Ginsenoside Rh2 mitigates doxorubicin‐induced cardiotoxicity by inhibiting apoptotic and inflammatory damage and weakening pathological remodelling in breast cancer‐bearing mice

ObjectivesThere are presently a few viable ways to reduce cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin (Dox). The combination of chemotherapy agents with natural compounds delivers greater efficacy and reduces adverse effects in recent researches for cancer treatment. Here, we examined the potential effect of ginsenoside Rh2 on a Dox‐based regimen in chemotherapy treatment.Materials and MethodsHuman breast tumour (MDA‐MB‐231) xenograft nude mice, human cardiac ventricle fibroblasts, and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were employed in the present study. Histology, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, western blot, antibody array, and RNA‐sequencing analyses were utilized to assess the protective effect of Rh2 on cardiotoxicity induced by Dox and the underlying mechanisms.ResultsRh2‐reduced cardiotoxicity by inhibiting the cardiac histopathological changes, apoptosis and necrosis, and consequent inflammation. Pathological remodelling was attenuated by reducing fibroblast to myofibroblast transition (FMT) and endothelial–mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in hearts. RNA‐sequencing analysis showed that Dox treatment predominantly targets cell cycle and attachment of microtubules and boosted tumour necrosis, chemokine and interferon‐gamma production, response to cytokine and chemokine, and T cell activation, whereas Rh2 regulated these effects. Intriguingly, Rh2 also attenuated fibrosis via promoting senescence in myofibroblasts and reversing established myofibroblast differentiation in EndMT.ConclusionsRh2 regulates multiple pathways in the Dox‐provoked heart, proposing a potential candidate for cancer supplement and therapy‐associated cardiotoxicity.

Doxorubicin is extensively reported to induce severe cardiotoxicity in clinical applications. Our work proposed a natural herbal compound, ginsenoside Rh2, as a potential candidate for attenuating this side effect. Rh2 significantly inhibited cardiac apoptosis and necrosis, inflammation, and pathological remodelling in Dox‐challenged hearts.     

Ungulate bocaparvovirus 4 and rodent bocavirus are different genotypes of the same species of virus

Bocaviruses are associated with many human infectious diseases, such as respiratory tract infections, gastroenteritis, and hepatitis. Rats are known to be reservoirs of bocaviruses, including rodent bocavirus and rat bocavirus. Recently, ungulate bocaparvovirus 4, a known porcine bocavirus, has also been found in rats. Thus, investigating bocaviruses in rats is important for determining the origin of the viruses and preventing and controlling their transmission. To the best of our knowledge, no study to date has investigated bocaviruses in the livers of rats. In this report, a total of 624 rats were trapped in southern China between 2014 and 2017. Liver and serum samples from rats were tested for the prevalence of bocaviruses using PCR. Sequences related to ungulate bocaparvovirus 4 and rodent bocavirus were detected in both liver and serum samples. Interestingly, the prevalence of ungulate bocaparvovirus 4 (reference strain:KJ622366.1) was higher than that of rodent bocavirus (reference strain:KY927868.1) in both liver (2.24% and 0.64%, respectively) and serum samples (2.19% and 0.44%, respectively). The NS1 regions of ungulate bocaparvovirus 4 and rodent bocavirus related sequences displayed over 84% and 88% identity at the nucleic acid and amino acid levels, respectively. Furthermore, these sequences had similar genomic structure, genomic features, and codon usage bias, and shared a common ancestor. These viruses also displayed greater adaptability to rats than pigs. Our results suggested that ungulate bocaparvovirus 4 and rodent bocavirus may originate from rats and may be different genotypes of the same bocavirus species.     

