necrosis

Summary A major challenge in the widespread application of human embryonic stem (hES) cells in clinical therapy and basic scientific research is the development of efficient cryopreservation protocols. Conventional slow-cooling protocols utilizing standard cryoprotectant concentrations i.e. 10% (v/v) DMSO, yield extremely low survival rates of <5% as reported by previous studies. This study characterized cell death within frozen–thawed hES colonies that were cryopreserved under standard conditions. Surprisingly, our results showed that immediately after post-thaw washing, the overwhelming majority of hES cells were viable (≈98%), as assessed by the trypan blue exclusion test. However, when the freshly-thawed hES colonies were incubated within a 37 °C incubator, there was observed to be a gradual reduction in cell viability over time. The kinetics of cell death was drastically slowed-down by keeping the freshly-thawed hES colonies at 4 °C, with >90% of cells remaining viable after 90 min of incubation at 4 °C. This effect was reversible upon re-exposing the cells to physiological temperature. The vast majority of low temperature-exposed hES colonies gradually underwent cell death upon incubation for a further 90 min at 37 °C. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick-end-labeling (TUNEL) assay confirmed apoptosis-induced nuclear DNA fragmentation in frozen–thawed hES cells after incubation at 37 °C for 90 min. Expression of active caspase-3 enzyme, which is another prominent marker of apoptosis, was confirmed by immunocytochemical staining, while transmission electron microscopy showed typical ultrastructural features of apoptosis such as chromatin condensation and margination to the nuclear membrane. Hence, our results demonstrated that apoptosis instead of cellular necrosis, is the major mechanism of the loss of viability of cryopreserved hES cells during freeze–thawing with conventional slow-cooling protocols.     

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Exerts a Protective Role in MPTP-Induced Parkinson’s Disease via the TLR4/PI3K/AKT/NF-κB Pathway Stimulated by α-Synuclein

Neurochemical Research - Gut microbiota is closely related to the Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathogenesis. Additionally, aggregation of α-synuclein (α-syn) is central to PD...     

Bt rice expressing Cry1Ab does not stimulate an outbreak of its non-target herbivore, Nilaparvata lugens

In this study, the non-target effects of Bt rice “KMD2” expressing a Cry1Ab protein on the performance of the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, over multiple generations were evaluated under laboratory and field conditions. In the laboratory, BPH was reared to observe the impact of the Bt rice as compared to its parental non-Bt cultivar Xiushui 11, while the population dynamics and oviposition performance of BPH were investigated in the field. The survival of BPH nymphs fed Bt and non-Bt rice did not differ significantly. The nymph developmental duration of BPH was significantly delayed by the Bt rice by comparison with the non-Bt rice for the 1st and 2nd but not the 4th generation. Most importantly, the fecundity of BPH on the Bt rice was significantly decreased in every generation when compared with the non-Bt rice. In the field investigations, the population density of BPH nymphs was significantly lower in the Bt rice field. However, the temporal pattern of population dynamics of BPH adults was similar between the Bt and non-Bt rice, presumably due to migratory interference of the adults. In the Bt rice field, the percentage of tillers with eggs and the number of eggs per tiller were also significantly lower from tillering to mature stage. Additionally, Cry1Ab protein could not be detected in guts from single BPH adults. In general, our results suggest that the Bt rice “KMD2” could not stimulate an outbreak of BPH.     

