Autophagic Impairment Contributes to Systemic Inflammation-Induced Dopaminergic Neuron Loss in the Midbrain

Background

Neuroinflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD), inducing and accelerating dopaminergic (DA) neuron loss. Autophagy, a critical mechanism for clearing misfolded or aggregated proteins such as α-synuclein (α-SYN), may affect DA neuron survival in the midbrain. However, whether autophagy contributes to neuroinflammation-induced toxicity in DA neurons remains unknown.

Results

Intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 5 mg/kg) into young (3-month-old) and aged (16-month-old) male C57BL/6J mice was observed to cause persistent neuroinflammation that was associated with a delayed and progressive loss of DA neurons and accumulation of α-SYN in the midbrain. The autophagic substrate-p62 (SQSTM1) persistently increased, whereas LC3-II and HDAC6 exhibited early increases followed by a decline. In vitro studies further demonstrated that TNF-α induced cell death in PC12 cells. Moreover, a sublethal dose of TNF-α (50 ng/ml) increased the expression of LC3-II, p62, and α-SYN, implying that TNF-α triggered autophagic impairment in cells.

Conclusion

Neuroinflammation may cause autophagic impairment, which could in turn result in DA neuron degeneration in midbrain.     

Stabilization of RAD51 nucleoprotein filaments by the C-terminal region of BRCA2

The human breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2 is required for the regulation of RAD51-mediated homologous recombinational repair. BRCA2 interacts with RAD51 monomers, as well as nucleoprotein filaments, primarily though the conserved BRC motifs. The unrelated C-terminal region of BRCA2 also interacts with RAD51. Here we show that the BRCA2 C terminus interacts directly with RAD51 filaments, but not monomers, by binding an interface created by two adjacent RAD51 protomers. These interactions stabilize filaments so that they cannot be dissociated by association with BRC repeats. Interaction of the BRCA2 C terminus with the RAD51 filament causes a large movement of the flexible RAD51 N-terminal domain that is important in regulating filament dynamics. We suggest that interactions of the BRCA2 C-terminal region with RAD51 may facilitate efficient nucleation of RAD51 multimers on DNA and thereby stimulate recombination-mediated repair.     

Circadian Yin-Yang Regulation and Its Manipulation to Globally Reprogram Gene Expression

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MiR-30-Regulated Autophagy Mediates Angiotensin II-Induced Myocardial Hypertrophy

Dysregulated autophagy may lead to the development of disease. Role of autophagy and the diagnostic potential of microRNAs that regulate the autophagy in cardiac hypertrophy have not been evaluated. A rat model of cardiac hypertrophy was established using transverse abdominal aortic constriction (operation group). Cardiomyocyte autophagy was enhanced in rats from the operation group, compared with those in the sham operation group. Moreover, the operation group showed up-regulation of beclin-1 (an autophagy-related gene), and down-regulation of miR-30 in cardiac tissue. The effects of inhibition and over-expression of the beclin-1 gene on the expression of hypertrophy-related genes and on autophagy were assessed. Angiotensin II-induced myocardial hypertrophy was found to be mediated by over-expression of the beclin-1 gene. A dual luciferase reporter assay confirmed that beclin-1 was a target gene of miR-30a. miR-30a induced alterations in beclin-1 gene expression and autophagy in cardiomyocytes. Treatment of cardiomyocytes with miR-30a mimic attenuated the Angiotensin II-induced up-regulation of hypertrophy-related genes and decreased in the cardiomyocyte surface area. Conversely, treatment with miR-30a inhibitor enhanced the up-regulation of hypertrophy-related genes and increased the surface area of cardiomyocytes induced by Angiotensin II. In addition, circulating miR-30 was elevated in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy, and circulating miR-30 was positively associated with left ventricular wall thickness. Collectively, these above-mentioned results suggest that Angiotensin II induces down-regulation of miR-30 in cardiomyocytes, which in turn promotes myocardial hypertrophy through excessive autophagy. Circulating miR-30 may be an important marker for the diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy.     

原发不育症子宫内膜花生凝集素受体的研究

本文以PNA(花生凝集素)为探针,应用ABC亲和组化技术,对69例原发不育症患者的子宫内膜PNA受体进行了检测.结果表明,原发不育症子宫内膜的增生期、分泌期PNA受体的阳性率均显著低于年龄相似、有生育史的对照组子宫内膜的阳性率.不育症子宫内膜分泌欠佳的PNA受体阳性率显著低于不育症分泌期不同时期子宫内膜的阳性率.提示,这种差异可能与雌孕激素对两组子宫内膜作用水平的不同引起.     

