The influence of GABA on cells in the gustatory region of the hamster solitary nucleus

A brainstem slice preparation was used to investigate GABA-inducedresponses in the gustatory region of the nucleus of the solitarytract (NST) of the hamster. The baseline activities of 91 cellsin the rostral NST were examined extracellularly; 59 cells werelocated in the rostral central (RC), 21 in the rostral lateral(RL), six in the ventral (V) and five in the medial (M) subdivisionof the NST. Of the 80 cells in the gustatory region of the NST(RC and RL subdivisions), application of GABA produced dose-dependentinhibition in 55 (69%), excitation in 9 (11%) and no effectin 16 cells (22%). In contrast, only nine cells were responsiveto baclofen, a GABA^B agonist. In all subdivision of the rostralNST, 57 cells were inhibited by GABA and the responses of 48of these were blocked by the specific GABA^A antagonist, bicucullinemethiodide (BICM). Application of BICM alone often yielded anexcitatory burst of impulses; this effect was eliminated whensynaptic release was blocked by perfusion with a high magnesiumphysiological saline solution (PSS/Mg⁺⁺). The GABA^A-responsivecells were distributed predominantly within the RC subdivision,whereas the GABA^B-responsive neurons were mostly in the RL subdivisionof the NST. The influences of GABA on the membrane properties of cells withinthe gustatory region (RC and RL subdivisions) of the NST wererecorded using conventional intracellular (16 cells) or whole-cellpatch (17 cells) recording methods. Intracellular recordingrevealed that GABA produced hyperpolarisation of the membrane,decreased the firing frequency, and increased the membrane conductance.In the patch-clamp experiments, the application of GABA evokedboth inward and outward currents, and an increase in membraneconductance. The reversal potential produced by GABA was closeto the Cl– equilibrium potential. The effects of GABAwere blocked by BICM. These results suggest that (i) GABA hasa strong inhibitory influence on rostral NST neurons, whichin the majority of cells is mediated through GABA^A, receptors;and (ii) the gustatory region of the NST may contain a tonicallyactive GABAergic netw     

Development of a core set of single-locus SSR markers for allotetraploid rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

Brassica napus (AACC) is a recent allotetraploid species evolved through hybridization between two diploids, B. rapa (AA) and B. oleracea (CC). Due to extensive genome duplication and homoeology within and between the A and C genomes of B. napus, most SSR markers display multiple fragments or loci, which limit their application in genetics and breeding studies of this economically important crop. In this study, we collected 3,890 SSR markers from previous studies and also developed 5,968 SSR markers from genomic sequences of B. rapa, B. oleracea and B. napus. Of these, 2,701 markers that produced single amplicons were putative single-locus markers in the B. napus genome. Finally, a set of 230 high-quality single-locus SSR markers were established and assigned to the 19 linkage groups of B. napus using a segregating population with 154 DH individuals. A subset of 78 selected single-locus SSR markers was proved to be highly stable and could successfully discriminate each of the 45 inbred lines and hybrids. In addition, most of the 230 SSR markers showed the single-locus nature in at least one of the Brassica species of the U’s triangle besides B. napus. These results indicated that this set of single-locus SSR markers has a wide range of coverage with excellent stability and would be useful for gene tagging, sequence scaffold assignment, comparative mapping, diversity analysis, variety identification and association mapping in Brassica species.     

DDX19 Inhibits Type I Interferon Production by Disrupting TBK1-IKKε-IRF3 Interactions and Promoting TBK1 and IKKε Degradation

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Exosomes in Mesenchymal Stem Cells,a New Therapeutic Strategy for Cardiovascular Diseases?

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are still a major cause of people deaths worldwide, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation holds great promise due to its capacity to differentiate into cardiovascular cells and secrete protective cytokines, which presents an important mechanism of MSCs therapy for CVDs. Although the capability of MSCs to differentiate into cardiomyocytes (CMCs), endothelial cells (ECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) has been well recognized in massive previous experiments both in vitro and in vivo, low survival rate of transplanted MSCs in recipient hearts suggests that therapeutic effects of MSCs transplantation might be also correlated with other underlying mechanisms. Notably, recent studies uncovered that MSCs were able to secret cholesterol-rich, phospholipid exosomes which were enriched with microRNAs (miRNAs). The released exosomes from MSCs acted on hearts and vessels, and then exerted anti-apoptosis, cardiac regeneration, anti-cardiac remodeling, anti-inflammatory effects, neovascularization and anti-vascular remodeling, which are considered as novel molecular mechanisms of therapeutic potential of MSCs transplantation. Here we summarized recent advances about the role of exosomes in MSCs therapy for CVDs, and discussed exosomes as a novel approach in the treatment of CVDs in the future.     

Metabonomic study of Chinese medicine Shuanglong formula as an effective treatment for myocardial infarction in rats

A UPLC/TOF-MS-based metabonomic study was conducted to assess the holistic efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Shuanglong Formula (SLF) for myocardial infarction in rats. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups after surgery. The Panax ginseng group, Salvia miltiorrhiza group, and SLF group were treated with water extractions of Panax ginseng (PG), Salvia miltiorrhiza (SM), and SLF (the ratio of SM to PG was 3:7) at a dose of 5 g/kg·w·d for 21 consecutive days, respectively; the model group and sham surgery group were both treated with 0.9% saline solution. Urinary samples for metabonomic study, serum samples for biochemical measurement, and heart samples for histopathology were collected. As a result, metabonomics-based findings such as the PCA and PLS-DA plotting of metabolic state and analysis of potential biomarkers in urine correlated well to the assessment of serum biochemistry and histopathological assay, confirming that SLF exerted synergistic therapeutic efficacies to exhibit better effect on MI compared to PG or SM. The shifts in urinary TCA cycle as well as pentose phosphate pathway suggested that SLF may diminish cardiac injury of MI with its potential pharmacological effect in the regulation of myocardial energy metabolism.     

Ultrafine polysaccharide nanofibrous membranes for water purification

Ultrafine polysaccharide nanofibers (i.e., cellulose and chitin) with 5-10 nm diameters were employed as barrier layers in a new class of thin-film nanofibrous composite (TFNC) membranes for water purification. In addition to concentration, the viscosity of the polysaccharide nanofiber coating suspension was also found to be affected by the pH value and ionic strength. When compared with two commercial UF membranes (PAN10 and PAN400), 10-fold higher permeation flux with above 99.5% rejection ratio were achieved by using ultrafine cellulose nanofibers-based TFNC membranes for ultrafiltration of oil/water emulsions. The very high surface-to-volume ratio and negatively charged surface of cellulose nanofibers, which lead to a high virus adsorption capacity as verified by MS2 bacteriophage testing, offer further opportunities in drinking water applications. The low cost of raw cellulose/chitin materials, the environmentally friendly fabrication process, and the impressive high-flux performance indicate that such ultrafine polysaccharide nanofibers-based TFNC membranes can surpass conventional membrane systems in many different water applications.     

牛乳碱性蛋白二维凝胶电泳条件的优化

为了在二维凝胶电泳(2-DE)中有效分离牛乳中的碱性蛋白,本试验在等电聚焦上样缓冲液中加入异丙醇和甘油,采用杯上样方式,比较了三丁基磷(TBP)和二硫苏糖醇(DTT)两种还原剂对碱性区域蛋白的分离效果。结果发现,等电聚焦上样缓冲液以TBP为还原剂的碱性蛋白分离图谱水平条纹少,优于以DTT为还原剂图谱。表明等电聚焦上样缓冲液以TBP为还原剂,采用杯上样的方法可以改善牛乳中碱性蛋白的分离效果。