Cortical Plasticity Induced by Spike-Triggered Microstimulation in Primate Somatosensory Cortex

Electrical stimulation of the nervous system for therapeutic purposes, such as deep brain stimulation in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, has been used for decades. Recently, increased attention has focused on using microstimulation to restore functions as diverse as somatosensation and memory. However, how microstimulation changes the neural substrate is still not fully understood. Microstimulation may cause cortical changes that could either compete with or complement natural neural processes, and could result in neuroplastic changes rendering the region dysfunctional or even epileptic. As part of our efforts to produce neuroprosthetic devices and to further study the effects of microstimulation on the cortex, we stimulated and recorded from microelectrode arrays in the hand area of the primary somatosensory cortex (area 1) in two awake macaque monkeys. We applied a simple neuroprosthetic microstimulation protocol to a pair of electrodes in the area 1 array, using either random pulses or pulses time-locked to the recorded spiking activity of a reference neuron. This setup was replicated using a computer model of the thalamocortical system, which consisted of 1980 spiking neurons distributed among six cortical layers and two thalamic nuclei. Experimentally, we found that spike-triggered microstimulation induced cortical plasticity, as shown by increased unit-pair mutual information, while random microstimulation did not. In addition, there was an increased response to touch following spike-triggered microstimulation, along with decreased neural variability. The computer model successfully reproduced both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the experimental findings. The physiological findings of this study suggest that even simple microstimulation protocols can be used to increase somatosensory information flow.     

根田鼠静止代谢率特征的研究

通过实地测定分布于青海高原的根田鼠的RMR,发现其RMR水平明显高于与其体重相似的其它田鼠,而平均最小热传导值并不比后者低,说明可能是以保持高的RMR水平来适应高原寒冷气候的。同时发现,根田鼠以化学体温调节为主,以适应高原气温较大的波动。     

Construction and packaging of pseudotype retrovirus containing human N—ras cDNA antisense sequence and its biological effects on human hepatoma cells

N-ras is one of the transforming genes in human hepatic cancer cells.It has been found that N-ras was overexpressed at the mRNA and protein level in hepatoma cells.In order to explore the biological roles of N-ras in human hepatic carcinogenesis and the potential application in control of cancer cell growth,a preudotype retrovirus containing antisense sequence of human N-ras was constructed and packaged.A recombinant retrovirus vector containing antisense or sense sequences of N-ras cDNA was constructed by pZIP-NeoSV(X)1.The pseudotype virus was packaged ang rescued by transfection and infection in PA317 and ψ 2 helper cells.It has been demonstrated that the pseudotype retrovirus containing antisense N-ras sequence did inhibit the growth of human PLC/PRF/5 hepatoma cells accompanied with inhibition of p21 expression,while the retrovirus containing sense sequence had none.The pseudotype virus had no effect on human diploid fibroblasts.     

德巴利汉逊酵母的两个变种及其相关种的脉冲电泳核型比较分析

摘要:用CHEF(钳位均匀电场)脉冲电泳系统分析了德巴利汉逊酵母的两个变种及两个相关种的脉冲电泳核型。对每个分类群的染色体条数,染色体DNA的分子量大小范围及整个基因组大小作出了估算,结果如下:Debaryomyces hansenii(Zopf) Lodder et Kreger-van Rij var. hansenii具有6-7条染色体,分子量范围为1.2-2.6(个别3.5)Mb,整个基因组大小为I 0.6-14.9Mb;D. hansenii var. fabryi (Ota) Nakase et Suzuki具有7条染色体,分子量范围为0.7-2.4M b,整个基因组大小为12.0-12.7Mb;D. nepalensis Goto et Sugiyama具有6-8条染色体,分子量范围为(个别0.2)1.1-2.7Mb,整个基因组大小为10.6-11.0Mb;Candida saitoana Nakase et Suzuki具有10-11条染色体,分子量范围为0.6-3.6Mb,整个基因组大小为18.1-18.9Mb.本研究表明C. saitoana与上述德巴利酵母属的三个分类群在脉冲电泳核型上具有明显差异,而后三者之间在染色体DNA带型上却没有发现有价值的区别之处.     

Plant regeneration from protoplasts of hydroxyproline resistant cell line in Onobrychis viciaefolia

An efficient protocol for plant regeneration from protoplasts of hydroxyproline(HYP)resistant cell line of Onobrychis viciaefolia was established.In SH medium supplemented with 1mg/L2,4-dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid(2,4-D),0.5mg/L kinetin(KT)and 0.2mg/L naphthalene acetic acid(NAA),the division frequency of protoplastderived cells reached up to over 60%,and microcalli were obtained in 5-6wk.Upon transferring them on agar solidified MS medium plus 2mg/L indole-3-acetic acid (IAA),shoots were induced.After cultivating them on MS medium with or without IAA,roots were regenerated.Chromosome number of all protoplast-regenerated plants examined were normal(2n=28).The protoplast-derived calli and plants grew vigorously on the medium containing 10 mmol/L HYP.     

