Downwind migration of the African army worm moth, Spodoptera exempta, studied by mark-and-capture and by radar

Abstract. 1. About 166,000 African armyworm moths, Spodoptera exempta (Walk.), were marked at an emergence site near Nairobi when they fed at night on trees baited with dyed molasses.
2. Six marked moths were captured in pheromone traps, including one at 90 km after flying for only one night, and another at 147 km.
3. Moth flight trajectories deduced from radar and from marking showed that migration was downwind.
4. During migration, moths become dispersed; hence the high densities that lead to outbreaks must be produced by concentration.
5. Some moths were ready to mate on the same night they completed their long-distance flight.     

Genome scans and elusive candidate genes: detecting the variation that matters for speciation

Next‐generation sequencing is providing us with vast amounts of genetic data, yet we are currently struggling in our attempts to make sense of them. In particular, it has proven difficult to link phenotypic divergence and speciation to genome level divergence. In the current issue of Molecular Ecology, Ruegg et al. ( 2014 ) present new empirical results from two closely related bird taxa. They use a promising approach combining genome scan and candidate gene analysis. Their results suggest that we may have been looking in vain for candidate speciation genes by focusing only on genes found within genomic islands of divergence. This is because genes important in divergence and speciation may not be detected by genome scans and because features of the genomic architecture per se may have a large effect on the pattern of genome divergence.     

Tissue Mechanics Regulate Mitotic Nuclear Dynamics during Epithelial Development

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Polysaccharides derived from Balanophora polyandra significantly suppressed the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells through P53‐mediated pathway

Ovarian cancer (OC) is ranked the first among the cancers threatening women's health. It attracts tremendous attention of cancer researchers because of its extremely high mortality rate. Recent studies have indicated that traditional herbal medicines (THMs) can play a pivotal role in cancer prevention and treatment. THMs are gaining popularity as a source of anti‐cancer agents. The plant of Balanophora polyandra, which has been used as a traditional herbal medicine, has been known for exhibiting potential haemostatic, analgesic, anti‐inflammatory and anti‐cancer properties. However, few studies on inhibitory effect of B. polyandra on OC have been performed. In the present study, we found that B. polyandra polysaccharides (BPP) induced cell cycle arrest at S phase, triggered apoptosis and inhibited migration and invasion of OC cells. Furthermore, we also found that there was a potential and close relationship between BPP and P53‐mediated pathway. Overall, these findings suggest that BPP can be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of OC.     

Down‐regulation of Suv39h1 attenuates neointima formation after carotid artery injury in diabetic rats

Patients with diabetes have an increased risk of vascular complications. Suv39h1, a histone methyltransferase, plays a protective role against myocardial injury in diabetes. Herein, we intend to explore whether Suv39h1 could affect neointimal formation after vascular injury in diabetic rats and reveal the underlying mechanism. In this study, we generated adenovirus expressing Suv39h1 as well as lentivirus expressing Suv39h1‐targeting shRNA and evaluated the significance of Suv39h1 in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) under diabetic conditions. In vitro, we examined proliferative and migratory behaviours as well as the underlying signalling mechanisms in VSMCs in response to high glucose treatment. In vivo, we induced diabetes in SD rats with streptozocin and established the common carotid artery balloon injury model. Suv39h1 was found to be both necessary and sufficient to promote VSMC proliferation and migration under high glucose conditions. We observed corresponding changes in intracellular signalling molecules including complement C3 and phosphor‐ERK1/2. However, either up‐regulating or down‐regulating Suv39h1, phosphor‐p38 level was not significantly affected. Consistently, Suv39h1 overexpression led to accelerated neointima formation, while knocking down Suv39h1 reduced it following carotid artery injury in diabetic rats. Using microarray analyses, we showed that altering the Suv39h1 level in vivo dramatically altered the expression of myriad genes mediating different biological processes and molecular function. This study reveals the novel role of Suv39h1 in VSMCs of diabetes and suggests its potential role as a therapeutic target in diabetic vascular injury.     

A new trick for an old dog: The application of mifepristone in the treatment of adenomyosis

Adenomyosis is also called internal endometriosis and affects about 20% of reproductive‐aged women. It seriously reduces life quality of patients because current drug therapies face with numerous challenges. Long‐term clinical application of mifepristone exhibits wonderful therapeutic effects with mild side‐effects in many disorders since 1982. Since adenomyosis is a refractory disease, we investigate whether mifepristone can be applied in the treatment of adenomyosis. In this study, we investigated the direct effects of mifepristone on human primary eutopic endometrial epithelial cells and stromal cells in adenomyosis. We found that mifepristone causes cell cycle arrest through inhibiting CDK1 and CDK2 expressions and induces cell apoptosis via the mitochondria‐dependent signalling pathway in endometrial epithelial cells and stromal cells of adenomyosis. Furthermore, mifepristone inhibits the migration of endometrial epithelial cells and stromal cells through decreasing CXCR4 expression and restricts the invasion of endometrial epithelial cells via suppression of epithelial‐mesenchymal transition in adenomyosis. We also found that mifepristone treatment decreases the uterine volume, CA125 concentration and increases the haemoglobin concentration in serum for adenomyosis patients. Therefore, we demonstrate that mifepristone could serve as a novel therapeutic drug in the treatment of adenomyosis, and therefore, the old dog can do a new trick.     

人尿源性干细胞及人脐带间充质干细胞的生物学性状比较

该研究探讨人尿源性干细胞(human urine-derived stem cells,hUSCs)及人脐带间充质干细胞(human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells,hUC-MSCs)的生物学性状差异。分离培养hUSCs及hUC-MSCs,显微镜下观察细胞形态,流式细胞术检测干细胞表面标记物,锥虫蓝拒染实验及克隆形成实验检测细胞增殖能力,划痕实验及Transwell迁移实验检测细胞迁移能力,碱性磷酸酶(alkaline phosphatase,ALP)染色、茜素红染色、油红O染色及阿利新蓝染色评估多向分化潜能。hUSCs为米粒状贴壁生长细胞,hUC-MSCs为长梭形贴壁细胞,呈旋涡状排列生长,两种细胞表型分析相似,均表达多种间充质干细胞标志物,但CD24在hUC-MSCs表达阳性,而CD105在hUSCs表达阳性。hUC-MSCs的增殖及迁移能力优于hUSCs,但后者的克隆形成能力更强。hUSCs及hUCMSCs都具有成骨、成脂、成软骨分化能力,hUC-MSCs的成骨能力强而hUSCs的成脂能力强。该研究成功分离培养出增殖能力强并具有多向分化潜能的hUSCs,该细胞与hUC-MSCs相比具有相似的生物学性状,可作为再生医学自体移植的理想种子细胞来源。