Anticancer drugs cause release of exosomes with heat shock proteins from human hepatocellular carcinoma cells that elicit effective natural killer cell antitumor responses in vitro

Failure of immune surveillance related to inadequate host antitumor immune responses has been suggested as a possible cause of the high incidence of recurrence and poor overall survival outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma. The stress-induced heat shock proteins (HSPs) are known to act as endogenous "danger signals" that can improve tumor immunogenicity and induce natural killer (NK) cell responses. Exosome is a novel secretory pathway for HSPs. In our experiments, the immune regulatory effect of the HSP-bearing exosomes secreted by human hepatocellular carcinoma cells under stress conditions on NK cells was studied. ELISA results showed that the production of HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90 was up-regulated in both cell lines in a stress-specific manner. After exposure to hepatocellular carcinoma cell-resistant or sensitive anticancer drugs (hereafter referred to as "resistant" or "sensitive" anticancer drug), the membrane microvesicles were actively released by hepatocellular carcinoma cells, differing in their ability to present HSPs on the cell surface, which were characterized as exosomes. Acting as a decoy, the HSP-bearing exosomes efficiently stimulated NK cell cytotoxicity and granzyme B production, up-regulated the expression of inhibitory receptor CD94, and down-regulated the expression of activating receptors CD69, NKG2D, and NKp44. Notably, resistant anticancer drugs enhanced exosome release and generated more exosome-carried HSPs, which augmented the activation of the cytotoxic response. In summary, our findings demonstrated that exosomes derived from resistant anticancer drug-treated HepG2 cells conferred superior immunogenicity in inducing HSP-specific NK cell responses, which provided a clue for finding an efficient vaccine for hepatocellular carcinoma immunotherapy.     

基于多元回归树的公益林群落结构解析

为揭示不同生境类型下公益林群落物种多样性及优势种种间关系特征, 以临安市公益林125个固定监测样地为研究对象, 利用多元回归树(MRT)进行群落分类, 以物种多样性指数和种间联结系数为指标, 对不同群落类型的结构特征进行探索。结果表明: 临安市公益林125个典型样地可划分为5个类型; 类型I、II、III与类型V的多样性指数之间均无显著差异, 但类型III的多样性指数均最高, 类型IV的物种多样性指数均显著低于其它类型, 海拔是影响群落多样性水平的主要因子。种间联结初步分析显示, 研究区群落中稳定性最高的层片是乔木层, 且毛竹入侵极可能是影响5个类型植物群落稳定性的关键因素。研究结果可为临安市公益林分类经营管理提供理论依据, 同时为区域公益林群落数量结构研究奠定基础。     

分子生物学技术在热泉地质微生物学研究中的应用

陆地热泉是一类典型的极端生命-环境互作的地质系统,是我们认识生命与环境协同演化的天然实验室。然而,受限于有限的研究手段,热泉中仍存在大量未解密的微生物"暗物质"。这种困境随着技术的革新得到了改善,尤其是近几年来基于组学、探针和同位素标记的多元化检测手段在嗜热微生物多样性的挖掘、新物种和新代谢途径的发现以及嗜热微生物对元素地球化学循环的调控和响应等方面取得了一系列令人瞩目的研究成果,使得热泉极端微生物和地质环境内在联系的研究也成为地质微生物学研究的热点。立足于前人研究成果,本文将简述常用于热泉地质微生物学研究的分子生物学手段的发展,重点总结其在挖掘热泉微生物多样性和热泉微生物的环境功能研究中的应用及进展,最后对未来研究方向提出展望。     

RNA Interference-Mediated Inhibition of Wild-Type Torsin A Expression Increases Apoptosis Caused by Oxidative Stress in Cultured Cells

To assess RNAi mediated inhibition of the expression of wt-DYT1 on H₂O₂-induced toxicity in NIH 3T3 cells and primary cortical neurons. To detect the function of wild-type Torsin A and the effect of SiRNA on the wt-DYT1 gene. The shRNA expression vector was constructed by ligating annealed complementary shRNA oligonucleotides into the down-stream of the human U6 promoter (PU6) of the RNAi-ready pSIREN-Shuttle vector. Then, the pSIREN-Shuttle-DYT1-shRNA cassette was ligated to Adeno-X Viral DNA to construct the recombinant adenoviral vector pAd-DYT1-shRNA. Cultured cerebral cortical neurons and NIH 3T3 cells were transfected with pAd-DYT1-shRNA and pSIREN-Shuttle-DYT1-shRNA. We evaluated NIH 3T3 cells and neurons in the presence of oxidative stress using a TUNEL assay under different conditions. The knockdown efficacy of the DYT1 was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR and Western Blot analysis. After exposure to H₂O_2, the quantity of NIH 3T3 cells transfected with pSIREN-Shuttle-DYT1-shRNA, which stained positively in the TUNEL assay, was significantly higher than the cells transfected with pSIREN-Shuttle-negative control-shRNA. (44.85 ± 1.81% vs. 8.98 ± 2.73%, t = 26.168). There were significantly more apoptotic neurons infected with pAd-DYT1-shRNA (45.63 ± 7.53%) than neurons infected with pAd-X-negative control-shRNA (17.33 ± 2.43%) (t = 9.816). The observed silencing of wild-type Torsin A expression by DYT1-shRNA was sequence-specific. RNAi-mediated inhibition of the expression of wild-type Torsin A increases apoptosis caused by oxidative stress. It is reasonable to consider that wild-type Torsin A has the capacity to protect cortical neurons against oxidative stress, and in the development of DYT1-delta GAG-dystonia the neuroprotective function of wild-type Torsin A may be compromised.     