马尾松毛虫的光周期反应

马尾松毛虫Dendrolimus punctatus Walker和油松毛虫 Dendrolimus tabulaeformisTsai et Liu都属于长日照型昆虫。它们的光周期反应却存在着明显的差开。马尾松毛虫初龄幼虫对光照时数虽然敏感,可是只有在整个幼虫期都处在短光照周期条件下才能维持幼虫的滞育。 而且, 幼虫的滞育强度明显较弱,解除滞育所要求的条件也不如油松毛虫严格。在较高温度条件下,幼虫的滞育更不稳定,一般仅表现为生长的短暂停滞和幼虫历期的相对延长。温度和光周期还可影响到幼虫的存活和性比。马尾松毛虫幼虫呈典型的浅滞育现象。正是由于这一特性,在环境条件的影响下,长江沿岸省份不同年份马尾松毛虫二、三代分化的比例才有较大的波动,这直接关系着当地的种群动态,也是当年当地高虫口区二代虫能否成灾的关键。     

蜜蜂下行神经元的光谱特性

利用生理细胞外记录方法研究了蜜蜂下行神经元的光谱敏感特性,不同波长的单色光刺激引起的给先反应和撤光反应的相对强度不同．分析了３７例下行神经元的光谱敏感特性,发现下行神经元有的是光谱宽带和多光谱性的,有的是光谱窄带,给光和撤光反应都具有不同的最敏感区。     

华虻小叶神经元运动敏感性的研究

用电生理细胞内记录的方法记录了１０个以上小叶神经元对闪光、运动光斑及运动光栅刺激的电生理反应特点,结果表明：（１）小叶神经元对闪光刺激具有特征性反应,细胞对给光和撤光刺激都会表现出不同程度的去极化和超极化,反应的波形不随闪光时间的改变而改变,两次去极化之间的时间间隔与闪光刺激的时间长度成线性关系;（２）小叶神经元对运动光斑的运动速度非常敏感,而对光斑的运动方向的改变却不敏感,尽管有的细胞存在一个能使反应的变化更快的优势方向,但并没有明显的运动方向选择性;（３）小叶神经元对运动光栅的响应频率受光栅的空间频率和运动速度的双重调制,与光栅的运动方向无关。     

蚕豆（Vicia faba L．）叶肉细胞中ABA的胶体金免疫电镜定位

利用胶体金免疫电镜定位技术对蚕豆叶肉细胞中ＡＢＡ定位的研究表明,在以ＡＢＡ抗体处理的切片中,叶绿体有大量的金颗粒标记,细胞质和细胞核也有金颗粒标记,但液泡和细胞壁中没有金颗粒标记。免疫染色前用胰蛋白酶处理可显著增强金颗粒标记密度,而不用ＥＤＣ固定或以免疫前兔血清处理的切片中几乎没有金颗粒标记。本实验为蚕豆叶肉细胞中ＡＢＡ的分布提供了直接的证据并说明了该技术是研究ＡＢＡ定位的一种可靠的方法。     

Ribosomal protein L22-like1 promotes prostate cancer progression by activating PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common malignancies in men. Ribosomal protein L22-like1 (RPL22L1), a component of the ribosomal 60 S subunit, is associated with cancer progression, but the role and potential mechanism of RPL22L1 in PCa remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of RPL22L1 in PCa progression and the mechanisms involved. Bioinformatics and immunohistochemistry analysis showed that the expression of RPL22L1 was significantly higher in PCa tissues than in normal prostate tissues. The cell function analysis revealed that RPL22L1 significantly promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of PCa cells. The data of xenograft tumour assay suggested that the low expression of RPL22L1 inhibited the growth and invasion of PCa cells in vivo. Mechanistically, the results of Western blot proved that RPL22L1 activated PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in PCa cells. Additionally, LY294002, an inhibitor of PI3K/Akt pathway, was used to block this pathway. The results showed that LY294002 remarkably abrogated the oncogenic effect of RPL22L1 on PCa cell proliferation and invasion. Taken together, our study demonstrated that RPL22L1 is a key gene in PCa progression and promotes PCa cell proliferation and invasion via PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, thus potentially providing a new target for PCa therapy.