一个新水稻温敏感叶色突变体的遗传分析及其基因分子定位

在粳稻品种嘉花1号(Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica ‘Jiahua No.1’)种子经⁶⁰Co γ射线辐照处理的后代中, 发现了1个低温敏感叶色突变体mr21。在较低温度(<25.0°C)条件下, 该突变体幼苗叶色呈黄色; 随着温度逐渐升高, 叶色由黄转绿,其临界温度约为27.5°C; 在低温条件下, 突变体幼苗总叶绿素含量以及叶绿素a、b的含量均较野生型嘉花1号明显下降, 表明该突变体的叶色性状具有明显的温敏感性。遗传分析表明, 该突变体叶色性状受1对隐性核基因控制, 暂将该突变基因命名为thermo-sensitive leaf-color 1(tsl-1)。以该突变体与籼稻9311(Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica ‘9311’)杂交的F₂代分离群体作为定位群体, 利用SSR分子标记将tsl-1基因初步定位在水稻(Oryza sativa)第1号染色体短臂上的MM1799与RM8132分子标记之间, 其遗传距离分别为2.4 cM和3.0 cM; 然后, 进一步利用扩大F₂代群体及新发展的分子标记将tsl-1基因定位在分子标记InDel2与InDel4之间的198 kb内。研究结果为今后对该基因的克隆和功能分析奠定了基础。     

Morphological bases of suppressive and facilitative spatial summation in the striate cortex of the cat

In V1 of cats and monkeys, activity of neurons evoked by stimuli within the receptive field can be modulated by stimuli in the extra-receptive field (ERF). This modulating effect can be suppressive (S-ERF) or facilitatory (F-ERF) and plays different roles in visual information processing. Little is known about the cellular bases underlying the different types of ERF modulating effects. Here, we focus on the morphological differences between the S-ERF and F-ERF neurons. Single unit activities were recorded from V1 of the cat. The ERF properties of each neuron were assessed by area-response functions using sinusoidal grating stimuli. On completion of the functional tests, the cells were injected intracellularly with biocytin. The labeled cells were reconstructed and morphologically characterized in terms of the ERF modulation effects. We show that the vast majority of S-ERF neurons and F-ERF neurons are pyramidal cells and that the two types of cells clearly differ in the size of the soma, in complexity of dendrite branching, in spine size and density, and in the range of innervations of the axon collaterals. We propose that different pyramidal cell phenotypes reflect a high degree of specificity of neuronal connections associated with different types of spatial modulation.     

黑木耳多糖对急性脑缺血/再灌注损伤影响的研究

目的:观察黑木耳多糖(APP)对急性脑缺血大鼠的保护作用并探讨其相关机制。方法:成年雄性SD大鼠给予不同浓度的AAP灌胃20d,每天1次,腹腔注射银杏叶提取物(ginkgo biloba extract,EGb671)作为阳性对照,20d后实施右侧大脑中动脉栓塞(MCAO)建立局灶性脑缺血模型。MCAO60min后复灌,复灌24h后进行Longa神经功能损伤评分,并用2,3,5-氯化三苯基四氮唑(TTC)染色法测定脑梗死面积。复灌48h后用TUNEL免疫组化检测神经元凋亡,测定脑组织线粒体内活性氧簇(ROS)的生成量判断氧化应激水平。结果:黑木耳多糖能降低神经功能损伤评分,减小脑梗死面积,减少神经元凋亡,并且能够使缺血复灌脑组织线粒体ROS生成显著减少。高剂量AAP组的凋亡神经元数量、ROS生成量和阳性对照组相比有显著性差异。结论:黑木耳多糖能够对抗大鼠的局灶性脑缺血损伤,其保护作用和减轻氧化应激水平有关,并优于银杏叶提取物。     

Characterization of the putative tryptophan synthase β-subunit from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The increasing emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis （TB） poses a serious threat to the control of this disease. It is in urgent need to develop new TB drugs. Tryptophan biosynthetic pathway plays an important role in the growth and replication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis （Mtb）. The β-subunit of tryptophan synthase （TrpB） catalyzes the last step of the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway, and it might be a potential target for TB drug design. In this study, we overexpressed, purified, and characterized the putative TrpB-encoding gene Rv1612 in Mtb H37Rv. Results showed that Mtb His-TrpB optimal enzymatic activity is at pH 7.8 with 0.15 M Na^＋ or 0.18 M Mg^2＋ at 37℃. Structure analysis indicated that Mtb TrpB exhibited a typical β/α barrel structure. The amino acid residues believed to interact with the enzyme cofactor pyridoxal-5＇-phosphate were predicted by homology modeling and structure alignment. The role of these residues in catalytic activity of the Mtb His-TrpB was confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. These results provided reassuring structural information for drug design based on TrpB.