韭菜线粒体锰超氧化物歧化酶纯化及性质研究

经硫酸铵沉淀、ＤＥＡＥ－Ｓｅｐｈａｃｅｌ层析和Ｓｅｐｈａｄｅｘ Ｇ－２００凝胶过滤,将韭菜线粒体ＳＯＤ纯化到均一程度。从６０００ｇ韭菜叶片线粒体中纯化得到２．５ｍｇ酶,酶比活力达１２００Ｕ／ｍｇ蛋白。该酶对ＫＣＮ和Ｈ２Ｏ２都不敏感,热稳定性弱 外光区吸收峰在２８０ｎｍ,凝胶过滤法测得其分子量为８２００Ｄ,ＳＯＳ－ＰＡＧＥ法测定其亚基分子量的２２０００Ｄ,ＤＮＳ法测得其Ｎ－末端氨基酸为缬氨酸。上述结     

基于景观生态学“源-汇”理论的市域尺度生态功能分区——以内蒙古通辽市为例

市域尺度的生态功能分区对于市域生态资源的有效保护和合理利用起着不可替代的指导作用。现阶段较为被动而静态的功能分区研究忽视了市域生态资源在城镇化发展中的剧烈变化。而景观生态学的"源-汇"概念和相关手段,将区域生态功能空间格局与不断变化的生态过程之间建立了联系,在生态功能分区科学理性的研究实践中运用前景广阔。运用景观生态学"源-汇"理论,以内蒙古通辽市为例,通过对于研究区域中"源"景观的划分,设定不同景观要素的阻力值,构建基于"源"动态特征的最小累计阻力模型,计算得出阻力面。并进一步通过寻找阻力面突变点来确定分区阈值,最终确定通辽市域尺度生态功能的5大分区,最后提出有针对性的分区管控措施与指引。研究将市域生态要素在城市化下的动态演变与生态安全格局进行有机关联并制定科学的分区策略,为市域生态空间的优化及管理提供了理论依据。     

Genome‐wide analysis of Nilaparvata lugens nymphal responses to high‐density and low‐quality rice hosts

The brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens is an economically important pest on rice plants. In this study, the higher population density and yellow‐ripe stage of rice plants were used to construct adverse survival conditions (ASC) against BPH nymphs. Simultaneously, the low population density and tillering stage of rice plants were used to establish a suitable survival condition (SSC) as a control. Solexa/Illumina sequencing was used to identify genes of BPH nymphs responding to ASC. Significantly longer duration development of BPH nymphs and significantly lower brachypterous ratio of BPH adults were observed by ASC compared with SSC. A total of 2 544 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained and analyzed by BLASTx, Gene Ontology and KEGG Orthology. Gene ontology analysis revealed that the DEGs were mainly involved in categories of cell, cell part, cellular process, binding, catalytic, organelle and metabolic processes. 1 138 DEGs having enzyme commission numbers were assigned to different metabolic pathways. The largest clusters were neurodegenerative diseases (137, 12.0%), followed by carbohydrate metabolism (113, 9.9%), amino acid metabolism (94, 8.3%), nucleotide metabolism (76, 6.7%), energy metabolism (64, 5.6%), translation (60, 5.3%), lipid metabolism (58, 5.1%), and folding, sorting and degradation (52, 4.6%). Expressing profile of 11 DEGs during eight nymphal developmental stages of BPH were analyzed by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. The 11 genes exhibited differential expression between ASC and SSC during at least one developmental stage. The DEGs identified in this study provide molecular proof of how BPH reconfigures its gene expression profile to adapt to overcrowding and low‐quality hosts.     

海州香薷Actin基因片段克隆及表达分析

通过克隆海州香薷Actin基因片段并分析其组织表达,为研究海州香薷重金属抗性相关基因的表达调控奠定基础。根据Gen Bank中其他植物Actin基因保守序列设计兼并引物,以海州香薷根总RNA为模板,利用RT-PCR技术分离得到Actin基因片段。序列分析结果表明,海州香薷Actin基因片段长576 bp,编码192个氨基酸,与其他植物同源基因的氨基酸序列相似性为84%-97%,所克隆的序列为Actin基因的同源片段,将其命名为Eh ACT,在Gen Bank中提交序列,获得登录号AGT37260。半定量RT-PCR分析结果表明,Eh ACT在海州香薷的根、茎和叶中表达相对稳定,初步表明其可作为研究海州香薷基因表达的内参基因。