Gene microarray analysis of expression profiles in Suberoyllanilide hyroxamic acid-treated Dendritic cells

Objective

The purpose of this study is to provide a further theoretical basis for the role of Suberoyllanilide hyroxamic acid (SAHA) affect on Dendritic cells (DCs).

儿童反复呼吸道感染与肠道微生态变化的相关性

目的研究儿童反复呼吸道感染与患儿肠道微生态平衡紊乱的关系。方法选择102例反复呼吸道感染患儿为研究组,167例急性肺炎患儿为肺炎对照组,142例健康体检儿童为正常对照组。采用16S rRNA荧光定量PCR检测3组对象肠道双歧杆菌及大肠埃希菌数量,计算B/E值,并比较3组研究对象细胞免疫功能。结果正常对照组、肺炎对照组以及研究组儿童肠道双歧杆菌数量依次降低,大肠埃希菌依次增多,B/E值依次降低,差异均有统计学意义(均P0.05)。正常对照组、肺炎对照组以及研究组儿童血液中CD3~+、CD4~+细胞水平以及CD4~+/CD8~+依次降低,CD8~+细胞水平依次增高,差异均有统计学意义(均P0.05)。结论儿童反复呼吸道感染与肠道微生态失衡具有一定相关性,肠道微生态稳态的维持可为反复呼吸道感染的防治提供新思路。     

耐受偏二甲肼的芦苇变异株系的筛选

四氧化二氮/偏二甲肼(Unsymmetrical dimethyl-hybrazine, 简称UDMH)为常用的航天器双组元液体推进剂。偏二甲肼沸点低,具有“三致”毒性,可在使用过程中释放到环境中,对污染地的生物多样性和人类健康构成威胁,因此迫切需要清除环境中的偏二甲肼。该文采用细胞工程的技术手段,以芦苇幼苗的下胚轴为材料诱导愈伤组织,继而通过逐步提高筛选压力选育出可耐受偏二甲肼的变异细胞系,再诱导变异细胞系分化,为可治理含偏二甲肼的废水的人工湿地处理系统的构建提供理想的工程植物。结果表明:芦苇的愈伤组织在含有0.5 mg·L^-1 2,4-D的MS培养基上生长良好;偏二甲肼对该愈伤组织生长的半致死剂量为16.3 mmol·L^-1;在分别含有1.63、3.26和8.15 mmol·L^-1偏二甲肼的筛选培养基上进行3~6次继代培养后,可得到较稳定的抗性细胞系,培养23 d后的相对生长量分别为对照的90.4%、84.3%和43.4%,培养43 d后的相对生长量分别为对照的95.6%、91.7%和46.8%;但是只有前两类抗性细胞系可在含0.1 g·L^-1 KT、0.01 g·L^-1 NAA和相应浓度的偏二甲肼的MS培养基中诱导分化;将绿色再生苗转移到不含激素但含偏二甲肼的培养基上强化根的生长,再经过35 d左右的适应性驯化,70%以上的再生苗可成功地转移至温室中培养,为日后人工湿地系统的构建奠定了基础。     

DCs-CIK细胞免疫治疗联合化疗对转移性前列腺癌患者免疫功能及生活质量的影响

目的:探讨DCs-CIK细胞免疫(Dendritic cells-Cytokine induced killer cells,DCs-CIK)治疗联合化疗对转移性前列腺癌患者免疫功能及生活质量的影响。方法:选择106例确诊转移性前列腺癌患者随机分为观察组与对照组,每组各53例,对照组采用多西他赛联合表阿霉素~+泼尼松化疗方式进行治疗,观察组在此基础上给予DC-CIK细胞免疫治疗。比较两组患者治疗前后外周血CD3~+、CD3~+CD4~+、CD3~+CD8~+、CD3-CD56~+、CD4~+CD8~+、自然杀伤细胞(NK)、自然杀伤T细胞(NKT)表达水平;使用QLQ-C30问卷评价患者治疗前后生活质量的变化情况,观察并比较患者治疗过程中发生的不良反应情况。结果:组观察组患者治疗总有效率达73.58%远高于对照组41.51%水平(p0.05);观察组患者治疗后外周血CD3~+、CD3~+CD4~+、CD3~+CD8~+、CD3-CD56~+、CD4~+CD8~+、NK、NKT表达水平明显好于对照组(p0.05);观察组患者躯体功能、角色功能、情绪功能、认知功能、社会功能各项指标得分明显好于对照组(p0.05);两组患者接受治疗后,均有部分患者出现恶心呕吐、脱发、白细胞减少、血小板减少或肝功受损,其中观察组患者出现恶心呕吐、白细胞减少的人数明显少于对照组(p0.05)。结论:DCs-CIK细胞免疫治疗联合化疗有助于转移性前列腺癌患者的治疗,在明显改善患者免疫能力的同时有效改善患者生活质量,具有重要的临床指导意义。     

Metal complexes as optical probes for DNA sensing and imaging

Transition and lanthanide metal complexes have rich photophysical properties that can be used for cellular imaging, biosensing and phototherapy. One of the applications of such luminescent compounds is the detection and visualisation of nucleic acids. In this brief review, we survey the recent literature on the use of luminescent metal complexes (including Re^I, Ru^II, Os^II, Ir^III, Pt^II, Eu^III and Tb^III) as DNA optical probes, including examples of compounds that bind selectively to non-duplex DNA topologies such as quadruplex, i-motif and DNA mismatches. We discuss the applications of metal-based luminescent complexes in cellular imaging, including time-resolved microscopy and super-resolution techniques. Their applications in biosensing and phototherapy are briefly mentioned in the relevant sections.     

