SPF鸡与普通鸡消化道主要正常菌群数量的比较

采用微生态学方法,对SPF鸡和普通鸡嗉囔、腺胃、回肠、盲肠和直肠5个部位的梭杆菌、真杆菌、消化球菌、双歧杆菌、乳酸杆菌、类杆菌、肠球菌、葡萄球菌和肠杆菌等9种主要正常菌群进行定性、定量分析。结果表明,SPF鸡嗉囔中真杆菌、梭杆菌、双歧杆菌、类杆菌、葡萄球菌和肠杆菌数高于普通鸡,其中真杆菌、梭杆菌、葡萄球菌和肠杆菌数差异极显著(P<0.01);腺胃中梭杆菌、真杆菌、消化球菌、双歧杆菌、乳酸杆菌、类杆菌和肠杆菌数高于普通鸡,其中真杆菌数差异显著(P<0.05);回肠中真杆菌、双歧杆菌、类杆菌、葡萄球菌和肠杆菌数高于普通鸡,其中类杆菌数差异极显著(P<0.01);盲肠中梭杆菌、消化球菌、双歧杆菌、乳酸杆菌和肠球菌数低于普通鸡,其中乳酸杆菌数差异显著(P<0.05);直肠中各菌数量都低于普通鸡,其中双歧杆菌和乳酸杆菌差异显著(P<0.05)。     

甘肃典型高寒草原退化植物瑞香狼毒对根际土壤微生物群落的影响研究

[目的] 瑞香狼毒（Stellera chamaejasme L.）为瑞香科狼毒属（Stellera）多年生草本植物,是我国草地退化的标志性植物之一。本研究旨在探究甘肃高寒草原主要毒草瑞香狼毒根际微生物群落结构及其与土壤环境因子和酶活性之间关系,为治理因瑞香狼毒入侵引起的草地退化提供理论依据。[方法] 采用Illumina MiSeq高通量测序技术对甘肃不同地区高寒草原的瑞香狼毒根际土壤微生物组成及多样性进行分析,并进一步分析土壤理化性质和酶活性与微生物群落的相关性。[结果] 不同地区瑞香狼毒根际土壤pH随海拔升高呈现上升趋势,土壤中大量和微量营养元素含量以及土壤酶活性的变化各异。在门水平上,子囊菌门（Ascomycota）、接合菌门（Zygomycota）和担子菌门（Basidiomycota）在根际土壤真菌中占优势地位;放线菌门（Actinobacteria）、变形菌门（Proteobacteria）、酸杆菌门（Acidobacteria）在根际土壤细菌中属于优势类群。海拔2964 m样地的真菌和细菌OTU（operational taxonomic unit）数量和Shannon多样性指数均高于其他4个采样点（海拔2373、2608、2733、3280 m）。RDA（redundancy analysis）分析结果显示,瑞香狼毒根际土壤微生物不同,受土壤环境因子的影响不同;相关系数表明,土壤真菌多样性与土壤钾、磷、铁、钙、钼、海拔、土壤水分、过氧化物酶呈正相关,与土壤温度、多酚氧化酶、脱氢酶、蔗糖酶、碱性磷酸酶呈负相关;土壤细菌与土壤pH、钾、磷、镁、钙、土壤水分呈负相关,与多酚氧化酶、过氧化物酶、脲酶、脱氢酶、蔗糖酶、酸性磷酸酶、碱性磷酸酶呈正相关。[结论] 甘肃省不同地区高寒草原瑞香狼毒根际微生物群落组成和多样性差异明显,土壤理化性质与土壤真菌具有较强的正相关关系,而土壤酶则更多地影响着土壤细菌群落的组成和多样性。     

狂犬病病毒糖蛋白表达及纯化及其记忆性B细胞结合能力的分析

表达纯化不同标签、不同大小3个狂犬病病毒糖蛋白,分析其结合功能后,得到具备高亲和力的、可特异性结合记忆性B细胞的狂犬病病毒糖蛋白。本实验通过基因工程的方法,采用不同的原核表达系统分别表达带有不同标签的、全长和膜外区的RVG,纯化蛋白并分析比较其结合功能,荧光标记候选蛋白,结合CD19及CD27的抗体,流式细胞术检测狂犬疫苗免疫后PBMCs中抗狂犬病病毒特异性记忆性B细胞的情况,确认候选蛋白与抗狂犬病毒特异性记忆性B细胞的结合功能。本实验成功构建了3个表达载体pGEX-5X-1-RVG、pET28a-RVG和pET30a-G,优化表达纯化条件成功获得了糖蛋白GST-RVG、His-RVG和His-G。纯化后的GST-RVG、His-RVG和His-G经Western blotting和ELISA鉴定均有抗原特异性;由竞争ELISA法测得3个纯化后糖蛋白与抗狂犬病病毒抗体的亲和力。通过流式细胞术可以检测到狂犬疫苗免疫后阳性志愿者PBMCs中的抗狂犬病病毒特异性记忆性B细胞,从而获得了高亲和力、可用于分选抗原特异性的记忆性B细胞的狂犬病病毒糖蛋白。     

Gracillin shows potent efficacy against colorectal cancer through inhibiting the STAT3 pathway

Colorectal cancer (CRC) accounts for about 10% of all annually diagnosed cancers and cancer-related deaths worldwide. STAT3 plays a vital role in the occurrence and development of tumours. Gracillin has shown a significant antitumour activity in tumours, but its mechanism remains unknown. The human CRC cell lines HCT116, RKO, and SW480 and immunodeficient mice were used as models to study the effects of gracillin on cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis. These were evaluated by cell viability, colony formation, wound-healing migration and cell apoptosis assays. Luciferase reporter assay, and immunostaining and western blot analyses were used to explore the specific mechanism through which gracillin exerts its effects. Gracillin significantly reduces viability and migration and stimulates apoptosis in human CRC cells. It also significantly inhibits tumour growth with no apparent physiological toxicity in animal model experiments. Moreover, gracillin is found to inhibit STAT3 phosphorylation and STAT3 target gene products. In addition, gracillin inhibits IL6-induced nuclear translocation of P-STAT3. Gracillin shows potent efficacy against CRC by inhibiting the STAT3 pathway. It should be further explored as a unique STAT3 inhibitor for the treatment of CRC.     

