瞬时受体电位香草酸亚型1激活通过抑制线粒体通透性转换孔开放保护急性心肌梗死小鼠的心肌细胞抗凋亡

瞬时受体电位香草酸亚型1（TRPV1）在心肌缺血激活后可传导心绞痛信号,释放神经肽,减轻心肌梗死后的心肌细胞凋亡。目前,TRPV1激活抑制心肌梗死后细胞凋亡的具体机制尚不清楚。线粒体通透性转换孔（MPTP）的开放与心肌细胞缺血再灌注损伤密切相关,抑制其开放可保护心肌缺血后的心肌细胞抗凋亡。本研究证明,TRPV1激活通过抑制MPTP开放而减少心肌细胞凋亡。首先,本研究利用左冠状动脉前降支结扎术建立了TRPV1基因敲除（TRPV1-/-）和野生型（WT）小鼠心肌梗死模型,辅以环孢素A（CSA）预处理抑制 MPTP开放,比较观察TRPV1、MPTP在心肌梗死中的作用。心肌组织切片氯化三苯基四氮唑（TTC）染色显示,心肌缺血24 h,TRPV1-/-小鼠的心肌梗死面积明显大于WT型小鼠。而经CSA预处理的TRPV1-/-小鼠比TRPV1-/-小鼠梗死面积明显减小。TUNEL检测心肌细胞凋亡指数（AI）揭示,WT型心肌梗死小鼠的AI明显低于TRPV1-/- 心肌梗死小鼠,而CSA预处理明显降低TRPV1-/-小鼠心肌细胞的AI。Western印迹检测胱天蛋白酶3、胱天蛋白酶9、Bcl-2、Bax、p53和细胞色素C（Cyt-C）水平。结果证明,TRPV1的激活可抑制MPTP的开放,减少线粒体Cyt-C的外溢,降低胱天蛋白酶9和胱天蛋白酶3的表达。GENMEN光度法检测MPTP开放实验显示,激活的TRPV1明显抑制了MPTP的开放。本研究证实,急性心肌梗死后的TRPV1激活可能通过抑制MPTP开放而抵抗心肌细胞凋亡,对心肌起保护作用。     

Monoamine oxidases (MAO) in the pathogenesis of heart failure and ischemia/reperfusion injury

Recent evidence highlights monoamine oxidases (MAO) as another prominent source of oxidative stress. MAO are a class of enzymes located in the outer mitochondrial membrane, deputed to the oxidative breakdown of key neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine, and in the process generate H₂O₂. All these monoamines are endowed with potent modulatory effects on myocardial function. Thus, when the heart is subjected to chronic neuro-hormonal and/or peripheral hemodynamic stress, the abundance of circulating/tissue monoamines can make MAO-derived H₂O₂ production particularly prominent. This is the case of acute cardiac damage due to ischemia/reperfusion injury or, on a more chronic stand, of the transition from compensated hypertrophy to overt ventricular dilation/pump failure. Here, we will first briefly discuss mitochondrial status and contribution to acute and chronic cardiac disorders. We will illustrate possible mechanisms by which MAO activity affects cardiac biology and function, along with a discussion as to their role as a prominent source of reactive oxygen species. Finally, we will speculate on why MAO inhibition might have a therapeutic value for treating cardiac affections of ischemic and non-ischemic origin. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Mitochondria and Cardioprotection.     

Transport across the bacterial outer membrane

Diffusion of small molecules across the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria may occur through protein channels and through lipid bilayer domains. Among protein channels, many examples of trimeric porins, which produce water-filled diffusion channels, are known. Although the channels are nonspecific, the diffusion rates of solutes are often drastically affected by their gross physicochemical properties, such as size, charge, or lipophilicity, because the channel has a dimension not too different from that of the diffusing solutes. In the last few years, the structures of three such porins have been solved by X-ray crystallography. It is now known that a monomer unit traverses the membrane 16 times as -strands, and one of the external loop folds back into the channel to produce a narrow constriction. Most of the static properties of the channel, such as the pore size and the position of the amino acids that produce the constriction, can now be explained by the three-dimensional structure. Controversy, however, still surrounds the issue of whether there are dynamic modulation of the channel properties in response to pH, ionic strength, or membrane potential, and of whether such responses are physiological. More recently, two examples of monomeric porins have been identified. These porins allow a very slow diffusion of solutes, but the reason for this low permeability is still unclear. Finally, channels with specific binding sites facilitate the diffusion of specific classes of nutrients, often those compounds that are too large to penetrate rapidly through the porin channels. Lipid bilayers in the outer membrane were shown to be perhaps 50- to 100-fold less permeable to uncharged, lipophilic molecules in comparison with the bilayers made of the usual glycerophospholipids. This is caused by the presence of a lipopolysaccharide leaflet in the bilayer, and more specifically, by the presence of a larger number of fatty acids in each lipid molecule, and by the absence of unsaturated fatty acids in the lipopolysaccharide structure.     

褐家鼠精母细胞中联会复合体的研究Ⅳ.常染色体联会复合体的发育和偶线期节的研究

采用表面铺展-SDS处理、硝酸银和磷钨酸（Phosphotungsticacid,PTA）染色电镜技术,研究了褐家鼠精母细胞中常染色体联会复合体（Synaptonemacomplex,SC）的发育及偶线期节（Zygotenenodule,ZN）。在褐家鼠精母细胞的细线期,常染色体轴心（Axialcores,ACs）已形成,同源轴心在空间上靠近,偶线期SCs开始形成,到粗线期SCs完全形成,于双线期SCs开始解体。在双线期除了个别SCs侧生组分分开外,大多数SCs发生碎片化（fragmentation）．在偶线期未配对的ACs和SCs侧生组分及中央组分上均发现电子密度高的球形或椭圆形的节状结构──偶线期节,ZNss在同源染色体配对过程中起很重要的作用。     

Interleukin-8 Regulates Endothelial Permeability by Down-regulation of Tight Junction but not Dependent on Integrins Induced Focal Adhesions

Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a common inflammatory factor, which involves in various non-specific pathological processes of inflammation. It has been found that increased endothelial permeability accompanied with high expression of IL-8 at site of injured endothelium and atherosclerotic plaque at early stages, suggesting that IL-8 participated in regulating endothelial permeability in the developing processes of vascular disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate the regulation effects of IL-8 on the vascular endothelial permeability, and the mRNA and protein expression of tight junction components (i.e., ZO-1, Claudin-5 and Occludin). Endothelial cells were stimulated by IL-8 with the dose of 50, 100 and 200 ng/mL, and duration of 2, 4, 6, 8h, respectively. The mRNA and protein expression level of tight junction components with IL-8 under different concentration and duration was examined by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. Meanwhile, the integrins induced focal adhesions event with IL-8 stimulation was also investigated. The results showed that IL-8 regulated the permeability of endothelium by down-regulation of tight junction in a dose- and time-dependence manner, but was not by integrins induced focal adhesions. This finding reveals the molecular mechanism in the increase of endothelial cell permeability induced by IL-8, which is expected to provide a new idea as a therapeutic target in vascular diseases.