A killer factor produced by the cellular slime mold Polysphondylium pallidum

A killer strain was discovered in cellular slime molds. The wild isolate CK-8 of Polysphondylium pallidum kills all other strains in Polysphondylium and Dictyostelium, as far as could be determined, except strain CK-8 itself and its complementary mating type strain CK-9. Growth-phase cells of CK-8 excrete a killer factor which is sensitive to heat, above 60°C for 5 min, and trypsin. The apparent molecular mass of the factor was determined at 10 000–12 000.Abbreviations BSS Bonner's salt solution - CM conditioned medium     

On the Crucial Stages in the Origin of Animate Matter

Theories of the origin of life have proposed hypotheses to link inanimate to animate matter. The theory proposed here derived the crucial stages in the origin of animate matter directly from the basic properties of inanimate matter. It asked what were the general characteristics of the link, rather than what might have been its chemical details. Life and its origin are shown to be one continuous physicochemical process of replication, random variation, and natural selection. Since life exists here and now, animate properties must have been initiated in the past somewhere. According to the theory, life originated from an as yet unknown elementary autocatalyst which occurred spontaneously, then replicated autocatalytically. As it multiplied to macroscopic abundance, its replicas gradually exhausted their reactants. Random chemical drift initiated diversity among autocatalysts. Diversity led to competition. Competition and depletion of reactants slowed down the rates of net replication of the autocatalysts. Some reached negative rates and became extinct, while those which stayed positive ``survived.' Thus chemical natural selection appeared, the first step in the transition from inanimate to animate matter. It initiated the first animate property, fitness, i.e., the capacity to adapt to the environment and to survive. As the environment was depleted of reactants, it was enriched with sequels—namely, with decomposition products and all other products which accompany autocatalysis. The changing environment exerted a selective pressure on autocatalysts to replace dwindling reactants by accumulating sequels. Sequels that were incorporated into the autocatalytic process became internal components of complex autocatalytic systems. Primitive forms of metabolism and organization were thus initiated. They evolved further by the same mechanism to ever higher levels of complexity, such as homochirality (handedness) and membranal enclosure. Subsequent evolution by the same mechanism generated cellular metabolism, cell division, information carriers, and a genetic code. Theories of self-organization without natural selection are refuted. Received: 29 March 1996 / Accepted: 30 May 1996     

Ciliary kinesins beyond IFT: Cilium length,disassembly, cargo transport and signalling

Cilia and flagella are microtubule‐based antenna which are highly conserved among eukaryotes. In vertebrates, primary and motile cilia have evolved to exert several key functions during development and tissue homoeostasis. Ciliary dysfunction in humans causes a highly heterogeneous group of diseases called ciliopathies, a class of genetic multisystemic disorders primarily affecting kidney, skeleton, retina, lung and the central nervous system. Among key ciliary proteins, kinesin family members (KIF) are microtubule‐interacting proteins involved in many diverse cellular functions, including transport of cargo (organelles, proteins and lipids) along microtubules and regulating the dynamics of cytoplasmic and spindle microtubules through their depolymerising activity. Many KIFs are also involved in diverse ciliary functions including assembly/disassembly, motility and signalling. We here review these ciliary kinesins in vertebrates and focus on their involvement in ciliopathy‐related disorders.     

Evaluating long-term cellular effects of the arsenic species thio-DMAV: qPCR-based gene expression as screening tool

Thio-dimethylarsinic acid (thio-DMA^V) is a human urinary metabolite of the class 1 human carcinogen inorganic arsenic as well as of arsenosugars. Thio-DMA^V exerts strong cellular toxicity, whereas its toxic modes of action are not fully understood. For the first time, this study characterises the impact of a long-term (21 days) in vitro incubation of thio-DMA^V on the expression of selected genes related to cell death, stress response, epigenetics and DNA repair. The observed upregulation of DNMT1 might be a cellular compensation to counterregulate the in a very recent study observed massive global DNA hypomethylation after chronic thio-DMA^V incubation. Moreover, our data suggest that chronic exposure towards subcytotoxic, pico- to nanomolar concentrations of thio-DMA^V causes a stress response in human urothelial cells. The upregulation of genes encoding for proteins of DNA repair (Apex1, Lig1, XRCC1, DDB2, XPG, ATR) as well as damage response (GADD45A, GADD45G, Trp53) indicate a potential genotoxic risk emanating from thio-DMA^V after long-term incubation.     

High-throughput RNAi screening to dissect cellular pathways: A how-to guide

RNA interference (RNAi) has become a powerful tool to dissect cellular pathways and characterize gene functions. The availability of genome-wide RNAi libraries for various model organisms and mammalian cells has enabled high-throughput RNAi screenings. These RNAi screens successfully identified key components that had previously been missed in classical forward genetic screening approaches and allowed the assessment of combined loss-of-function phenotypes. Crucially, the quality of RNAi screening results depends on quantitative assays and the choice of the right biological context. In this review, we provide an overview on the design and application of high-throughput RNAi screens as well as data analysis and candidate validation strategies.