Site and mechanism of behavioral tolerance to cocaine: A study of dopamine release in Wistar-Kyoto and spontaneously hypertensive rats

Wistar-Kyoto and spontaneously hypertensive rats received i.v. infusions of cocaine hydrochloride (60 mg/kg per day) for 3, 7, and 14 days, or saline for 7 days. Acute cocaine challenge (40 mg/kg, s.c.) was given to treated and control rats 24 hr after the termination of each infusion period. There were no strain differences in brain levels of cocaine during cocaine infusion, nor after cocaine challenges. There were no strain differences in resting levels of [³H]dopamine release. Release of [³H]dopamine decreased in nuclei accumbens of 7- and 14-day cocaine-infused animals. Release of [³H]dopamine was maximal in both brain regions 2 hr after acute cocaine challenge. After 14 days of cocaine infusion, cocaine challenge in both strains reduced [³H]dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens, but not in the striatum; the reduction being greater in Wistar-Kyoto rats. The behavioral tolerance which accompanies similar cocaine infusion regimens may be related to striatal tolerance to cocaine-induced dopamine release.     

RNF7 promotes glioma growth via the PI3K/AKT signalling axis

RNF7 has been reported to play critical roles in various cancers. However, the underlying mechanisms of RNF7 in glioma development remain largely unknown. Herein, the expression level of RNF7 was examined in tissues by quantitative real-time PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The effect of RNF7 on glioma progression was measured by performing CCK-8 and apoptosis assays, cell cycle-related experiments and animal experiments. The effect of RNF7 on PI3K/AKT signalling pathway was tested by Western blotting. First, we found that RNF7 was upregulated in tumour tissue compared with normal brain tissue, especially in high-grade glioma, and the high expression of RNF7 was significantly related to tumour size, Karnofsky Performance Scale score and a poor prognosis. Second, RNF7 overexpression facilitated tumour cell cycle progression and cell proliferation and suppressed apoptosis. Conversely, RNF7 knockdown suppressed tumour cell cycle progression and cell proliferation and facilitated apoptosis. Furthermore, follow-up mechanistic studies indicated that RNF7 could facilitate glioma cell proliferation and cell cycle progression and inhibit apoptosis by activating the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. This study shows that RNF7 can clearly promote glioma cell proliferation by facilitating cell cycle progression and inhibiting apoptosis by activating the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. Targeting the RNF7/PI3K/AKT axis may provide a new perspective on the prevention or treatment of glioma.     

胶质母细胞瘤外泌体的作用机制研究进展

胶质母细胞瘤(glioblastoma,GBM)因组织学异质性、侵袭能力强、术后复发快等问题,致使患者经手术治疗、化疗和放疗后的预后差,总体生存期短。GBM细胞来源外泌体(GBM cell-derived exosome,GBM-exo)能够通过其携带的细胞因子、miRNA、DNA和蛋白质等调节GBM细胞的增殖和迁移,通过血管生成蛋白和非编码RNA促进肿瘤血管生成,通过调节因子、蛋白质和药物靶向免疫检查点等介导肿瘤免疫逃逸,以及通过非编码RNA对抗GBM细胞的耐药性,有望成为个性化治疗GBM的重要靶标,且可以作为GBM的诊断和预后标志物。本文阐述了GBM-exo的制备方法和生物学特征,及其在GBM细胞增殖、血管生成、免疫逃逸和耐药性方面的作用和分子机制,为研发诊治GBM的新策略提供参考。     

Rhizosphere effect of nanoscale zero-valent iron on mycorrhiza-dependent maize assimilation

Rhizosphere effect of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) is crucial but little reported. Maize seeds were dressed with four nZVI concentrations (0, 1.0, 1.5, 2 g kg⁻¹) and inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) (Funneliformis mosseae). The SEM images illuminated that excessive nZVI particles (2 g kg⁻¹) were agglomerated on the surface of hyphae and spore, causing severe deformation and inactivation of AMF symbionts and thereafter inhibiting water uptake in maize seedlings. This restrained the scavenging effects of enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase) and non-enzymatic compounds (proline & malondialdehyde) on ROS, and leaf photoreduction activity and gas exchange ability (p < 0.05). Interestingly, the inoculation with AMF effectively alleviated above negative effects. In contrast, appropriate dose of nZVI, that is, ≤1.5 g kg⁻¹, can be evenly distributed on the hyphae surface and form the ordered symbionts with AMF. This help massively to enhance hyphae growth and water and nutrient uptake. The enhanced mycorrhizal infection turned to promote rhizosphere symbiont activity and leaf Rubisco and Rubisco activase activity. Light compensation point was massively lowered, which increased photosynthetic carbon supply for AMF symbionts. Particularly, such priming effects were evidently enhanced by drought stress. Our findings provided a novel insight into functional role of nZVI in agriculture and AMF-led green production.     

