Meteorological factors and ambient bacterial levels in a subtropical urban environment

We conducted a study to investigate the characteristics and determinants of ambient bacteria in Taipei, Taiwan from August 2004 to March 2005. We monitored ambient culturable bacteria in Shin-Jhuang City, an urban area in the Taipei metropolitan areas, using duplicate Burkard Portable Air Samplers with R2A agar. The average concentration of total bacteria was 1,986 colony-forming units per cubic meter of air (CFU/m³) (median?=?780 CFU/m³) over the study period, with the highest level in autumn. Most bacterial taxa had similar seasonal variation, with higher concentrations in autumn and winter. During the study period, Gram negative rods and cocci were predominant. Multivariate analyses indicated that wind speed and wind direction significantly influenced ambient bacterial distribution. Temperature and relative humidity were also important environmental factors positively associated with ambient bacterial concentrations. We observed statistically significant relationships between ambient bacteria and air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide (SO₂), ozone, particulate matter (aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM₁₀)), methane and total hydrocarbons. The concentrations of methane and total hydrocarbons during the previous day were positively associated with total bacteria and Gram negative rods, respectively. Ozone level on the previous day had a negative relationship with Gram negative cocci. SO₂ level with a 3-day lag was positively correlated with concentrations of both total bacteria and Gram negative cocci. In the future, more longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the relationships and possible mechanisms between ambient bacteria and meteorological factors, as well as to evaluate the ecological and health impacts of ambient bacteria.     

The effects of transported Asian dust on the composition and concentration of ambient fungi in Taiwan

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of transported Asian dust and other environmental parameters on the levels and compositions of ambient fungi in the atmosphere of northern Taiwan. We monitored Asian dust events in Taipei County, Taiwan from January 2003 to June 2004. We used duplicate Burkard portable air samplers to collect ambient fungi before, during, and after dust events. Six transported Asian dust events were monitored during the study period. Elevated concentrations of Aspergillus (A. niger, specifically), Coelomycetes, Rhinocladiella, Sporothrix and Verticillium were noted (p < 0.05) during Asian dust periods. Botryosporium and Trichothecium were only recovered during dust event days. Multiple regression analysis showed that fungal levels were positively associated with temperature, wind speed, rainfall, non-methane hydrocarbons and particulates with aerodynamic diameters ≤10 μm (PM₁₀), and negatively correlated with relative humidity and ozone. Our results demonstrated that Asian dust events affected ambient fungal concentrations and compositions in northern Taiwan. Ambient fungi also had complex dynamics with air pollutants and meteorological factors. Future studies should explore the health impacts of ambient fungi during Asian dust events, adjusting for the synergistic/antagonistic effects of weather and air pollutants.     

The protective effects of tanshinone IIA on neurotoxicity induced by β-amyloid protein through calpain and the p35/Cdk5 pathway in primary cortical neurons

The characteristic pathological change of Alzheimer's disease (AD) include deposits of β-amyloid protein (Aβ) in brain, neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), as well as a few neuronal loss. Evidence shows that Aβ causes calcium influx and induces the cleavage of p35 into p25. Furthermore, the binding of p25 to cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) constitutively activates Cdk5. The p25/Cdk5 complex then hyperphosphorylates tau. Tanshinone IIA (tanIIA), a natural product extracted from Chinese herbal medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza BUNGE, has been reported to exert antioxidative activity. However, its neuroprotective activity remains unclear. The present study determined whether tanIIA protects neurons against Aβ(25-35)-induced cytotoxicity and detected the association of this protective effect with calpain and the p35/Cdk5 pathway. The results showed that tanIIA protected neurons against the neurotoxicity of Aβ(25-35), increased the viability of neurons, decreased expression of phosphorylated tau in neurons induced by Aβ(25-35), improved the impairment of the cell ultrastructure (such as nuclear condensation and fragmentation, and neurofibril collapse). Further more, we found that tanIIA maintained the normal expression of p35 on peripheral membranes, and decreased p25 expression in the cytoplasm. TanIIA also inhibited the translocation of Cdk5 from the nucleus into the cytoplasm of primary neurons induced by Aβ(25-35). These data suggested that tanIIA possessed neuroprotective action and the protection may involve in calpain and the p35/Cdk5 pathway.     