Efficient assembly of a large fragment of monkeypox virus genome as a qPCR template using dual-selection based transformation-associated recombination

Transformation-associated recombination (TAR) has been widely used to assemble large DNA constructs. One of the significant obstacles hindering assembly efficiency is the presence of error-prone DNA repair pathways in yeast, which results in vector backbone recircularization or illegitimate recombination products. To increase TAR assembly efficiency, we prepared a dual-selective TAR vector, pGFCS, by adding a P_ADH1-URA3 cassette to a previously described yeast-bacteria shuttle vector, pGF, harboring a P_HIS3-HIS3 cassette as a positive selection marker. This new cassette works as a negative selection marker to ensure that yeast harboring a recircularized vector cannot propagate in the presence of 5-fluoroorotic acid. To prevent pGFCS bearing ura3 from recombining with endogenous ura3-52 in the yeast genome, a highly transformable Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain, VL6-48B, was prepared by chromosomal substitution of ura3-52 with a transgene conferring resistance to blasticidin. A 55-kb genomic fragment of monkeypox virus encompassing primary detection targets for quantitative PCR was assembled by TAR using pGFCS in VL6-48B. The pGFCS-mediated TAR assembly showed a zero rate of vector recircularization and an average correct assembly yield of 79% indicating that the dual-selection strategy provides an efficient approach to optimizing TAR assembly.     

高通量测序探究啮食聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料黄粉虫的肠道菌群结构

【目的】塑料废物处理是世界环境难题,近期有研究报道黄粉虫可啮食聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料,肠道细菌可能在黄粉虫生物降解塑料的过程中起重要作用。本文以啮食聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料的黄粉虫幼虫(Tenebrio molitor)为材料,探究其肠道细菌的多样性和细菌群落组成。【方法】分别以聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料(聚苯乙烯组)和纸片(对照组)为唯一食物来源喂养黄粉虫幼虫,在90 d后采集粪便样品,对16S r RNA基因V3-V4区进行PCR扩增和高通量测序,并以PICRUSt进行肠道菌群的功能预测。【结果】饲喂期间,两组黄粉虫均正常存活,部分幼虫完成变态发育。泡沫塑料有明显的减重。样本测序共得到144 258条有效序列,179个OTU,共涉及10个门111个属。其中,聚苯乙烯组黄粉虫的肠道细菌在属水平高丰度的是Alcaligenes(35.9%)、Brevundimonas(12.3%)、Myroides(10.3%)。基于16S r RNA基因序列的功能预测表明,在聚苯乙烯组中,芳香类化合物的降解基因被明显富集。【结论】高通量测序揭示了啮食聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料的黄粉虫肠道菌群的多样性,这对从黄粉虫肠道中分离高效降解聚苯乙烯的细菌具有指导意义。     

雄性棉铃虫和烟青虫对雌性信息素的触角电生理反应

利用触角电位图(Electroantennogram,EAG)技术,比较研究了二近缘种棉铃虫、烟青虫对其性信息素主要成分Z—11—16：Ald、Z—9—16：Ald的触角电生理反应。剂量反应曲线表明,对Z—11—16：Ald,棉铃虫和烟青虫均有明显的EAG反应,且随浓度的增加而增强,但棉铃虫比烟青虫的反应较强;对Z—9—16：Ald,烟青虫有很强的EAG反应,棉铃虫的反应则很弱;对Z—11—16：Ald和Z—9—16：Ald以97：3和7：93比例形成的混合物,棉铃虫、烟青虫均有EAG反应,但二者之间没有显著差异[动物学报49(6)：795～799,2003]。     

长柄水青冈幼苗根系构型及动态变化

长柄水青冈（Fagus longipetiolata）是我国亚热带山地林的重要组成树种,本研究在温室中用河砂培养长柄水青冈幼苗,采用直接测量法研究了长柄水青冈的根系构型。结果表明,生长50 d的长柄水青冈幼苗的根系呈倒圆锥形,根宽小于根深;基根平均生长角度较小,基根的向地性小;一级侧根与主根的夹角从根系上部至下部逐渐变小;二级侧根首先发生于根系的中下部,然后其发生范围向根系上、下部扩展。虽然长柄水青冈幼苗根系构型存在较大的个体差异性,但一级侧根与主根的夹角则具有较好的稳定性。研究揭示了实验条件下长柄水青冈幼苗的根系构型及其在幼苗建成过程中的生长变化规律,为长柄水青冈的进一步研究提供科学依据。     

