Novel retinoic acid receptor alpha agonists for treatment of kidney disease

Development of pharmacologic agents that protect podocytes from injury is a critical strategy for the treatment of kidney glomerular diseases. Retinoic acid reduces proteinuria and glomerulosclerosis in multiple animal models of kidney diseases. However, clinical studies are limited because of significant side effects of retinoic acid. Animal studies suggest that all trans retinoic acid (ATRA) attenuates proteinuria by protecting podocytes from injury. The physiological actions of ATRA are mediated by binding to all three isoforms of the nuclear retinoic acid receptors (RARs): RARα, RARβ, and RARγ. We have previously shown that ATRA exerts its renal protective effects mainly through the agonism of RARα. Here, we designed and synthesized a novel boron-containing derivative of the RARα-specific agonist Am580. This new derivative, BD4, binds to RARα receptor specifically and is predicted to have less toxicity based on its structure. We confirmed experimentally that BD4 binds to RARα with a higher affinity and exhibits less cellular toxicity than Am580 and ATRA. BD4 induces the expression of podocyte differentiation markers (synaptopodin, nephrin, and WT-1) in cultured podocytes. Finally, we confirmed that BD4 reduces proteinuria and improves kidney injury in HIV-1 transgenic mice, a model for HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN). Mice treated with BD4 did not develop any obvious toxicity or side effect. Our data suggest that BD4 is a novel RARα agonist, which could be used as a potential therapy for patients with kidney disease such as HIVAN.     

海南霸王岭不同森林类型附生兰科植物的多样性和分布

附生兰科植物是热带林附生植物的主要类群之一,对于维持热带林生态系统的物种多样性及生态功能具有重要的作用。以海南岛霸王岭国家级自然保护区内的6种热带原始林类型(热带季雨林、低地雨林、热带针叶林、山地雨林、山地常绿林及山顶矮林)中的附生兰科植物为研究对象,通过样带调查(每个森林类型设置12个10m×50m的样带,记录每个样带内胸径(DBH)≥5cm的树木及藤本上附生兰科植物的物种名称、株数及附生位置)分析了附生兰科植物的物种多样性、附生位置及其在不同森林类型中的分布规律。结果表明:1)3.6hm2森林调查样带内共记录到附生兰科植物9634株,分属于26属60种;2)除趋势对应分析(DCA)结果表明,6种森林类型中的附生兰科植物可分成5组(其中,山地常绿林与山顶矮林内的附生兰科植物归为一组);3)分布海拔范围相临近的森林类型的附生兰科植物具有较高的相似性,山地常绿林和山顶矮林附生兰科植物的相似性最高(88.9%);4)6种森林类型中,较高海拔的3种森林类型(山地雨林、山地常绿林和山顶矮林)中,附生兰科植物的丰富度和多度均显著高于其在较低海拔的3种森林类型(热带季雨林、低地雨林和热带针叶林),其中,附生兰科植物在山地常绿林内的丰富度和多度均最高;5)热带季雨林、低地雨林、热带针叶林及山地雨林内,宿主冠区附生兰科植物的多度均高于干区;山地常绿林内两者之间无显著差异;而山顶矮林干区的附生兰科植物的多度高于冠区;6)调查木上附生兰科植物的发生率在高海拔森林类型均高于其在低海拔森林类型,各森林类型内附生兰科植物的多度及物种丰富度与宿主胸径均存在显著正相关关系。     

柞蚕感染微孢子虫后血淋巴免疫应答蛋白质的分离与鉴定

了解柞蚕Antheraea pernyi感染微孢子虫初期血淋巴内免疫系统及刺激应答相关蛋白质种类, 本研究以柞蚕5龄雌幼虫的起蚕（结束4眠, 刚完成蜕皮的幼虫）添食柞蚕微孢子虫Nosema pernyi为材料, 对感染后血淋巴利用SDS-PAGE进行分离后, 利用LC-MS/MS质谱技术和蛋白质组学分析对差异蛋白质条带进行鉴定。结果显示： 感染微孢子虫144 h后, 血淋巴中分子量约为44 kD （AP44）和28 kD （AP28）的蛋白质条带表达量增高。质谱分析AP28和AP44蛋白质条带样品, 共鉴定117个不重复蛋白质, 其中2个样品共有蛋白质12个, AP28独有蛋白质52个, AP44独有蛋白质53个。对质谱数据利用COG数据库进行搜寻鉴定, 显示AP28和AP44的鉴定蛋白质中涉及柞蚕免疫系统及刺激应答生物过程的蛋白质共有29个, 其中AP28中包括热激蛋白、 泛素样蛋白、 泛素结合酶E2、 保幼激素环氧水解酶、 微管结合蛋白、 溶菌酶、 ADP-核糖基化因子、 防御蛋白、 肽聚糖识别蛋白等15个, AP44中包括DRK、 酚氧化酶原、 类免疫球蛋白等10个; 二者共有热激蛋白hsp21.4、 酚氧化酶原、 抗菌肽等4个。本研究结果可以为今后研究柞蚕对微孢子虫的免疫应答及防御机制提供参考。     

Cofilin 1-mediated biphasic F-actin dynamics of neuronal cells affect herpes simplex virus 1 infection and replication