CYP9A17v2组成型过量表达参与棉铃虫对拟除虫菊酯的抗性

微粒体细胞色素P450氧化酶介导的解毒代谢增强是棉铃虫Helicoverpa armigera对拟除虫菊酯类杀虫剂产生抗性的主要原因。作者前期的研究表明, CYP9A12和CYP9A14组成型过量表达与棉铃虫YGF品系对拟除虫菊酯的高水平抗性相关, CYP9A12和CYP9A14的功能表达研究结果为其参与对拟除虫菊酯抗性提供了直接证据。本研究通过对棉铃虫CYP9A17v2的克隆、mRNA表达水平和功能表达的研究, 以期明确该基因是否参与棉铃虫对拟除虫菊酯的抗性。结果表明: CYP9A17v2与CYP9A12的氨基酸序列具有很高的相似性（94%）。与棉铃虫对照品系（YG）相比, CYP9A17v2在YGF抗性品系末龄幼虫脂肪体中具有10.9倍的组成型过量表达, 而在中肠中未发现过量表达。用酿酒酵母Saccharomyces cerevisiae异源表达的CYP9A17v2能够代谢多种拟除虫菊酯（顺式氰戊菊酯、溴氰菊酯和氟氯氰菊酯）。据此认为CYP9A17v2组成型过量表达参与了棉铃虫对拟除虫菊酯的抗性。至此, CYP9A亚家族中已有3个P450基因（CYP9A12, CYP9A14 和 CYP9A17v2）被证实参与了棉铃虫对拟除虫菊酯的氧化解毒代谢。     

棉铃虫细胞色素P450基因CYP9A17v2核心启动子区缺失分析

CYP9A17v2的过量表达与棉铃虫Helicoverpa armigera对拟除虫菊酯类杀虫剂的抗性相关。为了研究CYP9A17v2表达调控机制, 对CYP9A17v2核心启动子区域的功能进行了分析;构建了含荧光素酶报告基因和CYP9A17v2启动子不同长度缺失片段(-1 095~+43)的重组质粒, 转染Sf9细胞瞬时表达后用双荧光素酶报告基因检测系统检测启动子活性。功能分析结果表明: 所有的7个缺失片段均具有启动子活性, -197~+43启动子区域的转录活性最高。在CYP9A17v2基因5′-调控区-197~-113区域内可能存在转录增强因子的结合位点, 而在-1 095~-197区域内可能存在转录抑制因子的结合位点。本研究为探索棉铃虫CYP9A17v2过量表达的转录调控机理奠定了重要基础。     

Caspases抑制剂的研究进展

目前证明Caspases蛋白酶家族在细胞凋亡的过程中起关键作用,因此也就成为药物发现的潜在靶点。Caspases抑制剂被认为是治疗细胞过度凋亡引起的相关疾病的有效手段。本文着重介绍了近些年来发展的Caspases抑制剂,特别是那些处于临床或接近临床阶段的候选药物。     

Low titers of measles antibody in mothers whose infants suffered from measles before eligible age for measles vaccination

Background

Mink enteritis virus (MEV) causes a highly contagious viral disease of mink with a worldwide distribution. MEV has a linear, single-stranded, negative-sense DNA with a genome length of approximately 5,000 bp. The VP2 protein is the major structural protein of the parvovirus encoded by the vp2 gene. VP2 is highly antigenic and plays important roles in determining viral host ranges and tissue tropisms. This study describes the bionomics and vp2 gene analysis of a mutated strain, MEV-DL, which was isolated recently in China and outlines its homologous relationships with other selected strains registered in Genbank.

Results

The MEV-DL strain can infect F81 cells with cytopathic effects. Pig erythrocytes were agglutinated by the MEV-DL strain. The generation of MEV-DL in F81 cells could infect mink within three months and cause a disease that was similar to that caused by wild-type MEV. A comparative analysis of the vp2 gene nucleotide (nt) sequence of MEV-DL showed that this was more than 99% homologous with other mink enteritis parvoviruses in Genbank. However, the nucleotide residues at positions 1,065 and 1,238 in the MEV-DL strain of the vp2 gene differed from those of all the other MEV strains described previously. It is noteworthy that the mutation at the nucleotide residues position 1,238 led to Asp/Gly replacement. This may lead to structural changes. A phylogenetic tree and sequence distance table were obtained, which showed that the MEV-DL and ZYL-1 strains had the closest inheritance distance.

Conclusions

A new variation of the vp2 gene exists in the MEV-DL strain, which may lead to structural changes of the VP2 protein. Phylogenetic analysis showed that MEV-DL may originate from the ZYL-1 strain in DaLian.