抗禽流感病毒多表位DNA疫苗的构建及其免疫效力研究

多表位DNA疫苗是建立在常规DNA疫苗基础上的一种新型疫苗。它是用表位作免疫原,这样就比较容易在一个表达载体上克隆病原体的多个抗原基因中具有免疫活性的部分。本试验以H5N1亚型禽流感病毒的HA和NP基因及其表位为基础构建了4个重组质粒：1 pIRES/HA（表达全长的HA基因）;2 pIRES/tHA（只表达HA基因的主要抗原表位区）;3 pIRES/tHANpep（融合表达HA基因的抗原表位区和NP基因的3个CTL表位）;4 pIRES/tHANpep-IFN-γ（用鸡的IFN-γ基因取代质粒pIRES/tHANpep中的neo基因）。分别用这4个重组质粒和空载体质粒pIRES1neo肌注免疫30日龄SPF鸡。免疫3次,间隔为2周,每次每只鸡的剂量为200μg。第3次免疫后两周以高致病性禽流感病毒H5N1强毒攻击,免疫及攻毒前后均采血检测HI抗体效价和外周血CD4⁺、CD8⁺T细胞的变化。结果发现,攻毒前各质粒免疫组均检测不到HI抗体,攻毒后1周存活鸡HI抗体效价迅速升高到64～256。流式细胞仪检测显示外周血CD4⁺、CD8⁺T细胞在疫苗免疫后都有不同程度的升高。空载体质粒对照组鸡（10只）在攻毒后3～8 d内全部死亡,其他各重组质粒免疫组鸡都获得了部分保护,保护率分别是：pIRES/HA组为545%（6/11）,pIRES/tHA组为30%（3/10）,pIRES/tHANPep组为36.3%（4/11）, pIRES/tHANPepIFNγ组为50%（5/10）。这些结果表明我们构建的多表位DNA疫苗能够诱导机体产生特异性免疫应答,并在同型禽流感强毒攻击时对鸡只提供了一定的保护。     

家蚕抗菌肽在毕赤酵母中的表达

目的：用毕赤酵母真核系统表达有抑菌活性的家蚕抗菌肽(cecropin-XJ)。将pGEX-4T-1-cecropin-XJ上的抗菌肽基因cecropin—XJ克隆至穿梭质粒pSuperY上,用Bln Ⅰ酶切使之线性化后,采用电击法转化酵母SMD1168,转化子用小瓶发酵,经SDS—PAGE检测,表达产物可以在α信号因子的引导下,分泌到培养基中,且表达产物具有明显抑菌活性。     

不同群落中川鄂连蕊茶的生殖分配与个体大小之间关系的探讨

研究了缙云山川鄂连蕊茶 (Camelliarosthorniana) 在 3个群落类型中的生殖分配、生殖分配与个体大小之间的关系和座果率。结果表明 :1) 在地径 1.0~ 3.5cm范围内, 种群间生殖分配差异显著, 即毛竹林 >针阔混交林 >常绿阔叶林 ;在地径 1.0~ 5.0cm范围内, 针阔混交林和常绿阔叶林之间差异不显著 ;在地径 1.0~ 6.0cm范围内, 毛竹林显著高于针阔混交林和常绿阔叶林, 而针阔混交林和常绿阔叶林之间差异不显著 ;因此种群间生殖分配比较时, 应考虑种群间的大小分布。运用生殖分配的有关学说对川鄂连蕊茶生殖分配格局进行了解释, 生境稳定性学说和生活史理论假说相结合可以解释川鄂连蕊茶生殖分配格局。 2 ) 川鄂连蕊茶个体生殖分配与个体大小之间存在抛物线关系。 3) 种群密度对川鄂连蕊茶座果率没有影响。