山西蟒河自然保护区栓皮栎林的聚类和排序

本文用等级聚类、极点排序、主成分分析和对应分析等多元分析法, 对蟒河自然保护区的栓皮标(Quercus variabilis)林进与于了聚类和排序。等级聚类法将蟒河自然保护区的栓皮栎林划分为五个群丛, 极点排序、主成分分析和对应分析三种方法得出一致的结论, 并较好地反映了环境变化的梯度及植被变化的连续性。综合分析表明栓皮栎林是保护区内稳定的群落类型。     

蝶类的生命周期——从卵到成虫

简要介绍了蝶类与蛾类的区别以及蝶类生命周期的分期,即卵期、幼虫期、蛹期、成虫期和休眠期,并比较详细地介绍了蝶类的卵、幼虫、蛹和成虫的形态、生态和生物学特性。     

A simple purification of calmodulin by reversed phase chromatography with hydrophobic polymer 3520

A new adsorption chromatography procedure for the purification of calmodulin from bovine brain was developed using polymeric adsorbent 3520. Calmodulin was first isolated by DEAE-Cellulose column chromatography and further purified to apparent homogeneity following elution with 50% ethanol from the adsorbent column. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed one band either in the presence of Ca2+ or EGTA. The polymeric adsorbent 3520 is a non-polar polymer lacking exchangeable groups. The selective adsorption of calmodulin is based on hydrophobic interaction within the matrix, and is Ca2+ independent. Neither high salt (0.5 M NaC1) nor EGTA (5 mM) was able to elute the CaM from the adsorption column whereas ethanol (50%) eluted it completely. This method is simple to use and it provides highly purified calmodulin with high yield.     

Phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C9 is involved in the thermotolerance of Arabidopsis

Intracellular calcium (Ca(2+)) increases rapidly after heat shock (HS) in the Ca(2+)/calmodulin (Ca(2+)/CaM) HS signal transduction pathway: a hypothesis proposed based on our previous findings. However, evidence for the increase in Ca(2+) after HS was obtained only through physiological and pharmacological experiments; thus, direct molecular genetic evidence is needed. The role of phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) is poorly understood in the plant response to HS. In this work, atplc9 mutant plants displayed a serious thermosensitive phenotype compared with wild-type (WT) plants after HS. Complementation of atplc9 with AtPLC9 rescued both the basal and acquired thermotolerance phenotype of the WT plants. In addition, thermotolerance was even improved in overexpressed lines. The GUS staining of AtPLC9 promoter:GUS transgenic seedlings showed that AtPLC9 expression was ubiquitous. The fluorescence distribution of the fusion protein AtPLC9 promoter:AtPLC9:GFP revealed that the subcellular localization of AtPLC9 was restricted to the plasma membrane. The results of a PLC activity assay showed a reduction in the accumulation of inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3)) in atplc9 during HS and improved IP(3) generation in the overexpressed lines. Furthermore, the heat-induced increase in intracellular Ca(2+) was decreased in atplc9. Accumulation of the small HS proteins HSP18.2 and HSP25.3 was downregulated in atplc9 and upregulated in the overexpressed lines after HS. Together, these results provide molecular genetic evidence showing that AtPLC9 plays a role in thermotolerance in Arabidopsis.     

Preparation of novel mercury-doped silver nanoparticles film glassy carbon electrode and its application for electrochemical biosensor

A novel mercury-doped silver nanoparticles film glassy carbon (Ag/MFGC) electrode was prepared in this study. Electrochemical behaviors of cysteine on the Ag/MFGC electrode were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results indicated that cysteine could be strongly adsorbed on the surface of the Ag/MFGC electrode to form a thin layer. The doped electrode could catalyze the electrode reaction process of cysteine, and the cysteine displayed a pair of well-defined and nearly reversible CV peaks at the electrode in an acetate buffer solution (pH 5.0). The Ag/MFGC electrode was used for determination of cysteine by differential pulse voltammetry. The linear range was between 4.0x10(-7) and 1.3x10(-5) mol/L, with a detection limit of 1.0x10(-7) mol/L and a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The relative standard deviation was 2.4% for seven successive determinations of 1.0x10(-5) mol/L cysteine. The determinations of cysteine in synthetic samples and urinal samples were carried out and satisfactory results were obtained. Amperometric application of the Ag/MFGC electrode as biosensors is proposed.