Do Geographically Isolated Grasslands Follow the Principle of Island Biogeography in a Landscape Scale? Taking Poyang Lake Grassland as an Example

As one of the basic theories of biodiversity conservation, island biogeography has been widely accepted in the past decades. Originally, island biogeography was put forward and applied in oceanic environments. But later on, it was found out that the application was not only limited to oceanic islands, but also in terrestrial environments with relatively isolated conditions. In terms of biodiversity level, island biogeography generally focuses on a small scale, such as species diversity and genetic diversity. The studies of biodiversity on a large-scale based on island biogeography, such as ecosystem and landscape scales, were seldomly conducted. Taking Poyang Lake, the largest fresh water lake in China as case study area, 30 grasslands were randomly selected to study whether island biogeography can be applied to grasslands at a landscape level from three island attributes (area, distance and shape), and the most important ecological variable (flooding) in Poyang Lake. The results showed that in general, grasslands have the property of an island, and follow the basic principle of island biogeography. We found the area and flooding duration were the two most important determinants of landscape diversity. There was a significant positive correlation between the grassland area and the landscape diversity, which could be well expressed by logarithmic function model (R² = 0.73). There was a negative correlation between flooding duration and landscape diversity, which could be described by an inverse model (R² = 0.206). The distance to mainland and the shape of grassland were correlated with landscape diversity, but the fitting result of the models was not as good as expected. The possible reason could be that Poyang Lake is a seasonal lake, the water level varies with hydrological conditions, so that the grasslands are not strongly isolated and their shape is not stable enough required by island biogeography. Furthermore, it indicates that besides area, distance and shape attributes, flooding strongly affects the biodiversity of grassland vegetation, and should not be ignored when applying island biogeography theory to Poyang Lake. This study is expected to be a supplement for island biogeography in terrestrial environments, and the results are expected to benefit for the biodiversity conservation in Poyang Lake.     

分离自母婴肠道的假小链双歧杆菌的耐药性分析

【背景】由于滥用抗生素导致细菌耐药性日益严重。对于双歧杆菌,人们往往注重其益生功能的挖掘而忽视了对其耐药性的研究,存在一定的安全隐患。【目的】检测母婴肠道中假小链双歧杆菌的耐药性,探究婴儿肠道中假小链双歧杆菌耐药性的来源。【方法】利用微量肉汤稀释法测定48株分离自母婴肠道的假小链双歧杆菌对14种抗生素的耐药性,比较分离自不同家庭母婴肠道中假小链双歧杆菌的耐药性。【结果】48株母婴肠道分离株对四环素、氯霉素、新霉素、环丙沙星100%耐药,对其余10种抗生素耐药率依次为：卡那霉素98%、利福平80%、克林霉素78%、甲氧苄啶63%、红霉素59%、庆大霉素43%、链霉素16%、万古霉素14%、氨苄西林6%、利奈唑胺2%。母婴肠道分离株的耐药性无显著差异,分离自同一家庭母婴肠道的菌株具有相似的耐药表型。【结论】分离自母婴肠道的假小链双歧杆菌对多种抗生素具有耐药性,婴儿肠道中假小链双歧杆菌的耐药性可能是由母亲肠道垂直传递而来。     

串叶松香草Giemsa C带和染色中心研究

以Giemsa C带技术处理串叶松香草根尖细胞染色体(2n=14),全部着丝点及第5和第7对染色体短臂端部显稳定的C带,第6对染色体长臂有两条明显的居间带,其他居间带小而不稳定(重复率不高)。间期细胞核染色体呈Rable构型,其着丝点一极最多出现20个染色中心。统计分析表明,靠近着丝点的短臂端带区和居间带区异染色质有易与着丝点区异染色质融合的倾向。分裂中期Giemsa C带数目与间期染色中心数目存在数量对应关系。     

Dampening HOTAIR sensitizes the gastric cancer cells to oxaliplatin through miR-195-5p and ABCG2 pathway

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) have an extensive role in the progression and chemoresistance of gastric cancer (GC). Deeply study the regulatory role of lncRNAs could provide potential therapeutic targets. The aim of this study is to explore the regulatory role of HOTAIR in the progression and oxaliplatin resistance of GC. The expression of HOTAIR in GC and cell lines were detected by using qRT-PCR. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were analysed by CCK-8, EdU incorporation and flow cytometry. Luciferase reporter assay was used to identify the interaction between HOTAIR and ABCG2 (ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily G member 2, ABCG2) via miR-195-5p. The regulatory functions were verified by using molecular biology experiments. HOTAIR was significantly overexpressed in GC and associated with poor prognosis. Knock-down of HOTAIR inhibited the GC cells proliferation and oxaliplatin resistance, while overexpression of HOTAIR showed opposite functions. Further studies found that HOTAIR acted as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to absorb miR-195-5p and elevated the expression of ABCG2, which leads to resistance of GC cells to oxaliplatin. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that HOTAIR regulates ABCG2 induced resistance of GC to oxaliplatin through miR-195-5p signalling and illustrate the great potential of developing new therapeutic targets for GC patients.     

Terpenoids from Euphorbia helioscopia and Their Cytotoxic Activities against H1975 Cells

Three previously undescribed diterpenoids, helioscopnoids A–C, and eight known compounds were isolated from the whole plants of Euphorbia helioscopia. Their structures were established by extensive analysis of spectra and data comparison with previous literatures. Among them, compound 4 was identified as 24,24-dimethoxy-25,26,27-trinoreuphan-3β-ol with revised configurations of C-13, C-14, and C-17 (13R*, 14R*, 17R*). Cytotoxicity assays revealed that all compounds exhibited varying levels of cytotoxicity against H1975 cells, with compound 9 displaying the most potent activity, as indicated by cell viability rates of 18.13 % and 20.76 % at concentrations of 20 μM and 5 μM, respectively. This study expands the understanding of E. helioscopia terpenoids’ structural diversity and biological activities, contributing to the exploration of potential therapeutic applications.