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) invades the nervous system and causes pathological changes. In this study, we defined the remodeling of F-actin and its possible mechanisms during HSV-1 infection of neuronal cells. HSV-1 infection enhanced the formation of F-actin-based structures in the early stage of infection, which was followed by a continuous decrease in F-actin during the later stages of infection. The disruption of F-actin dynamics by chemical inhibitors significantly reduced the efficiency of viral infection and intracellular HSV-1 replication. The active form of the actin-depolymerizing factor cofilin 1 was found to increase at an early stage of infection and then to continuously decrease in a manner that corresponded to the remodeling pattern of F-actin, suggesting that cofilin 1 may be involved in the biphasic F-actin dynamics induced by HSV-1 infection. Knockdown of cofilin 1 impaired HSV-1-induced F-actin assembly during early infection and inhibited viral entry; however, overexpression of cofilin 1 did not affect F-actin assembly or viral entry during early infection but decreased intracellular viral reproduction efficiently. Our results, for the first time, demonstrated the biphasic F-actin dynamics in HSV-1 neuronal infection and confirmed the association of F-actin with the changes in the expression and activity of cofilin 1. These results may provide insight into the mechanism by which HSV-1 productively infects neuronal cells and causes pathogenesis.     

Leptospiral Hemolysins Induce Proinflammatory Cytokines through Toll-Like Receptor 2-and 4-Mediated JNK and NF-κB Signaling Pathways

Background

Infection with pathogenic Leptospira species causes serious systemic inflammation in patients. Although a few leptospiral proinflammatory molecules have been identified, Leptospira likely encodes other unidentified strong inflammation stimulators. The pathogenic L. interrogans genome encodes numerous putative hemolysin genes. Since hemolysins from other bacteria can cause inflammatory reactions, we hypothesized that leptospiral hemolysins may function as proinflammatory stimulators that contribute to the strong inflammation associated with Leptospira infection.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We first used cytokine protein microarrays for systematic analysis of serum cytokine profiles in leptospirosis patients and leptospire-infected mice. We found that IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were the main proinflammatory cytokines in the sera of both the patients and the mice. We then analyzed eight putative hemolysins in L. interrogans strain Lai. The results showed that five of them, Sph1, Sph2, Sph3, HlpA and TlyA were secreted and had hemolytic activity. More importantly, these five hemolysins induced the strong production of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in human and mouse macrophages (although a bit lower in the latter). Furthermore, blockade of TLR2 or TLR4 with either antibodies or inhibitors of the NF-κB or JNK signaling pathways significantly reduced the production of hemolysin-induced IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α. Macrophages isolated from TLR2-, TLR4-or double TLR2-and 4-deficient mice also confirmed that the leptospiral hemolysins that induce proinflammatory cytokines are both TLR2-and TLR4-dependent.

Conclusions/Significance

Our findings demonstrate that L. interrogans secretes many hemolysins that function as powerful inducers of proinflammatory cytokines through both TLR2-and TLR4-dependent JNK and NF-κB pathways.     

转基因水稻克螟稻2号定量检测用质粒标准分子研制及不确定度评价

转基因作物的食用安全和环境安全一直受到消费者与各国政府及相关机构人员高度重视。质粒标准分子是转基因核酸量值的载体,为实现转基因植物核酸量值准确性、可比性和有效性提供保障。描述了转基因水稻克螟稻2号质粒标准分子(pKMD2)的研制过程,包括质粒构建、特异性、均匀性、稳定性、可替代性和量值及不确定度评价等方面。量值结果表明pKMD2质粒标准分子所含两个基因片段比值为1.032,不确定度为0.032,可以替代基因组作为阳性标准品用于实验室质控、含量检测及贸易争端等领域。     

霉酚酸酯对人肝癌细胞HepG-2抑制作用的研究

目的:研究霉酚酸酯体外对细胞生长抑制率、细胞凋亡以及对细胞黏附率的影响.方法:以霉酚酸酯在0.1μg/ml-100μg/ml,24-72h内作用于肝癌细胞,MTT法检测肿瘤细胞的生长抑制率,流式细胞仪检测细胞周期,Hoeehst33258荧光染色观察细胞凋亡的形态变化,细胞黏附实验检测细胞黏附率的影响.结果:霉酚酸酯显著的抑制了肿瘤细胞的增长,并显著的抑制其黏附率,在浓度为100μg/ml作用72小时时生长抑制率达78.8%,黏附率降低至42.1%,Hoechst33258染色实验发现随浓度增大细胞凋亡的发生增多,核固缩、核碎裂的现象发生越明显.流式细胞仪检测,细胞周期阻滞于GO/G1期,减少增殖细胞在S期的分布.结论:霉酚酸酯对肝癌细胞HepG-2的增长具有明显的抑制作用.     

C57BL/6小鼠听皮层脑片的长时程增强特性

采用脑片细胞外记录群体细胞兴奋性突触后电位方法,在成年C57BL／6小鼠听皮层上,研究长时程增强(10ng-termpotentiation,LTP)特征。用100Hz高频电脉冲刺激听皮层白质,可在听皮层灰质Ⅱ/Ⅲ层记录到明显的LTP。根据条件刺激后LTP的变化特征,将其分为缓慢上升(A类)和短暂快速上升(B类)两种类型。使用模拟的θ节律刺激参数,可更有效地诱导听皮层LTP,其群体细胞兴奋性突触后电位斜率增加更为明显(P＜0．01),诱导成功率也更高。