Low-Frequency Fluctuations of the Resting Brain: High Magnitude Does Not Equal High Reliability

The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) measures low-frequency oscillations of the blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal, characterizing local spontaneous activity during the resting state. ALFF is a commonly used measure for resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in numerous basic and clinical neuroscience studies. Using a test-retest rs-fMRI dataset consisting of 21 healthy subjects and three repetitive scans, we found that several key brain regions with high ALFF intensities (or magnitude) had poor reliability. Such regions included the posterior cingulate cortex, the medial prefrontal cortex in the default mode network, parts of the right and left thalami, and the primary visual and motor cortices. The above finding was robust with regard to different sample sizes (number of subjects), different scanning parameters (repetition time) and variations of test-retest intervals (i.e., intra-scan, intra-session, and inter-session reliability), as well as with different scanners. Moreover, the qualitative, map-wise results were validated further with a region-of-interest-based quantitative analysis using “canonical” coordinates as reported previously. Therefore, we suggest that the reliability assessments be incorporated in future ALFF studies, especially for the brain regions with a large ALFF magnitude as listed in our paper. Splitting single data into several segments and assessing within-scan “test-retest” reliability is an acceptable alternative if no “real” test-retest datasets are available. Such evaluations might become more necessary if the data are collected with clinical scanners whose performance is not as good as those that are used for scientific research purposes and are better maintained because the lower signal-to-noise ratio may further dampen ALFF reliability.     

Probucol Release from Novel Multicompartmental Microcapsules for the Oral Targeted Delivery in Type 2 Diabetes

In previous studies, we developed and characterised multicompartmental microcapsules as a platform for the targeted oral delivery of lipophilic drugs in type 2 diabetes (T2D). We also designed a new microencapsulated formulation of probucol-sodium alginate (PB-SA), with good structural properties and excipient compatibility. The aim of this study was to examine the stability and pH-dependent targeted release of the microcapsules at various pH values and different temperatures. Microencapsulation was carried out using a Büchi-based microencapsulating system developed in our laboratory. Using SA polymer, two formulations were prepared: empty SA microcapsules (SA, control) and loaded SA microcapsules (PB-SA, test), at a constant ratio (1:30), respectively. Microcapsules were examined for drug content, zeta potential, size, morphology and swelling characteristics and PB release characteristics at pH 1.5, 3, 6 and 7.8. The production yield and microencapsulation efficiency were also determined. PB-SA microcapsules had 2.6 ± 0.25% PB content, and zeta potential of −66 ± 1.6%, suggesting good stability. They showed spherical and uniform morphology and significantly higher swelling at pH 7.8 at both 25 and 37°C (p < 0.05). The microcapsules showed multiphasic release properties at pH 7.8. The production yield and microencapsulation efficiency were high (85 ± 5 and 92 ± 2%, respectively). The PB-SA microcapsules exhibited distal gastrointestinal tract targeted delivery with a multiphasic release pattern and with good stability and uniformity. However, the release of PB from the microcapsules was not controlled, suggesting uneven distribution of the drug within the microcapsules.KEY WORDS: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, artificial-cell microencapsulation, diabetes mellitus, probucol, type 2 diabetes     

Effects of Genotype and Growth Temperature on the Contents of Tannin,Phytate and In Vitro Iron Availability of Sorghum Grains

Background

It has been predicted that the global temperature will rise in the future, which means crops including sorghum will likely be grown under higher temperatures, and consequently may affect the nutritional properties.

Methods

The effects of two growth temperatures (OT, day/night 32/21°C; HT 38/21°C) on tannin, phytate, mineral, and in vitro iron availability of raw and cooked grains (as porridge) of six sorghum genotypes were investigated.

Results

Tannin content significantly decreased across all sorghum genotypes under high growth temperature (P ≤0.05), while the phytate and mineral contents maintained the same level, increased or decreased significantly, depending on the genotype. The in vitro iron availability in most sorghum genotypes was also significantly reduced under high temperature, except for Ai4, which showed a pronounced increase (P ≤0.05). The cooking process significantly reduced tannin content in all sorghum genotypes (P ≤0.05), while the phytate content and in vitro iron availability were not significantly affected.

Conclusions

This research provides some new information on sorghum grain nutritional properties when grown under predicted future higher temperatures, which could be important for humans where sorghum grains are consumed as staple food.     

5,6-Dihydro-1H-pyridin-2-ones as potent inhibitors of HCV NS5B polymerase

5,6-Dihydro-1H-pyridin-2-one analogs were discovered as a novel class of inhibitors of genotype 1 HCV NS5B polymerase. Among these, compound 4ad displayed potent inhibitory activities in biochemical and replicon assays (IC₅₀ (1b) < 10 nM; IC₅₀ (1a) < 25 nM, EC₅₀ (1b) = 16 nM), good in vitro DMPK properties, as well as moderate oral bioavailability in monkeys (F = 24%).     

Correlation between expression of cadherin and gap junctional communication in human lung carcinoma cells

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